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President Obama and Mitt Romney Keeping a Low Profile Today; Candidates Prepping for Wednesday's First Presidential Debate; Six Young Women in Jail Near Philadelphia

Aired September 29, 2012 - 22:00   ET

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

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN HOST: Hi, there. I'm Susan Hendricks, in tonight for Don Lemon.

The stories you are talking about in just a moment. But first, we want to get you up to speed on some of the day's headlines.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is campaigning tonight in Ohio talking gun rights at a national sports men's conference.

Also vice president Joe Biden wrapped up a two-day swing through Florida, including a stop in Fort Myers.

President Obama and Mitt Romney, keeping a low profile today, they are prepping for Wednesday's first presidential debate.

You know, we have learned that Senator John Kerry is going to play the role of Mitt Romney in the president's practice sessions. Ohio senator Rob Portman is portraying the president in Mitt Romney's debate preps.

I want to tell you about this now, General Motors is recalling more than 40,000 cars. It is concerned about fuel pump modules that could crack and cause a fire. The recall affects the 2007 to 2009 Chevrolet cobalt and Pontiac G5, also, the 2007 Chevrolet Equinox, Pontiac Torrent ad Saturn ion as well. GM will replace the fuel part for free.

Yes, it is over officially. Regular NFL refs will be back on the field tomorrow. The refs Union formally ratified a new contract today. The NFL agreed to a deal with the union earlier this week which allowed those refs to return on Thursday to a standing "o." Critics said the performance of the replacement refs hurt the integrity of the game.

And winds is ripping through the Japanese island of Okinawa is all from typhoon Jelawat. It went near the center of the storm at just over 100 miles an hour, same as a category three hurricane. At least 50 people suffered injuries while more than 270,000 homes have no power. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves north through cooler waters.

Here's what else we're talking about tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: A mentally disabled woman beaten, 16 girls now in jail saying they did it just for fun.

Spanking your children, what's wrong with it? Does it make for better, stronger, more responsible adults or is it child abuse?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids who are hit grow up to be bullies or bully themselves.

HENDRICKS: Republicans say it will prevent voter fraud. Democrats call it voter suppression. Are stiffer id requirements limiting your right to vote?

That, and 24 hours without your cell phone. Could you do it?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Right now, I'm in my own world. I'm disconnected.

HENDRICKS: Comedian Dean Obeidallah gave it a shot. And this --

CROWD: We love you, Whitney!

HENDRICKS: A bullied teen gets the last laugh and becomes a homecoming queen tonight on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: But we start with this.

Six young women are in jail near Philadelphia. They are all teenagers facing very grown-up charges that they beat, kicked and brutalized the mentally challenged woman in their neighborhood. I'm about to show you that violent attack. Yes, there is video. They did record it. Then they posted it on the internet for all their friends to see. It is hard to watch and frightening to hear.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

HENDRICKS: The woman being beaten in that video, police say she is 48 years old, was sitting on her front stoop when the teenagers suddenly bounced on her, beat her with their fists, their feet and with a chair. Their bizarre explanation, a police detective said it appears, they quote, "just did it for fun."

We'll spend some time with this shocking story tonight. There are urgent legal questions here. But we're also just trying to come to terms with this brutal and violent outburst that these girls inflicted on this woman. Listen to some of the people involved in the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BAIL, CHESTER COMMISSIONER, PENNSYLVANIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: They've been charged with aggravated assault and related charges, being held on $50,000 bail.

ENRIQUE LATOISON, ATTORNEY: My client never made any physical contact with the victim in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: She did not throw any punches?

LATOISON: No, she did not throw any punches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Or throw anything at her?

LATOISON: That's correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never talked to my child since he went to school yesterday. She says went to school yesterday. I said you have to talk to her yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What about your other daughter?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know the story. I haven't talked to her - can you please move that back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: She apparently was the instigator? Look at that video. She was the one --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Well, I haven't seen the video and I haven't talk to my child. I'm sorry for the things that happened. But I have nothing else to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: That woman you just saw was the mother of one of those girls in jail tonight for beating that mentally challenged woman.

Holly Hughes is with me. Holly, you are a criminal defense attorney, used to be a prosecutor. Have you ever seen a case like this? And what is the explanation? Kind of seems like a path mentality that all these girls worked together to do such a horrible thing.

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It is. And unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of this with our young people system. We're seeing children who wouldn't ordinarily do something like this if they were by themselves. They would probably just walk by that sweet lady. I mean, 48 years old and mentally disabled. Why don't you pick on somebody your own size? This is so disturbing. And that's why we've seen them charged as adults here. They're all underage. They could have been taken into the juvenile system. But they have all been charged as adults. So, they're facing, you know, 20, 40 years depending on how many charges are stacked against them.

HENDRICKS: Really? That is severe. It almost used like they were feeding off each other in this video. How damaging is that video to a judge, to a jury seeing that and how brutal it was?

HUGHES: That's exactly right. And it's not just that some of them are throwing punches. But it's that encouraging. There's something in the law called party to a crime. Basically it means in for a penny, in for a pound. So even if -- we saw a defense attorney saying on there, but my client didn't throw any punches. But if your client stood there and encouraged and aided and abetted and cheered them on, they are just as responsible, under the law. And they can also be charge with the crime of aggravated assault and get up to 20 years if that's what the judge thinks is appropriate.

HENDRICKS: How about a defense attorney saying, OK, my client is one of these girls, she's 16 years old, no priors, still she's facing that much time. It is that severe?

HUGHES: It is because aggravated assault has a range, like every crime. It's not what we call a mandatory minimum. It's a one to 20 range. Looking at as low as one year of probation or 20 years of prison. It that is all within the discretion of the judge and it will depend on those different factors like we just talked about. You know, can a defense attorney stand up there and say, but my client has no priors. My client has never been in trouble before and she is the one who didn't throw the punch.

So even though she kind of got caught up, and we see that with a pack mentality -- wilding, right? We heard about that. That we face in New York city and some of the major metropolises where hordes of teenagers would just go out there and commit crimes on totally innocent victim.

There is no robbery here. That poor woman didn't have anything they wanted to steal. They beat her for the fun of it, Susan. And that's what makes these so frightening.

HENDRICKS: So quickly, if there was no recording, would they face as severe a punishment?

HUGHES: If they found somebody willing to testify against them. And see, that's the problem. When you get six of them together, if they all shut their mouth, nobody knows. But they do what kids do these days. They put it on social media.

HENDRICKS: Seeing it is so damaging for them and so callous. It shows you how little they cared about this woman.

HUGHES: That is exactly right.

HENDRICKS: Holly, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

HUGHES: Absolutely.

HENDRICKS: Of course, we are going to be watching this story and let you know what happens to those girls. And she is in better condition, the woman who was violently beaten. Thanks so much.

HUGHES: Good.

HENDRICKS: And next, this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Spanking your children. What's wrong with it? Does it make for better, stronger, more responsible adults? Or is it child abuse? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids who are hit grow up to be bullies or bully themselves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Getting a smack, getting paddled or getting hit with a belt. We're talking about spanking here both. And it's something that is legal in school districts around the country. It's called corporal punishment. It's defined as punishment administered by an adult as a parent or a teacher to the body of a child ranging in severity from a slap to a spanking and it just happened to Taylor Santos in Springtown, Texas. That to be clear, Taylor was in trouble for cheating and she asked for the spanking instead of suspension. Well, the school called mom and mom agreed. But what mom did not know is how severe it would be and that it would come from a male adult. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA JORGENSEN, TAYLOR'S MOTHER: It looked almost as if it had been burned and blistered, it was so bad.

TAYLOR SANTOS, SPANKED STUDENT: It was bright red like bad. I still have whelps on me today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Needless to say, the Springtown school board is now changing its stance on paddling. Parents will now, parents will have to opt in. They will choose whether a male or female will dole out the punishment.

But it raises a larger issue about corporal punishment overall. What are the overall? The affects of spanking a child and can it harms them in the long run?

Child psychotherapist Grace Carricarte joins me tonight from Miami.

Grace, great to talk to you about this. Let's get right to it. Is spanking an OK form of punishment on a child, in your opinion?

GRACE CARRICARTE, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST: In my opinion, I don't condone spanking. Simply so much in that it is a form of violence. And we know that discipline although it's a very important part of parenting, parenting need to use it to instill their values on their children. And I hope that it doesn't include violence. If there's ever a place children should be safe, it should be within their homes and especially at the hands of their parents.

HENDRICKS: Grace, I want you to listen to something that one of the concerned parents in Texas raised in front of the school board meeting this week. Here they are. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

These men that swat these girls, they are telling the boys in the school, it's OK to hit a girl and it's OK to bruise a girl. And that's not right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Grace, if school boards around the country allow corporal punishment, can it be seen as effective or is it kind of oxymoron? Are they saying violence is not permitted within in turn, they are inflicting physical violence?

CARRICARTE: Absolutely. It's a do as I say instead of do as I do. And it's unfortunate that it is such a slippery slope because these types of marks that I heard the girl being describing the enough being left on her definitely crossed the line into what we would define as abuse. And it is unfortunate because it sends mixed messages to children. And unfortunately violence is a learned behavior and this continues to perpetuate children looking at violence. And it's a dangerous message for children to think that violence is an acceptable means towards resolving issues. And of course, we know that it is not.

HENDRICKS: And Grace, there have been plenty of studies on this. One is published in the journal of the American academy of Pediatric system or - and it looked at the long-term side effects of spanking.

It found this. I want to show you "Harsh physical punishment was associated with increased odds of mood disorders, we are talking anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse or dependence and several personality disorders. And those disorders affected between two and seven percent of those studies. Does that surprise you when you hear those stats?

CARRICARTE: It doesn't surprise me whatsoever. And quite frankly, especially when we see these types of punishments inflicted on younger children, we see changes where the brain is not able to function normally as it might otherwise.

And you know, these statistics don't surprise me whatsoever. Not to mention that most studies would agree when corporal punishment is used that it does tend to increase aggressive behaviors in that child and it does tend to have a propensity to lower that child's self-esteem.

HENDRICKS: So, what about the people out there, parent who is refuse to believe that or say, that won't happen to my child and feel that it's OK? Want to tell you about a California-based pediatrician doctor, David Spear. He says. The father to five, he is one and grandfather of five. He told us, he was spanked as a child that he spanked his kids and he believes the occasional use of physical punishment, not abuse, can be effective.

So, what do you think when you hear that? Does it teach children to behave a certain way? That's what people who believe that it is OK believe, that that's the only way to keep them in line, so to speak.

CARRICARTE: Well, I think every generation has a benefit fortunately of being able to learn from the prior generation. And I think that we know that there are much more positive parenting strategies out there that are far more effective than the use of corporal punishment. And you know, maybe they were lucky. But in most cases where physical punishment has been used and we actually know that in the United States, in over a third of households who do inflict physical punishment, it crosses that line into abuse. And that is very scary to me because 80 percent of abuse happens at the hands of a parent. And furthermore in our nation, we lose 5,000 children who die due to physical abuse everyday and that is just unacceptable.

HENDRICKS: We put this on our facebook page, twitter accounts as well. We put this on our twitter accounts. And it was hard to find people, frankly, that before that form of punishment. So I think people's mentalities are changing in people's mentality or changing regarding this.

Grace Carricarte on Miami, thanks so much.

CARRICARTE: Thank you.

HENDRICKS: You heard the debate and how severe, according to Grace, that it can get. Next, a personal story, a woman who says she watched her stepsister abused until it led to her death. And then she says, the abuse on her again. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: When Tonight, we have been having an open and honest discussion on corporal punishment and discipline, things like spanking, hitting, slapping, forms of physical punishment on kids by parents or an adult.

But when does discipline turn into all-out abuse? Michelle Cassell witnessed abuse on her stepsister at a very young age. It was that abuse that led to her stepsister's death.

Michelle's mother and stepfather were sentenced to prison for non- premeditated murder. And if that wasn't enough, that is the same time the abuse started happening to her.

Michelle Cassell joins us tonight.

Michelle, thank you so much for being here. You're so brave to share your story. I know you're going to help so many people out there.

First of all, what kind of abuse did you witness on your stepsister? And how did that feel to witness that?

MICHELLE CASSELL, WATCHED STEPFATHER ABUSE STEPSISTER REPEATEEDLY: I was young at the time so the feelings are difficult to describe. But basically it was hitting, kicking. My stepsister was not fed. She was not allowed to eat at the table with us. She was forced to sleep on the bathroom floor. She couldn't go to school. Pretty much as bad as you could imagine is how bad it was.

HENDRICKS: Why was your sister singled out in a way? Was the abuse as bad on you or they picked on your sister for a particular reason? CASSELL: No, it was only her. There were four of us in the house and she was singled out. That's the one question we don't know the answer to. And after reading transcripts from my stepfather's trial, he attributed to urination and defecation issues that she couldn't control. Her body functions, but, I honestly believe that those were as a result of the discipline as opposed to the cause.

HENDRICKS: And did your sister ever talk about it, being a child in that home? Are you taught to not say anything?

CASSELL: Well, at the time, again, I was 5-years-old when my stepsister passed away. So, remembering whether or not we could talk about it, I don't remember. It was later in life that I learned not to talk about it.

HUGHES: And your stepsister sadly passed away because of it. You and your siblings, what happened then? You were put in foster care. And then, you moved in with your biological father?

CASSELL: Yes. We spent about a year and a half in foster care. I lived in Germany. This all happen in Germany. My father was found and we were shipped over to the United States and I lived with my biological father at that time.

HENDRICKS: Are you able - then, the abuse occurred to you. What happened soon after that?

CASSELL: Actually, my father was also abusive. So, it was limited to my mother. Jackie was very aggressive with his -- I don't want to say spankings because that would be understating what happened to us. But yes, he would beat us with branches and belts and his fists. So he was very, very aggressive with his discipline.

HENDRICKS: How do you process this now? Do you have any guilt in terms of your stepsister? And do you communicate with your other siblings about it?

CASSELL: I have a lot of guilt. It's difficult for me to realize that I was only 5 years old at the time. I feel like I should have been able to do something. I do talk to my sister. It's a little bit difficult because she hasn't reached a point to where she's comfortable talking about it. I do feel guilt.

HENDRICKS: And you're a mother. How does it -- of course it shapes who you are, the person that you are. How do you think it affects the type of mother you are and what you will not do?

CASSELL: Absolutely. I mean, it does shape who you are but it doesn't define you. So, as a mother, that is my primary concern in life is to be a good mother to my boys. And I will not let anybody, including myself, hurt my boys. I want them to grow up as normal and happy as possible and not be afraid, that should be to have a safe environment at home.

HENDRICKS: How old are your boys?

CASSELL: Five and Six.

HENDRICKS: Five and six. Well, they have a wonderful mother. You're so brave for being here. Michelle, appreciate that.

CASSELL: Thanks a lot.

HENDRICKS: And up next, we're talking about this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Republicans say it will prevent voter fraud. Democrats call it voter suppression. Are out stiffer id requirements limiting your right to vote?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Welcome back. Most Republicans consider voter id laws a legitimate way to prevent voter fraud. Most Democrats see them as attempts as voter suppression, Democratic voter suppression to be specific.

But whatever your view, the laws are stirring up political passions all around the country. Don Lemon spoke about it with CNN contributors Lz Granderson and Anna Navarro.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST, NEWSROOM: So, welcome Ana and welcome Lz.

Lz, last time we talked about this, you got really passionate, you and Will really went at it. And you were specific saying you weren't going to sugar-coat it. Here's what you said. Listen.

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is driven by race. I was at the speech last night. I was that dinner last night. I was there last night. And I will tell you, I didn't leave there thinking, oh, I need to vote for Obama because he's black. I left there thinking as an American citizen, we all should be offends that these tactics are being used to curtail our rights, the right that is blacks and whites have died for. You don't have to go all the way back to slavery. Jesse helms used tactics to scare blacks from going back to the polls.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's nothing like this.

GRANDERSON: Let me finish. I allowed you to finish. Saying things like, if you go to these polls and you don't have x, y and z documents, you will go to jail. That wasn't a long time ago. You and I, Will, we were in college when that was going on.

LEMON: OK. So, as I said, it had to be - to be honest, we invited Will to be back. Will is not available. He's traveling. He has something else to do. So, we invited Ana to talked about it.

So he's you were very -- Why are you so passionate about this because it's going on in a number of different states. Pennsylvania now, it's up in the air as to what's going to happen. Why are you so passionate about this?

GRANDERSON: Because I love this country. I love what we fought for. I love what we have and I don't want to see it taken away so that a person can win the White House. The thing that really bothers me most by this is the people trying this tactics know the Democrats are going to call them out on it. They knew that going into it. What they're hoping is that enough people in their base despise President Obama so much that they would allow them to do this just so that Romney can get into the White House.

Technically, that really bothers me. That's part of the reason why I was so passionate about it with Will. Will is a very rational guy. We're good friends. And I just couldn't believe he was going to sit back and say it was OK for like a quarter of a million in Pennsylvania to be eliminated in this process so that Romney could get into the White House.

LEMON: OK. So Ana, you hear what Lz has to say about it. He is says it's about race. It is mostly Republican, except for one, which is Rhode Island. Mostly Republican houses who are asking for these tough voter id laws. What do you make of it? Do you think it's driven by race?

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I'm sure there is a racial component to it, Don. You know we live in America 2012. Racism doesn't exist to the level it once did. But I'm not going to say it's been eliminated from our society.

Now, I'm a naturalized Latino living in Florida. Florida is one of those state where is these voter changes have occurred. I have to tell you, I don't feel disenfranchised. I think it is a much smaller problem, at least in Florida, than it is being portrayed.

What we've seen now is that there's something like 198 voters that have been identified through the mechanisms that should -- that perhaps should not be voting and the supervisors of elections are getting asked to go through those names.

I tell you, you know, Lz is my friend and I respect him. I understand his passion. I love this country, too. But I also understand that the responsibility and right to vote belongs to U.S. citizens. I'm a naturalized one. It's one of the privileges. It's one of the duties that came along with me naturalizing. But I also understand that people who shouldn't be allowed to vote, should not be doing so.

I do not agree that showing a picture id is such an onerous thing. I don't know what percentage is affected. I think we need to help the people. And I agree with Lz that there is nothing worse than having to go to a DMV even when you do drive and need to go for purposes of getting a driver's license.

That being said, we have to help people get ids if necessary. But we do have to all agree that the right to vote is precious. It's something that many people have fought for, have died for and defending that right to vote means that we all have to agree. And I think we all do, that everybody who is legally allowed vote should be able to do so.

GRANDERSON: When you're able to look at your own party and say, you know what? That's not right, call them out on it. The problem right now is we have way too many people within the Republican party who despise President Obama so much that they're going to turn a blind eye and let this process go through even though they know it's not right.

What we need -- the solution begins with saying, we're not going to let you do this now because we see what you're doing and it's not right. There's been a disfranchise voters. There are people in Detroit where I grew up who were born on the east side who had never even been to the west side of the city.

I mean, Ana, I love you. But you are talking about picking up tickets at will call. These folks are just riding the bus. They don't have a lot of resources and of opportunities. And what we need are more individuals to stand up to their own parties and in this case it happens to be the GOP and say, that's not right. I want our guy to win. But I want our guy to win fairly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENDRICKS: Passionate opinions on that. A lot to talk about.

President Obama and Mitt Romney, they go face to face as American voters weigh their choice. The first of three presidential debates will be next Wednesday night. Watch it live on CNN, 7:00 eastern and on CNN.com as well.

Meanwhile, as the president and Mitt Romney get ready for Wednesday's showdown, we have learned a little inside info on how they're getting ready. Senator John Kerry will play the role of Mitt Romney when Mr. Obama holds his practice sessions. And Ohio senator Rob Portman is portraying the president during Mitt Romney's debate preps, pretty interesting.

You know, the Pope's former butler went on trial today back on city also following this. He is accused of stealing secret papers from Pope Benedict XVI and leaking them to an Italian journalist. The butler faces a sentence of up to eight years if convicted.

A rival band honored Florida A&M University suspended marching band today during a halftime show in Atlanta. Southern University in Florida, A&M are two-long time baton rival. Halftime of this game is traditionally featuring a battle of the bands. Famu's band is suspended after last year's hazing death of a drum major. By the way, southern won the game 21-14.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Twenty-four hours without your cell phone. Could you do it?

OBEIDALLAH: Right now, I'm in my own world. I'm disconnected.

HENDRICKS: Comedian Dean Obeidallah gave it a shot. LEMON: So, you're out and about, and you are not in front of a television. You can stay connected to CNN. You can. You can pull it up on your cell phone like I do or you can watch it from your computer even at work. Just go to CNN.com/TV. Tell them Don lemon sent you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: All right, think about this one. Could you give up your cell phone even for a little while? Think about it. No calls, no texting, no tweeting, no social networking sites at all. Just taking in the world around you, experiencing life. What would you do all day? How would you communicate?

Comedian Dean Obeidallah, this guy right here went cold turkey. Threw away your cell phone, so to speak, 24 hours, tell us about your experience, what happened?

OBEIDALLAH: Well, here's the symptom of it. I'm never letting this go again. You see this. I'm keeping this forever. You need a cell phone. I thought big deal. One day without a cell phone. And I'll tell you, the first 15, 20 minutes was fun. Usually I walk around the streets of New York I'm texting, I'm reading e-mails. But, I put my cell phone away. I feel like Neo in the Matrix, and I took the red pill. I could see everything, people, tourists, everything.

HENDRICKS: Can he tell, he didn't like the experience. Let's take a look at what he went through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBEIDALLAH: Anyone have a cell phone? You have a cell phone? Could you go a whole day without using your cell phone? Can I just buy a new phone? Is that cheating? If I'm not using my cell phone, I'm just buying a temporary one and then I can check my e-mail on it?

The hardest part was not calling people. It was not being able to check my e-mail, which everyone loves e-mail. Are you checking it all the time?

I don't know where the cafe is. But, it is OK.

Would you speak to New Yorkers on a subway, strangers or no, would you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

OBEIDALLAH: You do seriously? I usually play my baseball game. I learned two things in a subway. First, New York is beautifully diverse. Second, I finally read the evacuation emergency instructions on the subway. So, if there's a fire on the subway, look for me. I will save your lives.

(LAUGHTER)

OBEIDALLAH: I think we found something. I saw internet. Internet right there, next to Pani.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENDRICKS: Dean, remember the days of go home and checking your answering machine?

OBEIDALLAH: Yes.

HENDRICKS: Where we actually looked up and you said, you read the emergency evacuation? What did you feel was the most stressful part for you with no cell phone?

OBEIDALLAH: It was not being able to see e-mails. It wasn't the phone calls. But I'm a comedian. So, I'm like this unique small business owner. I'm the president and the product of my company. So, when people want to get in touch with me, I'm the guy. I mean, I have an agent but still, I'm the guy.

HENDRICKS: At the end of the day --

OBEIDALLAH: OK. I'm neurotic. That's what this is about. I'm really a hyperbolic person.

HENDRICKS: I know you feel like you have to check the e-mails. But, how significant are the e-mails, really?

OBEIDALLAH: They're not -- they turn out not to be that important. They weren't life-changing. MY career moved to the next level. It wasn't a big deal happening for me. But still, you feel disconnected. And when you're so used to being plugged in all the time now, and it think that's what we are, instantaneously a text, an e-mail, a tweet, when you take it away, it's going to take days or weeks actually to get used to the old world, you know, before cell phones. It was a whole different world for us. And using a pay phone in New York --

HENDRICKS: Did you find one?

OBEIDALLAH: They're everywhere. The problem is, no one has to clean them apparently because they think homeless people confuse them for bathrooms. They were the most filthy things. And still, I held my breath. I called. No messages. Just like the old days. You have no new messages. I was very sad.

HENDRICKS: I do have to say I love my cell phone. But, I do miss the old days where you connected with people. You're walking down the street and you're actually looking because I do that, too. I have to try to stop that in terms of being so into my cell phone. What were the upsides to this?

OBEIDALLAH: The upside is I love my cell phone and I realize I'm like Linus (ph) and it's my blanket and I need it desperately. I think it made me aware of my own dependency, at our own dependency on technology today. That's the upside.

The downside is you become aware too, when you don't have a cell phone, everyone is compartmentalized. You're on a subway, it is packed. But, you're actually lonely without your cell phone because everyone is listening to music, playing apps, checking text messages. So, I was lonely in the biggest city in the country. And it was -- I know, pretty sad.

HENDRICKS: Tweet all your friends tonight. Dean, I thought it was hilarious. Great study on this.

OBEIDALLAH: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

HENDRICKS: You inspired me on that from where now technology.

OBEIDALLAH: Thank you.

HENDRICKS: It is hanging our world. Go to cnn.com/out mobile society or visit our mobile society sections of the CNN mobile apps. So, we are telling you, keep those cell phones.

And do stay right there. Here's today's new literary trend. You wrote a book and you confess something horrible from your past. Arnold Schwarzenegger's confession is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENDRICKS: Around Schwarzenegger's book goes on sale this we can. So cue the uncomfortable confessional interview. Here, he admits to "60 Minute" that he had an affair with a co-star while with Maria Shriver.

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ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR, AUTHOR: I think it was the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids.

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HENDRICKS: Comedian Dean joins me from New York again. Dean. to weigh in on this. This seems to be the current trend. A star a writing a book, they start pull the skeletons out of the closet. Why do you think he wrote it?

OBEIDALLAH: I think to make money. He should have called total recall. He should have call the impregnator or you know, or two lives.

You know, I cannot believe honestly in a man who's had an unbelievable life. He came from Austria almost with nothing, became Mr. Universe, Mrs. Olympia, make him a huge box-office star. He married a Kennedy, a Kennedy. He had two terms as governor and still he has to talk about the skeletons in his closet.

His life story is amazing enough. I think he knows to appeal to us and this reality show generation we live in where everything has to be salacious and sensational, this is what you have to do. And it's pretty sad because his life has been truly amazing. HENDRICKS: Yes. Four kids. I'm a huge fan of Maria Shriver's. It is sad for her. What's next for him? You rub elbows with the Hollywood elite. Where do you think he goes next?

OBEIDALLAH: Who told you that?

HENDRICKS: Somebody in my ear is telling me that.

OBEIDALLAH: I think honestly this man -- if you read about him, his ambition is limitless and bottomless. I think if he could run for president, if he had been born in America, he would be running for president.

Now he wants to go back to being a box office star. So, the book is about that I think is elevating him back to this high visibility, wait till the headlines on Monday after the "60 minutes" interview comes up tomorrow. He will be back. Everyone is talking about it. He'll be headlining a movie, making $20 million again. I think he loves fame. He's addicted to it and needs it all the time.

HENDRICKS: The late-night comedian, I can already hear the jokes coming out of this one.

OBEIDALLAH: I mean, Schwarzenegger wrote a book. Are you kidding me? He guy can't even speak English. He was governor twice. That's an amazing things itself. It is not a tumor. I mean, it would be amazing that he's written a book. It's like George Bush writing a book. I like really, George Bush wrote a book? Our social in a book?

Someone else wrote it for him. He's a rich man. I honestly think. You know, he was famous. He loves being famous. Governor two terms. Now it's back to Hollywood. And you need this kind of stuff to be back at the top of the game.

HENDRICKS: Dean, good point. I think someone calling you? Do you have your cell phone?

OBEIDALLAH: I do. I'm never giving that phone up again. It is attached to my body.

HENDRICKS: All right, Dean, thank you. Good to talk to you.

OBEIDALLAH: Thanks a lot.

This is an emotional encounter you don't want to miss. Gabrielle union travels to Vietnam to meet with a young girl who instead of going to school has to sell lottery tickets for food for her family. Her compelling story next in a CNN Special Report.

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RAZIA JAN, CNN HERO: In Afghanistan, most of the girls have no voice. They are used as property of a family. The picture is very grim.

My name is Razia Jan, and I'm the founder of a girl's school in Afghanistan.

When we opened the school in 2008, 90 percent of them could not write their name. Today, 100 percent of them are educated. They can read. They can write. I lived in U.S. for over 38 years. But I was really affected by 9/11. I really wanted to prove that Muslims are not terrorists.

I came back here in 2002. Girls have been the most suppressed and I thought I have to do something. It was a struggle in the beginning. I would sit with these men and I would tell them don't marry them when they're 14 years old. They want to learn.

How do you write your father's name?

After five years now, the men are proud of their girls when they themselves can't write their names. Still, we have to take precautions. Some people have so much against girls getting educated. We provide free education to over 350 girls. I think it's like a fire that will grow every year, my hope becomes more. I think I can see the future.

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HENDRICKS: I want to tell you about the acclaimed book "half the sky" by "New York Times" columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife, has inspired a new documentary. It profiles Kristof in celebrity activist, as they travel different of the globe.

In a Special Report for CNN. Kristof sat down with these actresses to find out what they learned about the women holding up half the sky.

Gabrielle Union tells us how a 15-year-old girl in Vietnam inspired her.

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GABRIELLE UNION, ACTRESS, ACTIVIST: Nhi's mother had left because her father was abusive. His abuse was so epic he was famous in their community. The father is a clock and watch repairman. Everything is digital so that the business is not brisk. And instead of changing occupations or picking up another job, he came up with the bright idea for Nhi to sell lottery tickets. And she figured out a way to squirrel away money to get tutoring to get food for her and her brother to get uniforms, books, supplies. And some days when she just wasn't going to be able to sell all of her lottery tickets and she was going to go home and be beaten. Sir, do you know why NHI is crying?

Sir do you know why were you crying? Could you tell us why she's upset?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to understand, she is too young to understand the situation. I don't want her growing too soft, too gentle.

UNION: I can see in Nhi's face that there was a lot more to her story than even what she was willing to let on. I became a little attached, maybe too attached, some way would.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, AUTHOR, HALF THE SKY: It does seem to me that Nhi's story in a sense reflects the real argument about why we should care about somebody in Vietnam. Tiny amounts of money -- the money we spend on a coffee can be transformative in the life of somebody like Nhi. And you know, as well as the idea that our compassion shouldn't depend on the color of somebody's passport.

UNION: Exactly, exactly. I think that's the point we all try to make. You know, it's a little bit of humanity.

You must be so proud of her because she's such a great student and she's such a good salesperson. There has to be a sense of pride. What would she have to do -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not Yet! Not Yet!

UNION: So, what would he have to do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has got s lot more to do.

UNION: When you absolutely refuse to see someone else's pain because you're OK, it does make you a jerk.

KRISTOF: You have worked a lot with violence issues, gender violence issues right here in the U.S. I'm curious, when you were working halfway around the world in Vietnam with these girls, did it feel kind of the same?

UNION: If kids this America could see what Nhi went through and how she got through it, they could apply those same lessons to their own life. Helping and giving a damn makes the world go around. We can all learn from each other.

You are so beautiful and so smart. I know you will be very successful. We all have such hope for the world. And I'm maybe a little selfish. I want to see that inspiration have an effect in my neighborhood and with my family. And I think what we created absolutely can have that effect, if people give it a chance.

I'm very, very, very proud of you.

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HENDRICKS: A young girl nominated for the homecoming port as a plan. She couldn't let to if go to her, instead she embraced it.

Here is CNN's Chris welsh.

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CHRIS WELSCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT : A superstar practically overnight. 16-year-old Whitney Kropp is a role model to anyone who's ever been bullied. CROWD: We love you, Whitney!

WELSCH: But this sophomore's journey to stardom was no fairy tale when her peers picked her for the homecoming court as a joke, she had thoughts of suicide.

WHITNEY KROPP, ON HOMECOMING COURT: I'm like, wow, I feel like trash. I feel like I'm a little thing that no one really cares about.

WELSCH: At her sister's urges, she decided to keep her title on the court. If I were in your position, that would be really hard to do?

KROPP: It's really hard to do right now because at first, I had thought about dropping out of the homecoming court. But I'm not this joke that everyone thinks I am. I just prove all these kids wrong.

WELSCH: Well, that is exactly what she did. Since then, she's been swamped with support, from the local hair salon that gave her a new due.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To find out it was a joke, it just - it really touched me.

WELSCH: To the facebook page with over 100,000 fans.

BERNICE KROPP, WHITNEY'S MOM: It's so cool to see e-mails that she's -- we're getting or she's getting from parents and other students from all over the place telling their stories and how it helped them and it touched them. And, you know, my daughter's out there as an inspiration to a lot of people and that's a really cool thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See, you're like Cinderella, mistreated, unappreciated, abused. After much support, you're going to have a great time at the ball.

KROPP: You know, I thought before, no one cares about me. I thought, you know, not even my own brother and sister care. But they're proving they do care. The world is proving that they -- not really care about me but about the situation.

WELSCH: Folks from all over the state are here tonight. In fact, this group of girls traveled more than an hour away -- you left your home football game to support Whitney. Why?

DONNA GEORGIEFF, SUPPORTS WHITNEY KROPP: We want to show Whitney our entire student body is completely behind her.

WELSCH: From being bullied to the bully pulpit. He is using her new found fane to send a message.

KROPP: The kids bullying you. Don't let them bring you down. Stand up for what you believe in. And go with your heart and go with your gut. That's what I did and look at me now. I'm just as happy as I can be.

WELSCH: Whitney says she will likely face bullies again, in her future. But, she says when that happens, she will be able to confront them with you head held high and with the new confidence.

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HENDRICKS: Whitney is inspiring.

I'm Susan Hendricks. Have a great night.