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The New York Times: ADHD On Rise; "The Bible" Generation; "Shell Life" For Women; U.S. Moving Radar Closer To North Korea; Real Estate Rebounds In South Florida

Aired April 01, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So how concerned are you about medication, long-term medication? I guess effects or prescriptions?

GRAF: I think we're very concerned about it especially in kids who don't have the disorder. If kids are mild and can get by with behavioral or educational techniques to manage their ADHD traits or for kids that are healthy and are actually taking it for study drugs.

What we know is that there are some cardiovascular potential side effects. There are some central nervous system, central site -- potential side effects and lastly, there are changes that we don't know that much about in the long-term.

How this would change your mood, your ability to think, your feelings, things like that. There is not much research on how these drugs especially the amphetamines change your personality.

WHITFIELD: Do you worry that too many kids are being medicated and they need not be?

GRAF: I think the numbers show there is a very good possibility there is over diagnosis and overtreatment going on. And I think the question we have to ask ourselves, we have to have this larger discussion as a society is why is this happening?

WHITFIELD: Dr. William Graf, thank you so much.

GRAF: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: New advice for college women. Land a man before you graduate, why?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women who graduate and then spend the next 10 years of their lives focused on nothing but career find themselves in their early 30s with nothing but career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Yes. She went there, but is this really the best advice for college female students?

And 27 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 39 consider themselves not religious, but guess what the top rated show on television, "The Bible" series. It received more viewers than "American Idol." So how do you explain that? This is CNN.

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WHITFIELD: We're taking on the hot stories trending today. Twitter is going crazy. Let's start with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lady, I believe your son is the promised king of his people. What is his name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Were you hooked last night? Well, if you were, you were not alone. The big networks, they're kicking themselves today after passing up on this five-part miniseries, "The Bible."

Last night, millions of people watched the last episode, which included the crucifixion scene, which I warn you, is graphic. The show's first episode broke television ratings records, snagging 13 million viewers, surprisingly most of those viewers were in the 18 to 49 age bracket.

I say surprisingly because a recent poll found this generation is responsible for the growth of the knowns. That's Americans who say they don't identify with any religion. According to Pew, one-third of Americans under 30 have now said they no religious affiliation. That's 32 percent, a sharp increase even in just the past five years.

When in 2008, just 24 percent of those in that same age group declared themselves nonreligious. All right, so let's talk about this. Hal Sparks, actor and political comedian. Good to see you.

Steve Helling, staff writer at "People" magazine, good to see you as well. Dana Johnson, New York correspondent at Cocoa Fab, and Donna Brazile, CNN political contributor, good to see you all.

OK, Steve, you first. You know, are you hooked? Have you been watching "The Bible?"

STEVE HELLING, STAFF WRITER, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Well, you know, I read the book that the bible was based on and it was pretty interesting. You know, that's the thing. The bible is full of all sorts of intrigue, full of sex, full of violence, full of the stories of redemption and I understand why people are so interested in watching it, especially people who weren't exposed to it in Sunday school growing up.

WHITFIELD: So Donna, how do you explain this fascination. It seems kind of new found.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No, I don't think it is. Look, I think young people like many other Americans hunger for something that is different, that is authentic. This was a great and compelling series. I was somewhat startled that -- I sat there and couldn't turn it off. I was glued to it. I read the bible many times, but this was a great series.

WHITFIELD: You feel like it was an accurate depiction?

BRAZILE: I believe so. Look, I'm old school Catholic. There were some things I wouldn't tinker with, but clearly it was graphic, it was profound, and I'm glad that they did it. I'm actually going to get the DVD when it comes out.

WHITFIELD: Well, I'm sure they're happy to hear that. What does this say about the audience appetite these days? Particularly since, you know, it is talking about the bible, and it is very graphic in the way in which it does that.

HAL SPARKS, ACTOR/POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Well, I don't think you can lose releasing a miniseries on Easter weekend essentially about a topic that, by the way, every time you put it out has a guaranteed built in audience.

"The Bible" actually did very well this weekend, but it did not tap the Hatfield and McCoy miniseries special that they did last year, and that didn't have a weekend advertising campaign in the form of church every week, you know, that "The Bible" technically had if you look at it from a marketing and television standpoint.

The reality is, is that the number is declining and in many ways people will watch something like this rather than read the book. The same way most people saw the "Twilight" movies didn't read the books or saw the "Lord of the Rings," didn't read the book.

The important thing is the breadth of the ratings is not indicative of the breadth of the religious belief any more than if it had low ratings it would deride the faith of the people involved. It is simply a depiction of that that did reasonably well. It really did.

WHITFIELD: So, Dana, there is another issue here. You know, are television networks out of touch with its audience given that the net said, they passed on this, can they be learning from cable?

DANA JOHNSON, NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT, COCOAFAB: I definitely think they can. In a society where everything is about reality television, flipping tables, cursing each other out, it is really great to see everyone get back to fundamentals and the television series may encourage some to go back to the book. I definitely think you're learning the fundamentals all over again and very well executed and very well done.

WHITFIELD: Donna, what about the graphic nature? Does it make you cringe -- I guess not because you said you're going to get the box set. But what does it say about the television audience and the tolerance, what people are willing to digest and view and what they're willing to dismiss for the sake of a good story? BRAZILE: Yes, you know what, imagine, you know, being an early Christian and some of the trials and tribulations of the Apostle Paul that we saw, the crucifixion of Christ that we saw last night. I would much rather read the book than get the book thrown at me.

Of course, when I was a girl, I got it thrown at me a bit, but it is a fascinating story. The bible reads like the daily news. I don't think people should take offense at some of the graphic nature of some of the scenes.

SPARKS: There is some fairly reality show-esque chapters in the bible, especially in the Old Testament stuff. I think the one issue you'll have with doing a miniseries about it is you'll hit the point story wise that do resonate with a lot of people they want to see again.

But that leave out in some cases areas of death and parts of contradiction. That's the nature of putting something like the bible on television. They have been -- Charlton Heston backed this pony a long time ago and knew it was a guaranteed way to attach a certain audience.

Look at the passion of the Christ. There is an element where you're going to guarantee that people are seeing it, but is that indicative of the depth of the story that they're being taught?

WHITFIELD: That was a lot more sanitized than what we're seeing, the graphic nature that is unfolding.

SPARKS: So are westerns at the time. You know, westerns didn't show what the unforgiven would show. I think the audiences now, it is almost -- it speaks to what we like to see on film more so than the importance of showing the suffering of Christ. That's the disturbing part for me.

WHITFIELD: So, Steve, the bible's creator, Mark Burnett, very familiar name, responsible for reality shows, you know --

HELLING: Did Mark Burnett create the bible?

WHITFIELD: Well, the show.

HELLING: My bad.

WHITFIELD: You know, this is his version. You know, he was able to sell this idea. How did he do that? Is it -- his track record, anything he touches, you know, seems to turn to gold.

HELLING: Well, does he have the track record and also he felt that it was really important, he says that, you know, schoolchildren learn about Shakespeare, but they don't learn about the bible. And the bible is, you know, a foundation for a lot of the things that we do. Our laws and so forth, you know. This is a Christian nation and so therefore, you know, we don't --

SPARKS: Not so much. HELLING: We don't know --

SPARKS: Well, listen, Hal, what I'm saying is if you know what the bible says, then you know a little bit more about the foundations of this country and that is what Mark Burnett was trying to --

SPARKS: Eight out of ten -- eight out of the Ten Commandments are unconstitutional or graded on a scale that the bible doesn't allow. The very first --

BRAZILLE: That's right. Some people have no religion at all.

WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Donna, do you see how potentially influential this might be, that perhaps, you know, television programming might be modified or some things that might be influenced on the horizon as a result of the success of the show?

BRAZILLE: I hope so, but, you know, you know this business better than I do. I think we just go for things that will attract people and then we look for the next best thing. But I do believe that it was well done, and some of the consultants made it possible for this to be seen in a -- for a wide variety of reasons, because it really came at a time when I think people were looking to see what else there is in life. It was a great series.

WHITFIELD: Timing is everything. All right, we're not done with you guys. "The Bible" is not the only cable show with a lot of viewers, "The Walking Dead" also a huge success last night, bringing in 12.4 million viewers. Next hour, we'll look at why cable shows are getting more viewers than some of the network shows, especially when they put stuff like this on the air.

All right, up next for our panel, do women have a, quote, "shelf life?" A letter published in a college newspaper suggests women find a husband on campus to beat the clock, the biological clock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your world class education, make your lifelong friends and if you can find a life partner, good for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What, is she right? We put the question to our panel next.

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WHITFIELD: All right, the women of Princeton, they're smart, young, and they have a, quote, "shelf life" or a limited time to have a family? That from the mother of a current Princeton man who was explaining in this letter to the editor in the school newspaper, in her advice for the young women of Princeton, Susan Patton writes.

Quote, "Here is what nobody is telling you. Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there." She goes on to say, quote, "You will never again be surrounded by this concentration of men who are worthy of you," end quote.

So a career woman and a Princeton 1977 class president further explained that her advice is only to Princeton undergrads who want a traditional family. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN PATTON, PRINCETON ALUMNA: What I'm suggesting, though, is women who graduate and then spend the next 10 years of their lives focused on nothing but career find themselves in their early 30s with nothing but career. And for women who, in fact, want to be married and want to have children, to be in your early 30s and have a great job and nothing else, it now becomes panic time for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ladies, I got to ask you first. So Donna, you know what is your interpretation of what Susan Patton is saying?

BRAZILE: Well, first of all, I think her advice is a little old school. I know it is narrowly tailored to those who are primarily at Princeton, maybe other Ivy League schools. I teach at Georgetown, been there for over a decade.

I would never tell my young female students that they better hurry up and find a husband and have babies and get their tickets in so they can go out and be whatever. I think this is an opportunity for women when they're in college to explore the possibilities of who they are, what they want to do with their lives and pursue their dreams.

I bet if that comes with finding a partner, fine. I also believe that this whole notion of our biological clock somehow running out before we turn 35, you know, it is not the age of the woman's age, it is the age of the eggs. We have over a million when we're born. And often women are able, capable of having children at a much later time in life. I'm no doctor. Fredricka, you just had --

WHITFIELD: Guilty.

BRAZILE: Guilty, but --

WHITFIELD: Is this -- this is kind of the antithesis of the message that young women have been receiving. But then Susan Patton says that's exactly what I mean. You know, it is a realization. What is your take on what she's saying?

JOHNSON: Well, I have a lot to say about what she's saying. One thing that I want to point out, she was quoted as saying, you focus on nothing but career. And I think as with everything, it is about balance. You need to find a balance between career and life.

When you speak to young women ages 18, 21, 22 and undergraduate years, you're trying to figure out who you are. You may have changed majors two or three times. To say you need to find a life partner is quite a bit. Both of my college sweethearts, both of them, I couldn't imagine myself now married to them because life happens, experiences happen, and what you want changes. I think it is quite a bit of pressure. I think you should be preaching a measure of finding balance between career and personal life and that you can have it all.

WHITFIELD: In fact, you know, earlier, I'll get to you gentlemen in a second there was a Princeton grad on our air earlier, and this is what she -- we don't have that, sorry. She was saying she wasn't necessarily in agreement with what Susan Patton had to say.

But, you know, Steve, let me ask you. You know, what advice would you be giving your daughter? Would you be giving her the same kind of advice as Susan Patton is giving to Princeton ladies?

HELLING: I would tell my daughter to do what my daughter wants to do. I wouldn't be making a blanket statement saying, you need to be married by this point and got to start looking for a man now or anything like that. And it is worth noting that her son is actually a current Princeton student. So perhaps she's actually just helping him find a date.

WHITFIELD: One is a grad and one is a current student. Hal, how do you see it?

SPARKS: First of all, I'm offended on behalf of -- I work my best to be my girlfriend's intellectual equal and I'm always ice skating uphill. But I am offended on behalf of all men, especially her son and her husband, who apparently was not a Princeton guy.

And she's basically saying, get one while you're at Princeton, because the one I ended up with -- amazing to me. She's telling her son, basically, in the paper of your son's school, you wrote a letter about how she wishes she had a better dad for you. What is that? That's amazing. I cannot go to Princeton.

WHITFIELD: It's all about honesty.

SPARKS: It is now. Right.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, you know what, so, folks, sorry we have to cut this short. We have some breaking news. Thanks so much, Hal Sparks, Steve Helling, Dana Johnson, Donna Brazile. Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

On to a very serious matter now, CNN has learned that the U.S. Navy is moving at least one warship closer to the North Korean coastline and more actually may be on the way. These deployments are aimed at monitoring North Korean military moves.

In particular, upcoming missile launches by the U.S., believes that may be happening in the coming weeks. That's the U.S. belief. That missile launches could be coming from North Korean peninsula in coming weeks. We'll have more details on this at the top of the hour as we get it.

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WHITFIELD: All right, it is the news millions of homeowners have been waiting to hear. The housing crash is over and prices are on the rebound. All this week we'll be looking at the nation's housing comeback.

CNN's Sara Ganim begins our look in this once sizzling market of South Florida.

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SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Fort Myers is hot. Not because of that Florida sun, it's the real estate market. After years of economic misery, one of the hardest hit areas in the country is bouncing back. Listen to this real estate investor.

GREGG FOUS, REAL ESTATE INVESTOR: Years ago, I'm talking about 2009 or 2010, 2011 to get people into a community and show life we played music. You know, we made sure there were people present. We don't have to do that anymore.

GANIM: The last time we were at this 200-unit high rise condo complex called the Oasis it was 2009. The building was a ghost town, the pool unused.

(on camera): In 2009, there was one family living here. Now they have plenty of neighbors. The building is almost at capacity and that is a reflection of the real estate market across South Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love it.

GANIM (voice-over): Terry Vanimon moved in two years ago.

(on camera): Do you like that you have neighbors now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. You know, the more people the merrier. It's a blast.

GANIM (voice-over): A report by Metro Study says new construction in the Fort Myers area was up more than 50 percent in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the year before.

A Standards and Poor's study says across America home values are rising at the fastest pace since the market slump began, but prices are still affordable. That is attracting buyers. But anyone who bought before the slump got burned.

FOUS: He can buy that for half of what he paid for it in 2009.

GANIM: Along this beautiful Fort Myers River front three years ago there were 1,500 condos for sale, today only 150.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Sara Ganim. Now again, CNN has learned the U.S. Navy is moving in at least one warship closer to the North Korean coastline. We'll have more information on this, live report at the top of the hour as well.

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