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Secretary of State John Kerry Visits China Today; Kobe Bryant Injured; NRA Sponsors the NRA 500 Sprint Cup Race; Jackie Robinson's True Story; Former Congressman Anthony Weiner to Run for New York Mayor

Aired April 13, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I am Fredricka Whitfield. And here is the loot of the top stories we are following in a CNN NEWSROOM.

A plane trying to land in Bali misses the runway and ends up in the ocean. This isn't a story about tragedy. It is about survival. Everyone on the plane made it out alive.

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is paying a visit to China today. He is trying to put more pressure on North Korea to tone down its threats.

And security tightens in central London as some people who opposed Margaret Thatcher's conservative policies celebrate her death. Preparations are under way for the former prime minister's funeral. It will be held Wednesday.

All right, turning our attention to sports now as some tense moments for Tiger Woods at the masters. He broke a rule and could have been disqualified but got away with just a two stroke penalty instead.

CNN sports anchor, Rachel Nichols, is in Augusta, Georgia. So, what happened exactly and how does this change his chances for winning a fifth green jacket?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Well, Fred, it is definitely going to be harder although he is off to a good start so far today.

Let me take you back to yesterday though and what happened on 15. He struck the ball so well in fact, that it actually hit the flag stick that was stuck in the hole. Unfortunately, it then careened off and went into the water. And then he did what we all do on the golf course, while we hack it around on the weekends. He took a drop. But, the rules say he had to take that drop, quote "as close as possible to where his original shot came from." Instead, he took that drop more than a few feet away.

Now, while he was still on the course a television viewer of all people called into the masters, said Tiger had broken a rule, and the rules committee took a look at it and then decided that he was within the rules and he was clear. He signed a score card, unfortunately in his post game interview he talked about being quite far away from the original place he took the shot. That caught the committee's attention again. They brought him in this morning to discuss it. They decided to assess him a two stroke penalty.

Now, there is some outrage even among golfers, three time masters champion Nick Faldo is on the golf channel right now saying that tiger should have disqualified himself. However, the rules committee says because that they, too, thought it was not an error at the time they signed his score card, that they are going to let everybody say that this is , well, a mulligan and have a do over today.

WHITFIELD: OK. And another big story in the world of sports, we are talking about basketball star Kobe Bryant, his injury, and what it means for his game playing.

NICHOLS: Yes. This is a huge hit, really the reverberation around the entire NBA. The Lakers were in this very contentious battle to make the playoffs so much so that Kobe had played nearly every minute of every game over the past month or so. This also has implications whether Dwight Howard ends up resigning with the Lakers next season. Well instead, all of those questions just became more murky and Kobe went down with a torn Achilles.

And I want to tell you what Kobe said on his facebook page in the middle of the night. He posted this, he admitted, while he was putting on the vicodin so a little prescription drug laden rant to help him get through this very tough moment. But, take a look at what he said. He said the frustration is unbearable, the anger is rage. He says now I am supposed to come back from this and not same player or better at 35? How in the world I am supposed to do that? I have no clue. Maybe father time had defeated me, then again, maybe not. It is 3:30 a.m. My foot feels like dead weight, my head is spinning from pain medicine. I am wide awake. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Climb the silver lining. Get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever. We don't quit. We don't cower. We don't run. We endure and conquer.

So, quite an insightful statement from a professional athlete and 34 years old and the healing time on this is six to 12 months depending on how severely he has torn that Achilles. It will be a lot to get back, but he says that this is not the end of him, that we will see him on a basketball court again. We will have to see.

WHITFIELD: He took a little time there and thought about his words and laid it all out. Now we have gotten inside the mind of Kobe Bryant for a moment.

All right. Thanks so much, Rachel Nichols. Appreciate it.

All right, the debate over guns and gun violence has landed right on the Texas motor speedway. A U.S. senator from Connecticut is upset that the NRA is sponsoring tonight's sprint cup race, the NRA 500. He claiming it is too soon after the Newtown Connecticut shootings to have the NRA sponsor such a high profile race.

Susan Candiotti is they track in Forth Worth.

So, Susan, NASCAR makes a whole lot of money and he is one of the most popular sports in the country, so is it, you know, realistic that I guess NASCAR would say or even FOX would say, you know, no, we are not going to honor this race as the NRA 500?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fred.

You know, it doesn't really appear to be realistic at this point anyway. The negotiations for the NRA to sponsor this event, as the Texas motor speedway, were said to have begun before the Newtown shootings happened. But they weren't really finalized until just last month, and at that point NASCAR had to give the final approval to it and they did. They didn't have to. But they did sign off.

And, of course, the back drop for all of this is the debate going on on Capitol Hill about gun control legislation. And Senator Chris Murphy of the state of Connecticut says even if it isn't true, it certainly gives most people the impression that NASCAR is taking sides and supports the NRA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: They could have found another sponsor for this race. They could have waited until after the debate to have the NRA sponsor a race. It is just really, really poor timing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, race officials here say this race is not about politics.

WHITFIELD: And Susan, something else that makes this race rather interesting, the race winner is often given two resolvers loaded with blanks and a cowboy hat while taking photographs in victory lane. The fastest qualifier is awarded a shotgun. So, you know, is this unusual or has there been any requests to try to modify that given the, you know, climate of things?

CANDIOTTI: Yes. The Texas motor speedway says it has had virtually no complaints about this from the people who are attending this race or from the outside. Now, that's a tradition that goes back forever, it seems. They put on the cowboy hat. They shoot off the revolvers that are firing blanks. It is just the way it is.

It is just that senator Murphy and some other people are saying it just seems like an insensitive thing to do given this moment in time with everything else going on with the gun control debate and that's why they wish it wouldn't happen, but it will go on. Most people tell us here tell us they are here because of the race. They are not here because they're taking a stand one way or the other about gun control -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti. Thanks so much, Forth Worth.

North Korea's battle for the hearts and minds of its people, a defector who lived there reveals the emotional impact of the country's propaganda machine.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner is just one of the men in the spotlight asking for a second chance after a public fall from grace. Why do some get a second chance while others don't? The answers straight ahead.

And hitting theater this is weekend, 42, a movie about the man that broke baseball's color barrier, Jackie Robinson, and baseball legend Ernie Banks joins me to talk about Robinson's impact on America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry is in China today. He is reaching out to North Korea's biggest ally to try to help ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. Kerry met with China's president and foreign minister a day after meeting with South Korean leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We both joined in stating that the United States and China remain fully committed to the September 2005 joint statement of the six-party talks and to its core goal. And that core goal is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: While Kerry is in China, he is expected to bring up the issue of computer hacking originating inside China.

And a fascinating element in this situation with North Korea is how that government uses propaganda and the propaganda does more than try to pull the wool over western eyes. Its main purpose seems to be brain washing and controlling North Koreans. And the propaganda is so powerful it still haunts the people who have escaped.

Here's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): Bizarre. Over the top. Welcome to the one and only television channel available this North Korea, Korean central television, KCTV. To the outside world, the state run images run from the weird to the ridiculous to unbelievable and outlandish propaganda.

But look what happens as Chae Young Hee watches KCTV.

They're God, she says, referring to North Korea's trinity Kim Jong Un, his father and grandfather.

But, how can people think of him as a God?

That's what you're taught since birth, says this defector, who escaped North Korea ten years ago fleeing the brutal regime. She says, it's been a long time since I last saw it, and I feel I'm getting emotional. I don't know how to express this. This is not a lie, this is not an act, it's real.

If anything happens, North Koreans will give up their lives. They will even jump into a fire.

This is very powerful. Even though you left ten years ago, this still has power over you.

We watched a children show that Chae remembered, the good North Korean cat defeating the South Korean rat. And a war film that depicts North Koreans defeating Americans.

But if there's a revelation for this woman who fled North Korea so long ago, it's this.

You didn't know Kim Jong-un. Do you feel the same love and devotion to him that you felt to Kim Jong-Il, just by watching this television?

CHAE YOUNG HEE, NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR (through translator): Yes, I feel the same. He looks like Kim Il-Sung. He looks exactly like his grandfather. He's the same. He's doing exactly what his grandfather and his father did.

LAH: The power of propaganda on a people, the power of a regime.

Kyung Lah, CNN. Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: More than 60 years ago baseball legend Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play major league baseball. A new movie about his life is out this weekend. Straight ahead, I will talk with baseball legend Ernie Banks about how Robinson broke barriers on and off the field.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This weekend, Hollywood is honoring baseball legend, Jackie Robinson., on the big screen. Robinson broke the color barrier in the major leagues when he took the field for the Brooklyn dodgers in 1947. As we see in the new film 42, Robinson endured a lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just as tight as a new pair of shoes on a rainy day. (INAUDIBLE). Goes into the wind up.

Oh, my. Robinson is down. He is down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next guy up, right in the head, all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no. Get me up. Get me up!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just get him out. Just get him out. Understand? Game is too important. Just get him out. Play ball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a tough man.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Not only is Jackie Robinson credited with opening doors for black players but his reach went far beyond into other sports and front offices.

As executive vice president o f operations, Jimmie Lee Solomon, was the highest ranking African-American in major league baseball from 2005 to 2012. He is here in the studio with me.

And joining us live from Chicago is another baseball legend, hall of famer, Ernie Banks, the first African-American to play for the Chicago cubs.

Mr. Banks, thanks so much for joining us from Chicago.

ERNIE BANKS, FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER: Thank you very much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic.

Gentlemen, let me begin with you, Mr. Banks. Jackie Robinson, breaking the color barrier, did you ever consult him or study his play in order to kind of best handle what it was like for you to be the first with the cubs?

BANKS: Yes, I did. I really did. I first met Jackie at Wrigley field. He came over the third base. We shook hands. He said Ernie, I am glad you are here, nice to see you, and just listened and you would learn and I followed Jackie Robinson's life all the way through to 1972.

WHITFIELD: And you know, when you see that clip from the movie 42 which premiered last night, do you see that depiction of Jackie Robinson? You know, do you see that they got it right the way he handled, you know, everything on the field and off the field that was very negative but he seemed to shake it off according to that clip.

BANKS: Yes, he shook it off and I did the same thing. I followed Jackie's pattern, his life. I followed him a lot and went to speeches with him. I played against him. I saw him a lot and he inspired my life, and I wanted to follow his life.

WHITFIELD: Did he seem bigger than life then to you since you got to know him personally?

BANKS: Yes, he did. He felt bigger than life to me. I was with him. I went to Japan with his wife Rachel. I was around him a lot. I listened to him. I followed his speeches when he was president of the freedom bank, when he gave chuck full of nuts in New York and when he started free housing in Brooklyn, New York. I just followed Jackie Robinson. He was like my father, my uncle, my friend.

WHITFIELD: That is so sweet. So, what is it about him that you really wanted to emulate, you know, as an athlete, really as an ambassador of sport given that he had this kind of reach not just on the field but, you know, beyond?

BANKS: Yes. He had that beyond because he trained people when he played for the dodgers, how to get along. A lot of players didn't like him, was against him, Leo Durocher was the manager, and he was that way with the players and got along well with them and tried to get them to understand, and also his own family. And most of all, Jackie wanted to make this a better world. He worked with kids to get through college. He believed in education for kids, and he got a lot of young kids through college.

WHITFIELD: And Mr. Solomon, you had the honor and the pleasure of watching 42 with Jackie Robinson's widow, Rachel. And what was that like? You know, where you -- did you feel like you were able to, you know, really enjoy the movie? Do you feel like you had a special, much more special connection to that movie and all that was taking place, just by watching her reaction?

JIMMIE LEE SOLOMON, FORMER EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Of course. She is a giant herself. I mean, she carried on Jackie's legacy for this long. Think about that. Jackie was a hero. He was a God. God has been his shoulders. But Rachel was very, very strong. And because of her, we all know the story of Jackie.

WHITFIELD: Does she feel like that movie that they got it right? Do you feel like they got it right, they really kind of crystallized who he was?

SOLOMON: I think they did. I think they did a very good job. A few things were left out that I was surprised about, but other than that, I thought it was a fantastic depiction of what he had done.

WHITFIELD: What's the lesson that comes from that movie, from Jackie Robinson's story?

SOLOMON: The lesson is very clear. We stand on the shoulders of Gods and we should recognize that. Jackie made his own life secondary to his mission. His mission was for all of us, all of us to be able to work together, to live together, to succeed and to basically be in harmony together, and I think that Jackie's life basically showed that.

WHITFIELD: Jimmie Lee Solomon, thank you so much, Ernie Banks from Chicago, thanks to you as well, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

SOLOMON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Tiger Woods made history at the masters becoming the youngest to ever win the tournament back in 1997. A sex scandal tarnished his image but he is making a serious comeback. Ahead will look at how public figures who fall from Grace are able to clean up the tarnished image.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Every night, Chef Bruno Serato serves free meals to 300 no-tell (ph) kids in Anaheim, California, his work that he was honored for in 2011 as a top 10 CNN hero. CHEF BRUNO SERATO, CNN HERO: The most amazing moment of my life. After the CNN show a lot of people has called me, what can we do for you?

COOPER: But, it was Bruno who wanted to do more to help families living in area motels.

SERATO: When I sent the kids back to the motel I always have this moment because I know where they go back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, you guys can all share those markers. Sit right here and color.

COOPER: It is a hard life to escape, just as the family who lived in a motel with their five children for more than a year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The living room/bedroom. It is here. And the rest of them sleep sardine style on this bed.

He got laid off. I started working just a month ago. It is really hard for us to I have save up to get into an actual home.

SERATO: I come over to say this. Let's pay the first and last month.

COOPER: By providing rent and a deposit, Bruno now helps families leave the motel life behind for good. Working with a local non- profit, 29 families have now gotten a fresh start in a home of their own.

What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids just have been around and explored and found their rooms.

SERATO: This is yours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is mine.

SERATO: Congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

SERATO: My heart is full of joy. We are putting back people to their own home.

COOPER: Bruno hopes to move 70 more families by the end of the year. CNN hero is a new recipe for helping others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And it looks a bit like the miracle on the Hudson, a passenger jet trying to land in Bali, missing the runway and landing in the ocean, but everyone survived. And only one person so far is reported injured. About 100 people were on board.

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is paying a visit to China today. He is trying to put more pressure on North Korea to tone down its threats. China is considered North Korea's strongest ally.

And Lakers star, Kobe Bryant, could be out of the game all of next season. Last night he injured his Achilles tendon playing the golden state warriors. The injury to the star player comes as the Lakers have two games left in the race to secure a spot in the western conference playoffs.

All right, summer is just around the corner and that means now is the time to start planning that much needed vacation get away. If you have already picked your destination, but you still need a place to stay, you may want to consider a vacation rental.

I talked to a Fodor executive editorial director, Arabella Bowen, about the advantages of renting a house instead of a hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARABELLA BOWEN, EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, FODOR: It can be better instead of renting a hotel room when especially when you're looking at summer vacation rentals which tend to be, you know, you want a trip of a week or longer and you are traveling with friends, a group of friends or you are traveling with families.

So, it is the cost of each room and a house can wind up being less than the cost of a hotel room if you had to book multiple rooms. Plus, you also get access to a kitchen which will save on restaurant costs because you won't be ding out all the time. You can actually make meals at home. And you know, it is really nice about it too, is you get that feeling of feeling like a local in the place you are visiting. So, it is a really nice home base in a place that may not be home.

WHITFIELD: And so, how far in advance do you need to start looking?

BOWEN: I would say you need to start looking now. There are definitely still availability for the summer. Peak season run from July 4th weekend through the labor day. And there is definitely still lots of availability right now, but I wouldn't wait too much longer.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, let's talk about some of your favorite destinations. What would you recommend?

BOWEN: First off, if you're east coaster, Martha's Vineyard is fantastic. I rented a house there last summer with a group of friends, which is a great way to save on the trip. And you know, this is classic New England. You have the old wailing captain's homes. It also got great sunsets every night in (INAUDIBLE) and fabulous lobster every day of the week if you want.

WHITFIELD: We did that Martha's Vineyard once. I must say that was far more interesting than in a hotel room and a place like that.

Any other locations folks need to be thinking about for the summer?

BOWEN: Well, if you're in the Midwest, Lake Geneva is another fabulous destination to give its new port of the west. It's all sorts of gorgeous mansions built by summering Chicagoans and you can basically walk around, tour the mansions, and also get out on the water which is wonderful, go swimming, boating, and of course try lots of ice cream, lots of fabulous ice cream socials over there. So, great for families.

WHITFIELD: Great. So, it can be pretty overwhelming looking for these vacation spots. You have to start with at least a location destination like you mentioned. So is the Internet the best route or are there other routes in which to find the best vacation houses available?

I would say the Internet is your best route because everything is there. You can look at a site like vacation rental by owner, so that is vrbo.com. There is home away.com, vacation rentals.com, so there is a lot out there.

And what's great about the sites is that they all show photographs of the places too. So, you really get a sense of what you're booking. And you can filter by your choices. If you need three rooms, two rooms or amenities like you want to be on the coast or you want to be in more woodsy area.

So, you get a flavor for all that's out there and then ultimately once you book through the sites you are contacted by an agent and the conversation can happen offline at that point.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Arabella, thank you so much.

BOWEN: Great to be here. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And speaking of travel, there is a new show debuts on CNN this weekend. Tomorrow Anthony Bourdain brings his taste for adventure to CNN, a new show with no boundaries.

CNN brings you the world as Bourdain and his crews travel to Myanmar, Libya, Peru and more this Sunday at 9:00 eastern time and pacific.

All right, former congressman Anthony Weiner resigned from office after he tweeted our risque pictures of himself. But now, others talk of him running for office again. Can he?

And other disgraced high profile figures, how do they make comebacks? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former New York congressman, Anthony Weiner, made a high profile exit from politics two years ago. You might remember, he was caught sending nude photos of himself to women he met online. Well now, he is considering a run for mayor of New York. Can he make a political comeback?

CNN's Jason Carroll reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cameras once again following former U.S. congressman from New York, Anthony Weiner.

ANTHONY WEINER, FORMER NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN: I don't have anything more to add than what you read in the "New York Times" story, but I will be glad to sit down with each of you individually sometime next week. Thanks you.

CARROLL: This after the "New York Times" magazine released its profile on him and his wife. In it, Weiner admits he may want to run for New York city mayor saying I want to ask people to give me a second chance. I do want to have that conversation with people whom I let down.

This image is what caused Weiner who at one time many Democrats considered a rising star to resign in disgrace. And it wasn't just the tweet he sent to a 17-year-old girl but also his explanation of it.

WEINER: Someone was franking me and punking me.

CARROLL: A lie Weiner repeated.

WEINER: This is a twitter hoax, a prank that was done.

CARROLL: When we caught up mid-scandal, he was still trying to save his political career.

Can you tell us about the communications or any communications you have had between yourself and say the Clintons or anyone else who has been advising you?

WEINER: No. I mean, I have had conversations with people. But, I am not, you know, look, I have made some pretty serious mistakes and I need to redeem myself and I am working hard to try and get back to normal and try to serve the people of my district the best I can.

CARROLL: Calls for his resignation kept coming, soon Weiner had no choice.

WEINER: So today, I am announcing my resignation from Congress.

CARROLL: In the nearly two years since then, Weiner disappeared from the political spotlight until now. "The Time' says Weiner spent more than $100,000 on polling and research to gauge voter's feelings about a mayoral bid, Weiner telling "the Times" he is a different man saying if I ever go back to doing politics again, I don't think I will be as good at it. Either that or I will be a crazy new kind of politician. Could a comeback work? Former democratic president Bill Clinton and recently former Republican South Carolina governor Mark Sanford both examples of coming back from sex scan scandals.

HANK SHEINKOPF, POLITICAL ANALYST: The problem here is what people visualize in the campaign posting. Normally they wait to see a head shot, not a shot of someone's crotch and what they are going to be seeing when they see his face is those twitter photos.

CARROLL: And in formal poll suggest, many would forgive --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a send to forgive and you will forgiven.

CARROLL: -- but not forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would not be appropriate to run at this moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would never vote for him for mayor.

CARROLL: Weiner has until July to decide.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, if Anthony Weiner makes a political comeback, he won't not only person to turn things around after a high profile fall.

Tiger Woods is once again the number one golfer in the world.

And former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, well, he is a Republican nominee for his own congressional seat. So, I want to bring in Howard Bragman, He is vice chairman of reputation.com and Robbie Vorhaus is a crisis strategist and the founder of Vorhaus and company.

Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

ROBBIE VORHAUS, FOUNDER, VORHAUS AND COMPANY: Hi, Fredricka. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm good.

You know, are there kind of common themes among those who have been able to kind of repair their reputations, just those three people we mentioned? They are making a comeback or have already made a comeback?

VORHAUS: Truth is the ultimate -- truth is the ultimate spin, and for Anthony Weiner, he said let's go ahead. I made a mistake and now he has to run. He did a lot of work ahead of time.

Tiger Woods is just -- he keeps hitting one after the next and if he goes on and wins the master he will show what a great golfer he is and the same with Sanford. He said I made a mistake and now he will go on and if he gets the votes, he will win.

WHITFIELD: So, Howard, is it an issue of surrounding yourself with the crisis management team, you know, or is it reinventing yourself in? What happens? What has to take place in order for someone to rebound?

HOWARD BRAGMAN, VICE CHAIRMAN, REPUTATION.COM: Well, hopefully --

WHITFIELD: Yes, Howard.

BRAGMAN: Hopefully you do have a team of people who are surrounding you who have been through this before who you listen to.

But Fredricka, I think there is three things you have to do. And one is that apology, a sincere apology, a believable apology. Two is, there has to be a level of punishment, if you're Sanford or you are Weiner, have you lost your congressional seat, you have lost your political office. If you are Tiger Woods, you have lost hundreds of millions in endorsements. And three and the secret ingredient and we see it in all of these cases is time. If enough time passes, we are liable to forgive a little more. We don't forgive over night.

When Michael Vick (ph) was accused of dog fighting, on Friday he was denying it, on Monday he apologized and said he discovered Jesus over the weekend. It doesn't work like that.

WHITFIELD: So the common denominator here then, Robbie, for you know, Sanford, Weiner, Woods, about a couple years if there is amount of time that has toy lapse before people are I guess either willing to embrace them again or see them, you know, make a comeback. It seems as though a couple of years, two to three years seems to be the common denominator here. Do you agree?

VORHAUS: It depends, Fredricka. If it is a political figure, yes. If it is a business figure, it depends on what you can demonstrate and what period of time and how quickly you can come back. If it is an entertainment, like, for example, Charlie Sheen, you can come back pretty quickly because the entertainment industry is lot more forgiving.

So, I think as what Howard said, in any great story, you need to be able to show a journey, the beginning is what you have done. The middle is how you redeem yourself, how you apologize, and then the third act is what you do to come back to show you have died to yourself and it is a new chapter.

WHITFIELD: All right, Howard, Robbie, thank so much. And when you stick around, we are going to talk about the, I guess why some fail at making a comeback. That is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, I am back with Howard Bragman and Robbie Vorhaus.

Before the break, we talked about Anthony Weiner, Tiger Woods, Mark Stanford, all in their attempt at a comeback. But not everyone succeeds gentlemen in rescuing their reputations like O.J. Simpson perhaps, may be an example, John Edwards, (INAUDIBLE, you know.

So, why are some able to come back and others not, Robbie?

VORHAUS: Well, remember, Bill Clinton didn't come back as a leader. He came back as a humanitarian. So, here is a guy, at first, denied it, then admitted it and he went on to use his legacy to do really great things.

John Edwards on the other hand is never going to be able to return and Lance Armstrong, here is an athlete who lied and cheated and hurt so many people along with the sport and he is not going to be able to come back as an athlete either.

WHITFIELD: So, are you saying it really has something to do with the offense, the act, and less so about who the person is or what they did to apologize or any of those things that Howard mentioned time has toy lapse the way in which they handled, et cetera, Robbie?

VORHAUS: Well, Howard is exactly right. I mean, if you look at Oscar Pistorius, you know, he killed somebody. There is nothing he can do to bring that or change that. You know, you look at John Edwards again, here is a guy who his wife died in the middle of the scandal. Bernie Madoff. He will die in prison. We know that and his son committed suicide. He can't come back.

So, it is really a question of what is the crime. Tiger Woods, for example, he cheated on his wife. But, he didn't hurt the sport game and went on and now he is winning by achievement. You're judged by your achievement.

WHITFIELD: And so, Howard, you know, is that, you know I guess, a person's failure admitting any of those three criteria, you know, the sincere apology is lacking or perhaps not enough time has elapsed or perhaps it is the offense, it is the thing that they did that people just find unforgivable? Who comes to mind for you?

BRAGMAN: Well, I think we have talked about him. I think O.J. Simpson, I think Bernie Madoff.

You know, O.J. Simpson was not convicted of murdering his wife but in the court of public opinion he was guilty, and eventually he did end up going to prison for a different much lesser offense and at the same time he is still in prison. A lot of that is the way he handled it, even when he was under arrest for that and saying this was my merchandise. No sense of responsibility. No sense of I did this and no sense of redemption in his mind. And as we have looked at a lot of these, the cover-up is often the worst with Weiner, with John Edwards, with Bill Clinton, with a lot of these people, the cover up. And with Tiger Woods, it was how he dealt with the media.

I mean, the offense, professional athlete, who stepped out on his wife and not such a big deal to be honest, but the way he handled it with the media was textbook bad PR.

WHITFIELD: Has social media kind of changed the game, Howard?

VORHAUS: Absolute.

BRAGMAN: Absolutely. We live in a transparent world, and we have to understand now that a couple things happen. Number one, you're going to be caught. If the head of the CIA is caught sending e-mails to his girlfriend, you're going to be caught, number one.

WHITFIELD: Yes

BRAGMAN: And number two, everybody has got an opinion. I just read a statistic that is staggering 20 percent of all marriages fail because of something that one of the spouses sees on facebook. So, social media is affecting real people. It is affecting famous people.

WHITFIELD: And Robbie, you can punctuate this? I know you agree social media, yes, it plays a role here.

VORHAUS: Look at Manti Te'o, the Notra Dame football player who is trying to go pro now. Here is a guy who had an affair with a non- existent woman. He lied at first and then came out. But because he is young, he is innocent, and he admitted it, he will go on and he will win.

Martha Stewart is just as strong and as powerful as ever. I think that, you know, again you ask about the team. If you're going to hire Howard or myself to help you, you better be ready to tell the truth and you better be ready to tell the truth often. And then, it's up to the pub ling and your audience to decide, do we believe him or not?

WHITFIELD: All right, Robbie Vorhaus, Howard Bragman, thanks to you both, gentlemen. You both had a lot of advice out there.

BRAGMAN: It's a pleasure. Thank you, Fredricka.

VORHAUS: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right, right, perhaps you want to be an inventor. Reinvent your life perhaps and you don't know where to start. One company wants to help. We will show you how they bring your ideas to life next.

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WHITFIELD: All right. You don't have to be Thomas Edison to have a great idea for a new product. What you do need though is money and support. One company is helping with that by taking your big ideas and turning them into inventions.

Our Laurie Segall is in the house to tell us about it.

Good to see you.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Good to see you, too. WHITFIELD: So, how does this work? I come up with a bright idea. But then, I got to figure out, you know. How do I, you know, make it happen?

SEGALL: Right. That's the problem. Any time I have had a good idea, I have no idea how to bring it to market. So, there is a company trying to solve that. It is called Quirky.

So, you go on, you submit your idea. It can be for -- you pay for about $10, so it is not cheap, but the outcome could be very good if they choose your idea. And then, essentially, there is a community of influencers. So, put your idea out there what you are trying solve and people will say, hey, this was a good idea. What if he did it like this? What if this were your tag line.

WHITFIELD: But then, do they get credit? Because aren't you trying to protect your idea and all that stuff?

SEGALL: Sure. But the ideas you put it out there and people, influencers, are sure critic to make it even better. But, if you have the idea they vote on it, essentially people vote on your idea and the Quirky folks will say, hey, we are going to actually use this and we are going to bring this to market. And let's say they try to do that, everybody wins.

So, they bring your idea to market. They actually -- I was just in their studios. They have 3D printers, they had people doing all sorts of things. And essentially when they are done with that they can bring it to market. And if it is sold in bed, bath & beyond you get money which is great. And if you are the person that came up with the tag line you also get money. Quirky gets money.

WHITFIELD: Everybody wins.

SEGALL: So, everybody kind of wins.

WHITFIELD: So the stuff you have, consequences of or, you know, --

SEGALL: Yes. Someone came up with an idea.

So, you know think, this right here is a flex your power. It's a pivot PowerPoint. So, if you ever had one of these cords, you want to put in different plugs. And essentially you can do, and this guy came up with this idea, he was actually in college at the time. Hadn't graduated. Put it on Quirky. They brought it to market. If you look behind here, this is the guy's name. His name is Jake. There is a picture of him. Seven hundred and nine people influenced his project. And so, that means every time -- this is in bed, bath & beyond. It's a top seller. Every time someone buys this bed, bath and beyond, Jake gets the money. He now has something like 400 to $500,000 before graduating college.

WHITFIELD: Oh, brother.

SEGALL: I know, right? And so the people, the guy who came up with the flex your power motto. He also had made something like $50,000. WHITFIELD: Wow.

SEGALL: So, you know, there is other one, this is an egg white separator. Not something I would have come up with.

WHITFIELD: That can be messy.

SEGALL: Exactly. You know, the ides, this is a citrus zester. You put this in a lemon and then you just spray it and instead of actually--

WHITFIELD: When you salads and all the good stuff.

SEGALL: Yes. Listen, I was you. If I maybe voted up the idea on the site I could maybe make a couple cents every time that sells in the store.

WHITFIELD: So again, how do people get started or where do you go?

SEGALL: Go to Quirky.com. Sign up. You can sign up as an influencer so you can vote on ideas. You don't even have to have the idea and you can actually kind take part in this whole collaborate process.

WHITFIELD: Nice. Love the idea.

All right, thank you so much.

Laurie Segall, always good to see you especially in person.

SEGALL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Very good.

All right, for more high tech ideas and reviews, just go to CNN.com/tech and look for the gaming and gadgets tab.

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