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Dow Takes a Dive; Ozone Layer Shrinking?
Aired November 01, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: His name is Dog. He's tough as nails. And if he's on your trail, boy, you better look out. But the world's most famous bounty hunter says he's not a racist, and he's sorry he called his son's girlfriend the N-word. We will hear from the Dog's spiritual adviser this hour.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Our daylong conversation about race looks back at some horrible chapters in American history and the millions of 21st century teens who never read or studied them. This hour, I will take you to a high school in Pennsylvania where race and hate and history are out in the open.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN Center in Atlanta.
LEMON: And if you missed the last two hours of the CNN NEWSROOM, you missed a very interesting topic on race, right, a very interesting talk.
I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, we're getting close to the closing bell, in about 50 minutes.
Susan Lisovicz has been watching all the action on Wall Street, as have we.
Susan, oh, she's off the floor and back on her perch.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm taking refuge up here, Kyra.
It's tough. It's sort of like the hangover after the party. The party came yesterday, when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, but it also said, you know, don't expect more help in the future. Why? Well, there are a lot of concerns about inflation. Oil early today touched $96 a barrel.
Gold is trading close to, well, highs that we haven't seen in decades. And you're seeing a sell-off because of, among other things, concerns that we're going to get more damage in the financials. The Dow industrials are only 30 stocks. They're the creme de la creme. There's three financial stocks let me just mention very quickly.
Citigroup, we're seeing its shares down 6.5 percent on a downgrade. J.P. Morgan is down 5 percent. American Express down 3.25 percent. That puts a lot of pressure on that index. In addition to that, ExxonMobil is down 2.5 percent, because it has missed estimates with its quarterly earnings, made a lot of money, but it didn't come in where the consensus was. And it's getting punished.
So it really just sort of pushed all the averages down and you're seeing a very broad-based sell-off. We will have more details a little bit later on in the program.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thanks so much.
And we're going to keep this picture of the Dow up as we continue to monitor the drop. We are going to follow it all the way to the closing bell right here in the CNN NEWSROOM with Susan Lisovicz.
LEMON: All right. Let's talk again about race.
Bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman is apologizing for repeatedly using the N-word during a phone conversation with his son. "The National Enquirer" posted a clip of the call online. It is unclear who recorded the call or how the tabloid obtained it.
Chapman is star of A&E's reality show "Dog the Bounty Hunter." In the call, he urges his son to break up with his girlfriend, who is black.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: It's not because she's black. It's because we use the word (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) sometimes here. I'm not going to take a chance ever in life of losing everything I have worked for, for 30 years because some (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) heard us say (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) and turned us in to the 'Enquirer' magazine. Our career is over. I'm not taking that chance at all.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: In a statement, Chapman says the clip was taken out of context. He says he has -- and we quote -- "the utmost respect for black people, who have suffered so much from racial discrimination and acts of hatred."
Reverend Tim Storey is Chapman's pastor. And he joins us now from Los Angeles.
OK, Reverend.
REVEREND TIM STOREY, PASTOR OF CHAPMAN: Yes.
LEMON: You're a black man.
STOREY: Yes, I am. (LAUGHTER)
LEMON: You heard those comments. And he said over and over again, I'm not going to lose my career, and I sort of paraphrase here, for some N-word.
How is that out of context? What is out of context about that?
(CROSSTALK)
STOREY: Number one, I was in shock, because I have known him for seven years, and did his wedding for him, counseled him before the wedding, gone to with him to inter-city churches while he's helping me change people.
Don, I was in shock. Let's start there.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Have you spoken to him?
STOREY: I have spoken to him three times yesterday, twice this morning.
LEMON: And did he say to you?
STOREY: Well, what he is saying is, "Tim, number one, I'm sorry," because I was mad.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Did he apologize to you personally?
STOREY: He apologized to me personally, because I am a black man, and I am a pastor, and I was offended.
LEMON: OK. OK. And then he apologized in this -- in his statement he sent out. He said it was taken out of context, part of which I read. And he apologized to, you know, a whole group of people.
I didn't hear him apologize to this young lady.
STOREY: Well, I think that that initial statement, I have challenged him even on that, because I feel that, really, he's just wrong. He's just flat-out wrong. You do not use that word, you do not say that word whether in private or in public.
That's where I'm coming at as a spiritual leader. It is wrong for him to do that.
LEMON: OK. So what did you advise him to do?
STOREY: Well, we believe as Christians is that you need to repent. So, I prayed with him to get it right with God, but what you have got to deal with now, as you are seeing, is the fallout. I have been talking to celebrities on the phone today. Religious leaders and people are mad. He understands that.
He's a man. He's a man's man. He's a passionate man. He made a big mistake, but what I'm working on is his soul.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: OK. I understand that. How old is Dog? Late 40s, 50s? How old is he? Do you remember? Do you know?
STOREY: He's early 50s.
LEMON: However old he is, right, he's been around.
STOREY: He has.
LEMON: Obviously. He says, you know, I'm not going to lose my career for this.
How does one get to the point where he says it was taken out of context, I'm not a racist, but yet I used this word? And I think the quote is that it was used six times. Yes, we're all about forgiveness. But come on. If you're a 50-something-year-old man, and you're talking to your son, by now, don't you think he would know between?
(CROSSTALK)
STOREY: I would say he should know better.
And I'm being very tough on him. And I'm saying -- because we believe that, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
LEMON: Right.
STOREY: So I was saying, man, what is in your heart that you said this? And he's taking me back to, Tim, I was mad. I was angry at my son. I was trying to get back to him.
So, what I'm saying about Duane is that I know him for seven years. I have never seen this side of him. I believe he's a good man. He's made some bad mistakes.
LEMON: And I get everything that you're saying. I get that.
STOREY: Yes.
LEMON: And I don't want to keep beating up on this man, but the thing is, is that having this conversation with my partner here today, doing a special on nooses, we're talking about race, the thing is, it's not, you know what, he used the word. Fine. He's a grown man. But he's teaching it to his children.
STOREY: Yes. It's a terrible thing. It's a terrible thing.
I have a conversation in an hour with the Reverend Al Sharpton. And we're dialoguing with other leaders, not just Al, but what he did was wrong.
LEMON: Yes.
STOREY: He's got the fallout of it. People are not happy.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes. I know that. But what I'm trying to say about that, again, is that what does that say about what some people, some folks, and I will say some of us, because we're all Americans, are teaching our children? What legacy are we leaving with them by teaching them things like...
(CROSSTALK)
STOREY: It's wrong. But I will say this, is that, I believe that, when you have a setback, you don't have to sit in it. So, I'm working with his now and where he's headed.
LEMON: OK.
STOREY: Not about keeping a TV show, not about staying popular, but why did he say it? That's what I'm dealing with.
LEMON: All right. And I thank you for that.
Now, since you mentioned Reverend Sharpton, I have to say that he also weighed on this, saying that he would like to meet with him. He has this march on the 16th. And he says, if Dog wants to show that he is repentant on this, he will march on November 16 on the government, this so-called March on Washington.
Hey, will you do me a favor, Reverend?
STOREY: Yes.
LEMON: Will you tell Dog to call us here or get in touch? We would love to talk to him.
STOREY: Well, Don, you're a nice guy. I'm going to work on that.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Pastor Tim Storey, Dog Chapman's reverend and spiritual adviser. We appreciate you joining us today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
STOREY: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: A strange story today concerning tennis great Martina Hingis. The one-time prodigy, now 27, says she's retiring -- the apparent trigger, positive test for cocaine during the biggest tennis tourney of all, this year's Wimbledon Championship.
Hingis says that she was shocked and appalled when informed that her test was positive. She calls the accusation horrendous and says she's terrified of drugs. But she also says she would rather bow out than spend years fighting the charge. Hingis stormed the tennis scene in 1994. She won five Grand Slam championships and was ranked number one before being struck by injuries.
LEMON: Picture three feuding brothers pleading their cases to dad. Well, today, the governors of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama sat down with the U.S. interior secretary in Washington. Now they say they're ready to play nice with their dwindling water in a terrible, terrible drought.
For its part, the Army Corps of Engineers agreed to several changes in how water flows from one state to the other. But governors -- governors -- Georgia's governor, I should say, says the new plans will still require difficult decisions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SONNY PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: We're fortunate, frankly, to live in a nation and a country and region of the area where this occurs very rarely for us. We're blessed frankly, usually with enough rainfall. But since water is the essence of life, we simply have to plan for these contingencies. And, unfortunately, we find ourselves challenged to the point now where we're going to have to make some tough decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This year's record drought has dropped water supplies in parts of the South to dangerously low levels. The governors have tentatively agreed to meet again next month.
LEMON: Well, you remember all the talk about the ozone layer, a giant hole over the South Pole? So, we had better toss out all those aerosol cans? Remember that? Well, word now is the ozone hole, it is getting smaller, but is that good news?
CNN's chief technology and environmental correspondent -- I should say environment correspondent -- we can call you environmental correspondent as well, right?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: You can call me Ray, if you want.
LEMON: OK.
O'BRIEN: Whatever you want.
LEMON: And you can call me Jay or you can call me Johnny or you can call me Sonny. Do you remember that?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: But you doesn't have to call me Miles O'Brien.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Ray, as in sun's rays in this days, Don Lemon. You know, the ozone hole is slightly larger than the 10-year average, but not as large as last year, which was a real doozy. Take a look at this brand-new image coming to us from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This was captured on September 13 of this year. There you see the hole right in there. And it's springtime in the Antarctic. And that's when the climate and the winds conspire to make the ozone as large as it gets during the year. On that day, the ozone hole was 9.3 million square miles. That's about the size of North America, but still within the average scientists predict for the ozone hole recovery.
And it's an improvement over last year. Tack a look at October 9 of 2006. The ozone hole then, as you look at the animation of the whole season there, reached 11.4 million square miles. Now, that was linked to unusually cold temperatures in the stratosphere there.
Now, despite the fluctuations, the ozone hole has generally been slowly on the mend for the past 20 years. Scientists link the loss of ozone in the atmosphere to chemicals used in coolants and aerosols more than 20 years ago.
And, in fact, this recent picture was taken on almost exactly on the 20th anniversary of the international treaty banning the use of chlorofluorocarbons.
Now, each Antarctic spring, scientists in the South Pole launch of series of weather balloons to try to determine the size of the hole. Ozone is a naturally occurring component of our atmosphere, as you know. It filters out harmful ultraviolet-B rays from the sun. And without that ozone to block it, it causes skin cancer and cataracts in humans, can harm plant life.
Now, the CFCs that were in the atmosphere already, Don, live on for 40 to 100 years. That's why there's such a lag time here in getting this ozone hole back in check. Scientists predict the ozone hole and the ozone thinning elsewhere will be completely repaired by the year 2070. In the meantime, get your SPF on.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Get your SPF -- that's a new one.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMON: I'm getting my SPF on.
Thank you.
O'BRIEN: SPF on. Yes, get it on.
PHILLIPS: I want to hear Miles say chlorofluorocarbon, whatever that big word was, about six times.
(CROSSTALK) PHILLIPS: How did you say that, Miles?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. Is that what you have in your hair, though?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Oh. Bah-dump.
PHILLIPS: Hold on just a second.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Yes, it's right there, Miles.
LEMON: Oh, and that's aerosol.
PHILLIPS: You miss those days. Those are the days of Lou Waters right there.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: We now know where the ozone hole comes from, Kyra Phillips right there.
LEMON: That's what I was going to say. She's creating a bigger hole in the ozone.
PHILLIPS: That's right. Hey, man, you got to keep the do in place.
Come on, Miles. I know you put that stuff in your hair.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: All right.
On a much more serious note, or maybe not a serious note...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: ... we have got developing news on Stephen Colbert.
Stay with us -- right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Stephen Colbert, what is going on with him? We hear he's running for president. Now they're wanting to block it. We're trying to figure out what really is happening right here, but apparently our producer out in South Carolina says that the South Carolina Democratic Party has rejected the Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert as a presidential candidate, blocking him from appearing on the primary ballot in January. It was by a vote of 13-3.
They said the comedian did not meet the criteria and was not a viable national candidate. I don't know. My guess is, I don't know how serious he was taking that or not.
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: That's when -- you never know what you get with Stephen Colbert.
Now, you can see all the day's political news any time day or night at CNN.com/ticker. We're constantly updating it for you with the latest from the candidates right there on the campaign trail.
LEMON: I think he's pretty serious.
Stephen, call us. We want to talk to you about it. They're blocking you, blocking the nation, as he calls it.
Let's head to the newsroom now, Fredricka Whitfield working the details of a developing story -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, we're going to take you to international places right now. How about Caracas, Venezuela, Don, where students are showing their force in numbers right there.
They're protesting in great numbers there right in downtown. You see the response as well from authorities there. What is at issue? Well, the students here are protesting in front of the National Electorate College, because they don't like the idea of this constitutional reform that President Hugo Chavez has tried to put in place. He said when reelected he that would make it first priority for radical, revolutionary change, and the constitution would be one of those areas of change.
And apparently this country is poised to approve these 67 constitutional amendments in the coming days. One of them that the students don't seem to like is that the government would control the central bank. They create new types of cooperative property and extend presidential terms from six to seven years, while allowing Chavez to run again in 2012.
And apparently a lot of these students seem to believe that they're most concerned about an amendment that would actually allow authorities to detain citizens without charges during a state of emergency.
We will have to get a little bit more information about what that exactly means, but essentially students are saying that their freedoms would be restricted by these proposals. So, that's the scene there in Caracas, Venezuela.
LEMON: Fredricka Whitfield, appreciate that. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: More than 80 people have died in Tropical Storm Noel as it churns toward the Bahamas, and now we hear the already deadly storm may grow into a hurricane.
Severe weather expert Chad Myers watching Noel's every move for us.
Chad, what's the latest?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, certainly now in warm water, warm enough water, and away from mountainous Cuba, it is some very flat lands, which is basically all of the Bahamas, less than 25 feet tall, so now it's becoming more round, but it's also pulling away.
You see those last couple of frames? Moving to the northeast now at 14 miles per hour, finally getting some momentum, some traction and some movement on up away from Florida. So, now that tropical storm warning that was in effect all the way from almost Key Largo all the way up to Deerfield Beach, that tropical storm warning now is canceled.
Now, this storm was never going to get to Florida, but it had the potential of giving a few wind gusts and a few sustained winds to Florida that could have been tropical-storm-force. That's where the tropical storm warning came from in the first place.
We have seen a few wind gusts today and a few sustained wind gusts, but not too much, West palm, 20, 25, 21 there. Port Everglades, I see a 31 once in a while. And even Florida city, 25, 26. The entire state of Florida seeing winds 15 to 30 miles per hour.
I just talked to my parents. And they're loving the north breeze out in Ocala today. It feels pretty good, but not this north breeze if you're out in the Atlantic Ocean. You could probably -- some of those gusts could be 65, 70 in the Bahamas today -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, we will keep tracking it. Thanks so much.
MYERS: You're welcome.
LEMON: All right. Take a look at this. It is the Dow and the Big Board. Kyra, it's down 273 points -- 279 points.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Wow. What is going on? Susan Lisovicz is going to join us from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us. Now it's down 280 points, and it looks like it's continuing to go down -- back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Yesterday, Wall Street got what it wanted, an interest rate cut, but stocks are tumbling today.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to explain what's going on.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems like Elvis and the bulls have left the building, Kyra, at least today. No question about it. Wall Street read the Fed statement as a sign that there won't be any more rate cuts on the horizon.
And then today we get some disappointing news from some bellwether stocks, and more news that the economy is slowing. Consumer spending was weak in September. And in October manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace since March.
To make matters worse, credit market concerns are still out there. In fact, they're growing. An analyst at CIBC World Markets said Citigroup, which is a Dow 30 stock, may be forced to cut its dividend or sell assets to stave off a $30 billion shortfall. So, financial stocks really taking it on the chin today. Citigroup and Washington Mutual are each down 7 percent. J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America are each down 5 percent. You get the picture.
Check it out on the Big Board, how it's playing out. The Dow industrials right now at session lows -- this is not the worst point sell-for the year, but certainly one of them, down 307 points, or 2.25 percent. The Nasdaq composite is down 52 points or nearly 2 percent.
Even with these losses today, just to put a positive spin on things, the Dow industrials up nearly 9.5 percent. That's even with today's sell-off. And the Nasdaq is up 15.5 percent. So, we have had a pretty good year, but today is a pretty tough -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, we will keep tracking it, down 300 points. We will talk to you as we get closer to the closing bell. Thanks, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
LEMON: Let's head back to New York.
Ali Velshi standing by. Ali, what was it, yesterday? When was the rate cut? Was it yesterday?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yesterday, yes, believe it or not.
LEMON: Yesterday, you were at the Mercantile Exchange.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Just 24 hours ago.
LEMON: I thought that was supposed to help all of this.
VELSHI: Now, it was supposed to help all that, 25 basis points, supposed to give everybody a discount on their debt. It was supposed to help push that economy a little higher.
But guess what? We had a rate cut six weeks ago, and it didn't help out consumer spending. We got those numbers this morning. So, on top of what Susan was talking about, the credit crisis moving along, Citigroup being affected by it, that's big finance, and that's affecting Wall Street.
But what about the simple stuff, like are people going to spend because of a rate cut? They didn't do it in September. Now people are worried that this rate cut is not going to help people spend. Then we got a report on manufacturing activity. That's supposed to go up, Don, because the American dollar is low. We're supposed to manufacture things that's cheaper for other people to buy. That didn't happen.
The number in October for manufacturing is lower than expected. Now we have inflation fears because of oil. So, all of this coming together is making a lot of investors worry about where this economy is going. Now, what should have happened is, around 3:00 Eastern, 25 minutes ago, we should have seen those professional investors who think that other people are driving this market down and that these stocks are a good bargain, you should have seen them move in, and you didn't. And that is often what happens.
LEMON: Hey, Ali, can I jump in here? So, we hate to see this, if you want, the I-word or the R-word, recession or inflation. Talk to me about that.
VELSHI: Two opposite problems. And those are a bit of a concern for people.
On the one side, is the economy slowing down and causing -- and in danger of causing a recession? And, if it is, the Fed should cut interest rates, as they did yesterday. On the other side, if there's inflation, and you cut interest rates, it makes it cheaper to borrow money. More people borrow money, more people spend money, and prices go up.
So, you can't do the same thing. If you have got a recession, you want to cut rates. If you have inflation, you want to raise rates. Now we have these two problems coming together. And you got the Fed saying, well, what do you want me to do? If it's inflation, I raise rates. If it's recession, I cut rates. What do you do?
That's what has got the market confused. Which one is it? What's going to happen? And that's -- when you see this confusion is when you start seeing people selling stocks.
And, remember, if they sell stocks in the last hour of the day, that means that that might not end by the end of the day, moves into Asia, and tomorrow morning it starts back here again. Tomorrow morning we have the monthly employment report for the month of October. We want to see, did we create jobs or lose jobs?
Nothing matters more to Americans than their job. If you don't have a job, the house is not your problem. The mortgage is not your problem. The car is not your problem. The gas is not your problem. The job is number one.
LEMON: Ali Velshi, always appreciate your input on this. Thank you very much.
VELSHI: OK.
LEMON: Half-hour until the closing bell.
VELSHI: We will keep an eye on it.
LEMON: Of course, that's live every day here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And, also, we want to remind you, we're going to keep this picture, the picture that you see right there, we are going to keep that up, the Dow, and monitor the drop. We will also follow all the way, this all the way to the closing bell. We will have it for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you're thinking frozen pizza tonight, listen up. General Mills is calling Totino's and Jeno's frozen pizza with pepperoni. That's because the pepperoni may be contaminated with E. coli.
The company says the recall affects about 414,000 pizzas. If they're in your pizza, you're urged to just toss them out. If have any questions about the recall, you can call the company's hot line, 1-800-949-9055.
LEMON: For the next big thing, it's actually pretty small, a foot-and-a-half-tall aircraft that can fly into harm's way while its pilots stay safely on the ground.
CNN's Miles O'Brien -- Miles "Ray" O'Brien -- Who else? -- looks at the ups and downs of UAVs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger. Flight approved.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): It's not a toy, but it is a model of the changing face of aviation, planes without pilots.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, they're called, are all the rage for doing the dirty work. This one is designed to help firefighters find hot spots in fires like those in Southern California with an infrared camera flying all night long. It can stay aloft for six hours. It is flown manually during takeoff and landing, but runs on autopilot the rest of the time.
PHILIPPE ROY, MERCURY COMPUTER SYSTEMS: As soon as the airplane is up in the air by 500 feet, there's a handoff to the ground control station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handing off.
ROY: And it is now flowing a pre-defined flight plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ground station has aircraft.
O'BRIEN: Fighting fires is just part of the picture. UAVS are in use by law enforcement. They're watching the border, pipelines and power lines, just to name a few applications.
But, as the skies fill with pilotless planes, should we be worried about collisions?
MICHAEL TRANSCHIELLA, INTELLITECH MICROSYSTEMS FLIGHT OPERATIONS MANAGER: We have a very good safety record with this aircraft. We h redundant systems on board.
O'BRIEN: But depending on where and when they fly, air traffic controllers need to clear out airspace for UAVs to do their job safely. A lot of pilots worry that could mean a lot of delays and detours as this unmanned trend starts to take off.
Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PHILLIPS: And the Dow right now, real quickly, let's take a look -- down 332 points.
We're tracking it for you.
Susan Lisovicz joining us for the closing bell in about 25 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, we're keeping our eyes on the Dow Industrials right now. And so is Susan Lisovicz. She's keeping us honest. It's down 324 points right now. It continues to go up and down between about 20 points.
But we're following it. We're going to tell you the reasons behind that. Ali Velshi watching it for us, too. The closing bell is coming up in about 25 minutes or so.
LEMON: More breaking news here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
For that, we go to Fredricka Whitfield.
What do you have for us -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we've got new images of what's going on in Caracas, Venezuela. Take a look. Mostly students who have crowded the streets there, saying they like what the government is proposing to do. President Hugo Chavez proposing 67 constitutional amendments. And you see right there, a lot of these students are not intimidated -- not at the very least -- by the police forces there, rattling their vehicles there and I'm -- yes, and taking that down, too. Those were supposed to be barricades that are supposed to be put up to contain the audience. Well, they don't care, because they're not happy with what Hugo Chavez is promising and this country poised to approve -- 67 constitutional amendments in the coming days that would give the government control over the central bank. It would create new types of cooperative property and extend presidential terms from six to seven years, so that Chavez might be able to run again in 2012.
This is the scene here. As far as we know, no one has been injured. But you look at the melee there and it would seem that somebody is going to get hurt.
We'll continue to follow the situation there in Venezuela -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Fred.
Thank you.
PHILLIPS: The noose -- a symbol of hate from America's past -- is still not dead and buried.
CNN's Special Investigations Unit has been looking into the noose's history and reemergence.
My own legwork took me to rural Pennsylvania, where high school students talk about historic injustices and modern day echoes.
And a look now at part of my report that airs tonight, "The Noose: An American Nightmare".
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
QUAY HANNA, GROUP LEADER: Remember we were talking about how those two guys had hung nooses off the back of their truck...
PHILLIPS: Welcome to Quay's Club.
HUNTER MCBRIDE, GROUP PARTICIPANT: I don't really think they knew what kind of racial stigma it had behind it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They knew what it was, even though it was -- even if they were 12.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last time we met...
PHILLIPS: It's a discussion group about race at Penn Manor High School in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
QUAY: We've got black and Puerto Rican. We've got a full-blooded Southerner. We've got just our local home grown rednecks, including myself.
PHILLIPS: The group leader is 37-year-old Quay Hanna, a self- proclaimed redneck and former racist who changed his views 15-years ago during a bus ride across America.
After one club meeting, I sat down with some members -- Nate Irwin, the self-proclaimed country boy; Hunter McBride, who grew up in the South and wants to teach history; Amber Kitch, the ex-city girl who now lives in the country; and Elaine Odhiambo, originally from Kenya.
(on camera): How has this club made an impact on your lives? ELAINE ODHIAMBO, GROUP PARTICIPANT: I used to see (INAUDIBLE) him and think -- and think that...
PHILLIPS: People like Nate, the country boys?
ODHIAMBO: Yes, the country boys, the rednecks or whatever -- and think they were really racist.
PHILLIPS: So, Nate, Elaine, she stereotyped you, did you stereotype Elaine because she was black?
NATE IRWIN, GROUP PARTICIPANT: No, I did not, due to the fact that this club has been a big integral part of my life. Eighth grade, Quay caught us, you know?
There were a few minority students in our middle school. And it got to the point where we were just being mean to these people on principle. And he nipped it in the bud.
PHILLIPS: You were a bit racist?
IRWIN: A bit, yes, in middle school. I do agree.
PHILLIPS: When you saw what was happening in Jena, Louisiana, did you sit back and think, oh my gosh, that's how I was...
IRWIN: That's how I used to be, not because I just -- I didn't just stumble upon this mistakenly, I was immersed in it.
PHILLIPS: Could a noose ever be used as a prank?
MCBRIDE: I don't think the noose could be used as a prank, just because of the stigma behind it. You know, a lot of people know that it was used in lynchings and there was a lot of lynchings that occurred all throughout the United States.
PHILLIPS: Amber, when you think of a noose or you see a noose, what comes to mind?
AMBER KITCH, GROUP PARTICIPANT: Every time you think of a noose, you automatically think of someone being hung. And most likely it always leads to death.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now, when it comes to the noose and lynching and civil rights, are the youngest Americans truly learning the hard-won lessons of the past?
LEMON: You may be surprised to know that only one school district in America, Philadelphia's, requires a course in African-American history for high school graduation.
PHILLIPS: So we want to talk about race and education with our special panel here today.
Once again joining us, radio host Martha Zoller, Frank Ski and college student Reginald McKinley.
Thanks so much for staying with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: It shocked me that that Philadelphia is the only school district that requires African-American studies for graduation. Why are we -- it seems like we're so behind.
Martha?
MARTHA ZOLLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, WDUN: Well, we're behind on history, period, as far as this whole way that -- and it may surprise you all, you know, the whole way we plan out the day in school, we've lumped it all into social studies. So we're not doing a good job on any kind of history. It doesn't matter whether it's African-American or American history or whatever. I think that that's one of the major problems is we've lost our history.
You go out and ask the average kid -- and this is not an average young man here. This is a guy that knows a lot about stuff. But you go out and ask the average kid -- we're out talking to them all the time...
LEMON: Yes.
ZOLLER: They don't know who the vice president of the United States is, much less what their history was a generation or two ago.
LEMON: But it does seem like -- and, yes, I understand what you're saying. But it does seems like we are lacking even more so when it comes to the history of African-American -- you know, the history of America or the problem with America is the color line and so -- but we don't talk about it.
And so if that is our problem, if that's the elephant in the room that you say...
REGINALD MCKINLEY II, STUDENT, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: Exactly.
LEMON: ...why don't we teach more about it?
Why don't these kids know about lynchings and...
MCKINLEY: Because it...
LEMON: ...and why don't they know about nooses?
MCKINLEY: ...for me, it's a very simple explanation of we try to keep it out of sight so it's out of mind. And what we consistently do is to not give credence to what's occurring, we say well, let's not discuss it or let's like -- let's minimize the effects of it or let's not say it is as big as it really is. And so even something you put into a time capsule will have its when it will come back up and it will have to be discussed. And just because we bury it deep and below, doesn't mean it's not affecting us. ZOLLER: See, and I -- I disagree. I think that, in some ways, we discuss these things more. We think that we don't, but we do.
You take America. America is the only country in the history of the world where we take our dirty laundry and put it out in the front window and we talk about it. We talk about it over and over again. Maybe we need to direct the discussion...
FRANK SKI, "FRANK AND WANDA IN THE MORNING": No, we don't.
ZOLLER: Wait a minute. Maybe we need to direct the discussion in different directions for different things, but we put it out there. We are scrutinized more than any country in the world.
SKI: I think we put it out there when we have to. Like today, when we're forced to put it out there. We don't just put it out there because it was the right thing to do. We put it out because we have to put it out there. We are the most hypocritical country in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SKI: Let's keep it real. Every other country looks at us and says why don't you tell the real truth?
The real truth is that black history or African-American history is American history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
SKI: That's the real truth. Let's keep it real. America was built on black people -- so black people are American history. There is no such thing as just black history or just American Indian history. It's the history of America. And the biggest part about it -- just think, we have been a country that has been independent for a couple hundred years. But slavery has been here since then. So you've got to include that in the history of the United States.
And the problem is -- the reason why we don't want to put it in schools is because the school districts are run by people that don't care about the African-American history. The school districts are run by white folks that don't care about learning African-American history because they never had to learn it. And we don't have the time and the patience to learn it.
PHILLIPS: What about at Morehouse?
Is it a requirement to have some type of African-American studies before you graduate or to get a liberal arts degree?
MCKINLEY: We have -- we have a requirement that you have to have studies of some region of the world and some different demographic. I think the simple intent and understanding that you go to a historical black college or university promotes an understanding of African- American diasporic outlook on life. LEMON: OK. We've got to run but I've got to ask you, just a yes or a no. And it's -- you asked the question in your story and they said you were being a bit racist (INAUDIBLE).
Do you think people actually know all the time when they're being racist when you ask them the question?
PHILLIPS: Everybody's racist, don't you think?
LEMON: A yes or a no.
MCKINLEY: I don't think understand because we are full of hypocrisy.
LEMON: Martha?
ZOLLER: Well, I think, no. Because you -- you do have to -- it's in your own mind sometimes and sometimes you're not aware. You've got to look at the intent.
LEMON: Frank?
SKI: Racial insensitive?
Yes. Racist includes the word power. In order to be a racist, you've got to be in power.
LEMON: Right.
SKI: So, no.
PHILLIPS: The difference between stereotyping and racism?
Is there a difference?
SKI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: A big difference between...
ZOLLER: Anybody can be racist.
MCKINLEY: Yes.
LEMON: Thank you all.
PHILLIPS: All right.
LEMON: All right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks.
Well, a CNN special investigation you won't want to miss -- hopefully you're going to think you don't want to miss this. Listen to our discussion, we're talking about "The Noose: An American Nightmare". Catch it tonight, 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN. And to find out more about noose incidents across the country or to watch online videos on racial issues, just check out our special report, "The Noose". That's at CNN.com/noose. And weigh in. Give us your opinions.
LEMON: Absolutely.
And let's talk about money now. The Dow is down significantly -- there it is, 318 points. A check coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A cliff hanger of a story in Hollywood. The contract between the Hollywood writers and the studios they work for expired at midnight.
"SHOW BIZ TONIGHT'S" A.J. Hammer joins me now with what happens next.
It seems like the gloves are off -- A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOW BIZ TONIGHT": It really does, Kyra.
Talks between Hollywood writers and producers ended kind of like the series finale of the "Sopranos" -- no real ending at all. The contract between the two parties expired last night at midnight. And while a writers strike may, in fact, be imminent, WGA members continue to work today, until a final vote to walk off the job is approved.
Now, negotiations stalled late last night over disputes on DVD royalties and pmts for digital media downloads. Writers want to double the current DVD formula, which has been in place for a long time. They also want to cash in on the advertising dollars that studios get for streaming online and to cell phones.
Now, there are no new talks schedule for today and the Writers Guild announced plans to hold a special members meeting tonight in Los Angeles so they can discuss whether to strike or continue to work without a contract. The Guild says the meeting is being held to update members on the talks, but will not call for a vote to strike. Both East and West Coast guilds would need to approve a strike, which could happen as early as tomorrow.
And, of course, a strike, Kyra, of any kind could really result in a huge blow to the entertainment industry. And, of course, it would put many of your favorite TV shows in the dark -- and we're very early in the season here.
PHILLIPS: Well, speaking of being in the dark, "Blackout," the new CD from Britney Spears -- it hit record stores Tuesday. I hear the pop star was speaking out in a rare interview and that the CD is doing pretty well?
HAMMER: Yes, she sure is. And it sure is. Britney Spears' highly anticipated disc, "Blackout," did, in fact, land on shelves on Tuesday. And in an early morning phone call with KISS-F.M. Radio host Ryan Seacrest, Spears was speaking out for the first time in a while.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY KISS-F.M. RADIO)
RYAN SEACREST, HOST: How do you respond to those who criticize you as a mom?
BRITNEY SPEARS, MUSICIAN: Um, like I said, you know, people say what they want and, you know, do what they do. And, you know, it's sad, you know, how people -- how people -- how cruel our world can be. But, at the end of the day, like I said, you know, you've just got to know in your heart that, you know, you're doing the best that you can. And, you know, that's basically it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Well, when Spears was asked how often she is going to get to see her boys, she dodged the question by saying: "That's like all in the court, stuff like that. My lawyers know all that stuff." Then she handed the phone off to her assistant and jumped in the shower right in the middle of an interview.
As for the CD, "Blackout," first day sales figures for Tuesday total somewhere around 124,000 copies sold. And a lot of analysts predict those numbers will put Spears at number one on the Billboard album chart, with first week sales right around 300,000 to 350,000 units -- which, of course, is not a bad first week, but it's one that certainly pales in comparison to, say, country star Carrie Underwood. Her sophomore disk "Carnival Ride" sold some 527,000 copies this week alone.
Now, coming up tonight on "SHOW BIZ TONIGHT," it's Mills versus McCartney. Heather Mills' startling new claims about her divorce battle with Paul McCartney -- even thoughts of suicide.
But will Mills get any sympathy for what she's saying?
The explosive divorce duel on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. It's "SHOW BIZ TONIGHT". We will see you at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.
PHILLIPS: All right, A.J.
Thanks.
HAMMER: You've got it.
LEMON: Well, imagine this exploding right beneath you. Boy, look at that. And then living to talk about it. We'll hear from a survivor of this summer's deadly steam pipe blast in New York City.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A tow truck driver badly burned in July's steam pipe explosion in Manhattan is only now getting out of the hospital. Gregory McCullough was driving through rush hour traffic when a Con Edison steam pipe burst beneath him. He suffered third degree burns over 80 percent of his body and spent weeks in a medically induced coma to weather the pain.
He spoke about his nightmare earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY MCCULLOUGH, INJURED IN STEAM PIPE BLAST: I remember tripping and falling and just, you know, rolling on the floor screaming in pain -- agony. And I just can't explain how painful it was just to have, you know, steam on your skin. This steam is 400 degrees. They told me that, you know, I should have passed out as soon as I got out of the truck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: McCullough's family is one of many suing ConEd, which owns New York's almost century old steam pipe system. ConEd says it may sue the city.
LEMON: He rarely gave interviews, but when he did, he offered no regrets about his role in history. Paul Tibbetts, the pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died today at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92 years old. His fateful moment came the morning of August 6, 1945, in his b29 named Enola Gay. The blast killed anywhere from 70,000 to 100,000 people. It was the beginning of the end of World War II.
Tibbetts left the Air Force a brigadier general in 1966. And in 2005, in an interview with CNN's Miles O'Brien, he defended the use of the atom bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: How do you square the lives you saved with the lives that were lost that day?
PAUL TIBBETTS, PILOT OF THE ENOLA GAY: Based on personal experience, I seldom go anywhere over the years where somebody doesn't come up to me and say I was scheduled for that invasion, you saved my neck. And I say that's good news. I was glad I could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, just in case you're wondering, Tibbetts named his famous plane after his mother, Enola Gay.
PHILLIPS: Right now, the Dow Industrials are down 373 points. We're monitoring the drop.
Susan Lisovicz is going to join us for the closing bell in just a few minutes.
LEMON: And a church van has just crashed in suburban Atlanta. More on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: These pictures now coming from DeKalb County in -- near Atlanta, Georgia. This is a church van. You see they're riding this van, putting it on the back of that flatbed truck. Just moments ago, you saw it laying on its side. This van overturned, carrying a total of eight children and two adults that were involved in this accident -- a total of five people. There it is, that van, on their side. A total of five people, we're told, were transported to a hospital for treatment. The children were riding in the church van that was involved in this collision with another vehicle. And, of course, that van overturned.
We'll keep checking on this story. If we need to update it, we'll update it throughout the night here on CNN.
Time to check in now with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
PHILLIPS: He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- hi, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hi, guys.
Thanks very much.
The New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg -- his fight against illegal guns now pitting him against the NRA, the GOP and even Rudy Giuliani. And now he's also getting involved in Virginia politics. The mayor, Michael Bloomberg, standing by to join us live right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
Also, Hillary Clinton under fire because letters and correspondence from her White House years are still under wraps. Coming up, a closer look at what's really holding them up.
And American diplomats are furious about a decision that could force some to work in Iraq. Today, what Condoleezza Rice is doing to try to quiet down the turmoil.
That and a lot more right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.
We'll be watching.
The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.
LEMON: Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day.
And it wasn't a good one, was it -- Susan?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a tough day. And, in fact, where we're at now is looking like it is the third worst point loss of the year for the Dow Industrials.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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