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CNN Newsroom
All Eyes on the Vatican; Control Towers Shutdown; Valerie Harper's Sad Moment
Aired March 10, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. Welcome to the "CNN Newsroom." A look at our top stories we're following this hour.
In just two days, all eyes will be focused squarely on the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. That's where the cardinals will be casting their first vote for a new pope. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Rome.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, today, we saw the cardinals fanning out around Rome, going to their so-called titular churches, those are the churches they are affiliated with. Many of those churches cramped not just with worshippers but also with the media, very eager to get any sort of nuggets about the upcoming conclave.
We did for instance, hear Timothy Dolan, the cardinal from New York, saying he is hoping it's a quick conclave and that he can go home soon because, as he told one of our producers, he is running out of clean socks. Now, really, the real action here begins Tuesday morning when the cardinals will be moving into the Casa Santa Marta, that's the special residence where they will be staying during the conclave.
In the morning on Tuesday they will also be holding special prayers for the leeks of a new pope and in the afternoon, they will file into the Sistine Chapel for the first and only round of voting. That day Vatican watchers do not expect them to come up with the white smoke on Tuesday afternoon. Some saying that it could be a somewhat longer conclave than usual.
Over the last century, they have averaged three days, however, in 2005 when Benedict the XVI was elected, it was just a day and a half. So we are just going to have to wait and see what happens but certainly, all eyes are going to be on that chimney over the Sistine Chapel. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Ben Wedeman in Rome. And in about 30 minutes, we will talk to a Vatican analyst about some of the leading contenders.
In dozens of countries around the world where women are considered second-class citizens and people are imprisoned for being gay, a new document will soon ban al forms of discrimination. The document is a new charter for the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth is a voluntary group of 54 independent nations headed up by Britain's Queen Elizabeth. And tomorrow, the queen will sign the charter.
I asked CNN's royal correspondent, Max Foster, the significance of all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): This is the first time that the Commonwealth has had a single doctrine setting out the core values of the organization and the aspiration of its members. As you say, there will be an element of this document that opposes all forms of discrimination, whether in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds and those other grounds being - the feeling is that is about sexuality, they didn't want to put sexuality in there because some countries involved here actually have - don't have sexuality laws so there is some sensitivity about it, but what this whole exercise really is about is having a core set of values that gets rid of all forms of discrimination and 54 countries have agreed to it and the queen is signing it, so it does become a formal agreement between these countries.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The signing will be the first public appearance for the Queen since being hospitalized for that stomach bug a week ago.
All right, back in the U.S., criticism is growing over new rules from the Transportation Security Administration. Passengers will be able to carry small pocket knives onto airplanes starting April 25th. Some lawmakers oppose the move, although the TSA says the new rules are in line with international regulations.
Our Lisa Desjardins is live for us now in Washington. So Lisa, there are some lawmakers who have new thoughts about this today.
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, this weekend has been a big one on this issue today. Yesterday, Ed Marquee of Massachusetts, a House member came out against this and then today, just two hours ago, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York held a news conference urging the TSA to change its mind and he made a threat if they don't. Let's get right to what Chuck Schumer said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: If the TSA refuses to go along we would very much consider legislation and my guess is it would have large, bipartisan support. I don't know anybody who has defended the TSA on this, on the merits, because it just doesn't make any sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DESJARDINS: Now, here you can see the change we are talking about. This is a change that would start April 25th. You could carry knifes this size under 2.6 inches, into the plane's cabin. The agency believes that with cockpit doors now more secure, they say these things cannot bring down a plane but there is fierce opposition. Now look at this petition that's on whitehouse.gov, right now, it's against the new knife policy. This is being pushed by unions representing some 90,000 flight attendants. As you can see right there it has just over 17,000 signatures.
Now flight attendants are worried about their personal safety and not of individual passengers but TSA says the agency's doing this to prioritize things that can bring down an entire plane, like bombs and things like that. They say hunting for small knives could get in the way of that. I spoke with the TSA spokeswoman, Fredricka, just a few hours ago and I asked if the agency is reconsidering a policy. Fred, she said she would get back to me but she has not done that yet.
WHITFIELD: OK Meantime, this isn't the only thing to watch this week. There is a big deadline for airports slated to close their control towers because of those forced budget cuts.
DESJARDINS: Yes, this is a big deal. More than 200 small and medium-sized airports are sitting very nervously on a list for control tower shutdowns. They have until Wednesday to make their case for keeping their towers open. You are seeing some video right now from one of these. It's Hagerstown, Maryland, their tower is slated for closure starting April 7th.
Now closing towers doesn't mean these airports will have to close. In some places, pilots can fly in without talking to a control tower or they can talk to a nearby tower. So you might want to ask, how big of a deal is all this? Well, the FAA says that these towers slated for closure handled about six percent of commercial flights last year. So Fred, not a huge number but for people who use those airports, it would be a huge impact.
WHITFIELD: Yes, significant nonetheless. All right. Thanks so much, Lisa Desjardins in Washington.
DESJARDINS: You got it.
WHITFIELD: In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai is accusing the United States and the Taliban of colluding against the Afghan people. Karzai said both sides are trying to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave the country. He was reacting to a bombing in Kabul yesterday, which killed at least nine people during a visit by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. A scheduled news conference between Hagel and Karzai was canceled but the two did meet privately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We did discuss those comments. I told the president it was not true, that the United States was unilaterally working with the Taliban in trying to negotiate anything. The fact is any prospect, any prospects of peace or political settlements, that has to be led by the Afghans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hagel also visited with U.S. and Afghan troops to thank them for their service.
As thousands of American tourists head to Mexico for spring break, the recently appointed tourism minister of a Western Mexican state is killed. He was shot to death by gunmen while driving in his car. Authorities say the attack may have been related to his private business dealings.
Back here in the U.S., a terrible accident, six teenagers were killed and two others injured in a single car accident in Warren, Ohio. Police say a Honda SUV went off the road around 7:00 this morning, hit a guardrail and then rolled over into a pond. Divers were called in to help rescue the injured. Police say it looked like the car was overloaded and no one was wearing a seat belt. Victims' families have still being notified.
Jurors in the Jodi Arias' murder trial have a lot of questions for her, including this one. Why should we believe you now? Find out what else the jury has been asking her.
And fans are shocked and devastated after actress Valerie Harper reveals her terminal cancer diagnosis. I'm talking to a doctor about her brave fight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Murder defendant Jodi Arias isn't just being questioned by lawyers, she is also answering questions from jurors. So far, she has admitted to shooting and stabbing her ex-boyfriend and then lying about it. This week she faced more than 200 questions from the jurors themselves.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the latest from Phoenix.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Jodi Arias this week was all about proving she never planned to kill Travis Alexander.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you go to Mr. Alexander's home on June 4th with the intent on killing him?
ARIAS: No. I didn't.
KAYE: The jury is well aware Arias has changed her story three times. Two years after the killing, she finally said she did kill Travis Alexander, but in self-defense. She claimed his anger around the physical abuse worsened after she caught Alexander masturbating to the photo of a young boy, but if it was so startling, why hadn't she written about it in her journal?
ARIAS: It's a highly negative event and it was a negative experience for me and it's not something that I wished to remember.
KAYE: Another week, another sex tape. This time, the defense played mainly Alexander's voice, an effort to paint him as the more experienced sexually. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot say I don't work that booty. We have two and three-hour sessions many times.
KAYE: The defense did all it could to clean up Arias' image, even trying to explain away the text message Arias sent Alexander, suggesting she'd dress up like a dirty little school girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea of the school girl outfit, was that something that that you were interested in or was it something you were doing to please him?
ARIAS: It would be more for his pleasure because just being with him was enough for me, but he enjoyed that kind of stuff.
KAYE: By midweek it was the jury asking the questions. More than 200 in all, delivered by the judge. They started with this zinger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you put the camera in the washer?
ARIAS: I don't have a memory of that. I don't know why I would do that.
KAYE: The camera contained pictures of Alexander in the shower. This one taken just two minutes before his death. Photo time stamps put Arias at Alexander's house at the time of the killing.
(on camera): And what about Arias' failing memory the day Alexander died? She has testified that she shot Alexander first and doesn't remember anything after that. Here in court, her defense lawyer tried to raise even the slightest doubt that it was Arias who stabbed Alexander nearly 30 times and sliced his throat so deep, his head was nearly cut off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any memories of slashing Mr. Alexander's throat?
ARIAS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You - when you were asked on cross-examination if you did that, do you recall telling us that you did?
ARIAS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was that was a recollection or a logical assumption on your part?
ARIAS: it was definitely not a recollection.
KAYE: The jury also wanted to know this -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you place Travis' body back in the shower?
ARIAS: I could only speculate, because I don't remember.
KAYE: And this - UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is it that you have no memory of stabbing Travis?
ARIAS: I can't really explain why my mind did what it did. Maybe because it's too horrible.
KAYE: When the jury's questions were done, Arias' defense lawyer stepped in, yet again to try to repair the damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Jodi, that is the ultimate question, why should anybody believe you now?
ARIAS: I lied a lot in the beginning. I understand that there will always be questions but all I can do at this point is say what happened to the best of my recollection and if I'm convicted, then that's because of my own bad choices in the beginning.
KAYE: Bad choices that could cost her her life.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So, was Jodi Arias a domestic abuse victim or a cold- blooded killer, watch "AC 360" special report, "Sex, Lies & Audiotape, The Jodi Arias Trial" tonight at 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
If you want to see where those forced spending cuts are happening, look up. Air traffic control towers in nearly every single state set to close in a couple of weeks. The fallout straight ahead.
And we take you live to the nerd prom, the south by southwest festival and you will meet guy who wants to you watch TV on the internet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In Washington, Republicans are calling private dinners and meetings with President Barack Obama a good start to warming relations and getting past gridlock. House democratic leader Nancy Pelosi seems to agree but she tells our Candy Crowley the stalemate is not the president's fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: The meetings are a good idea because you understand each other better. Not having these meetings is not why we haven't had progress before. We haven't had progress before because the Republicans were committed to blocking the initiatives of President Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So far, none of the meetings have resulted in an end to those massive forced spending cuts and next on the chopping block, an air traffic control tower near you. CNN's Tory Dunnan has more on this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Hagerstown Regional airport in Maryland, Camp David sits off in the distance. Air Force One has landed here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yukon 35, Hagerstown, that's approved.
DUNNAN: The airport is arguing in part that is location near the presidential retreat justifies keeping its control tower open.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we have the president or a VIP that would happen to come into the airport, they definitely would use the services of the air traffic control tower.
DUNNAN: The FAA has set the bar high in deciding which towers to keep open. Talking points obtained by CNN say "negative impact on the national interest is the only criterion the FAA will use. The FAA is unable to consider local community impact that does not affect the national interest."
(on camera): The FAA put control towers at 238, small to medium- sized airports on the potential chopping block. Nearly every state in the country faces control tower shutdowns in one or more airports.
Describe to me what next month will look like.
JOEL BACON, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF AIRPORT EXECUTIVES: It's unchartered territory. Over the past couple of decades, the FAA has closed only a handful of towers and literally overnight on April 7th, you are looking at more than 170 facilities closing down. The scope and breadth of that, are obviously, unprecedented.
DUNNAN (voice-over): Most airports say closing towers will hurt local community interests.
JOHN KNOX, CABARRAS COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP.: It punctures the lungs. It knocks the air out of your economic engine.
DUNNAN: In Concord, North Carolina, officials say closing the tower could hurt NASCAR operations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 60 percent of our business is NASCAR and they fly all over the United States.
DUNNAN: The individual airports can submit their reasons to the FAA by e-mail, fax or even a phone call. The FAA will announce the finalized list of closures on March 20th. Until then it is really just wait and see.
Tory Dunnan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And we know there are a lot of problems with the U.S. health system. Tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, CNN examines it in a special from CNN Films, "Escape Fire, the Fight to Rescue American Healthcare." Here's an excerpt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hippocrates said "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." And I think that's a good place to start.
As a society we have to make it easier and more affordable for people to make better lifestyle choices than worse ones.
There's the bright blue slush.
This is responsible for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome and obesity and the artificial colors are not good for you. This is a major reason why we see kids getting fat in this country. Let's see what we got here, one of the great contributions in America to world cuisine, fake bread. We take grains and we have turned them into products like this, which rapidly raise blood sugar, provoke insulin responses, cause insulin resistance and promote weight gain in genetically susceptible people, which is most of us.
Some people this is all they eat is food of this sort it's not whole food as nature produces it, it has completely changed food. And, you know, our grandparents did not eat stuff like this. We have made all of this unhealthy food the cheapest and most available food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Watch our CNN film special, "Escape Fire, The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare." That's tonight, 8:00 Eastern time.
Fans, friends and former co-stars are sharing their love and support after Valerie Harper reveals her terminal cancer diagnosis. I'm talking to a doctor who was on the medical team that is treating the actress. That's coming up right here in the "Newsroom."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Tiger Woods is holding on to the lead through seven holes today at the Cadillac championship in Doral, Florida. He has a five-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson right now. You can get the latest on Tiger's progress on the bleacherreport.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's your broom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know much about witches, do you?
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right. From the greens to silver screen. A big opening weekend for "Oz, The Great and Powerful." Disney's 3D fantasy earned $80 million in the U.S. and $70 million overseas. James Franco plays the title role in the prequel of the 1933 original, "The Wizard of Oz."
And former South African President Nelson Mandela is back home from the hospital. The 94-year-old was there overnight for a scheduled checkup. Doctors say his test results are fine and he is doing well.
Here is what is trending online. With no cameras allowed, President Obama got a chance to relax at the Gridiron Club dinner last night in Washington. The annual event brings together politicians and Washington's media elite. The president opened with a warning to the room about his jokes to come, asking the audience to bear with him because "folks, my joke writers have been placed on furloughing."
And charges filed against rapper MC Hammer are dropped. Hammer was pulled over last month because he had expired tags on a car. The police said he didn't own. Well, police in Dublin, California, had charged him with resisting arrest and suspicion of obstruction. Again, charges dropped.
All right. Now to that deeply personal announcement from Emmy award-winning actress Valerie Harper. She revealed this week that she has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Many of you may remember Harper as the woman who brought a very funny Rhoda Morgan Stern to life on the iconic "Mary Tyler Moore Show." Millions of people loved her role as Mary's best friend so much that Harper got her own spinoff, appropriately called "Rhoda." Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Rhoda Morgan Stern. I was born in the Bronx, New York, December, 1941. I always felt responsible for World War II. The first thing I remember liking (INAUDIBLE) is food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Many of Harper's fans are now showing their love and support for her after seeing her shocking cover on "People" magazine this week. The stunning title, "Valerie Harper's brave good-bye." Harper reveals that she has this rare, incurable form of brain cancer and she has only three months to live but that is not getting her spirit down. She talked to the syndicated show "The Doctors."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE HARPER, ACTRESS: (Inaudible) put out is three months to live. That could be because what I have is rare and my wonderful doctors delineate exactly what it is and how it's working. It's also incurable so far. That's the word I'm looking at, so far, because they are doing research as we speak.
And so I just thought that, while I'm still able, because it is brain, to speak and show you that I'm cooking my husband's dinner, I'm walking on the bluff at Santa Monica. And more than anything, I'm living in the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Living in the moment. All right.
Well, joining me now from Los Angeles, Dr. Keith Black. He knows her well. Harper is receiving treatment from Dr. Black's neuro team. Dr. Black, good to see you.
DR. KEITH BLACK: Welcome. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, she says she is living in the moment and she says incurable so far because she is hoping that, at some point, this will be a curable disorder or cancer, brain cancer. Is there hope for that? How rare a condition is this?
BLACK: Well, you know, the type of brain cancer that she has is actually a cancer that comes from the lung. We know that patients with lung cancer, well, during the course of their cancer, have about a 50 percent probability of having spread of that cancer to the brain. And when it goes to the brain, obviously, it's a much more serious condition.
Most of the time --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: And that was her situation, because she had lung cancer back in 2009, even though she is not -- was not a smoker.
BLACK: Correct. Most of the time when the tumor goes to the brain, it goes the brain in sort of a solid, you know, mass. But about 5 percent of the time it can actually go to the surface of the brain around the fluid covering that protects the brain, very much like a sugar coating of cancer cells over the brain.
And that presents a number of challenges, because it spreads over a very wide area throughout the surface of the brain. And it's also difficult to get chemotherapy into the brain because of what's called the blood brain barrier, which doesn't allow a lot of chemotherapeutic drugs to get in.
WHITFIELD: And under most circumstances, how is it diagnosed? Are there overt symptoms where a patient is just not feeling right or something is wrong and it makes them go to the doctor and then, voila, you all make that discovery?
BLACK: Right.
Well, you know, I think it's important for your viewers to know that a very large percentage of patients breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma can have the spread of that cancer to the brain. And it can present with very subtle neurological symptoms -- and sometimes not so subtle. So a patient with cancer, even from another part of the body who presents with a seizure, new onset seizure, speech difficulty, visual difficulty, weakness, numbness, any of those types of things should have them alert their treating doctors to those symptoms so that the appropriate test can be done to make sure that the tumor hasn't spread to the brain.
WHITFIELD: Well, Dr. Keith Black, thank you so much. She is being treated by you and your team. And even though it's being called an incurable cancer, we certainly are still hoping the best for her. Thanks so much for your time.
BLACK: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Catholic cardinals are getting ready for the biggest decision of their lives, choosing the next pope. They will be cut off from the outside world as they consider their options and vote. The latest from the Vatican, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Excitement is building at the Vatican as the conclave gets closer. Voting begins in just two days. I asked CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen which cardinal he thinks has an edge to be the next pope.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: The truth is that predictions are always dangerous, but they are also a truckload of fun, so let's do it.
My read would be that there are probably four guys going into this conclave that, if they are not frontrunners, at least will get a very serious look.
One would be Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, who is an intellectual but also has a kind of popular touch and a lot of nuts- and-bolts experience running a very big archdiocese there in Milan.
Cardinal Mark Ouellette of Canada, who runs the Vatican's all- important Congregation for Bishops, sort of an insider-outsider. And he also spent 12 years in Colombia as a missionary, so brings the third world and first world together.
Cardinal Odilo Pedro Sherr from Brazil, great candidate to be the first pope from Latin America, put a face and a voice on the two- thirds of the Catholic world outside the West.
And then finally, you have got the ever charismatic, endlessly media-savvy, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. And as hard as it may be to believe that we could have an American pope, there are a lot of indications he could have some very strong support in the early rounds of voting.
WHITFIELD: Oh, is that right? Even though he is very charismatic, one would wonder whether any cardinal from the U.S. might still be tainted by, you know, the scandals that have plagued the Catholic Church involving child molestation cases, even though he doesn't necessarily have any fingerprint on any particular cases. One would think that anyone from the U.S. would be marred by that.
ALLEN: Well, Fredricka, I think that is a double-edged sword. I mean, on the one hand, you are right. Anybody who has been in charge of the diocese in the United States carries some baggage from the crisis because their record has been examined to death and certainly critics are going to have bones to pick.
But on the other hand, think many other cardinals would look at the Americans and say these guys have been on the frontlines of this crisis for more than a decade. If anybody knows the contours of this problem, and can maybe help the church globally get ahead of the curve for once, maybe it would be an American cardinal.
I mean, honestly, you know, I think a large part of the reason that Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston has kind of had a bit of a boomlet in the last couple of weeks in Rome in addition to the fact that he is just a sweet guy and he wears his brown Franciscan habit and the Franciscans are rock stars in this country.
But you know, beyond that, it's he profiles as a reformer on the sex abuse crisis and I think Dolan might get some of the same effect.
WHITFIELD: And how about age? How much of that will be a factor in selecting a cardinal? There is one cardinal who is out of Manila, he's only 55 years old and some have thought that he might be a favorite.
Would he be too young or can you be too young or too old to be a candidate this go-round?
ALLEN: Well, you know, there's an old line about electing popes, which is you don't want to elect anybody who's too young because then you're not going get a Holy Father, you're going to get an eternal father; that is, you're going to be stuck with him for way too long.
And similarly, there's a kind of conventional wisdom against selecting a guy who's too old because then his papacy is going to be too short.
So typically what the cardinals want to do is split the difference. They would like to elect somebody, say, in their mid-60s.
But honestly, Fredricka, I would tell you that both age and nationality -- that is what part of the world the guy comes from -- I think those are secondary concerns. I think the 115 cardinals who are going to file into the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday have a checklist of things they are looking for in the next pope.
And if they can get those three things in any one guy, they don't care how old he is or where he comes from, they will take it.
WHITFIELD: And you can follow the process of selecting the new pope on our belief blog at cnn.com/belief.
All right. It's another way to watch television: on the Internet. Up next, meet the man behind mydamnchannel.com.
And she started her makeup company in 1991 with only 10 lipsticks. Now Bobbi Brown is huge. So what does she think about the glass ceiling? Find out in our special series, "What Women Want."
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WHITFIELD: They call it prom for nerds. The South by Southwest festival is going full steam in Austin, Texas, right now, featuring the latest in technology, music and film. It also brings politics to table. Two senators are there to promote their bipartisan bill on immigration and innovation. And we spoke with Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jerry Moran about the bill they are sponsoring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: A number of countries around the world are seeing an opportunity. It doesn't make any sense for that mathematician, engineer, to graduate from Kansas State with a PhD, get job offers everywhere and move to Vancouver because he can't stay in Kansas because our immigration rules prohibit that.
That's -- makes no sense at all. Other countries are getting ahead of us in terms of attracting world-class talent. What we want to do is we have got enormous assets in America in terms of, I mentioned, universities, in terms of access to capital. We have got to win the talent war as well. And I think this is a step in that direction.
SEN. JERRY MORAN (R), KANS.: It would be great to have people who understand this and there is something about, I mean, I think what we are talking about here is somebody who has a dream, who pursues that dream, hope for success and in the process of pursuing that success, if they accomplish that, they allow others to live the American dream. And they create that opportunity.
And who better than an entrepreneur to bring that story of the American dream to Washington, D.C.?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And Laurie Segall joining us live now from Austin with a special guest. Lori?
LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka. Yes, I am joined by the fabulous Rob Barnett, he's the founder and CEO of mydamnchannel. So if you haven't heard of it, tell us a little bit; what is mydamnchannel for those of us who haven't gone on the site?
ROB BARNETT, FOUNDER AND CEO, MYDAMNCHANNEL.COM: Well, mydamnchannel has been around since 2007. And our idea was to get some of the best people in comedy and create original video and series, like you'd see on television, but we are doing it at mydamnchannel.com. SEGALL: So you guys have Jonah Hill, you guys have a lot of celebrities that are appearing in your web series, you have real directors directing this kind of content, a lot of noise out there.
So how are you able to kind of pull this off?
BARNETT: Well, I spent most of my life working in television. And the norm in a television meeting has, what, 18, 19 vice presidents on every decision. Here, it's really fun for talent because there's just a few people, me being one of them, that gives them a tremendous amount of freedom to talk directly to their fans, with the content they really want to do.
SEGALL: So a former TV executive, you worked for Howard Stern -- I can imagine that that is fun -- and MTV. How do you take that TV executive experience and put it into an Internet show?
BARNETT: That is a great question. Well, we looked at the Internet in 2007 and realized there's already YouTube. So instead of just asking everyone to upload their videos, we stole some ideas from television and we programmed mydamnchannel like television. There are shows like "Daily Grace" that happen every single day at the same time. And there are series that premiere once a week, like it would on television.
SEGALL: So what's the future, because I'm in television. People are -- Internet geeks are always saying the Internet is going to kill TV, let's hope not, OK. So what's the future? How will digital and TV, will they converge and when that's going to happen?
BARNETT: I promise I'm not here to kill and you not here to kill CNN because, you know, that is something you do see at South by Southwest. A lot of people talk that way. I'm not one of them. I mean, I lived and worked in television long enough to know that it is very healthy, thank you very much.
But we are healthy, too. The thing that's dying isn't really TV, it's sleep. People are spending a dramatic amount of time online and advertisers realize that younger people are cutting the cord or maybe never have the cord. So there is an opportunity for advertisers to work with companies like ours and reach a new audience that's spending this dramatic amount of time on the Internet.
SEGALL: So really quick -- we got to wrap it up -- but tell me what's next for you guys; what can we look forward to?
BARNETT: Well, because I spent most of my life in television, we're going to get back into that as well. We'll be making television series soon. And we just launched the mydamnchannel comedy network, where we are expanding the network. We are here working with great advertisers like Subway to do that.
SEGALL: Cool. Rob, thank you so much.
Frederica, back to you. WHITFIELD: Wow. That is fascinating stuff. I have to tune in. I have to admit, hadn't gone there yet. But I will. All right, thanks so much, Laurie. Appreciate it.
All right. Having it all, sure, it's a great slogan, but makeup maven Bobbi Brown seems to have achieved -- seems to have achieved that goal. How she gets it all done and why she thinks there is no glass ceiling, coming up.
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WHITFIELD: Have you ever heard of a type A-minus personality? That's just what makeup guru Bobbi Brown says she is. The wildly successful woman also says she has never even seen the glass ceiling. CNN's Alina Cho talked to Bobbi Brown in a special airing this week, "What Women Want."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA CHO, CNN HOST (voice-over): Makeup maven Bobbi Brown is not shy.
CHO: Fifty-five?
BOBBI BROWN, MAKEUP MAVEN: Fifty-five.
CHO: You're not shy about it.
BROWN: No, I'm not shy about it.
CHO (voice-over): About her age or about her success.
BROWN: I never think about not being successful in what I do. And I'm -- I think it's a combination of courage and being naive. I just think, why not?
CHO: Oh, I love it.
BROWN: And you can use it on your lips, too.
CHO (voice-over): Brown started her company with in 1991 with 10 lipsticks.
BROWN: I was doing a shoot and I met a chemist. And I explained to him my dream is to find a lipstick that looked like lips.
CHO (voice-over): The idea took off. She sold 100 in the first day. Four years later, Estee Lauder's son, Leonard, came calling.
BROWN: He said you've done such an amazing job with your company. We can't beat you in the stores (inaudible) I'd love to buy you. And I knew it was the right move. What mattered to me most was the integrity of the products, and new creative ideas. But I also wanted to be available to be the best mom that I could be and the best wife I could be. CHO (voice-over): Brown sold but retains creative control. Today Bobbi Brown Cosmetics sells 21 million individual products a year.
Bobbi Brown the woman is a self-described type A-minus wife and mother of three.
CHO: I hate to say juggling it all but, I mean --
BROWN: Right. It's a lot. And people always say, how do you do this?
Well, you know, some days work better than others.
Come in.
And maybe you will not have that top job because you do have three kids and a husband and you want your friends, so there are certain choices women make.
The pictures are great.
Even though I still do a lot of the little detail things myself.
CHO (voice-over): Like take out the trash the same week she lunches with at the White House or uses what could be wasted time in the back of a car, writing her books.
CHO: What about this whole notion of the glass ceiling for women?
BROWN: I've never seen the ceiling. Never. I don't see it.
CHO (voice-over): Bobbi Brown's world is one that includes an in-office manicurist.
CHO: Why do you offer this?
BROWN: Because there's a lot -- we're in a beauty company and also look at how much time it saves. A lot of the working moms would love to get a manicure.
CHO: No kidding.
BROWN: No one ever has to say to me I can't make a meeting because of my kid's first day of kindergarten or the school play, or my kid's checkup. I get that.
CHO (voice-over): Another of Brown's priorities is giving back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brand new today.
CHO (voice-over): With every appearance on QVC, she donates $25,000 to Dress for Success, a nonprofit that gives career advice and professional clothing to underprivileged women; 100 percent of U.S. sales of this rouge pot also goes to the charity. BROWN: Look how pretty it is.
CHO (voice-over): Empowering women by making them feel their best.
BROWN: Be who you are. That's my tag line.
CHO (voice-over): Brown's secret to beauty and success -- Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And there's a lot of buzz right now about a new book by Facebook's number two in command, Sheryl Sandberg. "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead" is on store shelves tomorrow. And in an interview airing tonight on CBS' "60 Minutes," Sandberg said women are opting out of leadership positions in the workplace before they even get started.
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SHERYL SANDBERG, COO, FACEBOOK: Plenty of women are as ambitious as men. But I am saying -- and I want to say it unequivocally and unapologetically -- that the data is clear, that when it comes to ambition to lead, to be the leader of whatever you're doing, men and boys outnumber girls and women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But some women will hear that and say, wow, she's telling me I'm not working hard enough, I'm not trying hard enough. She's blaming women.
SANDBERG: Yes. I'm not blaming women. My message is not one of blaming women. There's an awful lot we don't control. I am saying that there's an awful lot we can control and we can do for ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Sandberg also says that women tend to be liked less when they are successful and she says that's holding women back.
All right, be sure to watch Sheryl Sandberg's profile by our national correspondent Susan Candiotti tonight. We will have that in our 10 o'clock Eastern hour.
And up next in our 5:00 pm hour, a family finds a big surprise on the side of the road: bears in a box. I will tell you how that happened.
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