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Egypt's Parliament Dissolved; Egypt's New Military Leadership; Golf Phenom Zakiya "Z" Randall; Boycotting Valentine's Day; The New Face of Alvin Ailey
Aired February 13, 2011 - 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: Changes on the streets of Egypt and behind the scenes as the country gets rid of vestiges of the old regime, the new developments straight ahead.
An online campaign is calling on men to boycott Valentine's day. We'll tell you why in the "Chat Room."
And the passing of the torch at the most well-known African-American dance company in the world. The new face of Alvin Ailey coming up.
Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our top story, six months or until elections can be held. That's how long Egypt's new military leaders say they will stay in power. The Armed Forces Council dissolved the parliament and suspended the Constitution today amid signs that life on the streets may be returning to normal. Some pro-democracy demonstrators are skeptical about Egypt's new military leadership, but after nearly 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak's dictatorial rule, many are willing to give the military the benefit of the doubt.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports from Cairo's Tahrir Square.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Only a few days ago, this place here was battleground, we're right on Tahrir Square but now, what's happening ever since Hosni Mubarak stood down is that shops are actually reopening here on the square. This is a souvenir shop and we've also seen travel agencies that are reopening in a bid to try and get life back to normal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is. I am very happy, because we are at work today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) to leave the square now.
PLEITGEN: There are still a few protesters here at Tahrir Square, but many are telling us that now they feel it's the time to go home. They don't believe that the protests should continue. They think that it's time they should go back to work. These people over here are saying that now is the time to rebuild Egypt and to stop protesting. OK. The most important thing now is we have to clean our square, then we have to go back to our work, and to do our jobs. So Egypt has a great - will have to do our best to make our country high (INAUDIBLE).
PLEITGEN: At the same time, you have a lot of traffic that has come back to Tahrir Square. Most of the area here is now open to cars. As you can see, there are a lot of vehicles that are going through here. The streets are jam-pack, as they were before the demonstrations. Although right now it's Army soldiers who are directing traffic rather than the traffic police. We've only seen very few traffic police. But it is another sign that life is getting back to normal here on Tahrir Square and indeed in all of Egypt.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Cairo, Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: We're now hearing echoes of Egypt's revolution in Yemen. Today, anti-government protesters marched towards the presidential palace there chanting "First Mubarak, now Ali." Their president, Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power since 1978. They made it within two miles of the palace then ran into security forces there. Officers surrounded a CNN crew at the scene, and took the videotapes as well. Activists say about a dozen people were arrested there.
Two murder charges have been temporary dropped against Jared Lee Loughner. He is the man witnesses say shot Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others in Tucson last month. Prosecutors call it a procedural motion and say they will re-file the murder charges in a later indictment.
And police in San Diego are still trying to figure out what made a taxi driver plow through a crowd of people outside a nightclub last night. 25 people were injured, one woman was hurt so badly that her leg was amputated. Witnesses say the cab was moving slowly when it hit the people, and investigators are now looking into whether the driver was asleep at the wheel. A witness says an angry crowd attacked the driver. He suffered a broken nose but it's not clear if it was from a fight or the crash.
All right. Let's check in with our Jacqui Jeras because it's feeling rather spring like in a lot of places. It's nice just in time for Valentine's day.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is.
I know, it's gorgeous. But we got a couple of issues out there. And some of these have been pretty serious. And the number one problem we've had is the wind. They've been very strong in the Pacific northwest, moving across the inner mountain west and now in the upper Midwest. Take a look at these pictures we have for you out of Washington state. You can see that rain has been coming down, but the winds have been so strong they've been knocking out, stumps of trees. There you can see one down and also causing scattered power outages.
In fact, we were talking about wind gusts between 60 and 80 miles per hour. Today, Glasgow, Montana reported gust of 62 miles per hour, Pierce, South Dakota has 66 miles an hour, and Red Lodge, Montana at 87 miles per hour. That's the equivalent of a category one hurricane. So that certainly can cause a lot of damage. Here you can see the wind advisories and warnings, which remain in effect at this time.
And you know, some of the sustained winds are really up there, too, into the teens and 20s and 30 mile-per-hour. So that in and of itself makes it very difficult for driving and can also throw things around your yard as well. Like if you have your garbage cans out or something like that throughout the day for today.
Now, you've got a series of storm systems that are going to come in and impacting the west. The first ones already moved through. The second one arrives for tomorrow. So get prepared for a very windy and very wet week ahead, and as we look to tomorrow, that will be the big story out west. Rain into the lower elevations. We'll see snow up into the higher elevations, and we could see maybe a good foot or two for a few of you, and across parts of the east, well we've got a very weak system here. This is that wind maker. So this is likely going to cause a lot of airport delays from Boston down towards Philly into D.C. and maybe wind delays as far south as Atlanta.
But the one good thing about those winds, Fredricka, is that for the most part, they're driving in that warmer air. That's pushing things in. We're talking about 20 degrees above average. The south central plains and the southeast reaping most of the benefits of that.
WHITFIELD: It's so wacky, either it's well below average for the cold stuff and then, you know, back to the warm stuff.
JERAS: Well, it was - less than a week ago, we had snow on the ground in Atlanta. And we're talking 62 degrees right now. Getting into the mid-60s for the middle of the week.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui. Appreciate that.
All right. Fixing the nation's mortgage mess. The Obama administration has a plan, but is it good for homeowners?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Obama administration has rolled out a plan to fix flaws in the mortgage market. Among other things it would reduce the government's role in housing finance by winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The administration would like to see the private market step in and pick up the flak if Fannie and Freddie were to go. Yesterday I talked to nationally syndicated columnist Ilyce Glink and I asked her if she found it alarming that the private sector would need to pick up the $10 trillion that Freddie and Fannie would leave if they disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ILYCE GLINK, REAL ESTATE EXPERT: This is a very significant amount of money. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I was amazed to hear Tim Geithner talk about all of these mistakes that went all along in a line that caused the implosion of the housing market. He's right on all of those counts and it's not like people weren't saying that.
So when you start to unwind that, it's a long process and it is going to be very alarming to anybody who is a realtor, a mortgage lender, a new home builder. These are people who have a big stake in the housing industry. They're going to be scared.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Now, how about those who want to own a home or those who have a home? Let's split it up on how it affects the current homeowner.
GLICK: I think if you own a home now, I just refinanced to a 15-year mortgage back in November. I'm not going to worry about my mortgage for the next 15 years. It's going to be fine. People who are going into the housing market though who are going to be buying a home, not this year, maybe next year, but once this whole process starts to kick in, they're going to see higher rates of insurance. They're going to be required to put 10, 15, 20 percent down. I don't think we're going to see the three percent down loans any more or zero percent down loans.
WHITFIELD: I thought those went away a long time ago. I thought the 10 percent went away a long time ago as well.
GLICK: No, no, they're back. It's very interesting that, you know, the mortgage market is getting in there. The real concern I think just as somebody who watches this market and has done so for a couple of decades is that the idea that you're going to have maybe the four big banks, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi who actually have the capitalization and the muscle to really do something here, you're going to have them go sort of end to end in the process and you really have to watch what kind of regulation is going to be on those banks. What kind of insurance people are going to have to pay and how it's all going to work out. There are about a million details and all of them could be very scary for people.
WHITFIELD: Well, those banks that you mentioned, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, haven't they been the supplemental lenders, if Freddie and Fannie were taking care of the majority of the stake. So why should anyone feel like they have the capacity to handle the majority now of home loans if Freddie and Fannie were to go away?
GLICK: Well, it's a great question but they perform very different functions. You know, right now Fanny, Freddie and FHA account for 97 percent of all the loans that are done out there. 97 percent. I mean that's it. It's just government-backed so it is very terrifying. These big banks though they have a lot of money, some of which the government put into them, but they also seem to have some processes down. But you have to be very careful that they don't just become so enormous and so all-encompassing that they're impossible to regulate. We already watched how, you know, the too big to fail thing worked during this last great recession. AIG was deemed too big to fail and it cost the government a whole lot of money to bail them out.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And get financial advice from our experts every weekend right here in the CNN NEWSROOM on Saturday 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern time and then Sunday at 4:00 p.m..
An on-line campaign has a message for all those men out there making Valentine's day plans. Stop. The story coming up in the "Chat Room."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: How to confess your sins without going to church. We'll chat about it after a look at the top stories.
More evidence Egypt's military is in charge as Egyptians work to repair Tahrir Square. The focal point of the revolution. The military announced it had dissolved Parliament and suspended the Constitution. Military leaders say they'll run the country for six months or until elections are held.
In neighboring Sudan, violence clouds the move towards independence in the south. Last month people in southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly to form their own country. In recent days more than 100 people were killed in clashes between government forces and those loyal to a militia leader. Official independence is set for July 9th.
And Representative Ron Paul from Texas is the top vote getter for president among delegates to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Their straw poll was taken late yesterday, 21 months before the election. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney came in second.
All right. Time for a little "Chat Room" action with Jacqui Jeras. We're here on the sofa talking about all those crazy little things that's kind of off radar, we think they should be on the radar.
JERAS: There are a lot of interesting stories out there. Valentine's day stuff, it's Sunday, we got some church information today.
WHITFIELD: Church related something.
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Let's begin with that one, in fact.
JERAS: Shall we?
WHITFIELD: Talking about confession. Sometimes you don't find it convenient to go to church. And that's why you don't confess. Well, now it will come to you.
JERAS: You know, Apple has designed an app that you can put on your iPod, iPad, or wherever (INAUDIBLE) and then it will walk you through the whole entire confessional process.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
JERAS: I know. This is, you know, gets the thumbs up from the Vatican. They say this is a great thing to help encourage people and also, you know, not necessarily that this is designed to replace confession, but it's designed to kind of -
WHITFIELD: Kind of inconvenient at the moment.
JERAS: It could be or this will help you through. You know, I've heard a lot of people say, I'm afraid to go. I don't remember what I'm supposed to say. What do you say when you walk in there? So you go through this little app.
WHITFIELD: Remain anonymous?
JERAS: Well -
WHITFIELD: Heard it all.
JERAS: Yes, you heard it all. So this will help you do it on your own.
WHITFIELD: This speaks volumes to the Vatican, too . Because remember, the Vatican's on Facebook.
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: They've tried really hard to be kind of - I guess forward- thinking, on reaching out to people and taking advantage of these innovative, technological ways. And yet here's another example of that.
JERAS: Yes. Any way to get them in.
WHITFIELD: And of course, a lot of folks can't wait for this big April 29th wedding.
JERAS: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. In London between the Prince and the soon to be princess.
JERAS: Kate Middleton.
WHITFIELD: And so people are kind of trying it on for size, so to speak.
JERAS: So to speak. Yes, well, apparently there's an American artist Jennifer Ruble, she created a add life-size wax model of Prince William dressed just as he was when they announced their engagement. Have you seen those engagement photos?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: Well, this is on display at a London gallery. There you can see the ring.
WHITFIELD: You can pretend to be Kate.
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I see.
JERAS: The ring is attached to his hand. The idea, you can slip in there, put your finger in.
WHITFIELD: To wear that sapphire combo.
JERAS: Suddenly you're engaged to Prince William. How is that right?
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's cute.
JERAS: Look at that, there she is.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) not that I'm interested, I'm just wondering.
JERAS: This is at a gallery in London.
WHITFIELD: In London.
JERAS: You would have to travel, my dear.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right.
All right. Valentine's day tomorrow. And some folks no matter what, they try to be humbug about it. This is one of those days that you should not be humbug about especially if you've got a valentine, you've got a sweetheart, one must express themselves. Right?
JERAS: Right.
WHITFIELD: Because there's a message that says otherwise.
JERAS: Yes. Well, there's this relationship expert, self-professed relationship expert. His name is Mark Rudolph (ph) and he's telling men to boycott the day -
WHITFIELD: Yes, I wonder if he's in a relationship.
JERAS: Saying it should be a no-mance. Not romance day. He says -
WHITFIELD: No-mance.
JERAS: It's too commercial - what are the reasons. I think we have a graphic to show the reasons why he says.
WHITFIELD: He says it's all about her. It's not mutual. That's problem number one.
JERAS: Yes, it's all about the guy giving something to a girl.
WHITFIELD: Uh-huh.
JERAS: He says. WHITFIELD: He said it's phony. Expected, guilt driven. Overpriced.
JERAS: You've heard the, you know, a Hallmark holiday, so to speak. You've heard that basic - some say that it's a holiday - I shouldn't be told when to celebrate my love. It's all about buying flowers and candy and that sort of thing.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Valentine's day doesn't mean that you shouldn't show your affection other days. It's one universal day, that everyone can, you know, feel in unison and then be happy about hearts everywhere.
JERAS: Absolutely. I think so. You know, I posted it on my Facebook page, by the way. Do you think that it's a great holiday to celebrate your love or do you think it's, you know, the Hallmark holiday? You immediately - people start responding.
WHITFIELD: What did they say? Too commercial?
JERAS: A little bit of mixed.
WHITFIELD: Not commercial enough.
JERAS: So get to my Facebook page and tell me what you thin. I'd be interested to know.
It's kind of mixed, some people love it and you know, are romantics at heart -
WHITFIELD: Well, you've got the romantic ruby red on today.
JERAS: You know, I did that.
WHITFIELD: Happy Valentine's day.
JERAS: Wear red, Valentine's weekend.
WHITFIELD: Yes, that's very nice. I like it. Happy Valentine's, Jacqui.
JERAS: You too, Fred.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)
JERAS: It's not just about couples. Friendship as well.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) Yes, that's right. All right, thanks so much. "Chat Room" was fun.
All right. Well, she has been called the next LPGA star. I'll introduce to you a teen golf sensation, Zakiya "Z" Randall and tell you about her efforts to motivate other kids.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is in the midst of a 24-city tour celebrating 50 years of the company's most famous revelation routine. This is also a year of the dance company's changing of the guard. Artistic director Judith Jamison has been the face of Alvin Ailey for 20 years and she's now passing the torch to director designate Robert Battle and both are with me right now. Judith Jamison and Robert Battle, welcome.
ROBERT BATTLE, DIRECTOR, ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Good to see both of you.
JUDITH JAMISON: ALVIN AILEY DANCE THEATER: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: This is very exciting.
JAMISON: Good to see you again. And I'm so glad to be here with Robert, because this is such an exciting time for us.
WHITFIELD: This really is wonderful, because you're both very joyous about this changing of the guard.
JAMISON: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: I know it's got to be bittersweet for you too because -
JAMISON: No, it's not.
WHITFIELD: No, not at all?
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: You've been doing this for so long.
JAMISON: Well, I've been with the company for 15 years. And 21 years of directing it. I am so happy to be able to give it over to Robert. I did not tell you I danced for you, I directed for you and now it's time for 50 more years of the Alvin Ailey American dance theater. This is the man that can take us into a bright future.
WHITFIELD: And you really did hand pick Robert Battle?
JAMISON: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Before I ask you, Robert, what you're feeling and all that, give me an idea, what was it about, Robert, that you saw, that you said, you know, he is the one to take this to the next level.
JAMISON: So (INAUDIBLE) directed me in his direction, because he had already done - you'd already done, how many pieces?
BATTLE: Three.
JAMISON: Like three pieces for the second (INAUDIBLE). And then seven years ago or five years ago, I asked to you do pieces for the first because I was so impressed. Oh my goodness, this man is so talented.
WHITFIELD: But he didn't grow up as dancer with Alvin Ailey?
JAMISON: Not with Alvin Ailey, I'm sure Robert will tell you about that, but it was very much a no brainer. He's got of like - wow, talent, the integrity, the understanding of past, present and future. The dynamic of how he relates to people, and how he - you're sitting here, how you relate to people and how you relate, and love the dancers. I love that you love dancers, and love the mantra of Ailey, which is dance came from the people and needs to be delivered back. The heart and soul of him.
WHITFIELD: Wasn't there a tradition kind of set by Alvin Ailey. Were you a dancer with Alvin Ailey, and then he plucked you, and you said I'm going to break with tradition but you still went with your gut looking for "the" person who could best lead and bring something new and different. So, then, when you got that phone call, or when you learned that were you in the running, Robert, I want you to tell the story of how she kind of turned to you and said, you're the one. Give me an idea how that happened and how that struck you.
BATTLE: Well, a couple of years ago, we had lunch, and she asked me quite bluntly, was I interested, and my mouth spoke before I could grab a hold of what I was saying and I said, absolutely. I'd love the opportunity to lead the company. I remember this. I thought about it many times, and thus began our process of getting to where I am now, but I was overcome and elated because knowing what the company means not only to me but so many others for 52 years.
WHITFIELD: Did you see Alvin Ailey as child?
BATTLE: Oh, yes. I think I was about 12 years old, in Miami, Florida.
WHITFIELD: Liberty City.
BATTLE: Uh-huh.
WHITFIELD: Florida kid.
BATTLE: Absolutely. Like we still do - I think we've done about 10,000 students in the past five days in terms of them coming to see performances in the morning. I was bused there, sitting there seeing "Revelations" for the first time.
WHITFIELD: And what happened when you saw it.
BATTLE: It was awesome. It was awesome because I got it. And for a young person, it's so important when they get it. When they feel connected to something larger than themselves. I think that something brought me to New York City and now to where I am.
WHITFIELD: All right. This young lady has been dominating golf since the very beginning. At the age of 10, she actually won every tournament she entered, and received the player of the year award and she also travels around the country motivating kids to stay in school. Get used to the face, the name, golfing phenom, Zakiya "Z" Randall. She joins me right now in Atlanta. Good to see you.
ZAKIYA "Z" RANDALL, GOLFING PHENOMENON: Nice to see you as well.
WHITFIELD: So you've been called everything from the promising, you know golfer, to the golf phenom, golf protege. That must be a very heavy title to hold up?
RANDALL: Yes, of course. I think, you know, when you're on the path to success, most people try to put names on something that, they don't see very often. So I've gotten quite a few names. But you know, like prodigy and the rest of them.
WHITFIELD: So you're 19 now. You've been playing since 10. But golf wasn't your first love of sport. It was tennis?
RANDALL: Right. I've always been very athletic. So I picked up the game of tennis actually when I was around seven or eight, and I made the transition to golf when I was about 10. The family actually introduced me and I fell in love with the game ever since then.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And so what has this game brought for you? What is it about the game of golf, that's born of golf that kept you so engaged?
RANDALL: Well, golf teaches you a lot of life values, and I travel all over the world, met a lot of people. And it's just, you know, given me so many great experiences.
WHITFIELD: So I hear you do quite a few things. You're a public speaker, for one. You do some modeling as well. You're also a music producer.
RANDALL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Where do you have time for the golf? When do you have time for the other things?
RANDALL: You know, my main interest is golf. I make that clear to everybody, because everybody asks me, "oh my gosh, you do so many things," but I do other things in my spare time, and, but I want to make sure that people know that golf is, you know, what I always love to do.
WHITFIELD: So you want to find yourself in the LPGA. We got some photographs there, golfing as well as modeling, too. You want to find yourself in the LPGA. What's it going take in order to get to that point, to that level?
RANDALL: Well, it's going to take sponsorship and the support of the community.
WHITFIELD: And you're on your way there now?
RANDALL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You're on break right now from competitive play, but I guess you train all the time?
RANDALL: Yes, of course. I train year-round.
WHITFIELD: And so the competitive play picks up again in the summer?
RANDALL: In the summer, yes.
WHITFIELD: And in the meantime I hear you've got a few props here to kind of keep your game sharp.
RANDALL: Yes. Uh-huh. We're going to do a little - I actually picked this up when I was younger I did this with a few kids. Let's see.
I play it through my legs here. And I play it through my legs here.
WHITFIELD: I think a lot of folks probably saw this for the first time when they saw a Tiger Woods commercial.
RANDALL: Exactly, yes.
WHITFIELD: Were you inspired by that? You just started picking it up or is it something that all golfers do and I just didn't know?
RANDALL: Well actually I picked it up when I was younger. Kids would get into a circle, I was like, 6, we all would be tossing the ball around and we would make games out of it. I got from when I was younger.
WHITFIELD: Excellent. So who's your idol? Who are you inspired by, whether it be on the women's circuit or the men's circuit that you say, you know what? That play, that's what I'm trying to emulate?
RANDALL: You know, actually, I love Anna Sorenstam (ph), she is the one we are playing right now, and I think she was just a great all- around player. She does a lot for the community as well.
WHITFIELD: When you talk to young people what do you say to them? A lot of them are saying, wait a minute you're young too, you are 19, you know and you are still climbing. How do you engage them? What do you say to a lot of young people that you talk to do encourage them to stick with a dream?
RANDALL: Well, I always tell them and encourage them, do something that they're passionate about. You know, passion really drives your interests and whatever you actually you know, pick up in your career.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic. One to watch, Zakiya Randall, nice to meet you. Thanks so much.
RANDALL: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: I know we'll be seeing a lot more of you.
RANDALL: Yes, of course.
WHITFIELD: Get used to the name. You like folks to call you "Z"?
RANDALL: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That's nice and catchy.
RANDALL: Uh-huh.
WHITFIELD: They won't forget that. All right. Last in the alphabet, but first in the game. Right?
RANDALL: Right.
WHITFIELD: You can borough that if you want to. All right. "Z" thanks so much.
RANDALL: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. The movie "The King's Speech" a highlight, a pretty serious problem suffered by millions of people, stuttering. The cause of the condition and the treatment right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Stuttering affects 4 million Americans. The condition is getting a whole lot of attention these days particularly because of the movie "The King's Speech." We will focus on the causes and the treatments after this quick check of the top stories.
Egypt's military has dissolved parliament and will run the country for six months or until elections are held. The prime minister says the government is now reporting to the military high command in the same way it reported to President Hosni Mubarak before he stepped down Friday.
In Los Angeles, health concerns that Hugh Hefner's playboy mansion, "Casey L.A." reports that county health officials are trying to determine what made 100 people sick after attending a recent fund- raiser and party there. Their symptoms included fever, respiratory problems and violent headaches. A playboy rep tells the "New York Post" there's no truth in the rumor that anyone caught anything at the iconic bachelor pad.
And actress Elizabeth Taylor remains in a Los Angeles hospital where she is being treated for symptoms of congestive heart failure. Taylor who is 78 had a leaky heart valve repaired less than two years ago.
"The King's Speech," an Oscar nominated film about a British monarch and his struggle to overcome a debilitating stutters. In the battle millions of people around the world can relate to it including syndicated columnist Clarence Page. Page began stuttering as a young child and like King George VI, he was fortunate enough to have an extremely supportive speech therapist. Yesterday I talked with Page about his condition as well as Chamonix Olsen Sikora, an expert on stuttering, I asked her about treatment options.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHAMONIX OLSEN SIKORA, EXE. DIR., AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR STUTTERING: Well nowadays it really is important to identify children young. The best chance of recovering from stuttering is when you treat children at a very early age. There's a lot we can do working with parents and doing some therapy with children as young as 2 and 3 years old. It a different type of treatment that we do with that age than we do we adults, but there's always help. It's never too late.
WHITFIELD (voice over): What are the differences in the treatment or the help?
SIKORA: Yes. Well, with adults, we are working a bit on the psychological aspects of stuttering as well as physically being able to get words out easier. So although stuttering is not psychological in cause, it's not caused by nervousness, it doesn't really help to actually say, slow down or go a little slower or take your time to someone who stutters. There is this physical component, and we know now that it's neurologically based, and there's a genetic case for the majority of people out there.
So it's something physical occurring in the body, something going on in the brain actually, possibly a mistiming of messages being sent down to the level of the vocal fold, so it's really a physical problem not psychological. But as neurological --
WHITFIELD: As neurological and physical, is it also hereditary?
SIKORA: Exactly. There are genetic studies that came out this past year, in the "New England Journal of Medicine" published a study just this past year which did show that in about 9 percent of people that stutter, there's three genes that they identified. This will hopefully lead us to finding more genes and maybe even changing some treatment approaches.
WHITFIELD: So Clarence, do you -- you know, you do kind of describe it as a constant you know, thing, and battle. You try to manage it all the time. Do you also still have the same kind of mentoring or assistance that you did as a child? Do you maintain that as an adult?
CLARENCE PAGE, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Well, I've been happily, luckily, able to help mentor some other people, and help advice other folks. I'm always happy to do that, and I'm on the board of the American Institute for Stuttering. I really like to give back, because I was a kid myself and went through this and I know what a difference it makes when people take a little time out to help a youngster, and I think what Chamonix was saying, that it's true we all stutter differently, but people tend to react the same way.
They say, now, come on, calm down. Slow down. It's all right. Take your time, and that adds to your anxiety. I think, you know, for me, the breathing exercises helped the most, and I thought that was great, and very accurate in "The King's Speech."
WHITFIELD: So what would be your recommendation on the receiving end to people who are listening to someone who is stuttering and they aren't quite sure what to do? As you said, sometimes their reaction might make the stuttering even worse.
PAGE: Well, one thing that people need to do is to try to just be patient. You know, my parents learned to just be patient until I got the words out and just speak to me as if there was nothing wrong. Try to reduce the anxiety in the situation, but therapy definitely helps to work with people who can help you to coordinate all of the complex mechanisms involved in speech.
Including breathing, vocal cords, the mouth, the hearing. Everything is involved, and one thing is out of sync, suddenly, those words get stuck in the throat. And a lot of it is practice. Just keep on talking, and keep on practicing, and things will work out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: For more information, logon to Stutteringtreatment.org and Stutteringspecialists.org as well.
All right. Coming up, what's the hottest song, hottest album, hottest artist. All that on the Grammy's red carpet, live, next.
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WHITFIELD: This is the night the music business honors the year's best music the Grammy's. And what a year in music it has been. Not only is Eminem's "Recovery" to top selling album of the year it received the most Grammy nods. But here is a clip from his song "Love the way you lie" with Rihanna.
(Singing)
WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Brooke Anderson is in Los Angeles for the big event. Brooke, Eminem leading the pack with ten nominations, and critics raving about his recovery album. Is he the guy to beat tonight?
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT:" Fredricka, he's the guy most people think can't be beat tonight. Talk about "Recovery" being the top selling album of last year, yes, 3.4 million copies. The Grammy's, sure they are given out with no regard to chart position or album sales. But bottom line, critics love it and it it's highly regarded by the recording academy as well. I talked to Eminem when he released the album. And he said that it really is a reflection of his personal journey. He's battled addiction in the past and now he is in recovery.
You know, Eminem has won 11 Grammy's in the past. But he has never won the big one, and that is album of the year. I'm getting a little bit distracted, Fredricka, because we're seeing Lady Gaga now hit the carpet, and I believe she's inside an egg. Can you see this? Do we have a camera down there, where you can -- we can't even see her, she's inside an egg. It looks like she's trying to interpret being in the womb or something.
WHITFIELD: OK. ANDERSON: And we had heard this rumor that an egg would be involved with her entrance, and you know, I thought, I don't know what that means. Will she be tossing an egg? Will she be coming out of an egg? Delivering an egg? Making an omelet? But, Chris, can you show them this, Chris? Can you step up on that ladder? This is pretty --
WHITFIELD: OK.
ANDERSON: Funny.
WHITFIELD: Like aliens or something. You know that scene? You see all the pods? She's in one of those pods. OK. Interesting.
ANDERSON: I think, yes, she is. You know what, Fredricka, this is actually teasing her performance tonight of her single "Born this way." It just released. She told "Vogue" she wrote that song in ten minutes. In support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. But yes just when you thought Lady Gaga couldn't be more over the top, here you have it.
WHITFIELD: I don't think anybody ever thought that. Your friend will always make an entrance. Here she is.
ANDERSON: She will. Looking forward to this. Yes.
WHITFIELD: Yes, you and a lot of other folks too. We'll get back to Gaga in a moment. There are some others who people are, want to listen for, want to watch. Among them, the tune "Forget you" maybe that might end up picking up an award. Let's listen to a little clip of it.
(Singing)
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes that is a cutie-pie song. Well, might see lo do OK?
ANDERSON: Yes. I think so. I think he's likely going to have a lot of success tonight Fredricka. He is nominated for five Grammy's including record of the year and song of the year. For that song, and he's going to be performing the TV-friendly version of it tonight. "Forget you" backed by -- oh, here we go. The shot of Lady Gaga.
WHITFIELD: Go, Lady Gaga.
ANDERSON: And the people carrying her.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
ANDERSON: What else can you say?
WHITFIELD: They, too, are almost as eccentric. Those that are carrying her. What can you say?
ANDERSON: Yes.
One, two, three, four, five people carrying Lady Gaga. Security surrounding them. Everyone is -- you know, mouths open. Oh, sorry. Chris telling me he can't see it anymore. Lady gaga making her entrance. I'm sure she'll do something as bizarre onstage.
WHITFIELD: Yes, she got a lot of preliminary air time there and you know hey, she is going to get a whole lot of air time with that later on, because, of course, we still need to know how is she going to make her way to stage, you know? Will it be via pod? Via egg or what?
ANDERSON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: OK. Lots of fun. Brooke Anderson, never a dull moment. And that's the fun of it all. And of course the big moment for the evening, the tribute to Aretha Franklin. That is also something to watch.
ANDERSON: Oh, boy. That's going to be amazing, Fredricka. Yes, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and we actually at "Showbiz Tonight" spoke to Aretha a few days ago. And she said she is really excited about this tribute her and she is going to be watching from the comfort of her own couch with family and friends.
WHITFIELD: Oh nice. All right. Brooke Anderson thanks so much. Of course we'll be watching you throughout the evening as well. Appreciate that.
ANDERSON: Sounds good.
WHITFIELD: OK. A top GOP senator says President Obama is beatable in 2012, but not with any Republicans in the field right now. The story after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Time for a CNN equals politics" update. Keeping an eye on all the latest headlines at the CNN politics dotcom desk. And here is what's crossing right now, a potential GOP presidential candidate is touting his past as a lobbyist. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour says his lobbying back ground would be an asset in the White House. Barbour says the winner of the 2012 election will have to influence Congress, allies and adversaries.
And former Republican Minnesota Tim Pawlenty is blasting the Obama administration calling its response to the crisis in Egypt "nearly incoherent." Pawlenty says various members of the administration including the president, vice president and secretary of state were delivering inconsistent messages on the uprising.
And Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says President Obama is beatable in 2012, but adds Republicans must nominate a conservative who can win over independent voters, and Graham says so far, he doesn't see anyone who fits that bill.
Our next political update is in one hour from now. For the latest political news logon to CNNpolitics.com.
Egypt and the deficit were the big topics on the Sunday morning talk shows today. Here's a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Egyptian military said it would honor the treaties but people are worried. Do you believe in the future, the peace treaty with Israel will stand?
SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S: I do believe so. The treaty has been beneficial for Egypt over the last 30 years or more. We have derived the peace dividend from the treaty; we have been able to establish security and stability in the region.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I think the Israelis have reasons for concern. If you have a government -- whatever government's going to come into power is not going to have the close relationship that they had with Mubarak's. Let's just make that assumption. Then the question is what would be the nature of that relationship?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the intelligence community here in America? Are you satisfied of with the job they've done in assessing the threat coming from this reason and are there problems with how they are going to assess it if they move forward?
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: Well I think what happened in Egypt, what happened in Tunisia surprised everyone, including our intelligence officials. So I think there's going to have to be a re- assessment of why --why didn't we have a better feel for this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you contemplating running for any leadership position?
AHMED ZEWAIL, EGYPTIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: My role right now is to make sure that Egypt will become a Democratic state. That's really what I'm after. And then I think after that it's up to the Egyptian people to decide on their leader.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You have said in an editorial you wrote that the budget is an expression of our values and aspirations. What does that say about our values and aspirations?
JACOB LEW, WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR: Well, what it says, Candy, is that we really do have to do whatever the American family does. We have to start living within our means. Our budget will get us over the next several years to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we're not adding to the debt anymore. We're spending money that we have each year, and then we can work on bringing down our national debt.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We expect and hope the president will actually lead on this crisis, this debt crisis, and preempt it. Everybody knows the sooner you deal with this the better off everybody is, and if the president doesn't want it lead on entitlements then he's not leading, and we do hope and plan on dealing with these issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A company sues a woman for selling her used handbags on eBay. Does this case have any merit? Our legal guys weigh in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: People sell a lot of things online. Right? Now a lawsuit filed after one woman tried to make a sale. Here's what's happened. A Seattle woman selling used Coach handbags online, then she received a cease and desist letter from Coach's law firm. What does this mean for people selling goods on eBay? Our legal guys Avery and Richard were all over this topic yesterday.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The Coach and the lawyers are a bunch of bullies, in my opinion trying to push people around. Look it. The fact of counterfeiting is a problem; they have to be aggressive about that. They knew that Kim was a former employee. It's a used purse. How are you going to buy a used purse at Coach, for goodness sakes? In fact, eBay acknowledged that she was right. Coach was wrong. Put the ad back up there. And now there's a countersuit under consumer protection laws for trying to interfere with commerce against Coach.
WHITFIELD: She's suing Coach --
FRIEDMAN: I think this woman actually prevails.
WHITFIELD: So Richard, Coach is suing her. She claims that's intimidation, now she's countersuing. When does it end?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It ends when Coach turns around and silently gives her a few dollars and the whole case walks away. But Avery is right Coach were bullies here. She has every right to sell that bag on eBay, every, every right. For them to send the kind of letter that they sent out, obviously counterfeiting is a huge problem on eBay. Coach is suffering from it. They send a vicious letter suing for $2 million, legal fees, trouble damages and pay us $300 immediately? How many people Fred do you think just automatically send $300 whether they're right or wrong just to end the problem? It is a big problem for Coach and they're going to be called to task on this one, Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. Avery and Richard you can catch them every weekend beginning at noon Eastern on Saturday. All of the eBay sellers can actually breathe a sigh of relief. Their legal opinion.
All right. Not many people know that former runway model and fashion icon Iman spent part of her childhood in Egypt. Well today as Egyptians celebrate the resignation of President Mubarak, in honor of demonstrators who died during the uprising, she feels very close to the people. In my face to face interview with her I asked Iman what one ingredient Egypt lacked under Mubarak.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAN: Democracy. As simple as that. I mean, if we're going to save democracy, we should practice democracy. A 30-year president is a lot. That's not democracy. So I think that's what's really missing. That's what's really missing. And they really want to be allies with American. And it's just a very precarious place to be. And how to navigate all that.
But at the same time, I could not be more prouder to see a revolution of this day to happen that way, so peaceful. And let's hope it stays that way. Maybe the whole reason we'll learn from this and how to do things peacefully, that they can get really far with it because the whole world is in support now of them, because of how they went about it. And so, yes, it's a young people's revolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Catch my entire face-to-face interview with Iman, next Saturday. She'll talk about building herself as a fashion icon and business mogul and she reveals the secret to her 20-year marriage to rocker David Bowie.
