All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Seventeen-year-old Kalief Rollins isn't just a salesman, he's a relentless salesman. I don't know if he could sell ice cubes to Eskimos, but from personal experience I know he can sell a $20 T-shirt that says "Caution: Educated African American" to a lilly-white CBS News correspondent.

Obviously, it's hard to say "no" to Kalief.

Kelief lives in Compton, CA where he runs the "Phree Kountry Clothing" company out of his mom's garage. "I've wanted to be an entrepreneur since birth," he told me. His mother confirmed. She says in first grade he used to spend his lunch money on candy -- not for himself, but for resale to his fellow classmates. He would sell a 50 cent bag of Skittles for a buck. The kid knew his price-points from the get-go. In junior high he sold jewelry and today - T-shirts.

He started the shirt business as part of the National Youth Entrepreneurship Competition. More than 20,000 students enter this contest every year. Judges pick a winner based on the student's business plan and presentation and this year the prize went to Kalief.

He won $10,000 dollars and a trip to Washington D.C. to meet President Obama.

Our viewers will also have a chance to meet Kalief tonight in my Assignment America segment on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

A lot of people ask me what I look for in an Assignment America story.

Typically, I'm looking for something heartwarming or humorous. But sometimes a story doesn't have to be either. Sometimes a story just has to be fun to watch.

In the TV news business we pitch those kinds of stories to our bosses by saying they have "great visuals." If a story has "great visuals," we'll make up any reason to call it news and put it on the air.

Last night's 60 Minutes was a perfect example. If you saw the piece about people jumping off of cliffs wearing bird suits, that was epitomy of "great visuals." The story won't win them another Emmy for investigative journalism, but it was wonderful eye-candy.

Likewise, tonight's Assignment America won't win me any Cronkite comparisons, but it'll be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

It's about a group of college students who set out to make the most amazing basketball shots ever caught on camera. No, it won't make you laugh or cry, but I guarantee it'll keep you glued to the screen.

As a follow-up, I'm hoping they next try to make a basket while jumping off a cliff wearing a bird suit! Of course, I'd have to fight 60 Minutes for that story.

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Over the last 20 years, The Love Me Tender animal rescue in central Tennessee has rounded-up more than a thousand abandoned dogs. And although most are timid and untrusting, recently a volunteer couldn’t help but notice when one dog shattered the mold.

“I could just tell right away she was somebody’s baby,” said Kathy Wilkes Meyers. “She just didn’t act like a stray dog to me.”

Myers found the dog a few months ago. It was emaciated and drinking from a drainage ditch along an empty stretch of highway about 30 miles south of Nashville.

Kathy says it’s typical for people to dump unwanted pets in the middle of nowhere like that – but again, the dog’s demeanor convinced her there was more to the story.

So she did some detective work and eventually found out what really happened to this dog.

It’s an amazing story that will surely bring tears to even the most grizzled animal rescue worker.

Be sure to check out our story tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

I used to think of myself as a generous person. If somebody drops a glove in an airport, assuming I’m not in a rush, I’ll often pick it up for them. When I’m in a convenience store I’ll usually leave a penny rather than take a penny. Or if somebody wants the shirt off my back, I’m always willing to sell it to them for a fair price.

Steve Hartman's Full Story Here

But this week I learned what it really means to be generous. In fact, I don’t think I’ve met a more generous, empathetic man in all my life.

Friday, I get the pleasure of telling, and you get the pleasure of watching, the story of Tom Chappell. I just finished putting his story together and I’ve already watched it a dozen times myself. I may watch it a dozen more times before the broadcast on the Evening News with Katie Couric. I do that sometimes when a story really makes me feel good and Tom Chappell makes me feel good.

Tom lives in a trailer in Phoenix, Arizona. He squeaks out a living driving a cab for V.I.P. taxi. His story began a few months ago when a cranky woman got in his cab and immediately started scolding him for being late. Most cab driver’s would have probably barked right back, but not Tom. Tom listened to her vent, found out the real reason she was so irritable, and eventually offered her his kidney. And no, I don’t mean that metaphorically. He really offered her his kidney! Obviously, that gesture alone makes for a great story.

But this tale is just getting started. So please make an appointment to be a near a TV Friday so you can meet this remarkable cab driver. That’s my tip for the day.

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What do you think is the best idea for a new business?

1) Taco ingredient home delivery
2) Flavored ice cubes - for those who want a hint of lemon in their drinks, but don’t want to use an actual lemon.
3) A bar on wheels
4) A taxi cab where people don't have to pay if they don’t want to.

And no, you can’t say "none of the above."

These ideas are all the brain children of 46-year-old Eric Hagen of Burlington, Vermont. For the last several months he’s been trying to come up with a way to supplement his income.

Fortunately for Eric, he does have a day job. He helps run blood drives for the Red Cross. Also fortunately for Eric, his friends talked him out of actually following through on any of his ideas. All but one, that is.

A few weeks ago Eric started the "Recession Ride Taxi Service."
His motto is "Pay What You Want."

I went up to Burlington this week to meet Eric because, believe it or not, he’s actually making money. Yes, some people don’t pay the going rate. But many others are paying MORE than the going rate. They say they like the idea of being trusted to pay a fare that's fair. Eric's convinced he’s stumbled on a new business model. Although when I asked him what other businesses might be able to use "pay what you want" pricing, he struggled, "um…delivery services, ahh, other taxi cabs, umm, couriers, ahh, delivery services…"

Too bad. I was hoping to get a steal on a new car.

To see Eric’s full story, please tune in for tonight's Assignment America on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

Steve Hartman is a correspondent for CBS News based in New York. His weekly Assignment America segment airs Fridays.

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If you’ve got kids in elementary school, you won’t want them to miss tonight’s Assignment America. On second thought – maybe you will want them to miss it. All I know for sure is that, after they see this story, they’re going to be even less excited about doing homework.

But for good reason.

This week I interviewed a 5th grader from Long Island, N.Y., who is trying to ban homework. It all started when Ben Berrafato had to write an essay about something he felt passionately about. Since he hates doing homework, he wrote about that. It was such a well-crafted essay, the New York Daily News ran it on their editorial page.

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Read Ben's essay here.

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He’ll be reading some of the essay for us tonight on the Evening News with Katie Couric. I also looked into some of his claims that homework has been proven to be a waste of time. And low and behold ...

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Steve Hartman is a correspondent for CBS News based in New York.

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Either I’m getting old or journalism schools aren’t doing their job. Or maybe both. Regardless, there are young TV reporters out there who have never heard of Charles Kuralt. I first met one of these deprived 20-somethings at a TV station in Los Angeles. Then I met another in Minnesota. How can you teach someone the art of TV story telling without at least mentioning the master?! And if young TV reporters don’t know the name, imagine the blank stares I would get from the rest of their generation.

That was my main reason for wanting to do this series of updates on Kuralt classics we’re calling, "On the Road … Again." But it was also an excuse ...

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Steve Hartman is a correspondent for CBS News based in New York.

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Tonight's Assignment America is so special, 've asked if I can tell the same story every month 'til further notice.

Seriously. I'm not sure it'll happen, but if it does, we're all in for some tremendously powerful television.

The story is about a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His name is Randy Pausch and he's one of the foremost authorities on virtual reality. Not long ago he was asked to give a "last lecture." "Last lectures" have become popular on college campuses. It's where the professor speaks as if he's dying and has one last chance to convey all his most important wisdom to his students. It was a painfully simple assignment for Randy.

He IS dying.

Randy has pancreatic cancer which has now spread to his liver. I asked him if he would be around for Christmas. He said, "50/50". I asked, "Father's Day?". He said, "I wouldn't buy me anything.". It was a rare somber moment. Until you start talking about his 3 small children or his wife, Randy is able to stay remarkably upbeat. In his lecture at Carnegie Mellon he started by announcing that he'd experienced a death bed conversion - paused -smirked - and said, "I bought a Macintosh." The place errupted.

In my story tonight I'll have more of the speech along with an interview I did with Randy while his kids were napping earlier this week.

Understandably, Randy wants to spend as much quality time with his kids as possible. But he is also a teacher and he has so much wisdom to share. More now than ever. Facing iminant death seems to have crystalized that wisdom. His lecture has already been downloaded nearly a million times by people all over the world. And most everyone has found inspiration.
I can't possibly tell you everything I want to tell you about Randy in this short blog. Tonight's story will be equally lacking. Which is why I've asked Katie and our other executives here at CBS if I can visit with Randy every few weeks for as long as he has to live. They have agreed. Randy is thinking about it - although he cautioned me to be careful what I wish for. "Death can get ugly," he said.

Maybe, but I think he's got more than enough life to shine through.

My dad really likes watching Katie. The only complaint he's ever had came one Wednesday when she wore her hair up. He told me, "Tell that pretty girl not to EVER do that again." It really bothered him. I got less guff when I crashed his '73 Maverick.

My mom also likes to comment on Katie's appearance. In fact, before Katie even started, my mom was on a rant: "Only reason CBS hired her was so they can show off her legs on the set," she insisted. I assured my mother that CBS had no intention of "showing off" Katie's legs -- but mom wasn't buying it. She bet me 5 dollars that the new anchor desk would be "see-through." Of course, it isn't. I won the bet. Although, I'm still waiting to collect.

I'm writing all this not to "out" my dad as sexist or my mom as a welch, but to make the point that we've all put too much emphasis on Katie's appearance over these last few months. Even me. When I sit next to Katie on Fridays I always look to see what shoes she's wearing. I even write a little critique in my head. I never did that with Dan Rather. Dan could've had a club foot for all I knew.

I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for Katie. As a male, and not a very striking one at that, I'm rarely boiled down to my looks. But I recently got a small taste of what it must feel like -- and the feeling isn't good.

It all started on February 9th. Now, I'll be the first to admit it wasn't a very good hair day for me. In hindsight, I let my mop grow a little too long and probably went a little too heavy on the product that morning. Taking a nap certainly didn't help matters either. Regardless, by airtime, my "do" was unkempt enough to motivate my senior producer to whisper condescendingly in my ear, "Have you seen your hair?" Katie noticed it too. She often performs last-minute touch-ups on my hair (she can be quite maternal like that). But normally it's just a matter of corralling one or two strays. This time, however, it looked like she was trying to round up a litter of frisky kittens. As soon as she'd put one in its place another would jump out. And all this is was happening critically close to air time. Katie called her hair person to the set. Mela is probably the best in the business, but even she couldn't do a thing with it. Finally, in desperation, Mela and Katie just shellacked it down with some sort of hair epoxy. (You can see the result in the picture on the right.) We did the segment, and I pretty much forgot about the whole incident. Until a few days later...

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Assignment America is a way for you to have a say in our newscast. Every Friday you're invited to vote for a story you'd like to see me cover the following week.

Unfortunately, your say in the matter has been somewhat limited. Until now, you've had to choose from three stories we provided. But we're changing that. We'll still come up with some of the choices -- but we're going to start using viewer generated ideas too. So If you've got something or someone you think would make a good choice for Assignment America, let us know. If you're not exactly sure what we're looking for, that's OK. I have a few rough guidelines that may help you come up with a top-notch story idea. On the Assignment America page I've written a little column called "What makes a good story idea?". Give it a look. Even if you don't have an idea right now -- I'd love for you to be my eyes and ears in (fill in the name of your city here) and let me know when you hear of something I should cover.

What's in it for you? First, if we use your idea, I'll credit you on the air. But more importantly, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you've brought some much needed good news to America.

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to seeing your ideas.