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President Obama in India; Memorial for American Tourist Killed in Mexico; Face to Face with Stars of New Film "For Colored Girls"; Advice for Teenagers; Republicans Fighting Healthcare Reform

Aired November 07, 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: A memorial for an American tourist allegedly killed by Mexican drug traffickers while the investigation of his death hits road blocks.

And face-to-face with two stars of the new movie "For Colored Girls." They tell me how their roles both on and off the screen are equally challenging.

And what advice do you wish you have as a teenager? Tweeting your 16- year-old self. It's a big trending topic on Twitter. The most priceless comments in the "Chat Room."

All right. Top story. Fresh off midterm wins today, Republicans spoke in unison on different air waves saying that darling legislation of the Obama administration should be repealed.

Let's bring in CNN Sandra Endo on the next fight involving health care reform, Sandra.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, Fred. Well, Republicans are talking tough. After coming off their huge victory on Tuesday, and they want to take on President Obama's health care reform measures. As you know, the president spent a lot of time and political capital since taking office trying to pass health care reform but now with the split Congress, Republicans want to rein in some of those measures.

They say the president's health care reform plan is too costly and they're looking to repeal it. GOP lawmakers made their case on the morning talk shows today, including Congressman Eric Cantor who is looking to take on a leadership role in the House. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MINORITY WHIP: We've got to stop this bill from taking place. And we've got to go and reset the dial and insist that the American people are given a choice to have the kind of health care that they want and also to bring down costs. The Obamacare bill will bankrupt states as well as this country and take people's health care away. We can't have that.

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: I think Obamacare is one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the modern history of the country. I'm doing everything I can in Minnesota to stop, delay, or avoid its implementation in my state including signing an executive order saying we're not going to participate unless required by law or approved by me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: But take a look at this. CNN exit polls show Americans are pretty split over what to do with the new health care law. 31 percent say expand it. 16 percent say leave it as it is, and 48 percent say repeal it. So House Republicans say it's issue number one on their legislative agenda when they take control, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so what about the Democrats? What's the response?

Well, obviously they have a lot to talk about and argue against Republicans. For Democrats, of course, are singing a different tune. They say Republicans are misleading the public and misconstruing the reform bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: That's why I say that when you get into what we really did and the American people understand what we really did, I think this health care plan will be with us for a long, long time and it's something we'll build upon.

So already the political battles are brewing. Even though both parties will need to work together to get anything done. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Sandra Endo in Washington. Appreciate that.

All right. President Barack Obama used the second day of his visit to India to spend some time with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They met privately for about 25 minutes and had dinner at the prime minister's home. Earlier, the president had a question and answer session with some Indian college students. And among the topics, U.S. relations with India's long-time rival, Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we have tried to do over the last several years, and certainly I'll just speak to my foreign policy, has been to engage aggressively with the Pakistani government, to communicate that we want nothing more than a stable, prosperous, peaceful Pakistan, and that we will work with the Pakistani government in order to eradicate this extremism that we consider a cancer within the country that can potentially engulf the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Obama will remain in India for one more day before he heads to Indonesia. But he won't receive a warm welcome from everyone there. Muslim demonstrators are demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. And an end to what they call blind support for Israel. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country.

And President Obama's 10-day Asian tour will also include stops in South Korea as well as Japan.

Vice President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New Orleans today. They're looking for ways to jump start the peace process. Why New Orleans? Well, both Biden and Netanyahu are there to address the annual general assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

All right. One of the Chilean miners got his wish. He ran in today's New York City marathon. We'll have a live report on the race and how Edison Pena did.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. If you weren't convinced before, it is officially fall now. It's feeling like it everywhere.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, except for the nation's midsection where it's just the opposite. Oh, you think, oh, Colorado, it's cool. Look at these temperatures. It's a whole lot of crazy.

WHITFIELD: They're getting a break early because their winter lasts so long.

JERAS: You know, maybe that's what it is.

WHITFIELD: The rest of us are getting the crack of the whip.

JERAS: I know. Well, it's our jet stream and it's doing this for the most part right now. And this is high pressure in control, this is low pressure in control. Cold, warm, cold. So it's kind of a little blocking situation right now. But the whole thing is going to move off to the east. So those of you freezing in the east and you're not loving it, don't worry, the good stuff, it's on the way eventually.

In fact, we're talking 70s in the southeast before the week is over and done with. But in the meantime, you were suffering this morning, weren't you? 30 degrees in Chattanooga, Tennessee this morning.

Check out these pictures. (INAUDIBLE) you can take a good look at them. This was ahead of the hooch rowing regatta. And there were more than 1,200 boats that were launched there yesterday. That was a record. It's the equivalent of launching a boat. Basically every 20 seconds for nine hours. Yes, the second largest in the nation. Who knew this was going on in the Tennessee river there in Chattanooga? So lots of people out for that yesterday and today, as well. And they didn't care, apparently about those freezing temperatures. Really cold out there.

All right. Hey, freeze warnings again across the southeast. Tonight, that includes you in Huntsville, into Birmingham, into Atlanta, stretching on up just east of the Raleigh area. So expect another cold night and if you do have any sensitive plants, make sure you take them in. Now in terms of rainfall and snowfall, that's all happening for the most part on the coast of the country. We're watching it out west and we're watching it into the northeast, as well. Now, neither of these really terribly heavy rainmakers, especially not into the northeast, but Boston has sure been a raw, wet day for you. But the western storm has a little more kick to it.

We're going to see some heavy snow into the higher elevations. In fact, we could see over 30 inches in the Wasatch range probably by Tuesday morning. So definitely seeing that change with that front coming through. But ahead of it, you know, that high pressure's kicking the southerly winds across the nation's midsection as well as that low pressure and that's why those temperatures have been so warm in the nation's midsection. And, yes, it is November. We know it will not last.

WHITFIELD: And what was New York like for that New York City marathon this morning?

JERAS: It was chilly. Good thing they missed out on that rain this morning. But temperature about 36 degrees at 7:00.

WHITFIELD: All right. Didn't seem to faze anybody, particularly the first man who crossed the finish line.

JERAS: Oh, yes?

WHITFIELD: From Ethiopia, no big deal. But you know, all eyes were really on that Chilean miner who got the opportunity to run the New York City marathon. And among those who were very interested and along the sidelines, our Susan Candiotti, she is joining us right now to give us an idea of how he did or is doing.

He did brilliantly.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, it's still going on. Kudos to all of the 45,000 people who participated in this marathon. But as you've pointed out, Fred, a lot of eyes are on Edison Pena. And you know what? He just crossed the finish line about a half hour ago, finishing the race in five hours and 40 minutes. This is an incredible feat on so different many levels.

There are still a ton of people who are finishing behind him. This is a man who was rescued from a Chilean mine 70 days ago. He has never run a marathon before. He had bad knees coming into this race. Remember, rescued just a little over three and a half weeks ago. And, yet, he managed to do this.

Now, when he started off, he was running at full speed, and then he had to stop, put ice packs around both of his knees, then he walked for quite a bit, and then by the time he finished the race, he started to jog again, but our photographer at the end of the line said he looked exhausted. Well, no kidding.

But he is not the only so-called celebrity to be participating in this race. For example, we have Howard Stern's side kick Robin Quivers, if you might know her. We also interviewed Jared, the spokesperson for Subway. He managed to cross the finish line. But people have been most impressed, understandably so with Edison Pena. I talked to a few people, including a woman from Kenya who is a two-time champion. And this is what she had to say about what he was able to accomplish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's good for someone to stay in that hole for one month and then instead to run a short while, that is neat to do. And especially to run a marathon. So it's something special for him and for all human kind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's fantastic. I really do. It gives me chills to know that he's doing something like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's just great. It's a great example. An example for us, for everyone to be grateful for everything we have and for, you know, to stop complaining about everything. To be grateful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, Pena has said he participated in this race because he wanted to inspire others and challenge himself. And Fred, I think it's pretty clear he accomplished both of those goals to say the very least. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: He sure did. He's the inspiration of the whole New York City marathon. All right. Thanks so much, Susan Candiotti, next year we expect you to be dolled up and ready to roll, as well.

CANDIOTTI: Oh, sure.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK.

CANDIOTTI: Maybe next year.

WHITFIELD: That was a big affirmative. All right. Thanks, Susan.

All right. Well, another competitor has been put in the racing behind her or has now put the race behind her. The Breeders' Cup Classic yesterday was Zenyatta's last race after 19 straight wins, the six- year-old filly came up to barely short right there. Oh, gosh, less than that nose on the charge from the back of the pack like she usually does. But this time didn't calculate it just right, edged out by a four-year-old colt named Blame.

All right. Perhaps you're feeling flirtatious these days, well, depending on where you are, you may want to reign in that romance. We'll tell you the top ten most inappropriate places to flirt in the "Chat Room" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So what would you tweet your 16-year-old self? That is straight ahead

But first a look at the headlines. They're counting the votes in Myanmar's first election in 20 years. Critics including President Barack Obama don't think the vote is fair. Supporters of the country's ruling military junta showed uneducated residents know how to vote.

And it's a rare Sunday session for jurors in the Connecticut home invasion trial of Steven Hayes. They're deliberating his sentence for the rape and murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters back in 2007. He could either be put to death or get life in prison without parole.

And if you shop at Trader Joe's, we have a voluntary recall to tell you about. The products included Spicy Thai Style Pasta Salad, Cilantro dressing, Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, and Cilantro Pecan dip. The concern is that the cilantro ingredient in each may be contaminated with Salmonella. So far, no report of any illnesses.

All right. Jacqui Jeras now in, we have converted the NEWSROOM into now the "Chat Room." We've got interesting topics. This one kind of takes you back, the first one, if you tweet at all. And even if you don't tweet, it's going to make you think about "oh, when I was 16."

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, so on twitter, right, what kind of advice would you give to yourself when you were 16 years old to kind of help you get through those difficult times.

JERAS: Yes, any thoughts?

WHITFIELD: Well, for me? Oh, I don't know.

JERAS: There were so many. I could have said a thousand things at myself.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's look at some of the more popular tweets.

I say just take your time. You know, at 16 or maybe around that time you're so anxious. I want my driver's license. I want to hurry up and go to college. Take your time, slow down, try to enjoy it.

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Watch, listen, and learn.

JERAS: And high school is not the real world.

WHITFIELD: I know.

JERAS: Remember that.

WHITFIELD: Remember that.

JERAS: People change. College also much more fun. Right? There were some fun ones, though -

WHITFIELD: 16-year-olds having a little chat session.

JERAS: I know. There were a bunch of really interesting ones. Did you take a look at any of these? You're not ugly, embrace your nerdiness.

WHITFIELD: There is that stage sometimes where kids are, you know, so difficult on themselves.

So you're not ugly! Oh, my gosh. You can't even read these they're so tiny.

JERAS: Go see grandma more, she's leaving soon.

WHITFIELD: Take more pictures and give them away.

JERAS: Get along with your brother. He'll live four hours away sooner than you think.

WHITFIELD: And your mother is always right.

JERAS: Of course, she is.

WHITFIELD: Yes, sometimes you have to learn that so much later.

JERAS: And my favorite one, I was just kind of looking to see if people are doing this on tweeter today. My 16-year-old self just tweeted me back. It says "he's smarter than me and wants me to shut up and go away."

WHITFIELD: Nice little test that we can all kind of, you know, indulge in, I guess.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Best advice we can give ourselves.

All right. Let's move on to McDonald's. Because in San Francisco, there is a movement to kind of penalize McDonald's if they don't do a little bit better about the nutritional content of some of the happy meals. And kind of punishing some of the kids and parents who want to order them, right? They want to take the toy away.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: If you don't opt for say the apples instead of the French fries. Something that will help kind of better equalize the caloric intake.

JERAS: Right. Well, critics say they're basically bribing kids to eat junk food, which isn't good for them, basically, with high fat content by the toys, the kids want to eat this meal because they get a good toy. That's kind of what the argument is.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we're going to see where this one goes.

JERAS: Yes, it'll be interesting. It's all in moderation, right? We talked about moderation.

WHITFIELD: We talked about this issue with our legal guys yesterday . It is a pretty significant battle of free enterprise and the first amendment, as well. So we'll see how it all pans out.

And then, some people need reminding. You just can't flirt everywhere. Some places are just off limits, out of bounds, you don't do it.

JERAS: How about in a trial? Not a good place. Did you hear what happened in the Connecticut case? It's a horrible case, the family, you know, that was holed up in their home, and they were all murdered basically and so the jury now is trying to decide whether or not this man is going to get the death penalty or what his penalty is going to be.

And apparently one of the jurors, it was an alternate juror but slipped another to another juror who slipped it to the court martial.

WHITFIELD: I remember that. Not good.

JERAS: OK. You don't do that.

WHITFIELD: And you know what, you don't flirt at the gym. Not me, I'm married. But I see it all the time, at the gym. I mean, come on.

JERAS: We've got the top 10 -

Apparently it's inappropriate. Other places.

Number two was the gym.

WHITFIELD: The hospital waiting room was the first one, by the way.

JERAS: Number three, a funeral. That's a no-brainer.

WHITFIELD: Job interview. Do I have the job? Wink, wink.

JERAS: Wait until after you get the job or don't get it, right?

WHITFIELD: You just don't do it.

JERAS: In the underwear section of the department store.

WHITFIELD: In line for the bathroom.

JERAS: Yes, very inappropriate.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: A little awkward.

JERAS: Wait for something more comfortable.

WHITFIELD: OK.

JERAS: Your therapy appointment. Oh, are you waiting for help too?

WHITFIELD: And not the parent/teacher conference. You're supposed to be concern about your kid, not trying to (INAUDIBLE) JERAS: Yes, I think that's against the rules, by the way, to be dating a student's -

WHITFIELD: Well, we think. Another parent flirting with another parent, parent-teacher. Well, we don't know, just at the conference, you don't do it.

JERAS: And at work.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. And certainly while you're not while you're on a date with someone.

(CROSSTALK)

JERAS: Can you believe we really went through those. All of them?

WHITFIELD: And you don't do it at work either. No flirting at work.

JERAS: No flirting at work.

WHITFIELD: All right. Interesting.

(INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Do we have time for a little real estate shopping? OK. Yes, we do. If you happen to be in Kentucky, Versailles, Kentucky, or maybe you want to relocate there. How about this digs right here?

JERAS: Look at that.

WHITFIELD: This could be your castle. It's beautiful. I want it. For $30 million.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: That's the sale price. But, you know, everything especially right now in these times, everything is negotiable. But it's huge.

JERAS: Yes.

16 rooms, more than 20 bathrooms. The main building's 20,000 feet. Apparently there was a whole kind of mystery. The original guy built this for his wife and it took a gazillion years to be able to build this place.

WHITFIELD: Kind of a Taj Mahal and it didn't work out.

JERAS: They broke up before the building was completed. So some guy bought it in 2003, they made it into a hotel.

WHITFIELD: There you go.

JERAS: There you go.

WHITFIELD: If you've got the bank or the desire, there you go. You could have your own castle.

All right. Jacqui, thanks so much. Always love to be the chat room with you.

JERAS: OK.

WHITFIELD: OK. Straight ahead, this is a very somber and tough story. An American disappeared while jet skiing along the U.S. border with Mexico more than a month ago. But is anyone trying to find out exactly what happened to David Hartley?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama and his wife Michelle are spending one more night in India after having dinner at the home of prime minister Manmohan Singh. CNN's Sara Sidner is live in New Delhi right now.

Sara, President Obama is promising to export more to India after so many U.S. jobs have been outsourced to India. So how might this happen? What more do we know?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: reporter: Well, one of the big things you could certainly see that Mr. Obama really had is a goal for this trip was to make big business deals and try to secure American jobs by doing that. He announced $10 billion worth of business deals that would benefit companies, for example, like General Electric and Boeing.

And you ask, well, how is that going to create jobs in the United States? The idea being, for example, with Boeing, they would be building planes for an Indian Airline, and those planes would be built in the United States, and of course, you need hands to build those planes. So he would think that jobs would be created. He said that these deals would create about 50,000 jobs in the United States.

Now, let's talk about what happened when he was in Mumbai this afternoon, though. Because when it comes to Indians, they had very different questions they wanted Mr. Obama to answer. One of the big questions he got hit with as he hosted the town hall meeting in Mumbai, students asked him, tell me what the U.S. relationship is with Pakistan.

A very pointed question there, as you know, Pakistanis were involved in the Mumbai attacks. The suspects and then the convicted - the one person convicted, convicted of being a gunman in those attacks all from Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is Pakistan so important an ally to America so far as America has never called it a terrorist state?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So our feeling has been to be honest and forthright with Pakistan to say we are your friend, but this is a problem, and we will help you, but the problem has to be addressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Obama conceded that Pakistan needed to do much more to try to fight terrorism in that country. Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And Sara, one more day in New Delhi for the president. What's on tap?

SIDNER: He's certainly going to be meeting with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They share a special relationship, really have a lot of respect between the two leaders, and then the big event of the day is of course Mr. Obama going to Parliament and doing what he's calling a major speech in Parliament talking about many different issues. We're expecting to hear something about India's push to try to get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and of course his strategic ties between the two countries.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Sidner thanks so much from New Delhi. Appreciate that.

Now back in this country, a memorial is taking place today for a Colorado man presumed shot to death by Mexico's drug cartels. Right now, live pictures out of Ft. Collins, Colorado. David Hartley's body was never recovered from the lake on the U.S./Mexican border where his wife said he was shot while jet skiing today. They're holding a vigil memorial for him.

Nick Valencia has been covering this story here at CNN.

What is happening with the investigation right now? Is it moving at all?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a great question, Fred. And for all intensive purposes, this investigation is stalled. We really don't have any more answers than we did about a month ago. We were on the phone earlier today with a federal attorney general's office they were slow to get back to us and still so far have not gotten back to us at this time. And they pointed us to a press release that was on their website from October 16th saying the investigation is suspended, but they won't come out and technically and definitely say that this investigation is over.

WHITFIELD: And so is this investigation likely stalled? Or is it having problems because of these road blocks involving the dangers that come with trying to investigate this area?

VALENCIA: As you know the lead investigator on this case in the Mexican side, the Mexican lead investigator, we spoke to him very closely, and he was very transparent with the journalists. He was very transparent with people that talked to him. And a lot of people speculate that led to him being killed. His head was decapitated, he was killed, and his body was thrown on the road side. So it is a very -- and definitely scary place for police to go. One of the first conversations we had with the investigators on the Mexican side -- and part of the reason they raised suspicions about the Hartleys being there. They said we don't even go there, why would the Hartleys go there?

WHITFIELD: So initially the Mexican authorities were very forthright about their suspicion of Tiffany Hartley's story. So have they -did they buy the story now and it's just an issue of we really just don't have anything more to tell you? Is she helping to keep this investigation in the way a lot?

VALENCIA: She really is. I mean she is doing the circuits on the national media and she is really taking the opportunity to seize the moment to make it sort of a political issue. She's trying to draw resources to the border. Saying people in the United States and Middle America really need to know what's going on in their own backyard.

And now, though, so much has happened, so much has transpired. One point that I really want to make is that STRATFOUR a global security intelligence agency said -- reported a week ago that the shooting suspect in this case, the Mexican pirate or cartel member, that he had been neutralized by the cartel themselves. So that the suspect in the shooting of David Hartley had, in fact, been killed according to STRATFOUR.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Nick Valencia thanks so much. We appreciate that update.

All right. On to Juarez, Mexico now where a family of seven is among those killed in the country's notorious murder capital. They're among 18 people killed in separate incidents yesterday. Saturday is being called one of the bloodiest days this year in Juarez a focal point for drug violence.

And on Tuesday, gunmen opened fire killing two students from the University of Texas at El Paso. Authorities say they were shot while they traveled to Juarez in a car with Texas license plates.

Drug cartel violence is spilling across the border into many U.S. cities. This past week, a shoot-out forced the University of Texas in Brownsville to actually cancel classes. Next hour we'll talk with one of the students about college life and if he plans to go back to school tomorrow.

All right. During World War II, hundreds of U.S. soldiers and marines were killed in bloody battles in the South Pacific. CNN takes you to one island and the efforts to bring the remains home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In anticipation of Veterans Day, CNN's photo journalists focus on the men and women of the military. John Torgo shows us the dangers faced by those working to bring home marines who died in a battle 67 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SERGEANT WHIT: I'm Staff Sergeant Whit, disposal technician. I have a twin brother and two younger brothers all four of us are in the service, we've all done time in Iraq. My twin brother's actually in Afghanistan at the moment. Some part of JPAC. I've been attached to JPAC for a little over two years.

CAPT. TODD NORDMAN, JOINT POW/MIA: We are supporting the promise that our military gives every single service member by saying that you were never forgotten. And we are here to bring back the remains of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our country.

WHIT: Japanese 122 millimeter.

NORDMAN: Staff Sergeant Whit is a critical part of the make-up of this team. Without him, we could not operate. In a place like Harawa (ph) where honestly if it was in the navy's arsenal in 1943, it was shot here.

WHIT: And here it was no cover, swimming, running, trudging through the sand while you're getting shot at from the trees and you can't see your target and still pushing forward. These guys were awesome.

GREGORY FOX, JPAC: It is free hallow ground for the United States Marine Corps. We have a marine-heavy team, which is a little bit unusual.

WHIT: Due to my previous experience with World War II ordnance in the pacific, this appears to be a Japanese 3-inch projectile.

Today while we were working on our sites, a local man came up and explained that he had remains that he would like to turn over to us. When we got done with the turnover, the captain turned around and this man handed him a projectile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A big old shell is what this is. I instantly said you don't need this in your house.

WHIT: When it's in this kind of condition and you can't tell, you assume worst-case scenario. It's dangerous. But they wouldn't know this is unarmed and that it is safe to move and that would hurt our mission, they'd have to stop.

I get asked that a lot. Why do you do what you do considering how dangerous it is? You're saving lives.

FOX: Essential team members. For everywhere we work. Don't work in the city parks, we work in battlefields.

WHIT: They've left an amazing legacy for me to pick up and try to achieve. If one of my brothers went down, I'd want them back too. And it's awesome we're out here doing this mission. Because I now have the confidence you know when I'm out in combat or one of my brothers is, and no matter what happens my government's got their back, got my back. And whether it takes a year, 60 years, I'm going to be home. My family's going to get that closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Tune in next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern for a one-hour special on veterans stories of service, struggle, and success. You can also visit CNN.com/veterans.

A look now at our top stories. The death toll in Haiti's cholera outbreak has topped 500. And there's concern the illness will keep spreading after hurricane Tomas slams the country last week. The cholera outbreak started last month.

And gripping scenes on the Indonesian island of Java. Search crews are pulling more bodies from the ash and debris from the erupting volcano. The death toll is now at least 156. Mt. Merapi started erupting again last month.

And in Spain, Pope Benedict XVI defended religion from its critics as he dedicated a church in Barcelona. He said the world is getting to secular. The Pontiff also defended the traditional family and argued against same-sex marriage which is legal in Spain.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi gets a key supporter in her bid to be the next minority leader details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Lawmakers won't be working this week, but they won't be idle either. Plus a couple of big-name authors are going to be very busy pushing their new books. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser takes a look at the week ahead.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Fred, I know the elections are over. But you know what there's still enough to talk about in the political week ahead. We've got some things going on especially with former presidents and people who may want to be president. Let's start with the former president George W. Bush. His new book and it is called "Decision Points" it comes out on Tuesday. The former president is already speaking about it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: I'm through with politics. It's hard for people to believe. I already said that and I am through.

OPRAH WINFREY: Is that why you haven't commented on what Obama is doing or how he's doing it?

BUSH: No, because I want to treat my successor the way I wanted to have been treated. I don't think it's good for the former president to be out there opining on every issue. He has a plenty tough job trust me. There's going to be plenty of critics and he doesn't need me criticizing him. I don't think it's good for the presidency. Other people have a different point of view.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That's the former president, of course, with Oprah Winfrey a week from today. Former President Bush speaks with our own Candy Crowley. I'm looking forward to that interview.

Now to somebody who may want to be president and I'm talking about Newt Gingrich the former Republican House Speaker. He's got his own book coming out this week; it is called "Valley Forge." And you know what if you are somebody who may want to run for the White House right around now is when you want to get some exposure, writing a book and having a book tour is one way to do it. Of course that book tour is going to take Newt Gingrich to three stops in Iowa.

Now, the House and Senate, they don't come back until a week from tomorrow. But there may be some action behind the scenes when it comes to Congress, especially on the House side and top Democrats and Republicans joust and maybe do some horse trading and playing behind the scenes for those leadership posts. We'll keep an eye on this. That is what is going on this week Fred. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Paul.

Let's check the political ticker now. A top Democrat is refuting Republicans' claims that Tuesday's election was a referendum on how speaker Nancy Pelosi's agenda, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen said the vote was a referendum on the economy. Van Hollen also says he'll back Pelosi for minority leader in the next Congress.

And the Republican who is expected to become the new house majority leader is talking about how he plans to work with the president come January. Congressman Eric Cantor says Republicans will not be cooperating with President Obama on his "liberal" agenda.

Democrats have held on to a House seat in Arizona. Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's has won a third term beating Tea Party favorite Jesse Kelly. That leaves just eight Congressional races undecided. And for the latest political news, log on to CNNPOLITICS.com.

OK. They are very busy actresses, but wait until you hear what they do when they're not making movies. Straight ahead, face-to-face with Kerry Washington and Kimberly Elise stars of a new film for colored girls.

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WHITFIELD: All right. There's already quite the buzz about the performances in the new movie "For Colored Girls." I sat down face-to- face with two of the actresses, Kerry Washington and Kimberly Elise and they reveal that there were certainly a lot of challenges and personal transformations they underwent while filming this movie. But they say real life can be just as remarkable.

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WHITFIELD (voice over): You were coming face-to-face with people all the time after being on the campaign trail with President Barack Obama before becoming president and now appointed in this position. So what are you seeing out there in people when you talk to them about art? And what are you seeing in just the make-up of Americans and their temperament?

KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS, "FOR COLORED GIRLS:" Well, I'm really proud to serve on the president's committee for the arts and humanities because I do believe in the transformative power of the arts. I think that there is such possibility for us to understand each other as human beings through literature, through music. I think it's how we can break down boundaries and understand each other more.

WHITFIELD: Kimberly, I know you continuously, you're just constantly busy, you know. You're doing a little bit of everything, graduations on your latest NAACP image award.

WASHINGTON: She's so good in this movie. She's so breathtakingly good in this movie, as is everyone. The whole cast. You've never seen Janet like this before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET JACKSON: I've got sorry greet me at the front door. You can keep yours.

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WASHINGTON: You've never seen Whoopi like this before, it will blow your mind, it really will.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI: You are the devil!

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WHITFIELD: We know it's a given because every time you're in anything, you're a complete standout. I wonder how is it that you juggle the demands. You become your character, at the same time you're juggling, being a mom of two. You know, a lot of folks would still wonder, how do you immerse yourself in your profession as you do and at the same time be able to immerse yourself in your family?

KIMBERLY ELISE, ACTRESS, "FOR COLORED GIRLS:" My children are very supportive and they understand what I do and I talk to them about it. And they're always first. They're always my first consideration in anything that I do. And for this project, I, you know, I reminded them I'm going to have to go very deep, very dark, I'll be absent on some level. And they understand it. They kind of know -- they kind of know the routine. And in my regular everyday life, I have a support base --

WHITFIELD: So you do kind of stay in character for a while. You say when your kids really support you and know, OK, she's in the zone; you stay there for a while?

ELISE: Right. Yes. I don't play anybody dangerous or scary. So I may come home melancholy and kind of quiet, but, they know and they understand. And my youngest one wants to be an actress. So she's learning about the process and that it's not just having your picture taken and red carpets, that it's a full commitment.

WASHINGTON: It's work. It's work.

ELISE: If you really want to do the craft.

WASHINGTON: Sometimes I think I'm leaving my character at work when I'm coming home, and I'm not. And you just -- you never know because whereas with another artist, your canvas is your tool of expression. We are our tools of expression. There's no -- there's no boundary. So there's no separation. There's not a piano where the art happens. All the art happens here. So we have to be available for whatever it takes.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder the common denominator I see with the two of you. And I think about all the movies that I've seen you in whether it's -- being in "John Q."

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WASHINGTON: You need to do something. Do something.

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WHITFIELD: I mean, all of these women are very strong, thoughtful, powerful women, and now "For Colored Girls" too. These are strong women, even though they are dealing with stuff, they are very strong at the core. So do both of you kind of look for characters like that? That do represent something or some kind of real parallels of your own personal constitution?

WASHINGTON: We're really drawn to authenticity. And the truth of it is that people are strong. And people are vulnerable. That each of us are a combination of those qualities.

ELISE: Well, I can't -- I can't really bring me into it. You go on the journey with Crystal and see where she arrives and hopefully that's an inspiration and an instruction to other women. On what is such an important lesson, I think for all women is to put your own oxygen mask on first. Love yourself first. That is so vitally important.

And it's a challenge for us as women. It's a challenge for me some days to do that. If you don't as the woman, the center piece, we are the centerpiece; we are the light of humanity. And if we don't feed ourselves first, everybody else is going to suffer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Kimberly Elise and Kerry Washington.

And next week, face to face with music, fashion and business morgue Russell Simmons. His new reality show "Running" Russell Simmons debuted last week. And he explained why he wants you to know about his work, his charities, his team, and his spirituality. I asked him about this particular aspect, as well, in this new show.

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WHITFIELD (voice over): Got a couple interns who are profiled very heavily in the show. And you even tease in the next episode there's a basic instinct moment --

RUSSELL SIMMONS, CO-FOUNDER, DEF JAM RECORDS: That wasn't a tease that was a little bit upsetting. It was kind of funny. Kind of real life.

WHITFIELD: But decisions are made about whether to include that kind of material and if that will distract from the message that you're trying to send.

SIMMONS: No, it'll add to ratings.

WHITFIELD: Is that a conflict? The ratings versus the message?

SIMMONS: You have to have a balance. You have to have one foot in -- one foot in this world, and one foot in the real world. I notice that Kim Kardashian has more twitter followers than the president.

WHITFIELD: What does that say?

SIMMONS: And I sent her to Africa to my schools and we raised a lot of money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Next Saturday, a face-to-face with Russell Simmons.