mentoring. what if home room were more than attendance taking and routine announcements? principal bill him nez agreed to try it. let's look at the data referring to standardized test scores as well as research on same-sex classes. let's con front it and see what we can do about it. now every morning for six minutes and 20 minutes once a week, the junior class splits into race and sex, and in just a few minutes we'll hear how it's working out. this is going to be a hot topic online. we want to hear from you. what do you think about all black home rooms. head to cnn.com/ali to hear what you have to say. this is an interesting subject. you can post on facebook, either my page or ali's page. we'll read your comments throughout the day. moving on to two at the top. it's been the snowiest wentr in a while in parts of the northeast. the flakes just keep on falling, a foot here, 19 inches there. all the big cities up i-95 were hit by this overnight nor'easter from d.c. to bogs ton. reynolds wolf is on the street in bean town. reynolds, that's an awful lot of snow again, again! >> reporter: absolutely. it just kept coming. we haven't seen the snowflakes since about 7:00 this morning. the wind has been dieing down. you look down and see the street. it looks pretty wet. but for the most part it's passable. if you're wondering where the snow is, it's right there. plenty of it piled up by earth moving equipment. now the roads are passable. people are able to get by. we've seen boston's finest out. all kinds of vehicles coming through. we've seen pedestrians out there enjoying the sunshine because there's plenty of it. we get to talk about some of the bad news. one thing is we mentioned this is wet, heavy snow. there was actually a building in lynn, massachusetts, where there was a roof collapse, 18 people were trapped. people have managed to get out. still a lot of the snow is going to remain. another issue we've got, about 3,000 power outages. that is another issue we had in part of the area. power is being restored to many people. another bit of good news, we had schools canceled for kids in boston. yet another snow day. the kids i'm sure are smiling. that's good stuff. city operations are open. a lot of the downtown, city hall was open. airport getting back to normal. there were about 300 cancellations in terms of arrivals and departures. amtrak is also open for trains trying to come in and out of boston in other parts of the northeast. nearly a foot of snowfall in 12 hours. city of boston handled it pretty well. however, christine, there's the possibility we may see more snowfall coming back to boston. thankfully it's going to be light. looking at one to maybe two inches of snowfall at best as we make our way through the weekend. as it stands, the snow is gone, today is a great day for both man and beast. boy, are we a long way from a dog days of summer. hard to believe in three or four months things will be much better. still, winter is here. >> reynolds, it looks likeup ear wearing fleece, though. how cold is it there? >> reporter: it's not bad. well above freezing. i'd say probably about 35 degrees at this point. >> when all that melts, it's not going to be bean town. it will be muck town, is that right? >> reporter: i would definitely say so. when it comes to temperatures, everything is relative. you happen to be in miami and you hear 34 degrees, that's pretty cold. but if you're up here in boston, break out the bermuda shorts and the sunscreen. this is a beautiful day. you've got to love it. >> and your gill loshs when all that stuff starts to melt. thanks so much. our sound effect may bring a tear to your eye unless you name is samantha and you live in britain. last week a lonely british soldier tried to phone his be loved samantha. apparently he misdialed and left a heart renteding message on the answering machine of diane pots. pots does not have a bo on the battlefield but knows an urgent message when she hears one. >> hi baby, it's me. i couldn't call you last month, but you know what it is like out there and i should be back in three months. i've got one more guy that's just been blown up. i feel so, i feel really sad. i really feel sad that i didn't get to speak with you now but i'll speak to you next month here. i love you with all my heart. and i was going to ask you, don't answer -- well, you can't answer but, um, will you marry me? >> wow. and it gets better. samantha apparently is pregnant. her soldier says can't wait to give birth to my baby. checking other big stories. overnight lockdown has been lifted at the army's proving ground in the utah desert that tests chemical and biological weapons. the military abruptly shut it down last night but wouldn't say why. during a routine inventory workers discovered a vile of nerve gas was missing. the missing vx turned up early this morning. the folks at dugway won't say where it was, why it wasn't where it should have been or if anyone has been disciplined. los angeles police report important breaks in the grim sleeper killing case. suspect lonnie franklin, junior has been charged in ten murders pleading not guilty. now they're investigating two more. these were women killed in the '90s, some sort of connection with franklin. meantime the department says it's identified most of the women in a huge batch of photos found in franklin's home. officers are still trying to track down 62 others. you got your high-tech drug smugglers with mini subs and more. these guys are caught on tape using a catapult to fling packages of pot across the mexico-u.s. border. these caught the eye of the crew at the arizona border control station. the smugglers slipped away. cops seized about 45 pounds of marijuana, the suv and the cat bult. 5,000 dead black birds littering the ground in arkansas. now a state report confirms preliminary findings that the birds died of blunt trauma. they apparently flew into obstacles triggering internal bleeding. why some educators think separating races in schools is a good idea. the day marches on, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on; just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is steven, who chose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. dine like you're in new york city the next... catch chicago acts... orlando-style fun... even moscow nightlife. that's the freedom of freestyle cruising -- only on norwegian cruise line. 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[ female announcer ] so book today. freestyle cruising. only on norwegian cruise line. basic. preferred. at meineke i have options on oil changes. and now i get free roadside assistance with preferred or supreme. my money. my choice. my meineke. our show began with a story that sounds like a throwback to the bad old days. students at a public high school separated by race. what's happening in lancaster, pennsylvania, is far from black and white. it's a mentoring program conceived by an african-american teacher designed to close an achievement gap that was painfully clear in last year's standardized testing. 60% of white students scored proficient or advanced. even fewer black students aced math. now for a six-minute daily home room and 20-minute class once a week, the classes are split by race and sex and talk about the future. >> i specifically looked at research that focused on african-americans, what was best for their academic needs. one thing that some of the studies side from maryland was mentoring. so we were already running with that idea. and they actually emphasized same-gender mentoring. so i proposed the idea to run an african-american male and female home room to the principal, and he was on board with it. >> the first thing we started with was creating a schedule and a list of things and objectives that we needed to accomplish. then we broke it down into how we could do that each day. there's a 20-minute home room once a week and six minutes the other days. if we have objectives, it's a matter of how we're going to express those in that time. >> so far we're learning about education, the percentage of black women in high school, college and how much they succeed. >> what have you found out that's been surprising to you? >> that the black women get more bachelor's degrees than black men. >> and has it inspired you to think differently? >> yeah, it has. >> or plan for different things? >> it makes me want to go to college and be one of those people who become successful in life. >> we invited school officials to join us but they declined. still, i want to talk about the challenges schools like mccasskey are facing. it sounds like something, a school who is on the ground taking a look at what their situation is and trying to fix it, really from -- school by school. we hear that so often, that in education sometimes it's the school itself that can figure out what its own challenges are and can fix it. it's against the backdrop, pedro of painful memories in this country of segregation. that is something that is a scar and a historical burden that we still grapple with. is this school doing the right thing do you think? >> well, they certainly sound well intentioned. that teacher that was just interviewed sounds like she clearly wants to help the students. i think what she needs to be aware of is sometimes when we separate students in this way we inadvertently reenforce stereotypes and may, in fact, stigmatize children by suggesting there's something wrong with them and that, therefore, they need extra help. clearly there are white students who also need help. so i don't see any reason why they need to separate based on race. they should separate based on who needs help and provide them with extra support. it sounds like they're doing a good with the supports based on what the students said. but i would be wary of an approach that focuses exclusively on race. >> one thing some of the teachers have said there is the research shows that when kids have a mentor who is like them, who they can look up to, that that helps them, that that's something that really motivates them. one teacher in particular quoting martin luther king junior to his students and saying the progress -- the progress in such a short time has been that the men are buttoning their shirts and pulling up the saggy pants and are starting to act with a little more discipline on the outside at least because of some of the teaching from martin luther king junior. is that something that we've seen in the research that when you separate children out by race or sex, i guess is probably more often we see that in this country that, that helms them? that when they're with their peers, such a specific peer group that they do better? or do we not know? >> no. there is research showing the benefits of mentoring and certainly the benefits of having a teacher or an adult mentor who shares your background. not simply with respect to race, but your social experience, someone who you can identify with is certainly beneficial form many students. i would say that's a good thing u. it's the reason why we should have diversity in the teaching profession and make sure we're exposing children to diverse role models. >> do you think this school -- a lot of people are talking about this, we're asking for comments on the blog. a lot of people continue to sort of speak out about this. do you think that this might be, i don't know, misunderstood by people outside of the school district who see this story and say, oh, this is segregation again in america, when it might be a little more nuance than that? >> the truth is we have many, many schools throughout the united states that are still segregated, not by law, but by fact. they're segregate $because the neighborhoods are segregated or because the districts have not done enough to make sure there's equal access to all schools and have taken steps to diversify them. they should be outraged about it throughout the country. a program like this that's designed to help kids is really of a different nature because it's not done to keep kids apart. it's done to try to provide additional support. that doesn't mean, though, that they might not be making a mistake. as i said before, the stereotypes that send the message to kids that because of their race or their gender, that they're less capable and less smart, are very pervasive in our society. this could be the message that some kids get. so i would question why they need to segregate kids on the basis of race, if there are white students who also need support, they should be in the program as well. >> one thing about it as a surface, you see segregating these kids out and you think -- you immediately harken back to some pretty terrible days in this country. but it is six minutes a day with a 20-minute mentoring session every other week or something. do you think even on such a small basis, six minutes a day in the home room and the 20 minutes every other week, you still think they have to be very careful about how they proceed with this? >> yeah, and i also don't think that's enough time. if these kids are struggling in math and literacy, they need more time than that and need to make sure they're using after school and finding other ways to get the additional instruction. i would say they should search for more time and try to make it inclusive and avoid the tendency to stigmatize the students. >> one thing that is clear the schools are looking attest scores and looking at what's happening in their own schools and trying to figure out ways to address it. that shows you there are people who care about trying to fix education in this country and help kids. >> and they should be commended for that. i think that's the main point, is that the district and the educators there are trying to do what they can to support the students. they should be encouraged. at the same time, they have to be careful in how they go about it. >> thank you very much for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you christine. we asked for your comments online. clint posted this on facebook, it sounds like a useful program and the students have great mentors. i'm not convinced separating the black students from everyone else is necessary. this being said, at least the school is attempting to do this. stephanie says as an african-american educator i understand the importance of students having role models. i applaud testify fort but it bothers me if it's not being done for all groups who are struggling. and this one says i just fear that these kids are being cheated out of learning to with the others and for having mentors that maybe a little different from them. the commission that explored the 2008 financial melt down has put their report out today. we'll tell you about in two minutes. see your lexus dealer. i was living on welfare and supporting a family of four. after i got the job at walmart, things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. 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[ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna... the government commission that explored the causes of the 2008 financial meltdown is out with its final report. the commission says the crisis could have been avoided had the government been on the ball, challenging the negotiation by many on wall street and washington that the crisis could not have been foreseen. it faults the policies and actions by every major government figure involved in the crisis in both the bush and the obama administrations. the commission tells the story of banks turning out trillions in poor quality home loans, rubber stamped by rating agencies and sold to unsuspected investors all around the world. these and other practices were carried out in a, quote, shadowed banging system which was almost entirely unregulated. you can join me on "your bottom line" saturday morning at 9:30. don't miss your "your money." we're there talking about it seven days a week. checking develops in the top stories t labor department says 454,000 americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. that's 51,000 more than the week before, much higher than most economists expected. claims have been on the rise since dropping below 400,000 four weeks ago. it's nasa's annual day of remembrance when the agency honors its fallen heroes. tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the "challenger" explosion that killed seven astronauts. 44 years ago today three apollo astronauts died in a fire. firefighters are battling a stubborn place at the norfolk, virginia, naval station right now. it broke out in an empty warehouse. navy firefighters and city crews are on the scene. no word on what started the fire. so far no injuries reported. travel is treacherous if not almost impossible across much of the northeast today. a fast-moving storm piled up another six to 18 inches of snow from virginia all the way to maine. hundreds of flights canceled. schools and many government offices are closed. thousands are without power in the d.c. area. robert gibbs said he would leave the white house sometime after the state of the june june. is the white house getting close to announcing his replacement? ed henry is reading the tea leaves. he joins me next. plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. 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