Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

More Than 2,900 Confirmed Dead In Indonesian Earthquake; How To Save Money On Gas; Attorney General And FBI Director Threatening To Quit If White House Orders Them To Give In

Aired May 27, 2006 - 10:10   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A powerful earthquake rocks Indonesia. More than 2,900 people are confirmed dead, and that number is climbing. There's also the mounting damage to homes and other structures.
Good morning, everyone. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris. It is Saturday, the 27th day of May.

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Melissa Long in this morning for Betty Nguyen. We have a live report coming up from Indonesia on one of the big stories we're following in just a moment.

But first, some of the other stories we thought you would like to know about. Busy Saturday morning, some of the stories of the catching coming up. A way to beat the rising gas prices. And there's a strategy! You can take it to the bank.

HARRIS: OK.

LONG: And later, the new abolition movement, this time aimed at the "N" word. This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

HARRIS: Another disaster of catastrophic proportions to report this morning. The death toll is climbing in Indonesia. A powerful earthquake rocked he island of Java. The government says some 2,900 people were killed, thousands more are injured. The 6.2 magnitude quake hit as people slept. Doctors say they are absolutely overwhelmed.

Joining me with more on the quake and the relief effort is John Budd, UNICEF's communications officer. John, thanks for your time. Give us a sense of -- let me see if I can move this forward a little bit. What do you need at this point?

JOHN BUDD, UNICEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: I think that the people of Yogyakarta, in central Java, need 4,000 houses. That's how many have been destroyed. They've also lost a hospital and six health centers, so there's substantial damage.

From the air, I think you're looking at about 10 percent of the city and the surrounding areas have been damaged in some way or the other, including, you know, tragically, not only the death to 2,900 people, but another 3,000 people are seriously injured or moderately injured.

HARRIS: I'm sure the U.N. has issued the call for help. Can you give us a sense of what kind of help is on the way?

BUDD: The immediate priorities are being conducted by the Indonesian government and the Indonesian Red Cross. What is really required at the moment is emergency hospital care to treat people who have been severely injured by the earthquake itself. The hospitals are overwhelmed.

And I said before, one of the hospitals has actually been destroyed, not to mention those health centers, so that is the major problem. The Indonesian government has sent in teams of health workers. There's also field hospitals being sent in, as well. So that's the key priority at the moment.

But down the track, the other priorities -- and this is where the international community can really help. That is, there are going to be issues to do with shelter, 4,000 houses have been destroyed. There are going to be issues to do with food. There was a huge run on food in the city today, and I think you'll find that there will be a requirement for food. I know the World Food Program is standing by on that one.

UNICEF itself will be helping out with shelters. We have got 9,000 tarpaulins and over 2,000 tents available, and we'll be shipping them down into the disaster zone along with health kits and hygiene kits.

HARRIS: John, clear this up for me. Are you on the ground now in Indonesia, in Jakarta?

BUDD: I'm in Jakarta now, yes.

HARRIS: OK. Can you give us a sense -- have you been able to tour any of the scenes of this damage and give us an assessment of what you personally have been able to see?

BUDD: No, but I can report to you what one of our staff members who was actually in Yogyakarta said when the earthquake struck.

HARRIS: OK.

BUDD: She was there doing assessments for the Mount Merapi volcano eruption, and she was in the hotel lobby and she described the ground started to shake furiously, and she looked up and the ceiling and it was rippling.

So they ran outside, and then she drove from the hotel to the airport, and along the roads, everywhere she went, there were people standing out looking bewildered. Now, when she spoke to some of these people, the reason they were terrified and fearful is they thought there was a tsunami on the way, and there were rumors going around the city, sweeping the city all day that water had reached the center of Yohyakarta. So it created a terrible feeling of fear amongst the community.

Of course, that didn't happen. There was surges on the coast, but there was no tsunami which followed through with the earthquake. But that's indicative of the terrible morale issues that you do have in that city.

HARRIS: What a tense situation. John Budd is UNICEF's communications officer. John, we appreciate your time. Thank you for that update.

LONG: Now, that quake's epicenter was close to rumbling Mount Merapi. It's a volcano. There has been noticeable increase in volcanic activity. One eruption came soon after the quake, sending debris some tow miles down its western flank. Rescue, relief, medical teams that were on alert to provide assistance in the event of a major eruption have now been diverted to help with the quake relief.

HARRIS: Still ahead, to some, the "N" word is a term of endearment. To others, it can only represent hatred and racism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really ashamed in a sense that we have to do this and that it's come to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The co-founder of a Web site to abolish the controversial term joins us to debate any use of the "N" word at all, coming up live here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

LONG: Plus, how about this? How about putting some gasoline in a bank so you can use it later? This is true. But you can't make the withdrawal just anywhere.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Those numbers hurt when you see those at the gas pump.

HARRIS: Yes, they hurt.

LONG: The record gas prices, however, despite how high they are, aren't keeping drivers off the highways for the holiday weekend. The latest figures show the national average for unleaded regular, $2.86 a gallon. That's 75 cents more than a year ago at this time. But some lucky drivers are only paying 99 cents a gallon. Where do they get their gas, you want to know? They get their gas at a fuel bank.

Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, joining us this morning from Saskatchewan to tell us more. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

JASON TOEWS, GASBUDDY.COM: Oh, thank you.

LONG: So, Jason, tell me about this concept of a fuel bank. I know it's available right now only in Minnesota. Tell me how it works?

TOEWS: Well, it's basically a way for people to prepurchase fuel at a certain price and then they can use their gasoline later on, like when gas prices go way up like they are right now.

LONG: Well, what kind of price are they setting when they purchase it? I mean, it's basically kind of like betting on futures.

TOEWS: That's right. If you purchase fuel right now, it would probably be 10 or 15 cents higher per gallon than what it would be if you went to a regular gas station. But the thing about it is, you can prepurchase all your fuel and then use it at a future time, say, if gas went up to $4 per gallon. Then you can use the gasoline that you bought right now at that time.

LONG: But you need to have that money in hand up front, which I would imagine would price some people out of this option.

TOEWS: Yes, certainly, it's a sizable investment for people, especially for people who really need it, people that are living paycheck to paycheck. They have to prepurchase all the fuel and pay for it up front so they can use it later on.

LONG: So it's only available in Minnesota right now. Any plan on whether or not this is a model to be used elsewhere?

TOEWS: You know, we have heard of them looking to expand this type of thing to other parts of the country. But it's been around for probably three, four, five years or more right now, and it hasn't really spread that much just yet.

LONG: Interesting idea.

Let's talk about some other ways to try to beat the price, beat the pain at the pump. Frequent flier programs -- a lot of people take advantage of those. Is there anything sort of thing in the works or perhaps there even is one that I'm aware of, about frequent feuler programs?

TOEWS: Well, certainly a lot of gas stations have programs where the more fuel you buy from them, you get different discounts, maybe a certain number of cents off per gallon or you get a free drink or a free car wash just by being loyal customer. So it's certainly -- you can save some money that way.

LONG: Yes, it's a good way to reward loyalty and dedication to a store. What about the wholesale clubs? I've never tried them. Have you?

TOEWS: Yes, actually, you can save quite a bit of money on gas by going to a wholesale club because they often sell gas at a loss or close to their cost to try to draw people into their stores, where they buy grocieries or clothes or TVs or anything like that.

LONG: You know, Jason, one other thing. I'm out of time, but we have to talk about GasBuddy.com. We have to talk about -- that's the organization you represent. I went on your Web site. I wasted 23 cents a gallon yesterday. Tell me quickly how your Web site works.

TOEWS: Well, it's basically a way for people to share tips on where the cheapest gas prices are. So I can log on, post the cheapest prices, and then do a search. Anybody can search on the zip code or city and try to find the cheapest gas prices on GasBuddy.com.

LONG: Yes, well, I went on there, GasBuddy.com. I paid $2.89 yesterday. I could have paid $2.63 a mile away. So thanks for the advice online at GasBuddy.com. I got hosed yesterday.

HARRIS: Yes.

LONG: Jason Toews, thanks so much. We appreciate your time.

TOEWS: Thank you.

LONG: Can you imagine how much money I could have saved? I could have bought a candy bar.

HARRIS: You don't hear that much on CNN, do you? You got hosed.

Still ahead, it is a weekend -- hear more -- to honor those who gave their lives for this country. The president chooses a fitting location to pay tribute to fallen Americans. Find out where, next.

LONG: And the holiday weekend is upon us. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf says there is just one place where you could expect rough weather. That's coming up in our forecast. .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, a showdown on the Hill has been brewing, and it's threatening to spill over. Now, earlier this week, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded that the Justice Department return items taken from Representative Williams Jefferson's office.

Now there's word that the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller are threatening to quit if the White House orders them to give in.

CNN's john King is on the phone with the latest. John, this is a showdown, indeed.

JOHN KING, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tony, this is a remarkable both political and legal showdown. And you just mentioned the brewing point, almost the boiling point this past week, a few days ago when the White House received word that the attorney general, the FBI director, and the number two at the Justice Department, the deputy attorney general, were prepared to resign if they were told they had to give these materials seized from Congressman William Jefferson's office back.

Their position is that they went to extraordinary lengths, that they did not raid, did not execute a search warrant on a Congressman's office until they waited eight months trying to get him to comply with a subpoena, and only after they got a judge's approval to take this extraordinary step. And their position was this is a high stakes criminal investigation. They were going to back up the agents and the attorneys pressing the case.

At the White House, we're told that the vice president's chief of staff was saying that he believed, perhaps, the FBI had overstepped its bounds. We know that Speaker Hastert, other Republican leaders were telling the White House return these documents, you have violated the Constitution here.

And so the president, on Thursday morning, after heated discussions within the administration, essentially called a 45-day time-out. This is not over, by any means. But by agreeing to put the documents under seal in a neutral location, if you will, at the Justice Department, the president is hoping they can work this all out.

But imagine that, you have arguments in the White House about whether or not this was appropriate. And as the political fight was escalating, the Republicans criticizing a Republican president, the president gets word that his attorney general and his FBI director will step down if he gives into that political pressure. So quite a drama.

HARRIS: Wow. OK, a couple of points here. Let's see if we can take this apart for a second, John. Do we know what came out of that meeting yesterday between the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, and Attorney General Gonzales?

KING: That was essentially the first step in a peace offering, if you will. The attorney general was summoned up to Capitol Hill because Bill Frist, like Speaker Hastert, thinks that the prerogatives of the Congress were ignored here, and that the executive branch -- the FBI part of the executive branch -- cannot execute a raid on the legislative branch, or at least not without giving them a heads up or going through some protocol. That is the view of Congress.

The attorney general went up to explain his side to the majority leader, we are told. He was summoned by the majority leader, and essentially to try and turn the temperature down a little bit, because now the attorneys for Leader Frist, the attorneys for Speaker Hastert, the attorneys for the White House and the Justice Department all need to try to get in a room and see if there's any way to broker a compromise on this, or broker a compromise on the raid on Congressman Jefferson's office and also to set some down ground rules that if they ever had to do this again in the future so it doesn't come to this.

So essentially, after everybody shouting at each other all week, the attorney general went up there to try and explain his side, listen to Senator Frist's side and call a detente, if you will, until they can negotiate something.

HARRIS: Well, this from former Speaker Gingrich says that this search was "the most blatant violation of the constitutional separation of powers in my lifetime." That is such strong language. I guess we understand why the lines are so clearly defined here.

The House is saying that we are -- we are an investigative, a law making body. We are totally within our ability and capability to have secured the materials in question here.

KING: Well, you have several legal paths here, and that's why it gets so complicated. There are the institutional protections that everyone says the Congress deserves. Now, remember, congressional committees investigate the White House sometimes. They investigate the spending of federal money.

There could be documents in that office that if a president wanted to abuse his power, could go in and essentially steal the evidence that's being built up against his administration. At the same time, what the Justice Department says and why they threaten to revive we are told was that they say they issued a subpoena to the congressman eight months ago.

They have been patient waiting for these documents and if this were you or me, we would not get eight months to turn over documents in a high-stakes corruption investigation and that they believe that the congressman was using his office, knowing that that was a constitutional lie, that he was using it as a refuge to hide the evidence.

So they say they went to a judge. They explained they know this was extraordinary, but that they had staffers from the congressman's office saying the evidence was in that office and the judge approved this step. They say they have done this in the past. It's very rare, but they say they have done this in the past when judges have been under investigation and that, of course, is the judicial branch and they crossed that constitutional line.

They say that they took all precautions and understood it was extraordinary, but that they believed they had to do it and that they believed it would rip the rug out from under the investigators if they gave in. So everyone in this debate, Tony, both legally and politically has pretty firmly held views. It is going to be interesting to see if they can broker a compromise.

HARRIS: My goodness, John King, are you busy enough there in Washington, DC.? We appreciate your time there this morning. John King for us out of Washington, John, thank you.

LONG: And coming up just after the break, as well, we're going to have more on the threats by the FBI director and the attorney general possibly to step down from Kathleen Koch. She's live at the White House. We're going to have more on that coming up after the break.

And also, West Point gets a special guest on this Memorial Day weekend. More in our live report.

HARRIS: Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL MERRITT, CO-FOUNDER, ABOLISHTHENWORD.COM: It is not a term of endearment. It is a racial -- a derogatory racial epithet. It always will be. It always has been. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: A debate over use of the "N" word still to come on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: And now more on the story we shared with you just before the break, a showdown that appears to be brewing, threats from the Attorney General Gonzalez and FBI Director Robert Mueller. This is connected to some extraordinary lengths that some say that law enforcement did in order to get into a congressman's office in Washington. William Jefferson at the heart of this story, and Kathleen Koch live in Washington this morning covering this story. Hello Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Melissa. Yes, I just got off the phone with a source who is very familiar with the investigation who did confirm the reports that John King just did, reports initially - it came out in both the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and the director of the FBI Mr. Mueller, that they all had threatened apparently to resign if the administration decided to give back to Congressman Jefferson those items that had been sealed over the weekend in that raid from his Capitol Hill office.

Now, the source that I spoke to, though, said that this never rose to the level of someone saying, if you do this, we are out of here. Now, what basically -- how it was framed was that if this happens, then these may be the consequences. So this person close to the negotiations says while it's accurate to say that the threats were made, it is not accurate to say that those threats were made to President Bush himself that any of these parties would definitely resign. It was framed the source said, more as a quote, hypothetical. Back to you.

LONG: Thank you very much for clarifying that, very important to clarify. Also want to talk to you a little bit about this 45-day time-out. Can you explain exactly what that means?

KOCH: The 45-day time out was really a chance for the parties involved to -- for cooler heads to prevail I was told yesterday, that time for peoples' tempers to cool down and for them to try to find a way out of this. It was the president himself yesterday morning who made the decision to go ahead and take this action because things were reaching such a fever peak on both sides, both on Capitol Hill and within the administration over at the Justice Department, again Speaker Hastert, having traveled with the president and voiced his concerns in no uncertain terms to the president directly.

Also, even Democrats were just livid about what they considered, as John King explained, a complete breach of their constitutional rights and privileges as lawmakers. So the 45-day period is -- Tony Snow yesterday in the morning gaggle with reporters said they felt that this was enough time, roughly six weeks for both parties to come to some kind of agreement on this, even setting a deadline does also focus peoples' attention.

LONG: Kathleen Koch, live in Washington this morning, Kathleen, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

LONG: Now, a word that angers some and delights others?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRITT: No other group has had to tell their people, their community to not use a derogatory term to relate to themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We'll debate use of the "N" word, next.

A trial is under way in New York in which a white man is accused of beating an African-American while shouting the "N" word. It has stirred controversy in part because the defense argues that using the "N" word does not signify a hate crime. Many rappers, comedians and others use the word today as a term of endearment within African- American culture.

Now a Web site ABOLISHTHENWORD.com is trying to get rid of the world altogether. Since it went online last month, almost two million people have logged on from 25 different countries. You might warn you that the images from the site are graphic and you might find parts of this segment offensive. CNN understands the sensitivity of this topic, and as part of our standards of practices, we do not and will not use the full spelling of the "N" word.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS (voice-over): You hear the word in music, in movies, too much so for ABOLISHTHENWORD.com founders Jill Merritt and Kovan Flowers.

KOVAN FLOWERS, CO-FOUNDER, ABOLISHTHENWORD.COM The music industry, I feel, is like in a state of emergency.

HARRIS: In fact, it's so commonplace a New York lawyers says he plans to use the word's frequent use to help clear his white client of hate crime charges. Nick Minucci is accused of beating a black man with a baseball bat last June while yelling the N-word during the attack in Brooklyn. Minucci's attorney says use of the word cannot be a criteria for a hate crime, because blacks frequently use it as a term of endearment. Minucci, a fan of rap music, says he hears the word all the time from artists 50 Cent, Jay-Z and others.

MERRITT: It is not a term of endearment. It is a racial, a derogatory racial epithet. It always will be. It always has been.

HARRIS: It's that history of the word the site's founders are found counting on to change public opinion. When you log on, you see pictures of lynchings, beatings and other powerful images of the civil rights era, images put there with one purpose in mind.

MERRITT: Shock.

FLOWERS: Definitely a culture shock.

MERRITT: A wake-up call. Some people cry. I cried when I first saw everything put together.

HARRIS: Merritt says it's important to associate the word with hate and lynchings.

MERRITT: That word was very prevalent. That was the label that was used, the slave owners and plantation masters, they did not use black person. They did not say Negro at that time. That used (EXPLETIVE DELETED). That was the word that they used.

HARRIS: It's a fact they say that has been lost on a generation.

FLOWERS: Saying the N-word is not hip hop. It is so not hip hop. A lot of people think, well, it's not right or wrong unless I say it. I don't see where I can't say it. Come up with an alternate word.

MERRITT: No other group has had to tell their people, their community to not use a derogatory term to relate to themselves.

HARRIS: Merritt uses an e-mail from the site to sum up her feelings.

MERRITT: This teacher said it perfectly to her student. Every time you use that word, it's like you're relynching someone. Every time you use that word, it damages the person who is hearing it and it damages your soul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, here is the e-mail address for anyone interested. It's ABOLISHTHENWORD.com. And joining us this morning to debate the issue from New York, one of the founders of the Web site, Jill Merritt. Jill, good morning.

MERRITT: Good morning.

HARRIS: And the producer director of the documentary "The N Word," Todd Williams. Todd, good morning to you.

TODD WILLIAMS, PRODUCER, "THE "N" WORD": Hi. Good morning.

HARRIS: Hey, Jill, let me run this one by you. By taking sort of ownership of the word, black people are, in essence, attempting to take the stigma out of the word, the poison out of the word, removing its ability to offend.

MERRITT: This is an argument that some people use in order to use this word. But I have to tell you that based on the information that we have from the site, the feedback that we've gotten from the black community across the United States, it is not a word that is popular. I cannot say that the black community at large wants to be noticed and called this word or even use this word in their language.

HARRIS: How did this start for you?

MERRITT: How did this start?

HARRIS: Yes. How did this start for you?

MERRITT: Myself and my co-founder, my partner, Kovan Flowers, we just became very frustrated with the word. We became very frustrated listening to different music, seeing different videos, you know, listening to this self-debasing lyrics, and it all came to a complete, complete halt for us when we were listening to a local radio station and there were a lot of kids that were calling in about the "N" word and the kids kept saying, it's a term of endearment, I call my buddy this, I call my friends this, it's no big deal.

HARRIS: OK, Todd, let me bring you in on this discussion here. What do you think about my question to Jill just a moment ago, that by taking ownership of the word, black folks are trying to remove some of the stigma and some of the poison of the word? What do you think?

WILLIAMS: I mean I think in some cases, some people are trying to do that. But on the whole, I think it's -- I've said many times before, the word itself is a run away train. Any attempts to sort of stop its usage is a bit futile, I think.

HARRIS: You think so. What did you learn about -- what was the most surprising, shocking revelation from your documentary for you, in terms of this word and its usage?

WILLIAMS: You know, what it really came down to for my documentary, "The "N" Word," which I realized it was more sort of a referendum on censorship itself, so from my standpoint, trying to abolish it to me is the wrong thing to do. This is definitely the route we don't want to go. I think, yes, obviously, it has a place. It has a context in which it should be used.

HARRIS: Todd, can everyone use it, blacks, whites, can everyone use it?

WILLIAMS: You know, I'm not in a place to say. I really can't say.

HARRIS: You have an opinion, don't you?

WILLIAMS: I have an opinion. Like I said, depending on the context. It depends on where you use it, who you use it around. I mean it's a word that, I mean that I mean, pretty much every black person uses. They may say they don't use it, but in private circles, certain political leaders --

HARRIS: And why is that? Why is it that you make that statement that just about every black person uses that word? Because it's not really true, but tell me why you think it is. WILLIAMS: Well, it's true in the sense that -- well, yes, I can't read minds. Yes. But do they use it among their friends? You know what I mean? Do they use it out in public? That's what we're talking about and that's what this real issue has become such a controversy.

HARRIS: Go ahead Jill.

MERRITT: You know, what I would like to say in regards to that is not every black person wants to be called that by their fellow African-Americans, brother or sister. Not every African-American uses it. We don't use it. I've stopped using it. I used it a few times in my own -- in my lifetime, I've used it, but we all don't use it.

HARRIS: Let me ask you to talk to Todd's point about the word being out there. Run away train, it is out there and now we have this whole generation of young blacks, young whites who are listening to the same music and you can't say who can't and who can use the word now, can you?

MERRITT: Exactly, exactly, exactly.

WILLIAMS: I mean, the Minucci case speaks exactly to what I'm saying which is like, look at the absurd proportions this argument has reached. I mean this guy is actually using this as a defense. So how are you possibly going to be pulled back from there and say, well, wait a minute, now we need to put parameters on who can use it and who can't use it?

HARRIS: How about this, why people need to know that the word has been used by black folks in a derogatory -- has been used by white folks in a derogatory way and that white folks need to know that they cannot use the word, that from Michael Dyson this morning.

WILLIAMS: I can agree with that. I don't have a problem with that. I don't want some white person coming up to me on the street and saying, hi, my N word, what's going on?

MERRITT: You know what? I don't want a black person coming up to me and saying it, either. I don't want to hear the words. To me, the word is a self-debasing, self-loathing, word that originated in hate. It is a word that white supremacist use and in the black community, it is a word that people who lack self-respect, they use that word. People who do not connect themselves to their history, people who do not connect themselves to God. What you confess is what you become. When you look at the definition of the word and when you look at the people who have used the word, I don't want to become --

HARRIS: Too much power, are we giving the word too much power? Todd?

WILLIAMS: I mean the word has a lot of inherent power. I don't think we can really give it any more power than it already has. I mean, my argument all along has been this is really, comes down to censorship. And I'm deeply bothered by the idea of trying to abolish the word because you know what, I don't think you can sanitize history. I don't think you can --

HARRIS: Quentin Tarantino can use it, Jennifer Lopez can use it, everybody can use it?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely.

HARRIS: All right. I'm out of time.

MERRITT: You know what? I got to tell you, I'm sorry, I got to tell you that, you know, in all of the freedoms that we enjoy, we also need to take some responsibility for what we say and for what we do and to use racial epithets, why don't we all just start, you know, slinging derogatory words at each other in the name of freedom?

HARRIS: And that's the last word. Jill, Todd, we appreciate it. Thanks for the discussion this morning.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

MERRITT: Thank you.

HARRIS: And our discussion of this topic continues throughout the day here on CNN. On CNN Saturday night, comedian Paul Mooney chimes in. Mooney, a former writer for the late Richard Pryor, uses the word constantly in his standup. His thoughts on the N word tonight at 10:00 Eastern.

LONG: Thanks for joining us for CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Coming up, some of the other stories making news this morning. We'll keep you posted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Let's bring you up to date on one of this morning's top stories. A showdown on the Hill, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, FBI Director Robert Mueller and others have told associates they are prepared to quit. That's if the White House directs them to turn over evidence seized in a bitterly disputed search of Representative William Jefferson's office. A White House official says the president decided Thursday to order the documents and computer records be sealed. Jefferson is being investigated for alleged bribery. We'll update you with more details as we get them this morning.

HARRIS: And quickly, let's get you upstairs to baby Aniston's (ph) dad at the CNN weather center, good morning to you Reynolds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You miss a lot of your family's special moments when you're serving your country overseas. Something to remember this Memorial Day weekend.

LONG: Next hour on CNN Saturday, a soldiers finds a way to watch his daughter's graduation all the way from Baghdad. We'll connect with him live, CNN SATURDAY MORNING next at 11:00 a.m.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com