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CNN Saturday Morning News

Libyans Protest Extremist Group; Romney Releases 2011 Taxes; No Smiling Allowed; Helping Colorado Shooting Victims; Closer to a Cure for Cancer; Interview with Michael Rowe

Aired September 22, 2012 - 07:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is 7:00 here in the East, 4:00 out West. It's the first day of fall. Thanks for starting your day with us.

Well, starting in Libya, where pro-democracy demonstrations have stormed the headquarters of a radical Islamist group linked to a deadly consulate attack that left four Americans dead. Hundreds march to disavow those extremist and to show what man called, quote, "real Libya."

KAYE: That group has denied any involvement but some Benghazi citizens reportedly want that compound turned over to government troops. The protest comes amid news that eight people, including some members of that radical group, have been arrested in connection with the consulate attack.

BLACKWELL: Now to politics and presidential taxes -- no, we're not talking about the candidates' tax plans or Mitt Romney's comments on the 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal income taxes.

Instead, we're specifically talking about how much Mitt Romney paid himself. His campaign released his 2011 tax return and here are the numbers. Romney paid almost $2 million in taxes of an income of almost $14 million. That's a 14.1 percent rate. He paid 13.9 percent in 2010.

So why the low rate? Well, the majority of Romney's income came from investments. In fact, all but about half a million of it.

Here's what the Obama campaign had to say afterwards. "Mitt Romney took advantage of complex loopholes and tax shelters only available to those at the top."

KAYE: The Romney campaign also released a letter with some numbers from the last 20 years of taxes, no returns, just a summary. And basically it just said that the Romneys owed taxes for the last 20 years. They averaged a rate of 20.2 percent between 1990 and 2009. And never paid below 13.66 percent.

So, let's bring in CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser. He's joining us this morning.

Paul, good morning to you. All right. So, why now? This is a late Friday afternoon push out of these documents. What do you make of that?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, that's the traditional here in Washington for so-called Friday dump, right? If you want to hide a story, dump the documents or the news late on a Friday because most people are moving ahead to the weekend, you won't get that much coverage.

But Randi, there may be something else here at play. Maybe the timing is actually fortunate for Mitt Romney. Maybe they wanted to get this out now because remember, next week, Mitt Romney I guess you'd call it a restart or buildup again, you're going to see Mitt Romney back on the campaign a lot more. This would be a distraction if it happened next week.

And the following week, Randi, we've got the beginning of those presidential debates. So, maybe it's fortunate for them or a smart move for the Romney campaign to get the tax returns out now.

They say there was no politics at play here. They say, you know what, those tax returns were done, and we've got them out.

You mentioned that summary. It was interesting. Not only the 2011 returns as we knew were coming but they put out the summary. Maybe, this is a little push back against some people. Remember Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, claimed that well, he heard from a source that Mitt Romney paid no taxes in previous years. Maybe this was a way, no, look, Mitt Romney has paid taxes. And he paid a tax rate of averaging around 20 percent -- Randi.

KAYE: Certainly trying to silence that voice from Harry Reid as well.

So, Romney has been getting heat from conservatives and some bad news in the polls as well. We heard Ann Romney earlier this week, telling critics to just back off, right? Just to stop it, this is such an important election.

What is Mitt Romney saying about all the criticism?

STEINHAUSER: Mitt Romney is pushing back as well. And let's take a look at some of these numbers that is maybe he's pushing back against him. There's been a slew of polls in the states. And we were able to average them all together.

Look at our CNN poll of polls. First in Ohio, crucial battleground state. And you can see, according to the numbers here, Mitt Romney is trailing Barack Obama by about five points if you average all the most recent polls.

Virginia, another important state that the president won four years ago, Mitt Romney would like to grab back, he's down by six points in our average. Same story, in Wisconsin, this is where Paul Ryan is from, he's running mate, down by nine points. Mitt Romney was interviewed by CBS last night. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are slipping in the polls at this moment. A lot of Republicans are concerned about this campaign. You're billing yourself as a turnaround artist. How are you going to turn this campaign around?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, actually, we're tied in the poll. We're all within the margin of error. We bounce around week to week, day to day. There are some days we're up. There were some days were down.

We go forward with my message that this is a time to reinvigorate the American economy, not by expanding government and raising taxes on people. But instead by making sure government encourages entrepreneurship, innovation, and gets the private sector hiring again.

(END VIDSEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Of course, polls are a snapshot of how people feel right now. We've got six and a half weeks until the election. Those debates could definitely move the needle -- Randi.

KAYE: No question about that. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.

Victor?

BLACKWELL: Romney's number two hit a bit of a speed bum. During a speech yesterday, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was addressing the national AARP event in New Orleans. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The first step to better Medicare is to repeal Obamacare.

(BOOS)

RYAN: I had a feeling there'd be mixed reaction. So let me get into it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The reaction did not stop Ryan from laying that plan.

Now, remember, Ryan appeared at the event shortly after President Obama spoke to the group via video conference. In his appearance, the president said the Romney/Ryan claims about Obamacare just were not true. Ryan is back on the campaign trail this morning. He'll be in Miami in about two hours and then it's on to Orlando.

KAYE: Florida Senator Marco Rubio had a pretty tough time getting back to Washington last night. Seems his American airlines flight was delayed so he used the extra time to tweet about it a lot.

"American Air says maintenance problem. Yet suddenly group of new passengers boarding, holding plane to get connectors on from delayed flight? Delaying flight for maintenance to squeeze connectors from other flight, oldest trick in book. Feel bad for crew. #cmonman and #AmericanAirlines."

Well, someone at the airline watching that Twitter feed, apparently saw it and tweeted back afterward saying, "Thanks for your patience, Marco. We hope you have a great flight."

Rubio, by the way, was headed back to Washington to vote on a spending measure to fund the government through next March. Rubio made it time to vote against it. The measure, by the way, passed, 62-30.

BLACKWELL: Well, it could have been worse for Rubio. He could have been on Ann Romney's flight. That flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an electrical issue, caused the cockpit to fill with smoke. Here's what it sounded like.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an electrical issue here and we are going to declare an emergency.

We'll probably need assistance here. We've got smoke in the cabin and we are going to see the severity of it. We'll let you know.

Worldwide 12, we are going to request the fire trucks, please.

(END AUDIO CLI8P)

BLACKWELL: What is the good news? The charter flight landed safely. No one was injured.

KAYE: I think I'm going to tweet next time I have some plane trouble and I'm delayed. It obviously gets attention.

BLACKWELL: Well, all they said was, thanks, Marco, enjoy the flight.

KAYE: It didn't exactly get him off the ground any faster.

BLACKWELL: It didn't. I try to keep myself from tweeting during those times.

KAYE: Yes. Well, it's supposed to be turned off, I guess.

BLACKWELL: That's true. Yes.

KAYE: So, we have much more ahead this hour.

BLACKWELL: Here's a look at what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Big news in the fight against cancer. Getting closer to a cure. That according to a leading research group. We'll tell what you it is it and how soon we may have it.

It's the tape that launched a thousand blogs and may have derailed a campaign. All morning, we'll look at Mitt Romney's comments on the 47 percent.

And the anatomy of a leak. This hour, paparazzi politics.

Stop smiling. You might confuse the computer. That's the rule in one state. We'll explain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All's fair in love and war and politics. Negative ads, smear campaigns, they're nothing new, but what about hidden camera videos? This one from Mitt Romney's fund-raiser has been the big news on the campaign trail. In it, you've probably heard it by now, Romney talked about 47 percent of America feeling entitled for handouts and being in the bag for President Obama.

He also said this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: This is not the first time we've seen this. Remember in 2008, we had the tape from Obama, then candidate Obama, at a fundraiser, when he said in times of trouble, people cling to their guns and religion.

Joining me now is Kelly Maher, executive director of revealingpolitics.com, a Web site dedicated to politics and what politicians and regular people are talking about.

Kelly, people love to se the hidden video of celebrities and those audio tapes. But are politicians different?

KELLY MAHER, REVEALINGPOLITICS.COM: Well, I think ultimately it depends. At Revealing Politics, we're very careful to follow the law. And with this Romney video specifically, although it was an impolitic way to say it, frankly this is a message that Romney has put out several times.

BLACKWELL: And you say follow the law, we know that in Florida specifically where this was recorded in Boca Raton, is a two-party state, which means each party being recorded has to know they're being recorded if they're recording the audio. And we'll figure out if this person ever comes forward, what will happen at that.

But speaking of this recording, is this just playing dirty? I mean, this was supposed to be a private event. This person recorded when he did not know he was being recorded.

MAHER: Well, I think it depends. I don't actually know because the person has not come forward who decided to record it. We don't know all of the specifics about how the video was obtained.

I will say that I am disappointed that it got such coverage considering the fact that it started with not a full context surrounding the video and then in addition when the "Mother Jones" blog decided to put it up, it seems to cut out in the middle. And they claim that the person who recorded it noticed that the recording device was of and then turned it back on.

But the context of this specific thing is very important. I mean, quite frankly, Victor, I wish that somebody had gotten a hidden camera video of Romney talking about whether or not the White House knew about what was going on in Libya because, quite frankly, maybe that would have gotten the coverage it deserved this week.

BLACKWELL: Well, we certainly know that there will be more about this tape and how it was edited and if it was edited in anyway, came out in piecemeal, and we'll see the longer portion of the tape. But you said it depends if it's OK to record somebody privately.

Is there any time that revealingpolitics.com thinks it's OK to record a politician who doesn't know he or she is being recorded?

MAHER: Well, I personally have done some hidden camera investigations. I stand by them. I always very carefully look at the laws of the state.

But, frankly, sometimes people will say things when they don't know that they're on camera that they wouldn't necessarily otherwise. And there is a place for that in politics. However, I think that the onus is on the media and on the people watching the video to figure out exactly what the context is of that and then to take that into consideration when they are watching that video.

BLACKWELL: But you're part of the media. You created a web site and this is not about you but more about paparazzi politics, but you bring up your own hidden camera investigations. How much of the onus is on you and your Web site to put it into full video and put it into context?

MAHER: Well, you know, Victor, I mean, quite frankly, I put my picture, I put my name, I put everything I do up for scrutiny. And I allowed CNN to follow me around for a week and watch what I do so I stand by that.

And so, the message is not just a function of the message itself or the video itself, but who puts it out. I think that it's definitely at least shady that the person who filmed this has yet to come forward and stand by it.

BLACKWELL: We'll see if that person comes forward and what we probably know is that this will not be the last of these types of videos. Kelly Maher, thank you very much for speaking with us about this. And we've got much more on this coming up in the next hour. We'll take a look at how this tape even got out there four months after it was made. "The anatomy of a leak" at 8:15 on Saturday morning -- Randi.

KAYE: A big week for Apple. The tech giant poised to set a record for smartphone sales, as Apple stocks sets a record of its own. We'll head to the New York Stock Exchange to get the details.

And New Jersey officials are warning people not to smile on their driver's license photos. Not happy about that? Well, you can't frown either.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, Atlanta. The sun just coming up over the city. A lovely shot there, lights coming on. People starting their day on this first day of fall.

Glad you're with us.

The long wait is finally over for Apple fans, while people looking to buy something a little bigger, like a house, are finding it won't cost as much, thanks to a dip in mortgage rates.

BLACKWELL: It's all part of the week that was on Wall Street.

Alison Kosik breaks down the numbers and the headlines for us from the New York Stock Exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Randi and Victor.

Stocks ended the week to the down side. The Dow dipped just 14 points but it was enough to snap a two-week winning streak. It came down to the wire, though, because concerns about the global economy kept the market on edge for much of the week. Among the problems, a new report showed the manufacturing sector in China is contracting. Business activity in Europe is declining and here in the U.S., new jobless claims didn't fall as much as Wall Street would have liked.

But one up side to a weak economy, oil prices fell, settling Friday just under $93 a barrel.

Also making headlines this week, Apple shares soared to a record high. The stock closed at $701.91 on Tuesday. It's been on a tear this year, rising 73 percent since January. To compare, the S&P 500, which tracks broader stock reform is up just 14 percent in the same period.

The record came in the same week the iPhone 5 went on sale. It's expected to be the best selling smartphone of all time.

And finally from a record high to a record low, mortgage rates fell to all-time lows this past week. Freddie Mac said the average 30-year fixed dropped to 3.49 percent. That matching the previous record low hitting July. This comes one week after the Federal Reserve announced a plan to buy billions of dollars in home loans.

Even with the drop in rates this week, analysts say we haven't seen the full effect of the Fed's move just yet. Rates are expected to go even lower.

That's a wrap of the week on Wall Street. Randi and Victor, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Thank you, Alison.

Well, the next time you go to get a new driver's license, you may be told no smiling. State officials say it's all about preventing identity fraud.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Mortgage rates are down from last week. Here's a look from Quicken.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

So, let's face it -- unless you're a teen-ager who just learned to drive, no one likes going to the DMV for a new driver's license.

BLACKWELL: I have to do it this weekend.

KAYE: Yes, you dread it. You absolutely dread it. So you're probably not smiling by the time you get up there to be counted, to get your picture taken. Although some people do like to smile for their photo in the end.

BLACKWELL: But in New Jersey that is no longer allowed. There's because a grin can distort your face. It apparently makes it harder for computers that use facial recognition technology there in New Jersey to recognize you.

KAYE: Really.

BLACKWELL: Now, I'm a naturally smiley person, right?

KAYE: I think we actually have our photos, because our producers wanted to see if we were smiling or not. So let's take a look at our driver's license photos. We're both smiling.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we're both smile be. I've always smiled in my driver's license.

KAYE: Well, you know, you want to look good, right? If you get pulled over, you want to hand over your license looking good, right?

BLACKWELL: Right. You know, especially when you go to maybe a club or someone cards you, I haven't been carded in a while unfortunately. KAYE: I got that license after waiting three hours because there was a computer problem and I was still smiling. So, you got to have a positive attitude.

But New Jersey it turns out says that you can't even frown either. You can't even make an exaggerated frown.

BLACKWELL: Some people need to do something with their mouth because they naturally when you take a photo do something, don't they?

KAYE: Yes, it's very strange. But they say that even a frown distorts the distance between your mouth and chin. Your mouth and your nose. Even with your eyes.

BLACKWELL: But who frowns on a driver's license photo?

KAYE: Nobody.

BLACKWELL: Who goes in and just -- nobody wants that on their driver's license.

KAYE: Don't do that when you get yours.

BLACKWELL: I will not.

Now, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is telling staff to warn people. People really have complained that they don't want to look mopey.

KAYE: I guess so, this recognition technology is used to catch identity thieves and other. So, I guess that's why they don't want you to do this, because you can manipulate how your faces look and all that.

BLACKWELL: Well, fortunately, here in Georgia, I can still smile.

KAYE: You can, you can. This is not New Jersey.

All right. So if you are in New Jersey, just so you know.

OK. What should we talk about next? What do you think?

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this mom at Tennessee.

KAYE: OK.

BLACKWELL: Looked at her baby's diaper and saw an idea that led to business success. Here's her story in this week's "How We Got Started."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARGARITA MCCLURE, SWADDLEBEES: Can I have it? Thank you! You want to wear it?

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Margarita McClure's idea for her business, Swaddlebees, started with her first child and her determination to make cloth diapers work for her and her son.

MCCLURE: When I brought the ideas to my family and friends that I was going to use cloth diapers, a lot of them were like, oh, you're crazy, I'll give you two weeks. It was just the most cost effective option for diapering my baby.

BLACKWELL: The cloth diaper she bought did the job but Margarita wanted a better look and fit.

MCCLURE: I was looking at them. And, you know, you always get these ideas on how you can make something look better and I've always sewn all my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, when she first started making the diapers, the diaper was not pretty. I was like, are you going to put that on our child? Are you kidding me? It was pretty ugly.

BLACKWELL: Margarita perfected her design and then took the leap. She placed an order for 2,000 diapers to be made.

MCCLURE: Fifteen thousand dollars, that's a risk I was willing to take to be able to sell that in 12 months. And best case scenario, maybe three to four months.

But we blew through that within the first month.

BLACKWELL: Pretty soon, their home was overflowing with diapers. She moved into this warehouse, added employees and expanded into new product line.

MCCLURE: And our kids were diapered for free. We're happy and life is good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for starting your morning with us.

And here are five stories we're watching this morning.

Number one, up first, in Benghazi, Libya, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators stormed the headquarters of a radical Islamist group linked to the embassy attacked that killed four Americas. The group was shouting "no to militias." Protestors run the militia members out of the building and then set it on fire.

And last night, Libyan officials say at least four were killed and more than 70 injured in Benghazi.

Number two, Mitt Romney has released his latest federal tax return. The one from 2011. Romney paid nearly $2 million taxes off an income of nearly $14 million. That's a 14.1 percent rate. The campaign also released a letter from his accountants on the last 20 years. But all it really said is Mitt Romney paid taxes for the last two decades.

And while you were sleeping, the Senate approved a plan to fund the government for another six months. The government was set to run out of money at the end of the month. And now, all members of Congress are off, so they can go home to campaign.

Also, a disturbing story from right here in suburban Atlanta. Police say Paul and Sheila Comber kept their son Mitch confined and malnourished for four years and then on his 18th birthday shipped him to Los Angeles with a list of homeless shelters.

Authorities found him there and Mitch is now back in Georgia in safe surroundings and his parents are in custody.

Number five on a list of things never to do, this would be near the top. A man believed to be in his 20s jumped from the monorail at the Bronx zoo and into a tiger pit. He's in critical condition after suffering puncture wounds but he's alive. That's the good news.

Staff at the zoo, excuse me, used a fire extinguisher to keep the tiger at bay and the jumper then rolled under a hot wire to safety. Wow.

KAYE: Money can soon be on the way to the victims of the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Governor John Hickenlooper has appointed Washington attorney Ken Feinberg as special master for the Aurora victims relief fund, to help distribute funds to the families of the 12 victims who lost their lives and the 58 others who are wounded in that midnight attack.

Feinberg comes to the project with some pretty specialized experience. He's also been hired by Penn State to help claims by Jerry Sandusky's victims and he's helped give out funds to the victims of the B.P. oil spell and the attack on Virginia Tech.

But perhaps he is best known for his work on the 9/11 victims fund.

Ken Feinberg joins me now from our D.C. bureau.

Ken, good morning.

KEN FEINBERG, FEINBERG ROZEN MANAGING EDITOR: Good morning.

KAYE: Certainly, you have a lot of experience in this area. But why do you think specifically you've been called in to help manage these funds once again?

FEINBERG: Well, I think the previous funds worked, they were successful, 9/11 and Virginia Tech, Agent Orange, BP. And I think that success sort of breeds a repeat performance in these rare situations where compensation is ready to be distributed to innocent victims.

KAYE: If you look at the numbers, I believe only $5,000 so far has been given to each of these families. How quickly are you hoping to get the money out to them?

FEINBERG: Well, we hope in a matter of weeks. That's the key. I've learned in all of these programs going back to the 1980s with Agent Orange, get the money out, get it out fast. All the words in the world are no substitute for getting the compensation distributed as soon as possible to eligible victims.

KAYE: I remember during the BP oil spill you held a series of community meetings. You tried to go out and talk to the families who were waiting for money. Are you planning to have any contact with these families and help them understand the process? And what will the process being? I mean, will this be based on need or will they all get the same amount?

FEINBERG: Well, that has to be determined. I think there's been a lot of progress. The governor in Colorado has done a pretty wonderful job in trying to get to these victims and get their input and find out what these families seek in the way of a formula, how many money should be distributed, whether there should be any conditions.

Penn State is altogether different. Penn state isn't a community-wide compensation program. Penn State is a situation where there are a number of innocent victims of the Sandusky problem, sexual abuse issue, and I'll be trying to help those individuals and their lawyers, along with my partner Michael Rozen, try to reach out and see if we can find a resolution of that litigation between them and Penn State.

KAYE: Back to Aurora, $5 million is the fund, 58 wounded and 12 dead, will there need to be some money to help fill in the gap there. And -- or is it all there ready to go?

FEINBERG: I think it's there. Now, there may be other programs quite apart from this $5 million fund that might be also assisting victims, but the real question in Colorado will be, how do you take a limited amount -- a relatively limited amount of money and distribute it as best you can to the dead and to the physically injured. This will be not easy. But we do have Virginia Tech as a model where the families of the deceased all got the same amount and the physically injured were paid based on how long they were in the hospital. We may do something like that in Colorado.

KAYE: What about the suspect in the case in Colorado, James Holmes. I'm not sure what his assets are if he even has any. But could you go after him and his estate personally for any type of compensation?

FEINBERG: That's tilting the wind mills. I have nothing to do with that. The governor made it clear to me yesterday there is a discrete fund of about $5 million sitting, ready to be distributed to the victims of the shooting in the movie theater and that money hopefully we will get a program up, a protocol drafted, get that money out in a matter of weeks.

That is the goal and the governor made it very clear to me that is the goal.

KAYE: Yes. Having been out there covering that story, a met a lot of those families. I'm sure they are certainly in need and appreciate your hard work. Ken Feinberg, thank you.

FEINBERG: Thank you very much.

KAYE: Victor?

BLACKWELL: There's some good news. Scientists announce a new, aggressive plan to fight cancer, they say in just a few years. Dying from lung cancer maybe as rare as dying from pneumonia.

But, first, good morning. Washington, D.C., a beautiful shot at the capital. The sun is up there. There aren't many people there now, if anyone, because Congress is now on break. Everyone's going home to campaign.

Thanks for starting your morning with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Dying from lung cancer, skin cancer or breast cancer may soon be as rare as dying from pneumonia. That is the hope of the doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who say they will soon be able to radically lower the death rate from several cancers.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta got an exclusive interview at the world's largest cancer research center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RONALD DEPINHO, MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: We're in a position to make a dramatic impact on cancer mortality in this decade.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're saying if we do everything right, in five years from now, there will be far few people dying from cancer, right?

DEPINHO: Correct. I think with existing knowledge and the application of what we now know, we can begin to see dramatic declines in mortality that would accelerate in years five through 10, and beyond, set the stage for ultimate control of the disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I spoke to Sanjay earlier and I asked him about the specific cancers MD Anderson is talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: They are awfully confident. I spend some time with him. And I'll tell you the specific cancers. Let me preface by saying, Randi, you know, you almost got the sense that they had the energy of when President Kennedy talked about sending a man to the moon. They're calling this the moon shot project, to sort of raise that same passion about this particular project that they've taken on.

You can take a look at the list of the various cancers, Randi. They're big ones, melanoma, lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer, you know, overall. You have triple negative breast cancer, for example, Randi. That's often a very difficult cancer to treat.

In many of these cancers on this list, they say within the next few years, not a long time in the future, but in the next few years, dramatically cut down mortality and more than have and then go even further after that.

KAYE: Their intent they say is to cure. But hasn't that been the mission really for decades now? I mean, what makes them closer now to a cure than ever before?

Yes, you know, I asked that same question. And the man you just heard from, you know, he's the president of MD Anderson, the largest cancer center in the world. He's a cancer doctor. That's an institution of those more than a thousand clinical trials going on. What he will is look, we've been learning all along and with the science that we know right now, we can make leaps and bounds towards getting to that cure.

Quick example, you know, we hear a lot about mapping the genome and studying people's genes. With the science we know now, you can find specific markers for certain cancers and test for those on early on in life and be able to prevent a lot of those cancers from ever occurring as a result of those sorts of screenings.

Lung cancer is one of the biggest cancer killers, again, as I mentioned. But we know how to screen for lung cancer but we don't know who to screen. Those areas sound more simple than the wonder drugs we're used to hearing about. But it's in those areas you can make a dramatic difference of preventing a lot of these cancers in the first place.

It's not to say the futuristic medications and ways of using these medications aren't there, but it's a multiple different things going on at the same time.

KAYE: Yes, you certainly found a lot of time in their labs looking at all of the research. On what particular cancer do they think they'll have the greatest immediate impact?

GUPTA: I think melanoma. You know, we put that on the top of the list based on everything that we saw and spending a lot of time with these doctors. You're looking there as a young man who has what's known as stage four melanoma. And people who have dealt with cancer understand this is when the melanoma has spread throughout the entire body.

And, right now, there's not a lot of options for someone like him. He's a Minor League Baseball player from the Midwest. He's a coach here.

He came here and basically, undergoing there is a way that they're taking his immune cells -- cells from his immune system and then teaching them how to fight the cancer. They're actually harnessing the power of your body's own immune system and putting it back in the body and saying go find the melanoma and kill it.

And that sort of approach has been tried in various ways before, but this is one of the first times in the world, what you're seeing there is actually happening. They have great faith in the sort of therapy.

KAYE: It's amazing.

You know, I lost my mother to lung cancer, so it's incredible to see such progress being made already and such commitment.

GUPTA: Absolutely. I mean, it's a lot of money. The cancer research funds, grants have dried up, as you know, but they think $3 billion over the next 10 years to reach this very audacious goal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And don't miss Sanjay's special report, "Chasing the Cure," this weekend. It airs at 4:30 Eastern and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Victor?

BLACKWELL: Mike Rowe has had a lot of jobs, host of a hit TV show, salesman, opera singer --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BLACKWELL: Really good, right? Well, he sat down with me to talk about his new job, bar hopping around the country to show you how booze, yes booze, built America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSANNA HEISSE, PURA VIDA: This is an eco brick. This is the container. And this is where you stuff all the wrappers, all the plastic bags, everything that is synthetic and inorganic trash. You just put the lid on top and then you have an eco brick ready for construction.

I'm Susanna Heisse. I'm the founder of the Pura Vida movement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Discovery Channel host Mike Rowe does not mind getting dirty. In fact, he's worked a lot of dirty jobs. But he's certainly not complaining about his assignment this week. He's drinking beer, a lot of it. This was fun.

Mike took a break from hosting his TV show, and he took a seat at the bar to tell me how booze built America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Mike Rowe.

MIKE ROWE, DISCOVERY CHANNEL HOST: I'm him.

BLACKWELL: You are. We're here at old town bar. We wanted to make your feel at home.

ROWE: Who's got the tab on this, by the way?

BLACKWELL: We do.

ROWE: I love it here.

BLACKWELL: So, you know, when most people think Mike Rowe, they think "Dirty Jobs." You've had a lot of interesting jobs, including with the BSO. How did you get into singing?

ROWE: I've crashed an audition for the Baltimore opera, learned an area, somehow I got in.

BLACKWELL: Any chance you would share something you might remember from your days in singing?

ROWE: Ultimately it was --

(SINGING)

BLACKWELL: Very good. Very good.

ROWE: Very kind, thank you.

BLACKWELL: So after that, you spent some time, I'm sure a lot of people would be surprised to know at QVC.

ROWE: My first actual job in television.

The lap is a little warm. Not unlike lava.

I wondered out of the opera wall, dressed as a Viking, I walked across Mt. Royal Avenue, one the Mt. Royal Tavern, to order a beer, and watch the ballgame. But the football game wasn't on. The bartender, a guy I had known for a year, was watching a big guy in a shiny suits selling pots and pan, and I was like, Rick, can we watch the game? He said, no. I'm auditioning for that guy's job. He bets 100 bucks I can't get a call back if I go with the audition with him.

So, I go to the audition, and I didn't get a callback, but I got a job offer on the spot. But it wouldn't happen without the beer and that's kind of what helped motivate the booze show.

BLACKWELL: Three-part series on "How Booze Built America."

ROWE: Welcome back to the American Revolution brought to you in part by booze.

BLACKWELL: All these portraits we see in history of the signing of the Constitution and landing of the Mayflower. Right outside the shot, there's a keg somewhere.

ROWE: Always.

BLACKWELL: There are a couple of bottles somewhere that the painter did not include. Why do you think we never heard these stories?

ROWE: Look, this is the stuff your social studies teacher just didn't tell you. I'm sure when it comes to talking about it to school kids, there's a lot of pressure, let's just leave that part of the story out because it was a mistake, because booze was on the may flower. In fact, the Mayflower wasn't headed to Plymouth. It was headed South. It stopped in Plymouth because it ran out of beer, and back in those days, beer was the only thing you would drink.

Once they got into New England, what became New England, they started building taverns every few miles. There was no Facebook, you know? Taverns were the social network. Beer was the thing that held everybody together.

BLACKWELL: One portion of the first portion that I've watched that I was amazed by was the national anthem and that it's actually based on an English drinking song.

ROWE: Oh, yes, "Anacreon in Heaven" was an old poem that had been around for years and years and the tune was in fact a drinking song.

Francis Scott Key was a lawyer, and he was hired to defend an American who actually gave British soldiers quarter. He and this guy are on a ship drinking wine anchored outside Ft. McHenry, bombs bursting in air, the whole thing was going on, when Key writes "The Star Spangled Banner."

And so, you know, he's drinking wine when he's writing it, and ultimately this is all set to an English drinking song. So, you know, I'm not saying we don't have a national anthem without booze, but we certainly don't have the one that we have without it.

BLACKWELL: What is your favorite story about the influence of alcohol and the founding of the country?

ROWE: Like, you can look, for instance, at Lincoln's assassination. Everybody knows the story, right? Ford's Theater, star saloon. John Wilkes Booth is in the saloon for half an hour, before he shoots the president. He's sitting there drinking, liquid courage. He finally gets his courage up and leaves the room to shoot my favorite president.

People know that. What they don't know in the same room is a guy in sort of a Pinkerton uniform dressed like a cop. That's John Parker. That's Lincoln's bodyguard. Everybody is drinking.

So, you know, when you think about, you know, how did booze take America on a different course, you know, would booth have pulled the trigger had he not had a few in him? Would the bodyguard have stopped it had he been at his proper post? It helped bring the north and south together faster. Hastened the reconciliation because much of the South was horrified by what booth did.

So, it's not about booze being a good or a bad thing. It's about the fact that it's always in the room, always shaping things, whether we like it or not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: It was a great conversation.

KAYE: It sounds like it.

BLACKWELL: To sit and converse with this guy over a couple of pale ales and talk about history, not just about the founding of the country and going to the moon and so forth. In the 20th century, it was great.

KAYE: I found it interesting that his first question to you was who is picking up the tab here?

BLACKWELL: Let's clear that up first before I say anything.

KAYE: He wanted to know how good of a time he could have.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's something I need to tell but this bar, this old town bar in the Gramercy neighborhood of New York. If we take you into the bathroom, there is a 100-year-old relic there. These urinals have been there since 1910. Size of a twin bed, they are huge.

KAYE: Boy, have times changed.

BLACKWELL: And here's the other thing in 2010, the bar held a birthday party for the urinals.

KAYE: That must have been a fun one.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

KAYE: Did they have it in the bathroom? Did they cut the cake in the bathroom?

BLACKWELL: Urinal cakes.

KAYE: OK. I knew I should not have gone there.

BLACKWELL: You asked. I wasn't going to say it until you said the word cake.

KAYE: OK. Can we move on?

BLACKWELL: We certainly can. Yes.

KAYE: OK, good.

Tired of politics as usual, then you'll want to stick around for a campaign with a different theme and a very different candidate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Ever been to Halifax, Nova Scotia? It's a beautiful seacoast town in Canada. Lots of history and charm and really incredible scenery, but Halifax has too many cats.

Enter Tuxedo Stan, candidate for mayor. Yes. He's running for office, and, yes, he is a cat. He's standing with all four paws firmly planted on a worthy platform. Stan is encouraging the good citizens of Halifax to adopt a city-sponsored cat care program and he's walking the walk by raising money to help low-income families spay or neuter their cats.

Now, that is one candidate I would support. Kind of looks like my cat.

BLACKWELL: Browser. I saw the photo. I'm Tuxedo Stan and I approve this message.

KAYE: There you go.

BLACKWELL: Next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING starts now.