Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Tea Party Express to Kick off Tour; The Politics of Compromise; Traits of a Good Leader; Recalled Veggies May Contain Glass; Typhoon Targets Philippines; Doing More with Digital Photos; Plotting the Presidency after the Midterms; Wooing Young Voters; Finding Happiness

Aired October 17, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Check your freezer. A major recall of frozen vegetables. Some veggies sold at Wal-Mart and Kroger might contain glass. That's later on this hour.

And in our 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, actress Christina Applegate sits down with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's a candid interview about how she beat cancer.

And at 5:00 Eastern, a priceless message to African-American girls from "Sesame Street." We have it because it's gone viral.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our top story, just 16 days left until the midterm elections and the spotlight shifts to Ohio. For the first time since 2008, the president and Mrs. Obama will be campaigning together today. After attending a fundraiser for Governor Ted Strickland in Cleveland, they'll head to Columbus for a rally at Ohio State University. A CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted earlier this month shows Mrs. Obama with a 65 percent approval rating, much higher than her husband.

"The Best Political Team on Television" is on the job, across the country. Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser is actually in New Hampshire.

We usually talk about New Hampshire when we talk about primaries, presidential primaries. A little early to be there now. So what's the significance of New Hampshire right now?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Fred, you're absolutely right. Starting next year, you're going to see a lot of presidential hopefuls on the Republican side up here, but there is a good election this year, a very tight election up here in New Hampshire this year.

You know, both the House seats, the U.S. House seats in this state, are controlled by the Democrats. And the Republicans think they have a good shot at winning back both those seats. As you know, if they can do that here and some other states, they've got a very good shot, Fred, at winning back the House of Representatives.

Thirty-nine seats is what the Republicans need, a net gain of 39 to reclaim the chamber. There's also a competitive Senate race up here, and the Republicans think they have a good shot at winning back the governorship here in New Hampshire.

But you're right, next year all eyes will be on the presidential contest here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, Democratic campaign playbook, what do we know to be in it? We know the president and first lady are campaigning together. What else is up the sleeves for the Democrats?

STEINHAUSER: Well, just, what, two-and-a-half weeks, even less now to the election. So you're going to see the president, the vice president and the first lady on the campaign trail all week.

Let's start with the vice president. He heads west at the beginning of the week, going to Washington State, California, and then Nevada. He's going to be helping out Senator Murray in Washington State, Senator Boxer in California, and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, in Nevada.

What do all three of those senators have in common? They all face very tough reelections.

The president campaigns with those same three senators at the end of the week. And the first lady, as well, will be campaigning across the country.

So the top three surrogates, Fred, on the Democratic side all out all week.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Paul, let's talk about the GOP and the Tea Party movement. We know that in California yesterday, RNC Chairman Michael Steele was campaigning, along with former Alaska Senator Sarah Palin, who has got big Tea Party backing and supports the Tea Party.

They were campaigning together at a GOP event. However, two lead California candidates were not there, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.

What's going on with the signals between the GOP and the Tea Party movement?

STEINHAUSER: Well, you know, Fiorina was backed by Palin in the primaries, and that may have helped her in the primaries win a very tough contest. But right now it seems both those candidates are trying to go after more moderate voters, more Independent voters in California, and maybe they didn't want to be teaming up with Sarah Palin and Michael Steele yesterday. But there doesn't seem to be too much bad blood.

Talking about the Tea Party, tomorrow, Reno, Nevada, the Tea Party Express, that large organization, national Tea Party organization that's had three Tea Party cross-country caravans, Fred, they're kicking off their fourth one. And they're going to be again in Nevada because they've been targeting Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.

And who will be there at that kickoff rally tomorrow? Sarah Palin. Remember, she helped headline the kickoff for their third rally back at the beginning of the year, back in March, in Searchlight, Nevada. She'll do it again in Reno.

The Tea Party Express, Fred, said this will be a two-week tour, and it will go from West to East and end right here in New Hampshire the day before the election. And you mentioned Sarah Palin from yesterday. Take a listen to what she had to say at that rally in Anaheim, California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: Choices you have to put California and all of America back to work, it's really pretty simple. You've got some simple choices, California. I know you're going to make the right choices come November 2nd because you've done it before.

Thanks to you and the Golden State, you brought us our American hero Ronald Reagan. You did it before.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Sarah Palin from that rally yesterday in Anaheim, California, with Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

And Fred, they team up again next Saturday in Orlando, Florida, to do the same thing, try to raise some money and also energize Republican voters. And polls suggest Republicans right now are still a lot more energized than Democrats -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much, coming to us from New Hampshire. Appreciate that.

All right. Let's talk about compromise as we talk about politics. It seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?

Well, it doesn't seem to be in favor in certain political circles lately, so today the spokesman for the GOP and Democrats took aim. Here's White House adviser David Axelrod on "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SR. ADVISER: Well, I think that it's up to us to extend our hand as we have before. It's up to them to decide whether they're going to take it or whether they're going to do what they've done for the last two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So now listen to Republican Senator John Cornyn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I think it depends on the president. If the president's going to maintain his ideological stance and try to jam things through to support the left in America when we're still a center-right country, then we're going to say no. But if he's willing to work with us as Bill Clinton did after the 1994 elections to pass things like welfare reform, trade agreements and the like, we'll certainly work with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So Lisa Desjardins is a CNN Radio Capitol Hill correspondent.

So, you have to wonder, Lisa, regardless of the outcome, whether more Republicans gain seats, or if it remains much of the same, might this mean that there will be some common ground found between Republicans and Democrats so that they can compromise, get things done?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you heard just there, the common ground they have right now is they're still blaming each other. They're saying it's up to the other guy to compromise.

And you're right, there's probably zero chance of marshmallows and kisses, but you have a point, Fredricka. Some people argue that, actually, a divided government forces the two sides to compromise.

They both would have some power, so both would have to come to the table. Or that's the theory, anyway. Does it always work? Let's look.

We took a textbook example of a positive divided government. That's the early '80s, when Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill -- there you see them -- were bitter political rivals, but they were personal friends. A lot of folks know together, those two rivals came up with a deal on one of the toughest issues anywhere, Social Security.

Now let's look at a less positive rivalry. That's the one in the mid- 90s between President Bill Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. They had an intense ideological divide. Both of them strategists, and that led to a government shutdown.

Though, Fred, I have to point out, ultimately, those two did compromise on spending and on welfare. But there were some very, very sharp stabs and games played in the end.

So is it possible a Republican House and a Democratic White House could get more done than we see now? It's possible, but it is a lot harder when the two have no relationship. And that is the case right now.

WHITFIELD: OK. So let's -- we're still talking hypothetically. If that does end up being the case, we're talking John Boehner, who has said out loud several times that he believes he would be the House speaker if, indeed, the Republicans gain more votes in the House.

So what would that relationship potentially be like between he and Obama?

DESJARDINS: Yes, let's get down to the meat. This is hypothetical, but it does seem like the most likely scenario, that Republicans could take over the House right now. Anything could change, but we're looking at it. So we put together this graphic -- TV's all about the graphics -- where the two sides would collide next year.

Number one, health care. Democrats, of course, want to protect the president's huge achievement and that health care bill, what they see as his huge achievement. Republicans openly say they want to repeal it.

Number two, spending. This is going to be cut-throat. Democrats want to protect programs, especially for low-income families, but Republicans want to slash spending.

Finally, the politics of it all, Democrats, of course, would want to regain control if they lose it of Congress and want to keep the White House in 2012. But for Republicans, Fred -- and I know you already hear and report on this -- a major consideration in everything they do is their goal is to get President Obama out of office.

Of course, overriding all of this, Fred, a lot of folks at home might be saying so what if Republicans control the House? What power will they really have if they don't control everything?

Well, in the 4:00 p.m. hour, Fred, we're going to break down one issue -- health care. And we're going to talk about what exactly Republicans could do to that law if they control the House. So tune in for that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lisa Desjardins, we'll see you in a couple hours. Thanks so much.

All right. "The Best Political Team on Television" is hard at work across the country this weekend. In the next half hour, we'll have the latest news hot off the "Political Ticker." Meghan McCain says what she really thinks about Delaware's Christine O'Donnell.

Plus, we'll be covering President Obama's remarks later on in the evening, as well as he campaigns with the first lady.

Good bosses versus bad bosses -- which do you have? If you're not sure, answer this. Here's a little question for you. Is your boss a chronic credit hog?

The rest of the quiz and tips for workers and bosses right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Nightmare boss story. Just about everyone seems to have one, right? But there are actually some great bosses out there.

Case in point, Luis Urzua. He was the foreman of those miners in Chile who were rescued last week after spending more than two months trapped underground. Urzua was the last miner out but the first to establish order in the mine shelter, which brings us to the book "Good Boss, Bad Boss." And it details what it takes to be a strong leader like Urzua.

Bob Sutton is the author and a professor at Stanford University. He's joining us live now from Stanford.

Good to see you, Bob.

BOB SUTTON, AUTHOR, "GOOD BOSS, BAD BOSS": Great to see you too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what leadership skills did Urzua seem to exhibit that made him -- I guess made others say that he really was indeed a good leader?

SUTTON: Well, he did two things in particular that strike me, or I guess, I suppose, three things. The first thing is, he was the classic great boss who struck a balance between competence and compassion. So he put the amount of structure they needed, but he was compassionate to his followers' needs.

The second thing he did which is very important, especially for people under stress, was even though there was a lot of fear and uncertainty, he created as much predictability and control as possible. So even during the period, the 17 days where they didn't know if they were going to be rescued, he created order with rations and by assigning people different positions.

And finally, he didn't try to do everything himself. He created a team of people. One guy led prayers, another guy did medical stuff. And those are some of the things that strike me are signs that he's a good boss.

WHITFIELD: So those were the things under a dire situations. Do you think all of those things are transferable for bosses, for teams in everyday situations?

SUTTON: Yes, I think, obviously, this is an extreme case, but when you think about what great bosses do, one of the first things they do is they realize that they've got to get the work done. But at the same time, there's enough humanity to keep people going.

A good friend of mine named David Kelley, he's founder of a company called IDEO, a great innovation firm. And he always describes being a leader as sort of being a balancing act, which is that there's times when you've got to sort of push the humanity and times when you've got to push the performance.

And you've got to kind of strike that balance between the two. And obviously in less extreme situations, it's not as time critical. But nonetheless, giving people predictability, bits of control, and also making clear to them that you don't put your interests ahead of theirs, which was very clear in the mines and is also a hallmark of great leaders everywhere.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Case in point, you actually put some quiz questions in your book, "Good Boss, Bad Boss."

SUTTON: Right.

WHITFIELD: And here's some of the questions that you're asking people to ask themselves maybe about their bosses, or maybe some bosses need to answer some of these questions, too.

So, "My boss is a terrible listener. True or false?"

"My boss is blind to his or her own weaknesses. True or false?"

"My boss is all talk, no action. True or false?"

And so if you end up checking "true" on all those things, and you're saying, you know what, I don't think I have a good boss here, what do you do with that information? How do you help your boss be better? Or how do you perform better with a bad boss?

SUTTON: Well, for me, kind of the first stage is if you're working for a clueless, incompetent boss, there's sort of three different decisions. One is, can I get out as quick as possible? If you can, my advice is run from them.

Only about 20 percent of the bosses in America are actually bad if you look at the research. Try to find another one.

The second thing to do is, well, if you can't run from them, maybe fight the situations. The advice I always give is don't fight alone. Bring together your colleagues and maybe confront your boss, or better yet, your boss' boss.

And the third thing --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, a page out of "Survivor." Building an alliance, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

SUTTON: Building alliance is very important.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SUTTON: People who fight alone are really asking for it.

And the last thing I always say is sometimes we're in situations in life where we just have to get through, and learning the fine art of emotional detachment, of not letting it touch your soul, is sometimes something that many of us need to do to get through difficult periods of life.

WHITFIELD: And just as you have some quiz questions, you also have sort of commandments, particularly that bosses ought to pay attention to. And here's some of them.

"Listen attentively to your people. Don't just pretend to hear what they say."

"Ask others for help. Gratefully accept their assistance. Do not hesitate to say, 'I don't know."

Ooh, and that's tough for a boss to say, right?

And "Fight as if you are right, and listen as if you were wrong." You kind of touched on that. "And express gratitude to your people."

So it's good to let them know that they are valued, right?

SUTTON: Right. Absolutely.

So, in fact, that's one of those little tiny things that some bosses don't even realize, ,they're not expressing gratitude. And we've even got some nice experimental studies that show that bosses who just stop and give a little speech and thank fundraisers for their actions get about a 30 percent bump in fund-raising. So even little things can have an effect.

But one thing I'm really big on is creating situations where people can have constructive conflict. I've been fortunate to be hanging around and having some contact with people at Pixar. And that's one of the keys to them making great films. They create environments where people fight like crazy over ideas in an atmosphere of mutual respect. And that's one of the things that things that explains just the string of incredible hits that they've had.

WHITFIELD: It sounds like a typical newsroom, too. At least that's what we usually experience.

(LAUGHTER)

SUTTON: Great.

WHITFIELD: Right? You know, we have a flood of ideas, and not necessarily everyone necessarily sees eye to eye, but then eventually you kind of work it out.

SUTTON: Right.

WHITFIELD: Kind of make some editorial decisions based on it.

All right. Bob Sutton, thanks so much, author of "Good Boss, Bad boss." Yes, there you go. Starting with the positive first. "Good Boss, Bad Boss."

Good to see you from Stanford. Appreciate it.

SUTTON: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. A high school football team refuses to play and kicks off a debate about sportsmanship, safety and winning. The forfeit and the fallout next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. A high school football team so scared, intimidated, some think, of the rival that it actually canceled the game. That story is straight ahead. But first, a look at the top stories.

(NEWSBREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So high school football season, full swing right now. But at a game in Massachusetts, well, it came to a screeching halt even before it began. A team forfeited because the school had some rather strong thoughts about the rival.

Joining us now with the story is CNN Student News anchor Carl Azuz.

What happened here?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Strong thoughts is right, Fredricka. They said the rival was too big, too intimidating. St. George's Academy, Rhode Island.

WHITFIELD: We're talking football. Big guys usually.

AZUZ: High school football. High school. OK?

WHITFIELD: OK.

AZUZ: St. George's Academy in Rhode Island was about to face off against Lawrence Academy. That's up in Groton, Massachusetts. And they forfeited the game saying, listen, this needs to be done in the name of safety.

There are five players from Lawrence Academy whom you see practicing right here. Five of these guys have verbal commitments to Division I colleges. They have -- they're said to have a very big line, a lot of big guys on their line.

And so St. George's said in the name of safety, we're not going to play this game. Listen to this from the St. George's headmaster. He had a statement where he is talking about the game, about his decision to forfeit saying they " -- have an ethical and moral obligation to protect student players who have been placed in our care by their parents from possible extreme injuries that could affect the rest of their lives."

WHITFIELD: You know what confuses many here?

AZUZ: What's that?

WHITFIELD: Football is a contact sport. And already, the game means that there's going to be a higher propensity for some injury, et cetera --

AZUZ: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: -- whether it be the school or the athletic program or the parents' concerns. But then it sounds like they're -- an assessment was being made based on what the competitor is like.

So what's the message being sent to these young athletes sizing up the competition and possibly even bowing out before doing the sportsmanship thing, which is continue to play?

AZUZ: That was -- there were concerns voiced by the parents of the opposing team, by Lawrence Academy. Those parents, as interviewed by our affiliate, WHDH, listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE KELLEY, PARENT: You're telling the kids on the field, look, if you're coming up in life against a situation that seems like it's impossible to win, just give up.

PATSY ROSENBERG, PARENT: I think there's more to it than the winning or losing. And I think that every experience, you can learn something from that. And there can be winning moments even in a game that you lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: So the parents interviewed are saying, look, you're always going to face challenges. What kind of message does it send to the kids if you're not going to step up, get on that field, and play that game?

WHITFIELD: And you've actually posted this on your Web site, as well.

AZUZ: CNNStudentNews.com.

WHITFIELD: What are they saying?

AZUZ: Kids, by and large, are in agreement with the parents on this. We have a comment for you from Enrique, who's talking about this.

And Enrique is saying, look, "Forfeiting sets the players up for failure in the future. They're being taught to quit when things look tough." Then he says, "Why choose to fail when success is an option?"

Sort of the same thing said by Amethyst here. She's writing, "This is poor sportsmanship. When you're playing a sport, you understand there will always be bigger and better -- no one practices not to play."

So, by and large, students at CNNStudentNews.com are telling us, look, they need to step up and play the game. There are some kids who are saying safety first, we understand this decision, the health of the players is paramount, but most of them who are talking to us are saying you're always going to face somebody. And you're not going to get better unless you play someone better. They need to play the game.

WHITFIELD: And the two schools, they already had the same kind of winning record, right?

AZUZ: At the time of the forfeit, both schools were two wins, zero losses.

WHITFIELD: OK. Interesting stuff. Thanks so much.

Carl Azuz.

AZUZ: I enjoyed talking about it. Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right. By the way, you want to check your freezer or refrigerator soon because there's a major recall involving frozen vegetables. We'll have details right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, if you had frozen vegetables in your freezer right now, you might want to check them out.

Some veggie packages sold by Wal-Mart and Kroger are being recalled because they could contain glass fragments. Here to tell us which products are being affected, CNN's Josh Levs.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a striking one, Fred. You don't usually hear about potential glass inside vegetables. I'll tell you at the top that they're saying there haven't been injuries so far and they're doing this to be careful. It's a voluntary recall, but this starts off affecting shoppers all over the country.

It's a voluntary recall and it's involving certain frozen vegetables. They were sold as Fred mentioned in two stores. They were sold at Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Now Wal-Mart has more than 4,000 facilities in the country. Many of them carry frozen food. So that right there affects a ton of shoppers out there.

These are also sold at Kroger locations specifically in the southeastern United States. So when it comes to Kroger, not everywhere, just those locations in the southeastern U.S. It affects four products here and I'm going to show you on the screen behind me what these products are.

You can take a look here. Great value 12-ounce steamable peas, great value 12-ounce steamable mixed vegetables, that's two of them and two more right here, Kroger 12-ounce green peas, Kroger 12-ounce peas and carrots.

And what they have on them is specific codes to determine if you have these packages and we have actually listed them all for you at cnn.com at our web site right now.

So if you go to cnn.com, you'll see the story about this recall. And it will help you look at your freezer right now, figure out if you have these. You can bring them back where you bought them and you'll get a full refund, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so, Josh, how did this happen? Do we know? LEVS: We don't know and that's part of what's so confusing here. You know, it's very rare that you've see a company announce a recall, especially when you're hearing about potential glass and you can't reach anyone at the company.

We have called this company there. They are Picked Sweet. It's called Picked Sweet in Belle, Tennessee. We've contacted them. What happened was they put out an announcement late Friday.

And they say in here it's a voluntary recall and they say that this was after the company learned that some of the packages may contain glass fragments, which may cause injuries if ingested.

Then they go on to say no injuries reported to date, but we're trying to find out how this happened and what they can do, other places can do to make sure it doesn't happen anywhere else. Lots of calls out to them, Fred. Let's hope we finally answer though.

WHITFIELD: All right, sounds good. Thanks so much, Josh.

LEVS: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right, in the meantime, let's talk some nasty weather out there, powerful typhoon.

Right now, it's targeting Philippines, and it could trigger some dangerous flooding and mud slides. Karen Maginnis is tracking this for us.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're watching this because it is humongous. Right now, Fred, it has gone 180 miles an hour and it looks like this is going to be absolutely devastating across the Philippines.

They've ordered some evacuations. Just want to point out where we are right now. Here's the typhoon, obviously, there's the eye. It looks like it's going to make landfall across the Luzon region perhaps less than 12 hours.

And then as it tracks across the South China Sea, it's going to start to turn. As it turns, somewhere along this coast from Hainan to Hong Kong, it is expected to remain a fairly significant tropical system.

But right now, we're watching this very carefully as it treks towards the west/southwest and there you can see as we go towards Friday, could have supporting winds of about 125 miles an hour maybe with some higher gusts.

All right, Southern California, yes. It's going to rain because you know that's the only reason we really talk about Southern California. Unless they've got Santa Ana winds or rain, and yes, it does look like some rainfall is on the way.

Got an area of low pressure right here. It's going to slowly trek towards the great basin and so far this year in Nevada, the snow levels down to around 8,500 feet. Not too much to get excited about, Fred. I don't know if you're a skier or not.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MAGINNIS: That's around 8,500 feet, a little bit of snowfall. Interesting. Rain in L.A. off and on for the next three days.

WHITFIELD: OK.

MAGINNIS: All right.

WHITFIELD: Is this the rainy season? Or it's just rain? It's just regular stuff.

MAGINNIS: It's October. Anything can happen.

WHITFIELD: OK. Why try to predict things like that. Thanks so much, Karen. Appreciate it.

OK, so you know you take all those digital pictures and then you got to figure out, what do I do with all of these thousands, maybe hundreds fantastic photos?

They're just wasting away in your camera or computer. We'll show you all sorts of innovative and easy ways to try and show them off next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Chances are you've got hundreds maybe thousands of digital photos. So what can you do with those images? We've got lots of tips straight ahead, but first a look at the top stories.

A defiant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't backing down on the Iran's nuclear program. The Iranian president calls international talks set for next month the best choice for the west. And he insists that Tehran will develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The U.S. and other world powers fear Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

And Australia has its very first catholic saint. Pope Benedict XVI has canonized Mary MacKillop. The 19th Century nun minister to the poor in the Australian outback and the Catholic Church credits her with miraculously helping to cure a woman with cancer. She was temporarily excommunicated when her colleagues exposed an abusive priest.

Well, even if you've been taking digital pictures for a long time, you may not realize the cool things that you can actually do with those images, though.

Right now it's tech time. And we've called upon our syndicated technology writer Mark Saltzman who's joining us with some great ideas coming to us via Skype from Toronto, right?

MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: You got it. Hi, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: I recognize the wall. Let's talk about first, the photo canvases. What do you mean?

SALTZMAN: That's right. There are some great services out there online that let you upload your photos and supersize those memories into a gorgeous canvas for your wall like this.

These are really big and as you can see, they're on a wooden frame so they're perfect, ready for hanging, and there are a lot of services like this one from Kodak gallery.

There's Snapfish. There's Shutter Fly, Flicker. This one here is of my family, and it was created by posterjack.com. A 20 by 20 canvas will run you about $100 and up. So this is a great and a great gift for the holidays as well.

WHITFIELD: I love that and then you can really have fun with it and make a game out of it. Not a game like, you know, guess where we are, but a game you can get your hands working.

SALTZMAN: That's right. So you can create things like jigsaw puzzles with your digital memories. Either the old-fashioned kind like this where you use one of those services that I mentioned to upload your photo and then they actually mail you a tin box with a puzzle and your picture on the front of the tin as you can see here with this family.

And that's great for, you know, a lazy Sunday afternoon with the family or you can do it digitally. There are free programs at download.com that let you import your photos and create a jigsaw puzzle on your computer.

Use your mouse to solve it or you can e-mail it to friends and have them solve it, e-mail it to family and friends. And those are free. The physical jigsaw puzzles are about $25 a pop.

WHITFIELD: OK, great. And you've got to wittle all the stuff down because you got thousands of images, so you say there's even some photo editing software that you might want to consider?

SALTZMAN: Yes. So this is great for, you know, touching up your photos, removing red eye, cropping, resizing. But software like this, this is from Adobe called Photoshop Elements 9. Lets you also have fun with your photos by using what's called filters.

You can make your print, your pictures look like an old western like sepia tone. You can make your family look like a Warhol print, an Andy Warhol print, an impressionism painting, a stain glass window and have a lot of fun sharing those and posting them to Facebook, and just really letting the kids and grand kids get creative with those photos so software like this, which will run you about $80 has tons of those filters to play around with.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then there are digital frames. What's new? Because we've seen them for a while, right?

SALTZMAN: You're right. So consider these two examples I'm going to show you. Digital frames 2.0 because they go above and beyond regular functionality. This one here is a new one from Kodak, it's a 10-inch digital pulse.

It's called the Kodak Pulse Frame and it comes with an e e-mail address. So you give this to say mom or grand dad and then you could e-mail photos to it from any computer or cell phone in the world. It's very convenient to get those photos on the frame.

There's also a 7-inch model. This runs about $200. The 7-inch model is about $99 and this one here is a very high-end digital frame for Parrott. It's called the Grande Specchio (ph).

As you can see, actually, let many show you, when you turn it off, it's a mirror. You probably see my web camera, the computer, and when you turn it on, it also has Wi-Fi to send photos.

Lots of glare because it's a mirror. It also lets you read your e-mail, get push news and information to it. Surf the web. It's a unique device. That'll run you about $650. It's one of more high-end digital frames on the market.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is neat. OK, What about other made to order gift ideas that you've got for us?

SALTZMAN: Yes. So finally, there's the basics like digital -- you can take your digital photos and create a hard cover book so you upload it to Kodak gallery or Snap Fish and Shutter Fly and they send you a few days later a beautiful photo book with captions of your choosing.

There are -- check this out, a cheese platter. So you can take your favorite photo and create a ceramic cheese platter. Imagine going to someone's house for house warming and leave the plate with them.

That's a nice, clever idea. There's playing cards. This will run about $20. The cutting board's about $35, by the way. Even ceramic tiles, I'll leave with that from $10 to $20. You can outfit your bathroom, the back slash in your kitchen with your own custom tiles, with your own artwork or own photos and have a lot of fun that way.

WHITFIELD: Those are very great, inventive ideas and they're inexpensive. Perfect in time for the holiday season. Marc Saltzman.

SALTZMAN: You got it.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Good to see you.

SALTZMAN: You too, Fredericka. Have a great rest of the weekend.

All right, we're going to be back on the political campaign trail with the president of the United States. He is campaigning. Can he rework his magic with young voters in time for midterm elections just a couple weeks away? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, 16 days and counting until midterm elections. We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines from the CNNPolitics.com desk and here's what's crossing right now.

Facing the prospect of fewer Democrats in Congress, President Obama plans to push ahead with his priorities. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the president's main focus will be on growing the economy.

Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan sounds off on Delaware Senate candidate and Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell. Meghan McCain says, quote, "I just know in my group of friends it turns people off because she's seen as a nut job." That's from Meghan McCain.

And a Senate battle in Kentucky turns nastier. Democrat Jack Conway is attacking Republican Rand Paul in some new ads. One of them is based on reports that Paul was a member of a secret society while he was a student at Baylor University. The ad says the group was banned for mocking Christianity and Christ. Paul's campaign calls the ad despicable and desperate.

President and Mrs. Obama will try to re-excite young voters later on today at a rally in Ohio, but will the young people who helped the president win in '08 come through for Democrats again in 2010? CNN's Jeanne Meserve takes a closer look at their voting habits.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Young people put the ump in the Obama president campaign two years ago, and with midterm elections now just weeks away, the president is trying to reignite their passion.

But as Obama appeared on MTV, young Republicans countered on Twitter. Part of an aggressive GOP push for young voters.

DOUG HEYE, RNC SPOKESMAN: In this election cycle, certainly there are going to be a lot more students wearing Fire Pelosi pins, buttons and stickers on campus than there were last cycle and we welcome that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt this is a game-changer congressional cycle.

MESERVE: At American University in Washington, a forum on the midterms. On this campus, College Republicans believe they are making inroads.

STEPHEN LAUDONE, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: Several people I know who are going at the very least split their ticket this year whereas 2008 it was all Democrat. I definitely think there's a shift.

MESERVE: Many of the students at this gathering identify as Conservative and Republican and say the economy is the reason why. JOSH KAIB, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: When we look at the economy, we're going to be graduating in a few years. Can we get a job? Are taxes going to go up?

MESERVE: Freedom Works, an activist group, influential in the Tea Party Movement credits tech savvy young people for its success and says its focus on fiscal issues like government deficits and debt continues to draw them in.

BRENDAN STEINHAUSER, FREEDOM WORKS: This idea of kind of leave us alone and let us live our lives. I think that appeals to young people.

MESERVE: But polling tells a different story. It shows the Tea Party is weakest among young people. And Republicans --

KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: We've not seen any evidence that Republicans are making a lot of inroads among young voters.

MESERVE: Poll indicate about 40 percent of voters 18 to 29 intend to vote Republican in the midterms, about 50 percent Democratic. And young voters are one of the few groups who still give President Obama a thumbs up.

(on camera): The effort to woo young voters this year may be of little value. They vote in presidential elections, but historically their turnout in midterms is lousy accounting for only 6 percent or 7 percent of the vote. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. His life story inspired the blockbuster movie "The Pursuit of Happiness." So how does Chris Gardner think you should find happiness?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS GARDNER: Happiness is a totally internal component. This is where a lot of folks get the -- something we talk about in the new book. They get their net worth mixed up with their self worth. OK and especially for men. Men a lot of times define ourselves by, what do we do? That becomes who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Chris Gardner's secret to happiness right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Chris Gardner, once a young man juggling fatherhood and homelessness while pursuing a better life. Well, now a self-made millionaire whose pursuit of happiness continues to inspire people who wonder is there more out there for me? I recently talked face-to-face with the author and entrepreneur Gardner about happiness among other things.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So along the way, are people always asking, what's that "y" in happiness? That you address in start where you are.

GARDNER: And the beauty of that is just so simple. We left the "y" in happiness to talk about you and your happiness. Everybody's going to have a different definition of happiness.

There's going to be a lot of commonality, but one or two things that says me, my happiness and my responsibility to make it happen.

WHITFIELD: This is not a motivational book in your view, not an inspirational, but an aspirational book. Explain that.

GARDNER: You know what? The only person that could motivate you to do anything is you, right?

WHITFIELD: So then when you talk about happiness, you know, and a child feeling complete knowing that the parent, the person who loves them is there, and that really is at the root of happiness, then what happens when people start thinking about dollar figures?

You had a chance to experience poor having nothing and now having a multimillion dollar company. How do you say to people, happiness has nothing to do with the dollar?

GARDNER: It doesn't. It doesn't and happiness is totally internal component. This is where a lot of folks get the something we talk about in the new book. They get their net worth mixed up with their self-worth, OK?

And especially for men, men a lot of times define ourselves by, well, what do we do? That becomes two we are. Well, guess what? You've just been laid off, down-sized, outsourced, and fired. Now who are you are?

Your net worth, it's going to be fluctuating with the markets. Your self-worth should only remain constant or appreciate.

WHITFIELD: Did you feel that way?

GARDNER: I always do. I've gotten there, but I've always felt that way because again, for me, it was never about money. I was doing something I was passionate about, and I was doing something bigger than myself, giving my son a father and that's priceless.

WHITFIELD: Do you ever think -- is it possible I ever go there again? Can I ever find myself in that place again? Do you ever think of that?

GARDNER: No. No.

WHITFIELD: No?

GARDNER: You know what happened? Man, I had to let that go, Fredricka, you have to process. I used to go, for instance, years and years and years ago to San Francisco on business where that part of my life took place.

And I would always get -- on business -- I would always stay in the same hotel. The Hyatt, Park Hyatt Union Square. I stayed in the same hotel, always got the same room on the same side of the building just so I could look down into the park and see where my son and I had to sleep.

WHITFIELD: Reminder.

GARDNER: Right. And you finally get to a point in your life you can say, no, man, let it go and that was a process. The one thing I have not let go of -- I got this thing about bags. I got a room in my house with nothing but bags in it.

WHITFIELD: What kind of bags? Paper bags, plastic bags?

GARDNER: If it doesn't have a hole in it, if you can tie a not in it, that's a good bag.

WHITFIELD: Why?

GARDNER: Well, when we were homeless -- when we were homeless, I had to carry everything that we owned everywhere we went every day for a year. And I've got this thing about bags. Now, the truth of the matter, I got some nice ones too.

WHITFIELD: But you don't ever say that's because, you know, sometimes when people get there, they're in this great place. They're like, I don't want to lose this. I'm so afraid that I'd have to return to that again, but just in case, you know, here's my plan. You don't have one of those plans?

GARDNER: No. My plan is about --

WHITFIELD: Going forward?

GARDNER: Yes. That's my plan.

WHITFIELD: Not repeating?

GARDNER: No. Not repeating. No, been there, done that. Somebody else can do that now. I've got to go this way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that's where we all want to go, right? Chris Gardner, fascinating man. He says everyone can find happiness. He spells out his formula in his new book "Start Where You Are."

All right, this week, dozens of college campuses are putting the kibosh on questions like, do I like fat? Find out why in the chat room 4:00 Eastern Time.

And at 5:00, we'll tell you why all these people are slow dancing with, yes, not partners, but clothes and shoes. That is in today's viral video. That's funny, doesn't it? I'm Fredricka Whitfield. See you again 4:00 Eastern time. Right now, time for "YOUR MONEY."