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Congresswoman Giffords Transported to Houston; Detroit's Tough School Sheriff; Hip-Hop Women of Power; Trending Online; The Help Desk; Hot Off The Political Ticker
Aired January 21, 2011 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Carol Costello. Let's check CNN's big stories.
You're taking a look at live pictures now. Wheels up any minute now for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She's being flown from Tucson to Houston this hour to start the next phase of her remarkable recovery.
People lined -- hundreds of people lined the streets of Tucson to show support for the congresswoman as her ambulance drove by. This comes less than two weeks after the congresswoman suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Just a few minutes ago, we have taped pictures, I believe, right now of the congresswoman being taken aboard that plane. You see her there, taken in what they call Challenger aircraft, a luxury airliner specially fitted to transport a wounded patient to the rehab center in Houston.
That's where Elizabeth Cohen is standing by.
Elizabeth, tell us about the next part of the journey for the congresswoman.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The next part of the journey is to be brought to another hospital, actually kind of similar to the one that she was in, in Arizona, where, Carol, they're going to take her and assess her, and take a look about whether she has any really urgent medical issues.
They want to look for any signs of infection or swelling. That's the first thing they want to take care of.
And then they're going to do a thorough evaluation of her neurological symptoms and her abilities. Can she move on both sides? Does she have any weakness on either side? Those are some of the things they will be looking for.
COSTELLO: On board that plane, Elizabeth, her husband, Mark Kelly, trauma surgeon, Dr. Peter Rhee, Tracy Colbert (ph). She'll have a nurse on board. Also, her mother is traveling with her, as well as a couple of staffers.
Do you know if all of them will stay in Houston with the congresswoman once she gets there?
COHEN: You know, I would imagine that medical staff is going to go back to a Arizona, where, of course, they are needed for other patients. They're really probably here just for the transition, just to make sure that everything is going to way that it's supposed to be going.
Her husband, I'm sure, will stay. He lives here, his two daughters live here. As for her mother, I would imagine that she would stay as well with her daughter through her recovery.
COSTELLO: And, of course, it's important to have loved ones around you constantly during this time. I mean, I can't imagine what her mother and husband are going through.
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. You know, I was speaking to a neurosurgeon about this, and I said, "How important is a person's state of mind when they are going through this recovery process?" And he said it is extremely important.
He said he has seen people who haven't recovered because they didn't have that support, and he has seen people who he didn't think would recover, and they did because they had support around them and they a wonderful positive attitude. So, I think those are -- you know, it's really crucial to have your family around you at this point in time.
COSTELLO: And just to think about that two hours and 15 minute flight aboard that plane, with Congresswoman Giffords still being so terribly wounded, and fighting to recover, and just sitting on board that plane in that two-hour ride would be excruciating for her family members.
COHEN: That's right. You know, I think it's important to remember that while it certainly -- you know, this is a serious thing. You're transporting someone who had a bullet wound to her head. We should also remember that they transport people a whole lot sicker than she is.
My colleague Sanjay Gupta pointed that out last night, and other doctors have said the same thing to me, that, yes, she is in a state where you want to look after her, but there are other people whose lives are teetering on the edge who get transported. And certainly her life is -- she is not teetering on the edge at this point.
COSTELLO: No, she is actually doing very well for a person who was injured in this way.
Do we still have Thelma Gutierrez on the line?
Thelma, are you there?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm right here.
COSTELLO: Thelma, I just wanted you to bring people up to date with what went on this afternoon, when Congresswoman Giffords was put aboard that ambulance on her way to this Air Force base and this Challenger aircraft.
GUTIERREZ: Yes. You know, a really incredible moment over here at the hospital. You can see many people behind me at the memorial.
They have been here for the last couple of weeks, and this memorial has grown and grown, Carol. Many people coming out, wanting to catch a glimpse of the congresswoman as she left the hospital for the first time.
And, you know, they ended up coming out here, and they were asking us, "Where can we stand? We want to see the ambulance as it leaves."
As it turned out, the hospital said they didn't want to pass the ambulance through this area, because it's very narrow, very congested. They had security concerns. And so what they did is they left through one of the other exits, and then they made their way through the streets of Tucson, about 10 miles from the University Medical Center, all the way to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. And she was escorted by a group of Veterans of Foreign Wars riders, motorcycle riders, as she made her way to the Air Force base.
And what was really touching to see, Carol, were all those people who had called her office and who wanted to know where that route would be, where they could actually stand to watch that ambulance go by. I talked to one woman just a couple of minutes ago. She was wearing a Giffords T-shirt, and she said, you know, "I wanted to be here. I wanted to stand out on that street, and I wanted to see that ambulance go by."
She said that when it did go by, everybody broke out. They were clapping and they were cheering for her. Many people had "Giffords for Congress" signs as she went by.
And I asked her why she was out here, and she said she wanted to honor her. And that's what a lot of people have been saying, those people who have been out on that route, making sure to say good-bye to her before she leaves Tucson.
COSTELLO: All right. Thelma Gutierrez, thanks so much. You're going to stand by.
Elizabeth Cohen is going to stand by in Houston. And we're going to leave that live picture up of that Challenger aircraft with Congresswoman Giffords on board. And then you can see the plane take off to Houston. And of course we're all praying for Congresswoman Giffords' continued recovery.
In other news, we have new information on an incredible story we've been following the past few days. The FBI and New York police trying to track down Anne Pettway, the woman who raised Carlina White.
White was snatched from a New York hospital 23 years ago, when she was just 3 weeks old. She says she always had a nagging feeling that she didn't belong to the family raising her, and that prompted her to search for and find her real mother. We heard from a man who thought he was her uncle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAKPELL PETTWAY, THOUGHT HE WAS CARLINA WHITE'S UNCLE: Why should I think twice about it? She was just a baby. That's a baby.
I think the baby was kind of walking or something when I had seen her. My son got killed three months -- I mean, seven months ago. She was here to the funeral. I mean, hey, Nedra was part of the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Carlina White is now in New York getting to know her biological family.
President Obama focusing on jobs and the economy today. You'll hear from the new man he's tapped to help create jobs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
COSTELLO: How do you fix America's most troubled school system? The secretary of Education has called Detroit's public schools a national disgrace.
CNN's Poppy Harlow joins us now from New York.
And they're trying out there though.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: They're trying really hard. They have appointed one man -- we're going to show you him and tell you his story. His name is Robert Bobb, and he has certainly won his critics and won his supporters.
He is trying to fix what many argue is -- what Education Secretary Arne Duncan called a national disgrace when it comes to our education system. And I want you to take a look at the deep cuts that he's making to try to fix the school system that is clearly in peril. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And this is sort of ground zero for the education crisis in this country, isn't it?
ROBERT BOBB, DETROIT SCHOOLS EMERGENCY FINANCIAL MANAGER: No question about it. When you --
HARLOW (voice-over): Some call Robert Bobb a villain. Others, a hero. His task: fix perhaps the nation's most broken school system.
BOBB: If the school district does not succeed, the city of Detroit will not succeed. HARLOW: In 2009, Bobb was brought in by Michigan's governor to overhaul a system replete with waste, fraud and abuse, assuming the role of emergency financial manager of Detroit schools. He is dead set on rooting out waste and corruption, while boosting the graduation rate from 57 percent to 98 percent in just five years.
He is shrinking the school system as more and more families move out of Detroit.
(on camera): You have closed 59 schools, more than a quarter of Detroit's public schools, and that has angered parents and teachers.
BOBB: We're going to anger more individuals in the next few months, because I'm going to close somewhere between 20, maybe 40, schools within the next few months.
HARLOW: The Lemonious family applauds Bobb's drastic cuts, but says the problems extend far beyond the schools.
GARFIELD LEMONIOUS, DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS PARENT: It's not the building, it's not the principal, it's not the teachers. It's the parents. You know, it really is the parents.
HARLOW: High school teacher Edna Reaves has mixed feelings about Bobb's overhaul.
EDNA REAVES, TEACHER: Come on. Let's go.
He has not achieved what he came here for --
HARLOW (on camera): Reducing the deficit.
REAVES: -- and that's reducing the deficit. It has grown since he has been here.
HARLOW (voice-over): Bobb argues the deficit he inherited was twice as large as previously thought, most of it from borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars with no money to pay it back.
(on camera): Is this system stronger because of Robert Bobb?
REAVES: I would say it is better, because he has been bold enough to make the moves that the community never really wanted to make.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a criminal!
HARLOW: But those bold moves included major academic changes, some the school board wasn't consulted on. They sued Bobb for academic control and won.
Despite these challenges, the kids of Detroit made their mark on Bobb.
BOBB: Give me that big voice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A, B, C-
BOBB: I grew up on a Louisiana sugarcane plantation. The only way out was to get a public education. And for these kids, the only way that they're going to succeed is to get a solid public education. And so it's not just professional for me, but it's personal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: And Carol, just spending the day with him, in his eyes and in his actions, you can see how personal this is for them. But that's meant trouble.
He was brought in to overhaul the finances of the schools, fill $100 million-plus deficit. That deficit has now grown under his watch. It's now $327 million. And he says, admittedly, "I put some money I should have used to pay down the deficit towards kids to try to help these kids."
But he is a tough-love school sheriff, I will tell you that. He fired his best friend, Carol, for lack of performance. He is auctioning off school buildings for cash, literally trying to do everything they can to fix this system -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Good for him.
I know you said the graduation rate is way up, but talk a little bit more about how the kids have excelled under this new plan.
HARLOW: Yes. Well, the hope is -- I mean, right now they have a 57 percent graduation rate. It's abysmal. They are trying to get it to 98 percent in the next four years, really.
But what he has done, he's made advance placement courses available to all kids. That didn't exist before.
He has almost tripled the amount of time that elementary kids have to spend on reading and math, because they were not making the grade whatsoever. The results we've seen in his first year and a half are that for the first time in four years, the Detroit Public School System passed the federal test that judges in terms of how they are doing in education.
That said, there is a long, long way to go for these kids. He has put laptops in these kids' hands, 40,000 netbooks. He spent about $50 million in stimulus money on these netbooks. He's given them technology.
But you know what? The corruption is not gone. He told me a story, Carol, of a teacher that went to a pawnshop to sell the netbooks that were meant for the kids.
So he got has a long way to go to fight for these kids, and he is certainly a very, very contentious figure when it comes to fixing this system -- Carol.
COSTELLO: But maybe that's exactly the kind of person Detroit needs right now.
HARLOW: Right.
COSTELLO: We're going to jump away, Poppy. Thanks so much.
We can see this aircraft tacking. This is the Challenger aircraft.
On board, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, along with her husband, Mark Kelly, trauma surgeon Peter Rhee. Her mom is also on board. Tracy Colbert (ph), a nurse is on board, along with a couple of Giffords' staffers. This plane now on its way to Houston.
The first stop for Gabrielle Giffords once she gets to Houston will be an acute care center at a hospital there so doctors can kind of discuss her condition right now. They'll discuss her condition, and the results of that discussion will determine whether she will head to the rehab center in Houston to begin really recovering from her brain injury.
Of course, her husband lives in Houston, he works in Houston, so he will remain there with her. We assume that her mother will also remain there with her.
But Gabrielle Giffords on the way to Houston. You know, along the streets of Tucson, while that ambulance was passing by on its way to this plane, people prayed, they held American flags, they held up signs saying, "Giffords for Congress." A lot of support for Congresswoman Giffords.
We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
Actually, we're going to just stay and watch this plane take off since we have been with this the whole early morning long.
Elizabeth Cohen is in Houston right now.
And just bring our viewers up to date, exactly where will this plane will land once it gets to that city.
COHEN: All right. Once it gets to Houston, they're going to be bringing her to Memorial Hermann University of Texas Medical Center. So this is one of the big hospitals here at the Texas Medical Center. And she is going to come here, and they're going to do an assessment to see if there are any sort of urgent needs following the transport.
COSTELLO: And I would imagine -- she is traveling with a doctor and a nurse. What do you suppose it looks like inside of that plane, Elizabeth?
COHEN: You know, Carol, our colleague Dr. Sanjay Gupta describes it as an ICU in the air, which I thought was a great description. I mean, they have what they need in case, you know, heaven forbid, something goes wrong. They have oxygen, they have a breathing machine. They do this all the time, and they make sure that they pack that plane with the equipment and with the people that they need should something go wrong.
COSTELLO: And I don't know if you know exactly where that plane is going to land in Houston, but is it far from that acute care hospital?
COHEN: No, I don't think it's very far. It is described to me as maybe like a half an hour trip by car. It's not exactly clear how that will happen, but it's a quick trip.
COSTELLO: I only ask because when Gabrielle Giffords was put aboard that ambulance at that Tucson hospital, she was surrounded by security. She had a motorcycle escort to that Air Force base where the plane is going to take off momentarily. So I just wondered about security in Houston and how that would work.
COHEN: Oh, yes. Well, I'm sure -- you know, I can already see that there is a lot of security right here at the hospital, so I'm sure she is going to have a full security along the way.
COSTELLO: And we were talking a lot about the hundreds of people calling Congresswoman Giffords' office asking where they can stand along the streets in Tucson with their American flags and their signs wishing her well just so they could send her off knowing that there were many people in Tucson still thinking about her. And I asked you before how the people of Houston were reacting.
COHEN: You know, it's interesting. I don't.
You know, I have seen the pictures of those incredible memorials and the people that have gathered. I shouldn't say memorials. The well wishes and the flowers and everything that people have left all over Tucson, and obviously people in Tucson know her better than the people in Houston.
Certainly, I have seen people walking around where we are, where there's cameras and satellite trucks, and people don't really -- a lot of people here don't really know that she is coming. But when they ask us and they says, "What are all of these cameras doing there?" and we tell them why they are here, they say, "Oh, wow, that's wonderful. I'm so glad she is coming here. My husband is a patient here."
One woman said to me, "I'm glad see that she is coming here. This is a fabulous place."
COSTELLO: Mark Kelly, her husband, has been so incredibly gracious to the people of the United States in keeping all of us updated on his wife's condition. In fact, he tweeted this morning, and I'm going to read the tweet for you right now. It's up on the screen.
"GG going to next phase of her recovery today. Very grateful to the docs and nurses at UMC, Tucson PD, Sheriff's Department. Back in Tucson ASAP."
I remember a few days ago, Elizabeth, when Mark Kelly was talking at the hospital. He said in two months he expects his wife to be up and walking.
COHEN: Right. And I've talked to several doctors about that who treat people with bullet wound injuries to the head. And I said, "You know, what do you think, a few months?"
And they said, you know, "Look, every case is different." And you don't have a crystal ball and you don't know.
Some people with injuries like hers don't ever walk again. Other people with injuries like hers are up and walking within a couple of months. For other people, it might take six to eight months.
There's no way to tell, but one crucial part of recovery is a person's state of mind, how willing they are and how hopeful they are about their own recovery. And second of all, the kind of support that they have around them.
Now, we see the plane taking off, and we know that her family is there with her. And it is crucial. Family support can make the difference between a full recovery and no recovery.
COSTELLO: I know. I can almost picture what it looks like inside that plane, Gabrielle Giffords lying down, her mother beside her, her husband on the other side holding hands. That just touches your heart.
COHEN: Well, Carol, when she lands here in Houston, she's going to Hobby Airport. That airplane we see right now will go to Hobby Airport here in Houston, and that is going to be then an air ambulance lift from Hobby to the hospital area where I'm at right now, and that's just a matter of minutes, to get her from Hobby to the hospital.
COSTELLO: Yes. This plane ride will take a couple of hours. I guess two hours and 15 minutes. And when it lands in Houston, we'll go live to Houston live again.
Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for sticking with us. We really appreciate it.
We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Very few women are in positions of power in hip-hop, but Shanti Das broke the industry's glass ceiling. Now she has now written a book about her career with advice for other women.
Fredricka Whitfield sat down with her for our "What Matters" segment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Shanti Das, good to see you.
SHANTI DAS, AUTHOR, "THE HIP-HOP PROFESSIONAL": Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: And the book, "The Hip-Hop Professional," this really is for women in particular to help them understand the dynamics of a male-dominated industry. Why did you feel like it was important to have this kind of guidepost?
DAS: Well, I feel like, one, as an African-American woman having worked in entertainment for almost 20 years, I really didn't feel like there was a book out there like this. And I think as a woman in any business, it's important that to make sure that you go in and demand your respect. And there are just certain ways that you should carry yourself as a woman. You have to really be on your toes.
WHITFIELD: It can be so intimidating, especially you're a young person, you're college student age. I'm kind of afraid to raise my hand or be assertive, because I am really still trying to figure out the job.
So, how did you do that successfully?
DAS: I wasn't shy. I was going to a lot of music industry conventions back then, when I was networking, trying to get into the business. I walked up to Russell Simmons at the Jack the Rapper (ph) convention, and I said, "Hey, Russell, you don't know me, but by the end of the convention, you will.
And he thought, who is this little girl standing in front of me? But I did just that. You know, I was really aggressive and assertive and I wasn't afraid.
WHITFIELD: From Capitol Records, you had a chance to work at Motown as well, you really did get a chance to kind of spread your wings at a number of recording places. What is it that allowed you to be taken seriously, where people wouldn't take you seriously particularly because you were a woman? How were you able to do that?
DAS: Well, I think, initially, early on, I made sure that I demanded my respect as a woman. I almost gave myself a uniform, if you will.
When I was starting out in college and I first got my start at LaFace Records back in 1993, I wore baggy jeans, I wore hat to the back. I just demanded my respect early on. I became everyone's little sister. And so I really was able to get a lot of male mentors that way, because I diverted the attention from them looking at me as a sexual being or as a sexual object.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: We'll have more of Fredricka Whitfield's interview with Shanti Das. Hear who she thinks could be the next Michael Jackson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Which of today's hip-hop artists have the staying power to last for decades? Listen to what former hip-hop executive Shanti Das tells Fredricka Whitfield in our "What Matters" segment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: How important is it for women to find mentors if they are in this industry? And how does that differ from young men who enter the industry looking for mentors?
DAS: I think particularly for women in the music industry, it's very important that we find mentors. What I try to talk to a lot of women nowadays about when I mentor to young women is to not be a afraid to share a contact, to have high self-esteem and to respect yourself, and to not really get caught up in the hype that's going on, a lot of the gossip.
I actually am part of an organization called WEEN. It's the Women Entertainment Empowerment Network. And we do just that. We try to uplift one another, we try to encourage other women, because I think we would be a lot further along if we weren't afraid to help each other out.
WHITFIELD: So how involved are you now with the music industry, and how have you seen it evolve since your start?
DAS: Well, the industry has changed a lot. I actually exited my post at Universal Motown last November. I was the executive vice president of urban marketing, and the Internet has changed a lot of what is going on with the entertainment business.
But I still think it is a wonderful business. I do entertainment marketing, consulting now. I started a live music showcase now. Particularly, because I think that some of the live music was lost within the business. Everyone has access to a come pewter now and you can record your own song and put it up on the Internet and you don't necessarily even need a record company to get you started.
So, I started a music showcase here called ATL Live on the Park. And it is with a live band, so there are no track performances.
WHITFIELD: You can't fake it.
DAS: You cannot fake it. You have to be able to perform live. So, that's been a great experience for me.
WHITFIELD: There is only one Michael Jackson, there's only one Stevie Wonder. There's only one group of The Rolling Stones. Is there a current-day music group or even artist who would have that staying power?
DAS: Mary J, Blige, and I would think, OK, she would be our Tina Turner, if you will, in the next 20 to 30 years. Usher, I think, has the staying power, you know, to be there 20 or 30 years from now, and you know, be amongst the ranks of the Al Greens of the world and those types of artists. But it is not a ton of artists like that out there right now. So, that is why I encourage the ones that again, are truly talented and aren't afraid to push the envelope to really step up. WHITFIELD: Excellent. Shanti Das, thank you very much. Nice to meet you.
DAS: Pleasure. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Fascinating! To read the stories that matter to all of us, pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine now.
"Fortune" magazine has knocked out its annual list of the best companies to work for, and what makes them so great. Number five, data storage firm NetApp, where workers get free espresso. Yay! Google's cafeterias are free, and so is the laundry service. Wegmans Food Markets covers flu shots and H1N1 vaccines for its workers.
And we are coming back with the two best companies to work for, and you won't believe the perks at the top.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: "Fortune" magazine just released its list of best places to work. People want to work for Boston Consulting Group because of the firm's generous pay and commitment to social work. That lands them at number two.
And the number one place to work? Software firm SAS. "Fortune" calls it "perks epic" with everything from a tailor, a manicurist to a hair salon to a summer camp for kids, you know, not for kids that work there, but you know, the kids of the parents who work there. And also they can detail your car while you are working.
I knew I got into the wrong business.
President Obama is putting the focus on the jobs and the economy today. He is visiting the General Electric facility in the company's hometown of Schenectady, New York. In the next hour, he will announce that the CEO of that company, GE will head a new advisory board on jobs.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff joins us live from Schenectady. So the CEO of G.E. will be in charge of this presidential commission. What will that mean to the rest of us?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the CEO of G.E. is going to try to do is try to encourage other chief executives to create jobs which is after all the number one issue within the economy. And the president is coming here specifically because this is a place where G.E. manufactures steam turbines and generators, 90 percent of which are exported around the planet.
So G.E. sends these huge pieces of equipment to places like India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, all over the world. And that, Jeff Immelt says, is critical to creating jobs. U.S. businesses have to increase their exports, he says. He says also to create jobs, of course, he admits, companies have to feel confident that business indeed is improving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY IMMELT, CHAIRMAN & CEO, GENERAL ELECTRIC: It is about confidence. I think that the president is reaching halfway, getting some certainty around taxes helps. And I just think that for the other CEOs who have cash, now is the time to invest. The economy is getting better. Let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Indeed. Immelt, from his perspective says that the economy is improving every single day and the company certainly did show some evidence of that. Earnings, quarterly earnings released this morning, up 31 percent.
G.E., by the way, has hired about 10,000 people over the past year, so at least this company is delivering. And now Immelt is going to hope to be somewhat of a cheerleader to encourage other chief executives to increase their hiring. Carol?
COSTELLO: Well, I hope he can do more than encourage. I hope he ca do a little arm-twisting as well. Allan Chernoff --
CHERNOFF: Well, we will see what happens. It is certainly a challenge.
COSTELLO Yes, it is. Allan Chernoff, many thanks. Allan Chernoff, live from Schenectady, New York. You can see President Obama's announcement of that new advisory council on jobs, live on CNN NEWSROOM. That's scheduled for the next hour, 1:05 Eastern or thereabouts.
Tonight, long-time film critic Roger Ebert will debut his new show on PBS. He has won his battle with thyroid cancer, and he's got another triumph. He's got a brand new prosthetic chin. The 68-year- old lost much of his jaw in his battle with cancer two years ago. The picture on the left is the chin Ebert was left with after surgery; the picture on the right is with his new prosthesis. Ebert still can't speak without the aid of technology, but he is certainly happy to be back doing his thing on television.
Joining me now live from Chicago is David Rotter, who crafted Ebert's amazing new prosthetic chin. Thank you for joining us.
DAVID ROTTER, PROSTHETIST FOR EBERT'S CHIN: You are welcome.
COSTELLO: So, this prosthetic chin took two years to develop. Why so long?
ROTTER: The challenge of Roger's remaining anatomy was pretty daunting. Basically, his mandible or jawbone was removed, so there's no anatomical structure really for the prosthesis to grab on to. So kind of over a prolonged process, what I did is to free-formed a shape that would be sort of a natural segue for what he has now. Prosthesis is not really meant to be a facsimile of his former self, but more just a natural continuation of what he currently looks like now.
COSTELLO: And through those two years, there were a lot of hits and misses. Tell us about the misses and what you had to fix?
ROTTER: Sure. First of all, the actual plastics that I used, the materials that I used, that was a little bit of a hit and miss. It was trial and error to try to find the right material to be both supportive and comfortable. That's really why the process took as long as it did. And we were really shooting for, you know a beautiful device that would look great on television, and I think that we are proud of what we finally came up with.
COSTELLO: I was reading his blog, and he said that if they take a medium shot, you know of him with the television camera, you cannot tell that he is wearing a prosthetic chin. So, this is absolutely amazing work on your part.
ROTTER: Well, thank you. I think that the idea was really to focus on the show and not focus on his chin.
COSTELLO: On his blog site, too, he has pictures of himself where one of them he has a beard, so does he have a couple of prostheses to work with?
ROTTER: No, Roger is a very funny man and what he did was - and he really does this to help people be at ease with him. He Photoshopped that beard just to get a laugh, which he did, and he did a Phantom of the Opera shot. And then the last picture on the blog is he does that Phantom of the Opera chin on himself, and it is really kind of to inject humor and just have people feel at ease with what he's gone through.
COSTELLO: I talked with him initially right after he was getting over his cancer. And you are right, he has an incredible sense of humor. I know when he first approached you he said he wanted a beard and he wanted it to hook over his ears, and that would be enough for him.
ROTTER: Yes, I think that initially the goals were a little bit limited as far as, you know, what we could do. It was a team approach with a lot of different people. And then we came to the conclusion that we could do what we finally wound up with. And so, it was a process.
COSTELLO: Oh, that is terrific. David Rotter, thank you so much. And thank you for making it possible for Roger Ebert to be on television again, because I know it means so very much to him.
ROTTER: Yes. Roger is a terrific guy, and I think that the show will be great.
COSTELLO: I hope so. Thank you so much for joining us live. A woman who could not speak for 11 years is talking again. This week, Brenda Jenson became only the second person in the United States to receive a larynx transplant. University of California-Davis surgeons connected five nerves, three arteries and two veins in October. Two weeks after the transplant, Jansen started to speak. Her first words were "good morning" and "I want to go home." The transplanted larynx was donated by the family of a car accident victim.
His messy divorce from Sandra Bullock made national headlines. Now, Jesse James is engaged again. And the details surrounding his new fiancee are trending online.
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COSTELLO: From fist pumping on "The Jersey Shore" to "The New York Times" bestseller list. One of the stories "Trending" online is about an author more famous for the hair than her writing. We're talking Snooki, Jacqui? Snooki.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who else would we be talking about, right? With the pouf?
COSTELLO: Yes, with the -- yes.
JERAS: Yes. Well, she's been trending online many times for many different things. But this time, everybody is talking about Snooki as being an author. That's right, she's number 24 right now on the fiction list of "The New York Times" best selling list. Unbelievable. Hey, A Sure Thing" is about, here's a stretch, summer on the Jersey Shore, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, really?
JERAS: Yes. Lot of Snookiisms in this, of course. A few excerpts from the book are being released and here's --
COSTELLO: Oh, please -- read one to me, please.
JERAS: You've got to know, right?
COSTELLO: Uh-huh.
JERAS: "I love food. I love drinking, boys, dancing until my feet swell. I love my family, my friends, my job, my boss. And I love my body, especially the badonk."
COSTELLO: And we all know what that is, right?
JERAS: I had to ask.
COSTELLO: I'm so ashamed, Jacqui.
JERAS: Use your imagination. Are you -- do you watch the show?
COSTELLO: No. JERAS: No.
COSTELLO: No, but you see her everywhere, so you really don't need to watch the show.
JERAS: This is true.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Sacha Baron Cohen. I love this.
JERAS: Yes, do you?
COSTELLO: I love it.
JERAS: OK. Well, good. Of course, at lot of people know him as Borat, right, or Bruno. Well, now he's going to be known as Saddam Hussein. Yes. "The Dictator" will be released in theaters May 11th. And before you go thinking, wow, that's kind of a stretch, maybe, for Sacha Baron Cohen, it's a comedy.
COSTELLO: Yes. Yes.
JERAS: Of course.
COSTELLO: I can't imagine him making a serious movie about Saddam Hussein, but it should be quite -- he's going to play Freddie Mercury from Queen, too.
JERAS: Yes, that's coming up, too. Interesting.
COSTELLO: Very interesting. Another -- well, it's a disturbing story, because I so love Sandra Bullock.
JERAS: I do too.
COSTELLO: What's with Jesse James?
JERAS: Who doesn't? Well, I don't know. Should I say my opinion or not?
COSTELLO: Yes, say it. Go. Go for it.
JERAS: Well, don't they look a little bit more of an appropriate couple?
COSTELLO: Yes, yes, they do.
JERAS: That's all I'm saying, right?
COSTELLO: What did she see in him?
JERAS: I'm not sure. Jesse James officially engaged to Kat von D. Of course, they began dating last summer and he divorced Sandra Bullock in June. Or they divorced each other, I guess.
COSTELLO: Do you think that -- do you think that this was in the works the whole time?
JERAS: I don't know. I don't know.
COSTELLO: Remember, he moved back to like Austin --
JERAS: Hard to say.
COSTELLO: To try to win her back. To try to win Sandra back, but --
JERAS: Yes.
COSTELLO: It's fake.
JERAS: It's hard to come out of this one looking good.
COSTELLO: For Jesse, right?
JERAS: For Jesse, yes.
COSTELLO: But Sandra has come out smelling like roses --
JERAS: She has.
COSTELLO: And she's more popular than ever.
JERAS: And she's got a new beau as well, right?
COSTELLO: No, that's not true.
JERAS: Not true?
COSTELLO: No.
JERAS: No? All right.
COSTELLO: Strike that from your lips, Jacqui.
JERAS: That's what they're saying.
COSTELLO: It's a rumor.
JERAS: It's a rumor.
COSTELLO: Side by side or on opposite sides? We asked you where lawmakers should sit during the State of the Union speech. Your answer in our political update.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. With me right now, Ryan Mack, he's the president of Optimal Capital Management, Gary Schatsky's here, he's the president of objectiveadvice.com.
All right, guys, I'm glad you're here. Some questions today coming in. We start one from anonymous who says, "I have no savings, no investments and no property. I am on food stamps and my only income is Social Security. I haven't made a credit card payment since June. The bank is about to charge it off. I can probably get them down to 10 cents on the dollar, but I don't know anybody who has $1,000 they can loan me. I don't have the money to pay the filing fee, much less hire an attorney to file bankruptcy. What's the best possible outcome here?
Ryan.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, this question actually touched my heart because we do a lot of workshops in public housing and we get actually similar questions to this a lot. I mean the first thing the individual should do is understand that her credit probably is being -- is -- well, is no question, probably it is being deteriorated as we speak, so as long as she's not paying off her debt. But a lot of times what we've done is we've downsized dramatically. A lot of individuals who were in that type of situation are still living beneath -- above their means even though they didn't have any means to live above at that point in time. So looking at your budget, downsize drastically, making sure you start doing all the things -- negotiate with those credit cards as much as possible.
Try not to always go for bankruptcy right away. If it's $1,000, you might be able to do that by earning additional income. Again, working from home. She's on Social Security. She's probably a little bit older. Might be able to do some good home jobs to be able to put a little bit of money in her pocket and earn that money back and pay that $1,000 off.
ELAM: See if there's some other resources.
MACK: But just be positive, man. She can do it.
ELAM: Yes. Yes, see if there's -- there's people in way worse situations, definitely.
MACK: Exactly. Yes.
ELAM: All right, our next question is coming in from Paul who writes in, "I graduated from college last spring. I'm extremely behind on my bills but finally found a job. I am trying to save up to move to get the job I really want. Should I work to pay off my huge student loan and other bills? Should I bring my payments current and then save up? Or should I save now and worry about my bills later?"
Gary, what comes first, the chicken or the egg?
GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: Well, you know, it's kind of a difficult thing. You're trying to get a better job. So what enables you to do that is really important. But at the same time you cannot be behind on your bills. I don't necessarily want him to be pre-paying the bills, but getting your bills up to date will make a lot of sense.
Look, if your rates all of a sudden kicked up to 30 percent and you start paying late fees and late penalties, that's going to erode the increase in earnings you're going to have by getting another job. So get them up to date and then try to save beyond that and get the new job.
ELAM: Yes, focus on that. And you have plenty of time to make that happen.
All right, guys, thanks so much for your information today.
If you have a question that you would love for us to take a look at, we're happy to help. So send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.
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COSTELLO: Take you out live to Schenectady, New York, where things are set up. They're awaiting President Obama's arrival. He is flying there on Air Force One. He'll soon announce a presidential commission to create jobs. In charge of that commission, the CEO of GE. And, of course, Schenectady, New York, is GE's home base, so to speak, and that's why this thing is being held here. When the president begins to speak, we'll take you back to Schenectady, live.
We asked you where members of Congress should sit during the State of the Union speech, because we really wanted to know. Wolf Blitzer, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from the political desk in Washington.
So, what did people say, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Most people would like to see Republicans and Democrats break tradition and sit together when the president addresses a joint session of Congress next Tuesday night. In our latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, Carol, 72 percent thought it was a good idea for them to sit next to each other, 22 percent thought it wasn't such a good idea. If you break it down by parties, for example, 80 percent of the Democrats liked the idea, 78 percent of the independents, self-described independents, liked the idea. Only 56 percent of Republicans liked the idea. I've heard some Republicans say they don't necessarily think it's a good idea. That it may be part of some sort of sinister plot, if you will, to show that the president can bring the whole country together, use it for political purposes. So Republicans are a little bit more skeptical about this idea of breaking tradition and having Democrats and Republicans sitting together.
The Republicans have announced, Carol, who will deliver the response to the president's State of the Union Address. It's going to be the Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan. He's the new chairman of the House Budget Committee. He's certainly a rising star among the Republicans. He's got some very serious ideas on creating jobs, economic reform, health care, all of those issues. Boehner, the new speaker, McConnell, the minority leader, the Republican leader in the Senate, the said Paul Ryan will deliver the Republican response to the president's address Tuesday night. We'll look forward to that.
One final note crossing the CNN Political Ticker right now, Michele Bachmann, the Tea Party favorite, the conservative Republican from Minnesota, she's in Iowa. And not only is that fueling some speculation she may actually decide to run for the Republican presidential nomination, she certainly hasn't ruled that out, at least in her public statements, she's going to be received not only by the Republican governor, the head of the GOP in the state of Iowa. So there's a lot of excitement there. Michele Bachmann is creating a little buzz, as we say, right now.
Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Didn't she meet with some GOP leaders that -- to maybe talk about a presidential run?
BLITZER: She's thinking about it. She's certainly thinking about it. But she's very close, as you know, to Sarah Palin. And if Sarah Palin doesn't run, I think that would certainly encourage her to run. If, on the other hand, Sarah Palin decides to run, that may dissuade Michele Bachmann from running. She was one of the first members of the Republican leadership, Republican Party in the House, to support the Tea Party movement. She's created this Tea Party caucus in the House. So she's got some support there among the conservative base, the Tea Party movement. We'll see how serious this is. But she's thinking about it and she's been a lightning rod, if you will, over the past year in terms of some of the statements she's made.
COSTELLO: She certainly has. I'm wondering if she will sit beside a Democrat during the State of the Union?
BLITZER: We'll see.
COSTELLO: Yes, we will.
BLITZER: We'll have a lot of coverage on Tuesday night. Everyone will have a chance to see who's sitting with whom.
COSTELLO: I don't know, I'm trying to wrap my mind around it to think, well, maybe this is like a bigger deal than I think it is, but we've already heard some of the same kind of rhetoric going around about, you know, health care that we heard in the first go around. So sitting together doesn't really seem to be, I don't know, do you think it will help, really?
BLITZER: It would be a gesture. It would be a gesture. I don't know if it would help in the long run. But, you know, in the aftermath of what happened in Tucson, it's only -- not even two weeks. I think -- you know, I didn't -- originally when Senator Udall of Colorado made this proposal, I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. But it clearly is going somewhere and we'll see. We'll see if they break tradition or not.
COSTELLO: Yes, we will. Thank you, Wolf. We appreciate it. Wolf will join us -- well, you'll have "The Situation Room," 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Wolf will be there talking more about all of this stuff.
We're going to go live to Schenectady again where you see the president is -- I have such a little, tiny picture on my monitor -- but the president is expected to start speaking soon about this presidential commission to create jobs. In charge of this presidential commission, the CEO of GE. And he's going to do -- I don't know, he's going to try to encourage other CEOs of big companies to try to hire more people. When the president takes the podium, we'll take you live to Schenectady once again.
We're going to take a break. We'll be back.
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