Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NEWSROOM
Family Lost At Sea; Oscar Talk; Michelle Obama Becoming A Pop Culture Icon
Aired February 25, 2013 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A frantic search off the coast of San Francisco under way at this hour for this missing couple, their 4- year-old and young cousin. This whole thing began yesterday after their 29-foot sailboat started taking on water.
Dan Simon joins me now live from San Francisco. And, Dan, what do we know at this point about the search?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- still ongoing despite the fact it would be very difficult for anyone to survive in those frigid waters overnight and many hours today. The Coast Guard just released the last communication they had with the vessel operator. This is the father. It is very short, but it paints a clear picture of what was going on. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are abandoning ship. We are abandoning ship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: Yes, very short, but you heard that father say they are abandoning ship. Want to bring in the Coast Guard Petty Officer Pam Boehland. First of all, can you tell us anything about this family? We know this is a husband, a wife, their 4-year-old son and cousin, anything more beyond that?
PAM BOEHLAND, PETTY OFFICER, USCG: Unfortunately no, we don't have a lot of information to go on. We're asking if anybody has any information about this 29-foot sailboat called the "Charm Blow" to contact the Coast Guard so we can help fill in some of these details. But all we know is there were four people on board and two young children. And we're hoping that there is still time to save them.
SIMON: And at this point, nobody has contacted the Coast Guard to say their loved ones are missing, a colleague from work, anybody like that?
BOEHLAND: That's right. We haven't received any reports of any missing people. So if your family was going on that trip or your loved ones or friends, please contact the Coast Guard. We need details and help finding these people. SIMON: All right, thank you so much. So Brooke, obviously they are still holding out hope to try to find this family, but as the hours go on, it becomes more of a remote possibility. It is believed they are 65 miles west of the Monterey area, a couple of hours away from San Francisco, but still holding out hope.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much from San Francisco.
Coming up next, it is here, hot topics face-off. We're talking 50 cents, race commons about NASCAR and also Yahoo! CEO demanding her employees work from the office or else. And the first lady, her role, she's burst on the scene when it comes to pop culture.
And have you seen and heard, ka-ching, this Oscar swag bag? Wait until you hear what celebrities got last night. My panelists are seated, all of them, in studio today. Who are they? The big reveal next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. For the next 20 minutes, we're debating the topics you'll be chatting about tonight at the dinner table, starting with history and a horrifying crash at Daytona.
History first, Danica Patrick in the bright green car, there she is, first woman to start the Daytona 500 in pole position, the first woman to lead a lap, and the first to finish in the top ten. She finished eighth.
Danica mania in some ways kind of overshadowing the winner of the race, who if you haven't followed it, it is Jimmy Johnson, even though everyone is talking Danica. It is what happened on Saturday that had everyone's jaws on the floor. Wait for it.
Fiery crash, sending metal, sending debris, even a tire, imagine if you're sitting in the stands, 28 fans were injured, 14 were sent to area hospitals to be treated. Thankfully, yikes, no serious injuries. So will this eventful weekend, will it help or hurt NASCAR's image?
We have the hot topics panel, we have Jennifer Brett here, entertainment columnist for the AJC, "Atlanta Journal Constitution," Ryan Cameron, morning show, afternoon host, morning show. I did afternoon. You're morning, View 103, TV host and producer Melanie Snare, and radio personality, Frank Ski.
So in studio, a first, it's so nice to have you all here. First, let me just begin with NASCAR. We were chatting at commercial break. You're our resident NASCAR expert, it sounds like everyone is talking NASCAR, talking Daytona 500. But the fear is that the whole Danica thing is overshadowing the sport, the race.
JENNIFER BRETT, ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST AND BLOGGER: If you look at the footage, it is amazing watching pieces of car fly all over the place and the very next day, the stands are packed, once again, with fans. FRANK SKI, RADIO PERSONALITY: It is ironic because in my household my wife drives way faster than I do. It is about time you had a woman in there in the top ten.
BALDWIN: It's about time.
SKI: It's about time.
BALDWIN: What do you think?
RYAN CAMERON, MORNING SHOW HOST, V-103 RADIO: I think NASCAR, there has been a lot of wrecks in the past and fans are used to that. Unfortunately with an engine block coming back three or four rows, it is different. I've been down there in the pits. And Jennifer and I were talking about it earlier. It is amazing how fast it is. It is very, very dangerous and they know that comes with the territory.
BALDWIN: Let me play the clip. James Franco at the race, he's the master of ceremonies and he's the guy supposed to stand out there with the flag and say drivers start your engines except he adlibbed a little bit. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES FRANCO, GRAND MARSHAL: Drivers and Danica, start your engines!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Drivers and Danica, what do we think?
MELANIE SNARE, TV HOST AND PRODUCER: James, James, James, he tried. I think he did it with the best intentions. I think he was trying to give her a shout-out, like, way to go, you're here, but it came out as drivers and you're not a driver.
BRETT: It made it seem like Danica was a novelty competitor and not --
SNARE: She's a very big advocate on the fact she's a driver first and a woman second.
CAMERON: Gentlemen, start your engines, so his intent was to say gentlemen, and Danica, but now it is, like, it was deaf by sound bite.
BALDWIN: OK, let's talk about the 50 Cent tweet. Let me read the tweet for you. He says, damn, I don't see no black people, LOL. So here you have 50 Cent tweeting about a lack of diversity, if you will, at the NASCAR 500 -- Daytona 500 crowd. Do you think NASCAR has a bit of a PR image problem?
BRETT: They're going to have to pitch a bigger tent and grow their audience. I remember growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, when NASCAR was like religion. I remember asking my dad as a little child, Daddy, is Richard Petty the president because he was on every billboard, right? He said, no, baby, he's the king. But NASCAR has to grow their fan base from that.
CAMERON: I kind of disagree with you a little bit, Jennifer, because, you know, Michael Molden who is Jermaine's father has done a lot to try to add to diversity. But you know, the African-American races that have been in those races, they just don't win.
You have to win to get to Daytona. You have the truck series, other series. If you're out there and wrecking cars, you're not going to go to the next level. I've been down there in the pits. I know. You are to win have to win to get to Daytona.
SKI: Attached to that is the lack of sponsorship for African- American drivers. The whole thing about NASCAR is about the sponsorships. When you have the sponsorships, you can afford the better team. It is like not having any money and having a college football team and you can't get a coach.
You know, you got to pay these people. And the best people that work the pits, the best people that build the engines and you need two or three cars on standby, who can afford that if the sponsors are not sponsoring African-American drivers.
CAMERON: If your car is a million dollars so you know, you wreck a million dollar car, you just don't go get another one.
BALDWIN: I want to move on from NASCAR. Have you all heard what the CEO of Yahoo! has said to her employees? I want to talk about this coming up because I think, you know, a lot of us. This is Silicon Valley, a lot of people work at home.
We're going to tell you what she has told her employees. Keep in mind, this is the woman who took a two-week maternity leave, back with that in the hot topics panel next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, so Internet search giant Yahoo! has undergone plenty of change lately, got a new CEO, got a new look and now a new policy for the company's telecommuters essentially telling these employees, come to the office or quit.
Yes, CEO Marisa Myer hoping that a change in culture will help Yahoo! gain its edge back. This is part of this leaked internal memo from tech site "All Things D." This is part of what she wrote.
Quote, "Communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side by side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings."
I see all of you nodding yes. Frank Ski, you say yes, you understand face to face communication.
SKI: I'll be honest with you, I knew once Facebook hit the scene, work from home was over. BALDWIN: Because you would be Facebooking all day?
SKI: You can see how many people are on Facebook. There is no way to track it. At work now, they can track what you do on your computer.
SNARE: Facebook at work.
SKI: Always.
BALDWIN: It is social media. It is Silicon Valley though. I mean, you could potentially lose a lot of talent, who it sort of -- the way things are done, it seems like, in places like this.
CAMERON: I get a job and free food? I mean, I get a job and free food, I'm in.
BALDWIN: Kind of awesome.
CAMERON: You talk about job sharing and working from home, I hate when people job share at my work because you walk around the corner, you got some great idea for the salesperson, she job shares on Monday and Wednesday or not here on Tuesday and Thursday.
I kind see her idea on wanting people to be there in case something happens. Yahoo! has been struggling. They are trying to get back into the game. So I want my whole team there with me when I'm trying to make these decisions.
BALDWIN: Steve Jobs had the same idea. Look at Apple now, pretty successful.
BRETT: I was surprised. I read this article on my mobile phone, which I could have done from anywhere. And it was interesting to me that they were taking this step, you just -- last year there was a Reuters poll indicating one out of five workers globally telecommute part of the time.
You have to wonder about the implications on the environment, if all those people were to get into their cars and go back to work. It is interesting to see Yahoo! having everybody come back to the ranch.
BALDWIN: Do we agree, though, that more face time develops as a catalyst for more, I don't know, ideas, face to face meetings?
SNARE: I agree with that to an extent. However I feel I work from home a lot and I'm extremely productive in my home because I don't have distractions, I don't have people walking around asking what I did last weekend.
I can 100 percent focus on the task at hand, and if I have an idea, I can pick up the phone. I can hit somebody up on instant messaging. So I feel like we also have to lend ourselves to where technology is and acknowledge the fact we can be extremely productive.
And research has shown people who are happy with flexibility and happy in the workplace are going to be more productive.
BALDWIN: And if you can't do that at Yahoo!, right? Can't do it at Yahoo! They may go somewhere else.
SKI: I think the other thing to understand is that it is a creative business that they're in. And creative businesses need group participation. I know and Ryan will tell you, some of the best shows we have come up with have been side talk in the office.
And something comes up and we're, like, there it is, boom because sometimes you have to dialogue to get to that point. And when people are all over the place, it is hard to get somebody's emotional call when they're on the phone.
BALDWIN: I want to talk about the first lady coming up. Did you guys watch the Oscars last night? The first lady in pop culture, is there a line?
Plus, we're going to talk about the swag bags that the celebrities got at the Oscars, close to $50,000 worth of goodies. Wait until you hear what was in them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The Academy Award has something for everyone for last night and it definitely has everyone talking today. For example, Jennifer Lawrence, lovely, the fall not so much, taking a spill here before she got the best actress award.
Then you have the musical numbers, the cast here of "Les Mis" singing "One Day More" live on stage. And then there is the man who is starting the evening off, Seth Macfarlane, he is where I want to begin our chat here. His opening monologue was, by the way, 18 minutes long. Thumbs up, thumbs down on him?
CAMERON: I think people should know that that's what you get with Seth Macfarlane. If you know his comedy, know any of his shows, he's going to push the envelope. To wake up this morning and hear the water cooler talk and people being upset, what did you expect?
BALDWIN: Don't they want someone to push the envelope? Doesn't that get eyeballs on the screen?
CAMERON: We've seen Billy Crystal, what?
BALDWIN: Are you saying snooze fest?
SNARE: I think they put way too much focus on the host. Who wants to watch him for 18 minutes for an opener? Get the show started. It is way too long. I don't care what you're doing. I don't want to watch you for 18 minutes.
BALDWIN: I want to play this clip because some of the criticism is some of his jokes went a smidge too far. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SETH MCFARLANE, OSCAR HOST: "Django Unchained," that was an intense film. This is the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who has been subjected to unthinkable violence or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie. No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A date movie, I see you rolling your eyes.
BRETT: Domestic violence isn't funny. Presidential assassinations not funny either. He's so gifted, so talented, a brilliant clever guy. He's got more in his wheel house than domestic violence jokes, I think.
BALDWIN: I find it fascinating sitting on Twitter, like a voyeur, watching what everyone is tweeting while watching, the role of social media, instant feedback. Good or bad? It is instant
CAMERON: Talking about Michelle Obama the first lady and what she did, this is a whole new era. They set the bar. They're the first lady and president that have, you know, Twitter and Facebook. So the things that they're doing, they set the bar for these things. I don't think that George Bush would say, I don't do the tweets and I'm not on the Facebook, but watch this drive. It is a different era.
BALDWIN: Is that your best Bush impression?
CAMERON: That's my best Bush right there, take it, Brooky.
BALDWIN: Speaking of the first lady though, so here she is, you know, surprise, especially Ben Affleck gets "Argo" best picture, he says, my gosh, am I hallucinating, it is the first lady who gave me award.
Beaming up live from the White House, that was a behind the scenes thing because of Harvey Weinstein. I think it broadens the discussion of the first lady. She's on Rachael Ray talking about -- she called her bangs, her mid-life crisis.
She's hilarious dancing with Jimmy Fallon, the evolution of the mom dance and now at the Oscars. She's sort of thrust herself as the central role in pop culture. Is in the modern day first lady role?
SKI: It should be. This is why. First of all, everything has changed. What they have done is really opened the White House in more I was than one and they have shown everybody this is obtainable. We're regular people, and you can do what I do. Get involved and I think she presents the perfect role model for that.
BRETT: Did you see the YouTube video where the president and Mrs. Obama surprised White House visitors by showing up mid-tour and saying, hi, welcome to the White House and there is the dog. They want to be very accessible.
BALDWIN: More to the point of opening up the doors, being open to -- SNARE: I think there has been a lot of criticism for her doing that as well. People are saying, you know, they need to be more focused on our country, and on politics. And -- but she's not the one running the country. I think it is fine --
CAMERON: I don't know. I don't know about --
SNARE: Maybe not. Maybe you're right. Let me take a step back and think about my own, but I think it is great she's a part of what is happening in our world.
BALDWIN: Can we talk about the swag bags?
CAMERON: Sure.
BALDWIN: So if you go to the Oscars, I'm sure we're all a little jealous, $47,802, what it is all amounting to. A couple of the items we pulled out. $12,000 Australian vacation, $4,100 week long weight loss retreat, which, by the way, shouldn't it be weight gain, 406 hand cream, $20 clothing defuzzer, box of condoms for good measure, excess or part of the game?
CAMERON: Best form of advertising. If one of these celebrities uses your product, you get to say, you know, so and so used my product.
BALDWIN: You want them to be photographed, you get money.
BRETT: I think it is a bargain for marketers, actually not to diminish the contributions and some people spent their last advertising dollar on this effort, but you think about a Super Bowl, 30-second ad that costs $3 million, $4 million, being able to stock a swag bag is comparatively a lesser investment.
BALDWIN: As a nation, we're talking about, don't want to say sequestration, the blunt force cuts that we're facing --
CAMERON: About the 1099, you don't just get it. They're going to get -- you have to pay the taxes on this stuff. It is not just a giveaway.
BALDWIN: IRS says put that on your tax --
SNARE: We're giving away things to the people who can actually afford it. It is Hollywood. I'm not a hater. I would love to have all that stuff.
CAMERON: We're all jealous.
BALDWIN: Jennifer Brett, Ryan Cameron, Melanie Snare, Frank Ski, guys, thanks so much. We'll do it again and on that note, back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
