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Alexander Haig Remembered; Tiger Woods Back in Rehab; CPAC Wrapping Up; Diva of Dance; Popular Diabetes Drug Linked to Heart Attacks; A Look at New Movies Hitting Theaters and DVD
Aired February 20, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So while many of the speakers at the annual conservative get together, still invoke the name of Ronald Reagan, many of those attending are simply too young to remember his presidency. We'll get to that in a moment.
But first, here are some of the other headlines. Tiger Woods is back in rehab in Mississippi. One day after his public apology for cheating on his wife.
And a Senate committee report says the diabetes drug Avandia is linked with thousands of heart attacks and accuses the maker GlaxoSmithKline of trying to conceal that information.
All right. He served three presidents and tried to become president in his own right. Alexander Haig died in a Baltimore hospital today at the age of 85 of complications from an infection. His military career included four years as NATO's supreme allied commander and he served as White House chief of staff in the Nixon and Ford administrations, and as U.S. secretary of state in the Reagan administration. He briefly ran for president back in 1988.
President Barack Obama says "General Haig exemplified our finest warrior-diplomat tradition of those who dedicate their lives to public service."
CNN political contributor William Bennett served in the Reagan administration and he says Haig's military background didn't always mesh with the political world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: He's used to being in command. He was used to the kind of discipline with an ethos of the military and of course, civilian life and civilian politics is different, but he served his country well and for that he should be remembered. I always say, take a man in the totality of his actions. If you look at Al Haig and the totality of his actions, comes out very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Alexander Haig was hailed as a patriot today at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. CNN political editor Mark Preston is there. We know Bill Bennett was there. He had those remarks about Alexander Haig. Anyone else?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Fred, clearly if you can hear behind me, you hear a very energized conservative base. But what they did this morning is that they took a quick moment to remember Alexander Haig.
I should note that a majority of the attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the past three days are very young. They're under the age of 30. So many of them did not even know Al Haig, or really know his legacy, but, of course, those who did really took a moment to remember him today.
WHITFIELD: There were others who were there. A lot of the heavy hitter conservatives who were there for a different purpose. They were there to try to make sure the conservative movement, the Republican Party, stays on track and stays on message, particularly as we get ready to see aggressive campaigning for the midterm elections. What's the common denominator?
PRESTON: Well, look, there's no question that you have an energized conservative base as I've said before. We've had a lot of Republican, conservative speakers over the past couple of days including former House speaker Newt Gingrich who's just about an hour ago wrapped up what could be the biggest speech that we've seen of the past three days.
Newt Gingrich excoriated President Obama, excoriated democrats. In fact, let's listen to what he had to say, Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: I believe that the radical left is a secular socialist machine so dedicated to values destructive of America that if it is allowed to remain in power, whether that's in Sacramento or that's in Albany or that's in the city council or that is in the federal government, that machine is anesthetical (ph) to the survival of America as a prosperous, healthy country based on sound principles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: What we've heard right there is a call to arms by the former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Somebody who is considered a potential presidential candidate's in 2012, and in fact, Fred, in just about an hour and a half we should see the results of a straw poll. Very unscientific, however. Perhaps a barometer of who conservatives want to take on President Obama in 2012. 11 candidates on the ballot again including Gingrich. But Sarah Palin is also on the ballot. Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and several others.
So, of course, we'll know those results in the 5:00 hour, and really has capped off really what has been an exciting conference if you're a conservative, who just a year ago that Republicans were really, really down in the dumps. President Obama just won the White House. Democrats had picked up seats in the House and the Senate and they were a little bit in the wilderness, so to speak. A lot has changed in the past year. Fred?
WHITFIELD: Mark Preston, thanks so much, at the CPAC conference there in Washington.
President Barack Obama has announced another program to help struggling homeowners. The administration will allocate $1.5 billion of TARP money toward funding state housing agencies in five states. Agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan will have access to the funds.
The money will be earmarked for homeowners who are unemployed, owe more than their homes are actually worth or simply can't afford to make monthly payments. Each of those states has seen some values decline by 20 percent or more. Nevada has the highest number of underwater homeowners of 65 percent.
Las Vegas has been at the epicenter of the mortgage meltdown and it's also been on the receiving end of some pretty sharp jabs from President Obama. The president was in Las Vegas just yesterday where he held a town hall meeting and campaign for Senate majority leader Harry Reid. He also tried to make amends with Vegas, as we hear from Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jim Murren knows what it's like to be in the eye of the storm. Creditors came this close last year to shutting down his sprawling $8 billion City Centre Hotel and Casino project. So he sympathizes with embattled senators like Harry Reid.
JIM MURREN, CEO, MGM MIRAGE: They just vote him out off the island. Republicans, Democrats are voting him off the island.
HENRY (on camera): Did you feel you almost got voted off the island last year?
MURREN: I think the company did almost got voted off the island. I do. I mean, we were hours away, hours away from filing bankruptcy.
HENRY (voice-over): Now business is picking up and Murren thinks Reid can survive, too.
MURREN: It's like counting Las Vegas out. Which everyone did last year, right and now we're coming back. I think he's going to come back, too.
HENRY: But Reid has not been helped by the president taking verbal swipes at sin city twice in the past year.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I did receive a little bit of heat, I know. Maybe some in this room, when I said that folks shouldn't blow their college savings in Vegas. That doesn't mean I don't love Vegas. It wasn't meant to be a shot. HENRY: So when he came to visit City Center for the first time, the president tried to make a mends with Murren and other local business leaders.
OBAMA: Before I go any further, let me set the record straight, I love Vegas. Always have.
HENRY (on camera): A big part of whether City Center succeeds depends on what happens with the latest Cirque de Soleil show here, "Viva, Elvis." It's really been interesting because there's been tons of Elvis shows done with impersonators obviously. This one they're trying to make totally different.
They want to make it a transformative experience that only touches lightly on Elvis' career but really goes beyond the music. Gets into his life. You can see TCB is his motto, taking care of business. Something a lot of people in Vegas are trying to do right now. Let's go in the theater and take a look.
(voice-over): The new show opened Friday. And the artistic director admits he's on edge.
GENIE LUCAS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, "VIVA ELVIS": It's a Vegas party, so we're hoping that it's going to, you know, bring them in, fill the seats.
HENRY: You feel the anxiety now? You're getting ready to open.
LUCAS: Oh, of course. Of course.
HENRY: The president's warm words for this city may not have been enough for the flamboyant Mayor Oscar Goodman who skipped Mr. Obama's speech. But Jim Murren of MGM, a Republican who voted for Mr. Obama, says the proof that the president cares for this city is that he showed up and he thinks everybody should move on.
Ed Henry, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about a planned gold rush of another sort out of Vancouver coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Tiger Woods is back in rehab today. Yesterday he publicly apologized for his sex scandal and what he is calling his irresponsible behavior. He apologized to his wife, family and fans but gave no indication when he will return to golf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone applied to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me. My wife's family -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Woods made his comments in a tightly controlled televised event attended by a hand-picked crowd including his mother there who you see him hugging. So will Woods' apology help him regain some of the endorsements that he lost during the sex scandal? Rick Horrow, specializes in the business aspects of professional sports and earlier I spoke with him about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: This was a classic mea culpa on steroids. It's the biggest apology in the history of spokespeople. It's going to write a lot of textbooks over time.
WHITFIELD: But why was it really necessary at this juncture? This was maybe a statement that some think should have happened much earlier in the game, but now months later. Why?
HORROW: Well, you have to do it sooner or later to move on. Not just move on psychological but move on in the business. And for example, for corporate America, we have Accenture and we have AT&T who dropped him. We had Gatorade and other companies putting him on hold and you have Nike and EA Sports who are saying we're sticking by you.
Nike's representative was there in the press conference. And so this begins the rehabilitation of Tiger Woods from a corporate perspective as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Rick Horrow's point of view earlier today. And if you missed Woods' statement, you can watch in its entirety at our web site at cnn.com.
And now to the Olympics. One athlete has dreams of stardom that go beyond the excitement of winter games. Speed skater Katherine Reuter hopes to one day trade in her speed skates for a spotlight on Broadway. Here's CNN Mark McKay with more on her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some day Katherine Reuter wants to see her name in lights. Right now she's aiming to become an Olympic star. But after that, Broadway?
KATHERINE REUTER, U.S. SPEED SKATER: That would be a pretty good dream job for me. I do like to sing and act and dance, and you know, speed skating always got priority over everything in high school but it's something I really wish I was able to do more of.
MCKAY: That Reuter would want to prance on the stage is a bit of a surprise. Sure, she sometimes sang the national anthem to crowds before her competitions but she long ago left the dainty world of figure skating for the rough and tumble of short track speed skating. No grace required.
REUTER: I just had no fun figure skating. I wasn't interested in doing spins and twirls and all that.
MCKAY: So she spent her teens going in circles on the ice and off it, including two years worth of weekend training trips t St. Louis from her Champaign, Illinois home. A six-hour drive roundtrip, usually made on consecutive days.
REUTER: When it got to the point we were doing it every weekend it just turned into a super long commute, because I didn't want to be away every weekend, and it ended up being cheaper to just pay for gas and to pay for a hotel room and didn't want to wear out the hospitality anywhere.
JAY REUTER, KATHERINE REUTER'S FATHER: I had calculated it out and I had an old car and I wasn't worried about putting the miles on it.
REUTER: Pretty soon it was just normal to be driving. There and coming right back.
MCKAY: Going the extra miles wasn't a problem. Reuter was used to being told to do just that by the man who is both her coach and her driver.
REUTER: My dad taught me everything I know about being a good athlete.
JAY REUTER: You look back and you say, gosh, if all my ideas worked out this well, you know, it's really - it's been hard but it's been great.
MCKAY: She eventually got a professional coach and now stands as a three-time national champion, hoping to follow in the multiple medal winning footsteps of the sport's biggest name, Apolo Anton Ohno. Of course, as you might expect, she's just as interested in Ohno's footsteps as the footwork of the former "Dancing with the Stars" champion.
REUTER: I certainly don't want to take away from the amazing dancer that he is, but I do love to dance. I think I could pick that up pretty quick.
MCKAY (on camera): It sounds more like you'd be made out for "American Idol."
REUTER: Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. Great idea. All right. Okay. Simon Cowell, here I come.
MCKAY (voice-over): From Vancouver to Hollywood to Broadway, Reuter is raising to wherever the lights shine brightest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Mark McKay with us now, out of Vancouver. All right. Let's talk about another skater, Apolo Ohno tonight and all eyes are once again on him.
MCKAY: No doubt about it. We heard, I mentioned Ohno in that piece. He will be skating tonight as will Reuter. She is in the women's 1500-meter speed skating event, a short track event. But, yes, all eyes indeed, Fred, on Apolo Anton Ohno looking to win his seventh winter games gold, or medal overall. He would love that gold for sure. But he has a gold, silver or bronze after tonight's event, he will become the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian, passing Bonnie Blair. We'll keep an eye on that as this unfolds.
Fred, no fewer than six gold medals being awarded today on the ninth day of competition. One has already been awarded in Whistler in the women's Super G race. It was considered to be Lindsey Vonn's best race. But she wasn't best on this day. Lindsey Vonn picking up bronze as the Austrian skier Andrea Fischbacher claims gold.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. I know it was exciting to watch.
MCKAY: No doubt about it. A great race, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Mark McKay, thanks so much, and a very sunny Vancouver. Beautiful weather today.
MCKAY: Beautiful, beautiful.
WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to talk more about Olympics. We're going to talk about skating of another sorts. We'll ask Olympic skater Elvis Stojko what he thinks about the man who brought home gold, the American right there - who brought home gold in Vancouver, and her dancing was a revelation. Coming up I'll talk with one of the most influential dancers and artistic directors of our time. Judith Jamison.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's get caught up on our top stories now. A funeral was held today for the luger from the Republic of Georgia who was killed during a training run at the Olympics. The 21- year-old was buried in his home village. He died just hours before the opening ceremonies in Vancouver.
A key question for investigators in Texas, was the man who flew a plane into an office building Thursday in Austin, Texas, trying to maximize the damage? The pilot, Joe Stack, apparently was enraged at the IRS, which has offices in that building. A law enforcement official says h may have removed seats from the plane and replaced them with a drum full of fuel before the crash.
Now, the Portuguese island of Madeira, floods and mudslides have killed at least 32 people, dozens of other people were injured. Floods tore down houses as violent storm hit early today. Madeira is in the Atlantic, off the northwest coast of Africa.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. A very special guest with us today. If you know anything about ballet, modern dance, just the entire discipline of dance, you almost certainly know about this woman, Judith Jamison and her amazing career. She began studying dance at the tender age of 10. That's so remarkable.
JUDITH JAMISON, ALVIN AILEY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Six.
WHITFIELD: Six? Even better. My gosh. Gosh.
(CROSSTALK)
JAMISON: I have been moving for 61 years.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.
JAMISON: I have been moving.
WHITFIELD: And you are still moving.
JAMISON: And mother ever tells you you have to move for the rest of your life.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
JAMISON: If you're a dancer, you're always a dancer. You know?
WHITFIELD: You've been moving so gracefully and teaching about the beautiful art of dance. 20 years as the artistic director. We're so glad you're passing through Alvin Ailey Dance Company here through Atlanta.
JAMISON: Yes, yes. Did you know this afternoon we have a matinee and 4,000 strong in the house.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's incredible. Always fills up the house, doesn't?
JAMISON: Yes, but it's great. You know, in Atlanta, so much fun here. Out there you have 61 degrees today.
WHITFIELD: I know.
JAMISON: And last week it was snowing.
WHITFIELD: I know. So glad you're here during this beautiful kind of time. It feels like cherry blossom season or something.
JAMISON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Well, this is really incredible, because you've just launched your 20-city tour, the Alvin Ailey and at the same time, this is kind of your sayonara this year. Isn't it? Kind of doing that?
JAMISON: One more year.
WHITFIELD: OK. JAMISON: I'll have a little friend with me. Somebody I appoint to be the artistic director.
WHITFIELD: So later on this year, we'll be hearing about that.
JAMISON: Yes, I'll make an announcement.
WHITFIELD: You'll unveil it.
JAMISON: Yes, I will.
WHITFIELD: So let's talk about how this might be a rather nostalgic year for you, will it?
JAMISON: It's nostalgic always. Any anniversary is nostalgic. Alvin isn't here physically and that means he died 20 years ago. You realize that? It went so fast, didn't?
WHITFIELD: It did.
JAMISON: Really, really fast. But his spirit is till with us. So every time the curtain goes up, wherever we are on this 20-city tour, especially in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JAMISON: That you see us living in his resonance and you see how proud we are as 30 of the most exquisite dancers in the world, thank you, thank you, and a repertoire of 250 ballets. I know you're going to ask me what I think of my legacy and all that. You know, I always cramp up when we talk about things like that, but I must say that I didn't realize I had put 100 ballets in the repertoire over the last 20 years. I had no idea. And very diverse. So my teacher taught me well, and that was Alvin Ailey.
WHITFIELD: And so all along the while, you're always thinking about him and his commitment to the dance company and trying to adhere to that?
JAMISON: Absolutely. The whole idea -
WHITFIELD: -- branching out and doing your own thing with your own fingerprint on it.
JAMISON: But you realized, he hired an individual. When I'm hiring dancers now I'm looking for individuality. I'm looking for uniqueness. I'm looking for talent, of course. So all I did was continue what seed he planted, and he is the trunk of the tree and the roots, and we just branched right out from there.
WHITFIELD: Gosh. There's a tremendous amount of pressure, then, on who you appoint. Who would your successor be? What do you look for in that person?
JAMISON: The same kind of uniqueness (INAUDIBLE) he looked for in me. Individuality is what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a fresh voice. A new voice. I won't be around for another 50 years but the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will be, god willing, and I'm looking for somebody who is just as talented as rounded and full of love of Ailey and the love of knowing that a dancer is a unique individual.
We are not violins and saxophones. We can't put ourselves into a case and walk away. We are the instrument. And so therefore we have to love this and be in communications with the audience that we serve.
WHITFIELD: We are looking at images of you. You know, we got the live image here but then we got these beautiful images here. you know, one can't help but look at your costumes and you know, just your poise and elegance, and what an incredible honor the Smithsonian would say, you know what, we want one of your dresses.
JAMISON: That was too unique.
WHITFIELD: What was that like?
JAMISON: Well, one thing is wonderful. You know, I think (INAUDIBLE) because we opened -
WHITFIELD: And there it is.
JAMISON: We opened in the center, and it was showcased. Now one thing that got me, this is the costume from Duke Ellington's music. There was a great rapport between Duke Ellington and Alvin Ailey. He did many ballets with his music.
WHITFIELD: In Washington, D.C., Smithsonian.
JAMISON: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: So I was very proud. We signed a deed onstage. It was quite a ceremony. But when I went outside and I saw, they actually put a good looking mannequin with a figure on it and put my dress on it, I was like, OK. There we go.
(CROSSTALK)
JAMISON: I was very proud and I loved that costume, designed by Randy Barcelo, but most -
WHITFIELD: Did you get to pick that costume?
JAMISON: No, no. They just said well what does she want to give us? One thing I still have in my closet is my (INAUDIBLE) skirts.
WHITFIELD: Really? Do you hold or did you hold on to stuff -
JAMISON: No. I only have one costume, just my (INAUDIBLE) skirt which is my original (INAUDIBLE) skirt -
WHITFIELD: You didn't get that out?
JAMISON: Not quite yet. WHITFIELD: Hold on to that one.
JAMISON: But that (INAUDIBLE) dress is fantastic and we still do the ballet called the (INAUDIBLE). You know, what's interesting about this time for me is the dancers and how they are being so creative about transitioning, about the being chameleon like, about being an Ailey dancer.
WHITFIELD: Are they bringing that or is that the choreography? Is that really you, you know, saying, OK you know, I want you all to, you know, stretch yourselves.
JAMISON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Given the direction or are they kind of improvising?
JAMISON: They have to come to the movement. They have to come to the movement. What's so wonderful is we always talk about people that might want to go to a baseball game or go anyplace else but to dance. Come to dance and have their eyes open watching an Ailey dancer because they're so communion like. They can change from role to role to role during an evening. You're really on a roller coaster ride. So my hat is always off to these dancers that dance from here, from inside out.
WHITFIELD: And you can see that. I mean, you go to a show. I mean, I remember my mom taking me to a Alvin Ailey production when I was a little girl and who doesn't leave their feeling inspired and wondering about my own potential?
JAMISON: I do. That's interesting, because I've been watching "Revelations," which is an American classic, our Revelations. I've been watching it since 1963 when I saw Mr. Ailey do it and now I get the chance, it's a real blessing to get a chance to see dancers from each generation. We got Renee Robinson whose been in the economy for 28 years.
WHITFIELD: She's amazing.
JAMISON: Matthew Rushing, 18-year veteran with a wonderful piece about the Harlan renaissance, yes, called "Up Town." We got Ronald K. Brown. One evening, I can take you on a complete ride that goes from -
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
JAMISON: -- generation to generation, from decade to decade. This is the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and we understand that not only do we have to be excellent on stage, but we have to serve the communities that we're dancing for. Therefore, the children's programs.
WHITFIELD: Your successor has some huge shoes to fill.
JAMISON: They don't fill mine. No. They won't fill it. It's not about filling my shoes. It's about creating their own. WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. You're very modest. I have a feeling that person is going to feel like, wait a minute, first Alvin Ailey and now Judith Jamison, how am I going to do this?
JAMISON: They'll be just fine and I thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. Beautiful picture.
JAMISON: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Don't you love that?
JAMISON: Yes, I do.
WHITFIELD: Seeing you live and in person.
JAMISON: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All the best.
JAMISON: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Alvin Ailey Company coming to city near you. 20 cities.
JAMISON: Yes, indeed.
WHITFIELD: Oh, I didn't get to ask you about what it was like to be with the Bidens...
JAMISON: Oh, they were fabulous.
WHITFIELD: ... during the kick-off at the Kennedy Center.
JAMISON: The vice president and Dr. Biden...
WHITFIELD: Yes. Come on!
JAMISON: It was fabulous.
WHITFIELD: Oh, man!
JAMISON: In the vice president's home? It was incredible.
WHITFIELD: That's fantastic.
JAMISON: And they were warm and receptive.
WHITFIELD: Oh!
JAMISON: And I gave a great speech, if I don't say so myself.
WHITFIELD: Of course!
JAMISON: But they were...
WHITFIELD: Well deserved.
JAMISON: They generated that.
WHITFIELD: An honor.
JAMISON: So I was very happy and the dancers very happy. He even -- the vice president even talked to the dancers' mothers on their cell phones, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Well, thank goodness for his wife because she's the one who's responsible for getting him interested in dance, right?
JAMISON: Dr. Biden, yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very good. Judith Jamison, thanks so much. Always good to see you.
JAMISON: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.
JAMISON: Than you so much.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic.
All right, well, it may be the biggest opening yet for Leonardo DiCaprio as he collaborates once again with famed director Martin Scorsese for the thriller "Shutter Island." That looks creepy, doesn't it? And Ben Mankiewicz will be weighing in.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Too creepy for me! How about you?
JAMISON: No.
WHITFIELD: Not interested.
JAMISON: (INAUDIBLE) DiCaprio.
WHITFIELD: Yes, yes. He's cool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Two thrillers, two big-name actors synonymous with box office success and two legendary directors. So should you run out to see "Shutter Island" and "The Ghost Writer" this weekend? Film critic and host of Turner Classic Movies Ben Mankiewicz joins me from Los Angeles. Good to see you.
BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES: Yes?
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk "Shutter Island" first. We see Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaborating once again. They love each other, don't they?
MANKIEWICZ: Maybe.
WHITFIELD: DiCaprio plays the role of a U.S. Marshal sent to investigate how a patient managed to escape from a locked, heavily guarded cell at a hospital for the criminally insane. So let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentlemen, welcome to Shutter Island.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this female prisoner, Rachel Salondo (ph), escaped sometime in the last 24 hours. Is she considered dangerous?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could say that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 11 miles to the nearest land, and the water's freezing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know how she got out of her room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Came back for a midnight round, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's as if she evaporated straight through the walls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 67.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a total of what, 66 patients at this facility?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it seems Rachel Salondo was suggesting that you have a 67th patient, Doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK, that looks creepy. I hope we didn't just see the whole movie. So what do you think, Ben?
MANKIEWICZ: Well, Fred, it's really interesting to read the disparate opinions on this movie. First, of course, I'll tell what you I think.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
MANKIEWICZ: I think this is a -- I think this is a creepy, suspenseful, taut thriller. I really liked this movie.
WHITFIELD: Oh, good.
MANKIEWICZ: But... WHITFIELD: Oh.
MANKIEWICZ: ... like I say, it's really interesting to see which way this goes. First of all, I think that the trailers for this movie are very misrepresentative...
WHITFIELD: Oh.
MANKIEWICZ: ... because it looks like it's about to be a supernatural horror movie, and it really isn't. It stays on the cusp of horror. It's really sort of a modern-day film noir. It never delves into horror. But critics that I like very much, Roger Ebert, for example, he really likes it. Mike LaSalle of "The San Francisco Chronicle" -- he think it's a rather absurd movie.
WHITFIELD: Oh.
MANKIEWICZ: So -- but the debate is right there. Like, the music that Scorsese uses, that Martin Scorsese uses, is totally over the top. And so if you like the movie, that sort of enhances the suspense. If you don't like it, that makes it seem like Scorsese is taking the film -- his own film too seriously. I give the movie a B.
WHITFIELD: A B? That's good!
MANKIEWICZ: I liked it. Like I said, it's suspenseful. It's a psychological thriller. It's almost Hitchcockian, a term we use a lot at Turner Classic Movies.
WHITFIELD: OK, now that means...
MANKIEWICZ: I think people that will enjoy it.
WHITFIELD: ... it's good because you are tough. You are a tough grader. So a B, I'm flocking! I am going to go see this one because you said so.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about the next movie.
MANKIEWICZ: Look, the...
WHITFIELD: What?
MANKIEWICZ: I always say, look, January and February are rough months. I love movies. January and February are rough. But I liked "Shutter Island."
WHITFIELD: OK, Good. I'm glad to hear it. Next on the list, "The Ghost Writer" starring Pierce Brosnan, once Bond, James Bond, directed by Roman Polanski, who's facing, by the way, for those of you living under a rock, ongoing legal troubles in the U.S. But guess what? Just a few hours ago, Polanski actually won the best director prize at the Berlin Film Festival. So let's see what this movie's all about. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst thing about my life, it's so out of touch. Everything's done for you. You don't drive. You don't carry money. If I need cash, I have to borrow it from the protection boys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the kind of details we need in the memoirs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't put that in! People would think I was a complete idiot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not at all. No, this shows what it's like being prime minister. That's exactly what the readers want to know, how does it feel to run a country, how does it feel to be so cut off? How does it feel to be so hated?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, thanks a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so loved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. So from thriller to a thinker. We've got to really listen to this dialogue. What did you think? Were you impressed at all?
MANKIEWICZ: Well, first of all, that's Pierce Brosnan playing former British prime minister Adam Lang. But don't kid yourself. That is Tony Blair. And it's not even thinly veiled. That is unquestionably who this is supposed to be.
You know, interestingly, "Shutter Island" is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, and I read the novel, or at least tried to read the novel. And I'm a huge Dennis Lehane fan, and a couple novels, you know, "Gone Baby Gone" and "Mystic River," have turned into terrific movies. I love Dennis Lehane. I've read everything. I couldn't get through "Shutter Island."
This book is based and a novel, "The Ghost" by Robert Harris, and I loved the novel. Both of these adaptations, I think, are excellent. This is a good novel that turned into a terrific movie. It is about the -- again, Tony Blair, or Adam Lang, is trying to turn his -- again, his career into memoirs and he hires a ghost writer, Ewan McGregor, to write it. The previous ghost writer has died mysteriously on a ferry. There is, by the way, a ferry boat also in "Shutter Island." It is a very, very big week for the ferry boat industry in film, probably the biggest ever.
(LAUGHTER)
MANKIEWICZ: I liked this a lot. It has a terrific cast. Polanski knows how to cast a movie. I will point out that, interestingly enough, James Belushi has a great role in this movie...
WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. MANKIEWICZ: ... as a New York book publisher. He's terrific. He's funny. Everybody is funny in this movie.
WHITFIELD: OK.
MANKIEWICZ: Kim Cattrall was funny in this movie.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
MANKIEWICZ: Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson.
WHITFIELD: Some big names.
MANKIEWICZ: This is a great political thriller.
WHITFIELD: So what's that...
MANKIEWICZ: I'm not surprised that Polanski won.
WHITFIELD: ... letter grade?
MANKIEWICZ: What about what? A letter grade?
WHITFIELD: A letter grade.
MANKIEWICZ: I gave it a B-plus, and I flirted with an A-minus.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh!
MANKIEWICZ: I think this is great. And interesting that he won the Berlin prize because, of course, the whole movie, as you're watching it, you're thinking -- this is set in Martha's Vineyard and around Boston, and you know it's not shot there because Roman Polanski isn't coming to the United States.
WHITFIELD: Could not be here!
MANKIEWICZ: And it's shot -- it's shot in Germany.
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK. Well, let's talk about those DVDs. I like that, two for two. We're on a roll! "The informant" -- tell me about this "Informant." I -- why do I not even remember this one?
MANKIEWICZ: I don't know why you don't remember it. Another director that I love, Steven Soderbergh, who made one of -- I got to be honest, one of my favorite movies of all time...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
MANKIEWICZ: ... "Out of Sight," a movie that I give an A or maybe even an A-plus to, but that's a movie from about 12 years ago. "The Informant" -- Matt Damon plays Mark Whitacre, an executive at Archer Daniels Midland who was involved in one of the biggest price- fixing cases in American history. He was in the agribusiness at Archer Daniels Midland, and he recorded for the FBI conversations that he had with other price fixers at other big agribusiness -- with other big agribusiness executives all over the world, a billion-dollar price-fixing business. But at the same time, he was also embezzling $9 million from his company. It turns out that...
WHITFIELD: Should I buy this?
MANKIEWICZ: ... he was...
WHITFIELD: Should I buy this or rent it?
MANKIEWICZ: ... also bipolar -- I would say -- look, this is a B-minus. It's a little confusing, but Soderbergh is good. Matt Damon is excellent in this. I have a feeling I'm going to like it better when I rent it. But it's worth renting on a cold winter night. I gave it a B-minus.
WHITFIELD: I like that Matt Damon. I'm telling you. He's so versatile.
MANKIEWICZ: I like Matt Damon, too. He's a terrific actor...
WHITFIELD: Gosh!
MANKIEWICZ: ... and Soderbergh's movies are always interesting.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, next film, we're talking about a British sports drama, "The Damned United."
MANKIEWICZ: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And did you like this?
MANKIEWICZ: I did. Look at this, Michael Sheen, who's a terrific, terrific actor. You know, he played Tony Blair, a lot of talk about Tony Blair today, opposite Helen Mirren, in "The Queen." And he played David Frost opposite Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon."
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. He was excellent.
MANKIEWICZ: Michael Sheen can flat-out act. Here he plays Brian Clough, who took over a soccer team in England after the -- Leeds United -- after their coach goes to take over the national team when they fail to qualify for the World Cup, and he couldn't be a more horrible choice to take over Leeds United. And it's about his disastrous tenure there. But you don't have to be a soccer fan to like this movie. This is about what happens when you choose the exact wrong guy for the wrong situation at the wrong time. And it is a sort of great personal drama with great actors and a really terrific script. It's a small movie that I would have put on my top 11 list last year if I'd seen it in time.
WHITFIELD: I am hearing another incredible grade, which would be this time?
MANKIEWICZ: I gave this a B-plus.
WHITFIELD: Get out! MANKIEWICZ: Again, I could have given this an A-Minus. This is a good movie.
WHITFIELD: Ben!
MANKIEWICZ: These are all good movies.
WHITFIELD: You are feeling very generous this weekend.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes, well, I took my drugs this week!
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Well, I am glad that it means there's a big payoff if we go to the movies this weekend or if we decide to rent or buy one of these DVDs.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes, and I know I'm probably over my time, but I got to say -- I got to do one bit of family self-promotion. My great- uncle, Joe Mankiewicz, cast Sidney Poitier in his first movie in 1950, "No Way Out." And Sidney Poitier is my mother's favorite actor, and Sidney Poitier turns 83 years old today and so...
WHITFIELD: Oh! Happy birthday!
MANKIEWICZ: ... a little family self-promotion and a mention of my mother.
WHITFIELD: That's nice.
MANKIEWICZ: So -- and everybody loves Sidney Poitier.
WHITFIELD: You got to get the family in. I'm all about it.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So all the best...
MANKIEWICZ: All right.
WHITFIELD: ... to the Mankiewicz family and Sidney Poitier, as well. All right, Ben, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.
MANKIEWICZ: Thanks, Fred. You, too.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, what would we do if there wasn't an ice skating flap at the winter Olympics? Olympian Elvis Stojko joins us next with his take on who should have won gold in the men's event.
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WHITFIELD: Fantastic weather across the east, but when was the last time you actually heard that? The big weather story is out west, where the winter storm is expected to bring rain and snow. It has been the other way around for so long. It's nice to finally get a little sunshine on the East Coast.
JERAS: I know! A little flip-flop going on there.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Why not?
JERAS: Don't mind it.
WHITFIELD: All right.
JERAS: But have you noticed how we've all lowered our standards, by the way, about what feels good outside?
WHITFIELD: True. True.
JERAS: Right? Temperatures, for the most part, are right around where they should be for this time across the east, maybe, you know, 2 to 4 degrees above normal and that's...
WHITFIELD: People are out in shorts now.
JERAS: I know. Funny how suddenly 50s feels so good.
WHITFIELD: I know!
JERAS: Anyway, we do have a series of storms out west, and this will be our big focus throughout the weekend and even into early next week. The first one, you know, really kind of a weak system, but we're watching the southwest for some stronger weather to come into play for tomorrow. Today, we're just seeing some scattered rain showers, nothing too terribly heavy, but we will see some heavy snow with that additional uplift into the higher elevations as the system moves across the four corners region. In fact, we could see a couple of feet of snow across the southern mountains into Colorado. We'll see lesser amounts, more like 8 to 16 inches, up there for you skiers at Snow Mass (ph) and Vail and into Aspen.
Now, winter storm watches have been posted ahead of the system for the Midwest. And there you can see, in white are the watches, which goes all the way from Michigan stretching down towards Kansas, and they've already upgraded these to warnings in the red areas. And we think, you know, right in this area here is where we're going to have the heaviest swath, hopefully, just north of Chicago, and hopefully, just south of Des Moines, so it won't get any more of those major metropolitan areas, though you'll be impacted by that storm certainly in the suburbs.
Kansas City getting a little snow today, but this is just kind of a warm-up for what you're going to get tomorrow. We think up towards St. Joe (ph), maybe into the northern burbs of Kansas City, could see the heavier accumulations. And there you see it just north of Chicago. We think Milwaukee could get hit pretty hard, though, maybe a good 6 to 10 inches of snow with that system.
And then the West Coast getting hit with some very wet weather for tomorrow. Now, this system could cause some problems for the space shuttle landing. We've got a chance of some clouds and some showers out at Kennedy, but you got to have a backup, and Edwards, unfortunately, looks like it's going to be wet. Of course, the space shuttle set to land tomorrow at 10:16 Eastern time -- that's in the evening -- after spending 10 days with the International Space Station.
You know, they put up that observation deck, basically, Fredricka, and put in some new windows so they get kind of more of a 360 view of the earth and anything else out there. So the ISS is now at 98 percent complete and only four more shuttle flights. So we'll have to watch the weather very closely. You know, they don't like to land at White Sands in New Mexico if they don't have to because it's a little bit more difficult to get that space shuttle back to Kennedy, so they can have a few opportunities on Monday, as well. So of course, we'll keep you posted with what the weather's doing and whether or not we're going to have to delay that landing.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. OK, thanks so much, Jacqui.
All right, coming up, the latest Olympic medal count and the controversy now over men's figure skating. An American won gold, but a Russian says he was robbed.
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WHITFIELD: OK, America with a pretty impressive medal count there. Meantime, controversy has erupted over whether the right man was awarded the gold medal in Olympic figure skating. American Evan Lysacek's upset win over Russian Evgeni Plushenko has many, including Plushenko, calling foul.
Former world champion figure skater Elvis Stojko agrees. Stojko won silver at the winter games in '94 and '98. He's joining us now from Vancouver, British Columbia. So why is it you agree with Plushenko, the wrong man walked away with gold?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I wrote an article for Yahoo!, and I'm here doing some stuff, looking out for the skating here for Yahoo.com. And we want to push the sport forward, and Lysacek -- he did the same technically that Boitano did in 1988. And Plushenko went out there, tried the quad-triple, pushed forward in the sport, and we need to do that in order to keep it a sport.
And you can add all the in-betweens all you want. The system is pushing it that direction. But if you start getting rid the quad, what's next, taking rid of another triple axel? And eventually, it's all going to be about the footwork and spins, which is not about what men's skating is. It's about everything, about the jumps and the total package.
WHITFIELD: So you know, I guess you're definitely in disagreement with, say, like, even Dick Button, who says, you know, the quad impressive, but he comes down like a sledgehammer, and it's what's in between the quad that makes the difference. And I guess his point of view was there wasn't the elegance, the really connecting of the dots in Plushenko's performance. And that's what the judges seemed to agree on, as well. STOJKO: Well, the system is trying to push skating in a certain direction, and I don't agree with it because you can do all the in- betweens if you take the quad out. You can spend all the time doing the in-betweens. They're easier to do.
When you add the quad into the program, it changes the chemistry completely. You ask the guys that actually do the quad in competition. It's very, very difficult to do. Once that -- the people that are talking about it are the ones that never tried one or never did one. And it's very difficult to master and to do.
And I'm not saying that you don't have to have the in-betweens. You got to have it there, too. And I'm defending -- I'm defending the sport, not just, you know, defending one person. Like, for me, Johnny Weir, I'm not a fan of his skating, but he should have been higher. We went out there and skated against my countrymen. He should have been higher than my countrymen because he skated and he did his thing, and that's the unfortunate part about it. And I'm not biased, I'm just saying I'm defending the sport in the way and the direction it's going. And it needs to progress physically to call it a sport. It's athletic prowess. The in-betweens is all the garnish.
WHITFIELD: So am I hearing you, too, that maybe there's something wrong with the judging, that this subjective judging may be flawed, as well?
STOJKO: Well, that's the thing. They don't give enough points in the system. They're trying to add more in-betweens, which is great, which is fine, but the thing is, you need to make sure that the jumps get more marks. Especially for the triple axel, for the quad toe, for what it's worth, they're not adding it. So the guys are holding back quite a bit and not challenging themselves. And then it's easier to not challenge yourself or have risk, just adding up points.
And I'm not going against Evan. I like Evan. He's a great skater. It was awesome. But he did skate slow. He was very tentative. His jumps weren't as strong as the rest of Evgeni's jumps and he didn't skate that well. Even Daisuke, who ended up third, he went out there, tried the quad, had all the in-betweens that the judges wanted, and he ended up third. I had him actually second.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
STOJKO: And this was -- to me, when I wrote it, it was my opinion and it's created a craziness here, but I'm going to defend it because I really believe in the sport of figure skating to go that direction.
WHITFIELD: Yes. So you see the potential. You already see in some of the current day talent to take skating to a new level, to the next level, but you think that the judging is kind of standing in the way of that, or at least the outcome of this men's Olympic championship may be standing in the way of taking it to the next level? STOJKO: Absolutely. Because if they start doing this -- and I know they want to add more of the garnish in between, which is great, but the jumps are the mainstay. It's taken over a century to master a quad, a quad jumping combination. The in-betweens, when they changed the system back in 2005, it's only taken one year for all the skaters to add a few positions and extra footwork in their program. It only took a year. Just ask them to do it, and they do it. But you've got to keep the meat and potatoes. You've got to keep those jumps or there's no risk, and it'll be no longer considered a sport. It'll become entertainment, and we don't want that. We want it to stay in the Olympic games. I love the sport of figure skating.
WHITFIELD: Two-time silver medalist, Olympic medalist, Elvis Stojko, thanks so much, from Vancouver, British Columbia.
STOJKO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. In the next hour, the airline passengers' bill of rights goes into effect this spring. Will it really help? Don Lemon has that and more in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.
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