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Battling the Gulf Oil Leak; Thailand Protests; Severe Weather Threatens Tennessee With Rains And Flash Flooding. BP And Coast Guard Add Underwater Dispersements At The Source Of The Oil Leak
Aired May 15, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Let's take a look at the top stories now. Emergency crews in the Gulf of Mexico are planning another attempt to stop that oil spill. They will try to insert a tube to siphon some of that oil out of the ruptured pipe. A previous attempt was postponed because of mechanical problems.
And then in Pakistan today, prosecutors finished presenting their case against five American Muslims arrested in Pakistan last December. The five defendants are accused of being Taliban sympathizers and plotting terror attacks inside Pakistan. And the defense is scheduled to begin its case in June.
And ash from Iceland's volcano threatens air travel again. Britain says it may have to close airports tomorrow.
Meantime, back in this country, BP is claiming some success in the battle against that massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Our David Mattingly is in New Orleans, a very rainy New Orleans and now very windy too with the latest development. David?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, what we're hearing from BP now is that the use of dispersants to spread out this oil, to break it up at the bottom, at the source, at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico has resumed. We know that they had some tests on it. We know that they stopped to evaluate it and now the U.S. government, the EPA, has given the go ahead to resume the use of these dispersants at the bottom of the ocean, where the source of this oil is coming out.
Now what that means is that this oil is going to be breaking up and not forming a slick, a big slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Instead it is going to be breaking up into smaller pieces throughout the water column and that's where the concern is about what long-term effects this might be having. But here, let's listen to what BP has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, BP: It appears that the application of the sub sea dispersant is actually working. The oil in the immediate vicinity of the well and the ships and rigs working in the area is diminished from previous observations. In addition, our efforts as the admiral has already referenced to fight this off shore appear to be working. There is oil on the sea. It is quite dispersed across the region, across the are shown on the map here on the right. And we're 23 days since the rig sank and the release began. And thankfully we have had very little impact to shore. Partly due to our efforts and undoubtedly partly due to mother nature's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And this is very much an experiment because this dispersant has never been used before, underneath the surface of the water. It has never been used in this kind of quantity. Government officials saying they're going to be monitoring this and watching this very closely. But that fear remains what long-term effects this might be having on the environment.
This is a toxic material, it is not as toxic as the oil they're using it against, but still it could have some consequences. We just don't know what this is going to bring in the future.
WHITFIELD: All right. David Mattingly, thanks so much. A very windy and rainy New Orleans, Louisiana.
So does it help or hurt to break the oil into small parts? Some competing views on that. Here is what BP's Doug Suttles had to say just an hour ago in that press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUTTLES: Let me start with explaining what these dispersants do, whether they're applied on the surface or in the subsurface. Their intent is to break the oil into much, much, much smaller droplets. And what that then does is allow the natural degradation process, the microbes in the water actually eat the oil. That's the process, that's why you use dispersants, it is to break it up into much, much smaller pieces and allow the natural process to be accelerated. That's the way it works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. So that's the chief operating officer. Now, just about three hours ago I actually asked Riki Ott, who is a marine toxicologist, about these oil dispersant techniques and if there is an amount that is so small that it is not harmful anymore. We're talking about the droplets of oil left in the water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIKI OTT, MARINE TOXICOLOGIST: Two things on that. One is that this dispersant is listed as 54 percent effective. And that's, again, an ideal laboratory condition. So, you know, at maximum you're looking at 50/50 chance of it actually dispersing the oil and where is the rest of the oil going to go? I don't see any subsurface drill buoys to monitor where this plume of sort of this toxic stew is headed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. OTT: And secondly, dispersed oil dissolved in the water column is by nature more toxic because it is a larger surface area and it is easier to go across the gills of, like, fish. There is plenty of new papers, the latest one I have is actually 2009 with a rock fish showing that dispersed oil is much more toxic than not dispersed oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That was from a conversation earlier from marine toxicologist Riki Ott. Our Josh Levs was in on that conversation as well and that was in the noon Eastern hour earlier today. That was all prior to that press conference that took place about an hour ago.
All right. At his age, well, some might say that he has seen it all and done it all. But now this World War II vet is gearing up to serve his country again, not on the battlefield, but you'll see, in the classroom and beyond?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Today is Armed Forces day. And it is time to say thanks to our servicemen and women. And with that in mind, we want to introduce you to an Army veteran who returned to college at the age of 84. His aim, helping veterans back from America's more recent wars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): He's a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a war hero. But retirement is not in the cards.
JACK SLOTNICK, 84-YEAR-OLD FRESHMAN: Well you can make a profession of deciding where to go for breakfast, and you read the local newspaper, and one day runs into another day. So that's not for me.
WHITFIELD: So now, at 84 years of age, Jack Slotnick is doing something else.
SLOTNICK: Now look at that campus. I don't know how anybody learns anything.
WHITFIELD: Going to college. After passing by Lynn University's campus for years, he decided to attend, as a freshman.
SLOTNICK: Good morning.
WHITFIELD: His war experience got him to stay. Christmas eve, 1944, the "SS Leopoldville" was torpedoed by the Germans just off France. Nearly 800 of his fellow GIs died while Jack, a young private first class, floated in the cold water, waiting for help.
SLOTNICK: When I got fished up, I was stiff as a board, they tell me. I was in the water almost two hours. So I'm very lucky, I guess, to be here.
WHITFIELD: He served two additional years in combat, but says survivor's guilt plagued him for decades. So he decided to major in psychology, hoping he can eventually counsel returning vets.
SLOTNICK: Unless you've been a soldier, you really can't relate to a soldier. In World War II, the GI knew he faced an enemy. He wore a different uniform. It was pretty obvious. Today's conflicts, it could be an 11-year-old civilian, it could be a 40-year-old woman, it could be a 16-year-old girl carrying the bomb. Nobody knows. Everybody looks the same, and there is no, like, fixed enemy. And maybe that creates the stress that these soldiers are under. And my wife and my wife is going to scratch your eyes out for being so pretty.
WHITFIELD: Even at his age, it doesn't take long before he's just one of the guys.
DAN HENNESSEY, SENIOR, LYNN UNIVERSITY: We definitely want to take him out once before summer rolls around. I don't know if it's going to consist of an all night event, but at least show him the social aspect of college life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope I have that much spunk when I'm his age.
WHITFIELD: That age brings a whole new perspective to a class.
PROF. JOHN PICKERING, LYNN UNIVERSITY: Well, he's lived 84 years. I mean, he's experienced things that - and he still has very good memory, he's still very sharp, and to have someone like that, you know, especially when you talk about a time period that he remembers, I mean, that's great.
WHITFIELD: Jack is set to graduate in the fall of 2011. So what's he planning next? Grad school, of course.
SLOTNICK: I'm having like the best time of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Congratulations to Jack Slotnick.
All right. An epic adventure gallops into the theaters this weekend. You know what I'm talking about. Russell Crowe is the new "Robin Hood." Film critic Ben Mankiewicz is checking out the new movies and this being among them.
But first, as part of CNN's "Impact Your World Initiative," each week we're featuring celebrities doing their part to help change the world. Today's spotlight is on Nashville.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
TIM MCGRAW, AMERICAN RED CROSS: When think about Nashville, you think about the rich and famous country music singers live there. This town is made up of people who live paycheck to paycheck, who work hard and those are the people that are suffering, those are the people that lost their homes and lost their livelihood. FAITH HILL, AMERICAN RED CROSS: They lost everything.
MCGRAW: There's total devastation and it's like that all over the city. I don't think that people should think that just because you saw it on TV one day, and the water is gone, that it's going to be gone away. There is going to be help needed for a long time, there's going to be funds that are needed for a long time.
ANNOUNCER: Make a difference, cnn.com/impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Thailand and to avoid all travel to Bangkok. Eight more people died in the Thai capital today, and clashes between police and protesters, protesters fired makeshift missiles at police who fired back with live ammunition.
The demonstrators have occupied a major Bangkok intersection for weeks, but violence has surged over the past three days. In a TV address today, Thailand's prime minister accused dissidents of trying to start a civil war.
And the only survivor of Wednesday's plane crash in Libya is now back home in the Netherlands. Nine-year-old little Ruben, he's become to be known, left Tripoli crying on a stretcher this morning along with his aunt and uncle and a doctor. Ruben's mother, father and a brother were among the 103 victims of that crash.
He was the sole survivor of the entire crash. The boy had four hours of surgery to repair multiple fractures to his legs, but doctors say he is recovering well. His treatment will continue in the Dutch capital. And the cause of Wednesday's crash is still under investigation.
A look at our other top stories now. BP says it is making progress against that massive oil leak in the gulf. They hope to have a mile long tube inserted into the gushing well tonight. The company also has approved the - or has received approval to spray chemical dispersants underwater. BP says dispersants prayed on the surface appear to be reducing the size of the oil slick.
And an emotional apology from Seattle police over the beating of a Latino man which was caught on camera by an amateur photographer. The video shows a man being stomped and kicked by two police officers last month. One officer used a racial slur. The man was released by police.
An Australian teen has become the youngest person to sail around the world solo and nonstop. 16-year-old Jessica Watson did it in her 34- foot pink yacht, by the way, after seven months at sea. She sailed into Sydney harbor today. Thousands of people lined the harbor to cheer for her arrival. And a legendary hero returns a modern day romantic stands in for Juliet and Queen Latifah is looking for a love that is just right. Film critic for "What the Flick" on the youngturks.com and host of "Turner Classic Movies" Ben Mankiewicz is joining us now from Los Angeles. Good to see you, Ben.
BEN MANKIEWICZ, "TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES" HOST: You too, Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. There has been a lot of hype about "Robin Hood," Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett. I like them both. So does everybody else. Let's take a peek at the movie and see if Ben Mankiewicz is giving double thumbs up to all of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raise your arms!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Release!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. That's a pretty extraordinary scene. What did you think about the whole movie? Because, yes, there has been a lot of pre-publicity just prior to this weekend.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes. That's what they do.
WHITFIELD: That's what they do.
MANKIEWICZ: You know, that scene - that scene looked like "Braveheart," but, of course, the film, a reteaming of Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe who made "Gladiator," you know, it starts off very impressively, a great battle sequence. Then I think it deteriorates a little bit.
You know, it's interesting, Fred, because "Robin Hood" itself is a bit of a legend, and the story of "Robin Hood." But this is almost a legend on the legend. It is not the "Robin Hood" story perhaps you would expect. In fact, it is sort of - it is almost the prequel to "Robin Hood." It is how "Robin Hood" came to be the hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor in the Sherwood Forest.
It turns into a love story with maid Marian, Cate Blanchett and it even felt in the end like the film was scripted just to sort of appeal to women. The battle sequence at the beginning for men and then the love story for women and the result was is that it didn't - neither one felt that authentic. I liked the beginning. I thought it had some good structure to it, some great character actors in it, Mark Strong, Mark Addy to go along with Russell Crowe who delivers a great performance, Cate Blanchett. It's good, but it is not great. If you're expecting "Gladiator 2," you're going to be disappointed.
WHITFIELD: Which was great, right?
MANKIEWICZ: It was great.
WHITFIELD: Are we in agreement on that one?
MANKIEWICZ: We are. The film, I gave it a C plus. Ridley Scott knows how to make a movie and Russell Crowe knows how to act in a Ridley Scott movie. In fact, Russell Crowe knows how to act in every movie.
WHITFIELD: OK.
MANKIEWICZ: It looks great. But the story really lacks and it became a fairy tale at the end, and not an action film.
WHITFIELD: So you're giving it an average rating. OK. "Letters to Juliet."
MANKIEWICZ: A little better than average.
WHITFIELD: Right. C plus. You're right, there is a plus in there.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Vanessa Redgrave in "Letters to Juliet." Let's take a listen and watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was there, I discovered a letter that changed my life forever.
I didn't go to Lorenzo, Juliet. I promised I would meet him to run away together, but instead I left him waiting for me. Please, Juliet, tell me what I should do. Love, Claire.
It was written in 1957. I have to write back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask which one of you wrote this letter to my grandmother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wrote that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you thinking?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She deserved an answer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, Claire? Hi, my name is Sophie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juliet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you've come to find your Lorenzo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course a card or letter is just too simple.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I come with you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, of course. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a Lorenzo Bartolini (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. I feel like I've seen the entire movie. That was the longest clip of all time. So did you like this one? I don't need to go to the movie now.
MANKIEWICZ: Guess what, you pretty much have seen the entire movie.
WHITFIELD: OK. Got that feeling.
MANKIEWICZ: There is not a surprise. There is not a twist in here, you saw the scenes there between Amanda Seyfried and Chris Eagan who plays Vanessa Redgrave's granddaughter. And he's sort of a (inaudible) a word I've never used before, a sour puss throughout the entire movie.
You know, Vanessa Redgrave is a widow, and she wants to find, again, her long lost love from when she was a teenager because Amanda Seyfried has responded to a letter, left at Juliet's home 50 years earlier.
WHITFIELD:. OK. So real quick, your letter grade, because we're going to run out of time soon. I want to get to "Just Right." Letter grade?
MANKIEWICZ: I gave it a C minus. I just want to mention that the wonderful actor, Gael Garcia Bernal plays Amanda Seyfried's fiancee in it and he's wonderful. He steals every scene. He's a great, great, great actor.
WHITFIELD: All right.
MANKIEWICZ: That guy, by the way, looks like the Doseiqes guy. I expected him to say, stay thirsty, my friend.
WHITFIELD: OK. "Just Right," Queen Latifah, we haven't seen her in the big screen in a while and Common what do you think? I don't know we have time to see the actual clip, we can look at a little bit of B roll while we're talking about it though.
MANKIEWICZ: Sure. Well, Common plays a star for the New Jersey Nets. So you already know it's unrealistic. He plays a Nets star and she plays a Nets fan. So it is doubly unrealistic. She's a physical therapist. He is married to her best friend/sort of stepsister. They eventually, obviously, start a romance. That's unrealistic, the dialogue is unrealistic. The fact that the NBA would hold the all- star game in New Jersey is unrealistic.
WHITFIELD: But is this funny? Is this kind of romantic comedy-esque?
MANKIEWICZ: No.
Queen Latifah is a big star with great presence. Missing in this movie is everything that makes Queen Latifah sort of fun and good. This turns into a very stereotypical picture. The basketball scenes, when they're from a distance, look OK. Common is not a bad player. When they're up close, they seem forced, they don't seem realistic at all. Big problems with this movie.
WHITFIELD: All right. Quickie grade on that one.
MANKIEWICZ: Yes, D. That's forced too.
WHITFIELD: Oh, man. All right. Below average. OK, we're going to talk DVDs when we see you in a little bit. "Invictus," I do remember your review on "Invictus" when it was hitting the big screen and then we're going to talk "Extraordinary Measures" as well.
MANKIEWICZ: All right.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Mankiewicz. See you in a bit.
MANKIEWICZ: Look forward to it. OK.
WHITFIELD: All right. With the floods and the wild weather taking place in Nashville lately, this is the last thing that beleaguered city needed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Thailand and to avoid any travel to Bangkok specifically. Eight people died there today in clashes between the government and protesters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: 25 people have died over the last three days and the prime minister is accusing dissidents of trying to start a civil war.
CNN's Sarah Sidner is on the streets in Bangkok watching this drama unfold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're in (inaudible) in Bangkok and the situation has turned extremely violent. You're hearing the bangs, the Army is down there on that side. It sounds like they're firing this way. There have been a lot of loud explosions today. Another one going off. What you're also seeing is people from protesters are throwing more and more tires, trying to create a lot of smoke so that the Army cannot see them as they move about in this area.
(EXPLOSION SOUND)
That was really, really close to us.
Members of the press who are running and trying to snap a few pictures and then running out, extremely dangerous now. The army, the military has said they're going to push in, that appears to be what is going on right now. They're trying to get these protesters out of the commercial center of Bangkok and it is an extremely dangerous situation. Sarah Sidner, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Some really close calls there.
More now on the gulf oil spill here in this country. BP has started using dispersants nearly a mile underwater to try to break up oil spewing from a blown out well head. A BP spokesperson, the chief operating officer, in fact, says it seems to be working. The EPA and U.S. Coast Guard have signed off on this, what some would say a controversial plan. Meanwhile BP's other effort to contain the leak is expected to be back on track tonight. The company plans to insert a tube into the ruptured pipe and siphon the oil to a ship. Here is BP's chief operating officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, BP: It appears that the application of the sub-sea dispersant is actually working. The oil in the immediate vicinity of the well and the ships and rigs working in the area is diminished from previous observations.
In addition, our efforts, as the admiral already referenced, to fight this off shore appear to be working. There is oil on the sea. It is quite dispersed across the region, across the area shown on the map here on the right. We're 23 days since the rig sank and the release began. And thankfully we have had very little impact to shore. Partly due to our effort and undoubtedly partly due to Mother Nature's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Mother Nature, as you heard. It is wreaking havoc in a lot of places, not just Louisiana, along other Gulf Coast states but a lot of places throughout the Southeast. Karen Maginnis in the severe weather center.
How bad is it? And poor Nashville, I see in the box there you have, getting hit again.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Exactly. After they saw more than 20 inches of rainfall, about two weeks ago. And what we are also checking out is the weather along the Gulf Coast because we'll expect some shifts here over the next couple of days.
This is Google Earth. This is how the spill looks now. Kind of rough depiction of where that oil has been located. Towards the Chandelier Islands, right around Venice and beginning to enter the mouth of the bay here. We are expecting it just to kind of fan out over the next couple of days.
Let's show you the oil spill and kind of what has happened over the last three weeks since we saw this oil that spilled its way into the Gulf. There you can see it, its general trend has been towards the north and towards the northwest. As it made its way there, it is kind of fanned out a little bit as you would expect, kind of a substance like this would, especially with variable winds along the Gulf Coast region.
All right. We are looking at the next several days. These winds are going to be mostly coming out of the east and southeast. But we're going to also expect things to kind of shift more out of the west and northwest, we think, in the next 72 to 96 hours or so. Going to be a little bit on the gusty side as well.
And, yes, Nashville is getting pummeled again. Take a look at this. Here is Nashville. We'll go ahead and show you what is happening there right now. We have got a tower cam. Let's show you that. We got -- we have overcast skies. Flash flood watch for Nashville until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. They are looking at the possibility of as much as four inches of rainfall, Fred, as we watch a series of storms, one just right after the other. So not very good news for the folks there and they're cleaning up. I know this firsthand, after a flood, it takes months and months and months. It seems like it drags on. This bad weather does not help.
WHITFIELD: I was thinking about that earlier today. It was about a year ago when you and a lot of your neighbors were hit hard by the flooding here in Georgia.
MAGINNIS: September 21st and Cobb County, Georgia, saw between 12 and 16 inches of rainfall in two days. This he saw 20 inches of rain in a day.
WHITFIELD: That was extraordinary.
MAGINNIS: It was extraordinary.
WHITFIELD: And now getting more. Thanks so much, Karen. Appreciate that.
All right, a Texas teacher says that she is sorry for attacking one of her students. Cell phone video captured Sheri Lynn Davis jumping on a 13-year-old boy at a Houston area alternative school last month. The child's mother has filed suit against Davis and Jamie's House Charter School. Davis, who has been fired, didn't say what led to that action, but she did apologize yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERI LYNN DAVIS, FIRED TEACHER: I am without excuse for my actions, because I know this has been a painful situation, and an incident that I truly regret. If I could go back again, I would do things much, much differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Did you hear that? So we do want to hear what you have to say about the teacher's apology, about what you actually witnessed on videotape. You can leave your comments on my Facebook page or drop me a line on my blog at cnn.com/Fredricka. So far this is what some of you have been saying.
Liz, from Georgia, writes, "Well, she's obviously done the right thing. I think that this is the least that she can do if it's a genuine apology. However, is she sorry about beating the student or is she sorry that she got caught on camera?"
And this from Joyce saying, "The teacher needs to take some anger management class along with a sensibility class so that she better understands the needs of each student. What she did was absolutely wrong. Instead of being fired, she needs to take these classes."
Thanks for your comments.
South Africa's rugby team inspired a nation. And the movie "Invictus," well, we're checking it out, it is among the latest DVDs to be released. Ben Mankiewicz weighs in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.
BP has started using underwater dispersants to try to break up oil gushing from a blown out wellhead. The BP COO says it seems to be working. The EPA and Coast Guard have signed off on the controversial plan, BP's other effort to contain the leak is expected to be back on track tonight, they say. The company hopes to insert a tube into the ruptured pipe and siphon the oil to a ship.
A U.S. attorney's office confirms that prosecutors are looking into possible criminal activity by the company that operates the West Virginia mine where 29 workers died last month. A letter obtained by the Associated Press says prosecutors were focusing on Performance Coal. That company is a subsidiary of Massey Energy, the mine's owner.
In space, astronauts on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis are struggling with some bulky camera equipment. NASA is keeping an eye on some space junk that is threatening to fly too close to the International Space Station. Neither problem is expected to delay tomorrow's scheduled docking by Atlantis, however.
A rugby team with high hopes, the Russian Roulette of love, and parents go extraordinary measures to save their kids. These are coming out on DVD next week. And film critic for "What the Flicks" on TheYoungTurks.com and host of Turner Classic Movies Ben Mankiewicz is back with us now from Los Angeles.
You have a really big title now these days, my dear.
(LAUGHTER)
Congratulations on the expansion. You are just so popular.
BEN MANKIEWICZ, FILM CRITIC: Gosh, thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about "Invictus" because I think I recall, if my memory serves me right, you loved that. Matt Damon had a stellar performance, you thought. And his accent was right on point. So, that means we should be renting this DVD, am I right?
MANKIEWICZ: You are setting yourself up.
WHITFIELD: Come on. Come on.
MANKIEWICZ: No, I did not love it. I loved Matt Damon, I loved Clint Eastwood but this is not a great collaboration.
WHITFIELD: OK, forget my memory.
MANKIEWICZ: Damon is good. This is about the South African rugby team that all -- that mostly white rugby team that Nelson Mandela supported after he came to power and it had a great deal to do with bringing the nation together.
And it has moments of power, but overall it feels sort of like an ordinary sports film. That said, any movie directed by Clint Eastwood for film fans is worth seeing. And I think almost any performance by Matt Damon is worth seeing. And Morgan Freeman delivers an impressive performance as Nelson Mandela.
Overall, it feels kind of ordinary from a director who we expect greatness from and that may be too high a standard to hold Clint Eastwood to, but this film feels ordinary and there are cliche sports moments and that's something you don't expect from Eastwood. I gave it a C plus, better than average. It will probably be a little better to rent when you can pause it and go get a sandwich.
WHITFIELD: I know it is bold, but maybe I should count on my memory for "Valentine's Day" this romantic comedy you were not a fan of, am I right?
MANKIEWICZ: What is wrong with you today?
WHITFIELD: Oh, no, really? Two for two? OK, forget it. We will not call upon my memory.
MANKIEWICZ: Please, for the love of God, stop.
WHITFIELD: Stop it, already.
MANKIEWICZ: Look, I am a bit of a sucker for these -- this has -- you see Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts there. Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jamie Fox, nearly everyone in this Gary Marshall directed, Ashton Kutcher, a big role, George Lopez. Gary Marshall directed ensemble romantic comedy about Valentine's Day.
You know, as last year, "He's Just Not That Into You", I'm a bit of a sucker for it. I think it is OK. I ended up with a little better than average, a B minus. It is certainly worth seeing. It is a movie that guys can tolerate watching with their girlfriends or wife.
WHITFIELD: My memory is horrible. How about "extraordinary measures"? MANKIEWICZ: You tell me.
WHITFIELD: I'm not. Because I don't remember. Ha ha!
MANKIEWICZ: "Extraordinary Measures," stars Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford. Brendan Fraser has two sick kids with a rare genetic disease. Harrison Ford is a geneticist, doesn't like working with other people, Brendan Fraser sort of coerces Ford to work specifically on this disease to help his kids. They form an unlikely partnership.
It is from CBS Films, and I've got to tell you this movie feels like a made for TV movie from start to finish. It has no cinematic feel whatsoever. So, I mean, again, renting it and watching it on the small screen will serve you better than having seen it in a theater.
That said, it is dull and predictable and plodding. I really want to start liking Harrison Ford movies again. It has been a while. It is tolerable. And Harrison Ford always gives a credible performance. He's a very crotchety and curmudgeon here. It is a less than average film and doesn't feel like a movie at all, it feels like you're watching it from 9:00 to 11:00 on CBS.
WHITFIELD: Two out of three in your view, in which to rent or own on DVD?
MANKIEWICZ: Yes, two are OK to own.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Good to see you, from LA. See you next weekend, hopefully, right?
MANKIEWICZ: You, too, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK, and I will not be calling upon my memory. Forget about it.
MANKIEWICZ: OK, that's a good idea. OK.
WHITFIELD: All right.
Perhaps you want to shed a few pounds. Who doesn't these days? What is better, pistachios or Munster cheese? A food expert weighs in and we'll compare notes.
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WHITFIELD: OK, a lot of people are looking for ways to lose weight and get in shape, especially before swimsuit season. A new diet plan is heating up the best-sellers list, by the way. "Eat & Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss", and it is authored by Doctor Howard Shapiro. Doctor Shapiro joining us now from New York.
Good to see you, Doctor.
DR. HOWARD SHAPIRO, WEIGHT-LOSS SPECIALIST, AUTHOR: Good to see you. It has been a while since we have talked. WHITFIELD: It has been a long time. So your book is called "Eat and Beat Diabetes" but you say this plan can work for anyone whether they are a diabetic or not. Why?
SHAPIRO: Well, first of all, it is the same principles when you're trying to lose weight for diabetes as it would be if you're trying to lose weight for any kind of a problem. This program goes a little bit further because it shows you that there are four food nutrients that will help fight diabetes, so if you ate more fiber or phytonutrients or if you had heart healthy fat, or if you ate more soy and added these into your program it will help you fight diabetes.
But these things will also help you lose weight. There is a food pyramid in this book, which shows you which foods contain the ingredients. We have a lot of the food comparisons which I've always had in all of my books. But I bumped it up a notch because I've been copied so many time over the past years. Now we do more than just the calories. Now we're showing if something has a lot of fat, we're showing pats of butter that equals the fat, something has a lot of sugar.
WHITFIELD: Oh, perfect. We actually have pictures of that. Let's go to some of those comparisons right now. Because, you know, the whole purpose of these comparisons in your book, you're saying, folks think they know everything about food. They think they know if they should be choosing beans over nuts, over beets or all that stuff.
So, let's take a look at what we have here. We have sketched out some of the samples from your book. Which is higher in calorie, the mozzarella stick or the olives? What is the answer? I would think the mozzarella stick would have more calories.
SHAPIRO: You're right. The mozzarella stick has more calories. It is 90 calories. Olives, which a lot of people think are worse, have 50 calories but they have a lot of heart healthy fat. There is a benefit that will fight diabetes in that particular food.
WHITFIELD: OK, which is the better choice, another one of the comparisons and quizzes in your book. Grapes or Melba toast, the better choice for beating diabetes.
SHAPIRO: Which do you think?
WHITFIELD: I'm going to go with the grapes.
SHAPIRO: You're right again.
WHITFIELD: Yeah!
SHAPIRO: Because grapes have fiber. They have phytonutrients, they are the same calories. But the crackers have all refined carbohydrates and that is just the opposite of what you would want if you're fighting diabetes. Either of these choices, when we're talking about the better choice, like the grapes or the olives, that would be good for somebody who isn't diabetic and trying to lose weight. WHITFIELD: Here is another of your quiz, your comparisons, which snack is higher in refined carbs? Pretzel nuggets or jellybeans. Now we're getting tricky. I'm going to have to go with pretzels.
SHAPIRO: Wrong.
WHITFIELD: OK.
SHAPIRO: They are both equal. They're both bad, they're both refined carbohydrates, both of them, 200 calories each. And you shouldn't have either one of them if you're trying to lose weight for diabetes.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Now this is what you're saying, this is something that everyone could benefit from. It is not just those who are diabetic. We actually have with us too, Donna Wyatt, she is joining us out of Minneapolis. Because she has tried just about every diet out there, she tells us. And at this point she is a little fed up. And at the same time she travels a lot. So there are lots of challenges that come with a working person who is on the road. You got to sustain yourself somehow.
So Doctor Shapiro, we want to hopefully help people be able to make some good choices whether they're at home, or on the road.
So, Donna, do you have any questions for the doctor as to how to make it work for you?
DONNA WYATT, AVID DIETER: Yeah. I guess my one question would be, Doctor Shapiro, how would this book and your approach to dieting and losing weight be different for me, somebody who has tried so many diets in the past, and other processes, and just seem to keep on gaining that weight back again.
SHAPIRO: Well, what happens frequently is when people try to diet, they starve themselves. They become very specific. They guide themselves just through a handful of foods and they lose the weight. And then they turn around and can't continue to do it what they have been doing in the past. They turn around and go to what they have done before and gain the weight back.
We're showing you in the book, and we are showing it to you, you don't have to read a lot. There are a lot of pictures in this book. We are showing you that you can make different choices that give you as much or more food than you're presently eating and you can lose weight. We are showing you that there is no wrong time of the day and the idea is that you can eat in restaurants, eat in fast food chains. There is a seven-day plan in this book. So the idea is to learn something as you are losing the weight so when you get to your goal, you don't gain it back.
And if you're struggling and you want to, if you call me, I'm going to give you a challenge. You call my office on Monday, and I will work with you over the phone to lose the weight and at the same time, we will teach you different things. And if you call the office, it is 212-WELL-FED. Call us and I will work with you and we can follow you for the next several months. WHITFIELD: Donna, how does that sound?
WYATT: I'm looking forward to that. I would love to lose the weight once and for all and keep it off. So I'll definitely be taking you up on that, Doctor Shapiro.
WHITFIELD: And you know, Doctor Shapiro, something tells me, now that you've given out that number, you'll get a whole lot of calls not just from Donna, but others as well.
Let's talk about something you highlight in your book --
SHAPIRO: I should have given them your number.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, well. I would just refer them to you.
Let's talk about some of the foods that you say, you know what, it defies the whole logic of just simply quantity, but you're saying it is now an issue of a combination. One of the examples you have in your book, you say, you know, you can have pizza, you can have pasta, but you need to pair it with some vegetables and then the measurement of calories certainly differs. If you just have pasta with meat sauce, a big ol' hunk of it, 700 calories there. But you reduce maybe the pile of pasta, you add some vegetables, and it becomes fewer in calories. So how does one come about the right formula?
SHAPIRO: Well, basically what we're showing you is if you really want to have pasta, you can have it. The picture on the left shows it. It is 700 calories, it is a meat sauce. The picture on the right is a little less pasta, but you are still eating pasta. We added a lot of vegetables which have fiber, phytonutrients, which will help you lose weight and make you feel full. There is another plate of marinated mushrooms. There is a plate also or a bowl of white bean soup. All of those things show to be more -- sorry, more food than the other side which is just pasta. So, it is eating more food for less calories.
WHITFIELD: It is also about helping in your digestion, right?
SHAPIRO: A lot of it helps in your digestions because the beans are healthy in protein. When you have the beans and when you have a lot of the vegetables, it slows down your digestion. Basically you feel full for a longer period of time. And they're all low calorie foods. You're still getting the pasta. We're not taking away the food that you really enjoy.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Fantastic. Doctor Howard Shapiro, it is "Eat and Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss." Donna Wyatt from Minneapolis, thanks so much. And we'll have to follow up to see Donna, how it is going, once you have your dialogue with Doctor Shapiro. Thanks so much to both of you.
WYATT: Thank you.
SHAPIRO: It's my pleasure. Thank you.
WYATT: Looking forward to it.
WHITFIELD: All right. All the best.
OK, something else to look forward to, it is new, it is different. And you don't want to miss it. My new segment, "Face To Face With Fredricka" starts May 22nd. To debut all this, we'll have a sit-down with Ted Turner, CNN founder, on this 30th anniversary of the founding of CNN. But wait there's more. We want to hear from you, because we know you have burning questions for Ted Turner. If you send your questions to me, at cnn.com/Fredricka, or my Facebook, Fredricka Whitfield/CNN. We'll post some of your questions to Ted Turner and you'll get a chance to hear his responses on May 22nd.
Meantime, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
You have, of course, seen the pictures of the Tennessee flood. But you haven't seen anything like the video that Don Lemon has coming up in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
Also ahead, the immigration debate moves to Georgia. Should an illegal immigrant get a break if she also happens to be a college student? We'll hear both sides.
And how students at George Washington University got First Lady Michelle Obama to be their commencement speaker. They'll tell us in "Their Own Words:. More of the NEWSROOM with Don Lemon, coming up.
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