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Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.8 Percent; Small Apartment in London Very Expensive; Terror Suspects Extradited from U.K. to U.S.; Boy with Speech Impediment Raps without Difficulty; Presidential Elections to Take Place in Venezuela; Movie Critic Assesses Recent Box Office Arrivals; Latino NASCAR Driver Interviewed

Aired October 06, 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. Welcome to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. One down and two presidential debates to go, and it looks like this political season there could be more than one October surprise. First, Mitt Romney, the overall consensus, he had the big within in the first debate Wednesday night. Then Thursday he made headlined by saying his 47 percent comment of Americans don't pay taxes was a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. In this case I said something that was completely wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And Friday, another October surprise. President Obama getting a boost with the new unemployment rate report. The rate dipping below eight percent for the first time since the president took office in 2009, which brings us to the next surprise, the Obama campaign cash that was raised last month. September proved to be a lucrative month for the president's reelection campaign. Democrats raised $181 million. That's a record.

Joining me live from Washington, Peter Hamby. So Peter, that's a whole lot of cash raised. Very amazing say many, and all in one month. How was it done? Big donors, small donors, what?

PETER HAMBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The campaign says 98 percent of this money came from people giving $250 or less. September was a very big month for Democrats. Polls show that the convention really brought home the democratic base and these numbers just reaffirm it. This is the biggest monthly total of this campaign.

This is the money that the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have collected together. It means they're only about $50 million short of raising $1 billion for this whole campaign, so they're almost certainly going to outpace that in the next month.

This is a big symbolic lift for the Obama campaign after that really bad debate. They had the jobs numbers on Friday and this today. It helps the campaign reassure their base and their supporters that, hey, things are going on track. Jim Messina, the Obama campaign manager sent out an e-mail touting these numbers. It reassures the base, saying forget about the debate. The people are with us and we have the money to carry the campaign forward.

WHITFIELD: Sometimes timing is everything. How crucial is this boon in cash collections with just a month to go before Election Day?

HAMBY: It's tremendous. Again, the debate was one thing, but the campaign is being waged in a series of battleground states on television airwaves, in mailboxes, really trying to reach voters. The Romney campaign has said they have been saving up a bunch of money for this last sort of stretch.

This money also shows that the Obama campaign really can count on small donors and online fund-raising and raising money from text messages, they had started doing that this year, too, in a way that the Romney campaign cannot.

Republicans have criticized Romney for spending a lot of time in high- dollar fundraisers, taking time away from the campaign trail, but he has to do that because he doesn't have the connections with the grassroots that Barack Obama has had. However, the Romney campaign had a fundraising boost after that debate performance the other night, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Particularly, this kind of money will help in those campaign ads in those swing states, Florida being one of them, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia?

HAMBY: Yes, that's right. And think about this -- the Romney campaign didn't run television ads during the Democratic National Convention or the Republican National Convention. A cardinal rule of politics is when you go on TV, you stay on TV, and the Romney campaign broke that and it hurt them in the polls heading into that debate.

However, as that "New Yorker" cover that's coming out next week sort of captured the zeitgeist, Romney really had a strong debate performance. His campaign says they raised $12 million in the course of 48 hours just in that day after the debate, but they haven't released their fundraising numbers. We shall see what their numbers are pretty soon here.

WHITFIELD: Peter Hamby, the "New Yorker" having fun, showing Romney talking to an empty chair, trying to symbolize that the president wasn't completely present in that Wednesday debate. Thanks so much. Peter Hamby there in Washington.

The drop in the unemployment rate is a big headline from the jobs report, but is that what we should be focusing on right now? CNN's chief business correspondent Ali Velshi weighing in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, so there are a couple things at play here. First, the unemployment rate, the drop from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent -- throw it out, erase it from your head. It doesn't matter. The thing you need to concentrate is the number of jobs that were actually created, 114,000. That is right around where we thought it would be. It's not an inspiring number. It doesn't say that things are bad. It doesn't say that things are good.

But what you want to be measuring is whether or not over time we are creating jobs, we're adding jobs to the U.S. economic landscape. The unemployment rate measures something different. That's a set of phone calls that go to people's houses to find out whether they're employed, whether they work at home, whether they're self-employed. It's a less reliable number because it shifts and measures different things on an ongoing basis.

The number of jobs created minus jobs loss is an absolute number over time. If you look back to the beginning of President Obama's term we were losing on average about 750,000 jobs a month. It started to get better through 2009, started to improve. In 2010 we saw a census bump that created jobs in the beginning of the year. Then we saw a drop off. Basically From the middle of 2010 onward, we have been creating jobs.

The most important thing, though, out of today's numbers is not the drop in the unemployment -- this weekend's numbers is not the drop in the unemployment rate. It's the addition of jobs in the previous two months. July and August, we added 86,000 more jobs than we thought we had. That is typical to see the numbers revived. So bottom line as you walk away from the jobs report, it's OK. It's not fantastic. It's not something for Barack Obama to crow about. And it's not really enough for Mitt Romney to criticize. Fred?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Ali Velshi, thanks so much. The next jobs report coming just four days before November's vote.

Let's dig a little deeper into the numbers. Rick Newman is with me. He's the chief business correspondent at "U.S. News and World Report" and the author of the book "Rebounder." Rick, these numbers are funded by the analysts, but are Americans comforted in any way by the new numbers?

RICK NEWMAN, "U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT": That's a great question. Whether we should pay attention to the unemployment rate or not, we're certainly going to be hear a lot about it. It's almost all president Obama has been talking about for the last day and a half. It's certainly going to be out there. What is interesting, Fredricka, is Americans have slowly been feeling better about the economy.

I think what's been going on is a lot of small things have very slowly been getting better. And overall, this is adding up to voters who are more optimistic than economists think they should be in some cases. We have seen almost all of the consumer confidence surveys, for example, improve fairly significantly over the last few months. If you look what's going on in the real economy, there are things that might explain what is happening. I can tick of a few if you want. WHITFIELD: Please do.

NEWMAN: I think the most important thing is that the housing bust has ended. And this is not just a statistical thing. This is a big deal if you're a homeowner even if you're not planning to buy or sell a home, because you might finally know that the value of your biggest asset is no longer plunging. I mean, that's a big deal, and it makes people feel a little more secure about their finances.

Another thing that happened is the pace of lay-offs has gotten very low. So the numbers of lay-offs we have been seeing are the lowest in more than a decade. So what that means is if you have a job, your job security is pretty good. You know, you're a little less worried about getting laid off.

Americans have slowly been paying down their debt, one exception to that, which student loans. Of course, people getting student loans are getting education for their money. They're not spending it on cars or clothes. Other debt has been going down. This is taking a long time, and it's going to continue to take a long time, but in these very slow and almost imperceptible ways, the economy is healing.

WHITFIELD: Is there any reason to believe that when those new job numbers come out just four days before Election Day, that they wouldn't be consistent with this kind of pacing that we saw on Friday?

NEWMAN: Well, as Ali pointed out, those job numbers are volatile and they zigzag. That pattern has been in place, and we did see some very odd patterns. I'm sure there was no fixing of the numbers, but the numbers were odd. But these numbers often get sort of smoothed out over time.

They recount, they become more accurate over time. We could see another zig in the other direction when that report comes out. Some economists say they would not be surprised at all if the unemployment rate went back up to eight percent or above eight percent. That might straighten out some of the anomalies in the latest report.

Plus, when more people start to look for work, which is what happens in a recovery, they get counted as unemployed, which tends to push the unemployment rate numbers back up. It wouldn't be surprising if it got back up if we got a bad report, we could get a better report.

One thing I would said, the so-called fiscal cliff, this big set of spending and tax decisions coming at the end of the year, is really bumming out CEOs. They don't know what to expect. Nobody knows what their tax rate will be in 2013. So companies who can put off hiring are putting it off.

WHITFIELD: So if you were to advise the Romney camp, because they're counting on stumping on the bad economy, bad job growth, all of that, what would you advise them right now? Would they need to re-craft their message? Stay away from it? How do they capitalize on their message and at the same time, not contradict what the latest numbers and indicators are saying? NEWMAN: Well, Mitt Romney is right when he says the economy is not recovering enough, but I think he's got a problem, which is that when people sort of intuitively feel things getting better and they hear a candidate who keeps saying things are not getting better, things are not getting better fast enough, he comes off as a gloomy Gus.

So I think the best thing Romney can probably do is we know he's going to continue telling us what's wrong with the economy. He's generally right about that. But he should start talking about some of the positive proactive things he plans to do to really reinvigorate the economy and say this slow moderate growth is not good enough for America. We really need to jazz it up.

WHITFIELD: Interesting, Rick Newman, chief biz correspondent, U.S. news. Appreciate it.

After a long extradition battle, a wanted terror suspect is finally in the U.S. today. We have the latest on what's happening in the case of Abu Hamza al Masri.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's check some international stories now at this hour. The fighting in Syria is spilling across its borders. Turkish soldiers are returning fire after three shells from Syria landed inside Turkey. It has been four days since clashes began between the two countries. Turkey's prime minister has condemned the shelling.

The Pope's former butler has been found guilty by the Vatican court. Paolo Gabriello will serve a year and a half in jail for stealing the Pope's confidential papers and leaking them to a journalist. He will also have to pay the cost of the tile.

In Pakistan, a group of people are protesting U.S. drone attacks in that country. They're leading a march to South Waziristan, senior Pakistani government officials say the demonstrators will not be allowed into the area.

A wanted terror suspect arrived in the U.S. earlier this morning. Radical cleric Abu Hamza al Masri is now in New York. He's one of five men extradited from the U.K. today on terror chargers. Our Dan Rivers takes a look at what the suspects are accused of.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's wanted on 11 terrorist charges in the United States, including trying to set up a terrorist training camp at this ranch in Oregon in 1999. He's accused of masterminding the kidnapping of 16 western tourists in Yemen in 1998, including two Americans. As well as Abu Hamza, four other men are being extradited to the U.S. Two are accused of fundraising for the Taliban and Chechen rebels online, two others for their involvement in the 1998 east Africa embassy bombings which left 265 people dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: That was Dan Rivers reporting. Now senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth joining me. Richard, al Masri's Court hearings just ended. What is the latest we're hearing?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was read his rights, the 11 terrorism related charges Dan Rivers referred to. He was in court in an earlier proceeding a short time before the other two men appeared. Those two men, it was a formal arraignment, they pled not guilty. For this fiery cleric, who according to U.S. authorities whipped up terror at a London mosque for years, well, he'll have his arraignment on Tuesday afternoon.

In court, all three men in the separate appearances had prison jumpsuits. One of the men refused to stand to hear the charges and he sat. And our CNN producer in the court tells me that he did not -- was shaking his head in agreement, almost, proud of the charges against him. The courtroom full with a lot of press. It's a Saturday in New York, it's not often terror suspects are whisked in these days to New York proper, but they will face charges here in New York. Two other men who pled not guilty in Connecticut, those charges Dan Rivers referred to, fundraising on the Internet in separate cases. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: One of the other suspect's father said he's innocent and this is what he told CNN earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHFAQ AHMAD, TERROR SUSPECT BABAR AHMAD'S FATHER: I am very disappointed. I thought we lived in a democratic country, and we have got the best legal system in the world, and all that. I thought that we will get a fair trial, but I'm very disappointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So meantime, there was another hearing, another court appearance this morning. What was that one all about?

ROTH: The men accused of fund-raising for terrorism appeared in Connecticut wearing their U.K. prison garb still after that early- morning arrival, including the son of that man who was protesting the fact they were indeed extradited from the U.K. All of these men fought for years through the courts in Europe being shipped to the United States. They said the prison conditions they would face, perhaps, if convicted in these maximum security jails, is unfair and illegal.

Now, in court, I must add that for the number one more prominent man, Abu Hamza today, he demanded his prosthetic limbs back. U.S. security had taken them away. It's not clear whether he's getting them back. He wears a hook for his one arm, a one-eyed former bouncer in the United Kingdom. He has medical conditions such as diabetes and other eye problems. These men seem likely to have their own lawyers for future court proceedings going forward. They were represented by public defenders today.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating stuff. Richard Roth, thanks so much in New York. Overcoming a disability is a tough enough battle. We'll meet a 13- year-old who figured out how to use his disability as a tool.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: News on the health front, the fungal meningitis health outbreak is spreading. The CDC says at least 47 people been infected, five have died. The cause of the outbreak is believed to be contaminated steroids. Clinics in 23 states received the tainted drugs. More than 17,000 vials have been recalled. Doctors are still trying to figure out how many patients have been infected.

Jake Zeldin is 13 years old and he stutters. But when he takes to the stage as a rapper, his words are crystal clear with no signs of stuttering. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his amazing story in this "Human Factor" report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE ZELDIN, SUFFERS FROM SEVERE SPEECH DISABILITY: Are you Jay-Z or Kanye?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Listening to Jake rap, you would have no idea he suffers from a speech disorder that's so debilitating this 13-year-old used to keep to himself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He started speaking at the age of two and pretty much single words, it wasn't so bad. Then when he would get into sentences with two or three words, that's when it started to come out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those who love Jake knew he needs to get the words out. Let him finish what he's speaking or saying.

GUPTA: But many others tormented him. He was bullied, not only by his classmates by but his teachers as well.

ZELDIN: One teacher was like, doing this voice in drama class. And I was like, "Hi," and then like, the teachers went, I don't know what's more annoying, that voice or your stutter.

GUPTA: Jake's parents, Robin and Vee, invested a ton of time and money into therapy for their son, but nothing worked, then when he was 10 years old, a profound breakthrough at a summer camp.

ZELDIN: I was doing this rap battle. I was like, hey, I'm kind of good.

GUPTA: Now, Jake is performing as Lil' Jake, smooth as can be. Rhythm and cadence of rapping makes it easier for him to get the words out without stuttering. And for all those who used to torment him, the haters, they now serve as motivation for Jake to perform for crowds of up to 20,000 people.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(APPLAUSE) (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you can learn more about Jake's accomplishments in his own words at CNNhealth.com.

Bees in France are making some strange colored honey. It's because of a sweet tooth. Beekeepers say the honeybees ate M&M candy residue from crates found at a nearby factory and that's the result. You saw green honey there. The factory processes candy waste, so you have kind of a purple there. You have blue, and red colored honey. Keepers say it tastes like regular honey but it's still not going to be sold in stores.

All right, he has rock star appeal at his rallies. So with this much support for the Venezuelan president, you would think Hugo Chavez would have his reelection bid in the bag. We'll tell you why he's actually worried.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A memorial service will be held Monday for a U.S. border patrol agent killed this week Arizona. The FBI thinks he may have been killed by friendly fire. Initially officials said Nicholas Ivey and his colleague came under fire after responding to a sensor that went off. But authorities say the only shell casings found at the scene were those belonging to the agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDER JEFFREY SELF, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: As you know, investigators have made progress into the investigation into agent Ivey's death, and they're looking into the possibility that it was a tragic accident, the result of friendly fire. The fact is the work of the Border Patrol is dangerous. All of us who wear the uniform know this, and yet these men and women willingly put themselves in harm's way to serve their country and protect their communities against those who wish to do us harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That news comes as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano travels to Arizona to meet with officials and the family reacting to the border patrol agent's death, Napolitano said in part, quote, "This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women confront, the dangers they willingly undertake while protecting our nation's boards," end quote. Ivey is the third border patrol agent killed in the line of duty this year.

The Israeli air force has shut down a drone over the northern Negev desert. Take a look at this video released by the Israel military which says the unmanned aircraft was spotted hovering over Gaza before it entered the air space from the west. It was not carrying weapons or explosives. Israeli troops are searching the area for the aircraft's remains.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is up for reelection tomorrow. Chavez has been president for 13 years now, and he's hoping that his ability to keep gas prices at the lowest in the world will actually help him in his reelection bid. Paula Newton is joining us now from Caracas, Venezuela. Paula, what are the chances for Chavez?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it really depends on who you listen to. I got off the phone with the opposition and they're basically saying polls, and by the way, you can't publish them right now, they're in an official cooling off period here, show that the opposition is leading Hugo Chavez from anywhere from four to eight percentage points.

But what does that mean? It's difficult to know where the election is going to go from that point. That's not a position that Hugo Chavez is used to finding himself in. The economy has done well in the last 14 years since Hugo Chavez has come into power. But on the other hand, many say it was at the expense of a lot of infrastructure in the country and the fact that basically the government was taking the oil profits and trying to redistribute it and also not spending in a very efficient way.

Fred, it's hard to believe, this country still has huge infrastructure problems. You look around sometimes, anything from medical to the roads to schools, and it still has a ways to go even though it had all of that oil wealth.

WHITFIELD: What is the explanation behind that? That's a big contradiction.

NEWTON: It is a big contradiction, and you know, Hugo Chavez has been in power for a long time. Says look, it takes time. That's my explanation. If you look at the indicators, yes, people in extreme poverty, he has been able to bring down the numbers.

At the same time, his challenger, a 40-year-old man, lawyer, comes from the elite but says he will work for the poor. Says look, this country has not been running its economy efficiently, and Hugo Chavez controversially has nationalized the oil companies and other resource giants here. So it's really going to be a cliffhanger in the end to see which they side with.

Hugo Chavez has a cult following with some, but many analysts say his popularity has waned especially in the last year or so when he's battling cancer. He claims he's completely cured, but there are a lot of rumors otherwise saying he still look pretty sick to some people here. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Paula Newton in Caracas, thanks so much.

All right, now through the end of November is a great time to actually see the leaves change colors. And we have some of the best places to check out in North America this time of year. Where to stay, what to see, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, fall is in the air and that means leaves are changing colors. If you want to experience fall at its prettiest, there are lots of spots around the country to check out. I talked to "Travel and Leisure's" feature editor Nilou Motamed to find out the best places for fall foliage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NILOU MOTAMED, FEATURES DIRECTORS, "TRAVEL AND LEISURE": First stop is the Berkshires. This is in western Massachusetts. This is where I got married in the fall, so I have a huge love for this area. What I love to do is do all of the classic stuff. First, you have to go apple picking, and hilltop orchard is one of my favorite places.

This is in Richmond, Massachusetts. Not only do they have amazing varieties of apples, I love the honey crisp, but then they have the hay ride, cider doughnuts, and pies to die for. A great place to stay is Stoneover Farm. It's one of the main destinations in the Berkshires if you're a fan of music, and it's lovely. The couple who run it have run it like a boutique hotel or boutique than a B&B.

WHITFIELD: Now, the Blue Ridge Mountains, what is good for us?

MOTAMED: The leaves are later. You want to get the beautiful foliage. What is also incredible is there are 15 million acres of foliage in Virginia. That's a lot of leaf peeping available to you. One of the most beautiful drives to do is the skyline drive through the Shenandoah national park. This is just gorgeous. It's 103 miles, so you're going to get your fill of leaf peeping.

And I love a great place to stay is the inn at Willow Grove. This is only 11 rooms and very similar to Stoneover Farm. They have paid attention to all of the details. They have Italian linens. They have gorgeous marble bathtubs, and the works. This is a place where you're going to feel pampered and a decent value, which I love.

WHITFIELD: Then when you say the word "Aspen," you don't think rustic, but you think about skiing. Instead, we want to think about checking out fall leaves in Aspen?

MOTAMED: Aspen, Colorado, is a beautiful destination every time of year. In high season, it can be quite expensive, but this is great time to go there. If you think about all of the mountains, they have all those beautiful aspen trees. It's stunning there. The Maroon Bells is an incredible hike you should take. A great place to go hiking, horseback riding, and you can even take a gondola up the mountain and see all of the sights in an easy way, all in a gondola.

At the base of the mountain is the gorgeous little knell. This is one of the premier hotels in aspen. You're going to get a better value there in shoulder season than the rest of the time. What I love about this hotel is their incredible service.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Great shoulder season for those of you who didn't know, like I didn't, off peak. That's what that means. So for more great travel tips and ideas, check out this month's "Travel and Leisure" magazine.

It's barely the size of a garden shed. But I'll show you a tiny little apartment that's fetching a huge price.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's only 10 feet by eight feet. Here in the U.S. that's about the size of your average garden shed or closet, but in London, it's the size of an apartment. As Richard Quest shows us, this tiny space is going for big bucks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Some are compact, others bijou. Then there's flat 8-f. Nothing quite prepares you for something so small. This is it, all of it. There is no more. I can't touch from one side to the other without hitting the wall. I am 6'1" tall. And this is the length of the flat. The apartment is a converted porter's toilet and cloak room. It tasks even the estate agent's vocabulary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unusual, unique, interesting market opportunity. I would point out the high ceiling, the natural light coming through, the refurbishment, the location.

QUEST: The original asking price of $145,000 has been well exceeded. The current top offer is believed to be around $280,000 for one simple reason, the old rule location, location, location. This tiny apartment is in the best part of London and next to the top people's department store Herrod's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With this post you're going to get a hell of a lot of interest.

QUEST: The demand for this unique property has been intense, more than 100 viewings, a dozen offers. Ironically, the winner is likely to be an investor from Greece.

More than a quarter of a million dollars -- it's an awful lot of money for not a lot of apartment. But if that is what someone will pay for it, then that's what 8F is worth. Richard Quest, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That's fascinating.

Some very big stars are front and center at the box office this weekend. A movie critic grades their performances next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK, you know what they're doing, right? You know how to do that, the Gangnam style dance. Taking the streets of their hometown in Seoul. South Korean organizers say 10,000 people turned out for this mass dance off that was held in conjunction with a neighborhood festival. It mimics riding a horse. Some are into it, some not really. That style of dance could join the Charleston, the Hustle, the Macarena. The hit song "Gangnam Style" has more than 370 million hits on YouTube since its release back in July. It's huge.

All right, sounds familiar, names starring in new movies this weekend. Martin Landau, Martin Short, Winona Ryder, all starring in "Frankenweenie," and Liam Neeson is also back in the sequel to "Taken." Grae Drake is here to preview the star's performance. It's good to see you.

GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC: Hey.

WHITFIELD: I knew you were going to do that Gangnam style. Go, go, girl. Let's start with "Frankenweenie." People are excited about it. First, let's watch a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just move into a special place in your heart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want him in my heart. I want him here with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. If I could bring him back, I would.

DRAKE: Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie is alive. Here comes Tim Burton. Is my skull on straight?

TIM BURTON, DIRECTOR: A lot of people with a lot of hard work into it. It's nice to see all of the artist's work come to life.

MARTIN LANDAU, ACTOR: Hello, you.

DRAKE: Hello, you.

LANDAU: You're hot.

(LAUGHTER)

LANDAU: If I was 100 years younger, I would elope. I would even take you to Venice. We would swim in the canals.

DRAKE: You got your heart pills on you, Martin?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: You're too bold. That was a fun unexpected surprise. You had a little fun on the red carpet there, as much fun going to the movie and seeing "Frankenweenie"?

DRAKE: Absolutely. Only Tim Burton could make reanimating a rotten dead corpse totally precious. I love this movie.

WHITFIELD: You did? What did you like about it? DRAKE: I did. Tim Burton has been a little hit or miss recently, but "Frankenweenie" is great because it's the regular Frankenstein story with a really cute spin on it. Victor, unfortunately, his dog Sparky died and he has the idea to bring him back. He makes it happen, but unfortunately, all of the neighborhood kids figure out how he did it, and chaos ensues in their neighborhood. And the reason that this movie was great is because the voice talent in it like Martin Landau, who you saw me cuddling up with, he is fantastic as the science teacher in this movie. And I just loved every second. It's funny, has a great message, and a really bold choice to be black and white. Tim Burton, totally back in form on this one.

WHITFIELD: The looks more adult humor. This is not for the little kiddy in your life, is it?

DRAKE: It's rated PG, and I definitely recommend that people take a look at his original short film. He did it in 1984. That's what he based the movie on. It's a little bit dark, but I do think the kids can handle it. But pay attention to that PG because there were times when even I was scared.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: OK, so how does it rank on the "Tomato meter"?

DRAKE: This movie is certified fresh, 86 percent, a hugely high score. I love it. Yay, it's alive.

WHITFIELD: That's very fun. Just in time for the Halloween holiday, so to speak.

Next movie, "Taken 2". "Taken 1" with Liam Neeson was huge back in the day. His daughter goes off to Europe and gets kidnapped, she along with a friend, and now this sequel. Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen to me. It's happened again. Your mother and I are going to be taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So this is the same or different in what way?

DRAKE: Oh, boy. Well, "Taken" had an advantage because it was a surprise. It was a great movie. Liam Neeson, nobody had seen him fighting before. So unfortunately, this movie really shows that that premise is wafer thin. So it becomes not beloved by critics. But for everybody else out there who wanted to see some more action from Liam Neeson, yes, in fact, Schindler still is punching foreigners in this country. You still win on that level.

WHITFIELD: You're not taken by "Taken 2." DRAKE: I'm not, but critics are being way too hard on it. It kind of goes into a category of fun and ridiculous which I like to call "fun- diculous." Every word that comes out of everybody's mouth seems implausible. I have been to Istanbul, Turkey, where the movie is set, and the most realistic part is that American girls run on Turkish rooftops with grenades.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: How does it rank on the tomato meter?

DRAKE: Like I said, no one is giving it a break. It's rotten at 19 percent.

WHITFIELD: That's harsh.

DRAKE: That is so low. And I think Liam Neeson deserves better from us. Maybe, however, not a full price ticket movie, maybe a good matinee.

WHITFIELD: Or wait until it comes out on DVD, is that what you're saying?

DRAKE: Maybe so.

WHITFIELD: We had a little fun with "Frankenweenie." Thank you very much.

DRAKE: Absolutely. Thank goodness.

WHITFIELD: Have a great one. You can get all of Grae's movie grades at RottenTomatoes.com.

A young NASCAR driver is making Hispanic heritage month count. I'll tell you his story and who he's thanking for getting the opportunity to race.

And if you have to go out today, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone and also watch live from your laptop. Go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: He is one to watch burning up the track on the NASCAR circuit, and he has many to thank for the opportunity, he says. Meet Sergio Pena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERGIO PENA, NASCAR DRIVER: So much adrenaline rushing through your body, and you're so concentrated on hitting every mark and making sure everything you do is absolutely perfect. My name is Sergio Pena. I'm Colombian and I'm a NASCAR driver.

WHITFIELD: Sergio Pena has been racing professionally since he was 13 -- motocross, go-carts, formula one, you name it. Now he's working his way up the NASCAR ranks. Seeing the potential, NASCAR officials enrolled him in their drive for diversity program. A program designed to give minorities a chance to compete, gain experience, and exposer.

PENA: I had a great two years there. They put my name on the map, gave me great opportunities. I learned a lot.

WHITFIELD: Pena learned enough to land a big-time sponsor, much to the delight of his father who spent over $1 million to fund his son's efforts over the years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything you make, you sort of dump it into the sport hoping he would get a shot at it. I wouldn't change a thing. But if I had to do it again, I think I would do it again.

PENA: I'm so thankful that my dad supported my career. I wouldn't do anything I have been doing right now without him. It's been huge for the family, but now all of my hard work seems to be paying off.

WHITFIELD: A great support system and the right opportunities will only get you so far. Pena still has to deliver. And he has.

KIP CHILDRESS, NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST: His family is getting everything they had to put him in a position to be in the equipment he's in today. But Sergio has done quite a bit of work as well. And he has to perform. Sergio's been able to get the job done.

WHITFIELD: Last year, Pena was tied for most wins in his series, and he finished fifth overall in points. He's eager and hungry to get to the next level.

PENA: I really hope to be in the Sprint Cup series. If not, one of the top three series, especially the nationwide. I hope to compete with the big names.

WHITFIELD: As for bringing more diversity to NASCAR, Pena says the building blocks are there.

PENA: There's African-Americans, Latinos, and I think it's going to be great for the sport. If we can see diversity in NASCAR not only as drivers but fans as well, it will be a great thing for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And congrats to Sergio Pena. He's also a full-time college student in Virginia. He majors in media productions.