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Mitt Romney Speaks in Virginia; President Obama Campaigns in Florida; Interview with Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger; CDC Warns of Parasite that May Affect Pregnant Women; Pentagon Criticizes Book about Bin Laden Killing; Movie Critic Assess Box Office Arrivals

Aired September 08, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It's Saturday, September 8th.

Topping our news right now, the presidential race. It's intensifying today in two key battleground states, Virginia and Florida. Mitt Romney has two events in Virginia today, in fact one right now, and President Obama has two speeches of his own in the sunshine state. Both candidates fighting for the undecided voters, and the time is ticking. Election Day now just two months away, 59 days to Election Day.

So let's start in Virginia. Mitt Romney is making a campaign stop at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. The event has already gotten under way. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell giving the introductions so what appears to a pretty full house there.

In Virginia Beach our political editor Paul Steinhauser, he is there as well. Paul, clearly this is a very important state. We know President Obama won it, the first Democrat in a very long time to win and take Virginia in the last election. But Romney has become kind of a resident so as to speak of Virginia. This is his seventh stop there.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: This is his seventh trip. And remember, when he introduced and announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, he did it just a couple miles from here in Norfolk, Virginia. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have been here seven times now since the start of the general election. Both campaigns and super PACs putting up a lot of TV commercials in the state.

A big battle for the 13 electoral votes. As you mentioned, President Obama was the first Democrat to win Virginia since 1964. When Mitt Romney comes out here you'll hear a lot about the defense cuts and military spending because this is a big military crowd down here in this part of Virginia. Also a lot of retirees, a lot of veterans and defense industry workers. So you're going to hear a lot about that.

But it's interesting in Virginia, the big talk is jobs, jobs, jobs. And we say the unemployment report yesterday. The unemployment in Virginia is only 5.9 percent, much lower than the national average. Mitt Romney is coming out any minute now, so I'll send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much Paul. We'll continue to watch here. It's kind of difficult to see whether Mitt Romney is making his way to the podium there. There's the governor still talking. Perhaps he just said something that really excited the crowd there in his introduction of Mitt Romney. So we'll turn to that as soon as Mitt Romney walks in for the building there at that museum.

So let's go to Florida right for a moment where President Obama has kicked off a two day bus tour. This morning he stuck at a college in St. Petersburg near Tampa. The president blasted Romney's plan, saying it's all about tax cuts for the wealthy and gutting regulations for Wall Street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a choice between two fundamentally different paths for America, two fundamentally different visions for the future. Ours is a fight on behalf on that basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the strongest economy the world has ever known, the bargain that says if you work hard, it will pay off, the bargain that says responsibility will be rewarded, and everybody's got a fair shot, and everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president is staying in Florida. Later today he'll be heading to Kissimmee and tomorrow he's be making stops in Melbourne and West Palm Beach, Florida. So you can get an up close look at the two men vying to hold the country's future in a their hands, tomorrow night beginning 8:00, two documentaries, "Romney Revealed" and then following after that "Obama Revealed" at 9:30 eastern time.

Back to the Virginia Beach now and the military Aviation Museum. We understand the Republican nominee has entered the building. As we heard from our Paul Steinhauser, likely to talk about defense cuts and military spending.

And given Virginia has a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, he may not be hitting the message of jobs, jobs, jobs quite as hard what is now his seventh campaign stop in the state of Virginia, holding a long tradition of holding a red state up until the 2008 election when President Obama won that state making it blue. So now it's considered a swing state, very important for this election come November just 59 days away from Election Day.

Let's listen in to Mitt Romney.

(APPLAUSE)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you. Virginia really knows how to say hello. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Thank you Governor and Jeanine for being here and welcoming me and happenings to all of you for braving the warm weather today to give me such a welcome. And thanks to our veterans. I see a number of them in the audience here today. Thank you for your service.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: I know this has not been a week of a lot of good news. You saw the reports that we're not creating as many jobs that would even keep up with our population growth. And you saw that for every net new job created last month, four people dropped out of the warning force. So not the news the American people were hoping for and deserve.

But I'm here to tell you things are about to get a lot better.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: But that's going require you doing something important, and that's electing me the next president of the United States.

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

ROMNEY: You know, it's moving to be in this place and to see the aircraft and know the men and women that have helped defend liberty for America time and time again. It's moving to see the flag out there and the flags you've been waving inside this room. I remember as a boy, I was in the fourth grade.

Somehow in my mind, I remember being there in the fourth grade in front of the blackboard, we had an American flag pinned above the blackboard. And every day we stood, lined up in front of that blackboard and we recited the pledge of allegiance. Do you remember it? "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: When I make a promise, I intend to keep a promise, and I've done that throughout my life. When I made that promise time and time again in my pledge of allegiance to the flag, I remember that flag to this day. For me the pledge of allegiance and placing our hand over our heart reminds of the bloodshed by our sons and daughters fighting for our liberty and sharing liberty with people around the world.

The promises that were made in that pledge are promises I plan on keeping if I'm president, and I've kept them so far in my life.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: That pledge says "under God." I will not take "God" out of the name of our platform.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: I will not take "God" off our coins and I will not take God out of my heart.

(APPLAUSE) ROMNEY: "One nation, indivisible." I will not divide this nation. I will not apologize for America abroad and I will not apologize for Americans here at home.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: "With liberty and justice for all." With liberty, I will not to get that for to us have liberty here, for us to be able to protect ourselves from the most evil around the world, for to us share liberty with our friends around the world. Friends, we must have a military second to none, so strong no one will ever think of testing it.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: And I'm sure you know what's happening to our military. Our number of ships has gone from roughly 600 down, when the Navy said they had to have at least 313 ships minimum to carry out the missions that are given to our nation. And we're already down to about 282, something of that nature, and we're only creating about nine new ships a year. I'd increase that to 15 ships.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Do you realize our Navy is smaller than any time since 1917. That's unacceptable. It's time to have a rebuilding of our Navy to make sure it's the strongest in the world and it fulfills our missions.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Our air force is older and smaller than any time since 1947. Our troops have been stretched to the breaking point in the conflicts they've been endure, and our hearts go to those in far off places today particularly in Afghanistan who are in harm's way. We honor them, we love them, we respect them.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: But to preserve liberty, we must have a commitment not just to more ships and more aircraft, but also in my view to more members of our armed forces. I will not cut our military. I will maintain our military commitment.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Now, you listen to the governor talk about the cuts the president has put in place for our military and then the sequestration cuts that the White House came up with, that's the idea of sequestrations, so we're talking about $1 trillion in cuts. The estimates of the kind of numbers of jobs lost in Virginia is between 100,000 and 200,000. It's unthinkable to Virginia, to our employment needs, but it's also unthinkable to the ability and the commitment of America to maintain our liberty. And there if I'm president of the United States, we'll get rid of those sequestration cuts and rebuild America's military might.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: So with liberty for all, but also with justice for all. With justice for all -- I don't think it's just to the next generation for us to pass on massive debts that we've amassed and pass on to them $16 trillion in debt, pass to them is wrong and it must end.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: I also don't think it's justice for all when a nation is as prosperous as ours is, most prosperous nation in the history of the earth, to have one out of six people now who have fallen into poverty, 47 million on food stamps. When the president took office, there were 32 million on good stamps. How can a nation so prosperous stand by with such a national tragedy? That is not justice for all.

Now with the unemployment level having stuck above eight percent for 43 straight months, we remember the president promised that if we let him borrow almost $1 trillion, he would never let it reach eight percent. It's been above eight percent ever since. This president has not fulfilled his promises. And then he went to the Democrat convention and spoke at great length and had a lot of wonderful things to say, but he didn't say what he would do to help get jobs or come out of unemployment or to get people that are poor back to the middle class. He doesn't have a plan, he doesn't have any ideas, and we have to make sure he doesn't have any more days in the White House after January.

(APPLAUSE)

WHITFIELD: Listening to Mitt Romney there in Virginia Beach at the Military Aviation Museum there, rousing applause he especially when he talks about his commitment to rebuild the U.S. Navy, and he says he will maintain a commitment not to support any sort of military or defense spending cuts.

We also got a chance to show you President Barack Obama as he campaigns in the swing state of Florida earlier today. He will continue to make his way to Melbourne as well as West Palm Beach after spending a morning in St. Petersburg outside of Tampa this morning. So we continue to watch the two candidates vying for the swing votes.

Pretty nasty weather hitting the northeast, in fact a good part of the eastern seaboard right now. We'll have the latest on a tornado in New York.

And a frightened young man escapes robbers at his uncle's store in New York, I should say, but his collision with an officer ends up in tragedy. Why his family is now outraged.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, lots of folks in New York and anywhere else really excited about tonight's U.S. Open women's final. Now it is being rescheduled for tomorrow in large part because of a tornado that's already shut down.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A startling warning about a deadly infection that affects about one in five Americans. Why pregnant women and people who have compromised immune systems should be most concerned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A warning for pregnant women and people who have compromised immune systems. According to the CDC toxoplasmosis is an infection that affects about one in five Americans, and for some reason it can be deadly. It's found in cat feces and can be transmitted when cat owners clean out those litter boxes. But the good news is there are steps that you can take to prevent infection.

Joining me live right now, Dr. Sujatha Reddy. Dr. Reddy, first of all, most doctors will ask do you have pets and if you have cats and they'll probably tell you don't cleaner the litter box. But now what's the connection here?

DR. SUJATHA REDDY: It's a new warning because we're finding this is more common than we thought. One in five Americans now have been exposed or have at some point had this virus or it's actually a parasite. And it's carried by cats and often found in their feces or in garden soil if your cat's an outdoor cat. The cat can get this from eating soil that has the parasite or eating infected prey or birds because they're raw meat for the cat. The cat comes in the house and bring it to people.

So the warning is if you're pregnant, you have some immune problem, stay away from the cat litter box. If you have to change the cat litter box, make sure you wear gloves, possibly a mask. Make sure you always wash your hands when you come in from outside from touching garden soil. And we tell pregnant women this all the time -- if you're pregnant, do not eat undercooked meat or seafood because of many different bacteria, and in this case this parasite is one of the reasons. All you meat needs to be cooked completely through. Use a meat thermometer.

WHITFIELD: Wow, lots to be careful about.

In the meantime, another warning, I guess another lesson or incentive it for women who are pregnant. Now there's link between women smoking while pregnant and their children's propensity to become obese.

REDDY: You're exactly right. We've known this link for a while. When a woman smokes while she's pregnant, when that child reaches adolescence they tend to be more overweight. Some people thought the nicotine affected the metabolism. This study showed thaws part of their brain is actually a little bit smaller and in that smaller brain area, that makes them crave fat. So the kids whose moms smoked were more likely to be heavier, weigh more, have a higher fat diet, and more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol because this part of the brain seems to not develop well when their mother smokes. We've known forever that smoking can contribute to low birth weight, prematurity. So this is one more reason not to smoke while pregnant. WHITFIELD: And has the feeling been that when you smoke and you're pregnant that it also impacts just the development of other organs? People weren't thinking of the brain development.

REDDY: Yes, exactly. We've known about the low birth weight, but the good news is even if you're smoking right now and you are pregnant, if you quit now it will be a benefit to your baby in a day.

WHITFIELD: So what about the whole secondhand smoke? What if you're not smoking and somebody around you is?

REDDY: Just as important to avoid that. Either you yourself smoking or secondhand smoke, both can be very bad for a pregnancy.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, thanks so much.

And of course every Saturday at this time we bring you new information about medical breakthroughs or ways to improve your health and your quality of life.

Two young children abducted and rescued on the high seas are home safe. I'll have the story and an emotional reaction from the children's grabbed mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: At this hour the Chicago teachers union has scheduled a news conference about whether its 29,000 members will actually go on strike Monday. It would be the first time in 25 years. And 400,000 kids and their families are waiting to see if there's class when the weekend ends. If it does happen, the district has set up 144 centers for parents to send their children. Last night the union leader told families to stay away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN LEWIS, PRESIDENT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: They are going to be a mess. And I would not send my children. To let you know that as little respect that they have for us, they have even less respect for our children. So we have a problem with that, our students going to places where people have never worked with children. Some of the lawyers and central office staff are being sent out to staff this. So please tell me how that will be good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: At issue teachers' pay and a district's move to set up new way to evaluate teachers.

A father accused of abducting his two young children and running away with them on a stolen sailboat is now in custody. Authorities say 43- year-old Christopher Maffei abducted hi children from their mother's San Francisco home. Maffei allegedly sailed away with them on a stolen boat Tuesday night with no navigation rights. Maffei was taken into custody and the children returned home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN HIPON, CHILDREN'S GRANDMOTHER: I haven't been able to sleep much. I haven't been able to eat much. But I'm going to start eating again. This is the best news. When I get my two grandchildren, I'll hug them and never let them go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So the grandmother tried to help rescue the kids. That's why you saw the bruises on her chin. Police say the father has been in a custody dispute with the children's mother.

In New York City a robbery victim is shot and killed by a police officer. The surveillance video shows exactly what happened. You can see the 20-year-old Ronaldo Cuevas running from three robbers his uncle's store. He frantically breaks for it, runs full speed into an officer and a shot goes off killing him. Now his family is outraged and wants to know if this was a mistake. Commissioner Ray Kelly calls it an accident. He said, quote, "The two became entangled, at which point we believe the officer accidentally discharged his weapon." All the suspects in the robbery have been arrested. Cuevas was a father of a three year old girl.

U.S. military officials tell CNN's Barbara Starr a book about a former Navy SEAL and the killing of Osama bin Laden is inaccurate. The book "No Easy Day" claims bin Laden had been shot by a SEAL when he peeked in the hallway of the compound. But senior Pentagon officials say bin Laden was standing in the room when the SEALS entered, and they shot him, believing he was a direct threat. The officials also say it's possible that the author, who was a few seconds behind the lead SEAL, actually never saw bin Laden standing.

We're keeping our eyes on severe weather in the northeast. A tornado actually touched down this morning. Look at these incredible images right here. More tornados might be out there. Watches in effect up 10:00 p.m. tonight. Bad weather has already forced the U.S. Open women's finals there in Queens to be rescheduled until tomorrow.

Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is tracking this storm. So Alexandra, what is the latest? So watches, warnings still in effect?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, through 9:00 and 10:00 tonight tornado watches. What you're look at there, that's in Queens. It was at breezy point just over Jamaica Bay from JFK. And there are reports that the Breezy Point Yacht Club, that what we saw are industrial sized trash cans moved, cars moved. What you're looking at there is the funnel cloud. In that browner area around it, that's the debris field. So that was in Queens 11:00 a.m. this morning. We did have tornado warnings there until 11:30 this morning.

So here's the big picture. The atmosphere is ripe. We have a juiced up atmosphere, this warm humid air mass, so meaning tornadoes are possible until 10 ox and 10:00 tonight and then we'll begin to see things settle down.

Here's where we had tornado warnings earlier, just expired, that's where we had tornado warnings. That just expired, still one from Scranton heading toward Bethel. But these are all thunderstorm warnings with these long lines. So through today into tonight, that's when we'll see the severe weather. Boston, New York, Washington, poised for severe weather. Tomorrow clear, almost a little taste of fall behind the front tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: OK, fall is almost here officially, isn't it. Thanks so much. Our Susan Candiotti is actually in Breezy Point in the Queens area and she'll bring us a view, as well.

Get us close with some amazing wildlife, that's just one of the things that you can do at our great national parks. I'll tell you about a lot of other things to see and enjoy, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Beautiful mountains, great hiking trails, and active volcanos, you can see all those things and a lot who are by going to one of our national parks. Our friends at JetSetter.com have tips about what to see, how to see it. I started by asking about Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX PASQUARIELLO, JETSETTER.COM: There is an amazing array of wildlife at this park. You'll definitely see elk. And even the elusive black bear. One of my favorite animals is the big horn sheep. These are amazing animals that scale rocky cliffs. And one of the best places is the aptly named sheep lakes. And it's circled by a network of great trails so you can have plenty of great hiking and be slur sure to bring your binoculars.

WHITFIELD: Where do I want to say?

PASQUARIELLO: We love two hotels. The park is divided by the continental divide, so on the east side of the park is a beautiful town called Estes Park. And we love the Stanley hotel there. This is a historic old hotel that dates to the good inning of Rocky Mountain National Park. And rates there start at $200 a night. If you want to treat yourself on a more dude ranch, this is a 90-year-old cattle ranch. So it's all inclusive for a rate of about $650 a night.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. All right, let's heard further west and go to Hawaii. There the national park that many want to go to is volcano national park.

PASQUARIELLO: This is like the opposite of Rocky Mountain National Park. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is where you go -- it's at sea level, and it's where you go see earth actually being created, home to some of most active on the planet. This is where the iconic images of red molten lava and literally creating the Hawaiian Islands.

WHITFIELD: So where do I want to stay when I go there?

PASQUARIELLO: Where you'll want to stay is by the beach, naturally. There is a beach front hotel with two golf course, tennis courts, a really decadent spa. And they also preserve the Hawaiian landscape and natural heritage. They have turtle feeding program for the sea turtles, and then they also protect the ancient Hawaiian fishponds.

WHITFIELD: Beautiful. Let's head east, way east now, and the folks in mid-Atlantic are really glad there that there's a national park a stone's throw away in Virginia, Shenandoah National Park.

PASQUARIELLO: You want to escape the politics and bustle of the beltway, Shenandoah National Park is 75 miles outside of Washington and it's gorgeous. Skyline drive cuts right through the park. And it also provides access to great hikes. You can hike 100 miles to the Appalachian Trail and you can also see the ruins from our first American pioneers that set up camp there so long ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Gorgeous. Sign me up. You can get more details about the best things and places to go at our national parks at jet setter.com/getaway.

All right, you know him as the football hero Rudy -- Rudy, Rudy, remember that? Ahead my conversation with the man behind the story and his encouraging message to people of all ages -- don't give up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Remember the movie "Rudy"? In the film we meet a young man who overcomes many obstacles to achieve his dream of attending Notre Dame University and then playing for the school's legendary football team the Fighting Irish. There's more to his story than what we all saw in the movie. I talked to Daniel Ruettiger, the real life Rudy, about his new book "Rudy, My Story," and lessons learned.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL "RUDY" RUETTIGER, AUTHOR: The book goes in to the real story because a lot of people want to know what the story was about.

WHITFIELD: And so much shaped you well before Notre Dame. People approach you all the time right now with their own inner Rudy moments. Similar to how you kind of referred to those rocky moments in life that a lot of people have had. So what is it that you want to convey to people through your life experience before Notre Dame, while at Notre Dame, and beyond that you want to kind of help guide them in their lives with?

RUETTIGER: I want people to know that life, when you get hit, you need to get up and move forward you can, number one. And don't live in the past. Live in that moment. And learn from that moment. But really move forward and get around the people that will basically embrace your spirit and let you know that hard work pays off.

WHITFIELD: You had mentioned that a lot of times people take hits and they don't keep going. You say take the hits, keep going. Do you think in general people just give up too easily? RUETTIGER: Well, they give up because the hit that they took, they said, well, it wasn't worth it. They weren't clear with their goals. So when they take that hit, instead of saying, OK, I learned from that, but here's where I need to do now -- and I'm talking about learn from that. You have to change your attitude, change your procedure, change your process. And it's good to change. Change is good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Rudy's story has had a big impact on a lot of people's lives. Find out why Kobe Bryant says the movie "Rudy" made such an impression on him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger inspired a movie, and now he's written a book. In "Rudy, My Story," we'll find out how hard it was to make the original movie. And Rudy tells me that he loves that his story inspires every the great ones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUETTIGER: One of the great stories I've heard, it just happened last year, I'll never to get this, a moment when Kobe Bryant met me and he said right in front of my son that I was his hero. And I would say how would I be your hero. And he said, Rudy, the movie "Rudy" taught me a very important lesson. I was 16 years old when I saw your movie. I was in Italy. And I saw a guy get hit. And I saw a guy with no talent talent. He kept trying. Here I am with talent and I'm having a pity party. So I can still remind myself working hard and preparation is so important for me to succeed, and I wanted to thank you for that. And when I hear stories like that, it encourages me. I'm glad I can give something back.

WHITFIELD: And it was a story in and of itself to actually get your story, that 27 seconds, into a movie form. Was it as difficult or as challenging as told in book form?

RUETTIGER: Well, that's why I wrote the book, "Rudy, My Story," because it tells basically that journey of getting the movie made and all the obstacles. It's not easy on get a movie made. It's not easy if you don't have a book already written to go up to Hollywood and explain your journey. And by the way, they're not going to make a movie on a guy that made one tackle. They were very clear on that.

But once they understood the journey, the metaphor was we need sports is a great metaphor of life. If you keep trying and keep working hard, you'll find a way to succeed.

And look what happens if you don't quit. I almost quit many time because I didn't think it was going to happen, and because of friends I had and because of words of encouragement it helped me keep going. One word of encouragement can help you. Instead of saying here's what you're doing wrong, here's why you're not going to make it. Here's why you're going it make it you're going to make mistakes, you'll get knocked down, let's get up, let's try again and we'll learn from this and we'll be successful. Those are the words I love hearing. And you'll get better at what you. And it goes over that level confidence. And when you have that confidence, you start dreaming big. We need to know dreams do come true.

WHITFIELD: Rudy, thanks so much for helping to teach us those lessons alone the way in a movie and now even the book.

RUETTIGER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's a great read. And you can find that book of course on the book stands now, "Rudy, My Story."

Our favorite movie critic, Grae Drake, surely she saw the movie "Rudy." I bet you were a big fan, too.

GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC: How could you not be? I was in tears.

WHITFIELD: It was so inspiring. You'll be talking about another movie that was I guess a pretty good hit last week, "The Possession." You spoke with the cast. Do they have you in tears?

DRAKE: They had me laughing. It's a scary movie.

WHITFIELD: Just checking. We're going to talk about that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this week our movie critic looks at the dramatic drama "The Words" and a scary horror film "The Possession." Are they worth your time and bank? Grae Drake, senior editor at rottentomatoes.com is joining us from Los Angeles. Good to see you.

We're going to ease into it, because you know how I am about scary movies, so let's go with the non-scary first. "The Words" starting Bradley Cooper and Zoe Soldana, Cooper playing a writer who passes someone else's work off as his own. Let's watch a quick clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was to tell you the story and you wrote it, well, then maybe you could give me a little credit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That wouldn't be fair, would it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, and Jeremy Irons. He's huge. But let's get your point of view on this one. This is one that keeps you at the edge of your seat?

DRAKE: You know, based on the story, you would kind of being that this is going to be a thriller. And what I admired about the movie because that its approach was different. It's actually much more of a moral quandary. Bradley Cooper is not running around Vegas with a monkey on his back and a hangover this time. It's a very serious movie. He goes to Paris and he'll stare at anything that has Earnest Hemingway's name on it.

Now, he does a great job of making will decision based on his desire to create art. And this is where the movie succeeds is this this particular plot point. However, surprise it's a story within a story. Where it goes off the rails is that Dennis Quaid is in the movie as well, which they're not publicizing very much. And it starts to get too complicated. Everyone in the film is great, but the movie goes off the rails enough that it felt to me like I had been eating this really interesting delicious ice cream cone for 70 minutes and then I dropped it on my shoe and had to stare on the at it for 20 more.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: So how does it rank on the tomato meter?

DRAKE: Critics are being much harder on it than I am. And it is 17 percent.

WHITFIELD: All right, too bad. From thoughtful to thriller, "The Possession," which was actually number one at the box office last weekend, about a girl who opens up a mysterious box and is possessed by the demon inside. You it did an interview with the cast. But first before you tell me about the interview, let's watch a clip and I'll slow close my eyes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DRAKE: Not since Linda Blair have I been so terrified. So way to go and you're a jerk.

(LAUGHTER)

DRAKE: And did this cause your real life parents to look over their shoulders now because you are so good at being horrifying in this film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's an excellent question.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So give me an idea of what your experience was like.

DRAKE: The movie itself is based on a true story, Fredricka. I don't know if enjoy going to garage sales at all, but this movie makes me think twice, because in real life the family goes to a garage sale, buy as harmless wooden box. Oops, there's a demon in it.

So the interviews were fantastic because I was totally into this film. I thought that Natasha Dallas as the little girl who is possessed is the scariest I've seen her since Linda Blair. It's the reason I called the small child a jerk.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: No one will want to go to a garage sale after that. So where was it on the tomato meter?

DRAKE: The tomato meter, 38 percent, but number one movie. So I guess we know who wins that argument.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Well, we got a hit and a miss. Grae Drake, you are always a hit. Thanks so much.