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Gulf of Mexico Cleanup Setback; Dozens Hurt in Staten Island Ferry Crash; Age Appropriate Parenting Advice for Mother's Day

Aired May 08, 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: All right. Let's start with this hour with headlines. There has been another setback for efforts to fight the Gulf Coast oil spill. A dome designed to contain the leak has so far failed because ice crystals has clogged the inside of that massive four-story structure.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was in Nashville, Tennessee this morning, looking over the flood damage there. Flooding caused more than $1.5 billion in damage in the Nashville area. And the floods are blamed for 33 deaths over a three-state area.

And at least 55 people have been injured in New York after a ferryboat crashed into the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Officials blame mechanical problems.

All right. Officials aren't officially calling the containment dome plan a failure just yet, but so far it has not stopped the flow of the oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Two reports from the region. David Mattingly is in Venice, Louisiana. And Brooke Baldwin is in Biloxi, Mississippi.

So let's get started with Dave Mattingly, who will tell us how that press conference goes, the CEO of BP saying using the word "not yet."

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is a careful choice of words that they're using, showing that they're stepping back, re-evaluating this problem that they encountered before throwing in the towel. What they ran into was something called hydrates, these are crystals formed by gas coming out of the bottom of the ocean. It is very cold down there. This gas forming sort of a slush on the inside of that containment vessel, actually clogging it up.

You know, when you look at that vessel, it's almost like an upside down funnel on top of it. They were going to be connecting a pipe to it and sending the oil up to the surface to a containment vessel. That was in theory, how this was supposed to work. They knew about hydrates but they didn't think it would be this big of a problem. So let's listen to what they have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SUTTLES, BP CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Over the last 24 hours or so, of course, the main area of interest has been around the containment dome. Yesterday evening we lowered that to the sea floor and began to place it over the source of the leak. I think as we stressed numerous times this particular operation has never been done before at this depth. And we also shared that the big technical challenge was with hydrate formation.

A hydrate is actually when gas combines with water under certain pressure and temperatures, it forms a crystal, very similar to ice. What happened is we were placing the dome over the leak source, a large volume of hydrates formed inside the top of the dome, requiring us to move the dome to the side of the leak point. The dome is currently sitting on the seabed, while we evaluate options to deal with the hydrate issue. We believe that it will probably take the next two days to look for opportunities to try to overcome this challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now one of those options that they're going to be looking at will be to establish some sort of heat source down there at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to heat up the waters and to prevent these crystals from forming. They had anticipated this problem within the hoses and the pipes that they were going to be taking this material up to the surface, but they didn't anticipate it forming on the inside of the dome.

What they were going do there was to pump water, warmer water from above down below to keep the pipe warm. So they may try some variation on that solution to pump warmer water down to the surface to keep this dome warmer as well. But, again, this is just one of the options they might be looking at. Again, they not anticipated this problem. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes, David, did they elaborate on what the other heat source might be? What would be another way to get heat - we're talking 5,000 feet, a mile below surface, to that dome.

MATTINGLY: That's what we were just talking about, that heat source would be warmer water from the surface, pumping it from the top down below.

WHITFIELD: I was wondering if there was another -

(CROSSTALK)

MATTINGLY: ... down there. They haven't been any more specific about that. This is - the CEO of BP compared this to a Apollo 13. Everything they're doing is new. They have never had a disaster like this before. They've never had a challenge like this before. So everything they're doing is theoretical being put into practice right away. And it is a very big challenge and they were cautioning everyone all the way down as this dome was coming down to the bottom, say, if we don't know if this is going to work. This is new, but now they're saying they encountered this unexpected problem, so another challenge they're going to have to try to overcome.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, it is extraordinary. Just last weekend we were talking about 5,000 gallons a day. Now 200,000 gallons of this oil that is seeping from this leak.

David Mattingly, thanks so much, appreciate that.

In the meantime, we're going to turn to Brooke Baldwin. She's in Biloxi, Mississippi, where we know the containment dome isn't the only problem in the area. This is her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): While much of the concern today is capping that oil leak, some 5,000 feet below the surface, another concern, according to a marine scientist I spoke with, is what lies just below the surface of the water. We showed Christian Gustafson (ph) with the (inaudible) Institute of Oceanography, our video that we captured just under this oil sheen and his concern isn't just the oil, but the chemical dispersants used to break it up. Listen.

CHRISTIAN GUSTAFSON (PH): This is likely due to the application of dispersants, which are widely believed to be just as toxic as the oil itself. Another concern is that it breaks up the oil and it spreads it over a larger surface area. So instead of having concentrated amount of crude, you got a widespread solution of oil and the dispersant.

BALDWIN: Now the damage to the ecosystem and the economy here along the Gulf Coast is still unknown. And perhaps that is one of the reasons why we're seeing so many people out at the beach today or fishing off this pier, because if the oil comes on shore, this may be one of the last opportunities it got.

Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Another big story we continue to follow today, they're blaming mechanical problems for today's ferryboat accident in New York City. A boat crashed into the Staten Island Ferry Terminal injuring dozens of people.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is standing by live for us. Susan, what more have we learned about why this happened?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I want to point out that the ferry you see over my shoulder is one of many, it is not the one involved in this incident. But for the 252 people that were aboard that ferry this morning that left about 9:00 a.m., it was a harrowing end to what had been before that moment a routine crossing from lower Manhattan to Staten Island.

Minutes before the ferry called "Barberi" docked, all of a sudden, the captain, according to investigators, lost control of the throttle. He wasn't able to pull it back. And therefore he wasn't able to slow it down. So they hit the dock at about five knots or just under six miles an hour, slamming into the dock, sending about 18 people to the hospital, 55 were injured in all, one of them seriously. Just before this happened, we talked to one of many passengers here who said that they tried to issue a warning about a minute before they slammed into the dock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUANE FORREST, FERRY PASSENGER: Nothing out of the ordinary. We were just sitting there talking. And all of a sudden we heard a series of buzzers and then heard somebody say red, red, red.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now the damage to the ship, there were two breaks to the hull, about 17 feet above the water level measuring about four feet by four feet, at least one or two of them about that size. Of course, an investigation will be going on to figure out what happened. But, you know, coincidentally this very same ferry was involved in an accident in 2003, 11 people were killed. That was not a mechanical problem.

In fact, the captain in that case was convicted of manslaughter. But you have to wonder, you know, Monday through Friday, there would have been far more people aboard the ferry at that hour, people commuting to work and potentially there could have been many more injuries. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. We're glad it wasn't worse than this. Thanks so much, Susan Candiotti in New York. Appreciate that.

All right. Well, despite some desperate times actually, or actually calling for desperate measures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN JARRELL, UNEMPLOYED: I'm applying to two or three places a week, leaving applications. Everybody's like we'll give you a call if something comes up. I even go to the same businesses twice to see if they lost my application or what have you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So he calls it a humbling experience, but cleaning port-a-potties pays the bills. One man takes us along the journey to find a new job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. April's unemployment numbers are out and the jobless rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent. That's mostly because many people who had stopped looking for work are jumping back into the game. The big news here, there was a gain of 290,000 jobs in April. That's on top of the 230,000 jobs added a month earlier. April's jump in new jobs was the biggest increase since March, 2006.

Many unemployed workers will take any job that they can actually find, even a temporary one just to make ends meet, right? Well, that includes John Jarrell, an out of work Maryland truck driver and photo journalist John Bennia introduces us to John and his daughter, Lexus, as we follow them on their path toward employment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARRELL: A little exercise, trying to stay fit as I can. Enjoy it, for the simple fact that not many other people do it. This is heavy stuff. It is a lot of work. That's how we do. You never know when life is going to throw a physical challenge at you and you need to be prepared. I can't find a job, I come home aggravated with that and I get on these and start all over again the next day.

I was driving a truck before I had a driver's license. I've been in construction, demolition, running equipment. Last job I had was pumping out Port-a-Potties. This is mine. Gross. There are others like it, but this one is mine. Didn't like that at all. This one is not gross and disgusting.

I'm a single father with two little girls. I'll do anything I got to do to keep a roof over their head. We install the lights for nighttime. So, I clean the potties to where my daughters would use them. If you want to take a look at how handsome you are, we have that option as well.

LEXUS JARRELL, DAUGHTER OF UNEMPLOYED FATHER: He liked it because it was another thing he could check off his list.

JARRELL: Prop the door, bucket bleached water.

LEXUS JARRELL: He would always come home and tell me all the weird things he would find in them.

JARRELL: Scrub it down, scrub it down. Every day was an adventure. You lift the lid - when you open that door you never know what you're going to get. You fire the pump up, that's when everybody runs away.

That was a humbling experience, I assure you. Roll on to the next one. I always had a job, this is my first time with this. It guess it's a classic case of, well, that's not going to happen to me. Well, here I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In today's market, I'm not going to take any risks.

JARRELL: Unemployment sent me a letter saying mandatory class, walking in there, I didn't know what to expect. Very informative, I mean, a lot of good advice. I met a lot of different people from all different facets of work. And everything they're teaching us was just tools that you can use if you want. I found a lot of them to be valuable.

We have a public library up the street, I never had any training on the computer, so she's my little teacher. She's learning it all in school. We go up there. There's one next to each other. So that's how we do it. That way she doesn't have to yell, freak out. I'm applying to two or three places a week, leaving applications. Everybody is like we'll give you a call if something comes up. Bad as it is, it could be a lot worse, you know.

LEXUS JARRELL: I wish that he could find a job he enjoyed and was like, I'm going to work and be happy about it.

JARRELL: I see the future as being bright. I'm not going to be on this forever because I know something is going to happen better. Something is coming my way. I just have to believe in that.

It's a good morning. It's a good morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Well this story is part of our special "In Focus" coverage next Saturday, mark your calendar, 2:00 Eastern time, we'll dedicate a full half hour to stories just like that. Watch as our photo journalists put a face on the economic headlines with a sign of the times "Jobs in Focus," 2:00 eastern time, for 30 minutes.

All right. We're just minutes away now from our weekly look at the latest, greatest viral videos out there. That's where Josh Levs - Josh Levs is like the everything guy, you know? You do everything. You got viral video, you got computer guru and you're also fielding questions from people.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

WHITFIELD: You wear a lot of titles around here.

LEVS: I do.

WHITFIELD: Really love this.

LEVS: This is our dessert. We say it every week. And now we have all the serious news. This is what we look forward to. Having a little bit of fun, right? Today in "Viral Video Rewind," we got something special for you. You probably know the web cannot get enough of a young guy named Justin Bieber. But what is it that is making him so shocked? Plus -

WHITFIELD: He's a cutie pie.

LEVS: He is. Yes, he is. She's right. Here is another one. How many bricks can you balance on your head? Plus, we have the most relaxing video in the world for this week, all just seconds away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM this hour, but nothing tops this moment. Because this is now viral videos moment with our Josh Levs. I still got to come up with a new title for you on this one.

LEVS: Oh, yes, we need a -

WHITFIELD: Yes. Because you wear a lot of hats.

LEVS: I do wear a lot of hats.

WHITFIELD: So you know, I don't want to say like the viral video guy.

LEVS: Yes, I know. We need something fun. We'll work on that for next week.

WHITFIELD: We'll work on that. So what do you have?

LEVS: So one of the things we do is we reach out to viewers for what are your favorite viral videos. OK. And in order to set up. One that everyone keeps sending me. First, I have to show you a classic.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: So right here is one of the most watched videos ever on YouTube. Take a look.

WHITFIELD: All right.

LEVS: OK. It is called "Dramatic Chipmunk." And it is actually not a chipmunk. It is a prairie dog. It is one of the most watched videos of all time. It is hilarious. That's all he does. And people can't get enough of it.

WHITFIELD: Oh, so now I'm getting the tease.

LEVS: And now here's what happened. Justin Bieber, who is the new viral video sensation in American, everyone is crazy about him. This young pop funny guy, had him re-create it himself. Take a look at what he did. All right, so people are going crazy over the Bieber- ized version of "Dramatic Chipmunk," which is actually a dramatic prairie dog.

I wanted to know how close they actually got it. So I put the two on a split screen. We're going to test it right now. Ladies and gentlemen, here it is. Let's see how close we are. Ready?

There.

WHITFIELD: Oh.

LEVS: Pick your favorite one. As always, we have links to everything for you at Facebook and you'll be able to decide for yourself which one you think is best.

WHITFIELD: So you didn't know, that was my attempt.

LEVS: Oh. Do that again. Close away in on Fred. There you go. That's Fred getting dramatic. You know, now what I'm going to do, take that, put it to the music, I hear some comment next week at this time. So another thing that always gets you, you're always like who has the time to come up with certain things, right?

WHITFIELD: Mm-hmm.

LEVS: OK. The perfect way to segue into this video here. Let's take a look at this. These guys created music out of bouncing balls. And when I saw this the first time, I was like, what - let's listen for a second.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: Do you believe that really? I'm always a skeptic.

LEVS: My brilliant producer, Glen (ph), has determined that it was in fact, there are bouncing balls but they were edited very cleverly, which gets to your point of how people spend time, putting together new things. But it's art.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: It's modern art.

WHITFIELD: I'm appreciating it. It made the reel. Ouch.

LEVS: And speaking of - yes, that's what happens toward the end. It's funky. Just speaking of things that are very important, here's something that's totally real that you just never see. All right. Take a look at this. This was taken by some people who were traveling.

And, oh, no, this is this girl. This is this little four-year- old girl who pulls off the most amazing dunk shots ever and what's going to be happening here, you're about to see this. She's going to be picked up, and first, she misses the shot, right. Then she has to do it again. What she's about to do is take the ball, put it through her legs and dunk it. Watch it. Watch very closely. Watch - everyone is watching this online now. It's getting like hundreds of - four-year-old girl apparently.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I got to see that one again.

LEVS: That's why I put it in twice. I knew she's going to say that.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

LEVS: Watch this. Go through the legs.

WHITFIELD: Go, little girl. I love that. And of course, they're going crazy too.

LEVS: I know.

WHITFIELD: The guys in the house there, yes.

LEVS: I knew as an athlete yourself.

WHITFIELD: I love that. I could never do that.

LEVS: Not at that age, anyway.

WHITFIELD: I'll give you a lay-up. These days, I don't know how that works.

LEVS: We'll let that go. All right. Let's go to the next one. It is time for the - what I was starting to go to, which is something you never see. Totally real in every way, just like the last one. This is some people who were traveling in Bangladesh, and saw how someone transports bricks.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow.

LEVS: All they did is they pulled out their phone and this is how they actually do it. I mean, this is how this person is actually doing it. And when you watch it, all the people are watching this now. I mean, this is (inaudible) people out there can do incredibly impressive things.

WHITFIELD: I mean, wow. And giving people a whole new appreciation for you know what, what you consider work, what you consider laborious, take a look at this and, you know, the precision that it takes to get to that point.

LEVS: And just the fact that in our culture we have machines for everything. I remember when I was living in this really rural town in New Mexico, and they said, you have machines for everything. And they don't. it's just a reminder.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

LEVS: Are you ready for your relaxation video of the week?

We reached out to our viewers and I said what should Fred's relaxation video be this week. And several sent us this. So here it is.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: Deep breath, enjoy. Pump up that music. We got to hear the music. This is our musician Paul Callier (ph) from Fromstoke, England. He had a lot of experience in church music early on. He learned to play by ear. As a child, he used to play with a church organist with his Casio keyboard and now his music is being set to these actual images of the sky. Seriously, I call it the better than ambient file.

WHITFIELD: I know, I'm hypnotized. Yes. You know, what we ought to do for these segment?

LEVS: What's that? WHITFIELD: When we get to this moment. We need to pull up some chairs. Either that or have some yoga mats here. Because now I'm done.

LEVS: You did your Pilates for the day.

WHITFIELD: I'm totally relaxed. I'm done.

LEVS: (inaudible) as every week we promised you all the videos are right here. Let's show the screen. It is all on the Facebook address, just the one that's in the middle. That's because Facebook makes it easiest and quickest to call all these different addresses. Facebook.com/joshlevscnn has all the videos for your right there plus you can send you own via Facebook or twitter.

WHITFIELD: Beautiful. I love it. My favorite is the little four-year-old and that gorgeous dunk.

LEVS: Oh, my god. I can't remember seeing anything like that. I mean, at any - kid at any age.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)

LEVS: I know.

WHITFIELD: So they rehearsed that. They have done that over and over and over again.

LEVS: I guess.

WHITFIELD: To be able to nail it when they said let's roll the camera.

LEVS: Well, what practice make.

WHITFIELD: We're going to watch her. You never know.

LEVS: Oh, yes. She's in the Olympics some day.

WHITFIELD: I love it. All right. Thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate it.

LEVS: Thank you, Fred. You got it.

WHITFIELD: Lots of fun.

All righty. So heads up, mother's day tomorrow. You have to know this by now. If you don't, you're in big trouble. But you got less than 24 hours to hurry up and get in gear. So if this is the first year for you, you're a new mom, or maybe someone you know, when you take a look at, you know, a movie coming up called "Babies," you are really going to be inspired and we'll also get an expert's advice on how to get your infant off to the best possible start. We're going to credit Dr. Bill Lloyd for that. He'll be joining us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: So many of you, thankfully, are honoring your moms this weekend. One of the amazing things about moms is the way that they care for your health care throughout the stages of your life. You probably didn't realize that, but give credit to moms on that.

Medical educator Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us from Sacramento with some motherly advice. This is kind of one of those things that, you know, people take for granted. Moms make sure that you know, little one is nurtured along the way in so many different ways.

So, Dr. Bill, let's get started with expectant moms, what is the best thing expectant moms can do?

DR. BILL LLOYD, MEDICAL EDUCATOR: Well, for expectant moms and for young women who plan to have children in the future, they need to get a hold of some folic acid. We know it will reduce serious birth complications by over 50 percent. Here is the hook, it has to be on board before conception. So all young women ought to be taking a folic acid supplement. You can find it in leafy vegetables and enriched foods, but it is better to get it out of a multivitamin.

WHITFIELD: What about for mothers of infants? Maybe they followed your advice while they were expecting, now they have the little one, what things should they be doing?

LLOYD: This one is really easy. The answer is breast milk. Breast milk is easy to digest, gives a powerful boost to the baby's immunity. Baby who have breast milk have fewer colds, fewer ear infection, and fewer cases of diaper rash.

WHITFIELD: What about school-aged children?

LLOYD: Well, you know, about kids, you've got to get to them before the fourth grade before somebody else does. For mom, it is important they have an intervention with their children, talking about lifestyle choices involving tobacco, alcohol consumption, and, yes, premarital sex. Again, if you don't get to them first by the fourth grade, somebody else will. So no matter how uncomfortable it might feel, mom, it is your job to get to them first.

WHITFIELD: And I know it is tough, once they become teenagers to get them to sit down and listen to you, but still there are some motherly advice that needs to be shared with them as it relates to their health. What would that be?

LLOYD: Well, Fredricka, a lot of people aren't aware of this, but adolescents need to get routine vaccinations. We think of vaccinations for the very young and the very old. We already talked in the past about the HPV vaccine and we know the risks of meningitis, but there is a third vaccine that adolescents need to get, it is a booster for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Fredricka, did you know that over half of all new cases of whooping cough in this country involve teenagers not babies.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, really?

LLOYD: That's right. Make sure all your teenagers get their up to date vaccinations.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I thought that was mostly for the little ones, the wee ones as we say.

LLOYD: There is a real big push now get all adolescents vaccinated.

WHITFIELD: I didn't know. Thank goodness you shared that with us.

OK, so now your kids have gotten through high school, they're ready to move on to college, or get into the workforce. You think, all right, I'm done, but not really, right?

LLOYD: The nest is empty, wouldn't that be nice? You have to emphasize with your young adult children the need to be responsible. Continue to emphasize safe driving and good health habits, preventive health maintenance involving your medical care and your dental care, and make sure your young adults get the health insurance they need so that mom doesn't have to worry if they have a health problem.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much. You know what, I'm still taking my mother's advice and give her a call all the time because mothers know best.

LLOYD: Happy Mother's Day to you too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Dr. Bill Lloyd. Appreciate that. Happy Mothers Day to the mothers in your life. Appreciate it.

Perhaps you're stumped on what idea to do for your mom this Mother's Day. Well, how about a movie? How about this one, in particular.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When are you going to get the operation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surge I have scheduled for next month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

(END MOVIE CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK, maybe that one. And then maybe a movie called "Babies" to inspire a lot of moms on how those early fragile beginning stages were like.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So some familiar faces and some fresh new ones are showing up in the theaters this weekend. Just in time for Mother's Day. Film critic and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz has been looking at the latest releases, he's joining us from Los Angeles.

Good to see you, Ben. BEN MANKIEWICZ, FILM CRITIC: Good to see you too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I would love to take my mom to a movie this weekend, maybe "Iron Man 2" isn't the movie of choice, but for it a lot of moms out there, it may be hip enough for them. Let's look at that one first.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States of America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one.

Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing.

Whoops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I saw you do to Tony Stark on that track, wow. You need my resources. I want to make Iron Man look-

(END MOVIE CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK, My mom is hip. So actually she really might dig this flick. Did you like it?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, my mom is many things, she's a wonderful mother, she's not hip, I think just about-I think just about everybody would like "Iron Man 2." I think-it's is funny, I was thinking about sort of how to review this film, I don't even-obviously it is not fair to compare it to a movie like "Babies" or "Please Give" or "Casa Blanca" or "Sophie's Choice". I'm not even sure I want to compare it to a lot of other action movies.

I more want to compare it to other sequels. If that's the standard, "Iron Man " is as good a sequel as you're going to get. I thought the action scenes, to be honest with you, were at times were a little bit lacking. But director John Favreau has, like the first "Iron Man" really created a sort of a character story-driven film. And Robert Downey's performance as it was in the first one was terrific. The pacing is great. And John Favreau manages to incorporate these big stars. We have Gwyneth Paltrow again with an even bigger role and Don Cheadle and Sam Jackson and Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke as the main villain.

WHITFIELD: These are big names. You know what, Robert Downey is enough to make you want to see "Iron Man 2", because "Iron Man 1", I actually really liked it, but with all those other names you just mentioned, who kind of steals the show, in your view?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, I think Gwyneth Paltrow is really, really excellent in this. Robert Downey, Jr., it is his movie. I think everybody is good. And John Favreau, again, gives them each exactly enough to do. It is a really great script. It is a very funny film. The script is better than the action. I liked it. I give it a B plus. I think it is terrific. Great script, good movie.

WHITFIELD: All right. I can't wait to hear what you think about "Babies" because that's the next one coming out of the gate right now.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BABY: Mama. Ma. Mama.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED BABY: Mama.

WHITFIELD: So sweet. We would run more, but they don't say a whole lot more.

MANKIEWICZ: No, they don't-there's is a lot of that. There is no script in this. You hear a lot of babies cooing. You hear a lot of babies crying. You hear some dialogue from the grown-ups, from the mothers, but it is not really relevant. Much it of it is in their native languages. You saw there, that's the Mongolian baby. There is also a Nigerian baby, and then a baby from Tokyo and also one from San Francisco.

And what the French filmmakers have done here is about three years ago followed each one of these kids through the first year of their lives. And it is, you know, a sort of nice story about what we- it sort of makes us feel good about sort of who we are, and what we do, and how we raise our kids.

There are also some very sort of shocking contrasts and maybe they aren't surprising and maybe they aren't breaking any news, but when you move from the contrast of how the Nigerian mother sort of takes care of her kid, and feeds her kid, and gives her kid stuff to play with she lives in a remote village in Nigeria, and the kid is playing in the dirt because that's all there is to play with. She's not-the kid is not looking for attention or love, the mother is there all the time with that young daughter. But and then you flash to San Francisco and the kid has everything you could need in the world, like the kid from Tokyo, and the Mongolian kid.

WHITFIELD: That is kind of the underlying beauty of it all, isn't it?

MANKIEWICZ: By the way, the little -there is.

And that Mongolian village, that remote Mongolian village, there is a satellite dish next to the hut, which I loved.

WHITFIELD: Great. I like seeing in the clip too, seeing the going to drink out of the bathtub with the baby in it. I love that. I can't wait to see it.

MANKIEWICZ: It is a good story, good story for all mothers. And I recommend it for all one year-olds too. I give it a B.

WHITFIELD: Oh, good. I like that.

"Please Give", Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, star in this comedy. We'll take a quick peek.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't give me $20.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abbie, give this man that money right now, we'll discuss this later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give it to him. This is insane. I buy you everything you need.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm keeping this $20.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abbie, please. Abbie, I don't have another 20.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So give him the 5.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give him the 20.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give him the 5.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give him the 20.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

WHITFIELD: Wow. Wow, that's kind of tough. So -- what are your thoughts?

MANKIEWICZ: Well, it is a -- it is a funny movie. It is not solely a comedy, though. That was a nice scene between Catherine Keener and the woman, the girl playing her daughter does a great job, Sara Steel. It is from Nicole Holofcener, she's given you, "Lovely and Amazing", "Friends with Money", "Walking and Talking", again she's the writer, director, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, and the performances are outstanding. Catherine Keener, one of the ten best working actresses. I think she's better as a lead than in some of the quirky supporting roles she's had. She's great, really, in everything. Amanda Peet is in this.

It is really about the conflict that people have between sort of what they sort of think of themselves as, or what they hope to be, and what they really are.

WHITFIELD: Oh. MANKIEWICZ: Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt run a business where essentially they buy the furniture from the children of elderly people who have passed away. And then they sell it for a lot more money. And the sort of guilt that that comes with Catherine Keener tries to compensate for the guilt by giving money --

WHITFIELD: I'm not seeing feel good here.

MANKIEWICZ: A lot of money to homeless people on her street.

WHITFIELD: This is not a feel good movie. Not getting that from you.

MANKIEWICZ: You know what, occasionally you doo feel good.

WHITFIELD: Really?

MANKIEWICZ: It is a sweet -- it is a terrific movie. I liked it, too. I gave it a B plus.

WHITFIELD: OK, quick, grade, grade, grade?

MANKIEWICZ: B plus. It does make you feel good.

WHITFIELD: B plus? OK, Ben Mankiewicz, thanks so much. We'll see you again. We're going to talk DVDS. I think we still have time for that, right? We'll talk about "Edge Of Darkness".

MANKIEWICZ: All right.

WHITFIELD: I remember when you first were giving me your view on that movie when it was out on the big screen. Now it is out on DVD. We'll talk about it next.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back now in the NEWSROOM, we're talking movies. A detective on the edge, vampire drama, among the two DVDs that are out on DVD release, something for just about everybody. Film critic and host of Turner Classic Movies, Ben Mankiewicz back with us now.

Let's talk about "Edge of Darkness" first. We have to do this real fast. Only have two minutes and we'll review two of them. Do we have time to take a look? OK. We'll take a look, real quick. OK.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP)

DRIVING SOUNDS

WHITFIELD: Somebody's having a bad day. But I think I remember, didn't you like Mel Gibson in this movie?

MANKIEWICZ: Yeah, you know what, I liked it a lot. Mel Gibson is a cop, his daughter has been murdered, and he is sort of setting out to avenge her death. But it is not a silly story. It is a -- he's a Boston cop and I'm not sure his Boston accent is great. It feels like a movie made in 1988. But I was 21 years old in 1988 and I liked movies then. And really good supporting roles from two actors capable of being leads, Ray Winstone and Danny Houston.

It is a complicated plot but there are moments of great surprise in the movie. Mel Gibson is good. And it is a -- it is like last year's "Taken," it is a surprise that I enjoyed it this much, but it is good and a great rental. I gave it a B minus. The grade might go up as a rental. It is certainly worth checking out. It is a lot of fun.

WHITFIELD: OK, now to "Day Breakers," Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. I always want to say Villam Defoe. Let's check it out.

MANKIEWICZ: OK.

(BEGIN MOVIE CLIP).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't touch human blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You work for a company that uses humans like cattle.

Let's just stop this.

(END MOVE CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK, Ben, yea, nay?

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, you know, I liked this, too. This is a moment in the future where there are more vampires than humans and everything exists at night work.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah I'm not checking this one out.

MANKIEWICZ: You go to work at night, nothing happens during the day. This evil company is trying to develop a synthetic blood so the vampires won't have to use human blood. But of course there is a black market for human blood and the humans are becoming extinct. Ethan Hawke is trying to -- he's a vampire, but trying to save the humans. It is interesting, it is good, there is humor in it. It is OK. As far as vampire movies go it was one of the best last year and I gave it a B minus. It is interesting.

WHITFIELD: All right. Cool. I think I'm going to stick with "Babies" and "Iron Man 2", that's more my speed. That vampire stuff, not digging it.

MANKIEWICZ: "Iron Man 2" really I highly recommend. Highly recommend.

WHITFIELD: Ben Mankiewicz, always good it see you, host of Turner Classic Movies, joining us from Los Angeles.

MANKIEWICZ: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All the best and happy Mother's Day to all the moms in your life.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: OK.

So we encourage our children to follow their dreams, right? But one mom and dad found themselves following their daughter's dream all the way to a place they never thought they would end up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Live pictures right now. You recognize the face, First Lady Michelle Obama. She is the commencement speaker at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. We wanted you to just see. And, of course, she's getting a round of applause there, congratulating the class of 2010, and wishing them well. And wishing them to make their commitment to serve their communities and this nation.

So it has been almost four months since Haiti's catastrophic earthquake. It orphaned tens of thousands of children and our Soledad O'Brien introduces us to an American missionary family whose commitment to helping Haiti's orphans came years before this quake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ariana Manassero has dreamed of helping Haiti's orphans since she was nine years old. She's now one of thousands of missionaries living in Haiti. Her journey started in California, with a few coins.

ARIANA MANASSERO, MISSIONARY: I started putting little money in a jar, planning on going to Haiti. That jar got so full and my dad started putting little coins in it. And I started putting more, like, dollars in it.

O BRIEN: In 2004, Ari, and her parents, Bill and Suzette visited Haiti. One year later, this family from California had relocated permanently.

(on camera): Some people would say now how did a bunch of grown- ups follow an eight-year-old to Haiti?

BILL MANASSERO, MISSIONARY: Yeah. It wasn't my plan, I'll tell you. I was -- we wanted to encourage her and we thought it was wonderful, this little nine-year-old girl had this dream to, you know, to build an orphanage, a school, a church and all these things in Haiti. I never thought I would be here with her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go back and stay there, right? O'BRIEN: Bill and Suzette Manassero founded the Maison de Lumiere, the Lighthouse Orphanage.

(on camera): You started with all boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All boys, 12.

O'BRIEN: When did you start the girls' orphanage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That started December 2006.

O'BRIEN (voice over): They were consumed by a desire to help the children. Haiti has among the highest rates of infant mortality, child sex trafficking, and child slavery in the world.

B. MANASSERO: Ari's dream more than anything else is that these, our kids, at this orphanage, will be the ones out there handing out that cup of water. And you know, 50 kids doing that, and influencing others to influence, others, you know, can make a difference in a country.

O'BRIEN: But the faith that had secured them for years was about to be tested.

(CHILD CRYING)

O'BRIEN: When a powerful earthquake strikes Haiti.

B. MANASSERO: So right now we do not think it is safe to be here. We're trying to get extra security. So until we do, we have a plan. And really don't have a choice of what to do. We are going to tell you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So be sure to watch Soledad's special "Rescued" tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Do you ever wish your boss could do your job for day, just a day, to see exactly what you go through? The CEO of GSI Commerce Michael Rubin did just that when he appeared on the hit reality TV show "Undercover Boss." Michael Ruben joins me live from Philadelphia.

Good to see you, Michael.

MICHAEL RUBIN, PRESIDENT & CEO, GSI COMMERCE: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: OK, so not only did you appear on the show, but you got fired on the first day of going under cover, at your own company. So what do you suppose you did wrong and people didn't necessarily know that you were the boss, right? RUBIN: Yeah. I must admit it was a really demoralizing experience. I was kind of in shock. They came over and told me they no longer needed my services. I was really stunned. I didn't understand. It took me a couple of seconds to comprehend. But I guess the reality is I wasn't up to snuff for what it took to do the job successfully at GSI Commerce.

WHITFIELD: And so the whole time you thought you were doing a good job. What was the job, what was the task that you were carrying out, and where did you go wrong?

I didn't think I was doing a good job. The truth of the matter is-

WHITFIELD: You didn't?

RUBIN: No, I didn't. When they asked me to do this, I figured I'm 37 year old, I'm the founder of the company, I'm going to be great at whatever job I do. I actually asked, do you want me to put my best effort into this? And CBS is like, absolutely, do it give me your best effort. I went out there, and within about half an hour, I knew I was in a lot of trouble. I mean these jobs are so much harder.

WHITFIELD: What was the job? What was the task that you were doing, where you were saying to yourself, I am not doing this well?

RUBIN: I did none of the jobs well, but the job I got fired from was actually single order picking. I was basically picking or packing 90 boxes or orders per hour. So you literally take a piece of merchandise, put it in the box, tape the box up, put the packing slip in. And I was going as fast as I could and you had to do 90 boxes per hour. You had to actually pack 90 boxes in an hour. And not only could I not get near the quantity, I put all the labels on backwards. And they came up and they told me, you know, we're sorry, we're not going to need you anymore. Again, I was so demoralized. I didn't know what to do.

WHITFIELD: So, then Michael, going into it, did you already have an idea of what this job really constituted? Did you think, you know, before you tried it, oh, this is easy. I don't understand why people can't do this job, you know, in a certain way as the boss of them. And how now, you've d tried that job, you got fired. If you have a completely new perspective on the respect of the work that the workers are doing?

RUBIN: I definitely have a new perspective. We more than 5,000 full-time employees and I really haven't tried to do any of these jobs since I founded the company. And going out and literally doing these jobs, and I not only learned so much about the company, I got a better appreciation for all the great associates we have. It really took connecting with the people individually and doing the jobs and doing it for hours at a time to really understand. But it was so much harder than I thought it would be.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that was a blow, but something really good came out of it. You have a heightened sensitivity and appreciation for what these workers do. Michael Rubin of GSI Commerce Incorporated. Hey, thanks for sharing your story. I'm sure a lot of the employees thank you for being a good sport in all of it now. Now you're a better man, right?

RUBIN: I definitely learned a ton and grown a lot. Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Michael, appreciate that. Thanks so much. Thanks to you for joining us as well.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Up next Don Lemon, with more of the NEWSROOM.

Methamphetamine abuse is a concern for everyone. You may be surprised to learn where the problem is the worst. That's coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)