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CNN Live Event/Special
Favorites In Focus
Aired January 01, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN JARRELL, UNEMPLOYED: I'm a single father of two little girls. I'll do anything I have too to keep a roof over their head.
MICHAEL FINNEN, CABIN ATTENDANT: As I said, the city never sleeps. My name is Michael Finnen. I'm a cabin attend for the Roosevelt-Allen Tramway. I prefer the nightshift. I'm used to it now. My whole life is geared around it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's nothing greater than to be able to take a child who faces adversity and to put a smile on their face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, HOST: Welcome to FAVORITES IN FOCUS. I'm Tom Foreman, and we're glad you've joined us for our annual gift to you from the fine photojournalists here at CNN.
All year long they collect wonderful stories with nothing but their cameras, their microphones, and your voices. And each year at this time we like to share some of the very best at this time of year.
We begin by pulling the wrapping from a story in our nation's capital, part of our "Jobs in Focus" series. And as most appropriate for this season, a tale of folks finding sweet success in bitter economic times as captured by photojournalist Dave Ruff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two almond joy, red velvet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyone loves cupcakes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many is that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two dozen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm in the middle of class right now and I came with one of my students to come to the cupcake van.
SAM WHITFIELD, OWNER, CURBSIDE CUPCAKES: Here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited. Oh my gosh! WHITFIELD: In the middle of the day --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't decide.
WHITFIELD: -- whether you're having a good or bad day --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first Curbside Cupcake, and it's a red velvet.
WHITFIELD: -- you come out and you get to kind of feel like you're 10 again.
I'm Sam Whitfield, the co-owner of Curbside Cupcakes. Have a wonderful day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You too.
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See you next Wednesday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sam was working in a law firm. He's a lawyer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a classic chocolate place.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I was sitting in a law firm working with co- workers, and we all wanted cupcakes, but nobody wanted to get in their car and drive across town.
Two, three and change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just had the brainstorm. He said cupcakes should come to us.
WHITFIELD: Sharing the cupcake love.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: There you go.
KRISTI CUNNINGHAM, CO-OWNER, CURBSIDE CUPCAKES: I'm Kristi Cunningham. I'm one of the co-owners of Curbside Cupcakes.
WHITFIELD: We thought it was a good idea.
Key lime this Wednesday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: We just didn't realize how great of an idea it was until we actually started it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. CUNNINGHAM: We don't want to look over our shoulders and have someone else have done it and think, what if we had tried that? So we said let's just go for it.
WHITFIELD: I'm letting Facebook and Twitter to let the next stop, Franklin Square, know that I'm on my way.
CUNNINGHAM: We did not do any of the more traditional marketing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just got out here, but I've been waiting all day for the update on Facebook.
CUNNINGHAM: We trusted the market. And the Facebook and the social media help us stay in conversation with the market.
WHITFIELD: Here you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Awesome.
CUNNINGHAM: We left perfectly good jobs. He left his perfectly good job first, and then I left my perfectly good job later. When we started, we had about 300 cupcakes on the truck. Today, there are almost 1,300 cupcakes on the truck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have become cupcake connoisseurs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks a lot.
WHITFIELD: I deliver cupcakes to the people, about four stops a day, Monday through Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Sam is quick. He is really fast.
WHITFIELD: Red velvet, carrot cake, peanut butter cup, dark chocolate, and the classic chocolate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: There you go.
I'm more stressed. I'm a lot more tired. But I am definitely happier. Usually when my clients saw me, they were getting sued. The clients I have now are all happy.
I think cupcakes are here to stay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Focusing on jobs was important to us because it was so important to you this past year. And it still is. In our latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll, eight in 10 of you say the economy is still in bad shape and most think another financial crisis is looming. So how does one stand against such fears? We all might take a lesson from an out of work trucker who refuses to give up and is actually getting stronger by wrestling with this tough economy. Once again, we're near Washington, D.C., as photojournalist John Bena pick up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN JARRELL, UNEMPLOYED: I get a little exercise, trying to stay fit as I can. Enjoy it. The simple fact not many other people do it. This is heavy stuff. It's a lot of work. You never know when life's going to throw a physical challenge at you and you need to be prepared.
When I can't find a job, I come home aggravated with that and I get on these and start all over again the next day.
I was driving a truck before I had a license. I've been in construction, demolition, running equipment. Last job I had was pumping out port-o-potties. I didn't like that at all.
I'm the single father of two little girls. I'll do anything I have to do to keep a roof over their head. So I clean those potties to where my daughter will use them.
LEXUS JARRELL, JOHN'S DAUGHTER: You liked it because it's another thing that he could check off his list.
JARRELL: Pop the door open, bucket, bleach, water.
LEXUS JARRELL: He would always come home and tell me the weird things he found in them.
JARRELL: Scrub it down, scrub it down. Every day was an adventure. You lift the lid. When you open that door, you never know what you're going to get. Fire the pump up. That's when everybody runs away. Roll on to the next one.
I've always had a job. This is my first time with this. I guess it's the classic case that's not going to happen to me. Well, here I am.
REYES: In today's market, I'm not going to take any risks.
JARRELL: Unemployment sent me a letter, said this is a mandatory class. Walking in, I didn't know what to expect. Very informative, a lot of good advice. I met a lot of people from all different facets of work. Everything they're teaching us was just tools that you can use if you want. And I found a lot of them to be valuable.
There's a public library up the street. I've never had any training on a computer so she's my little teacher. She's learned it all in school. We'll go up there and there's one right next to each other so that's how we do it. That way, I don't have to yell, freak out. I'm applying at two or three places a week, leaving applications. Everybody's like, well, we'll give you a call if something comes up. Bad as it is, it could be a lot worse.
LEXUS JARRELL: I wish that he could find a job that he enjoys and was like all right, I'm going to work, you know, and be happy about it.
JARRELL: I see the future as being bright. I'm not going to be on this forever because I know something's going to happen better. Something's coming my way. I just have to believe in that.
It's a good morning. That is a good morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: On the west coast, the hard times have driven some people out into the streets in an unusual way. They're not exactly homeless, but then they're not precisely in a home as you might imagine. Photojournalist John Torigoe brings us the story of the growing ranks of urban campers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE HOPKINS, URBAN CAMPER: If I lived anywhere in L.A., I would want to live in Venice, just because I love the water. I love the water, I love the beach. I wouldn't live anywhere else.
My name is Steve Hopkins and welcome to the Blue Buddha Bus. Come on inside.
It's a 1975 Crown decommissioned school bus.
I've been living in a bus for just over two years now. This is my home. I live on the streets of Venice, California.
I take it to different festivals, events. It's powered by recycled veggie oil.
I didn't grow up wanting to live in a hippy bus.
There's no keys actually. All you have to do is push a button and it starts right away.
At the time, I couldn't afford it. Soon afterwards, I did get a pretty decent job. I worked tech support for a graveyard. It's great when you have absolutely no bills, no debts.
I don't need a lot. This is what I have. I could actually afford my own apartment, but I just refuse to do it. I guess you could say I'm almost homeless, but this is a lifestyle that I choose.
When the economy actually did implode, I was fortunate, you know, because I already adapted to this lifestyle. So it really never affected me as much as it did to other people. TERRI HENDRICKSON, URBAN CAMPER: My name is Terri Hendrickson (ph). We've been in this situation since 2006 when we lost the apartment.
HOPKINS: She lives with her son; Lives in an RV.
BRANDON MAHONEY, URBAN CAMPER: I'm Brandon Mahoney, I'm 16 years old and I'm an inhabitant of the RV.
HENDRICKSON: There's a lot of homeless kids living in the RVs.
MAHONEY: I'd much rather have a house and be able to -- and take showers when I wake up in the morning and have electricity.
HENDRICKSON: I'm not working right now. I have a Social Security check.
One of the important things to me is education, especially during the recession we have now. Cause when the recession's over you never know what job you might like to take. HOPKINS: They were hit hard, and it's sad.
I have seen other people that have been laid off. It's not a pretty scene. You have got 10 RVs and they're really old, usually from the '60s, '70s, all beat up. They have got things all over them, attached to them, tied to them. All their belongings are on the sidewalk. It's not a pretty sight.
We are what Venice is. There's all walks of life here in Venice, and who wouldn't want to live in Venice?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: In just a minute, hope floats, especially when the spirit of giving is being built into boats.
And the rays in the Bay -- taking a bite out of an ecological problem when "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" rolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: This just in, some breaking news. The U.S. Capitol was evacuated due to an unauthorized aircraft in the air space. There's a live picture of the Capitol.
Here's what we know -- a small plane headed to Reagan international had some sort of communication problems, strayed off course. Of course, it was in play in unauthorized aircraft, therefore the U.S. Capitol evacuated right away, but being New Year's Day wasn't very populated.
We do know that everything is back to normal. The U.S. capitol briefly evacuated just a short time. Again, everybody back inside after a small plane headed to Reagan International communication problems, strayed off course. But everything is back to normal.
We now go back to FAVORITES IN FOCUS, our regularly scheduled program.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rabdomire (ph) Sarcoma is diagnosed in 350 kids a year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We couldn't have a surgery to remove the entire tumor. So that left us with chemotherapy and radiation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She couldn't recover very well from the chemo, so she had a lot of blood transfusions and a lot of infections.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were overjoyed when she appeared cancer free on the last scan. It was probably the best Thanksgiving we ever had.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After we got through that we said, hey, let's do something special.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Star of wonder, star of light.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here they come.
WEBRE SEPTIME, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON BALLET: Hi, Theresa. How are you?
We came here to visit you to tell you a big surprise. I remember two years ago when you came to visit us at the studio and you met the ballerinas. Well, we're here to tell you, welcome to the cast. You'll be performing in two weeks as one of the guests at Clara's Christmas party with the Washington Ballet's "Nutcracker."
Congratulations. Can I have a hug?
And a one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you really excited?
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're really excited to have you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's nothing greater than to be able to take a child who faces adversity and to put a smile on their face and a bright spot on their horizon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're gorgeous. You are the most beautiful child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the season of wishes for the Make- A- Wish Foundation. From about mid-November until the end of the year, we try very hard to raise enough awareness and funding to be able grant 30 wishes.
SEPTIME: In keeping with how ballet has been passed on from generation to generation, kind of like a gift of the retiring ballerina to the next young generation, I think that's how everyone feels about this particular case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, Theresa, go up tall and look at me in the mirror. Oh, my, my, look at you.
SEPTIME: The show's about to start. As a matter of fact, there's about 1,000 people waiting outside, waiting to come into this beautiful theater and enjoy the performance of the Washington Ballet with special guest star Theresa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know we've done a terrific job when we see a child like Theresa smile the biggest and best and brightest smile on the planet. It's magical.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: The most important gifts one might argue are love and learning, because those you can't really give to yourself. So we were intrigued by a unique program of giving in Alexandria, Virginia, where young people facing troubles are taught a very old craft and lessons in life along the way. Photojournalist Jeremy Moorhead takes us to the waterfront.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE YOUCHA, ALEXANDRIA SEAPORT FOUNDATION: Here at the Alexandria Seaport Foundation in old town Alexandria, Virginia.
When I look at these boats, I see people.
You're looking at a couple of boats that we built, gosh, back in 1993. The wife of a fellow that I started the boat building programs with, Bill (INAUDIBLE) one of the boats is named after his wife, Carol. It's a small shop, but boy, we've certainly been able to build a lot of boats and help a lot of kids.
SAUL CRUZ, APPRENTICE: At first it sounded too good to be true, basically getting paid to get my GED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got an apprenticeship program for kids who dropped out of school, gotten in trouble with the court. We have a larger facilities about four blocks south.
FRED GEIGER, VOLUNTEER: The warehouse is located right on the Potomac River at the (INAUDIBLE). I'm a volunteer at the Alexandria Seaport Foundation, have been here for three years.
Building boats and repairing boats is the vehicle for us in working with young men and women that come here. And I couldn't be happier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been sober for quite a while.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just start painting and you start a conversation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good for you. GEIGER: And soon after a while, a relationship develops between you and the apprentice and the apprentice sort of opens, gives you an opportunity to make some life skill suggestions that might help them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How to use the tools properly, the safety hazards and all that stuff, I learned it from him.
CRUZ: (INAUDIBLE) It helped me improve my math a lot, and basically they do anything to help you out.
YOUCHA: When I look at these boats, I see the folks who built them. I see the kids who built them who are now accountants and iron workers. What makes it worth it is the work that gets done every day, and the kids we help every day. I build things. I was trained to build houses. I build boats. Now we're just building people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some days are really, really hard, but there are good days, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: In just a moment, a midnight patrol to help animals in trouble, the brave veterans who focused on helping our nation in its most difficult times, and the quick change artist who you just have to see to believe, and even then you may not. "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: When the economy turns tough and any job is a good one, many people who might otherwise prefer the day find themselves happily on the night side. And that was the idea driving our series "Nightshift in Focus." We wanted to meet all of those people united by one thing, they work while most of us sleep. So what better place to begin than in the city that never sleeps, New York, where Deborah Brunswick found sundown is just a warm-up to midnight at the market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BERT BIFULCO, HEAD SALESMAN, RUBIN BROS.: Yes. Let's open it up, look at it.
We sell Napa bok choi, peppers, cucumbers, squash. Make sure it looks green.
You get like a rush, like when people go to Atlantic to get a rush, this is a rush. There's always something to do.
My name is Bert Bifulco. I've been down in the market over 30 years.
Hunts Point Market basically is a receiving area for most of the produce that's distributed up north. It's really a different world than maybe a lot of other night businesses.
Listen, (INAUDIBLE) to me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not today.
BIFULCO: We talk different, we sit and argue over prices. We curse out a buyer, he curses us out and five minutes later we start all over again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) out of here.
BIFULCO: Sometimes you get to hear a lot of words you don't want to hear, but it's part of our business and it's meaningless. That's what makes it fun. It makes the night pass and makes our business what it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) he touched his hear (ph).
BIFULCO: Anyone who works night, it affects you physically, mentally, your home life - everything. Your health is probably all screwed up, you know what I mean?
I sleep badly (ph). I have high blood pressure. I have it all. So, you know -
But it's - a lot of it's from the business, but this is what I chose.
Trust you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trust me.
BIFULCO: Home life? Listen, I've been divorced once.
You're not home. You're not around. You don't see the kids grow up. You miss out on a lot of things.
You don't give them your time, but listen, you're making - you make a good living now, you can afford to give them what they want. Just, they don't have you.
I've been doing it so long, I - I don't think I could work days. I'm just in the habit of working backwards. I'm like a vampire. I don't know how else to explain it.
But I enjoy it. I mean, I like the produce business.
Come on, give me your order. Here comes another one. Here comes another one
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: As the cost of property has risen in cities, the need to get the most out of it has risen, too. So you find a school doubling in the night as an aerobics center or a church may rents itself out in the evening to a civic group. And even some big places are pulling double duty, which requires a lot of effort in the darkness.
Take, for example, Phillips' arena in Atlanta, home to the pro hockey team the Thrashers and pro basketball's Hawks, making room for both in the same place? CNN's Eddie Cortes show us how that absolutely depends on the magic of the night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Our final score for tonight's game, the Tampa Bay Lightning 2, your Atlanta Thrashers, 1.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The games end at 9:30 at night. We're starting at 10:00.
We've changed this building over every night from hockey to basketball, basketball to hockey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what we call the third shift, the nightshift.
When everybody else is asleep, this is when this building can change from one thing to the next. It's extremely physical and very hard work.
RICHARD MANLEY, PHILIPS ARENA: Yes, it is. It is hard work.
Sometimes you get those two days off, you really enjoy those.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people don't like working at night. But then again, I know people who wake up at 4:00 in the morning to go to work, and I don't think I could do that.
MANLEY: It's 12:00 now, and we've got hockey deconstructed. The ice is covered. The basketball court is still coming out. I have 15 cartloads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put the pins in the floor pieces and putting the floor together like that.
MANLEY: It's 1:15 in the morning. We're about seven carts into our basketball laid down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get used to it. You stay busy so the night comes - the time goes kind of quick.
MANLEY: They have a morning skate at 10:00. I have to have the ice ready for that. And the same thing for basketball. 10:00 in the morning is usually the first shoot-around, unless there's a matinee game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. By 4:00 or 5:00 we usually get through.
MANLEY: The basketball floor is down. Now we're heading into the final finishing touches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have certain bleachers over here that has to come out.
You just have to train your body to be up at night, if you're not a night person.
MANLEY: It is what it is. I mean, in the middle of the night, I mean, this is like - somebody has to do it. I'll take it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Up in Massachusetts, the night lights burn very late for a very different reason. There they glow for comfort and care. The Foster Hospital for Small Animals is always open, mindful of the fact that not only man but also his best friend can have problems at very late hours. Photojournalist Bob Crowley takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This place is where things can happen.
Hello. Are you with us?
Where pets that don't really have any hope, find some hope.
DR. JONATHAN W BALL, VETERINARIAN: It's a night team environment working the overnights because you're all in it together and it's usually the same few people. But, we certainly see a fair number of highly critical patients, for sure. This is our ICU. This is staffed by at least one doctor 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a super intern here which means I've done an internship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She walked over and collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get a bucket or something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I worked in emergency medicine for a year, that's what I like, and so I came back to do a second internship.
Hold on, she's coming off the table. Hang on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone get the anesthesia machine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is here because they love what they do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Better. Thank you.
SHANNON WEAVER, EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL TECH: I'm one of the ECC technicians here. I've been here a little over four years. I've always been a night owl. I would much rather be here this hour of the day than at 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. Oh, I know baby. This is a little kitten probably only a couple of days old that someone found. We need to give him heat, he I can't keep his body temperature regulated. One of our co-workers is going to take him home.
He's meowing, so you know that you're not in the longs, so you're in good shape.
She is almost done with her first liter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately having a lot of episodes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, her owners are going to come in to put her to sleep.
WEAVER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we want to try to support her until they get here.
WEAVER: OK.
It's not easy. It's sad. He's only 8 years old. So, I'm just glad his family will be able to come in and be with him. His outcome isn't so great, but I was here and I was petting him and I feel like maybe I comforted him a little bit and that's why I do it. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that, as hard as the job is. But, there are good days, too. The kitten, holding the kitten will make me smile later. Things like this make the day better. I had a couple of really awful things happen. Then you get to see little guys like this and it makes it OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Coming up, like the song says, there will be some sweet sounds coming down on the nightshift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 24/7, you never knew when the next bullet or the next artillery shell was going to get you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: And hat off for the Bedford boys. "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: I'm Susan Hendricks at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Back to "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" in a moment, but first a check of our top stories.
In Washington D.C., U.S. capitol police have issued an all-clear after briefly ordering the evacuation of the capitol and house office buildings. The alarm was sounded when an aircraft strayed into restricted airspace over Washington. Fighter jets scrambled to intercept the wayward plane but the plane already landed at Reagan National Airport before they arrived.
Authorities in the Midwest are still assessing the damage from yesterday's outbreak of deadly storms. At least six people died in this mess, three in the small Arkansas town of Cincinnati, two in Dent County, Missouri, and one near Rolla, Missouri. A worker with the Red Cross tells CNN that shell-shocked residents must pick their way through streets covered with downed trees, power lines, and debris to reach shelter and aid. Missouri's governor has declared a state of emergency and is expected to tour the damaged areas today.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HENDRICKS: All right, we're also talking about Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She in Afghanistan meeting with the Afghan president and minister of finance. Napolitano says the U.S. has made significant progress in combating terrorist threats to the border region of Afghanistan and also Pakistan. She met with Afghan women and U.S. women serving in the region to reiterate President Obama's commitment to advancing women's right in Afghanistan.
I'm Susan Hendricks at the CNN Center. Now back to "FAVORITES IN FOCUS."
FOREMAN: Among some of our most exciting "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" this year are those who looked at the environment and how we can help make it better. They came from our series "Green Solutions in Focus." The equation, of course, is simple. As our nation grows, our impact on nature is growing, too. And so are the opportunities for new ideas, new business practices, even whole new industries aimed at finding solutions.
For example, maybe you've heard how cows, yes, cows, can produce vast amounts of greenhouse gases. Well, in the great dairy state of Vermont, photojournalist Bob Crowley found a farm where all they want out of their cows is the milk and the moos. And the humans are working to make that happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY HIRSHBERG, V.P., NATURAL RESOURCES FOR STONEYFIELD FARM: Vermont has a long history of being a huge milk state. My name is Nancy Hirshberg, I'm the vice president of Natural Resources for Stoneyfield Farm we make organic yogurt and dairy products.
The four years are of about a 180 organic dairy farms in the state of Vermont.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can milk up to eight at a time.
HIRSHBERG: He is one of the 1,400 dairy members of Organic Valley Crop Cooperative. The Stoneyfield Farm creator cow project was an effort on our behalf to find a way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from milk production.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, girl.
HIRSHBERG: We thought our factory was going to be the biggest part of our contribution to climate change and lo and behold it was actually the milk production. The cows themselves and their burps. Cows release methane, which is a very potent greenhouse gas. A lot of people think when they hear about gas from cows that it's coming from the rear end. It's coming from the mouth in silent burps. This is a cooked flax. We are adding a few pounds a day to their diet. What it does is it rebalances their stomach so they actually produce less methane.
The numbers that we've got so far on this farm is 12 to 15 percent improvement reducing methane emissions from the cows.
There's been a huge health benefit, as well. We were able to increase the omega 3 in the milk by almost 1/3.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to do my share. This is part of the reason why we farm in a sustainable manner and this just makes it better.
HIRSHBERG: The benefits are not only for the greenhouse gas emissions but it is for the animal's health and our human health, as well as the planet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Some industries don't seem as if they would have any real environmental worries, but whenever people go in big numbers there's always likely some impact. And people love going to the movies to see them and to make them. Photojournalist Effie Nidam has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARRETT FENNELLY, FILMMAKER: I love filmmaking. All I do is filmmaking. I'm Garrett Fennelly and I'm a filmmaker trying to reduce waste on a film set that I manage. Everything about a film set is wasteful.
BURTON MAY, PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: They're worry a lot about what's going on camera. So, they didn't put much effort into the environmental aspects of production.
FENNELLY: A location film shoot is a very fast paced and stressful place. It's 50 people and you have 10 to 12 hours to do something and at the end of it, you're left with waste.
As an environmentally-conscious filmmaker that was a breaking point for me, because I was just like, this doesn't make any sense. We have a lot of green alternatives we bring to the set. We sort out paper, plastics and metal.
We no longer use these disposable water bottles. We only use these Nalgene reusable water bottles.
On a film set we use a lot of lighting.
ANDREW WHITE, CINEMATOGRAPHER, 2020 PICTURES: These light bulbs are extremely energy efficient, the most energy efficient light bulbs on the market.
FENNELLY: During lunch you'll see our crew eating off biodegradable plates, bowls, cups. After lunch, people are responsible for sorting their own garbage. Now the movement is to move into digital film making.
JAMIE UNRUH, POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: We're shooting on cards that look like this. Shooting on cards is better for the environment than shooting on film because it's reusable.
MATTHEW O'CONNOR, ACTOR: Working on a green set is very good. It actually makes you feel very good. Because I know actually that we're helping to protect the environment and keep everything clean, be eco- friendly.
MAY: I think Garrett is doing a great job.
UNRUH: Garrett is great for what he's been doing.
FENNELLY: My hopes for the film industry is that it continues on this path of greening all their sets.
That's a cut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: One story we found this year that frankly seems like something from a movie involves stingrays, maybe millions of them, threatening to undo years of effort to save the Chesapeake Bay from pollution and overfishing. The rays are tipping the delicate balance in the waters of the bay wrapping around the east coast.
But photojournalist John Bena has a fascinating tale about how local folks are fighting and biting back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEADE AMORY, L.D. AMORY SEAFOOD CO: This is L. D. Amory Company a family seafood business. We've been here 92 years. This boat just came in this morning. We are unloading the product. They're grading the fish by size and quality. We package them up and we'll ship them all over the country. Beginning in the middle of May, we start seeing a large influx of these Chesapeake rays. They are devastating the clam beds and the oyster beds here in the Chesapeake Bay.
Right now they are catching them as by-catch. And many times they would be looking for other product but these rays when they come in in these big schools, they will fill the nets up. So we are trying to develop fishery and some products from this ray to help manage the species.
MIKE HUTT, VIRGINIA MARINE PRODUCTS BOARD: We fish the wings with the skin on and filleted.
Our job is to get the products out of Virginia that's being processed and harvested in Virginia.
TIM MILLER, EXECUTIVE CHEF, MIE N YU: I grew up in the area and I'd never seen it used. What could I do with this or let me play with it. I want to get my hands on it and see if we can do something with it actually.
OREN MOLOVINSKY, GENERAL MANAGER, MIE N YU: It's called our Tokyo style ray and oyster. It's modeled after a Japanese tuna hand roll. We said how do we now complete this dish to tell the entire story? That's when we decided to bring in a farm raised Chesapeake oyster on the dish. We play the two against each other. Bigger picture, our goal is to help solve the bigger problem in the Chesapeake. This is our little way of being able to do it in our four walls. MILLER: It's more than just what's on the plate. I think that's what makes it a good dish.
BOB FISHER, VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: There's always solutions. We need to address those solutions. Again, go in being smart to initiate a fishery, especially a targeted fishery on a species. We have to have the science in place so we can properly manage it. We learned our lessons so many times in the past where we go and enter a fishery, target a species and then we are left wondering what happened to that species.
AMORY: We will not let that happen here in Virginia. Our industry is striving to make everything we do sustainable. Eat a ray and save the bay. I don't know any other way to put it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: In just a minute --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On June the 5th we sailed out of the harbor about 9:00 at night, and I had never seen such an amazement of ships in all my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: -- "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: Many of the greatest gifts we give to each other can't be held in your hands and sometimes they come from strangers. That is part of what we wanted to explore in our "Veterans in Focus" series this year. Once again, we were simply awed by what we found.
For example, the 88-year-old survivor of the legendary D-Day invasion who is still all these years later standing alongside young troops, urging them on with words of courage, commitment, and sacrifice, a story brought to us by photojournalist Jeremy Moorhead. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere I look out of my house, I see mountains. Out in the front yard there, you see that post. That represents the 29th division. I was in World War II. I was about 23 1/2 years old then, and that little piece of shrapnel right there was taken out of my back. I'm not bragging, but this is some of the awards that I got.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bradley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, (INAUDIBLE) sergeant.
KEVIN KYLE (ph): My name is Kevin Kyle (ph) and I go to Virginia Military Institute. Today, the freshmen from VMI come to Bedford to the D-Day Memorial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm just so honored that all of you are able to meet him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We never knew when the next bullet was going to hit us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Hobbs (ph), he went in on Omaha Beach on D- Day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If a bullet had hit at me while I was landing, I would have been nothing.
APRIL CHEEK-MESSIER, EDUCATION DIRECTOR, D-DAY MEMORIAL: This is a very special place. Congress decided to place this memorial here in the town of Bedford because it sustained the highest per capita loss than any other community in our country on D-Day. This is the next generation of men and women who are going to be serving in our military, and we want them to be able to meet these veterans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. My name is Buster Shape (ph).
CHEEK-MESSIER: While they still walk among us, we want them to hear the stories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was an 18-year-old kid on D-Day. When went in to Omaha Beach.
CHEEK-MESSIER: We want those veterans to impart their advice and what they went through.
He won't say this, but he certainly is a hero in my eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on in closer, gentlemen. I'm not a fighter anymore, I'm a lover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would go in behind the Bedford boys. I just looked up to the sky, I said, good Lord, if you take care of me, I'll be a good boy the rest of my life. And I'm so proud to be speaking here before you young people today. You've got the whole world in your hands. You've got the opportunity of a lifetime. And I believe that (INAUDIBLE) bugles and that's not taps. Thank God, because I'd start crying. Thank you.
CHEEK-MESSIER: I mean the only thing to reflect on this wonderful gift that these young people and our veterans have given us, and that's the gift of just being so willing to serve this great country of ours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my duty to make these young people realize that this sacrifice is that some of the dads, some of the grandfathers went through to make sure they had their freedom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: For every soldier who takes part in a history-making invasion such as D-Day, there are countless others who day in and out make tough decisions and sacrifices to keep us all safe. In Melrose, Massachusetts, people recently honored a World War II pilot who thought first of protecting his crew and the town below after his plane ran into serious trouble, heedless of the danger he faced.
Photojournalist Bob Crowley takes us to the town that never forgot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYOR ROBERT NOLAN, MELROSE, MA: And we thank you for joining us this morning and honor a man and his family, Major Doak Weston.
SISTER MARY SAMSON, CRASH WITNESS: I remember that morning so vividly.
MAJ. ROBERT DRISCOLL, USAF RESERVE: Today is the 65th anniversary of the flight of Major Doak Weston, pilot.
SAMSON: I was in fifth grade. DRISCOLL: The B-25J took off from Grenier Field at approximately 10:30 A.M.
SAMSON: We heard the sound of the plane.
BOB ATTUBATO, CRASH WITNESS: It was unearthly sound coming over the school.
DRISCOLL: The pilot started to feather the left engine.
SAMSON: I don't know whether it was sputtering or what, but it was kind of that's not what - the way a plane is supposed to sound.
DRISCOLL: But, as he did so, the engine burst into flames.
ATTUBATO: We saw, just as we got to the window, this bomber coming over the school. It had an engine on fire.
DRISCOLL: Major Weston ordered his crew to bail out.
ATTUBATO: The engine and the wing fell off.
DRISCOLL: Soon after the crew jumped, it plunged to the earth below.
ATTUBATO: We saw a big column of smoke, and then we heard this big explosion. We were just stunned by it.
WARREN LEGER, CRASH WITNESS: It was a hole in the ground, airplane parts all over the place. There was an engine down this place, part of the wing over there, something else is over there. It looked like a junk yard.
DRISCOLL: Major Doak Weston was 27 years old when he made the ultimate sacrifice, saving his crew and an unknown number of civilians on the ground by directing his aircraft to the fairway below, leaving behind his pregnant wife and two sons.
NOLAN: It is right and just that we honor him today.
I learned about it maybe about a year ago, and I just couldn't imagine that this individual doesn't have some remembrance for what he's done.
MICHAEL WESTON, MAJ. WESTON'S SON: No question. It was my father.
Thank you.
There were lots of people who came together and made this happen. So I - I'm just very impressed. It made me very happy.
I was only 3 years old in 1945, and remember almost nothing of my father. But what I did understand was that my father sacrificed his life for the lives of others.
LEGER: He stuck his neck out to protect other people.
SAMSON: The way we define heroes now is, to me, it's a very loose definition. Major Weston is a true hero.
WESTON: There are lots of people who follow that instinct to do the right thing for their fellowman. That's what he stood for, for me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Our time is running short, but we have one last ride to take, a favorite place to say goodbye in one of the prettiest stories of the year "FAVORITES IN FOCUS" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOREMAN: If one thing characterizes the brilliant work of our photojournalists here at CNN, it is the great eye they have for spotting what is interesting, important, or just plain beautiful. We hope that you've enjoyed seeing the world through their lenses as we've looked at our "FAVORITES IN FOCUS."
And we leave you with one last little gift, a good-bye ride through the New York night with photojournalist Effie Nidam on the night tram. For all of us here at CNN, I'm Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL FINNEN, CABIN ATTENDANT: As I said, the city never sleeps. There's always action. My name is Michael Finnen I'm a cabin attendant for the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The public transportation between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island which is an island in the middle of the East River.
Please hold on while the cabin is docking.
My shift is from 10:00 at night to 6:00 in the morning. The skylight of Manhattan is always overpowering. But, I think more so at night when all the buildings are lit up and reflected on the East River.
Tonight it's pretty calm. Other nights it can be a little foggy and very quiet and mysterious.
I prefer the night shift. I'm used to it now. My whole life is geared around it.
Let's go, please, we're late.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry.
FINNEN: OK. Closing my doors. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you are standing, please hold on while the cabin is in motion. Thank you.
It is a different lifestyle, in reverse. Eating patterns are all off. Our sleeping patterns are all off. The best thing about the job is it leaves my days free, especially in the warm weather. You know, you get out, walk around. The downside is, you know, you lose contact with a lot of friends and family. Working nights it's sort of pleasant to have the sun coming up. Some people say I have one of the nicest jobs and I tend to agree with them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
