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Violence Continues in Middle East; U.S. Draws Down Troop Presence in Afghanistan; Kidnapped American Remains Missing in Iran; Surgery Transplants Uterus from Mother to Daughter; Hollywood Losing Filming Business to Other Cities; Singer Jewel Writes Children's Book
Aired September 22, 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. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Washington. Welcome to the CNN Newsroom.
In the next few minutes President Obama arrives in Wisconsin, taking his campaign to Paul Ryan's home state. It is his first trip, the president, that is, there since February. And with only a month to go before early voting starts, it's a state that could play a role in deciding this election.
Athena Jones is with the president, traveling with the president, that is. You're becoming the advance team, too. He has two events there and he rides in with a lead in the polls in that state. So is he trying to keep down any possible bump the Republicans might be getting from adding Ryan to the ticket or what is the real ambition here?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. They want to make sure they can keep Wisconsin in the win column. In 2008, the president won this state with 14 points, by 14-point lead. And Wisconsin has been a pretty reliably blue state. The last time it went red in a presidential election was back with Ronald Reagan in 1984.
But, of course, putting Paul Ryan as a running mate for Romney changed the game a little bit. We haven't seen many recent polls with the president with that huge lead. Certainly a few recent polls have said he's in the lead. Our CNN poll puts him up 52 percent to 43 percent, but it's a state the campaign may not have expected to really spend time in, but they certainly don't want to let it go. It's got 10 electoral votes, and, of course, in a close race, every little bit counts.
WHITFIELD: And so Republicans are trying to counter Obama's campaign in Wisconsin in what way?
JONES: Well, it's interesting today, the Romney campaign says that the fact that the president is coming here to Wisconsin, this reliably blue state, shows he has a, quote, "Wisconsin problem." They have also paid for digital advertising. We haven't had a chance to see any, but blasting the president's record.
The RNC separately has a similar message. They said the president has been ignoring Wisconsin for 220 days and they have a new web video out. So they're trying to capitalize on the fact the president is here in this state, that hasn't voted for a Republican for president in many, many years, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK, and with every stop besides stumping, sometimes the candidate wants to raise a little money, too. The president will be doing that at a fund-raiser with Hank Aaron?
JONES: That's right. That's his first stop. He'll attend two fundraisers. One is a low-dollar one. One is a high-dollar one. They expect to bring in at least $600,000. But of course, fundraising is going to be a big part of all of this as we head into the last 45 days, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Athena Jones, thanks so much in Milwaukee, appreciate that.
All right, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was not in his home state today. Instead, he is spending the day campaigning in Florida, including a stop in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Ryan took the president to task on his policy towards Cuban leader Fidel Castro and promised a tougher stance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In a Mitt Romney administration, we will not keep practicing this policy of appeasement. We will be tough on this brutal dictator. All it has done is rewarded more despotism. We will help those pro-democracy groups. We'll be tough on Castro, tough on Chavez. And it's because we know that that's the right policy for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Paul Ryan's next stop is in Orlando this afternoon for a town hall at the University of Central Florida.
Mitt Romney, by the way, is in California focusing on fundraising there. But it's Romney's personal finances that are creating quite a buzz. He released some of his tax documents including his full 2011 tax returns. It shows he made $13.7 million last year and paid nearly $2 million in federal income taxes. Because Romney's income came largely from investments, he is taxed at a lower rate, 14.1 percent. We'll have more on the debate surrounding Romney's taxes later on this hour.
Meanwhile in Washington lawmakers worked well into the night wrapping up final business before the November election. Senators approved a roughly $500 billion package to fund the federal government for the next six months, avoiding a possible shutdown come October 1st. It's passing was delayed for days over partisan bickering.
And the U.S. Senate also passed a measure almost unanimously that strengthens America's resolve on Iran. The non-binding resolution allows the U.S. to pursue a policy other than containment if necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The one dissenting vote came from Rand Paul, who argued the resolution was a de facto declaration of war.
The surge of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is over and officials are saying it has been a success. If all goes according to plan, there will be a withdrawal of U.S.-led international military force by the end of 2014. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has details now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As commander in chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The president in 2009 announcing a surge of troops into Afghanistan. Now those troops are on their way home and the military is saying mission accomplished.
BRIG. GEN. ROGER NOBEL, ISAF/AUSTRALIA: The surge has effectively covered and enabled the training and building of the Afghan national security force and is an amazing outcome in and of itself.
STARR: This is why the administration says it worked. The number of Afghan forces has more than doubled to 340,000. The U.S. believe surge troops pushed the Taliban out of southern strongholds long enough to let the U.S. train new Afghan units and get them into the field. Over 80 percent of operations in the south now are led by Afghans.
But it's come with a heavy cost. More than 1,100 U.S. troops killed, more than 12,000 wounded in that time. Behind all of the numbers, deep problems remain. The Taliban still has plenty of fight left. One week ago 16 insurgents breached the U.S. and British base in southern Afghanistan, killing two U.S. marines and destroying six aircraft. And many joint U.S. and Afghan combat patrols, the backbone of the war, have been stopped because of the disturbing number of NATO troops that have been killed this year by Afghans in military uniforms, many believed to be disgruntled troops. There are fundamental questions about those Afghan forces.
STEPHEN BIDDLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: The troops know what their officers really care about and that the officers are more worried about siphoning fuel off into the black market than they are in planning patrol to keep the troops alive. The troops see this and they aren't willing to risk their lives under these circumstances.
STARR: And the cost of America's longest war continues to mount, about $430 billion so far, about $7 billion every month.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And protesters stormed streets, condemning the attack against the U.S. and extremism. Where it happened just might surprise you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: At least three militants are dead in a U.S. drone attack in a town in north Waziristan. Two missiles hit a vehicle being used by local Taliban leaders. Officials say two other militants were injured in the attack. The fighting in Syria is spreading beyond its borders. There have been skirmishes near Turkey and the Syrian-Lebanese border, and Syrian rebels have also attacked a Lebanese army position. Lebanon says they have deployed military reinforcements to the area.
The investigation of the Secret Service scandal is over. Officials say the agents who hired prostitutes in Colombia did not harm presidential security although they did engage in misconduct. The report is not going to be made public.
Taking no chances, the U.S. government has temporarily closed several diplomatic facilities in the Middle East. More protests have been happening today over the anti-Islamic film that has ignited so much anger in the Muslim world. This is what daylight brought after Friday's protests turned violent there. At least 27 people were killed and more than 100 injures.
Protests of a different kind erupted in Libya. A rally in support of America and against extremism sprung up late last night, but it quickly unfolded into something else. Here is CNN's Arwa Damon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This probably one of the few countries where we are seeing mass demonstrations, not just in support of the United States, but more condemning the attack that took place on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. People taking to the streets yesterday in the thousands demanding democracy, but more importantly, demanding an end to these extremist militias, whom people and the government here say were behind that attack that took the lives of four Americans.
What happened is at night on Friday, hundreds of these pro-democracy demonstrators began taking situations into their own hands and storming various headquarters of known militias in the city of Benghazi, including the headquarters of the militia. And if you'll remember, the Libyan government has said that it has detained individuals who are part of that group in association with the attack on the U.S. consulate, although they say the group as a whole was not behind that assault.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Arwa Damon, thank you so much for that reporting.
Meantime, President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be heading to New York next week for a meeting of the U.N. general assembly. The violence in the Muslim world will likely be high on their talking points. Administration officials say the president will likely talk about the attack in Libya during his speech Tuesday. He will also reiterate the U.S. stance that Iran must not be allowed to build a nuclear bomb.
It's a gift from mother to daughter that few might have ever imagined could happen, a first of a kind transplant that is an amazing medical procedure.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A 25-year-old man is in critical condition after jumping into a tiger pit at the Bronx Zoo. The man was riding on the zoo's monorail yesterday when he jumped out of the car and launched himself over the tiger exhibit fence. And no big surprise there, one of the tigers bit him several times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the tiger going to be put down?
JIM BREHENY, BRONX ZOO DIRECTOR: No. As I said, the tiger did nothing wrong in this -- did nothing wrong in this case at all. I really want to emphasize that. You know, this is a bad situation, but you know, it was a really good day at the Bronx Zoo because, you know, we had the cat which is still alive and we have this guy that we pulled out of the exhibit, and he's still alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And while the man was being attacked, staff members ordered him to roll out of the reach of the tiger, and that likely saved his life. It's still unclear exactly why he did that in the first place.
All right, doctors in Sweden performed not one but two first-of-a-kind transplants. In both cases they transplanted the uterus of a post- menopausal woman into the body of her grown daughter. Neither of the younger women had a uterus. One was born without one. The other had her uterus removed because of cervical cancer. I talked about this with senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They took the moms, who were obviously done having their children. The daughters were in their 30s, so the mothers were obviously older than that. They took the uterus out of the moms and put it into the daughters, and then left them there, kind of kept them open on the operating table for 20 minutes. You can see it here. They sort of reconnected everything, took all the vessels and reconnected it into the daughters. So that's out of one body and put that uterus into another body, into the daughter's, reconnected everything, sewed it in place, attached it.
WHITFIELD: And as far as they know right now, it's working.
COHEN: It's working, meaning it can hold a baby for nine months, and they don't know. They want to wait about a year. They want to wait a year until the women get pregnant. But then in a year, hopefully they'll know. What's really crazy is me is if these women do get pregnant, that baby is going to be in the same uterus that the mother was in. That mother was -- that uterus is carrying their baby, but they were also in that uterus.
WHITFIELD: So has this ever been attempted and now it's down to perfection, or is this the first all the way around? COHEN: This happened in Sweden, and the Swedish doctors tell us it was tried twice, once with a living donor here and once with a deceased donor they took from a cadaver. But in one case, the woman didn't get pregnant, and in the other case, no one has heard if she's gotten pregnant. So in other words, there's no known live birth from a uterus transplant. So if there's a live birth from this, according to these doctors, it would be the first.
WHITFIELD: So they're going to wait at that point to see if effectively these two women are able to use their new uterus before they're to perform any more surgeries?
COHEN: Before they start doing more transplants?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
COHEN: I would imagine they're going to be quite patient about this, because they tried this surgery out on rodents and then they tried it on larger animals. So I would imagine they're going to be quite patient about it.
WHITFIELD: That's fascinating. That's a big old medical breakthrough. Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And every Saturday at this time, we bring you information about medical breakthroughs or ways to improve your health and quality of life.
All right, on the campaign trail, we mentioned the president's long awaited arrival in Wisconsin. Air Force One has touched down there in Wisconsin, and we're awaiting his arrival to emerge from Air Force One there. He's in Milwaukee for at least two reasons, both are fundraising efforts, but just different audiences. He's returning to a state he actually won back in 2008 and is hoping to maintain that kind of leverage over his Republican opponent.
And, of course, the president, when he lands there, he'll be heading to a couple fundraisers. Looks like -- there he is arriving right now. A couple fundraisers, one is considered a big-money fund-raiser and the other one not as substantial, but important nonetheless, as he continues to kind of build those coffers as he crisscrosses the nation trying to garner more support in this 2012 election just now 45 days away. Where's the time going? The president there in Wisconsin -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before he carries on with his fundraising efforts there.
All right, Mitt Romney meantime has released some tax records, but are they enough to quiet the critics?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More than five years ago, a retired FBI agent disappeared in Iran. The U.S. government is asking Tehran for information and offering a $1 million reward for any information on his whereabouts. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti talked to his wife.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE LEVINSON, WIFE: This is my husband, I have to take care of him. I have to get him home.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But after disappearing more than five years ago, Christine's husband Bob Levinson is a long way from home where he once cuddled his newborn grandson.
BOB LEVINSON: I'm not in very good health. I'm running very quickly out of diabetes medicine.
CANDIOTTI: This video, showing the much thinner retired FBI agent being held hostage, was sent to the family two years ago. The state department says it's unclear who's holding him.
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: When we received the video, we had high hopes because we e-mailed back a number of times in order to get whoever is holding him to let us know what we need to do to get Bob home. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened.
CANDIOTTI: Levinson disappeared on an island off Iran's coast in 2007 where his family said he was investigating cigarette smuggling for a private company. FBI billboards are now up in New York's Times Square in hopes that visiting delegates to the U.N.'s General Assembly will see him.
What makes you think he's still alive?
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: I just believe it in my heart. I know that from the video that he has lost weight and hopefully all of his health problems are at least at bay and he will be able to get home safely to us. I can never lose help.
BOB LEVINSON: Please help me get home. Thirty-three years of service to the United States deserves something.
CANDIOTTI: What gives you hope when you look at that video and see how he looks?
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: I know when he looks determined, and he looked very determined to make it home safe and sound.
CANDIOTTI: Her husband has missed walking one of his daughters down the aisle. Another daughter's wedding is in February.
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: His closet is still full of his clothes that I know won't fit him anymore, and I haven't touched his dresser. So every morning I'm reminding the nightmare continues.
CANDIOTTI: If he's able to see this, what do you want to say directly to him?
CHRISTINE LEVINSON: We will never, ever, ever stop looking for you. I miss you every day. Love you. CANDIOTTI: The U.S. has offered no new information about where Levinson is and who is holding him. I spoke to a source with knowledge of the investigation who says, quote, "There's every reason to believe based on all of the evidence that Levinson is alive and well."
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Now to the race for the White House. Today President Obama is zeroing in on a state that could be key to winning the election, Wisconsin. You saw just moments ago that he touched down, now live images of him greeting people there at the airport.
So the president holds two campaign events in that city today. Wisconsin is the home state of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, but a CNN poll shows the president with a nine-point lead in that swing state.
Meantime, Mitt Romney is in California focusing on fundraising, but it's Romney's personal finances that are creating quite the buzz this weekend. Yesterday the Republican presidential candidate released some of his tax documents, including his full 2011 tax return. It shows he made $13.7 million last year and paid nearly $2 million in federal income taxes. Because Romney's income came largely from investments, he is taxed at a lower rate, 14.1 percent.
The documents also show that Romney or the Romneys, rather, donated more than $4 million to charity, but they only claimed about half of that as deductions to conform with Romney's earlier statement that he has never paid less than 13 percent in income taxes over the last decade.
All right, so now that those tax records are public, what impact, if any, might it have on the race? Joining me now to talk about all of this, the latest from the campaign trail, is A.B. Stoddard, associate editor and columnist for "The Hill." Good to see you, A.B.
A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "THE HILL": Nice to see you, too.
WHITFIELD: Anything ominous about the release of this information now just 45 days to the election and the release taking place on Friday?
STODDARD: All releases are done on Friday of information that the campaign doesn't want to discuss or highlight, but it is really puzzling to people that it happened at all. This is something that the press has asked for, Democrats have taunted the campaign over for a long time. Even Republicans have said just get it out so it's not a subject anymore, no longer a distraction.
So it comes so close to the debate, so close to the election, and actually continues to withhold, the campaign is continuing to withhold information, so the release of the 2011 summarization of the tax rates from the last 10 or so years just raises more questions about what is in those returns and what the details actually are. As you pointed out, it's great he gives so much money to charity, but it is true he had to forego deductions in order to stay true to the rate of 13 percent or more he said he's previously paid. So if he had taken advantage of the deductions, he would have paid less. So he continues to remind people he makes a lot of money. He doesn't really want to provide too much information about too many years going back. And it's puzzling to even Republicans about why it came out now.
WHITFIELD: So that summarization you called kind of mysterious, all of this being puzzling, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is accusing Romney of manipulating his return. But we don't know what the evidence is Mr. Reid has. Why would he say that?
STODDARD: Reid, as you remember a while back, actually kept Romney on the defensive by saying something outrageous. He had no evidence, and Senator Reid said I've heard a rumor that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes one or more years. He had no information, no evidence to accuse him of such a thing.
But Mitt Romney and his campaign spent days distracted by it, answering to it. And so what Reid did was succeeded in dragging out a story that wasn't a real story. He's back at it, attacking Mitt Romney. He likes to do this.
I don't think it makes much difference. The most important thing here is to the new voters who remain. He's looking for new voters. Romney has all of the people who are desperate to defeat President Obama, but is it going to change the minds of new voters? I don't really think it makes a big difference in the end.
WHITFIELD: OK, meantime, Romney is in California fundraising. His partner Paul Ryan is in the very important swing state of Florida campaigning. A couple interesting things have happened involving Ryan over the course of the past 24 hours. He was booed when in front of the AARP. And then today, apparently, people spontaneously broke out in song, "God Bless America" when he was in south Florida. Is there a feeling that Romney and his partner, Ryan, are kind of in sync, their campaigns are in sync?
STODDARD: They are. The interesting thing is when Paul Ryan was chosen, however, on the 11th of August, we thought it was going to be a new campaign, a different one than the one we had seen for all these months since he became the nominee or the presumptive nominee and it hasn't. They were on offense for Medicare for about a week. They got a bump in the polls. Then they went to the convention, didn't speak much about it, and they have really to the frustration of Republicans, not drawn a huge, bold contrast that Republicans expected them to. And so what you're seeing now is sort of a campaign where Ryan is doing what Romney wants him to but not making the big contrast.
WHITFIELD: A.B. Stoddard, always good to see you. Thanks so much.
STODDARD: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, planning a trip to the big apple anytime soon? If you are, don't just think about visiting Manhattan. Don't think about those, you know, classic trademark kind of places. There are a couple hot neighborhoods that you've got to visit, and they're offering so much. We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: If you're planning a trip to New York, you're probably heading to Manhattan. Maybe you'll take in a Broadway play. But there are a lot of hot spots, neighborhood spots you need to put on your must-visit list when you head to the big apple. Harlem has been a center of African-American culture for decades, a haven for poets like Langston Hughes and musicians like Louis Armstrong. And now they're experiencing a new renaissance of culture and food. I talked about it with Nilou Motamed, features director for "Travel and Leisure" magazine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NILOU MOTAMED, FEATURES EDITOR, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": The first thing to do is go to the studio museum in Harlem which is incredible. Thelma Goldman has been instrumental in putting Harlem on the map once again. It's a place that's devoted to emerging artists and forgotten artists of African-American descent. This is a place to give you a great taste of Harlem.
One of their great exhibits for the summer is an exhibit on postcards of Harlem, so different artists giving renditions of what they see around them. I love that museum and it's a great destination. But don't stop there.
WHITFIELD: Now a new draw, people know Marcus Samuelsson for aquavit, but now he's got the red rooster and then there's another interesting place, Ginny's supper club. Tell me about the two places.
MOTAMED: The new generation of Harlem, Marcus Samuelson has kind of become a figurehead. He's passionate about the renaissance in Harlem. He's made this corner of 125th and Lennox the hot place to be, whether you go to Red Rooster Harlem and have your chicken or his grandmother's meatballs. You'll see people from celebrities, music stars, President Obama is a fan. This is a place to go every time of day. People from Central casting are just gorgeous.
And then downstairs is a brand new supper club called Ginny's. You can see live jazz there form established acts and brand new acts. And my favorite thing they do is another traditional thing in Harlem is gospel Sunday brunch. That's off the hook and amazing.
WHITFIELD: That's fantastic. He has struck gold once again, this time in Harlem. Where do I want to stay? I want to stay in Harlem if I'm going to do this whole Harlem thing?
MOTAMED: Absolutely. And a great home base close to the Apollo Theater and Silvia's is the Incredible Loft. You can stay there for $189 a night, and they have great rooms with floor to ceiling windows and bliss amenities. Just because you're staying in Harlem doesn't mean you're not staying in style.
WHITFIELD: You may think you know Brooklyn, but you don't. There are hot areas, particularly Williamsburg, not Virginia, but New York.
MOTAMED: Absolutely not. Williamsburg in Brooklyn, I live in a different neighborhood, but last night, I was in Williamsburg because it's a hotbed of coolness.
WHITFIELD: Take me to this boutique, this chocolate boutique. That alone will take me to Brooklyn.
MOTAMED: So Mast Brothers Chocolate, this is where you have to go. What is great about mast brothers, the passion project of two young brothers. They're obsessed with single origin chocolates. They go around the world looking for the best cocoa, and then they produce these things by hand. Not only do they produce them by hand but they wrap them individually in this beautiful paper.
And you can go to their factory and see the process being done. Their chocolate is one of my favorites and it's reason enough to go to Brooklyn.
WHITFIELD: Then you want to lay your head down somewhere in Brooklyn. What is it about the Wythe hotel that you like?
MOTAMED: It just opened this spring. One thing I love about it beside the fact it's a great home base for all your explorations in Brooklyn is the fact you can go to the coolest spot on the roof to see incredible views of the city, get great cocktails, and feel like you have a built-in scene. You don't have to go outside even to find the cool Brooklyn theme at the Wythe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Nilou. And if you happen to be in New York next weekend, "Travel and Leisure" is sponsoring a global travel bazaar. It features food, shopping, and a zip-line. To find out more, go to tlglobalbazaar.com, TlGglobalbazaar.com.
When it comes to producing a TV show or movie, there are more people involved than just the actors and directors and producers. Next how caterers, florists, and others are suffering because of big changes in Hollywood.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Three people wounded in the Colorado shooting are suing the theater owner. They say the theater didn't have proper security and alarm systems. They want to be compensated for their loss and injuries. And 12 people were killed and 58 wounded in the July 20 shooting at the Aurora multiplex.
On the same day the lawsuits were filed, the president of Cinemark USA announced a plan to reopen the Century 16 Theater by the beginning of the new year. It's been closed for two months since the accused gunman James Holmes went on that shooting spree. Some of the victims' friends and family members believe the target date for the reopening is too soon. But a city spokesperson said they conducted a survey on Facebook and the majority voted in favor of it. Caterers, florists, limo drivers, you don't see them on TV, but they are vital to the successful production of a television show. In Hollywood, these workers say they're suffering as the result of some big industry changes. TV producers are moving to other cities like New York and Atlanta to produce their shows, and they're taking a huge economic stimulus with them. Kareen Wynter takes a deeper look at how the industry has changed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For a man who prefers to work behind the scenes of films like "Wedding Crashers" and TV shows like "Blind Justice." Longtime key grip Gary Dagg never imagined he would be part of an unscripted Hollywood storyline.
GARY DAGG, HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION WORKER: It's a shame, but the whole paradigm of filmmaking has changed.
WYNTER: Hollywood is on the brink of losing its title at the entertainment capital of the world.
DAGG: The people that serve the industry and have served the industry for a long time, they are in a real big world of hurt right now.
WYNTER: A shrinking world of job opportunities that has left thousands of workers including Dagg feeling the pinch.
DAGG: It's the people who serve the industry, the people, the caterer, the people who run the flower shops, the ones who run the limo services.
WYNTER: Hollywood first lost its edge more than a decade ago when many film productions, lured by better tax incentives, began shooting elsewhere, like the big apple, the big easy, and Canada. Now TV dramas are the latest to move out. Only two of the 23 new fall dramas are being shot in Los Angeles. Big TV dramas mean big-time jobs.
PAUL AUDLEY, PRESIDENT, FILM L.A.: A typical drama, 22-episode drama will hire 840 people.
WYNTER: Paul Audley keeps track of area production as president of Film L.A.
AUDLEY: California is way behind. If they had at the beginning of the incentives race come out with a modest incentive that was broadly based, it would have shut down the whole race.
WYNTER: Now states like New York are battling for bragging rights as the new entertainment hub.
AUDLEY: We see the mayor and governor of New York claiming in this century they will be the center of film and television production.
WYNTER: The loss of TV drama production alone.
AUDLEY: We're down so far that where we used to own 80 percent, we're down to about 29 percent this year.
WYNTER: A decline that's draining the wallets of local production workers like Dagg, along with California coffers. The solution, Dagg says it starts at the legislative level with a push for more competitive tax incentives.
What will this place look like if things don't turn around?
DAGG: I don't think any of this -- I don't think any of us want to lose what we look at as the glamor of Hollywood. Aside from the glamour, it's the nuts and bolts kind of industry that has helped sustain a lot of other ancillary businesses in town. I think the impact on not only Los Angeles but the state in general would be devastating.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And singer/song writer Jewel has a new project inspired by her adorable son. I'll talk to her about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Jewel has been nominated for four Grammys. Her debut album sold 12 million copies. She's a singer, songwriter, actress, poet, and producer, and now you can add children's book author to that list. She's just released her new book called "That's What I Do."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Congratulations on the book. It's so sweet.
JEWEL, AUTHOR: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: Tell me, what inspired you to write this book?
JEWEL: I wrote this song for him when I was pregnant, and as I was writing the lyrics out into a notebook, it really struck me that I wanted to make it into a children's book and have it illustrated. So a year later, here I am.
WHITFIELD: Here you are. Was it a difficult thing to do, to kind of extrapolate what you had written for music and now putting it on the pages?
JEWEL: I would like to say it was an arduous process that took a lot of time to craft, but, honestly, it's the exact lyrics from the song. Once I had it done, it's just in song form sort of in here. It rhymes, which I really like because I want to teach my son rhyming when he gets older. And it's mainly a sentiment. It's a love letter to my son. I wanted him to know how loved he was and all the things I would do for him and where wanted to give it to other parents as well.
WHITFIELD: Would you mind reading a favorite verse or two? JEWEL: Yes. "If I had the sun I would paint yellow in a brush and paint you a portrait that you could feel and touch. The sun would hit your face from my picture filled with light, and as darkness came, the canvas would fill up with night. That's what I would do, do, do because I love you, you, you.
WHITFIELD: That is very rhythmic. In fact, we have a portion of that cd that's included in the book, and we're going to listen to it right now.
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WHITFIELD: So sweet. And what is his response when he hears your music?
JEWEL: He loves music. I don't know if he loves my music or not, but he seems to be agreeable to it. He really enjoys the book. He points to the animals and things he recognizes. It's a neat gift we have been able to give him.
WHITFIELD: Is there any way to recognize whether he might be musical, too?
JEWEL: He likes my guitar and he loves music, but I think all babies do. So we'll have to see with time. Whatever he's into, I'm 100 percent supportive.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about another project you have in the works. This summer you shot right in Atlanta a movie about the life of June Carter Cash. You have a lot in common with her besides the musical background, both of you coming from musical families. Is that kind of what lured you to that part?
JEWEL: I was very honored to get to play June Carter Cash. A lot of people know her as Johnny Cash's wife but not really as her own artist in her own right. And she really was. She was a comedian, she wrote her own skits. She wrote songs a lot of people don't realize she wrote "The Ring of Fire." So I was really honored. I'm not an actress, and so one of the things that drew me besides my affection for her is really the challenge of the role. Not many women are offered scripts that are so dramatic that cause such a transformation, and I was very honored to take that opportunity and hopefully run with it.
WHITFIELD: Gosh, and speaking of transformation, that picture, we're going to show it again, is one you tweeted. This is your transformation of June Carter Cash. What did it take to kind of become her?
JEWEL: I studied her a lot. Luckily, the internet, there's so many videos of her in her 20s, and I really imitated her walk and her talk and her speech and her rhythm. It was very fun to transform into her mentally, emotionally, and through my voice. When I got to set, the wig, the blue eyes, prosthetic teeth, it put it over the top.
WHITFIELD: Wow, the movie will be on Lifetime later on this year. We look forward to that, and we can enjoy your book right now, "That's What I Do." Jewel, thanks so much for being with us and sharing this beautiful musical message to all moms and dads they can share with their kids.
JEWEL: Thank for having me.
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WHITFIELD: Jewel is also raising money for breast reconstruction awareness. She is donating proceeds from downloads of her song "Flower" for research and charitable care of breast reconstruction patients. She's also performing a benefit concert in New Orleans at the end of October.
All right, you never know what is happening behind closed doors. A Georgia couple living in this house are now accused of unspeakable crimes against their son. We'll show you how the secrets were uncovered.
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WHITFIELD: A teen is sent cross country with just $200 and a list of homeless shelters. A security guard spotted 18-year-old Mitch Comer at this Grey hound bus station in L.A. Investigators say he was so small and malnourished he looked like a 12-year-old. Mitch told police his mom and stepdad, Sheila and Paul Comer, locked him away for four years and he was starved and abused under their care.
About a week ago on his 18th birthday, Mitch says his step dad grove him from Georgia to Jackson, Mississippi, and then put him on a Bush to Los Angeles. Comer's next door neighborhood talked to HLN and says looking back, there was something different about that family.
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DION WALKER: The girls would often just stare at us, they would stare at my daughter, at our family as if they were trying to say something or, you know, wanting to come over. They just had this look on their face. I just thought it meant, poor babies, they can't cross the street. I never thought about it beyond that. As I think about it now, maybe they were trying to say we need help or we're hungry or you know, we do have a brother that's in the home. Who knows? I'm not sure.
And it was unusual, they didn't go to school. I just assumed they were home schooled, because we knew for certain they didn't go to school. They never participated in any activities. And just, I don't know, just very different. There was something, you couldn't quite pinpoint, but there was something that was different.
And had I known their ages were 11 and 13, I would have been more suspicious because they looked like they were seven and nine or seven and eight. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Police searched the home and said they found evidence that corroborates parts of Mitch's story. His mom and stepdad are charged with child cruelty and false imprisonment.