Tropical Storm Remnants Cause Travel Up Coast; CNN Hero Helps Abused Girls in Zimbabwe
LONG: At least five deaths are blamed on a powerful storm that's pounded parts of the eastern seaboard for days now. Streets are flooded, beaches are eroding in the coastal area of New Jersey and New York state, the storm's winds and rain also took a very heavy toll in the Carolinas and in Virginia, where tens of thousands of people are still without power right now. Hundreds of roads, you can see them right there, underwater. This all stems from remnants of tropical storm and then Tropical Depression Ida, which as you know, made landfall Tuesday in Alabama. Chad Myers is tracking the storm for us in the CNN weather center. Chad, this is a storm that stalled out over Atlanta for days, and it just seems to be stalling as it travels up the coastline.</s>CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. And some of the flooding that you're seeing there is salt water or brackish water that came up through the Chesapeake, up through the James, and then spilled back in, because the wind will be pushing the water back into those bays, Melissa. Oceania, Virginia, 75-mile-per-hour wind gusts, even Cape Henry at 72. So, how did it stack up? Well, this storm, Ida, came in across the Gulf of Mexico. It was a Category 2, 105-mile-per-hour hurricane for a while, down by Cancun, then died off and came up into Georgia. Our winds were 20, 30. It rained a little bit. But then all of a sudden, the high pressure and a low pressure -- the low pressure got close together, and the winds really picked up. And that's what we've been seeing across the East Coast. Airports: Newark, LaGuardia, JFK, two, three, four hours behind. What you need to do today is get to the airport as early as you can, not as late as you can. Get to the airport early and see if the previous flight is still there and see if you can get on it, because your flight may be three hours late.</s>LONG: And pack a lot of patience, as well.</s>MYERS: And a book.</s>LONG: All right. Any recommendations?</s>MYERS: I am reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or something like that.</s>LONG: OK.</s>MYERS: It's about how you're not supposed to eat all this corn stuff.</s>LONG: OK. I'll add to it my reading to-do list. Thanks, Chad.</s>MYERS: OK, sure.</s>LONG: Top stories for you right now if you're just turning on the television this afternoon. The suspect in the so-called house of horrors case in Cleveland was back in court this morning, a case not related to his murder charges. Anthony Sowell pleaded not guilty in the sexual attacks that led to a search of his home. In that search, police discovered 11 bodies. Right now, he is charged with five counts of murder in the case. From Phillip Garrido, a jailhouse apology. Garrido is accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her captive for 18 years in his backyard in California. She was 11 when she was abducted. In a handwritten letter sent to television affiliate KTRA-TV, Garrido says, and I directly quote, "First off, I want to apologize to every human being for what has taken place." And success for NASA and its "shoot-the-moon" mission. A pretty cool story. NASA says the craft that was intentionally crashed into a lunar crater last month found the very best evidence yet of water. That finding from studying debris kicked up by the actual crash. A safe haven. Hope for a better future. Betty Makoni has given both to hundreds of girls in Zimbabwe who have been sexually abused after she was abused herself as a child. Makoni founded the Girl Child Network, and she is one of our top ten "CNN Heroes" of the year. Joins us now live from London. First off, congratulations.</s>BETTY MAKONI, FOUNDER, GIRL CHILD NETWORK: Thank you, Melissa.</s>LONG: Absolutely. We are looking forward to talking to you, finding out a little more about your organization. And this has certainly become your life's work. And I understand it dates back to when you were teaching more than a decade ago, and you saw a need to help these young girls.</s>MAKONI: Yes, I saw the need to help the young girls because they were dropping out of school. They went missing in the school system, so I went out looking for them.</s>LONG: Well, they were often missing because they were becoming very young moms. That was one of the problems. And this all ties into the virgin myth, the so-called virgin myth, in Zimbabwe. Help us to understand what that is.</s>MAKONI: The virgin myth came because people were desperate for HIV and AIDS cure. And they think, by extracting the blood of the young girl and mixing it with certain herbs, the virus goes away. So, a lot of children has gone on to be raped, including a day-old baby.</s>LONG: A widely-held belief in Zimbabwe, if a man with AIDS or HIV rapes someone who is young, rapes a virgin, then he will be cured of AIDS. And this is a problem that persists today, and you are trying to save the young girls. Tell us how many girls your organization has benefited.</s>MAKONI: Our girls that have benefited 300,000 girls in terms of their empowerment skills. We have also rescued over 70,000 girls since 1998. But my statistics are showing that 45,000 girls have passed through our girls empowerment program (ph) in terms of reinstatement in schools, dealing from rape, and also ensuring that they are protected from abuse.</s>LONG: Protected from abuse. And for those that are abused that they know they can get help and live very fulfilling lives because I understand, Betty, you weren't able to get that help. You were silenced as a little girl.</s>MAKONI: When I was 6 years old myself and other nine of my friends, we got raped by one man, who thought that raping girls would make him rich. Out of all the ten girls who were raped in the neighborhood, I'm the only one who came out to be a powerful woman. So, this is also dedicating my life to all those girls and myself who never got</s>LONG: Well, Betty, you've dedicated your life to helping so many people, and now you are getting a very important honor. Congratulations, one of our CNN nominees for "Hero." Thank you so much, Betty. Safe travels from the U.K. to the United States for the important ceremony, OK? Thank you, Betty, congratulations.</s>MAKONI: Thank you, Melissa.</s>LONG: And to find out Betty Makoni and her life's work, and to vote on our top ten "CNN Hero" finalists, go online to CNN.com/heroes. Plus, we encourage you to watch our all-star tribute, hosted by Anderson Cooper Thanksgiving night. That's only on CNN. 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