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Blog Smears Gay Student; Fisher-Price Recalls Millions of Toys; Innovation of Food; Review: The Social Network; Michael J. Fox on Parkinson's: "Everything Else is My Choice"

Aired September 30, 2010 - 12:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. T.J., you have a great afternoon. Thank you, my friend.

I'm Ali Velshi. For the next two hours today and every weekday, I'll guide you through the maze of information coming your way.

Together, we'll learn what's going on at home and around the world. You'll get access to the folks who can explain what it means today and the impact beyond today. We'll showcase the best ideas in innovation, philanthropy and public education.

My mission is to help you figure out what's going on and how it fits into your life.

Let's get started right now. Here's what I got on the rundown:

Millions of toys are being recalled by the one of the biggest names in the toy business because they could be dangerous to your kids. We'll tell you what you need to know.

Plus, we're talking about courage in the face of illness. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives us a taste of his new series, "The Human Factor." He's got an exclusive interview with Michael J. Fox.

And if you're tired of eating the same old meals day after day, we've got some experts to help you. Two former "Top Chef" contestants join me here to teach you how to be a top cook in your home.

But, first, big story for you now. Two young men with very different outcomes from cyberbullying. No one -- one is not commenting right now. The other one committed suicide.

Meet Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University in New Jersey. His family says he died after jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River. Two fellow students, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei are charged with invasion of privacy after allegedly playing a camera or putting a camera into the 18-year-old's dorm room without his knowledge and broadcasting elements of -- broadcasting his sexual encounters.

Now, Ravi, the one student who's been charged, was Tyler's roommate. He's believed to have sent out this Twitter post, reading, quote, "Roommate asked for the room until midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."

Now, meet Chris Armstrong, the other subject of the conversation we're talking about. He's the first openly gay student body president at the University of Michigan, and the target of a venomous blog by an assistant state attorney general named Andrew Shirvell. Armstrong isn't been smeared for a suspected crime. Instead Shirvell claims Armstrong is pushing a, quote, "radical homosexual agenda." He calls the student a racist, elitist liar, a privileged pervert.

In a memorandum -- in a memorable appearance on Tuesday night with my colleague, Anderson Cooper, Shirvell not only didn't back down from those slurs, he defended them and kept up the attack on Armstrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW SHIRVELL, MICHIGAN ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I am doing this as a private citizen, off work time, as a University of Michigan alum. We're quibbling over tactics. We're not quibbling over substance. The substance of the matter is, Anderson, Chris Armstrong is a radical homosexual activist who got elected, partly funded by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund to promote a very deeply radical agenda at the University of Michigan.

ANDERSON COOPER, "AC360" HOST: His biggest issues were extending the hours of the cafeteria and lowering tuition, as well as some gender housing issues.

SHIRVELL: No, that's not correct. No, that's not correct, Anderson. His biggest issue is gender-neutral housing. What we're talking about is anybody, any man or woman wanting to choose to live together. That's a radical redefinition of gender norms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Now, for his part, the student body leader, Chris Armstrong, is not giving any interviews. But he isn't running scared either. The news and information site AnnArbor.com is now reporting Armstrong is seeking a personal protection order against Andrew Shirvell.

Journalist David Jesse broke that story. He joins me now on the phone from Ann Arbor.

David, thanks for joining us. Tell us what the latest is.

DAVID JESSE, REPORTER, ANNARBOR.COM (via telephone): Well, the latest is that Chris, as you said, has filed for a restraining order against Mr. Shirvell. He asked the judge to implement it immediately. The judge denied that and set a hearing for 1:30 p.m. on October 4th. We'll sure hear from both sides on whether or not a personal protection order should be entered.

VELSHI: All right. David, I want to just play you more from Anderson Cooper's show last night. Mike Cox, the attorney general of Michigan, was on the show. He has earlier said that the -- that the -- his assistant, Shirvell, Andrew Shirvell, has a right to say what he's had to say. He was pressed a little further.

Let's listen to exactly what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE COX, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Certainly, it's -- it's unbecoming of civil discourse. It's unbecoming of common courtesy. And, you know, I -- quite frankly, I feel embarrassed for Mr. Armstrong. You know, that he has this unwanted attention.

But, again, Anderson, this is speech put on a blog. Now, if there's conduct that's verified -- for instance, if a personal protection order was sought by Mr. Armstrong and granted in the Michigan civil service or a disciplinary code, we could start looking at things in terms of, perhaps, sending to an employee assistant program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: OK. David, I mean, it is -- it is remarkably frustrating to hear the double speak that continues to go on. I don't really understand what Mike Cox said, but I'll read it to you. He said, "Now, if there's a personal protection order was sought by Mr. Armstrong and granted in the Michigan civil service or disciplinary code, we could start looking at things in terms of, perhaps, sending to an employee assistance program."

I kind of think that means that if Armstrong filed and was granted a personal protection order, the attorney general could do something more. Do you -- can you make more sense of the somewhat unintelligible comment by Mike Cox?

JESSE: Sure. My understanding there is that under the civil service rules that if there was a PPO, you know, then that would open up some other options for a wide variety of things. And as Mr. Cox referenced, even, you know, employee assistance, which I would assume to generally be some sort of counseling, you know, kind of help him a bit. You know, and so, we'll see, you know, next week if that's -- if that's the case.

VELSHI: Is there -- is there much discussion here about whether by engaging in this, Cox can't just fire Shirvell?

JESSE: You know, there's a lot of discussion. We're seeing it, you know, in the comments left on our site, and the e-mails I'm getting. You know, even in the last, you know, half hour, 45 minutes since we broke -- since we broke this story, lots of people want to see him -- want to see him gone, you know? And like he told Anderson Cooper last night, you know, Shirvell and his boss, you know, feel this is a free speech type of a -- type of a thing.

But if you read -- you know, in that PPO, Chris Armstrong, a student body president, you know, wrote about how he feels -- you know, how he feels threatened by him. That he believes, you know, this action -- quoting here, "have been an outright attack on my ability to live my life." You know, certainly, Mr. Armstrong feels threatened by this.

VELSHI: Let me tell you what Armstrong has said, a statement that he read at a student meeting. He says, quote, "I will not back down. I will not flinch. I will not falter. I will not succumb to any unwarranted attacks. I will carry on with the utmost pride and vindication."

A little later, in fact, just in the few minutes, we're going to get into how damaging statements put out on the Internet can actually be to people.

One thing I want to ask you about, David, let's talk a little bit about the political fallout right now. Shirvell is not an elected official as an assistant attorney general. Mike Cox is an elected official. What's going on in the politics of this?

JESSE: What's interesting in this case is Mr. Cox's term is up at the end of the year. He is not running for re-election. You have a Democrat and Republican facing off for that. And last night, the Democratic candidate called for Mr. Shirvell to be fired, you know? So, it's starting to raise itself as an issue in the attorney general's race.

VELSHI: OK.

JESSE: And, certainly, you know, around campus here, it's a huge -- a huge topic.

VELSHI: All right. We'll continue to follow it. David Jesse is a reporter at AnnArbor.com, on the phone with me from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

I want to go to the White House right now. We've just been listening in. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has been talking about the president making a personnel announcement tomorrow morning at 11:05 a.m. We expect that to be about Rahm Emanuel leaving his job at chief of staff at the White House.

Let's listen in for a moment and see if there's more on that.

REPORTER: -- he also possibly have two announcements, somebody coming, somebody going?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would be -- I would bet on having two announcements, yes.

REPORTER: Will we hear from the personnel?

GIBBS: Some of them, yes.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) if he were to leave, what effect would that have?

(CROSSTALK) GIBBS: (INAUDIBLE) hypotheticals.

REPORTER: More broadly, a lot of people are leaving. Orszag left, Romer left. Larry's leaving. Rahm is leaving. There are reports about General Jones. Secretary Gates has said 2011 is a good time for him to leave.

There are a lot of people, key members of the national security team, key members of the economic team. Could you just comment on that?

ROBERTS: Yes. And I've said this in a number of times. Look, I think -- I think two years in -- if you look back historically is a time in which people have come into government service at the beginning of an administration and leave to go back to academia or business or to retire or go on to other pursuits. And I think it is, in many ways, the normal rhythm of an administration to do.

We have -- I think I've said this to a number of you all. That folks that have worked in here for the last two years have managed to pack four or six or eight or 10 years' worth of work into those two. The economic team has dealt with the type of -- a series of crisis from housing to financial stability to the Recovery Act to unemployment.

I would point out, done so in a way -- if you look at the news today on AIG, we are -- if the common stock that the American government holds in AIG were sold today, that investment would net the federal government $20 billion. As -- probably as late as a year ago, most people presumed that AIG would be $180 billion loss. The financial sector would cost the government a great deal of money. The financial sector as a portion of TARP, is likely to provide a profit for the government in terms of its investment.

So, I think, Jake, in many ways, it is the natural course of the way this town works. And that administrations work. People have given of their time and of their lives. They've been away from their loved ones, their families. A number of people that you mentioned, I know, you know, Larry moved here while his family stayed in Massachusetts. And I think in many ways, again, it's the normal cycle and course of doing business.

REPORTER: Is it abnormal to stay longer than two years?

ROBERTS: No. Look, I mean, everybody has -- look, in Larry's case, there are tenure issues, which is -- which is not something that can just be waived. So, I think in many ways, you know -- look, some people stay longer. Some people will leave.

Again, I think it's largely -- I think it is much more of the normal course and the rhythm. You look at and you see directors -- you look at somebody like, you mentioned Secretary Gates who has -- you know, who's served the last part -- I think it was, what, the last two years of the previous administration.

And I -- you know, I hope Secretary Gates doesn't get mad at me for telling this story. But I remember being backstage during the transition when President-elect Obama saw Mrs. Gates and shook his new defense secretary's hand and looked at his wife and said, "I'm sorry."

So, look, there's a sacrifice that is borne by people like that that is -- that just comes to -- comes to fruition.

REPORTER: What about press secretaries?

VELSHI: OK. What you have been watching is White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and the White House Press Corps engaged in the biggest non-discussion we've seen in a long time. This is all about Rahm Emanuel leaving the White House, leaving his position as chief of staff, most likely tomorrow morning, to run for mayor of Chicago.

Now, none of that has been announced. Rahm Emanuel is not announcing that he's running for the mayor of Chicago. The mayor of Chicago, the long-time mayor of Chicago, Daley, has announced that he's not running again. And Rahm Emanuel has made no secret, historically, of the fact that he wants to be the mayor of Chicago.

The announcement about him leaving was shrouded in his message by Robert Gibbs that tomorrow at 11:05 a.m., the president will be making an announcement about personnel. And they will be announcing -- there'll be two announcements, which means someone will be leaving. And that is most likely Rahm Emanuel. And someone will be coming in to replace him either on an interim or permanent basis.

That is what that discussion was all about. You wouldn't have known it from listening to it, I'll tell you that much.

But before that, we were involved in a discussion about cyberbullying. Not just something kids at school do. It's something that the assistant attorney general of Michigan is involved in right now. Well, there's a much broader discussion to be had here. It goes far beyond dorm rooms and college campuses and the Internet. We're going to have that discussion straight ahead.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Before the break, we told you about Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who committed suicide after allegedly having a sexual encounter broadcast over the Internet. Also, we told you about Chris Armstrong, the young man at the University of Michigan who's being blasted online by that state's assistant attorney general.

But just as these young men were attacked using the Internet, there's a huge outpouring of support on the Internet for them. Tyler has several Facebook pages in his honor with tens of thousands of supporters. People are sending words of encouragement and support to his family and loved ones.

Chris Armstrong in Michigan also has several Facebook support pages with thousands of supporters. People all over the country and the world are encouraging him to keep his head up and stay strong. Both men handled cyber bullying in very different ways.

Dr. Patricia Agatston is the author of "Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age." She joins me now live on the phone.

Dr. Agatston, thank you for joining us.

We've got two very different situations going on right now. They have two things in common, both of them have something to do with the victim's sexuality. Both of them are being spread online. They don't all fit the traditional measure of what we call bullying.

One of them is an assistant attorney general in Michigan targeting a student leader. Something he calls a political act.

Tell me how you look at these situations and whether these are, in fact, cyberbullying instances.

DR. PATTI AGATSTON, CYBERBULLYING EXPERT (via telephone): Well, these may be more extreme cases. And -- but I think what we have to look at is someone is using their power over someone else. That is a form of bullying behavior. And we do know that, traditionally, kids are more likely to be targeted by bullying. I think we're still learning about all the particulars about these cases.

However, what we do know is that technology is incredibly powerful. And when we use that power over others, it can really accelerate and amplify the negative behavior and the hurt that someone experiences.

VELSHI: There's a couple of issues there. One is you said -- typically, bullying is somebody using their power over someone else. When I was a little kid, bullies were the bigger kids or the most popular kids. That's how they exercise their power over someone else.

But the Internet blurs that line. You don't actually have to be in a position of power. You don't have to be popular.

AGATSTON: Right.

VELSHI: And you don't have to be physically large or intimidating to be able to bully someone and cause them harm.

AGATSTON: Correct, because what you have is the power of technology. And that's what allows you to engage in this. So, it's -- what we're looking at is it's hard to defend yourself against this bullying behavior. Well, certainly, if someone has a vast, wide audience that they're reaching and you're the person being targeted, it's very hard to defend yourself when the reach is so vast.

VELSHI: Tell me about this. The other thing that I recall from my childhood is if somebody's bullying someone, they sometimes take great gratification in seeing the response that they're getting.

But sometimes, that response causes the bully to back off. Maybe it's somebody crying. Maybe it's somebody looking hurt. Maybe it's the fact there's been physical injury so they know to step back.

Whereas with online bullying, it's unclear to the bully what the outcome is going to be.

AGATSTON: Well, there is. I mean, and certainly, there is the issue of the disinhibition that occurs when we don't see the person face to face. So, it may be for some individuals easier to engage in malicious or cruel behavior. And when you don't see the impact of your behavior on others, you're less likely to back off. So, you don't -- you miss out on the reactions. You don't realize in some cases how hurtful your behavior could be.

And that's why it's so important, I think, for us all to be talking about that there's a real person on the other end of the screen and it really does cause harm.

VELSHI: Yes. Dr. Agatston, thank you for joining me. Patricia Agatston is the author of "Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age" and she's a counselor at the Prevention and Intervention Center.

We also want to clarify, by the way, obviously, bullying is not just an online problem. There's still some good old-fashioned bully going on. Meet Asher Brown. He was 13 years old when he shot himself last Thursday in his closet in Texas.

His parents told our Anderson Cooper Asher shot himself because he was bullied. He was allegedly picked on by four kids at school for being gay.

Bullying in our schools and now online, why do kids do it and what can be done to put an end to it? An "A.C.360" special report, don't miss this. This is really eye-opening and it tells you what you can do as a member of society. It's on CNN beginning Monday night at 10:00 Eastern.

All right. Fisher-Price is recalling millions of toys, saying they could be dangerous to babies and toddlers, millions of toys. I've got the details on this when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Fisher-Price is announcing a massive recall. We're talking about millions of toys and almost a million high chairs.

Christine Romans is in New York.

Christine, I've heard you're talking about this today. This seems to have gotten your attention more than a lot of the other recalls that we've seen out there.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CO-HOST, YOUR $$$$$: Just the sheer size of it, Ali, it's 7 million tricycles, about 1 million highchairs, a lot of other toys here, different products altogether.

And I think what it shows you is it shows you a Consumer Product Safety Commission that is clearly taking these sort of matters very seriously. Over the past couple of years, if you could remember, it's been two years we've been talking about toy recalls. And we'll see what they are.

First of all, these trikes. Take a look at this one. It's an ignition key. The position of this ignition key can cut and hurt a child where it is. It's right in the groin area where a little kid would sit.

And, you know, little kids don't have the best motor skills. That's why they're using this little trike, to learn, right? So, this has actually caused some children to be hurt. And some children had to seek medical attention because of this.

The other thing here that we're looking at, we're looking at these infant toys with inflatable balls. So like a play yard or a play station, they have these inflatable balls. And there's a valve on that inflatable ball that can come loose. And some children have actually been found to have it in their mouth and in the beginning stages of choking -- 2.8 million are being recalled.

And the high chairs we mentioned, you mentioned. On the back of the high chairs, Ali, there's a clip that holds the tray of a high chair when it's not in use. That clip has actually cut some children so badly some have required -- some have required stitches to close the wound and that's on the back of the chair. That's been a problem.

All of these products, you're supposed to stop using immediately and contact the company for a fix-it kit to try to figure out how to fix it.

There's also these Little People -- I don't know if you know this. Did you play with these when you were a little kid? These Little People -- these small, little kind of, I would say rotund little toys that you play with. There's some cars with those -- a couple of those cars that have been recalled, the green and the purple ones in particular, because of a choking hazard. The wheels can come off of those.

And, Ali, you've heard me say this for two or three years now as we've been covering toy recalls.

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: If you have small parts on a toy or parts on a toy that are starting to come loose, don't let your toddlers be close to them. Take them away, because those are choking hazards.

"Consumer Reports" -- Don Mays of "Consumer Reports" says anything that can fit through, like, the tube of a paper towel --

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: -- a paper towel tube, that's too big to have around a toddler. So, take it away.

VELSHI: All right. Christine, I mean, it is interesting, though, that there's -- that there are so many more of these things. Remember, we went through the lead paint stuff with toys a couple of years ago.

VELSHI: Yes.

VELSHI: Any issue here that the regulation is --

ROMANS: Magnets. Remember the magnets?

VELSHI: Magnets, that's right. I mean, is this because of regulation or is this people were complaining and the system weighing that it was -- working the way it's supposed to?

ROMANS: Well, you know, Don Mays of "Consumer Reports" told me he thinks this is manufacturers are starting to get it, that if there's a problem, they got a recall. And it is the manufacturer that does the recall. I mean, this is in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But it is Fisher-Price that's pulling their products.

It is interesting, though, because, Ali, there are some -- there are some manufacturers who are fighting some of these new, tougher rules in the wake of the -- in the wake of the Chinese toy scandals in the past couple years because they don't want to be considered a children's toy company because -- you know, because --

VELSHI: Yes.

ROMANS: -- some of these rules are very tough that are coming out. So, stay tuned. We'll keep you posted on that.

VELSHI: Good to see you, Christine, as always.

If you want more of things to do with your money, tune in to "YOUR $$$$$," Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern with Christine and me, right here on CNN.

All right. Let me bring you up to speed with some of the top stories that we are following, particularly as they relate to your money. Ireland central bank is giving more cash to two struggling big banks. And that will boost Ireland's fiscal deficit to as high as 32 percent of its entire economy.

Like a lot of the world, banks there loan money to people who couldn't pay it back. Ireland is part of the European Union, the largest economy in the world, by the way. The European Union is bigger than the U.S. economy. So, its fate could affect the rest of us.

The number of Americans full-timing for first-time unemployment benefits went down last week, but not by much -- 453,000 people filed new claims. That is fewer than economists had expected, but still pretty high. Florida had the biggest drop in claims, nearly 1,800. California had the biggest rise, over 15,000.

And the East Coast is getting hammered right now by some severe weather -- heavy rains, flash floods and, once again, the threat of tornadoes. Tornado watches and warnings have been in effect from South Carolina to Maryland. Airport delays have already reached more than two hours in much of the northeast.

All right. They did Atlanta proud on "Top Chef" and they're going to help us get a little more innovative with our own food. Our "Eatocracy" coverage continues next with chefs Hector Santiago and Richard Blais.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All week we're looking at food from every angle in our special "Eatocracy" coverage. With me right now, two guys who make their living doing that. Chefs Hector Santiago and Richard Blaze. Both have been cooking up a storm, right here in Atlanta, and on past seasons of "Top Chef."

I'm going to pick their brains on innovation in food be it haute cuisine or home cooking.

Hector, you are the lead chef and owner at Pura Vida Tapas here in Atlanta and Richard Blais, you are the concept chef at Flip Burger Boutique here in Atlanta. I'm relatively new here so I haven't had a good chance to sample either of your cooking, but have you eaten at each other's place?

HECTOR SANTIAGO, CHEF/OWNER, PURA VIDA TAPAS: Oh, yes. Many times.

RICHARD BLAIS, CONCEPT CHEF, FLIP BURGER BOUTIQUE: Absolutely. Hector's a big inspiration for me. He's -- I think he's one of the most forward thinking chefs in the city, if not the country. So, yes.

VELSHI: This is a big eating city. Atlanta has got a lot of restaurants, a lot of great restaurants. What we're doing on "Eatocracy" this week is we're covering all sorts of things. Food safety, health, making good choices.

What we don't talk enough about is just enjoying and eating well. What are the influences that have worked with both of you? What's going on out there in the world with respect to people and the things we're talking about? About whether it's health or whether it's locally grown, what are the things that are influencing what you're doing?

SANTIAGO: You know, to me, I do -- I do traveling around to see what they're doing in other countries. And at the same time, I try to keep my food very local. Also I do have a Latin-American restaurant. So I try to incorporate things that I saw in those travels and try to get all, let's say, my pork, my beef, all those kind of products I can get locally, they're going to be amazing in (INAUDIBLE).

VELSHI: What about you?

BLAIS: Yes, I mean, to me it's a balance of the same thing. Local, farm to table food sort of combined with cutting edge technology and innovation. I like to think that, you know, I'm inspired by both. Sort of modernness and modern food, but also sourcing great ingredients and, of course, local food is a big thing.

VELSHI: What is molecular gastronomy?

BLAIS: You know, I'm not sure what molecular gastronomy is. It sounds like a weird word. So, it's a little cold. Who sits around saying, do you want to go out and eat Italian tonight? Or, Chinese?

(CROSSTALK)

BLAIS: But it's the science of deliciousness. Now, that sounds a lot better.

VELSHI: That sounds excellent. I'd like to be a student of the science of deliciousness.

What can people do at home, people who are watching. They can go to your restaurant, they can go to other restaurants. But, what can they do at home that can kick up normal cooking?

SANTIAGO: I think that a lot of slow cooking is easy to do nowadays. I used to work with a company that had a slow cooker for home. That's a great way to keep a great taste, a lot of minerals and vitamins right on the food instead of in the pot.

VELSHI: Like an old-fashioned slow cooker?

SANTIAGO: No, this is more precise.

BLAIS: Yes, this is called sous vide. It's the world's first sous vide unit. Which means cooking under vacuum. It's like a modern slow cooker is what Hector is saying.

For me, it's like taking that technology we're using in our restaurants, whether it's making ice cream with liquid nitrogen or cooking sous vide and combing that as a home cook by going to your local farmer's market. Buying amazing fresh ingredients. And then taking them home. And don't be afraid to screw things up. Experiment.

SANTIAGO: We do that all the time. Even on TV.

(LAUGHTER)

BLAIS: This is true.

VELSHI: I want to ask you one question, Hector. What is food tourism to you?

SANTIAGO: Food tourism to me is going to another country and not just eating in a restaurant in the hotel that you're staying but getting out there. Seeing the market. Seeing what people eat every day and in somebody's house. When I travel, I try to go to -- I actually got into a little (INAUDIBLE) and got into a horizon to (INAUDIBLE) something because I want to see it. I want to experience it firsthand. I want to see how they prepare it. So I can come here and imitate that because we don't have the same products and have the flavor that is very reminiscent of that area.

VELSHI: That's excellent. Guys, thank you very much. Great to meet you both. I will make it a point to get out to both of your establishments and enjoy some of the stuff we've all learned about you.

Hector Santiago of Pura Vida Tapas, and Richard Blais of Flip Burger Boutique. Not such a great story. Extreme rains, threat of floods, the threat of tornadoes all hammering the East Coast. This is going to mean a travel nightmare in the coming days. We will head to the Severe Weather Center straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Listen, some shocking numbers to tell you about. They involve our fighting men and women. But they are not based on the battlefield. I'll tell you when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let me bring you up to date with some of the top stories we're following here at CNN.

The Army says four soldiers who died over the week apparently took their own lives. All four were from Ft. Hood, Texas and all were decorated veterans from the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. If confirmed as suicides, it would be in addition to 14 other suicides on the base this year.

The Commerce Department says the economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the second quarter, that's the second two months of this year, than previously reported. The bad news? The growth of the nation's gross domestic product, which is the biggest measure of our economy, remains very slow. The GDP is, of course, the broadest measure.

And Tony Curtis, movie heartthrob in the 1950s who developed himself into a respected actor has died. Curtis made a name for himself in such films as "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Some Like It Hot." Curtis died yesterday of cardiac arrest at his home outside of Las Vegas. He was 85 years old.

And President Carter has been discharged from Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland today at -- just about half an hour ago, 1:15 p.m. Eastern time, after recovering from a gastric viral infection. He will resume his schedule with a meeting this week in Washington, D.C. This long-planned event is related to his Carter Center work.

He thanked his medical team at Metro Health for the attentive and comprehensive care and treatment he received during his stay. He also, again, expressed his appreciation to all the members of the public who sent greetings and good wishes to him.

Congress is getting some last minute work done. I'll tell you what effect it'll have. Your CNNPolitics.com update is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: It's time now for a CNNPolitics.com update. Senior political editor Mark Preston and deputy political director Paul Steinhauser watching developments from the CNNPolitics.com desk in Washington, our power politics team.

What's crossing the line right now, guys?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Here's what we got, Ai.

Let's talk about Sarah Palin, and she's been very influential in the republican primaries. Peter Hamby and I, we confirmed earlier today that Sarah Palin is going to be teaming up with Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee later next month, October 23rd and October 16th out in Orlando, Florida and in Anaheim, California.

Dave Jenkins (ph), our cameraman, zoom right in here on the CNN Political Ticker. Brand-new up here, Palin is going to help the Republican Party raise some big bucks in those final weeks before the mid-term elections.

And, Ali, this is interesting because remember, last year and even into a good part of this year, Palin and the Republican National Committee really didn't see eye to eye over a lot of things. Looks like they've made up, looks like she's going to be teaming up with Michael Steele.

That's what I got. Mark, what do you got?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Ali. This is just in, it literally just came into my e-mail box. We haven't even written it up for the Political Ticker right now.

The Service Employees International Union is going to launch a $5 million campaign against Meg Whitman. It's going to include radio, television, internet advertising, mailers. The television ad is going to run on Spanish television stations out in California. It's actually going to reference that undocumented domestic worker that Meg Whitman has had to answer a lot of questions about just in the last 24 hours.

So the unions are starting to put millions of dollars now into this California governors' race. Our CNN poll yesterday had Jerry Brown, the democrat, leading Meg Whitman 52 percent to 43 percent. So we'll follow developments of that race as they continue throughout the day.

And also, Ali, for all those viewers out there who are so frustrated by the fact that when television programming turns to commercials and the volume seems to get jacked up and you have to grab the clicker and turn it down, well relief might be on the way. Congress has passed legislation now that will make that illegal. When it comes back for the lame-duck session, it will all be wrapped up -- Ali.

VELSHI: Yes, nice they're dealing with that. It strikes me there are bigger issues to deal with, but I suppose Congress can do more than one thing at a time.

Mark, Paul, good to see you both. We will check in with you consistently. Be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the key races and key issues as we head into the critical midterm elections. You're next CNNPolitics.com update is just an hour away.

All right, there's a movie coming out there's already getting rave reviews across the board. It's about America's beloved Facebook and the guys behind it. But our resident movie critic has a bit of a different take in our "Odds & Ends."

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VELSHI: New movie out tomorrow, everyone's talking about it, "The Social Network." It focuses on the early years of Facebook, now the most prolific networking site in the world. Founded just six years ago, it reached over half a billion users this year. That's one in 12 people worldwide.

Graham Flannigan is our friend and our resident movie guy here at CNN. He's seen it, he joins me now from New York.

Graham, what did you think? Your thoughts on the movie.

GRAHAM FLANNIGAN, CNN ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: I thought it was great, Ali. It's definitely in my top five of the year. It did not beat out "Inception" for best of the year, but it really lived up to the book, terrific book. But I'll tell you what it didn't live up to was its trailer.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Which has gone viral. Everybody has seen this trailer.

FLANNIGAN: Right. I mean, people watch this trailer like it's its own short film. You know, it's got the Radiohead song and this montage of photos and it really just has this haunting emotional quality that, unfortunately, I think the movie is lacking. The movie itself is more of a procedural. Now, it's like how did Facebook happen from point A to point Z, and Aaron Sorkin does a great job.

VELSHI: So it's not about Facebook and Facebook users, it's about the guys who set this up and it focuses fairly heavily on Mark Zuckerberg, who was the founder and the head of Facebook right now. The idea is a dramatized version of how this all started back in the days at Harvard.

Do you think it's fair? There's been some question as to whether this is fair to Mark Zuckerberg.

FLANNIGAN: Well, Mark Zuckerberg didn't get a chance to contribute. He refused to cooperate with the movie, so they kind of had to go by what was in the book. It kind of paints Mark Zuckerberg as a "Citizen Kane"-esque character. A guy that has a rosebud in a way, something is driving him. And this isn't in the book, obviously he hasn't been quoted about this, but the movie suggests that he's doing all this because some force, some thing or some person is out there that is making him want to succeed, want to create this empire. It's pretty interesting.

VELSHI: This is going to go down in some people's minds as the history of the biggest social media move or movement that we've ever seen. Is this history or is it drama?

FLANNIGAN: The movie itself, this is a history lesson. You know, what calls were made, what -- who screwed who over, what e-mails were sent. This is about how it happened, who was involved, who was at the keyboard.

It's a procedural, Ali, but it's very entertaining and I think that Aaron Sorkin is probably going to win the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

VELSHI: Wow. All right, Graham, good to see you as always. Thanks very much.

Graham Flannigan is our resident movie critic joining us from New York. Movie comes out tomorrow.

Coming up next, a pretty special window into somebody's world. Actor and activist Michael J. Fox talks about his Parkinson's Disease and more importantly his attitude. Great interview. Dr. Sanjay Gupta fills us in straight ahead.

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VELSHI: It's hard to believe, but actor Michael J. Fox has been living with Parkinson's Disease for nearly two decades now. Our chief medical correspondent, my good friend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, had the rare opportunity to spend some time with him recently and he joins us now from New York -- Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali.

It is hard to believe it's been 20 years. You know, this started as a sort of twitching in his pinky finger when he was 29 years old and obviously, he's become a very well-known face of Parkinson's Disease. He started this foundation, Ali.

I sat down and talked to him about what we still don't know about this disease. For example, what causes it, why would it occur in a 29-year-old, and we also talked about what his life has been like over the last 29 years.

Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: There was a real clear period around 1993, '94, two years after diagnosis where I just got it. I just accepted it. And I realized that there's an old saying that my happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance and in greatest proportion to my expectation. You know, it's just about this is what it is and so now what.

GUPTA: And so once you were not in denial, you think you were you were happier.

FOX: Yes, absolutely. Because when you can look at the truth of something, then every -- I mean, that's what it is. It is what it is. Now you have options.

The only thing I don't have a choice about is whether I have Parkinson's. Everything else is my choice and that's incredibly liberating. That's much more liberating than the physical constraints of this disease are limiting.

GUPTA: Are the things that you particularly miss that you can't do? I mean, things that you say, god, I really just wish I could do this still?

FOX: Actually, no.

GUPTA: You do everything --

FOX: I do everything I ever did before. Yes, I know. I play hockey, I play golf, I play guitar, I hang out with my kids.

I mean, that -- if it seriously limited or restricted or adversely affected my ability to interact with my kids, I think that would be something that would be hard to deal with.

I go back to my reasons for starting this foundation. If you -- I use this analogy a lot but I think it's really apt. If you step off a curb and get hit by a bus, the impact on your life is immediate and catastrophic and you have no options. You just are affected by whatever happens there.

With Parkinson's, it's like you're crossing the road and you get stuck in the middle. You know the bus is coming and you can't get out of the way. So you can kind of freak out and go the bus is going to hit me at some point, even though you don't know how fast or how big or whatever. But you can be stuck in that result, this bus is going to hit you, or you can use the time you have before the bus gets there to try to change the route.

And that's what we try to do, you know, methodically, but with a degree of urgency, try to connect to the dots and get this done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Such a remarkable guy, Ali. I tell you he, obviously, for 20 years has been living with this and really turned it into a cause and is getting a lot done. They've raised over $20 million, this foundation. He has the obvious sort of diskinetic movement that you saw there, good days and bad days.

But, Ali, you might find this interesting, when he sleeps he has none of the tremors. When he plays the guitar, which he loves to do, he doesn't have the tremors -- when he ice skates. So there's certain things that he can do and he talks a lot about some of that as well, which again, I just find fascinating as a doctor and as a reporter.

VELSHI: That is remarkable. The statement that he made the one thing he has no control over is the Parkinson's, he has control over everything else in his life. That just gave me a new way to think about this. And for those of us not afflicted, it makes you think that means the rest of us have control over every decision that we make. I thought that was enlightening, Sanjay.

As always, a great interview. It is great to see you. I don't understand why we're never in the same place, but enjoy --

GUPTA: How does that happen?

VELSHI: I don't understand it. Sanjay Gupta, you'll watch --

GUPTA: Are you around at 8:00 tonight? If you're around at 8:00, Ali, give that a watch.

VELSHI: We absolutely will. Tonight on CNN, the rest of that interview, it's definitely worth watching.

Sanjay, thanks very much.