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More Violence in Iraq; Bugs in Cleveland; More on Marion Jones; Florida Police Catch Sex Offender

Aired October 06, 2007 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN, ANCHOR: Bullets fly in Baghdad, battle ground Baghdad that is. This attack is aimed at a convoy carrying the provincial governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARION JONES: It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIED: An emotional apology from admitted doper, Marion Jones. But officials and some former rivals want more, they are going for her gold. And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODGER FRANK, TEEN'S DAD: I am not allowed to say these words on television in front of your camera. But Mr. Mitchell, you're going to get what's coming to you, boy. I'm here to tell you. You're going to get what's coming to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our top story, Florida police catch their suspect. A convicted sex offender, now behind bars. We talk live with the father of the teenager reportedly lured from her home as well as the county sheriff.

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. No longer on the run. Authorities have arrested William Joe Mitchell. The convicted sex offender is accused of luring a Florida teen away from home and leaving her in a Wal-mart store in the Florida panhandle. Mitchell was picked up at Virginia truck stop just hours ago with the help of Virginia State Police and the U.S. Marshals task force. Police say the 46-year-old Mitchell posed as a 20-something online, gaining the girl's trust. She thought she had found love. But police say he has a violent past and string of prior arrests. Rodger Frank is the teen's dad. He and Polk County sheriff Grady Judd join us now from Bartow, Florida. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It's good to be here.

RODGER FRANK, FATHER: Thank you very much. WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Frank, let me begin with you. Give me an idea of your initial reaction about learning the suspect is in custody.

FRANK: It was absolute most joyful feeling I have ever experienced next to getting my daughter back. But I'm glad he's gone. It's so hard to explain the feeling, I screamed at the top of my lungs and any neighbors came out. That's how excited I was. My wife's crying, I'm still shaking. It's an amazing feeling. People say, how are you doing now? I'm amazing.

WHITFIELD: And so, Mr. Frank, how is your daughter Alyssa doing?

FRANK: She's doing very well. She really is. She's with her family. She's accepting all the love and she's doing very well.

WHITFIELD: And what's her reaction to this arrest?

FRANK: Excitement, total joy. She's ready to celebrate. We're all ready to celebrate.

WHITFIELD: All right. And Mr. Frank, I want to talk to you some more about the lessons a lot of parents can impart from all of this. But first, sheriff, let me talk with you and what you know about how it is that Mitchell was arrested. Found in Virginia, many states away, very far north. What happened?

JUDD: He was arrested because of a great deal of work by our detectives, assisted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals. We tracked this guy through sources all the way as far north as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where we knew he had associates. We also tracked him back down to the location where he was arrested at the Flying (Jade) truck stop just outside of Winchester, Virginia. Virginia state police took him down at gunpoint. He did not resist. And once he did that and we were able to get to his car, he was still in his original car, we determined he had no money on him, but what he did have was our victim's personal effects visible in the car.

WHITFIELD: And so, sheriff, what are your concerns that here he is a registered sex offender. You all labeled him and other authorities as a high-risk sex offender to launch this nationwide manhunt. How concerned are you that this registered sex offenders could still be perusing the Internet, still be able to pursue young people as alleged that he did in this case?

JUDD: I can tell you that the law enforcement officers that worked with us, handled this case just as it was their 15-year-old daughter. We knew as long as he was out, he was still dangerous. But we also wanted to send words to the other predators and sex offenders in this nation. We will hunt you down like the felon and criminal you are if you mess with our children. So this was not just a quickly take him into custody because he was a high-risk sex offender but it was to tell all of the other sex offenders, we're going to take you just that serious as well. You keep your hands off of our children in this country. WHITFIELD: And Mr. Frank, let me ask you, you had made it very clear during the press conference once you expressed a lot of relief about getting your 15-year-old daughter back. But at the same time you admitted that not even you knew about the kind of activity that she may have been involved in online and that you as a parent were fairly ignorant about how the internet kind of opens doors for a lot of young people. So since that time, what kind of conversations have you had with your daughter that had to be safe -- about how to be safe on the internet because a lot of parents can learn from this example?

FRANK: Yes, we've talked about the internet. We're getting back on the internet. It is going to be little while, though. We're going to get back on the internet. We're going to install software that checks this for me. I'm going to go learn how to do that. It's not my forte but it's going to become that. We have had serious talks about no information of your own out there to the people. You can be who you want to be on the internet. That's our problem, and people do give out their information. We don't do this. The internet is for information. It's not a playground. Seriously, it's not a playground. And that's what --

WHITFIELD: What kind of advice, Mr. Frank, might you have for other parents and young people? Parents who particularly feel like, no, my kid would never be involved in such dialogue with anybody. I know they are on the internet or talking to their friends or they're on Facebook, et cetera. It's perfectly safe. Is that really naive, or do you feel like most parents are right when they feel like they know the kind of activity their kids are involved in?

FRANK: Parents are definitely wrong, I'm sorry. We are not always right. We are wrong. We think our children are well behaved. They won't do that. No, my child would never have done that. People, we got to watch them harder. We all don't know everything. Your children are watching the internet and these people are watching your children. We really got to watch this hard. We got to know everything, from their cell phones to their internet. It comes at them from all angles. If you can't see them, if you don't see friends or boyfriends, there's not a friend or a boyfriend. If I can't touch my children's friends, it's not going to be her friend. It's that simple. People do the same thing. I know my child is not supposed to do it, and neither is yours. It's happening to everyone.

WHITFIELD: So, Mr. Frank, what do parents say to young people now? I mean, how do they really try to reach them, I guess convince them of the potential consequences out there? And using this as an example. I guess a lot of parents don't feel like they can really reach their kids in kids' speak. So, how do you suppose they do that?

FRANK: I really don't know. I feel sometimes I'm scared to talk to my child about things like this. I shouldn't be. We have had the conversation, try to delve into their personal lives but I feel like I get pushed away when I delve too deep in my child's life. I can't explain it. I really don't -- all I know is I got to watch my child every day for the rest of her life. I don't care when she's my age. I'm going to watch her. WHITFIELD: That's understandable. I just really press you on it because I think a lot of parents and a lot of folks can identify with the kind of frustration that comes with, how is it this could happen? Well, we can all really learn from it because a lot of parents are wondering, you know, how they need to connect with their kids' activity online and you really -- and your family's experience is really teaching people a lot.

So Sheriff, let me ask you, you know, what is your hope? If this recent case is to help influence any sort of legislation or any kind of new tool to help you and your colleagues be able to do their job, to try to pursue people who were trying to bring harm to young people, what is it that is your hope?

JUDD: Well, Fredricka, we know that the parents are oblivious to what's happening. In fact it's always going to be someone else's child. But look at this; this was a 15-year-old girl in Connersville, Florida, rural area of (our) county. If it can happen there, it can happen any place in the United States. Florida is very aggressive towards child sex predators and offenders. But we need to educate the parents that these predators are out there. Not by the tens or dozens but by the hundreds and the thousands 24 hours a day trying to walk boldly into your house and talk to your child on the internet while you're there. And you are the first line of defense. Oh, yes. We cannot.

WHITFIELD: And being very convincing and enticing to a lot of these young people.

JUDD: These predators know the talk, know the music. They look for the weaknesses or they look for the areas of interest of the child. They play to the child. They are very convincing. Their communication skills with children are outstanding. That's what makes them dangerous. They talk this normal 15-year-old girl into, in this event, getting into a car at 3:00 on Monday morning and driving off. A 46-year-old guy who was pretending to be 24. That's how dangerous they are. And the only line of defense to stop them before the crime occurs is mom and dad at home.

WHITFIELD: Has this been really frustrating for you and for your team knowing that this is someone who was a registered sex offender? This is not like his first offense but this is somebody who already is on radar, so to speak, but somehow is still able to kind of get through the net in order to get to a young person. That has to be frustrating as a law enforcement officer.

JUDD: It is frustrating, Fredricka. And what's really frustrating, we are very proactive in this county. We have arrested about 100 of these predators this year. So you would like to think as proactive as we are in this county that they would not pick a child in our community. They simply don't care. I have challenged sheriffs and police chiefs from all around this country, everyone needs to be as proactive as we are and if we all work together and we all go out on the internet, we can statistically reduce the probability of this kind of crime happening to other children. The predators are not going to stop on their own and they are not going to stop with the warnings we give them. The last time we did a sting, which was only about three months ago, we ended -- we released the information to the media at 5:00 a.m., continued the sting all day long, and even though it was on national news and all the newspapers and all of the local news, we still arrested as many people through the day as we had averaged on the three previous days of the undercover operation. The predators are focused. They are after your children and they just don't care. So you have to care.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sheriff Grady Judd and Rodger Frank, thank you so much for your time. We're glad Alyssa Frank is back home, Mr. Frank, and doing well.

FRANK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we also are happy that, I guess, through good police work and even the community cooperation, now a suspect is in custody. Thanks so much. Go ahead.

JUDD: Fredricka, we could not have done it without CNN and the other national broadcasts. You helped us immensely.

FRANK: Thank you.

WHITFIED: Glad to hear it. Thank you so much, sheriff and Mr. Frank. Appreciate it. All the best.

And we will be right back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHIFIELD: Some dramatic new video out of Iraq now. A convoy comes under attack with the cameraman inside capturing the scene on tape. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): This happened as the Baghdad governor was leaving a meeting with Iraqi officials as well as U.S. officials when simply this exchange of gunfire took place between his security and what's believed to be insurgents. Surprisingly, everyone in the convoy, including the governor, escaped without harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITIFIED: The top U.S. commander in Iraq is speaking out about Iran's involvement in Iraq. And for the first time, he's pointing the finger at a high-level Iranian diplomat. CNN's Jim Clancy has been traveling with General David Petraeus today and joins us now from Baghdad. Jim, how did this come about?

JIM CLANCY, CNN, ANCHOR: Fredricka, as we look at the situation that is there, what we are hearing is that there's a number of Iranians that are being held by the U.S. and they're not going to be released at least any time soon. We traveled with General David Petraeus, the U.S. military commander in Iraq as he went north of Baghdad. Just about an hour from the Iranian border to a forward operating base there, awarding bronze stars to some of the troops of the 82nd airborne for their successful battle against Al Qaeda, more than a year-long battle that's gone on for these troops.

At the same time, of course, the issue of Iran came up and Iranian shipments of arms and explosives into the country. There's been a lot of talk here about Iranians held by the U.S., some six of them. Five are said to be diplomats, one who nabbed last month. The Iranians and even the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani insists he's a businessman. General Petraeus telling CNN, that's not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR. MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Jim, let's be very clear. There is no debate that the individuals who we have detained are Qods Force members and the individual detained in northern Iraq. Let's be very clear about this. We have absolute assurance of who he is, what he has done in the past, what he has provided in terms of (accelerants), what his position is in the Qods Force. Again, these are not in question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Now, the Qods Force, of course, is this Iranian group that is said to be interfering in Iraq. The accelerants, General Petraeus talked about, the arms, the explosive, those very deadly explosive formed charges that's can penetrate U.S. army and have been blamed in many deaths of U.S. soldiers. Now, General Petraeus said he believes that the Al Qods Force is negotiating. There have been promises made but he reminds everyone, one of the negotiators is the ambassador right here in Baghdad, the Iranian ambassador, and he, too, is linked to Al Qods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRAEUS: The Qods Force controls the policy force for Iraq. There should be no confusion about that either. The ambassador is a Qods Force member. Now, he has diplomatic immunity and therefore he is obviously not subject of that and is acting as a diplomat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: General Petraeus said some of the suspects have admitted their role on videotape. He says one of the special groups members that has tied to Muqtada Al Sadr's Al Mehdi Army even admitted on videotape, he was asked, could you have done any of this against U.S. forces without the help of Iran? Leaned back in his chair and said, "of course not." More evidence piling in. General David Petraeus there very focused on that problem, taking a very much of a wait and see attitude, whether Iran will make good on its pledges to tone all of this down. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jim, what about any links to Al Qaeda?

CLANCY: Well, you know, Al Qaeda, a separate force, obviously. Sunni-backed other than Shia-backed for the most part. Are they getting some assistance from Al Qods? Those kinds of links are said to be there. The evidence of that not as strong. General Petraeus, though, very strong on Al Qaeda. Saying that this is the fight that the American troops have to take right now. And he says in some areas, at least, the U.S. and its troops have Al Qaeda on the map, and he says, we're not going to let them up. He wants to press the fight. He thinks it's the most important one in Iraq because of the sheer damage that group can do. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jim Clancy, thanks so much for the update from Baghdad.

Meantime, President Bush denies plans to actually attack Iran. In the interview with the Arab television station, Al Arabiya, the president brushed off Arab media reports of an attacked plan calling it "baseless gossip." The president repeated his commitment to working diplomatically to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran.

Coming up next, so what is bugging the Yankees this post season? Besides the Cleveland Indians? How about a lack of insect repellant. Boy, is there a lot of bugs out there or what? What's bugging you?

We'll be right back in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones is under growing pressure today to surrender her Olympic medals. An attorney for the Greek athlete Katerina Thanou said Thanou deserves the 100-meter gold from the 2000 games in Sydney. Thanou finished second and was later under the center of a doping scandal herself. Meantime, the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee is demanding that Jones give up all the medals that she won "in violation of the rules." His call comes after Jones' own admission she used performance-enhancing drugs. And lied to government investigators, which is likely to land her in prison. With the latest on this story, CNN's Jim Acosta in New York. Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Marion Jones had denied the rumors for years and many young athletes believed her. Now, that the truth is out, there are hopes, all of those aspiring sports stars of tomorrow will take notice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): As it turns out, Marion Jones wasn't the fastest. She was a fraud. But after Jones finally came clean, admitting she had used steroids, the disgraced Olympic athlete suggested she could be a role model once again for what not to do.

MARION JONES: I promised that these events will be used to make the lives of many people improve, that by making the wrong choices and bad decisions could be disastrous.

ACOSTA: Just 24 hours after her stunning downfall, runners and their parents at this high school cross country meet in New York City had a brand-new impression of Marion Jones. Is this somebody that you looked up to as an athlete?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was someone I looked up to until she actually like admitted that she did that and then like everything just went totally differently way.

ACOSTA: The transformation of Marion Jones from sports hero to sports zero make actually help stop today's young athletes from turning to steroids. Because it reinforces that old adage that winners never cheat and cheaters never win.

LUIS FERNANDO LLOSA, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED," INVESTIGATIVE REPORTE: It's a caution to parents in America.

ACOSTA: A wake-up call that could not have come soon enough says "Sports Illustrated" Luis Fernando Llosa, who has investigated steroids use in athletics.

LLOSA: If she gets all of her Olympic medals taken away from her and she ends up in jail and broke, then they see the arc of the story and the (denuma) s horrific.

ACOSTA: A recent federal study found that steroid use at the high school level doubled since the '90s. Even some eighth graders are experimenting with performance-enhancing drugs. Columbia University sprinter Whitney Crayton hopes to see a change in attitude at the track.

WHITNEY CRAYTON, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SPRINTER: I have won races. I have lost races. But the struggling, the fighting, the losing that you go through as a growing process, it makes the winning that much more valuable. Winning is important, but winning with integrity is paramount.

ACOSTA: Winning with integrity was something Marion Jones proved along the way would not happen to her.

JONES: There exist no one who can truthfully testify that I have ever used performance-enhancing drugs.

ACOSTA: She won five Olympic medals but as the entire world, including many of her youngest fans found out, Marion Jones couldn't outrun the truth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (on-screen): Jones, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents, is scheduled to be sentenced in January when all of those fans will find out if she's heading to prison. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

And later on, we will be talking to Larry Smith about whether indeed this Jones' case will any way be a deterrent to any other young athletes, especially as we come upon the Beijing Games in '08. Meantime, something is bugging the folks out on the ball field there. And then sometimes you just have to work through the bugs anyway. That was the scene last night in Cleveland where the Indians hosted the New York Yankees. A couple of million flying insects were there as well, as unwelcome guests. The swarm didn't bug the tribe too much though. They swatted the Yankees again, taking a 2-0 lead in the divisional playoff series.

Ooh, those bugs taste good, huh? Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center.

I guess you can't really make a forecast on whether that will happen to that degree. Unless it feels like bug mating season to some degree.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, I heard about this actually so I did a quick query on google to see what kind of bugs they were. They are called midges, also known as gnats. Right, we all heard of gnats. Apparently it has to do with the warm temperatures that are out there right now. It's 83 degrees right now in Cleveland. That's way warmer than it should be.

WHITFIED: So it's like breeding season all over again because of that?

JERAS: Kind of again. They lay their larva in Lake Erie right there. Apparently we had a couple of extra hatches this year because of the warm temperatures. And look at the heat out there. Oh, my gosh. This is the first weekend in October. Hello? What's going on? It's just amazing.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: How much alcohol does it take before you're at risk of breast cancer? The answer just might surprise you. Full details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So what we eat and drink doesn't just affect your health. Right now it could also have a long-term impact. Case in point -- a new study which links a woman's daily alcohol consumption with an increased risk of breast cancer. CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin has more in this "health for her" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before you drink that pint of beer or glass of wine, you might want to consider the results of a recent study linking alcohol consumption to increased breast cancer risk in women. Researchers at a European cancer conference presented a study involving more than 70,000 women from different backgrounds. They discovered women who had one or two drinks a day increased their breast cancer risk by 10 percent, compared with those who drank less. Women who had more than three drinks a day increased their risk 30 percent. Researchers also compared the type of alcohol women drank and found that it didn't matter whether they chose beer, wine or liquor. The risk of breast cancer only increased with the amount a woman consumed, not with the type of alcohol. The bottom line -- the American Cancer Society recommends that if women choose to drink, they stick to just one. Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also coming up -- a strange fruit and blood on the leaves

So, Billy Holiday sang about that horrible period in U.S. history, when the sight of a noose was common place. So what's going on right now. We're going to be talking about the noose and its ugly history straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some sad news out of Virginia today. Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis has died. The Virginia Republican was first elected to the House in 2000. Prior to that, she was a state lawmaker. Davis was a passionate advocate for military personnel and their families. She'd been battling breast cancer for the past two years. Her office says her condition worsened over the past week. Davis was 57.

Nooses, incomprehensible symbols of the past, cropping up in present day America more and more. And last year in Jena, Louisiana, a noose was hung from a schoolyard where black students wanted to sit. Traditionally, it had been a gathering place for white students. Last month at the University of Maryland, a noose was found in a tree near a building used by black student groups. Less than three weeks ago in High Point, North Carolina, four nooses were found hanging on a flagpole and from a tree at a high school. And two weeks ago in Hempstead, New York, a janitor found a noose hanging in a police department's locker room, apparently a message meant for a new black deputy chief. So the noose's ugly history is well documented. This warning now though, the pictures that we're about to show you may be pretty tough to look at because they are very graphic. Our Rick Sanchez now on the history of lynching.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): These are the lyrics of a poem, later a Billy Holiday song from the 1930s.

You still hear that song, sometimes, but that may be all you will ever hear about this long, shameful era that started in the 1880s, in the United States after the civil war. Now, the origin of the word "lynch," perhaps it comes from a guy named Lynch. Known for dispensing brutal justice. But there's no doubt that in this country, lynching lasted until the 1960s. Yes, that recently. There were nearly 5,000 deaths in all but four states. Mostly in the Deep South, mostly, the victims were black. Lynching doesn't just mean death in a noose at the end of a rope but also burning alive, beating, drowning, shooting, sometimes all of the above. It happened to men and women, to boys and girls. It happened to people who often for no reason whatever were accused of murder, rape, robberies or just insulting a white person. Society seems to have forgotten how long it lasted, how many died, but once it was front page news, well documented, well photographed. And in those pictures, the mob smiles, the mob rules like a swastika or a burning cross, a noose no longer symbolizes anything but hate, brutality and evil. Rick Sanchez, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sherrilyn Ifill is a professor at the University of Maryland Law School and a noted civil rights advocate. She's also the author of "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century." Sherrilyn thanks so much.

SHERRILYN IFILL, AUTHOR: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So, the noose reprehensible. Everybody knows that. Give me an idea what your initial reaction was when a noose was hanging near the cultural center on your campus there in College Park, Maryland.

IFILL: Well, I had a lot of mixed feelings, interestingly enough. I mean I had written the book and I researched and studied lynching for a number of years and yet I teach at the law school, which is about 40 minutes north of the undergraduate campus where the noose was found. I also have a daughter who was starting as a freshman there. And so I had lots of very complicated feelings. I know a lot about lynching but this felt a little bit more personal. So I had to kind of grapple with my sense of concern for my daughter and also my concern that the institution that I worked for respond in a way that I would regard as appropriate, which I think they did.

WHITFIELD: Especially now, 21st century, do you feel like there's this loose interpretation of what the noose symbolizes, especially when you talk about, you know, generations. Your daughter's generation, perhaps, doesn't have the kind of connection with lynching as perhaps our parents and grandparents do.

IFILL: The truth is in my research, what I really discovered Fredricka, is that especially for African-Americans, stories about lynching are actually quite present in kind of family lure. There are really cautionary tales that are often passed on from parents to children. They certainly were in my generation but I think it continues and that's why I think you're seeing such a strong reaction on campuses from black students. We saw the coast guard situation a few days ago. Because these are stories that are passed on. The interesting thing is that the part of the story that's passed on, I think, to African-Americans is not just about the danger of racial violence, the fact that it can happen, but it's about lynching in particular, about the fact that there may be crowds. There may be tens, there may be dozens or hundreds of others who don't participate but who watch, who condone it, who do nothing to stop it. I think that's the cautionary tale that's passed on and it's a very present one I think in relationships between blacks and whites. But it's unspoken.

WHITFIELD: So commonly offensive but how do you explain this sudden resurrection of its use, particularly in the past couple weeks? How do we make sense of this? What does it really mean?

IFILL: I think that some of these incidents have been happening for quite some time. Certainly that I'm aware of. Very often -- I shouldn't say often, but certainly where we see it happen is in the employment context where nooses are left in lockers, nooses are left on chairs. I have certainly seen this in a number of employment discrimination cases over the past two decades. So it's not unheard of. I think it's partly --

WHITFIELD: The message as a warning.

IFILL: As a warning, as a sign of intimidation. And I think the fact that we're seeing so many right now, I think its two things happening. No doubt some of these are going to be copy cats but it's also true that the media is paying attention to these. As I said, they have been happening in the past and they haven't gotten that attention but there's a certain moment right now I think where this history is ripe for discussion, as was talked about in the clip that you showed. Lynching is not something that we spent a lot of time talking about in mainstream conversation in the United States. We've talked a lot about the civil rights movement. We know a lot about Jim Crow segregation but not the history and the power of lynching.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps that absence might in part explain why you have some kids who might use swastikas or even nooses and say, "I was only joking." I mean there's almost this destigmatization of these symbols that universally mean hate.

IFILL: Well I think that's what we're really seeing from this and I hope we don't miss this opportunity to break what I call the silence that surrounds this history. You know young people are hard wired to play around with things that are taboo, to touch them and to try and provoke reaction. The more we don't talk about things, the more young people like to play around with them. I hope that we're going to break the silence about lynching. I don't mean to suggest that the young people who use these nooses and presented these nooses don't know about the lynching. They know that it's a racist symbol. But do they really know about the history within their own towns, within the state of Louisiana, for example.

WHITFIELD: So use this as an opportunity to really explore further what it really means and how that much more potentially damaging it is to get so comfortable with its use?

IFILL: Absolutely. And not to focus just on the young people or the individuals, whether young or adult, who actually put the nooses out. But let's not use the opportunity to educate many other people who just say, what's the big deal? Why is it a problem? They don't know about this history and I hope we won't lose the opportunity to do more mainstream education about this powerful symbol in this form of racial terrorism.

WHITFIELD: Sherrilyn Ifill, thanks so much at the University of Maryland. I enjoyed talking to you.

IFILL: Thank you for having me. WHITFIELD: Coming up next hour -- are there more noose incidents going on lately? Kind of an extension of what we are talking about here. Josh Levs brings us a reality check, that's at 5:00 eastern.

Coming up next -- checking in on what's on cnn.com.

This American car salesman is running ads in Spanish and lots of people are pretty steamed up about it. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll take a look. Some of the most popular videos on cnn.com. A local TV ad in Florida is infuriating a lot of people. They're angry that the car dealership commercial is being aired in Spanish. The car dealer says he's just trying to get more Hispanic customers but opponents call him "a traitor" who is discouraging Latinos from learning English.

Many of you just can't get enough of this. And I can see why. The cute video of an adorable 9-week-old panda at the San Diego Zoo. Just listen. Ah! The little cub was squealing up a storm during the latest physical exam. They were gentle but she didn't like it. She was so loud in fact the veterinarian had to cut the exam short. Stop it, already.

Click on to cnn.com for more details.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Babies just don't like the doctor.

WHITFIELD: No, can you poke a little bit more gently.

HARRIS: Hey I loved your interview at top of the show. Once again, your show, rocking.

WHITFIELD: You are kind. They were remarkable. What a powerful lesson to be learned for all parents. That's the bottom line.

HARRIS: So we're going to run a huge chunk of that in the 5 o'clock show coming up in about nine minutes or so right here in the NEWSROOM. Also at 5:00, Marion Jones. And we have swiped your segment, I hope you don't mind, with Larry Smith.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, I know, we're sharing.

HARRIS: Yeah we are sharing, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Ok, we love Larry.

HARRIS: Absolutely, absolutely, disgraced yesterday. Boy, your heart sort of goes out to her and you understand, man, after all of the denials to come forward and to admit that you lied --

WHITFIELD: Vehement denial.

HARRIS: So we are going to find out if there is a chance that Marion's story can be used as a cautionary tale for young people. So that's at 5:00. And then at 10:00 tonight, you know the inquest into the death of Princess Diana continues. And the authorities have done just this amazing job of gathering all of the material available. We're talking about videos and still photographs as well. So tonight you're going to go absolutely see images, pictures that you have never seen before. So that's tonight.

WHITFIELD: A very happy couple, right?

HARRIS: Exactly. And at the end of all of this, the story has been woven. We feel like we know so much about the story. But with all of this new information we ask the question whether or not this changes the story in any significant way. That's tonight at 10:00. I'm getting the hard wrap. I'm so long.

WHITFIELD: I know, bottom line, still a tragedy.

HARRIS: Still a tragedy and that doesn't change.

WHTIFIELD: Yeah, some great people lost.

HARRIS: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you, too Tony. We'll be watching 5:00 and beyond in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Beautiful.

WHITFIELD: Was that a burp?

HARRIS: No!

WHITFIELD: Ok, I'm sorry. What was that? Ok. Just kidding.

Well, these ladies get your attention all of the time. On "The View," Whoopi Goldberg has been a little controversial but that's why they hired her, right? They want it to be that way. And guess what, it involves House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband. Oh, boy. Going to get fiery. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So no news flash here. You know that Rosie left "The View," but here's maybe the news flash -- it's her replacement now, Whoopi Goldberg, who is raising a few eyebrows. First was her apparent defense of Michael Vick's culture of dogfighting. And Whoopi's latest to do is what she might want to do, which is make whoopi with -- sounds like a story for CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes to do is a don't. Whoopi said to Nancy Pelosi -- I want to do you. But before the gang on "The View" started speaking about House Speaker Pelosi, there were jokes about House Speaker Pelosi, there were jokes about Paul Newman and Paul Newman's wife. WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I don't want no one to think I wouldn't do he, I'd probably do her too.

MOOS: Eventually, they got around to Nancy Pelosi's husband.

BARBARA WALTERS: You want to take a look at Nancy Pelosi's handsome husband?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go. Hey.

GOLDBERG: I see you eyeing me, that's cool, dog.

MOOS: And when Mrs. Pelosi appeared --

[ applause ]

MOOS: It was even more of a to do as Barbara told on Whoopi.

WALTERS: She said do Paul Newman and I think she would like to do your husband.

MOOS: But Whoopi didn't leave out the misses.

GOLDBERG: I would do her as well. We should wait on that, because you're still in office. I don't want to cause a problem.

MOOS: (INAUDIBLE) Pelosi smiled, Mr. Pelosi chuckled and on the web, ooh, ug, triple yuck. Is there no decorum left in this sad nation? I don't think they do decorum on "The View." So do you care?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. She's funny, Whoopi. That was hysterical. I was laughing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a joke, now people can't say anything without getting in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a joke but I thought it was weird.

MOOS: She said she was going to do her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, please, oops, please, she was doing everybody yesterday.

MOOS: Which brings us to singer Faith Hill?

WALTERS: Also, we'd like to do your husband.

MOOS: Hey, they're not alone. Did you hear about the fan who groped Tim McGraw in the nether regions while he was performing in Louisiana? Faith Hill scolded the fan that scolding ricocheted around the web. At least no one's accused any of the presidential candidates of grabbing. The question -- say something you like about the candidate next to you elicited this response Senator Joe Biden to Congressman Dennis Kucinich. JOE BIDEN: Dennis, the thing I like best about you is your wife.

DENNIS KUCINICH: Wait a minute, he talked about my wife.

MOOS: Later he talked to your wife. At least he didn't use the word, do. All in all we call this story, much ado about a to do list. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: From the CNN Center in Atlanta I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the NEWSROOM with Tony Harris starts right now.

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