CNN Press Release - Restoring the American Dream – FIXING EDUCATION Debuts Sunday at 8:00pm ET and PT

TIME Magazine Companion Story “When Will We Learn?” Hits Newsstands Friday

American primary and secondary education were once envied by much of the world, but over the last few decades U.S. students have fallen behind – while students in other countries have benefitted from improvements to their educational systems. CNN and TIME magazine’s Fareed Zakaria interviews innovative and creative leaders working on solutions to fix what ails American education in his November primetime special, Restoring the American Dream – FIXING EDUCATION, on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 8:00pm & 11:00pm ET & PT, and for a companion TIME magazine cover article, “When Will We Learn?” that hits newsstands Friday.

PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, ranks 15-year-olds for basic skills achievement in 65 industrialized nations. In the latest PISA rankings, the U.S. ranks 15th in reading, 23rd in math, and 31st in science. Zakaria guides viewers through tours of what is working in education in countries with high rankings – to South Korea where students have more classroom time; and Finland, where professionalization of the teacher workforce has improved educators – in order to mine ideas for what could put U.S. education back on the right track.

Featured in the special are:

· Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation has donated $5 billion dollars to schools, libraries, and scholarships tells Zakaria that the single most important determinant in the quality of a student’s education is the teacher. The Gates Foundation is the leading source of private money for education in the U.S..

· Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, an educational organization that provides free, self-paced tutorials and student assessments online. Khan’s famous podcasts have delivered more than 83 million free lessons in math, science and other topics, and he tells Zakaria that customizing education can improve learning through leveraging how students learn differently. He thinks it would not be that difficult to teach all American students this way.

· NYU Professor, former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education, and author (The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, 2010) Diane Ravitch has spent a lifetime in education policy analysis and has seen education reforms come and go – and harm students. Ravitch supports a rigorous national curriculum and tells Zakaria that standardized testing, charter schools, and modeling public education after business models have politicized American education and degraded schools for a generation.

· Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, in Washington, now leads StudentsFirst, a nonprofit aimed at education reform through, among other measures, ending teacher tenure and supporting charter school alternatives to traditional public schools.


A FAREED ZAKARIA GPS Special: Restoring the American Dream – FIXING EDUCATION – debuts Sunday, Nov. 6 at 8:00p.m. and 11:00p.m. ET/PT on CNN/U.S. It will replay on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8:00p.m. and 11:00p.m. ET/PT on CNN/U.S. Preview available here: Fareed Zakaria and Brooke Baldwin discuss what makes a great teacher.

Fareed Zakaria’s TIME magazine cover story, When Will We Learn? hits newsstands Friday, Nov. 4.

CNN and HLN will each air an Oscars special on February 27. Reality television identity, Camille Donatacci Grammer, has been tapped to join hosts AJ Hammer and Brooke Anderson. Details of CNN's and HLN's planned specials are below.

CNN Press Release: Grammer Joins Showbiz Tonight Hosts AJ Hammer and Brooke Anderson as Celebrity and Fashion Commentator.

Showbiz Tonight: Road to Gold Airs Sun, Feb 27, 7 p.m. ET on CNN and 11 p.m. ET on HLN

Television personality Camille Donatacci Grammer will join Showbiz Tonight as a fashion and celebrity commentator live from the Oscars on Sun, Feb 27, for the Red Carpet special, Showbiz Tonight: Road to Gold. Grammer, who stars on the TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, will provide her insider perspective on celebrity arrivals and fashion insights.

Grammer joins Showbiz Tonight hosts AJ Hammer and Brooke Anderson for the special, live at the Kodak Theater, 7-8 p.m. ET on CNN. Showbiz Tonight: Road to Gold returns at 11 p.m. ET on HLN and will be TV’s only entertainment news show live with the latest breaking news from the Academy Awards.

“We can’t wait to get Camille’s unabashed take on Hollywood’s biggest night,” said Dave Levine, Senior Executive Producer, CNN Entertainment and Showbiz Tonight. “She will be perfect for ‘Showbiz Tonight,’ TV’s most provocative entertainment news show.”

Also joining AJ, Brooke and Camille live at the Oscars will be acclaimed and outspoken actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and syndicated radio host Carlos Diaz with their colorful insights and candid views.

Online, CNN’s Oscar coverage will provide exceptional access to the most compelling moments from the 83rd Academy Awards at www.cnn.com/showbiz. CNN.com’s Entertainment section will feature all of the evening’s nominees and winners, photo galleries of the fashion ‘dos and don’ts’, an Oscar-themed quote board, as well as all of the excitement from the red carpet streamed live from 6 to 8 p.m. ET.

The “Show Trending Stories” tab on the Entertainment section will also present the most popular, user-driven Oscar stories according to related user activity in CNN.com’s comments, as well as on Facebook.

Users can check The Marquee Blog throughout the night or follow @CNNShowbiz for updates from the red carpet and the winners as they’re announced.

CNN Press Release - New Network Daytime Lineup: Phillips, Malveaux, Velshi and Baldwin

Suzanne Malveaux has been named anchor of CNN Newsroom, it was announced today by Ken Jautz, executive vice president of CNN/U.S. Malveaux will relocate to Atlanta and will anchor CNN Newsroom live from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. She joins CNN’s Kyra Phillips, Ali Velshi and Brooke Baldwin, who will continue to anchor CNN Newsroom from 9-11 a.m., 1-3 p.m. and 3-5 p.m. respectively. (All times Eastern Standard Time.) Malveaux begins her CNN Newsroom anchor duties on January 31.

Malveaux, who has worked in CNN’s White House unit for nearly a decade, has played a key role as a member of the network’s Best Political Team on Television and as the primary substitute anchor for The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. During her career, Malveaux has covered three presidents, presidential campaigns, and key stories including the War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and the economic crisis.

Since joining the network in 2002, Malveaux has interviewed President Obama and the First Lady; former presidents George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton; and former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush among numerous other newsmakers. During the 2008 election, Malveaux reported and hosted an in-depth documentary on then presidential-nominee Barack Obama.

“Suzanne is a welcome addition to the CNN Newsroom lineup, adding a depth of experience as well as fresh perspective to our daytime coverage,” said Jautz. “We are very pleased to expand Suzanne’s role so that we can showcase her political expertise as well as her broader strengths as a journalist.”

“I’m looking forward to this new chapter, bringing news and stories that impact viewers in and outside the Beltway,” said Malveaux.

CNN Newsroom is the destination for breaking news and international reporting from its state-of-the-art interactive studio. Kyra Phillips has anchored the program since 1999. Ali Velshi and Brooke Baldwin joined CNN Newsroom in 2010.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively-syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Congratulations!

Reggie Aqui and Colleen McEdwards hosted World News this weekend on CNN International.

Brooke Baldwin anchored Linda Stouffer's shifts of Headline News today.

Kyra Phillips anchored from New York for Rick Sanchez on CNN Newsroom last night.

A new anchor has appeared on CNN/I today, apparently filling in for Ralitsa Vassileva's 1 PM ET slot. Her name is Brooke Baldwin. No word if she's a freelance anchor or a new hire. More details at CNNfan.org.