Freed U.S. Hikers Speak; Low Income Seniors Help Train Youth
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer are returning to the United States tonight. They were locked up in Iran for two years on charges that they were spies. Since Wednesday they have been free in Oman, where they made their first public statement just a short time ago. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is in Oman. So, Mohammed, what did they say?</s>MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Fredricka, it was just a short while ago,</s>WHITFIELD: So, Mohammed, did they say anything about how they're feeling? They must be incredibly exhausted.</s>JAMJOOM: They did look as though they were still tired, not as tired as they looked when they first got here a couple of nights ago. They certainly looked happy to be with their families. At one point Omani officials in the room presented bouquets of flowers to Josh Fattal, to Shane Bauer and to Sarah Shourd. They were sitting along with their families, everybody beaming, looking very, very happy to be back together. And we've been told the past few days that both men have undergone medical tests here in Oman, that they were also spending a lot of quality time with their families after having been separated for so long. And we do know also that last night that there was an official long awaited engagement ceremony between Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer. They had gotten engaged originally while they were both in prison in Tehran, notorious Evin Prison, but last night it was made official. And Shane Bauer gave a ring, an actual ring, to Sarah Shourd, and - and they got their official engagement, finally, underway. So now they're making their way home and looking forward to - to finalizing the wedding plans that they've been wanting to do for so long - Fredricka.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Now those hikers now U.S. bound. Thanks so much, Mohammed Jamjoom. In Italy now, prosecutors are defending the DNA evidence used to convict American Amanda Knox of murder. Today was the second day of closing arguments in the appeal of Knox's conviction. She and her former boyfriend were found guilty two years ago of killing fellow college student Meredith Kercher. The defense contends the evidence was mishandled. Knox's mother says she is cautiously optimistic.</s>EDDA NELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: I am. But none of us, you know - none of us let us go to that it's for sure place because it's not for sure. You never know what could happen. You know, the first trial here, we were sure that she would be acquitted because there was no evidence, and that obviously didn't happen. But we're - you know, I think we'll all a little less stressed.</s>SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: Business owners are reluctant to create jobs today if they're going to need to pay more tomorrow to comply with onerous new regulations. That's why employers say that uncertainty generated by Washington is a big wet blanket on our economy.</s>WHITFIELD: During her address Collins claimed federal agencies are drawing up more than 4,200 new rules. And President Barack Obama's weekly radio address also focused on the economy. He says if the U.S. is going to get serious about jobs, we would - it's necessary to get serious about education.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Education is an essential part of this economic</s>WHITFIELD: The president says his $447 billion jobs bill will help modernize and rebuild schools. America's jobs crisis is hitting some groups particularly hard - teens and young adults without high school diplomas. There's a program in Washington that's helping prepare them for full time jobs or college by putting them together with senior citizens. Athena Jones has more.</s>ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not your typical school.</s>TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM, FOSTER GRANDPARENT: Let me show you how to do that dough.</s>JONES: And 81-year-old Taylor Cunningham is not your typical instructor.</s>CUNNINGHAM: Good. You're doing it good, baby.</s>JONES: Here at Potomac Job Corps, low-income youth ages 16 to 24 can study to get their high school diploma or GED; become computer literate; or learn a trade like culinary arts, carpentry or cosmetology.</s>CUNNINGHAM: They call me "Pop-pop" (ph).</s>JONES (on camera): "Poppa"?</s>CUNNINGHAM: "Pop-pop" (ph).</s>JONES: "Pop-pop"?</s>CUNNINGHAM: Yes.</s>JONES (voice-over): A group of low-income senior citizens like Cunningham, who used to be a cook, serve as foster grandparents, helping teachers train the youth.</s>JONES: The southwest Washington Job Corps campus houses some 480 students, many of them considered at risk. Ronnie Taylor is a rarity among the participants. He has a college degree, but he couldn't find a good paying job and wasn't making enough money to get by.</s>JONES: Taylor is nearing the end of the program and he has a job at a local restaurant. This Job Corps site is one of 124 nationwide funded by the Department of Labor at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year. The program places 90 percent of students who complete the typical two year course in full time jobs, college or the military. Cheryl Christmas, who runs the Washington Foster Grandparent Program, says it helps the seniors who take part stay active.</s>CHERYL CHRISTMAS, FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAM: Low income often comes with it a lot of health issues. The idea of volunteering, getting out, being connected, it reduces the isolation of these seniors, so they get that health benefit.</s>JONES: The seniors get a commuting allowance and $2.65 per hour tax- free stipend in return. It's money they can use.</s>CUNNINGHAM: It's a big help.</s>JONES: For the teenagers at this site, the program is a chance for a good life.</s>TAYLOR: For me, finding my passion in cooking again, it's made me more motivated to get out and become more successful. So, I tell you, it's changed me for the better.</s>JONES: Officials say the Job Corps Program is expensive, but worth it.</s>JANE OATES, ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY: It's not a feel good program. This is a program that is an investment in these young people.</s>JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.</s>WHITFIELD: The FBI is rewarding the folks who helped them catch James "Whitey" Bulger. He and his girlfriend were arrested this summer after eluding police for 16 years. The FBI says more than $2 million was paid to at least two tipsters. Bulger, an alleged Boston mob boss, is accused in 19 murders. A dead satellite is now out of the cosmos. NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell out of orbit overnight over the North Pacific Ocean. No one knows for sure where any of the pieces may have landed, but a news photographer in San Antonio, Texas captured this image, convinced that that could be a piece of that debris of that satellite. All right, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is not giving up on her dream. Last night she began a new attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. Nyad was forced to abandon an earlier attempt last month. Well, this time the 62-year-old briefly got tangled up with jellyfish and she was treated for stings, then she took off again. She hopes to make to it Florida by Monday. And the house of Gadhafi has fallen, and that's not just a figure of speech. Literally his houses have been destroyed. Our Ben Wedeman took a stroll through one of Moammar Gadhafi's once opulent palaces in Libya, now just broken glass and smashed up figures. You're going to see all of that next.