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Protestors Demand Justice for Jena 6; Fed Chairman Pledges to Help Consumers
Aired September 20, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Here within Jena, Louisiana, today, along with several thousand spirited supporters of the so-called Jena 6. You're looking at live pictures to your left and taped pictures on the right. It's possible these are the biggest crowds Jena has ever seen. And it's certainly the biggest story.
LEMON: A half dozen black teens charged with beating a white teen in an atmosphere bristling with racial tensions. CNN has been all over this story, and we're watching today's historic march and rally from all the angles, with all the key players.
And CNN's Susan Roesgen is keeping track of what's happening right now.
Susan, what's the latest? A lot of folks are behind you.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of folks behind me. And Don, you might think that they're marching away, they're moving away, but look closely. And these are people behind those that are moving away. There's another wave of marchers coming up the hill here.
They have been coming all morning long here. They have come here to Jena High School. We don't have any hard numbers yet from the Louisiana State Police as to how many people are here. But safe to say thousands of people have come from all around the country.
And, Don, this is what they wanted to see here at the high school. It's not much to look at. But they were crowding around a little patch of dirt, a spot on the ground, that used to be where that infamous tree stood, the tree where three white students last fall hung three nooses. A terribly offensive gesture to the black students at the school. And that's what ultimately led to the racial tension, and as we know, then, to apparently the attack on a white student, allegedly by six black classmates.
But in the end here, as these people came to look at that patch of ground where the stump had been dug up, it became less of a protest and more of a pilgrimage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just needed to feel like I'm a part or just being a part of this. Something that maybe what a mother can see, one of the mothers with children who are going through it, maybe she'll see that we all care. We're all here for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a sense of revenge. It's not a sense of us getting back at anyone for this. But it is a sense of seeing the origin of what has sparked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Now, we don't know whether this will become a nationwide movement or not. But certainly, a town of 3,000 people, 85 percent white, has seen a tremendous outpouring from the African- American community, protesting what they believe to be racial inequality in the justice system.
And just to give you a sense of what it's been like out here. It's over 90 degrees. The Red Cross truck has just in the last half an hour pulled up here, dispensing water and potato chips.
But earlier in the day when, there were so many people crowded around, there was no water to be had, no restroom facilities. Really nothing at all. And yet the people seemed energized just to be here -- Don.
LEMON: Susan, just a real quick question, because we have so many facets, so many elements to this story. The tree is gone. Who cut the tree down and why? Why wouldn't they leave the tree up?
ROESGEN: The school administration actually cut the tree down, and they said publicly that they did it before the start of this school year because they realized that that tree had become a lightning rod for racial tension, and they didn't want it anymore on school property.
At first we had seen just the stump of the tree. Today, as you saw, there was nothing but dirt, and yet people still wanted to go and touch that dirt and say I was in Jena, I made history, being part of a protest to protest what they believe is racial inequality in the justice system.
LEMON: Got it. Susan Roesgen, thank you. We'll be checking back with you throughout the day. Thanks so much for that, again.
And we'll continue our live coverage from Jena throughout the afternoon with updates from our Tony Harris and Kyra Phillips at the rally. Kyra spoke with the mother of Mychal Bell, one of the six defendants at the center of this case. She'll share some of that with us in just a few minutes.
And also we want to tell you, tonight on CNN, we'll take a close look at the racial tensions in Jena, Louisiana. Tune in for a CNN special investigations unit report, "Judgment in Jena", tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN. WHITFIELD: It was also a topic that the White House tackled this morning. President Bush talked about race relations across the country and in Jena, Louisiana.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The events in Louisiana are -- have saddened me. And I understand the emotions. The Justice Department and the FBI are, you know, monitoring the situation down there. And all of us in America want there to be, you know, fairness when it comes to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, who is from Louisiana, asked Mr. Bush that very question at his news conference about Jena, Louisiana. And she's joining us now from the White House.
And, so why, Suzanne, for so long has the president been reticent to talk about it or at least hasn't made comment about the case until today?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, as you know, it's a very sensitive situation. The White House really not wanting to seemingly take sides on this issue, whether or not it's for the white student or the black students. The president really trying to paint a picture here, saying that he is sensitive to all sides involved.
He has come under some criticism that he has not spoken out about this sooner. As you know, as well, race relations really a topic when it came to post-Katrina, whether or not there was a sensitivity issue in responding to the needs of the black community.
I specifically asked him about this, because he has made quite an effort to reach out, to blacks and his (AUDIO GAP) party, but one thing that has happened here is the fallout from the immigration debate.
There are even some Republican presidential candidates who have refused to go on debates and forums at Morgan State, a predominantly traditional black university, as well as Univision, the Spanish- language station that has caused some consternation and some divisions within the party.
A lot of people asking whether or not they really are doing enough to reach out once again to repair race relations. So that is why it is such a sensitive topic here at the White House -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Do you get a sense, Suzanne, that the president feels like he's made his statement, no need to revisit it again and that case closed and leave it up to the judicial system to take care and handle this case?
ROESGEN: Well, they're certainly not going to talk about the details, because they've been asked about some of the details, whether or not -- you know, how far the Justice Department is going to investigate this case (AUDIO GAP) here, it's under investigation, they don't want (AUDIO GAP) further.
But I do think that the president at least wants to convey a sense that they are keeping their eye on this. They certainly want to make sure that this is something that doesn't really blow up (AUDIO GAP).
This is a president who really sold himself as a uniter, not a divider. And that is still -- still a big test for this administration to see if, in fact, he can do that -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thanks so much.
And, of course, you can watch the Jena rallies throughout the day at CNN.com. We're streaming live video from the site.
LEMON: Let's talk now about your money. With mortgage foreclosures at record highs, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke says he's ready to do more to try to help consumers. But he's also predicting more trouble in the battered sub prime sector.
With more on that story, live from Washington, CNN's Ali Velshi.
Good to see you.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, good to see you, my friend. And you're right, Ben Bernanke was testifying before a congressional committee today, a bank -- House banking committee, along with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. And here's what he said.
He didn't say how bad it's going to get. But he said it's still going to continue. People are still going to lose their homes and be foreclosed upon.
What's the best thing for those people? If you are having trouble meeting your payments, Ben Bernanke says you have to talk to your bank, and he wants the banks to talk to people who are in trouble.
He said there's a lot more to be gained by restructuring your loan, refinancing, doing something so that people don't end up losing their homes, because that just hurts the whole system.
He says there are problems with information, that people really didn't get a sense when they took these adjustable-rate mortgages, Don, as to how those adjustments and interest rates might affect them.
So he'd like to see a schedule of payments laid out, so that when you go to get a mortgage, if you take an adjustable rate, there's some way that you can figure out, all right, if the rate goes up, here's how much I'm going to end up paying. And he says the Fed has got to have rules out there to make sure that there's no misleading or incomplete information. You know, that excitement you get, Don, when you want to build -- when you want to buy a house. You sometimes want to skip the details. Those details are what has come back to bite people. And it's what costing some people their homes.
LEMON: Yes, not only skip the details, Ali, but sometimes you want to skip the down payment, too, when you look at how much -- how much you're paying for it.
OK, Ali Velshi reporting from Washington. Appreciate your report, sir. Thank you.
VELSHI: OK, Don.
LEMON: There's a lot of financial information out there, but we've got it all compiled for you. And it's online. For more solutions to the mortgage meltdown, just go to CNN, the money -- our money Web site. It's called money.CNN.com.
WHITFIELD: Rally in Louisiana. Our live coverage from Jena continues with Kyra Phillips and Tony Harris. Kyra talks with the mother of one of the so-called Jena 6. We'll hear from her in a moment.
LEMON: Plus, back home in Florida. What's O.J. Simpson up to today? And who are the many faces we're getting to know in this armed robbery case?
WHITFIELD: And later, Iran's leader, he wants to visit Ground Zero on his trip to New York. Will he be limited to the United Nations?
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, it's 13 minutes past the hour. And here's three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A new Al Qaeda audio message condemns Pakistan's President Musharraf for July's deadly raid on the Red Mosque. A speaker identified as Osama bin Laden calls on Muslims to wage jihad to topple Musharraf.
A word of warning to Congress about efforts to ease the mortgage crisis. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says he's concerned some of the proposed solutions could end up perpetuating risky lending practices.
And authorities say a federal prosecutor arrested in a child sex sting tried to hang himself in his jail cell today. They say fellow inmates alerted jailers, who intervened to stop him.
LEMON: Developing coverage throughout the day, extensive coverage of this story. Protesters coming from all over to show support for the so-called Jena 6. These scenes happening right now in the small town of Jena, Louisiana. As a matter of fact, the Reverend Jesse Jackson speaking there live now.
The demonstrators are marching against what they say is a miscarriage of justice for six black teens accused of beating a white schoolmate. They call the charges excessive and based on race.
Covering this story for us, Tony Harris, Kyra Phillips. They join us now live from Jena.
Good to see both of you. Big crowd there. And tell us -- give us some insight on what's going on. Here's what I'm curious about, real quick, we've been seeing all these faces, Kyra and Tony. Any white faces in the crowd?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well...
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's what we were just talking about.
HARRIS: We were just talking about that.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
HARRIS: And I think the answer is yes. But here's the thing. You're talking about a sea of -- I don't know what the numbers are. I can't tell you how many people are here.
PHILLIPS: They say possibly 35,000 right now.
HARRIS: Yes, but it's black faces. It's white faces. But let's be frank about it. It's mostly African-American faces that you're seeing here.
So yes, there are some white faces here. They're part of the crowd. They have stopped by to make it known to us, hey, we are here and we support the reason that so many folks overall are here.
But to answer your question directly, absolutely. There are certainly white faces a part of this crowd.
And it was interesting to take a look at the wide shot that you have up right now. That is actually a shot representative of the crowd starting to move.
In some cases back down to Alexandria, because, Kyra, as you know, this -- this site sort of begins to close down in the next, oh, 20 minutes or so. The permits expired at, I guess, about 1 Eastern Time. So, right about now. And noon local time, so what you're seeing now is the migration of folks, if you will, down to Alexandria.
PHILLIPS: And let me tell you, it started out like this.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I mean, at 5:30 this morning when we got on the bus with Reverend Al Sharpton and Michael Baisden and his crew, I could not believe the parking lot... HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... and the thousands of people. And all throughout the day there have been more and more people that have turned out.
And on that note of white faces that you asked, Don.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And Tony and I were talking about this. I went and talked to a small number of white folks that are here. And it's interesting. A lot of them are college students.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: A lot of them are freshly out of college. And they studied ethnic studies.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Women's studies, civil rights issues. And so they're here saying, look, this is not a black and white issue. This is about the human race and this affects all of us.
HARRIS: Yes, and as you tell this story, I heard a great line from Susan Roesgen just a moment ago in her live shot with you guys. She was telling the story that many people are coming to her and they're suggesting that this isn't so much a protest; this is about a pilgrimage.
And, Kyra, you talked to people on the ground here that seemed to follow up with that notion that what is happening here is maybe the birth of a movement, a new movement. Can we call it a new civil rights era, starting here in Jena? The indications you're getting is that this will continue in other cities and other states across the country.
PHILLIPS: And I think we do have some of that. The producers can let me know if we actually have that sound ready. I actually was able to get inside the march with Martin Luther King III, also with the mother of Mychal Bell, Melissa Bell. She was with Al Sharpton, Michael Baisden. Michael Baisden, the black talk radio show host that has really rallied forces here.
And shall we give viewers a sense?
HARRIS: Absolutely, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The silence shows us that this was fine as long as it was under the carpet. We came to pull the carpet up. If there are roaches and we turn the light on, don't blame us for being those that get rid of roaches. Blame those that let the roaches crawl around.
MARTIN LUTHER KING III, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Incredible. A new generation of young people who were not exposed to the movement are here today to march.
PHILLIPS: Do you feel your dad's spirit?
KING: Oh, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Is this what he'd want you to do?
KING: I think it is. It's certainly one of the things. I mean, obviously, at the end of the day, it's about bringing this community back together. But justice has to be done first.
PHILLIPS: Has there been changes sings your dad marched in Selma?
KING: Oh, most definitely. Many changes. But we still have a long way to do. The triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism are still rampant.
PHILLIPS: And what is this about today?
KING: This is about justice. Justice for the six young men and even -- even justice for the victim.
PHILLIPS: What about the three boys that hung the nooses?
KING: That is something that we must address, in terms of hate crime piece of legislation. I think, because clearly it is not being addressed appropriately. There's been no penalty for those individuals.
PHILLIPS: So, there's more to come.
KING: We certainly are going to advocate for it. Prosecute it in the courts.
PHILLIPS: Mrs. Bell, what do you think of this?
MELISSA BELL, MYCHAL BELL'S MOTHER: This is good. It's beautiful to see all these people around here. But I'm being pushed more than I'm getting anything.
I was on the phone with Mychal a few minutes ago and I was telling him what was going on.
PHILLIPS: You told Mychal what's going on right now?
BELL: Yes, I did. He was on the phone, just on the phone.
PHILLIPS: What did he say?
BELL: He was excited. He said he was watching it on the news.
PHILLIPS: So what did you tell him?
BELL: I told him that he should see all the people out here that are supporting him. Yes. And he said -- he said, you ought to see them. And it's amazing how many people. And the viewers. He's in good humor. He say he (sic) watching on the news.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Great, great, amazing access. We should tell everybody and then I want to get to another point with you.
PHILLIPS: OK.
HARRIS: That we are seeing excerpts from your special tonight, "Judgment in Jena." Tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: That's right. And we want viewers to know that we're showing the whole, entire story.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: We are going back to when those three white boys hung those nooses.
HARRIS: Tell that story.
PHILLIPS: It is -- I mean, legally, you can't say there is a connection between the nooses and what's happening here today. But you and I can talk about the connection that it's all about racism. All of it.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: So I mean, there's an underlying issue of tension in this community, but tension that exists outside of Jena, Louisiana.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: It exists in Texas, in Wisconsin, in California. And that's why we're seeing so many people from all these other states coming and wanting to talk about that.
I did track down parents or family members of those three boys that hung the nooses. And I will tell you, and you and I were talking about this, there is a community here that has not, shall we say, matured, OK?
HARRIS: Right.
PHILLIPS: With how things have moved in the -- since Martin Luther King first marched in the '60s. And that they haven't been outside of Jena, Louisiana. They don't have a problem saying "colored people" to me.
HARRIS: I had someone say that, yes.
PHILLIPS: Somebody said that to you today, right?
HARRIS: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Now, compassion for ignorance. That's what I'm hearing from everybody here. We've got to understand why they think it's OK to say that. Why they think it's OK to hang a noose from a tree, whether it was a joke or not.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: That's the bigger issue here. But that is what sort of triggered a series of events...
HARRIS: A series of events.
PHILLIPS: ... that we have been witnessing up to this point to the Jena 6.
HARRIS: And we get to a place here, because we certainly want to hear from the white residents, the white locals here. Again, this is a town, Jena, Louisiana, that's anywhere from, what, 2,900, 3,200 people in population?
PHILLIPS: Right. About 3,000 people. Little southern town.
HARRIS: A rural southern town, 85 percent white. Anywhere between 12 and 15 percent African-American. The white population of this town not altogether happy with how the city is being portrayed in the days and the weeks leading up to this.
PHILLIPS: Perfect segue. There is a community here of white supremacist groups, hate groups. OK?
HARRIS: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: There is a KKK presence.
HARRIS: I heard that, as well. Yes.
PHILLIPS: The U.S. attorney has told me that. I did even -- one family I tried to approach, the family of one of these boys that hung the nooses, two big men came out with their shotguns and told me I'd better leave. They don't want to talk about this.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: However, there is another segment of the white community that says, "We do not believe in what those boys did, and we are not all backwards, racist country folk." This is what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURA FINK, JENA RESIDENT: I want people from the outside that do not live here to understand that the image they're portraying of the community here is not what they're portraying.
PHILLIPS: What is the image?
FINK: This is a very close community. I feel safe here. I think this is a good community. I think people stand together, black or white, here. And I've been here about 14 years. And I like it here. And I think they're not portraying us for what we really are.
EVELYN TALLEY-MOSER, JENA RESIDENT: It's one of the truly integrated communities in this area. And I think it's so unfair, you know, because Jena High School is integrated, and many of the schools around here in the bigger cities are not.
This is a microcosm of what people from other places in the United States think it should be. And all of a sudden, this wonderful little town, you know, has this reputation. And I think it's completely unjust and unfair.
You know, how did this happen, you know? Why? You know, it's not the community. Martin Luther King said, "Judge people by the content of their character. Not by the color of their skin." And I would like to add, not by their geographical location. Just because this is south does not mean that this is not an integrated community.
Do your homework before you print things. This is hurting our family. You know, this is hurting my grandchildren. People -- my family from California is calling and saying that we have things that are not true about this community. You know, where are they getting this information?
CHARLENE RANTON, JENA HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: I feel that the world is not seeing the real picture of Jena High School. I feel like we here do our best to get along with all genders, races, and kinds, and we do here on the school campus.
We have put this other behind us and are moving forward. The biggest hindrance we have at this point is the absence of our main academic school building. That's the biggest problem we have. It's not about race.
Now, what I see mostly that is the problem is outside of this school community. Does that have -- you know, chosen to come and really don't know what it's like here.
Our school is a peaceful place, and it's a good learning environment for our students.
PHILLIPS: Anna Marie, I was looking through the yearbook, and best all-around, they voted a black and a white student. Most witty, black and a white student. Most athletic, black and a white student. Even the homecoming court. There seems to be a big misconception in a number of ways.
ANNA MARIE RANTON, JENA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: There is. We go to school functions together. We communicate at school, you know, outside at lunch. You know, we're all friends here. People don't see that because they're not at our school every day.
PHILLIPS: So what happened on this campus? Was that something that doesn't happen on a regular basis? And why do you think it happened?
A. RANTON: I really don't know. I think it's people from outside bringing it inside to the school. Every day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Raw, raw, raw emotion that you captured there, Kyra. It brings us all to the man at the center of this story, really. We can talk about Mychal...
PHILLIPS: The district attorney.
HARRIS: The district attorney, Reed Walters.
PHILLIPS: That's right, Reed Walters.
HARRIS: And you caught up with him.
PHILLIPS: That's right. He didn't want to talk to us on camera, didn't want to talk to us in person. We tried to pass a note to him in court. He didn't want to talk. I had no other choice but to stake him out.
And he held a brief news conference the other day, but you're going to see a longer version of a one-on-one interview. And I asked him point blank, Tony, do you feel there's racial tension in your town? He told me, absolutely not.
I think there's an issue there.
HARRIS: A disconnect.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there is, truly.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: And this man was quoted at a school assembly, saying, "With the stroke of my pen, I can change your life forever."
HARRIS: That's right.
PHILLIPS: And so we dug into that, and we dug into his background. And that is -- that is why everybody's here.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: They want to try to understand these charges and why this D.A. is going the way that he's going.
HARRIS: Once again, I've been talking about it all morning in the NEWSROOM. You know this, but I want everyone -- I know I'm saying it again and it's a broken record. But I want to drive everybody who's watching us now to your fabulous special tonight. We've seen nice chunks of it throughout the day. Tell everyone, again, about your special tonight on CNN.
PHILLIPS: Eight p.m. Eastern right here on CNN, "Judgment in Jena". You will get the whole picture.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You will hear from the white and the black community and the division even among blacks. And the division among whites. And you will get the whole picture.
And you will understand how this story went from hanging three nooses in an alleged all-white tree on a high school campus to where we are today.
HARRIS: Can't wait to see it. Everyone tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We've gone so long in this segment. Fred, it's important.
PHILLIPS: It's an important issue.
LEMON: You know what? We have -- we have gone...
PHILLIPS: You can tell we are passionate about this.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
LEMON: Tony and Kyra, we have gone, but it's a story that's touching everyone, even, you know. The folks who are running for president respond to this.
Kyra, I've got to ask you something really quickly.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
LEMON: And I know that you can answer this. You talked to the high school kids and you talked to people there, and they're saying it's a truly integrated community. And having gone to high school in Louisiana, I went to an integrated high school.
But yet, we all went on our buses. The black kids went one way, the white kids went another way. Blacks and whites went to different places. Black prom, white prom.
Is it integrated outside of the school? Do these people hang out together? Do they go to the same places together? Are they friends? Do they mingle? Have you noticed that in the community when you're talking about a truly integrated community, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: I have seen both. I have seen both. I have definitely seen the divisions. I've seen the divisions. There is a black side of town. There's a white side of town.
HARRIS: Absolutely. PHILLIPS: But there's also parts of this town where whites and blacks live together. So you see both, Don. You really do. You see it on the high school campus and you see it here in the community.
But I want to make the point clear, and I think that that's where a lot of this tension is come from, that there is...
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... a segment of the population here that is living in a cocoon. It has gone back in time.
LEMON: Right.
PHILLIPS: And that's where everything needs to move forward here in Jena, Louisiana.
LEMON: And you -- and you...
PHILLIPS: And like we said, not just in Jena.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
LEMON: And you get why I'm asking you that, because that's what we want to get at the heart of in your special tonight.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely.
LEMON: We've gone a long time with this, but it's definitely a story that deserves a lot of attention. Kyra, we appreciate your reporting. Tony, we appreciate your anchoring. We're going to get back to you a little bit later on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
LEMON: Kyra's special tonight, 8 p.m.
WHITFIELD: All right. The other legal issue that seems to be galvanizing America. Well, he's Florida's Juice now, O.J. Simpson, sprung from jail on bail and back in the Florida sun.
LEMON: And live from Capitol Hill -- there you go -- Senator Hillary Clinton responds to the president's comments this morning about the children and health care in America. Live in the NEWSROOM.
She also responded to speaking to Reverend Al Sharpton about the situation in Jena. How are you doing, Senator? We're going to talk to you in just a little bit, live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: But, first, our news quiz. You heard what Tony and Kyra had to say about the town of Jena. So what is the racial makeup of Jena, Louisiana? We'll tell you in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: President Bush making some news today, asking Congress to give him a clean extension of a state-run, federally funded children's health care insurance program so that he could sign it before the program ends September 30th.
One person who's no stranger to the issue of health care in America, senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a presidential candidate, who has some thoughts on the president's notes this morning made public. But before we hear from Senator Clinton, who is with CNN's Jessica Yellin, let's hear now what the president had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe this is a step toward federalization of health care. I know that their proposal is beyond the scope of the program. And that's why I'm going to veto the bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica Yellin is on Capitol Hill with presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, with some comments and reaction to what the president had to say -- Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this children's health care bill was originally passed by the Republican Congress back in 1997, when Senator Hillary Clinton was herself in the White House, very familiar with this program.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's right.
YELLIN: President Bush this morning issued a veto threat calling this nationalized, federalized health care. Is that fair?
CLINTON: Well, it's neither fair nor reflective of what the bipartisan support that this program has. You know, I worked very hard to pass it in 1997, which we did on a bipartisan basis. What we have done in the Senate and the House is to have bipartisan support to extend it.
Because while the president has been in office, we've had one million more children the last two years lose insurance. And these are children, by and large, that are in families that are working. Because if they were very poor, they two be covered by Medicaid. So he is walking away from taking care of our children, and I find that just unimaginable.
And I think to start engaging in name calling and calling it government-run health care and all of that is not only wrong, but it really, in my view, does a great disservice to the people in this Congress who are working in a bipartisan way to try to cover more kids and give them the health care they deserve to have.
YELLIN: But both the president and Republicans here who don't support the measure say that it is grossly too expensive, it covers middle-class children, and it's a way to really move them off private insurance. Is that -- do you have a response to that? CLINTON: Well, in fact, the greatest number of children becoming uninsured are in middle-class families. Because the employer-based system is eroding, and people are not getting the help that they need from their employers and they can't afford health care on their own, and their children are going without insurance. I see this all the time as I travel around the country.
And, of course, this is a president who has driven us into deep deficits after we had a balanced budget and a surplus six-and-a-half years ago. And this is a president who is more than happy to continue to spend billions of dollars every week on the war in Iraq when the country and the Congress believe we should change direction. And this is a president who has really broken faith with the states under the children's health insurance program, because it is a partnership between the federal and the state governments.
And for all those reasons, I think his veto threat is very unfortunate, and, you know, let him go out with me and meet the families who have lost their own insurance, who, yes, maybe they make $45,000, $50,000, they live in a high-income place, or maybe they are just barely over the line eligible for Medicaid. And the states in which they live want to help them. Republicans and Democrats and the Congress want to help them. And the president just says no.
YELLIN: May I switch gears and ask you a campaign-related question? There's an escalating war of words between your campaign and Giuliani's campaign. Was it appropriate for Governor Bill Sachs to bring Giuliani's personal life into all of this?
CLINTON: Well, I'm not engaging in any of that. I'm focused on my campaign. My campaign is about my ideas, what I want to do northern the future, the agenda I'm presenting to the American people. You know, this week I came out with a comprehensive health care plan that I think would cover every American. That's what I'm going to be talking about. And, you know, they'll be plenty of time for the politics.
But right now what we're trying to do is to lay out a positive agenda for America. We've got so much work to do here, when it comes to health care and the economy and energy and global warming, To say nothing of getting us out of Iraq. So, I'd like to see us continue to stay focused on what matters to the American people.
YELLIN: And finally, one of your fund-raisers is being charged today. Are you concerned at all that this will have a negative impact on your campaign?
CLINTON: No. Because unfortunately none of us caught the problem that were there. This happened to a lot of campaigns, a lot of investors who made investments that unfortunately don't look like they were treated appropriately. The system of justice will work its course, and I think that appropriate.
YELLIN: Thank you for your time.
CLINTON: Thank you. Good to see you. YELLIN: Good to see you.
Well, Fredricka, you heard it here, Senator Hillary Clinton pushing back hard against that presidential veto threat. We'll just have to see if both the Senate and the house have the votes to override that veto maybe next week.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica Yellin and, senator, thanks so much -- Don.
LEMON: Can't tell the players without a scorecard? Well, we'll bring you one for the O.J. Simpson case, scorecard, that is. A look at who's who and who's accused of doing what still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: And Osama bin Laden declares holy war. Nothing new there, but who's in al Qaeda sights now. Find out straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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LEMON: And just in to the CNN NEWSROOM, if you think Floyd Landis is the 2006 Tour de France champ, well, think again. Arbitrators have ruled that he must, he must hand over, give back, that title. He has lost that expensive and explosive doping case, that's according to the Associated Press. They're saying that he used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, again according to the Associated Press.
And here's what we're just getting off the wire. The decision handed down by nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves Landis with only one more outlet to possibly salvage his title and appeal to the Court Arbitration for Sport. But according to arbitrators in this case, Landis guilty of doping and they rule he must forfeit his 2006 Tour de France title. That, of course, is according to the Associated Press just coming across the wires.
We're going to continue to update you throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk a little business now. Let's check in with Susan Lisovicz who has a little news about some innovative new programs, I guess, and partnerships that some of the TV networks have come out with, in connection with the Internet.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
LEMON: We're following this story throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. As a matter of fact, we're devoting an entire hour to it tonight.
Take a look at this, crowds, tens of thousands of people descend on the tiny town of Jena, Louisiana, protesting there what they say, there's been a mistreatment of the so-called Jena 6. We're going to talk about that and continue to follow that in the NEWSROOM. And we want to hear from you, what do you think the Jena march will accomplish? Will it accomplish anything? E-mail us, the address is CNNnewsroom@CNN.com and we'll read your responses throughout the afternoon here.
And just a few minutes ago, we asked you: what is the racial makeup of Jena, Louisiana? Well, the answer is 85 percent white, 12 percent black. Our coverage of Jena continues in just a few minutes. We'll hear more from the residents of the town, black and white.
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LEMON: Forecasters keeping an eye on a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico. I guess one of those forecasters would be Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.
REYNOLDS WOLF, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I'd be in that fix (ph).
LEMON: ...in the CNN weather center. Yes, what -- disturbance, what does that mean?
WOLF: Well, right now, it's just an area of disturbed weather. It's not a tropical storm, it's not a hurricane. But it's a thing we need to monitor very carefully. And believe it or not, that activity that we have down in the Gulf of Mexico is actually connected to some of the activity we've had in terms of showers and storms. Not only on the Georgia coast, but also into the Carolinas, where it continues to rain from Wilmington, south ward to Georgetown and Myrtle Beach. I would expect that should last through much of the afternoon if not into the evening as well. Easy for me to say.
Something else that is easy to see is this area of low pressure. You can just make out that rotation. We're going to keep a very sharp eye on that, because after all, we're still right in the middle of the hurricane season and the latest path we have from this area of low pressure where -- we've got a couple of computer models, more than a couple, and you'll notice these paths bring it right into through parts of the Gulf Coast, anywhere from parts of Alabama into Mississippi, even Louisiana.
A closer examination as we zoom in a bit more, it shows that may be moving right near parts of Lake Pontchartrain and even in to say, New Orleans, as we get into the weekend. Time frame on this, should this play out, we're looking at a storm that may reach tropical storm force as we get into Saturday and into Sunday.
That's the latest we've got for you. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Reynolds.
WOLF: Any time.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about the other big case that has America talking, O.J. Simpson, barred from any contact with his other co-defendant as he awaits arraignment in his armed robbery case. A fifth man wanted in Simpson's case surrendered yesterday in Las Vegas. Charles Howard Cashmore appeared before a judge this morning and is expected back in court tomorrow, and bail was set today at $32,000 for defendant Michael McClinton. As for Simpson, well, he is back in south Florida. Exact whereabouts unknown.
Here now is CNN's John Zarrella.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big questions here today, where's O.J., and if he surfaces, is he going to have anything to say?
He arrived back at south Florida last night, not at Miami International Airport, but up in Ft. Lauderdale, at Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Now, as he got off the plane, he was surrounded by Broward Sheriffs officers, escorting him past the dozens of cameras that were following him and awaiting his arrival.
But before O.J. got off the plane, all the passengers were escorted off the flight first and then O.J., and after he made his way outside of the airport, he then went to a waiting car at curbside.
The question is, where did he go? He never came back here to his south Miami home, down that paved driveway, past the palm trees. No one ever entered there during the evening hours. So, it's possible that he went to his longtime girlfriend's house. Others have said perhaps to the Ft. Lauderdale Country Club where he's known to play a lot of golf on occasion.
One journalist who spoke with O.J. on the flight said that he was very cordial, and very friendly. And when asked, O.J. said, well, that he might go back to Las Vegas in October for the next scheduled hearing, but the question right now is, where's O.J.?
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Can what you eat affect your brain? Well, some food for thought on that before you bite into your next burger. That would be me.
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LEMON: You are what you eat. In that case, I'm like a big hamburger and french fries. But most of us -- most of us think about our bodies when we hear that old saying. But, did you know that what you eat can also affect your brain?
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta makes a food/mind connection in this report from his special, "America's Killer Diet."
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a burger and fries ...
DR. JOSEPH HIBBELN, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Turn on the blender.
GUPTA: ...going through the blender in a laboratory at the National Institutes of Health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This amount of oil comes from just one single serving of french fries. The brain is made of fats, and the brain is made of oils. So, the type of foods that you choose to eat ultimately makes up what your brain is made of.
GUPTA: Your brain, like your body, needs certain oils to function, including Omega three fatty acids. There are a lot of those in salmon and Omega six, from seed oils like soybean, corn, and canola.
According to the American Heart Association, Americans only eat about a third as much Omega three fats as they should. Meanwhile, over the last century, the amount of soybean oil, the main source of Omega six, has gone through the roof.
Now, there's evidence that a poor balance between the two, Omega three and Omega six, can lead to depression, suicidal thoughts, even criminal behavior.
In one study in Britain, prisoners who got Omega three supplements were 40 percent less likely to commit violent crimes later on. Here in the United States, a committee established by the American Psychiatric Association recommended last year that doctors consider Omega three supplements as part of the treatment for mild depression.
HIBBELN: Food is medicine. It's not an either/or. You know, Hippocrates said when a patient is sick, correct their diet first and when that doesn't work, move to medicine.
GUPTA: Some ancient wisdom for the ills of the 21st century.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You don't want to miss that. Make sure you catch Dr. Gupta's report in its entirety, the CNN's "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Fed Up, America's Killer Diet," the first CNN documentary -- the first one -- in high definition, isn't that interesting?
WHITFIELD: Wow. So you can really see that good (ph) on slow.
LEMON: You can really see it good what you're eating. That is Saturday and Sunday ...
WHITFIELD: Especially blended.
LEMON: ...at 8:00 Eastern. First one in high definition. WHITFIELD: All right, meantime, we continue to watch the goings- on in Jena, Louisiana. Look at the crowds there. Protesters say they're marching for justice in Jena. We'll hear more from the small Louisiana town at the center of massive demonstrations today. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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