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CNN Talkback Live

Can Tinsel Town Get Past the Issue of Race?; Should Schools Tell Parents if their Kids are Overweight?

Aired March 25, 2002 - 15: 00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN MCKELLEN, ACTOR: You'll find a lot of "Lord of the Rings" people are wearing them this evening.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: My jewelry gets stuck on this dress and everything, and I'm constantly adjusting, making sure everything's covered.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Well, the great thing about these is they're part of a red carpet collection, and if you wore them $10,000 would go to AMFAR (ph) which is an amazing AIDS research organization.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: They're the most expensive pair of shoes ever made.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How about the necklace?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Need I say more. NO, this is twice the price of the Hope diamond.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: This is Carolana Herrera (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(NEWS ALERT)

ARTHEL NEVILLE, HOST: Hello everybody, welcome to TALKBACK LIVE. I'm Arthel Neville. This is a great day. Halle and Denzel walked away with the gold. I was at an Oscar viewing party last night and I stayed up to catch every minute of the excitement. We're going to talk about the Hollywood history that was made. Actor Ving Rhames will join us.

Now do you think Tinsel Town can get past the issue of race? I want to hear from you on that, and of course, second to history being made was the thrill of seeing who was wearing what. I have my favorites, do you? You know the drill. Give me a call at 1-800-310- 4CNN, or e-mail me at talkback@cnn.com.

Here's what's on the chat menu for today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (voice over): What if you got a letter from school telling you your kid is too fat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's any of their business what we do with our children.

NEVILLE: Would you tell the school to mind its own business? We want you to weigh in on that. Also, meet the next generation of war correspondents, the Afghan explorers. And, the Oscars make Hollywood history as Black actors are named the best in leading roles.

HALLE BERRY: Oh my god. It's not really about me, as much as it's about so many other women of color who have tried to permeate, you know, the system for so many years. And today, this meant, you know, hope that the glass ceiling was broken wide open.

DENZEL WASHINGTON: Do I what though, seriously?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you feel there will be a time where we will not have headlines saying, "Black actor wins?" And do you think...

WASHINGTON: Well, do you write for a newspaper?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Unfortunately, yes.

WASHINGTON: Well then, make sure it doesn't happen tomorrow. Just say "actor wins."

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That's very fair.

WASHINGTON: What a chance you have. What an opportunity. What an opportunity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEVILLE: You just have to love Denzel? OK, I want to bring in my guest now to talk about all of this. Ving Rhames, best known as a villain for his roles in "Pulp Fiction" and "Con Air (ph)" In 1998, he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a miniseries. Also with us is syndicated columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson. He is the author of "Beyond OJ, Race, Sex and Class Lessons for America." Gentlemen, thank you very much for being here this afternoon.

VING RHAMES, ACTOR: My pleasure.

EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON: Thank you.

NEVILLE: Sure. How do we acknowledge history without labeling Denzel or Halle as Black actors? Ving, let's start with you.

RHAMES: Well first of all, I think acting is very spiritual, and I think it's exploring the human condition, the human experience, and I think that goes beyond skin color. So I think what you have here really are two extremely good performances done by two artists who happen to be African-American. NEVILLE: Absolutely. Mr. Hutchinson, what are your thoughts?

HUTCHINSON: I tend to agree. In fact, I like what Denzel had to say to the newspaper write. He said "look, you've asked will there be a time in Hollywood when we don't have to say Black or African- American or Latino or Asian before actor or actress." He said, "look are you a writer, then why don't you start right now by saying, actor wins best award, actress wins best award without the labels." So I think that's important to establish that, because what essentially Denzel and many others have said over and over, and as Ving just said, you know these are not gifts to African-Americans. They had to work hard.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

HUTCHINSON: The talent is there.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

HUTCHINSON: Let's recognize that performance. Let's acknowledge it and also one other thing too. We have to realize Hollywood is a dollar driven industry. It's a big business, one of the biggest in the world. African-American actors and actresses are huge bankable, sellable, commodities.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

HUTCHINSON: So there also has to be a recognition, not only do they bring a talent to the table, but they're also bringing a lot of dollars to the table too.

NEVILLE: Mark, what are you thoughts?

MARK: The question is, should it be more, should America get over like the race issue, as opposed to should Hollywood just get over it?

NEVILLE: Gentlemen, one of you would like to answer that?

HUTCHINSON: Well, I think it's both. I think America has to get over it and I think it was a huge step last night with obviously Halle, obviously Denzel, also Sidney Poitier being recognized.

But something that's often missed about, particularly Sidney Poitier and Denzel and many others I can think about, down through the years they have refused to compromise on several things, their talent obviously, excellence, and also if you've noticed very carefully, the parts they've been in have always been parts where they projected not only their charisma and persona, but also a dignity and pride too. They didn't take demeaning stereotypical roles. They refused to do that.

So in other words, it was an all-encompassing view and look and really a full body statement that these actors and actresses are making, saying that "look, we're here. We've arrived. We are versatile. We can expand the cultural and spiritual spectrum of what acting is all about. Accept us for what we are."

NEVILLE: Absolutely. And your thoughts are, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I feel that Hollywood is still in shock over what happened last night. I mean, there's no doubt about that. I mean not only did an African-American win Best Actor, but an African-American female won Best Actress, and the Lifetime Achievement Award went also to an African-American male. So I feel that no matter what, Hollywood's shocked. Hollywood was slapped in the face like whoa.

NEVILLE: Yes, but you know what. Thank you, first of all. But you know what, let's talk about that whole shock factor. You know what, they shouldn't be shocked because, like you said, Denzel Washington has been putting in great work years and years and years and years and years now and Halle has been doing a great job consistently as well. So can we get over this? Ving, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

RHAMES: Well, first of all, I think we put too much credence in an Oscar or in any award. I don't really think awards validate artists. I think that whether Halle or Denzel had won an Oscar or not, their work still remains the same and their work speaks for itself. So, I've always concerned myself with when we get too concerned with people's opinions about our work.

NEVILLE: So basically, we shouldn't look - or you're saying that any actor should not look to an award per se, an Oscar, to validate their work or their worth?

RHAMES: No. For instance, I don't think - I can't say Picasso is better than Van Gogh or Van Gogh is better than Monet or Checkov (ph) is better than Shakespeare. It comes down to opinions, and I think as artists, we don't deal in a competitive form.

As Denzel said last night, he's trying to become the best actor that he can be, you know, and I applaud Denzel for that. I apply him for his body of work, and I applaud him for making history. But at the same time, I hope that there's as much love from America, Black and White, for them regardless of whether they would have won an Oscar or not.

NEVILLE: I want to get Lonnie in. Lonnie, you're calling in from New York. What are your thoughts?

LONNIE: Well, first of all, I'd like to respond to the lady who said that Hollywood was slapped in the face last night. She needs to know that Hollywood is the ones that voted for Halle Berry and Denzel Washington, so that - what she said had no meaning whatsoever.

A few years ago, I'd just like to tie this is, when OJ Simpson got off, I saw a picture in "LIFE Magazine" and it was of a television store with televisions in the windows, people outside, and it was there - the picture was taken right after the reaction of the verdict. The Black people in the picture were jumping up and down for joy. The White people had their hands across their mouth in disbelief. Last night, I think that when Halle Berry, who is a wonderful actress and a very beautiful lady and Denzel Washington, who repeatedly puts out excellent work won, it was not because of the color. It was not because of anything except that they do an excellent job consistently.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

LONNIE: In this business. I'm so sick of people making things a race issue. If we could past that, we're in the year 2002, so if we could move past that and everybody become one. We are one group of people, society, trying to make it in this world and if we would stop being concerned about color and African-Americanism and what have you. I understand what they went through years ago, but we are in 2002.

NEVILLE: Lonnie. Right. I really appreciate your thoughts, and Dodie is that right, Dodie here from Spain, I think is going to piggyback on what you just said.

DODIE: Yes, well we are visitors to your country. Actually I'm English, but we do live in Spain. We felt that coming here, Black and Whites all mixed together all of the time. We've always been under the impression that everybody speaks the same language and the color didn't matter, but all of a sudden color has come to the fore with the Hollywood thing, and you know whether they thought the female and the male actor just to break the barrier and get it over and done with, we just don't know why it's all happening, and making it such a big, big issue.

NEVILLE: Can we get it over and done with? We'll answer that or talk about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Welcome back everybody. I'm Arthel Neville. We're talking with actor Ving Rhames and columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson about last night's Oscar awards. Welcome you both back to the program. But I want to take a moment now to pull up an e-mail that we just in from Lee in Florida. I'd like to read that to you and then get your thoughts on that.

It says: "Not to be overlooked is that the characters, both Halle and Denzel portrayed, were African-American, but will actors of color begin earning roles that are not race specific?"

Great question and Ving, I'd like you to address that first, please.

RHAMES: Well, I'll speak for myself in my career. I did a film called "Out of Sight" with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.

NEVILLE: Excellent movie, great job.

RHAMES: In the novel, Elmo (UNINTELLIGIBLE) my character is written as blond hair and blue eyes. I know I'm versatile, but I don't think I fit that description. You know, right, so I've been in several - in the film - I did a film years ago called "Dave" where the character was written as White.

So I do feel that the industry is changing towards that, and I also feel that too much is given, much is required. So I think now with Denzel and Halle, I think they have a chance now to use their clout in Hollywood to bust down doors, break through stereotypes and help African-American actors and actresses get more work, especially the African-American actresses, because there are so many good African-American actresses that don't get an opportunity, that you know, it pains me.

NEVILLE: Absolutely, and I have, what's your name?

VISHAL: Vishal (ph).

NEVILLE: Vishal, what are your thoughts?

VISHAL: I want to say that when we were watching the Oscars, I was just really glad that the African-Americans they won the leading roles, and so I think now this is probably an opening for new cultural backgrounds, like the Hispanics and all that. They can also (inaudible) because now it's Halle Berry. A new door has been opened and we don't want to shut it ever again.

NEVILLE: Absolutely, thank you very much for those thoughts. Earl Hutchinson, I haven't heard from you in a while. I'd like to.

HUTCHINSON: Yes, and I'd like to respond. I think if you look at the two roles, I disagree. If you look at the two roles that Denzel played and also Halle, you know these could have been anybody in those roles. I mean these were not typical "African-American" roles or any other ethnic group. So I think that's a mistake.

The second thing is what Ving said is, I think it's important to look at something else too. Yes, a barrier was broken yesterday. Yes, a frontier was crossed yesterday in terms of what we see on camera. But what I'm also concerned about is African-American, Latin, Asian, a diverse range of directors, writers, sound people, editors, camera people, all of those that go into making a film.

So, in other words, there's a breakthrough in terms of what we saw top talent on screen, but I'm also very concerned is the momentum continue to build and build and we see more African-Americans and Latinos and Asians in other capacities in the film industry. Then, that's when I'll really know and really be convinced that Hollywood means what it says when it says "we're going to open all doors and diversity is going to be a reality in that industry."

NEVILLE: And your thoughts, Sharon?

SHARON: Well, I was just going to say that someone in the audience brought up about this is history in the making and when are we not going to make it the, what's the word I'm looking for, the focus of the winning. But the idea is, is that it is history in the making and we do have to talk about it, yet it should not be the issue or the focus of Denzel and Halle winning those awards.

NEVILLE: Any thoughts on that, Earl?

HUTCHINSON: Well, I think this too. It really shouldn't and I want to go back to something that Ving said before, and just keep reminding the audience and anyone else out there that mistakes that Hollywood made this award or these awards yesterday simply because these individuals had a different hue or skin color, i.e. African- Americans.

These are talented individuals. They work very hard. They've been in that industry a long time. They paid their dues. Hollywood doesn't give out anything.

NEVILLE: No way.

HUTCHINSON: Just because of someone's ethnic background. They had to work. They deserved it. It was on talent. Now I just hope that since that wedge has been kind of put in place there, that others can come through the cracks that are there and maybe even the wide open door that may be there now and also that the film industry will also recognize their talent, their ability and their performances too.

NEVILLE: And obviously, money speaks and the box office has a lot to say, and before we wrap this segment up, I want to make sure that people at home realize that this is not just rhetoric. We want you - this is food for thought.

We want you to understand the plight in some way and perhaps either consciously or subconsciously you can make a decision to go out there and support these people that we're talking about and move it forward. You can do your part to help move this forward. Ving and Earl, final thoughts.

HUTCHINSON: Well, my final thought is this. You hit it right on the head there. It really comes down to the audience out there. As you know, a lot of times films have a very short shelf life because people don't support them. So, if you see individuals like Ving, you see individuals like Halle, you see individuals like Denzel and many others out there, then go out there and support them.

They're working hard. They've earned their spurs. They paid their dues. Now it's up to us to do our part and support them because they're out there, really our cultural warriors on the frontline fighting the battle for us.

NEVILLE: Absolutely. Ving.

RHAMES: Well, Fredric Douglas (ph) said, "when there's struggle, there's progress" and when I look at the plight of African-American actors going to Step and Fetch it, Hatty McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, and then I look at what happened last night, I just really feel a spiritual bond. I feel a growth with America.

I really think this goes beyond color, and I'm very proud of the Academy quite honestly, because I believe the Academy has 5,700 members and only 70 of them are people of color. So to me this crossed all sort of racial, ethnic boundaries and I applaud Halle and Denzel for just doing great work.

NEVILLE: Sally from Colorado, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

SALLY: Hi. Halle Berry was phenomenal. I've loved Denzel since "St. Elsewhere." The door is open. People may just stick their foot in it and keep it open. We can't be all self-congratulatory if this happens every 40 years. Just keep up the good work. They were just amazing performances all the way around.

NEVILLE: And having said that, we're going to wrap up this segment. Ving Rhames, thank you very much for being here. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, thank you as well, appreciate your thoughts. It's been a pleasure.

HUTCHINSON: God bless.

RHAMES: God bless.

NEVILLE: Same to you, thank you. OK. OK so listen, we're going to get somewhat shallow now. You know it and I know it, the winners are only part of the Oscar story, another reason I like to watch is we find out who's wearing what from elegant to frumpy to outright trashy. It's all there and we're going to take part, we're going to take it all apart seam by seam right after this. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: And welcome back. OK, could anyone have looked more like an Oscar winner last night than Halle Berry. I mean that dress was so elegant, so glamorous and so sexy, she looked like a movie star. That's right. There is no doubt, of course, that fashion is a big reason a lot of people tune in to the Academy Awards.

And right now, I want you to meet celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch. His clients have included Halle Berry, Jim Carey, John Travolta, Nicole Kidman and Faye Dunaway, just to name a few. Phillip is the author of "Elements of Style." OK, Phillip, Halle Berry and Sharon Stone are my picks for best dressed. Who are yours?

PHILLIP BLOCH, CELEBRITY STYLIST: Well, I have a lot going on. I have my whole blockbuster awards. First of all, I would say Best Direction has to be Sharon Stone and Versace, amazing, sexy, glamorous. Then I would say Best Picture, most photogenic would be Reese Witherspoon. I just loved, she looked elegant in Valentino. Then I would say Best Short would be Jodi Foster in her Armani dress, and I just thought she looked really elegant, very simple, but in a short dress, which is unexpected for her. Best actor -

NEVILLE: Well, I agree -- go ahead.

BLOCH: Denzel Washington.

NEVILLE: Oh yes, he looked dapper. I thought he looked amazing, and Denzel just pulled -- he pulls it off. I mean he's got the whole personality and he's so classy and it works. Now, Phillip, I have Mary Lynn standing here with me and we want to get her in on this conversation as well, and your thoughts are?

MARY LYNN: I think the wives need some credit. Will Smith's wife looked great and Denzel's wife was beautiful in that lavender purple dress.

NEVILLE: And you are right. Jayda (ph) Smith looked amazing. Pauletta Washington looked fierce and just elegant and she looked a true winner herself. What are your thoughts on those dresses, Phillip?

BLOCH: Well I love Paulette. She's a very stylish woman and her dress was by Carmen Martvalvo (ph) who Halle's worn many times, and Anabella Shores. I just thought she looked elegant in the lavender. And Jayda Pinkett Smith is definitely one of my award winners here. What did I give Jayda? Oh she got a special something, oh Best Visual Effects. The hair and makeup were so elegant and chic, I thought she looked great.

NEVILLE: Absolutely. OK now, were there any fashion don'ts last night?

BLOCH: I didn't love Gwyneth's dress. I didn't love the fit of it. I thought Gwyneth had some great style but the fit was not my favorite. Jennifer Connelly in (inaudible). I liked the idea but it was a bit like wilted lettuce. I didn't love it. And Cameron Diaz, I just think she's so beautiful and has such great style and that vintage (inaudible) I thought looked beautiful, but the hair I would have liked to look just a little fresher.

NEVILLE: Oh, you didn't like Cameron's hair so much?

BLOCH: It looked a little fried. I just think she's so beautiful. I've known Cameron for years and she's such a sweet, great girl. I loved the dress, the flower print was amazing.

NEVILLE: Yes I liked that. She and her best friend hooked up some of the jewelry for like a little waste belt thing she made.

BLOCH: Exactly and she works with two friends of mine, Nina and Claire, and I just think they did a great job.

NEVILLE: Yes, I like Cameron Diaz too and she's pretty. I've seen her without makeup, ran into her in a store in BH, Beverly Hills that is, and she's beautiful without the makeup. OK, Dave, you go ahead and tell us what you think.

DAVE: In terms of the dresses.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

DAVE: I just enjoyed Reese Witherspoon's dress.

NEVILLE: You did, Reese Witherspoon. Did you hear that Phillip?

BLOCH: So photogenic. Didn't she look like a young Grace Kelly? I just thought it was great. NEVILLE: Thank you. Yes, I thought she looked amazing, and she was there with her hubby and they looked great together and I think -

BLOCH: Ryan's not a bad accessory, is he?

NEVILLE: Oh, hello. I think he works very well. Do you have something?

BLOCH: Eye candy.

NEVILLE: Robin, what are your thoughts?

ROBIN: I think JaLo was dressed very nice. She always dresses real nice, so.

NEVILLE: Did you hear? Thank you, Robin. Did you hear that, Phillip, we were talking about Jaylo?

BLOCH: I love Jaylo and actually I have her jewelry here with me today. I thought you might like to see this.

NEVILLE: Of course.

BLOCH: (CROSSTALK). Look she has this gorgeous pearl necklace. I thought this was just amazing. She had it wrapped around several times, and look at this pink diamond ring, incredible huh?

NEVILLE: Let me tell you something. We see it. This is -- speaking of pink diamonds, I want to talk about Whoopie Goldberg's yellow diamond necklace that I was hoping I was close enough to snatch off her neck, because it was so fierce.

BLOCH: I heard one of the pieces fell off that and the guard had to hunt for it and I won't tell you where. But I have her black diamonds here with me, which Ronald Winston created especially for Whoopie for the evening. Look at the size of these black diamonds. Aren't they beautiful?

NEVILLE: Oh, they're amazing. I thought Whoopie looked fabulous last night as well. She came out in that swinging number she had on and she just worked it. She always works it.

BLOCH: She's so funny. She combines style and comedy and humor and just puts it all in one great package.

NEVILLE: You know, Rhonda, you're on the air now. I'd like to hear what you have to say about the Oscar fashions. Go ahead, Rhonda.

RHONDA: Cameron Diaz, what a disaster. I've gotten up in the morning with better looking hairdos and have thrown away robes that looked better than the dress she had on, and I pray she didn't have to pay anyone to dress her for that evening.

NEVILLE: Oh, man. Well you know, Robin just put it out there, huh? Come on, lighten up on Cameron. OK, maybe she wasn't having the best hair day but she's a nice girl and we like her. All right, Dan what do you think?

BLOCH: Well it's so funny when they spend all this money on stylists and hair and makeup. I mean Cameron works with the best people in town, and when you think of the time and energy that went into doing that, I'm kind of -- I just worked with her for years and she used to be so classy and now she tries to look like she's not trying and we all know everybody's trying. So you're not really fooling anybody.

NEVILLE: Dan from Illinois, what do you have to say about all of this?

DAN: I think this might be on a lot of people's sleepers lists, but I think Helen Hunt looked beautiful last night.

NEVILLE: Oh no, she did. She did. What do you think, Phillip?

BLOCH: Very elegant. I love the new hairdo. I love the whole makeup I thought was beautiful, the Gucci dress was interesting, subtle, understated. You know what was another favorite of mine? Kate Winslett in the Bandolisi dress with the roses. So elegant, shocking, the color was bright and vivid. I love that dress.

NEVILLE: Now what about Gwyneth Paltrow? She's beautiful and what did you think about her outfit last night though?

BLOCH: That was not my favorite dress there. The fit was just not quite right and I love Gwyneth because she is so sheik. I hung out with her Wednesday at the Women's Wear Daily party. And she is so beautiful and sheik. I don't know -- I don't know what happened there. Gwyneth, what happened? Let us know, please.

NEVILLE: Yeah, because she is so beautiful. I mean, come on. Everybody has a bad day. You know what? Not to point it out, but I think I'm having a bad fashion day myself. So there you go. I just put it out there. I'm talking about everybody else, I'm fair game, too.

BLOCH: There you go. I thought Uma Thurman was beautiful radiant after just having a baby. I voted her my best supported actress because the cleavage was very up there. I thought she looked great. I thought she looked really great. You know what else? Best special effect; Renee Zellweger and those Harry Winston earrings. The make up. The hair. The Carolina Herrera dress; simple, elegant, classic Hollywood style. Renee Zellweger is truly a star.

NEVILLE: Thank you, Philip. You ought to know, you have worked with the best. Thanks so...

BLOCH: And of course my best-dressed would be Halle.

NEVILLE: Oh, yes, well of course. Absolutely. So you and I agree on a lot of that stuff; Halle Barry, Sharon Stone, those are my winners.

Thank you for joining us today, Philip. UP next, the school sends home a note telling you your kid is too fat. What do you do? A, put him on a diet or an exercise program, or B, do you tell the school to mind its own business? I'll introduce you to an eating coach right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: And welcome back to TALKBACK LIVE. OK, so what if your child brought home a letter from school saying he or she is too fat and you have to do something about it? It's happening in Florida and Pennsylvania. Schools are responding to what the CDC has labeled an obesity epidemic.

They are weighing kids, measuring body fat and suggesting children be put on diet and exercise programs. Obviously they have good intentions but are the schools going too far? Here to talk about it are Judy Mazel, she is an eating coach and owner of Beverly Hills' Skinny and Slim and fit Success shops. She has written several books on keeping kids healthy and eating right.

Also with us is Chris Murray, associate legal director of the New York ACLU. Schools notify parents. Thank you, first of all, before I move on to my next thought. Thank you for being here.

E. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, ASSOC. LEGAL DIR., NEW YORK ACLU: Thank you.

NEVILLE: All right. Let's get to it. Schools notify parents about the results of various test. We are talking about hearing and vision. Or they will notify parents if there's a flu epidemic, pink eye. So, isn't being overweight and related complications a health issue?

JUDY MAZEL, "SLIM & FIT KIDS": Yes it certainly is a health issue. It's a very, very important health issue and probably as our surgeon general, David Satcher says, the most important and critical health problem confronting our children today.

MURRAY: When you talk about hearing or vision, you are talking about physical attributes that have something to do with education. The schools are not a health care provider and shouldn't be acting as a health care provider. So I think that it's going over the line to test them for body fat or obesity.

NEVILLE: But Chris, there are complications that are related to obesity. I think that's what they are getting at that, to let you know if your kid does have a vision problem. This is a problem too.

MAZEL: And the complications are very, very serious: Diabetes, bone and joint problems, heart disease, high blood pressure. I mean things that are happening to children now that shouldn't happen to them and that are going to go with them into their adulthood and create very, very serious problems.

Not to mention what is happening to their personalities, their self-esteem, their energy, the quality and quantity of their energy, it's all related to the food that they are eating and that they are being fed, I might add, in the schools. So who do we blame?

NEVILLE: Mark, what are your thoughts?

MARK: I definitely agree with that statement. I feel that it's definitely a health issue, yet it's an issue that could lead students into a very deep depression and could ultimately affect the rest of their life.

I think the parents realize that they are obese and maybe they can do something about it without, they don't need the school informing them for obvious reasons.

NEVILLE: Mark -- hang on one second please, Judy -- you are saying that you think the kids could kind of go into a downward spiral and become depressed?

MARK: I definitely believe so.

NEVILLE: How so? Because they are getting a letter or because they are having weight problems?

MARK: Well, them knowing that -- people, people notice that they are obese. They know it. They don't need other people telling them. That could just definitely hurt their self-esteem.

NEVILLE: But you know how kids can be really cruel on the playground. So, quite frankly, a letter from the school is not going to either dissuade kids from being cruel or dissuade them to do it.

MARK: Exactly. I remember when I was at recess there was always the kid that got made fun of. I tried to be the opposite and help the kid out. I think that's what we need more of today.

NEVILLE: Absolutely. Chris, go ahead and jump in.

MURRAY: I was going to say. This is an issue between the child and their doctor and their parent. It's not an issue for the school to get involved in. It is a -- obviously there are a lot of complications but you have to draw a line as to where the school is going to get involved and where it should be prohibited from getting involved.

There are privacy issues. These students are going to be pulled out of class and tested. It's going to be very embarrassing. It's just not, it's not proper place for these type of health care services to be provided.

NEVILLE: Judy, before you jump in here, give me one second to speak to Allen because I think he is an important person to weigh in on this because you are a physical ed teacher; is that correct?

ALLEN: Yes, ma'am.

NEVILLE: And your thoughts, Allen, are?

ALLEN: I think testing is done and there's ways to do it. I don't know about the letters that they have going out to homes in their cases, but we have sent report cards home, personal fitness testing. The president's personal fitness test is used throughout the nation and oftentimes a report card goes home with that. There are other personal fitness tests that does obesity testing, weight testing, flexibility testing. And these measurements do go home to parents. I don't know.

NEVILLE: So, is it OK?

ALLEN: I think it is. I think it's a health issue and people need to know where they stand. It's like you got your ABCs, and in math, science you know where your kids are in that. How is your kid health wise?

NEVILLE: I have to take a break but when we come back I want to talk to you, Allen, about schools cutting out recess programs -- activity, activity, activity is important. And I have a caller holding on. I know you are there. I'll get to you as well. We'll talk more about this after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Welcome back to TALKBACK LIVE. I'm Arthel Neville. We are talking about Florida and Pennsylvania. These school systems are sending home letters with their kids, with the students to the parents saying your kid is too fat, if there is an overweight problem to consider there.

I want to let Joanne from Georgia, she's on the line now and I would like you to go ahead and give us your thoughts. Go ahead, Joanne.

CALLER: Even though I think that weight is a major issue, I still think it's more of a personal problem between the parent and child. I really do.

NEVILLE: You know, another school of thought on this is the idea of possibly encouraging or bringing on eating disorders, and I want to let young Colleen weigh in on this idea.

COLLEEN: I do think, well from a kid perspective, I do think that the teacher may be trying to aware the parent, but it's too far and as a kid, if my mom told me that, I would feel discouraged and maybe like not want to eat or be anorexic, and I do agree with the caller that it's between the mom and the kid. If the mom -- if the teacher would be able to call the parent, I think the parent would already know, so I think it's up to the parent.

NEVILLE: Thank you very much, first of all. Judy, you know, there's one parent, one woman who weighed in on this and said she was actually happy to get this letter from school because now she was able to finally broach the subject with her son, whereas before she didn't feel comfortable because there is that issue of how do you tell your child to cut back, exercise without making him or her feel bad about themselves? MAZEL: This is a very important issue that we raised in my book, "Slim And Fit Kids." But the most important thing about all of this is, is that we are quick to blame the parents, which I did when my book first came out. Parents were in denial. Nobody is willing to acknowledge their children are overweight.

But the real problem is the food that is served in the schools. That until the school system starts giving us decent lunches and stops giving them hydrogenated oils and food filled with lard and chemicals and overloaded with salt, we are never going to be able to solve the problem. As a young mother said to me today, she said, you know Judy, I send my son to school at 7: 30 in the morning and she's one of the 56 percent of the working women, you know, who don't see their kids again until 6: 30 at night.

So from 7: 30 in the morning until she sees him again until at least 3: 30 in the afternoon, his nourishment, his care and feeding is the responsibility of the school system. And until they can clean up their act and when we have a school system that says ketchup is a vegetable, and classifies it that way and a surgeon general who three years ago said obesity is the most important critical problem facing our young people today and that we have an epidemic, that he has not done anything to clean up our school system lunch, you know.

NEVILLE: Judy, that is something we were talking about here because we talked during commercials as well and we were talking about that very idea that the lunch programs are not necessarily the very best. These kids are not getting the balanced meals they need. And right now I am going to let Casey give her thoughts.

CASEY: Being from the state of Florida, not from that particular county but the county that I'm from, they are so concerned about image, concerned about what children are wearing, they have totally lost the main focus of the school is to teach. If you teach a child the right thing, they will learn how to eat, and how to study and do other things. I think the school now is just all about image and discipline and they have totally forgotten how to teach.

MAZEL: I absolutely agree.

NEVILLE: Thank you and now I have another Floridian on the telephone, Joanne from Florida, go ahead -- Leeann (ph) from Florida, go ahead and share your thoughts.

CALLER: Yes, my thoughts are a lot of us moms are getting together and talking about this issue and we felt that we have noticed a great reduction in the free play time the children are allowed. And I was a teacher for two years also. Plus I'm a mother of 5 and I also have a college degree.

And my feeling is that being a teacher in the classroom, also these kids need activity and they are being forced to sit so many hours and just be quiet and sit and learn and that's important, but they are missing the old days where you used to go out to recess and just have 30 minutes time of your own to roam around, relax, get the stress out of your body and a lot of us mothers have been checking the schools and seeing whether or not they are actually getting free play, and new mothers are finding out that our children are not even being allowed to go outside and play.

NEVILLE: We have a physical ed teacher right here. Allen, respond to the caller, please.

ALLEN: In our state they have cut back on middle school recess, PE time as opposed to recess. Recess is free play where you go out with your teacher and maybe there are some stuff outside to play with, as PE is a physical education is instructed, led, and they have cut back on the physical education time to go spend a little bit more time in academics.

That was a choice they made in the state of Georgia. In the elementary schools in the state oftentimes it depends on the districts you are in. If you are in a wealthy school district or a school district that supports physical education, you might have PE teachers in those schools.

In other school districts you may have no paid PE teachers and thus it's up to the school teacher to take their kids out for recess and...

NEVILLE: A lack of activity in a lot of cases is what it boils down to, right? And Chris, I haven't heard from you in a while. I Would like to hear your thoughts.

MURRAY: I think the important point being made is that the school should concentrate on teaching. They can play a very positive role in this issue of being overweight and obesity by teaching students the problems that are caused by it, by teaching them appropriate healthful diets. They can also provide physical activities and physical education without imposing themselves into a particular student's lifestyle or health needs. They can act as educators and not as health providers or health testers.

NEVILLE: Laura, your thoughts.

LAURA: I would much rather my pediatrician deal with me and my daughters and their diet than the school system. It's far too important for them to get their education while they are at school and let me deal with what I see at home.

NEVILLE: Thank you very much. Well, I am out of time for this segment. We can talk about this for hours and hours. We might bring it back later. Thank you very much to my guests for joining me here today. Up next we'll talk about a robot going to cover the war. What do you think about that? We'll talk about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: OK, do you think of journalism as a dangerous career choice? Thirty-seven correspondents were killed last year -- some in war zones, some kidnapped and murdered. More than 100 have been jailed. What if journalists could do their jobs but not put themselves in the line of fire? That's the idea behind a remote-controlled robot being developed at MIT's media lab. It's called the Afghan explorer and is powered by solar charged battery packs. Idea is to send the robot to the front- line to record the action and gather interviews, keeping the correspondent relatively safe. Let's talk about that now with Daniel Sieberg. He is the technology editor for cnn.com.

OK, Daniel, how is this going to work? Do you know?

DANIEL SIEBERG, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR, CNN.COM: It's working on a number of different technologies. It's actually using what they call off-the-shelf technology. The technology itself has been out there for quite a while. What this researcher is hoping to do is control it remotely.

So he can actually control it from his laboratory, in fact maybe even over the Internet and send it off to the different remote parts of the world. He's saying essentially the first place to go with it is Afghanistan.

NEVILLE: OK, but let's talk about the reality here. First of all, if the enemy sees this little robot coming through here they are going to assume it's a bomb and it is being sent by the opposition.

SIEBERG: Sure.

NEVILLE: And so, they are going to blow it up. It's not going to work.

SIEBERG: Right and he actually pointed that out. He said, if he saw it coming he may even shoot it himself. But the point he made was that it is expendable. Even though it may be destroyed and may be shot at, at least it's not a human correspondent and can be destroyed. He's actually going to be putting a little flag on it that has a peace symbol to sort of indicate to people that it's not harmful, that it is not threatening, that it is out there trying to gather information.

The technology it is using will actually also be able to transmit video and audio, and it will have a picture of a correspondent actually on the neck of it that will be able to interact with people that it encounters.

NEVILLE: So, the person on the front-line can talk to the robot.

SIEBERG: Right, it's meant to do some interviews while it's out there.

NEVILLE: Here's the question. What would that mean to a correspondent covering a war? OK, CNN anchor Bill Hemmer spent a month in Afghanistan covering the war. He goes where the action is. And I would imagine this is part of his job that he thrives on. Bill, what do you think about this?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I think the idea is outstanding. I think the practicality is flat out impossible. I think some people probably think we are robots already, Arthel. But I think to be flat honest with you, you need human eyes and ears on the ground to make decisions at just about every turn.

NEVILLE: Yeah, there are split-second decisions that have to be made out there.

HEMMER: Indeed. You need the human being to be able to decipher what is truth and what is not and I know they are talking about being able to communicate through the robot. Still, you need the human element and the other thing is frankly getting around. We have talked about the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

I'm not quite sure how this guy would do. But one thing I would say, Arthel, is never underestimate technology. You look at the hell- fire missiles fired from Predators, unmanned drones with 24 hour surveillance cameras that actually beam the signal back to central command in Tampa, Florida. Technology is amazing. I guess in many ways you don't bet against it. But I think on this one we have a way to go.

SIEBERG: Actually, it's interesting...

NEVILLE: I'm sorry, thank you very much for joining me.

SIEBERG: Oh, sure thing.

NEVILLE: I'm out of time. Thanks to our guests. For you guys at home watching. Before I say good-bye let's take a look at the e- mail that came in today from Jana in California. She says, "What do you mean you are a fashion disaster? You look adorable." Thank you, Jana. I called myself a fashion disaster earlier. My mom will be happy to hear that.

Join me again tomorrow for more TALKBACK LIVE. Now here's Judy Woodruff with a look on what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

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