[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/29/american.girl.art.jpg caption="American Girl unveils Rebecca Rubin, their first Jewish-American doll."]

American Girl dolls are known for their unique identities, representing different time periods and ethnic cultures. CNN’s Lola Ogunnaike got a sneak peak at the latest one to find out what's different about her.

She's nine years old, 18 inches tall and has luscious brown hair. Offer a warm shalom to Rebecca Rubin, American Girl's first historical Jewish doll.

“She's born here in New York, her parents have emigrated from Russia and she goes through those trials and tribulations of a traditional family with her bubbe [grandmother] and her mom and her dad…and understanding what life was like on the Lower East Side,” says Judith Herbst, Senior Manager for Marketing, American Girl.

Rebecca has been in the works since 2000. The shade of her hair, the style of her dress, her life in the early 1900's were all meticulously researched. Even her accessories are historically accurate.

“For Hanukkah…there is a menorah, there is a Shabbat set, there's a challah set,” says Herbst.

New York City's Tenement Museum will host tours for girls eager to learn more about Rebecca's fictional past.

“What we're extraordinarily pleased with, is the degree now to which the Rebecca Rubin story parallels, tells through a doll the same story we tell through this building…It's a story of struggle, it's a story of coming to the United States because of aspiration and hope,” says Morris J. Vogel, President Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

The young ladies we talked to were more interested in hair than history when they got an early peak at the new girl in town.

“I love her hair and she's just so pretty and her dress…It's so pretty. I love the red. Red is one of my favorite colors so I really like it,” said Abby. “Her hair is very wavy,” said Caroline.

“What do you think of her shoes,” I asked Chantel. “Very lovely…The leather of them. Very good,” she said.

Clearly they're sold. Now all the girls have to do is convince their moms.

“The puppy dog face really works and if she says no, go to daddy, so that usually gets it,” Abby said with a smile.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/01/ogunnaike.michelle.comic.art.jpg caption= "First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on the cover of the comic book series 'Female Force.'"]

She may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or race faster than a speeding bullet, but Michelle Obama can move merchandise. Books and ball gowns. J. Crew to Jason Wu. And countless magazines – Vogue, Essence, People, O, to name a few. Now she’s gracing the cover of a new comic book series “Female Force” and the company’s owners are banking that it will fly off the shelves.

“We’re thinking women will buy them for their daughters,” said Darren Davis, one half of the duo behind the Female Force series, which showcases powerful women in the public eye. “I think that people who want Michelle Obama collectibles will be getting them or Barack Obama collectibles because he’s also in it as well.”

Since launching the series in March, Davis and his partner Jason Schultz, have featured Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. There’s no doubt the Michelle Obama will sell extremely well, says Nia Malika Henderson, of the website Politico. “I think these comic book folks will make a lot of money off of this and these are going to fly off the shelves,” she says. “If you look at Amazon, there’s already a waiting list for these comic books and they were very smart in timing it to the first 100 days.”

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Author John Leland speaks to CNN's Alina Cho about President Obama being hip as a politician.

He sits courtside in all black, posts video on YouTube, goes on Leno, and he fought for the right to carry his Blackberry. But does that all make President Obama hip? And does it help the president politically?

John Leland is a reporter for the New York Times and wrote the book "Hip: The History." He joined Alina Cho on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday.

Alina Cho: You call President Obama the first hip president. You wrote, “He’s white and he’s black. He’s an elitist and he’s regular folk. He’s not pinned down to a perspective.” Why is being hip important? Why is it noteworthy?

John Leland: He is the first president certainly to make this question relevant. Is this guy hip or not? He looks good courtside as you say, looks good in all black. In my book, I talk about where this idea of hip comes from and it seems to come from these western African words hipi or hepi “to see” or “to open your eyes.”

Cho: How is he different from all the others?

Leland: Because he has his eyes open in ways the others do not. He has an awareness of different parts of American culture that we haven't seen from a president before.

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CNN's Lola Ogunnaike reports on a new trend that combines yoga and man's best friend.

I don't do dogs and I don't do yoga.

Having inherited my mother's abject fear of animals, I try to stay clear of anything with four legs and fur.

Yoga is too slow for me. All that breathing and stretching and chanting and centeredness. Boring. I'd rather jump and kick and pump and gasp for air.

But my curiosity got the best of me when I discovered that Bideawee, an animal welfare organization in Manhattan, offers a yoga class for dogs - doga. During the 45-minute session, pooches and their masters give new meaning to the phrase "downward facing dog."

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