CNN Plans A Weekend Slick Willie Special On Solving Poverty

Sitting in the CNN green room in Washington today and staring at the tube during "Live From" at about 2:10, I noticed a promo for a big show this weekend starring President Bill Clinton. On Saturday and Sunday night at 8 PM Eastern, CNN will air a special edition of "CNN Presents" hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's titled "The Poverty Trap: A Conversation With President Clinton." The Turner press release is headlined "CNN and President Clinton Search for Solutions To Global Poverty." How chummy. The release continued:

From Detroit, Michigan to Mexico and rural Arkansas to Rwanda, CNN explores poverty in communities around the world in places where the statistics are staggering and on the rise. In THE POVERTY TRAP: A CONVERSATION WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON, Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to former President Bill Clinton about how these communities and others can break out of the poverty trap.

The World Bank says that more than one billion people around the world live on less than US$1.00 a day. Trillions have been spent on eradicating poverty over the past 50 years, but the evidence suggests that little progress has been made. President Clinton says that by tailoring projects to local needs and working to keep governments honest, it is more likely that monetary donations aimed at poverty will be used properly.

"Poverty does not discriminate against one’s nationality, religion, culture or skin colour. As a global network with access to the world’s leaders, this is the type of programme that CNN was created to offer audiences," said Rena Golden, Senior Vice President CNN International.

Dr. Gupta takes us to the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, considered to be the poorest major city in the U.S. and introduces us to an inner-city program that is rebuilding rundown neighborhoods - one house at a time with the help of local teens.

CNN’s Jonathan Mann accompanies President Clinton to Rwanda this past July and finds out how hard it is for the villagers to live off the land when the skies won’t comply.

CNN’s Rusty Dornin travels to rural Arkansas, to observe Heifer International, an organization committed to helping small farmers who are being forced out by larger farming operations get back on their feet, and trains them to economically create a thriving cattle farm.