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General Motors Heading for Bankruptcy; GOP Says Sotomayor May Not Be the Best Choice; 'Hip-Hop Baby' and How it Helps Preschoolers

Aired May 30, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: An iconic American company heads towards bankruptcy. GM's president scheduled a news conference for Monday.

President Obama tells critics that the Supreme Court nominee to tone it done. I will ask my guests about the language used by Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

And a DVD series may bring harmony to your chaotic household. I will show you. It's "hip-hop baby" and how it's helping preschoolers.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news unfolds live this Saturday, May 30th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

General Motors, a company has been cranking out cars and trucks for more than a century is expected to file for bankruptcy on Monday. Today its board of directors is meeting to come up with a plan to meet a June 1st deadline. That's the deadline the U.S. government set for the company to either restructure or file Chapter 11.

Kate Bolduan is live at the White House with the latest on this -- Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

There are two potentially key developments in heading towards this restructuring deadline, kind of showing this automakers' restructuring efforts that have happened in just the past day.

The UAW, the united auto workers, Friday agreed to a package of concessions. Basically the intent of that was to reduce the company's labor costs. That was very key. They had been talking about that for quite a while now.

Also then the Canadian auto parts maker, Magna International, is now moving ahead to take over G.M.'s Opel unit. This is a large majority of G.M.'s European operations.

Some are describing these as two roadblocks to overcome as G.M. heads towards the expected bankruptcy announcement that we expect as early as Monday.

Now, for the part of the White House, the administration is obviously watching these developments and the negotiations very closely. but publicly, the White House is being very careful in characterizing the state of play, the state of the negotiations and discussions that are going on with General Motors.

Listen here to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know the president is encouraged that whatever happens at the deadline, the progress that is being made to restructure General Motors and put it on a path, as I've said, to being a viable auto company.

We have seen encouraging signs. And what happens in the next few days, the president obviously will certainly watch and will have something to say about it next week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The White House has also said any announcement that should come here will first come from General Motors. And while we don't, of course, know exactly what we can expect, General Motors has announced a press conference scheduled for Monday. So we will have to wait and see what we hear then -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And talk to me, Kate, about the role that the U.S. government would play. If this continues to go forward as it is, already more than 70 percent of G.M. being owned by the government. So how does the government participate without being too much of a strong arm in all of this?

BOLDUAN: Yes, it seems a difficult position, Fredricka, because the president himself said over and over, I'm not in the business or in the interest of running an auto company here. I've got enough to deal with at the moment.

The White House says that it's -- there's going to be a clear delineation of roles, basically. The chairman and the board, they will handle the day-to-day operations of making the company work.

At the same time, the government feels they have a responsibility when they invest tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in this company, they say, to make sure that the correct steps are being taken to lead them to that path of viability.

So it probably will be a bit of a difficult balance in playing a part and making sure it works, but not being too involved, as they don't want to.

WHITFIELD: OK, Kate Bolduan, thanks so much, at the White House. Appreciate it.

Well, G.M. won't have to worry about Opel that much longer. Opel is a German carmaker that G.M. owns, and it has been struggling as well. Now a Canadian company is coming to the rescue. Diana Magnay explains the impact.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna succeeded in striking a deal with G.M. and the German government to take a stake in G.M.'s European operations.

That basically provides a lifeline for the Opel and Vauxhall brand, and for the 55,000 people who work for G.M. within Europe. It also means if G.M. does go bankrupt, as is expected on Monday, that the European operations are effectively rinksensed (ph) from any bankruptcy over in the U.S.

Carl Peter Forster, the head of G.M. Europe, though, said there is a long way to go in terms of hammering out the details on this deal.

CARL PETER FORSTER, GM EUROPE PRESIDENT: We didn't discuss jobs in any other country. That was not the topic today. It was all about building the bridge and creating a bridge, or approving a bridge funding, no discussion on jobs or construction measures or anything like that.

MAGNAY: Continued uncertainty then for the thousands of G.M's Europe and Opel and Vauxhall workers, none of them sure yet where job cuts might fall.

And the German chancellor said today that there is still a great deal of work to be done, and that this really is a test for the transatlantic relationship.

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (via translator): The negotiations were observantly difficult, tough, and it was anything but a simple balancing of the risks.

MAGNAY: One of Magna's stated goals for Opel and G.M. Europe is to open up the Russian car market. It's teaming up with the Russian automaker Gaz, and it has the Russian bank providing investments.

So if you haven't heard of Magna before, you certainly will now.

Diana Magne, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And if you want to find out more about what's going on at G.M., check out CNNmoney.com. Many more answers there.

And then tonight at CNN, the rise and fall of the American auto industry, and where it might go from here. Check it out tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern.

So how will bankruptcy affect auto workers, retirees, and their families, and perhaps you if you own a G.M. vehicle? We'll talk to an automotive analyst, Lauren Fitch. You know her. She will be joining us next hour to delve into that, 3:00 p.m. eastern.

All right, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has a message for North Korea -- the U.S. will not be bullied or intimidated, he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We will not stand idly by as North Korea buildings the capability to reap destruction on any target in the region or on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The communist nation defied international sanctions and went ahead with a nuclear test earlier this week. Gates offered no specifics on how the U.S. might respond if North Korea moves against key American allies in Asia.

But Moscow and Tokyo agree the nuclear tests merit a strong response and threaten international security.

Rewriting the nuclear arms treaty, there is some movement after being stalled for 12 years. The 65 countries that make up the United Nations Conference on Disarmament have agreed to begin negotiations on a new treaty.

President Obama cheers the move. He says a new treaty is essential to its vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.

President Obama continues his push for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But the GOP says she may not be the best choice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama is setting the stage for his Supreme Court nominee. He is getting Judge Sonia Sotomayor ready for the confirmation process, and he talked a little more about her qualifications during his weekly White House address this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She was appointed to the U.S. district court, serving six years as a trial judge, where she presided over hundreds of cases.

And most recently, she has spent 11 years on the U.S. court of appeals, our nation's second highest court, grappling with some of the most difficult constitutional and legal issues we face as a nation.

She has more experience on the federal bench than any incoming Supreme Court justice in the past 100 years.

Quite simply, Judge Sotomayor has a deep familiarity with our judicial system from almost every angle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Republicans are somewhat divided on how best to deal with Judge Sotomayor's nomination. Some conservatives are calling her an activist judge who will bring a leftist agenda to the high court. Radio host rush Limbaugh and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have called Sotomayor a racist because of comments she made in 2001.

She once said her experience as a Latina woman might have -- might, rather, make her judgments more sound than those of a white man. We'll get through her exact verbatim in a moment. Still, other opponents of her nomination recognize the political risk of attacking of the first Hispanic to be nominated to the Supreme Court.

And what about that 2001 comment that Limbaugh and Gingrich call racist? We turned to Ruth Marcus, who has been covering the Supreme Court for "The Washington Post" for more than 20 years. She's joining us from Washington. Good to see you.

RUTH MARCUS, "WASHINGTON POST": I have more experience covering the Supreme Court. I feel as old as the judge.

WHITFIELD: That's fantastic, because we're going to incorporate all of that, because it really is about the high court, and whether her placement will be an easy confirmation process for her in the Senate once we get to that.

So let's talk exactly what was said by Sotomayor back in 2001, and the reaction, because if you listen to Limbaugh and you listen to Gingrich, they're both talking about racist comments where, as she and others have said, it's about empathy.

So here are her comment that's have been, I guess, stoking the fires. She says, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

And then today the White House said that perhaps some of her remarks, some of the words that she's used, were not necessarily the best words. Did that undermine her statement, or is her statement being taken out of context in your view?

MARCUS: Well, yes and no. She clearly knew what she was saying, and I think meant what she said back then.

Justice O'Connor had often said, and so has Justice Ginsburg, that a wise old woman and a wise old man will ultimately reach the same judgment. And Judge Sotomayor was sort of taking that on and saying, well, might be a little bit different. Maybe the wise Latina woman would come out with a better judgment on average.

But then she went on to talk about how all judges bring to the bench the sum of their life experiences, how they all try to aspire to an ideal of both impartiality and understanding even people who come from different backgrounds as they do.

So I think that the White House is doing what I would do if I were the White House, which is spinning her comments to say, well, these were just the sort of a few ill chosen words.

I think she chose her words carefully and meant them. But I also don't think, from my point of view, that they are anywhere near the sort of racist or disqualifying kind of statements that Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich are making them out to be.

WHITFIELD: And if you look at the transcript, it seems she was very -- very cognizant of the word choice, very cognizant of her story that she was weaving.

This is just a little bit of what she said. You talked about the wise words, Justice O'Connor, you talk about that. But she also said about that time prior to the statement that has gotten the most play, "Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or culture differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."

She was making it very clear it's difficult to remove your personal experiences from judgments that you may make, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to cloud your judgment. Did I get that right?

MARCUS: I think that's a pretty good summary. And I think it's almost silly to pretend otherwise. If we were going -- if judges were just machines, we could probably program computers to come out with the quote/unquote "right" results.

And the reality is that we're, in the constitution, we're interpreting grand phrases, reasonable judges, incredibly smart people, can come up with different views.

And it's silly, from my point of view, to think that your life experiences for Judge Sotomayor as a prosecutor, as a private lawyer representing plaintiffs or defendants, as a district court judge seeing what it's like in the hurly burly of trial, of course, you bring all of that to the table.

WHITFIELD: And she actually kind of underscores that when she goes on later to say, "Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar.

I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging, but I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

And oh, by the way, wasn't it Justice Alito, who has already been on record as saying when he became a parent, he says he can't help think about his children and that experience as a parent whenever he's dealing with cases that's may involve young people. So is he not saying similar things?

MARCUS: Sure. The goal of every Sherpa who's guiding a Supreme Court nominee through this process, and, as you pointed out, I have watched it for longer than I would like to admit, is to humanize the nominee.

We saw with Justice Thomas, the pinpoint strategy, talking about his roots in rural, poor -- in the rural, poor south. And so humanization is good, except if it looks like empathy because the just is on a different ideological side than you are.

I think for me the think that is most interesting about Judge Sotomayor is to take a look not at even 32 words or at this lengthy and rather thoughtful speech, but to look at her judicial record, where, honestly, other than the controversy over the New Haven firefighters case, there hasn't been a lot in the 11 years on the appeals court, which is a pretty long time ...

WHITFIELD: And you think her judgments are indeed going to be what drive, perhaps, the Senate confirmation hearings, and not necessarily the 32 words?

MARCUS: Well, look, we're going to hear a lot about the 32 words. But if I were a senator and somebody were asking me to make a judgment about whether or not she's qualified to be on the Supreme Court, the main thing that I would look at is the body of her judicial work.

And I have not heard anybody arguing that the body of her judicial work is so outside the mainstream or betrays the kind of racism or other leftist agendas that the people are talking about.

WHITFIELD: Excellent. Ruth Marcus of "The Washington Post," thanks so much for joining us.

MARCUS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: I know we will be talking a lot more, especially as we approach upon that confirmation hearing process as you continue to cover the Supreme Court.

Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MARCUS: Thanks a lot.

WHITFIELD: And, by the way, coming this October, CNN will present "Latino in America." You know about "Black in America" that's being launched this summer. "Latino in America" being launched this fall.

It's a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America and how America is changing Latinos, reshaping politics, businesses, schools, churches, and neighborhoods. Latinos are forcing a nation of immigrants to rediscover what it means to be American.

"Latino in America," this October right here on CNN.

Confirming Judge Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court would not only make history for America's Hispanic community, but also for one religious denomination.

CNN's Josh Levs explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, amid all of this talk about diversity, it is interesting to look also at this religious angle. This is Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and she could indeed be the next Supreme Court justice.

Take a look at this headline here at CNN.com. "Sotomayor will be part of the court's Catholic shift." And this is something big that's been happening at the Supreme Court in recent years.

Let's go straight to this graphic. I want you to see the religious breakdown in the United States. And you can see right there, this country is half Protestant, just over half, technically majority Protestant -- 51 percent. It's about one-quarter catholic, and then 1.7 percent Jewish.

Now take a look at the makeup of the court if Sonia Sotomayor joins it. You will have six Catholic judges on the Supreme Court, six Catholic justices, one Protestant, and two who are Jewish, very different from the U.S. makeup in general.

Now, there's also something else we have for you here. We have this graphic that shows everybody's picture and how they identify religiously. You can take a look here. You can see the six that identify as Catholics.

I will emphasize as we see this. The fact they identify as Catholics does not mean they're all the same religiously. Certainly they do not share all of the same views on some major issues. But this is how each of the justices identifies in terms of the religion.

And here are the other three. You can see the two that identify as Jewish, and the one, Stevens, there, 89-years-old, who would now be the one Protestant on the court in a country that is just over half Protestant.

It is a very interesting to take a look at that. And we will continue to look at other angles about how the Supreme Court might change if Judge Sonia Sotomayor indeed becomes the next Supreme Court justice.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Josh. We will be seeing you again a little bit later on today.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts, who doesn't love those, glazed or iced? You got to enjoy them.

Well, they're not that healthy for you. But you won't believe what some people say all of those doughnuts, doughnut holes and cruellers did to their sewer pipes. Did I say that right? The cruellers?

And Jay Leno's last good night. After 17 years he says goodbye to "The Tonight Show." We will look at how he shaped the last 17 years of comedy television.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, time to look at a few stories making news across America this weekend.

The U.S. Coast Guard to the rescue. Six Oregon National Guardsmen were pulled to safety after their boat capsized during a training mission. It happened two miles from the mouth of the Columbia River.

And doughnuts can clog arteries, and apparently, they do the same thing to a sewer line. Fairfax County, Virginia, is suing Krispy Kreme, claiming grease and oil gunk from its factory gummed up the sewage system.

The county wants $20 million for repairs and penalties. Krispy Kreme says the county's allegations are totally unfounded.

And what are the chances? Florida teen Taylor and Chandler Burkfield are co-valedictorians at their Naples high school. Yep, exact same grade point average as well. The sisters will enroll at MIT this fall.

Let's check the weather picture. Jacqui Jeras looking ever so lovely there. How's the weather? Is it ever so lovely?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is ever lovelier.

WHITFIELD: Good.

JERAS: I know. The pickings are slim for severe weather today. But there are a couple of areas we are worried about. We want to tell you about those.

It is really kind of a small area. You can see it right there across the Ohio River valley. Paducah, Kentucky, over towards Evansville, Indianapolis, main down towards Bowling Green and into Lexington as well.

We are also monitoring an area up here into parts of lower Michigan where we could see stronger storms move through. We could see showers at this time. We could get hail makers at this line over towards lake Huron.

It will be a lovely afternoon here for the big kite festival going on in Michigan.

We are a little worried about the thunderstorms heading your way. You have an hour or so before those begin to arrive.

And then you have to go way down into south Florida before we can find any other showers and thundershowers, nothing severe here but real heavy downpours. Certainly want to come inside as those thunderstorms move on through. Let's talk about some of the temperatures. They have just been incredibly lovely. It's that dry heat. We talk about the dry heat out west. It's feeling like a dry heat out east. Looking at 86 degrees now, 79 in Memphis, 78 in Detroit, 68 Minneapolis.

Even out west we're nice and coolish with 94 in Phoenix, 61 degrees in San Francisco. Low clouds and fog in San Fran that's kind of keeping you a little cooler here, 87 in Portland tomorrow, 77 into the Denver area, 88 in Kansas City.

I want to know what you're doing this weekend, guys. Go ahead and find me. Send me some tweets, twitter.com/jacquijeras. Facebook and iReports. I have garage sales. I have days at the pool. I have cocktails sitting out on the deck. We want to hear what you're doing this weekend.

WHITFIELD: That's really the thing that people do on the weekends.

JERAS: That is.

WHITFIELD: That's good.

JERAS: That's perfect for it.

WHITFIELD: We like that.

Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate it.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: The Pakistani military is claiming a major victory in its offensive against the Taliban.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's half past the hour. Here's what's happening right now.

Salvaging what it can before it's expected to file for bankruptcy. Today General Motors sold its controlling stake in German subsidiary Opel.

And president Obama uses his weekly radio address to bolster support for his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, talking up her record and experience.

Sotomayor, who would become the high court's first Hispanic jurist if confirmed, is set to meet with key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee come Tuesday.

And after a series of deadly bombings across Pakistan this week, the government there is hailing a major victory over the Taliban in the city of Mingora, where Pakistani military leaders say they have uprooted the extremists.

CNN's Reza Sayah with the latest from Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Pakistan calling this a great achievement, the taking back the Mingora city from the Taliban in the Sway Valley, where the two sides have been fighting one another over the past month.

Mingora is significant because it is the largest and most prominent city in the region and also strategically important because it's located at the mouth of the valley.

Mingora was supposed to be a big test for Pakistani security forces. It was where they were supposed to engage militants in house- to-house fighting, a test of their counterinsurgency skills, something they didn't have much experience with.

But, according to Pakistani military officials, they were successful. In a press conference on Saturday, the army's top spokesperson described militant tactics and what troops saw when they entered Mingora.

MAJ. GEN. ATHAR ABBAS, PAKISTAN MILITARY SPOKESMAN: And they had taken over shelters and various houses, government buildings. They were using all of the private hotels or private property for their use, and they had constructed or converted them into bunkers. And there they are engaging and resisting the military.

SAYAH: Those buildings, those hotels in the city of Mingora, according to military officials, once again under the full control of the security forces.

There's also a caveat that comes with a triumphant announcement of the Pakistani military. And once again we heard one Saturday, and that is there's still pockets of resistance on the outskirts of Mingora. We still don't know how significant those pockets are.

We should also note, still no word on Maulana Fazlullah, the Taliban commander in the Swat valley. Pakistani military officials say their targeting him. They have intelligence on him, but no word on where he is.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Back in this country, state health officials are attributing two more deaths to the H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu. The latest confirmed victim, a man a woman who died earlier this month in El Paso, Texas. That brings the total number of flu-related death there in Texas to five, more than any other state.

Nationally there has been 17 deaths blamed on the virus.

The family of the Minnesota teen who was court ordered to undergo chemotherapy said he's not doing well. 13-year-old Daniel Hauser has restarted his treatments. A family spokesman said he has been vomiting nonstop. Nausea is a side effect of the chemo.

Hauser is reported to be upset and depressed that he is being forced to take the treatments since last week. Hauser and his mother ran off to California to avoid the court-ordered chemotherapy. They voluntarily returned to Minnesota earlier this week.

A mother's love moves beyond words. How this mom used music to communicate with her son

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Sometimes parents talk, but their children need more than a spoken word. Well, listen up. This is making parents and their kids hear.

Hear and do. A DVD series called "It's Hip-Hop Baby" is getting great reviews, and just may help bring harmony in your household. The concept first brought melody to the Carter house this way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDI CARTER, CREATOR, "IT'S HIP-HOP BABY": Emerson, let's go.

WHITFIELD: Six-year-old Emerson Carter is slow to start the day.

CARTER: You have to go to school. No kicking.

WHITFIELD: He won't respond to words. But his mother, Candi Carter, says a song gets him moving, and gets him to do just about everything else.

CARTER: Walk with mommy walk with mommy. Walk with mommy walk with mommy.

WHITFIELD: You can see even the little things for them have not been easy.

CARTER: I give birth. And my son has a hole in his heart, a big hole in his heart. Once we got all of the physical stuff taken care of, he still wasn't -- something was wrong. My husband kept going, something's not right. He wasn't doing what other kids were doing. He couldn't sit up at one-years-old.

WHITFIELD: Candi said doctors discovered a rare disorder called Chromosome HP Deletion.

CARTER: And I specifically remember sitting with the geneticist and her saying, you know, it causes mental retardation, severe speech delay. And she went down the list.

WHITFIELD: By the time Emerson was three, Candi and her husband realized how tough it would be.

CARTER: He would literally scream from the minute he woke up until the minute he went to bed. He wanted things, and that's why he screamed. JOE CARTER, EMERSON'S FATHER: Right. He was frustrated.

You like green eggs and ham?

WHITFIELD: Nothing seemed to get through to their son.

CARTER: And one day he was just screaming, tantrum, screaming.

And really, for my own sanity, I just started singing, because I really wanted to stimulate him. So I got right in his face. And he literally stopped. He just went ...

And I just kept doing it. And he was quiet. And I was like, OK. We got something here.

WHITFIELD: She says her songs helped Emerson accept the little transitions in daily life that used to paralyze him, like getting to bed and taking a bath.

CARTER: So I made up a bath time song. It's bath time.

WHITFIELD: And a teeth-brushing song.

CARTER: Say brush my teeth. You want this toothbrush?

That worked. There were no more tantrums. I wasn't dragging him.

WHITFIELD: Emerson found his beat.

JOE CARTER: We kind of found a way to kind of reach him, which makes us happier, which makes him happier, which makes us happier. So it's kind of a loop. And I think it works with his teachers as well.

CARTER: Emerson has a neurologist that he goes to. And so he has seen a lot of progress in him. But what he says he's so happy. It's working. There's something working.

WHITFIELD: Candi wondered if her songs could teach other kids as well.

CARTER: So I asked my husband, look, I worked in TV. I think I can do this. We'll get some of the neighborhood kids. Let me put a video together.

WHITFIELD: "Hip-hop Baby" was born.

CARTER: I can do numbers, I can do colors, I can do animals, I can do all of that stuff that toddlers need to learn, but we can make it hip.

WHITFIELD: Candi posted her video on the Internet. The DVD took off, and the success stories came pouring in.

CARTER: This grandmother wrote to me about her granddaughter, "I wish you can see what it's done for this little girl." WHITFIELD: Candi produced three more DVDs for kids with and without special needs. All were inspired by the special moments she shared with her son.

CARTER: Waitin' on the school bus, school bus, school bus.

JOE CARTER: Especially the special needs child, any progress you make is awesome. It's a huge leap every time he does something new or does he something on his own.

WHITFIELD: An often bumpy road now made smoother because of a mother's melodies.

CARTER: Bye, Emerson. Mommy loves you!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, pretty extraordinary, right? "It's Hip-Hop Baby." We will talk a little more about what this is all about.

These two ladies right here in part making this project so successful, the creator of "It's Hip-Hop Baby" series, Candi Carter. To the right Dr. Lisa Thorton, who has almost two decades of experience treating children with disabilities and she was the medical adviser to the project.

Ladies, thanks so much. This is so inspiring and so wonderful and offers so much hope to households across America. Candi, I know this was really your personal journey.

And as we look at the videotape and hear you and your husband Joe talk about it, it seems like the journey involves everything from frustration to simply feeling like at a loss, to maybe there are a lot of moments of crying, too.

But then, voila, this patience is just pulled out of you out of nowhere. Was that at the root of how you were able to come up with this inventive, creative idea, let me just start singing?

CARTER: Oh, absolutely. You know, with Emerson, the singing was such an important thing. I think music for all children is a really important thing, but it was just so great. It happened in our kitchen. It was very, very effective immediately.

And when I saw that, I thought, wow, if I can do that, I can put instruction and help him learn words faster. And that's what I find myself doing now. I even help him learn words by making up songs about peanut butter and the school bus and various things.

And so he truly was the inspiration behind this idea you can teach kids faster with music.

WHITFIELD: And so Dr. Thorton, when you heard Candi's story, and she said I want to make this broader. It's not just our household experience. I want it to be in a DVD, I want it to be in a form that everybody can embrace, were you onboard right away, or did you think for a moment this may not be applicable to everyone, so we got to be careful about how we carry this through?

DR. LISA THORTON, PEDIATRICIAN: No, I knew right away she was onto something ...

WHITFIELD: Yes?

THORTON: ...because one thing we know as pediatricians is that music and movement really helps children learn. If you think about yourself, one of the first songs anybody of us learned is the ABC song, and we all remember it. Music helps things get in and stay in. And when children are having fun, they learn better.

So I knew that what Candi was doing wasn't just for her son, who has a disability, but for all children, typically developing or with disabilities.

WHITFIELD: Did you have in mind, Dr. Thorton, a certain age group that music needs to be introduced to learning to kids as early as a certain age? Is that something that you were thinking about as you all were crafting this?

THORTON: Obviously, there are even studies of children listening to music in the womb. So no child is too young for music.

And one of the things that was wonderful about this project is that Candi really wanted to be sure she was accurately saying the right age group. Two to six was the age group she was focused on, which is why she asked me to be involved and to help make sure these are developmentally right on target.

WHITFIELD: Did this end up being a collaboration, Candi? What was working for you with Emerson, as you discussed this with Dr. Thorton, was it an issue of let's try something else? And did you almost kind of use your child as a test case to see if other kids would -- would like everything that you were inviting on the DVD?

CARTER: He's my best audience, let me tell you.

WHITFIELD: If you got him engaged, you know others will be too.

CARTER: Absolutely. But what I did actually, was I took the songs -- all of the songs on the DVDs are literally songs that I used in my home, aside from songs children already know, like "Head, shoulders, knees and toes," and "If you're happy and you know it."

But I took those songs and I tested them on my cousins in Atlanta, who are typical children, and they loved them. So although he was a great test market, I also tested it out on family as well, and some other children. And I knew these kids love it. There's something to this.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And you also have another -- you have another wee one in the household, don't you?

CARTER: I do.

WHITFIELD: How is the baby responding to this music in the house?

CARTER: Well, I will tell you, I beat box to her. And when she's crying and upset, I do that thing you saw on the tape, the beat box, and she's like this.

I know. It's just -- you know, children just love music. My girlfriend just told me the other day that she takes a song her child knows and tapes instructions, puts them in it, and he does what she needs him to do.

And there really is this idea parents can do that at home, too.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. And, folks, of course, check out your "It's Hip-Hop Baby" series. They can get it on the web.

And, at the time, I know everybody -- I am so inspired by you. You all are truly my heroes here, Joe, Candi Carter, and Emerson, as well as Dr. Lisa Thorton. Thanks so much for the two of you for joining us and helping us out and get a better understanding of how to communicate with our kids, and, make it fun, too.

CARTER: Yes, thank you.

THORTON: Yes, it's fun.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's all about fun.

Folks can go to itshiphopbaby.com to find these remarkable DVDS. It will bring a little harmony to your household. Maybe a lot of harmony, right Candi?

CARTER: Yes, yes, we hope so.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, ladies. Appreciate it.

Well, he wants to be the first in his family to go to college. But now California's budget cuts could stop a young man who has done all of the right things.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An American couple dreamed of opening a hotel in China. But fate stepped in and they found an abandoned special needs child.

Now they're running a center to help other developmentally disabled children. Emily Chang has their story in today's "Impact your World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Bright Connection, a nonprofit center for children who are developmentally disabled.

Here every day is filled with hard, heartfelt work. Some children have cerebral palsy. Others have autism or Down syndrome. But they all have a home where they are loved or challenged, thanks to the American couple who opened this place, John and Maggie Davis.

JOHN DAVIS, BRIGHT CONNECTION: They may also require personal assistance.

MAGGIE DAVIS, BRIGHT CONNECTION: But they deserve to be gotten up every morning and achieve something during that day.

CHANG: Hope is what gave the Davises this idea in the first place. They had come to China to start a hotel business when an abandoned baby girl came into their lives.

MAGGIE DAVIS: She was wrapped in clean blankets, and she was laid under a tree. We just immediately fell in love with her. I mean she was so helpless.

CHANG: Eventually, the Chinese government allowed the Davises to adopt Chung Chia (ph), who was severely disabled. After spending years raising her, the Davises realized they could use their skills to help other special needs children.

Five years later, they have 21 children and 17 staff. The center is so full, they have had to turn children away. But they're working towards expanding so they can reach as many as they can.

Emily Chang, Hainan, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Some college students in California might not care much about living on a budget. But the state's budget woes could soon hit their doorstep.

Government Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to phase out a college aid program to help reduce his state's budget deficit. Our Dan Simon explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

When you look at trimming billions of dollars from the California budget, you're going to have some serious consequences. Some high school students are learning that firsthand. Their ambition of getting a college education might be compromised if one of these proposed cuts goes through.

(voice-over): Romell Moore grew up on the rough and tumble streets of Oakland, California. He says a strong grandmother kept him out of trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm strict with him.

SIMON: When he graduates from high school next month -- he's number three in his class -- Romell would be the first person in his family to go to college. He's been accepted at U.C. Santa Cruz. ROMELL MOORE, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: It made me feel good. It made me feel that I was doing the right stuff and dong all of the hard work to go. And maybe I could be a guidance to my younger cousins and nephews, that maybe they will want to go to college, too.

SIMON: He wants to become a lawyer.

But that dream could be shattered because of California's budget woes. The state, facing an unprecedented deficit, is looking at ways to save billions. And Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed slashing what are called Cal Grants, money that helps pay tuition for students from low-income families.

200,000 students statewide could lose all or part of the Cal Grants they were counting on to pay for college this fall.

MOORE: The whole way through school, like the teachers and all of that tell you, as long as you get good grades and all of that, the state and the system will find a way to send you to school.

SIMON: A promise that would have to be taken back if the proposed cuts happened. Without Cal Grants, Romell would lose nearly a third of the money for his $27,000 a year tuition and other expenses.

Nanci Roman is the college counselor at his Romell's school. She said the ripple effects would be enormous.

NANCI ROMAN, COLLEGE COUNSELOR: Our main problem is getting student to even look at college, because in their head it's be engrained already about it's too expensive, as well as with parents. They don't' want their students to apply because it's too expensive.

And so we always talk about Cal Grants.

SIMON: Romell has this message for lawmakers making the tough choices.

MOORE: But helping me go to school, they won't have another person on welfare just taking the state money to survive. They'll have a person working. He'll be working, making money for state.

SIMON: Governor Schwarzenegger called these cuts painful but unavoidable, especially given the fact that he and other Republicans are firmly against any new taxes.

But Democrats are pushing back. Some are calling for new taxes, including a new soda tax, and maybe an oil production tax to keep some of these programs in place.

Fred, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Dan.

Out of school and now out of work. Fewer grads than ever are finding jobs.

So we're trying to help. Today at 4:00 eastern time, we're finding solutions with advice on marketing yourself, job alternatives, and even dealing with the debt that mounts up for many grads, all of that while you're unemployed.

Be a part of our hour by sending your questions or comments to our blog at CNN.com/newsroom and click on my name, Fredricka. And then I'm on Facebook as well as well as weekends@CNN.com is another place where you can send your emails, comments, questions.

We will have experts on hand to help you hopefully dig out of debt if you're a college grad, and maybe even land a job, get hired. That's today at 4:00 eastern time.

Laughter turned to tears. Jay leno's farewell to "The Tonight Show." And don't worry, he's not going far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A new day in late-night television begins Monday. Conan O'Brien takes over the seat held by Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and Jay Leno.

Jay Leno signed off last night after 17 years at the helm of "The Tonight Show." His last guest his replacement, as you see there. The final program was filled with trademark Leno comedy, and this serious moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST OF "THE TONIGHT SHOW": One of the most important things Johnny Carson ever taught me no matter what happens in the world, you always have to have a monologue ready to go, because that's your job. When times are serious, you make silly jokes. When times are silly, you make serious jokes. But you always want to have the jokes.

And that's what we've been trying to do the last 17 years to make you laugh, and it's been an honor and privilege to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Leno had a special thank you for ex-presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who, he says, provided him with so much material over the years.

CNN's Kate Bolduan shows us how Leno made politics a "Tonight Show" staple.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now, Jay Leno!

BOLDUAN: Politics and politicians have always been go-to material for Jay Leno and his monologue. LENO: You see that video online of the wind knocking down Joe Biden's teleprompter at the Air Force graduation? That's when you know you're talking too much, when even Mother Nature goes shut up, just shut up.

(LAUGHTER)

And during a speech at a high school, former president George W. Bush said he's really enjoying the fact that he's no longer president. Hey, join the club!

(LAUGHTER)

The 44th president of the United States, please welcome President Barack Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

BOLDUAN: For 17 years, "The Tonight Show" under Leno has also been the go-to place for those in office trying to push policy and show their more human side.

LENO: Is it fair to judge so quickly?

OBAMA: Well, look, we are going through a difficult time. I welcome the challenge. I ran for president because I thought we needed big changes.

And I -- I do think in Washington, it's a little bit like "American Idol," except everybody is Simon Cowell.

LENO: Wow. Wow. That's rough. That's rough.

BOLDUAN: Throughout Leno's late-night career, his show, also a must-stop for the campaign trail.

MIKE HUCKABEE: We've gotten where we are by being positive and talking about what this country needs to be.

AL GORE: I'm running for president on my own.

BOLDUAN: Leno has even played host to some looking to launch political campaigns.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIFORNIA: And this is why I'm going to run for governor of the state of California.

(APPLAUSE)

BOLDUAN: Interestingly, Leno hits on politics more than most of his late-night colleagues, more than 33,000 jokes and counting.

A study from the Center for Media and Public Affairs shows Leno has told four times as many jokes about public figures than his successor, Conan O'Brien.