Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
No Michigan Primary Re-Do; Senator Hillary Clinton Looks Education for Future Hope; Recommitment March in Memphis
Aired April 04, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hey there, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar.
Dr. King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, where he'd gone to support sanitation workers. And today, that is the center of our daylong special coverage.
Our Don Lemon is At Memphis City Hall, where a rally is about to begin ahead of a recommitment march to the Lorraine Motel. And that is where we find CNN's Soledad O'Brien.
HOLMES: The site of Dr. King's assassination now home to the National Civil Rights Museum. Soledad joined there by CNN contributor Roland Martin, a radio talk show host who, along with some of his colleagues, leading our unprecedented conversations with black America.
KEILAR: And in news on the trail, on the -- in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, a new development. Of course, you know there was controversy over Michigan's Democratic delegates. A decision has been made on what to do with them.
Let's head to Bill Schneider. He is in L.A., joining us live.
Bill, what can you tell us?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I can tell you that the Michigan Democratic Party has indicated that they will not -- repeat, not -- be able to hold any re-do of the Michigan primary, or even a replacement caucus before the Democratic National Convention in August.
That leaves the Democratic Party with a dilemma, because they could seat the Michigan delegates elected in the January 15 primary, but there would be a lot of complaints that that is unfair. The candidates did not campaign in Michigan, and, in fact, Barack Obama's name was not even on the Michigan ballot. You couldn't vote for him, you had to vote for uncommitted.
So there was no fair campaign in Michigan. And if those delegates are seated, Hillary Clinton won that primary, there will be a great deal of complaining on the part of the Obama delegates that it's unfair. Various people are trying to figure out a way to seat delegates from Michigan without the ones -- without apportioning them the way they voted on January 15th.
KEILAR: All right. Bill Schneider for us in Los Angeles with this development.
Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. We want to head on out to Roland Martin. Speaking of Hillary Clinton, standing by with Hillary Clinton, maybe we can ask her about the news out of Michigan right now, but I know today is really not the day she's there to talk politics.
But, still, Roland, you take it away, buddy.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, T.J. Thanks a lot.
We are here with Senator Clinton, also Ben Hooks, who was executive director for a long time of the NAACP, a number of others -- the mayor of Memphis, also former Transportation secretary, Rodney Slater, and, of course, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, from my hometown of Houston.
Senator Clinton, a critical issue, and that is, the last year of his life, Dr. King was focused on the war in Vietnam, but also the economy. The number one issue Americans say today, the economy and war in Iraq.
What must Americans do to advance the issues that he was focused on, as opposed to only looking back in terms of retrospect, what he was doing 40 years ago?
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Roland, that's what I was speaking about earlier today. The best way to honor and remember Dr. King's legacy is to fulfill it.
And he was here in Memphis on behalf of sanitation workers who were denied their basic human rights to organize, to bargain, and to have a decent income and be respected as contributors to the community, and he was speaking out against Vietnam. Well, here we are, 40 years later, and we're still struggling with poverty and questions of economic justice.
Today I announced that I would have a high-level person of cabinet status who would be devoted to doing everything we could to do through the government to alleviate, prevent and end poverty. It is way past time.
I went to the Poor People's March on Washington in the summer of 1968, and we have made some progress. There's no denying that. But here in this great city, as in every city across America, too many children go to bed hundred, too many working people don't have health care, too many folks are denied their basic rights on the job.
So, we do have work to do. And ending the war in Iraq is part of that, because we need to bring that money home, and bring our sons and daughters home, and put it to work right here. MARTIN: Let's deal with education. Dr. King, a learned man, went to college at a very early age. I was watching a story last night, a young man in Memphis doing very well, but he's saying, look, we can't bring our school books home.
And so, do you think most Americans truly understand in inner cities we have kids who cannot bring school books home, who are not getting an equal and affordable high education that we see in the suburbs?
CLINTON: I don't know that people understand it, but I'm sure trying to make people see it so that they can't avoid it and they have to understand it. You know, some schools don't even have enough books. A lot of them have deplorable conditions that our children are being taught in.
I believe that the role of the federal government is not to impose an unfunded mandate like No Child Left Behind willy-nilly on everybody. I don't think that's what we need to be doing.
We need to be targeting our resources to help schools like here in Memphis. We need to be lifting up those schools that are dealing with very difficult challenges.
We need to have preschool education so that every child gets a chance to be successful in school. And we've got to make college affordable.
You know, when Dr. King went to college, when I went to college, it was affordable compared to what the average income was. And we have a lot of direct aid and really low interest loans. Much of that has been lost in this ideological frenzy to let the market work its will on people, whether or not they're going to be left in the dust.
So I feel very strongly that when it comes to public education, it is an incredibly important commitment of the federal government. We have to do it right, and I intend to.
MARTIN: Last question, and that is a conversation with America. You just finished talking with several different black radio talk show hosts. We're having this conversation with black America.
There's something I noticed, and that is many conservative talk show hosts talk about Dr. King, content of the character, but they're not here. Isn't that part of the issue as well, that the conversation on race typically is being discussed among black radio show hosts? Shouldn't there be a greater conversation where all Americans are talking about it to advance the issue? Even Condoleezza Rice said it was a birth defect, the issue of race in America.
CLINTON: Well, I agree. And I think it doesn't just have to be a conversation, it needs to be a commitment to solutions.
We've had conversations. They've been behind closed doors, they've been in churches, they've been in the halls of Congress. But we haven't done everything we need to do. Now, we've made progress. Let's not be unmindful of that. But we haven't made the kind of progress that locks in that dream and legacy.
So we do have a lot to do. And I am proposing solutions that I think will lift all Americans. But they will disproportionately affect and help African-Americans who have been all too often left behind.
And so my view about the conversation is, yes, everyone needs to be involved in it, we need to be educated, we need to challenge one another. It has to be a provocative conversation if it's going to lead to any results.
But then we've got to come together, as we are here in Memphis, and say what do we do? How do we roll up our sleeves and get to work? And that's what I'm calling our country to do. Let's produce results.
You know, Dr. King didn't just come and speak to the sanitation workers, he walked with them. He agitated. He said, give them their rights.
And that's what we have to do. We have to translate this conversation into positive results for America.
MARTIN: Bill Schneider just talked to us. He said in Michigan they just decided no do-over. Your reaction to that decision in Michigan?
CLINTON: Well, we're going to have to figure out how to make sure the Democratic Party doesn't disenfranchise the voters of Michigan. Those votes have been cast. The secretary of state has counted them. They're there, 600,000 people who went to the time and trouble because they cared to come out and vote.
So the Democratic Party is going to have to come to grips with whether or not we want to be like the Republicans and disenfranchise people, or whether we will stay true to the voting rights record of this party. You know, here, as we are commemorating Dr. King's 40th death anniversary, let's remember that the Voting Rights Act lifted all Americans. It gave everyone the right to participate.
Let's not begin to pull back from that. We've got to work this out.
MARTIN: Senator Clinton, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
CLINTON: Always good to talk to you.
MARTIN: Thank you very much.
CLINTON: Thank you very much.
MARTIN: All right, T.J. Senator Clinton is going to continue her tour of the Civil Rights Museum. And let's go back to you in Atlanta.
HOLMES: All right. Roland Martin there for us.
Great stuff. Good job. Glad we got her when we did right there. Roland, we appreciate you, buddy.
KEILAR: So many things going on in Memphis today. One of those things is a recommitment march. This is a march where people will be recommitting to the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King.
And we find Don Lemon on the streets of Memphis, surrounded by, as he said earlier, everyday people, trying to get a sense of what is on their minds.
Let's throw it over to Don there in Memphis.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna.
We're walking down Main Street with these guys, Alicia (ph), Solana (ph) and Pat Cummings (ph). They're from Georgia. There's also some folks here from Ohio, North Carolina. They've been walking here.
I've been talking a little bit about Alicia (ph). She doesn't care that it's raining and that it's getting cold.
What did you tell me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told you we're here for a purpose, and the purpose is for social and justice change. We're sick and tired of being sick and tired.
LEMON: We have been doing this whole thing of conversations with black America, and I want you to share -- be as honest as you will. You told me, keep reporting. What did you say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep reporting the truth. I don't want you to tell lies, because that's what the mass media wants to hear. They want to hear a lie. Tell the truth.
LEMON: Why do you feel that way?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of things that's happening. They're putting things in the media that's not true about Reverend Wright.
All that man did was tell the truth, and then the media tried to change it to make it what they wanted to be. The man did not tell a lie, he told the truth. The media needs to start telling the truth.
LEMON: OK. You didn't talk to me about this Reverend Wright thing. But just so you know -- and you couldn't hear -- we were speaking with Senator Clinton -- my colleague, Roland Martin, speaking to Senator Clinton. She's over at the National Civil Rights Museum.
And since we're on that subject, why do you feel that way? Because a lot of people were offended by what Reverend Wright said, even no matter the context. They said, you shouldn't use the scriptures to demean people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is he -- what are they talking about? This country was built on the scripture. This country was built on God and us doing right things. The man only told the truth. He told the truth about how we as a race of people have been treated for so many years.
LEMON: Now, what do you think about -- we've got to go back real quick. But do you think we're getting close to the dream? Nothing's perfect. We know we're not perfect. But don't you think we're realizing the dream, at least?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're realizing it to a certain degree. Yes, we've come from where we were 400-plus years ago.
LEMON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But dog-gone it, we've got a long way to go. We ain't got halfway there yet.
LEMON: Thank you very much.
Hey, that's our conversation with black America. These are real people, that's what they're saying. They're on the streets here.
I'm going to throw it back to you. The march is getting under way. You can hear the choir and the crowd all going here in Memphis, Tennessee, at City Hall.
Back to you guys.
KEILAR: Now, we're going to continue our conversation with black America here in just a moment, but we're also following some severe weather in the South, specifically in Mississippi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: And, of course, folks, we are remembering the life and times of America's civil rights icon, part of our coverage on this day honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. We're hearing from a man who was very close to King, his personal lawyer, Clarence Jones, as we look there at the King Center here in Atlanta, Georgia, downtown, where people have left flowers and have been coming by the King Center there, and to really pay their respects on this day, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I went to catch the train to Nashville early that morning. And when I came back that evening on the train, my wife, I saw her before I got off the train standing in the station with two of the kids. And she had this sad look on her face. And my first thought was something happened to the other kid. You know, I said, no, it couldn't be that, because she'd be with the kid. What is it? And I held my breath and she told me Martin had been shot and was dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We continue our conversations with black America here. Our coverage out of Memphis, Tennessee, on this 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which of course happened at the Lorraine Motel.
And that is where our Soledad O'Brien is right now to continue our coverage on a dreary day there in Memphis.
Hello again.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It continues to be a dreary day, but that really hasn't slowed down the folks who have come out to commemorate this anniversary.
One of those folks is Clarence Jones, and he is an associate of Dr. King, his personal lawyer, but also an author with a new book which is called, "What Would Martin Say?"
And, you know, you hear that refrain a lot, people saying, well, what would Martin say? Martin King, who's been dead now for 40 years.
I guess I would ask you first and foremost, then, what do you think he would say? I mean, if he were to somehow appear here and look at not only this event, but what's going on in the political landscape and what is happening across the country and the globe?
CLARENCE JONES, FMR. KING ATTORNEY: Well, with respect to his being here today, if he had -- for example, if he had heard the speeches of the candidates who were here, including John McCain -- some people I guess booed him, but there are other people who said, we forgive you -- I think he would be pleased, and he would -- you know, he would be pleased with that. I think it's important to recognize that this is a point of reflection. And Martin would look back from where we came and look forward as to where we have to go.
And so the inevitable question is that he would be asked and want to take stock as to where are we. And obviously, we as a country have made great progress. African-Americans have made great progress. There are some...
O'BRIEN: But I hear the "but" coming. But...
JONES: Yes, there is a "but." There is a "but," because an absolutely basis there's no question there's been progress. But, on a relative basis, there are very significant things that need to be addressed, mostly in the area of crime and poverty. OK? But let me just set the historical setting. Let's remember that Martin King was like a moral commanding general of a moral nonviolent army. And he had such a profound faith in America, probably a greater faith in America than it had in itself.
And so I sum it up very simply. In 12 years and four months, from 1956 to April 4, 1968, except for The Emancipation Proclamation and Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. may have done more to bring about economic -- political, social and economic justice in America than any other person in the previous 400 years.
O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's take it from that moment in '68, when he was killed, onward. Has America done a good job in maintaining and being true to his legacy?
JONES: Yes and no. America has -- yes, America has been -- I think today, he would be sad to know that there's still remnants of the disease of amnesia about how America has treated African-Americans over the past -- over the 20th century. I think, however, it's that he would recognize that there is no way that America can make a successful transition across the bridge to the 21st century unless once and for all we can just put the baggage of racism and race relations of the old paradigm behind.
O'BRIEN: Is that possible to do? I mean, you know, you look at the political debate now...
JONES: I understand. That's exactly right.
O'BRIEN: ... and it's both -- it's refreshing, because we haven't heard it before, and it's also, yet, very ugly and divisive at times.
JONES: OK. But let's just recognize what's happened. What's happening is that someone -- in this case, Senator Obama -- had the courage to walk into the national living room of America, where so many of us have walked and America has walked most of the 20th century, walked and failed to acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla of race relations there. OK?
Everybody walked in...
O'BRIEN: And some people that's what could kill your campaign.
JONES: Yes, I understand. But I think he had the courage to summon America and to say, you know, where America needs to go in the 21st century, if we want to build a new house, we have to build a house which has no room for the 800-pound gorilla in the new living room. OK?
Now, so, that -- it's inevitable that since -- for most of the 20th century, the single most overriding issue that has permeated the 20th century has been race and race relations. W. E. B. Du Bois said in 1903 the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line (ph). OK?
The problem of the 21st century is how are we once and for all going to take the legacy of slavery and put it behind us?
O'BRIEN: That's a very big and important question.
JONES: Important question.
O'BRIEN: Your book, by the way, is just fabulous. I mean, the stories -- we could spend the next three hours on air just going through some of these amazing stories.
JONES: Right.
O'BRIEN: So I encourage everybody to grab a copy of it.
Clarence Jones, the book is called "What Would Martin Say?"
JONES: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: And it's amazing. And thanks for talking to us.
JONES: Thank you so much.
O'BRIEN: It's a real pleasure.
JONES: Right. Thank you.
O'BRIEN: And we'll send it right back to you guys in Atlanta.
HOLMES: All right. Soledad, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.
KEILAR: Well, the campaign trail is winding through Memphis today. Senator John McCain standing on the infamous Lorraine Motel balcony where Dr. King was killed. A quarter century ago, McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in King's honor. He says he's come a long way since then.
And we're going to have more on his visit to Memphis.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Two people hoping to be the next U.S. president in Memphis today, on this 40th anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., John McCain, as well as Hillary Clinton.
And our own Sean Callebs was following John McCain earlier as he made some comments right there on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
Very interesting. An apology, some boos, some applause there, Sean.
Tell us about it.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was really in a way quite fascinating to watch all this unfold. Senator McCain on the balcony behind me, right next door to room 306 -- of course, where Martin Luther King was staying just before he was assassinated. And then later, after he gave his speech to the crowd here, he laid a wreath commemorating Martin Luther King.
McCain talked to a degree about how he is going to use this opportunity to begin to reach out more to African-American voters, saying that he's going to campaign in areas that have been traditionally shunned by the GOP for the last several campaigns. And McCain says he's going to begin by admitting he made a mistake by voting against marking Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday 25 years ago.
Here's what he had to say to this crowd a short while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can be slow as well to give greatness its due, a mistake I myself made long ago. I myself made long ago when I voted against a federal holiday in memory of Dr. King.
(BOOING)
I was wrong. I was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all make mistakes.
MCCAIN: I was wrong and eventually realized that in time to give full support, full support for a state holiday in my home state of Arizona. I'd remind you that we can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: It was interesting. If you watch closely, you could see some people nodding with approval, and some people openly booing what the senator had to say.
We spoke with some people who were here in attendance marking this anniversary. And it's fair to say there was a certain degree of skepticism.
Some people said Martin Luther King pursued his entire life trying to pursue peace, and McCain is basically known as the war candidate to them. So they had that concern.
And secondly, they also wondered, the skepticism, the commitment that McCain has to the Martin Luther King holiday since he voted against it back in 1983. Those were two of the bigger concerns.
We had a chance to speak off camera with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, as well. When I asked him about McCain reaching out more to African-American voters, Jackson said good, he should. But he needs an agenda. He shouldn't be scary and he shouldn't be deceptive, saying in his view, Jackson thought that Ronald Reagan was scary and President Bush is deceptive. He would like to see an economic agenda that would specifically help African-Americans, Brianna. KEILAR: And, Sean, I know you were probably able just to kind of grab a few people there and speak with them after McCain's comments. I'm wondering if more people approved or disapproved? And if you were able to talk to folks who approved, what did they say about it?
CALLEBS: Yes, we touched on that just a bit. Virtually all the people that we spoke with said that they wouldn't support him for president. But many did appreciate the fact that as a presidential candidate, as a Republican, he came down here today on this holiday and -- came here on this anniversary.
McCain, for his part, said he was very humbled and very honored to be here. But a lot of them, as I said, were very skeptical of the remarks that McCain talked about. Because -- many people view him, they still tie him as the candidate that is supporting the war in Iraq, and that's something that flies in the face of MLK's legacy when we talk to the people here, Brianna.
CALLEBS: Very intriguing conversations you're having there.
Sean Callebs, one of our pairs of eyes there on the ground in Memphis.
Always good to see you, thanks.
HOLMES: And also, as we've been doing today, we've been listening in to black radio, the "Bev Johnson Show" happening there in Memphis. You see the folks there, Bev Johnson conducting her show on this King holiday.
Let's listen in to what some of the folks are calling in and what the conversations are like on this day.
CALLER: ... prophetic voice of Martin Luther King. And I find that that is really -- really disheartening and I find that a bit hypocritical in terms of also some of the people that are surrounding themselves around Hillary Clinton as a candidate and when -- in all actuality, a few of the surrogates have called Dr. Jeremiah Wright pastor, was a member of the church, and that would be Reverend Marcia Dyson, and the Congress person, Hillary's right hand person, Sheila Jackson Lee, she is a member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church where Jeremiah Wright has faithfully preached every year for over 15 years and was scheduled to preach there recently and had to cancel, but surely has been invited back.
And I think this -- what is going on is just an attack on the black church. And so while we like to celebrate Dr. King, and I certainly celebrate him today and have spent the entire day looking at all the coverage on CNN and also listening to you. I'm also reminded that there is an attack on the prophetic voice of the black church.
BEV JOHNSON, RADIO SHOW HOST: Yes, you know --
CALLER: -- And it's --
I was going to say, you make an excellent point. And -- because it seems like now, the black church is in the wrong instead of being the right, and the black church has always been there for us. And I think that she Pat (ph) makes an excellent, excellent statement.
Vel what about you?
NORVELLA SMITH ARNOLD, PASTOR: Oh, I think she does.
CALLER: You know, and all of this taking the words from the sermons, and I certainly have listened to Dr. Wright's sermons in the entirety. I'm not a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, but I am a member of the UCC. And I certainly have visited that church many, many times, have gone to their women's conferences and not only has the church promoted and encouraged the prophetic voice of women ministers, but just -- people in general, humanity in general, so it really troubles me, and I hear all of this, just like Don Lemon on CNN was giving an interview to a young woman out there near the Lorraine Motel, and he was like, well, a lot of people what Jeremiah Wright said was demeaning to people. Those types of words, hate speech, demeaning -- when -- who are these lot of people that they're talking about, and who is more significant? It's -- as if our voices don't mean anything, that it --
JOHNSON: Right.
CALLER: -- The majority vision -- I'm just here to say that I didn't find anything demeaning, and I don't see Jeremiah Wright's messages as hate. I look at it as a prophetic voice of the black church. Not all black churches operate the same, nor do all black people think the same.
JOHNSON: You're right.
CALLER: I think we need to step up to the plate and say that --
JOHNSON: You're absolutely right, Pat.
CALLER: Yes.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Thank you so much for calling us, and you're absolutely right.
ARNOLD: I'd like to say something if I could.
JOHNSON: Sure, sure.
Thank you, Pat.
ARNOLD: In the ministry, since I am a chaplain and I do preach and most of my prisoners are a captive audience, but I'm a prison chaplain for those of you who don't know. And I'm a part of the episcopal church. But I met Jeremiah Wright in Houston many years ago with the Reverend Bill Lawson, pastor of Wheeler Avenue. And I've been here with Frank Thomas at Mississippi Boulevard and I've met Jeremiah Wright, and he is dynamic. And in our struggle in the movement, we needed pastors to get us psyched up so we could do whatever. But I would like to say this, and I'm not going to say any dirty words. When you -- when they brought Jeremiah Wright's contents to us, it was taken out of context, I feel. He said, and this is what I'm interpreting -- God bless America. And he says: God bless America? Listen. And with all of the horrible things going on with people killing each other and our babies are dying he said: God damns America. Does that make sense?
JOHNSON: Yes, makes sense.
ARNOLD: And that's what I want to leave with my public. Jeremiah Wright is not what people are trying to make him be. It was taken out of context, and he's not saying anything for himself. I haven't heard him say anything.
JOHNSON: Novella, we've got to -- yes, you're right.
We're going to get Mr. Clarence Jones in, who is a speech writers, personal attorney and principal adviser of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Jones, welcome, welcome, welcome in to the WDIA and the "Bev Johnson Show."
JONES: Thank you so much. Look, and I'm so happy to be here.
JOHNSON: And I'm so happy to have you here. Can you make it on in here?
Thank you.
JONES: ... I'm coming in on the end --
HOLMES: All right. As we've been listening in there to WDIA, the "Bev Johnson Show," listening live in to callers really calling in from all over the country. You just heard that caller actually mentioned that she's been watching the coverage on CNN and probably got the phone number off CNN. Again it's 901-535-WDIA if you'd like to join that conversation today.
It's a conversation with black America that we've been having here at CNN all day. And again, taking the opportunity today to chime in and also to listen in to what's happening on black radio there in Memphis -- WDIA. But -- callers calling in from all over the country and you can do so as well.
Of course, we've got unprecedented coverage there in Memphis today on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Our Don Lemon on the ground there, as well. He's been with a group of marchers. There he is, in the thick of it again.
I think you've got some health care workers with you this time?
LEMON: We've got some health care workers here. Hey, you know what, I'm going to show you this, T.J., look -- of the we've got a sea of yellow, gold and purple. How do you want me to say it, gold and purple? Is that? Gold and purple and it's United Health Care Workers. I think it's about 250 of them from all over. George Gresham is their leader, their fearless leader and he joins me now.
As you can hear the rally is about to get under way here.
GEORGE GRESHAM, UNITED HEALTH CARE WORKERS: Yes.
LEMON: You've got 250 people here.
GRESHAM: Yes, we do.
LEMON: Why are you here?
GRESHAM: We're here because Mr. -- we're a health care union that's been close to Dr. King. He's gone on record to say that we're his favorite union. But we think it's important for us to keep the legacy of Dr. King alive, the memory 40 years later to commemorate. So we've come down here to say that the work is not done, we're keeping the dream alive but yet we've got a lot to do.
LEMON: Yes, but you talked about what you had to do. You talked about the state of health care and this is something that he would be doing now if he were alive.
GRESHAM: Yes. Absolutely. The state of health care in this country is abysmal. There's no reason that people do not have health care coverage 40 years later. If Dr. King was here, we believe this would be one of his main issues. We have health care workers who do not have health coverage. That is the wrong state for this country at this time.
LEMON: We've heard from John McCain today; we've heard from Senator Barack Obama; we've heard from Senator Clinton today. And -- what do you want them to talk about? If either of them become the person who goes to the White House, what do you want to see from them as far as health care?
GRESHAM: What we expect from them ask is to make sure that people in this country, that everyone in this country, every child, every adult, every person this country has is provided with health care. That is not a luxury, that's a right. That is something that every other country in the world can do, we certainly have to demand that standard for the United States, and we expect that of our leaders.
LEMON: So it doesn't matter who it is, you just want them to take care of the health care situation in this country. That is issue No. 1 for you.
GRESHAM: It doesn't matter who it is. We know -- we believe that the Democrats have said that. We haven't heard John McCain say that he believes in health care yet, but whoever leads this country, you cannot lead this country unless you're providing health care to the citizens and members and the working people of this country. Every one in this country who works for a living deserves health care, and people who cannot afford to get it, who can't get a job and cannot afford health care ought to be given health care.
LEMON: All right. You guys have been since how long?
GRESHAM: We've been here all day today. We -- some of us came in a day earlier.
LEMON: Let me ask you, as you look in this crowd and you see people like you, people that you treat every day, and these people -- what do you see in their faces? What do you feel from them as you listen to this person leading the crowd here?
GRESHAM: What I think I'm hearing is that people are remembering 40 years ago -- 40 years ago there was a time when people were starting to feel hope, that the country was changing, that issues were being addressed, whether it was the Vietnam War, whether it was the Poor People's campaign or the sanitation worker's strike that Dr. King came here to do.
I think that's what people felt then and that's what I'm hearing people saying again now. Forty years later, we have the war in Iraq, we have health care and the economy going down, and we need the same kind of spirit and fight back we had 40 years ago.
LEMON: Thank you very much. You are a good leader for these guys.
They handed me this thing, it's called MLK, Move Like a King, and that's part of -- they said -- what they believed in.
Real quickly, before we go here, thank you guys very much. If you want to go -- you were chanting before , do you want to go -- go right ahead and do your chant.
So as we move out here, real quickly, before we throw it back to you, this is where the march is about to get underway here. Someone is on the stage now leading the crowd in song. Reverend Al Sharpton, a group of dignitaries will come up in just a little bit and they're going to start to lead this march.
And they're singing now the national black anthem, as we have our conversation with black America. Hey, listen. Listen in. You know you guys are wrapping me, but let's listen in to the singing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): ... til victory is won.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the Reverend Harry Thompson (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's 44 after the hour, and here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM. They are cleaning up in central Arkansas. Severe weather, with at least one tornado, damaged homes and businesses. The storms wrecked hangars and also small planes at the North Little Rock Airport and forced weather forecasters there to take shelter.
The party of Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, says Mugabe is willing to face his opponent in a run-off. Now we still do not have an official tally from last Saturday's election. Critics say Mugabe is holding up to hang on to power.
President Bush has arrived in Croatia. He is on a two-day stop over after the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, and before a meeting in Russia with President Vladimir Putin.
HOLMES: All right. We turn back to some severe weather, Karen McGinnis in the severe weather center.
I cannot believe you're about to say what you're about to say. Atlanta -- tornado watch?
KAREN MCGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. North Georgia under a tornado watch until 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This was issued just a few minutes ago. Also, we are continuing the tornado watch across much of Mississippi and Alabama until 6:00 p.m.
We've seen violent weather all across this region. Vicksburg, lots of damage reported there. The lights are out, lots of trees down along Interstate 20. Also, in Jackson, the city of Jackson, also Hynes, Scott, and Rankin Counties. Those are counties that have seen possible tornadoes and lots of wind damage.
We had reports of Ridgeland, tornado that was possible on the ground. This was about an hour to two hours ago. This is a severe thunderstorm warning.
Here's the line that looks like it's just barely going to miss Meridian, Mississippi. Then across northern Alabama, now we've got some thunderstorms firing up across this region, as well. Coleman, which is not around Birmingham, it's between Huntsville and Birmingham, lots of thunderstorm damage reported there and homes damaged there as well.
There is a tornado warning. As you can see, it expires right around 2:15, that is local time. And the counties that are affected are Calhoun and Tuscaloosa also had a report of some small-size hail.
So, T.J., we've got lots to keep up with today. The atmosphere is very saturated; it's very volatile, and it looks like north Georgia is in line for some severe weather for this evening.
HOLMES: All right. We need to brace ourselves, it sounds like. Going to be a heck of a night.
Karen, we appreciate you.
KEILAR: A white Jewish woman who challenged racism after the King assassination and a black Memphis school board member who is worried about the future of today's students. We'll be hearing from them as our conversations with black America continue.
And you're looking at a picture of the King Center here in Atlanta, and also a short time ago there, the balcony at the Lorraine Motel, where 40 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Live look in Memphis here, where the commemorations are going on on this 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. This is the city hall in Memphis where a recommitment march is taking place, folks marching through the streets there of downtown Memphis.
Also things going on at the Lorraine Motel, of course, the site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. And our crews there on the ground.
Continuing this conversation with black America that we've been having today. Some of our i-Reporters have some vivid memories as well of where they were what they were doing when they heard the news from Memphis back in 1968, and how it affects their lives today.
Richard from New York says this to us: "Forty years ago today I was a stage-struck kid performing with the 'Ice Capades' in Raleigh, North Carolina when word came mid-show that MLK had been assassinated. By the time we were doing the finale, word came of riots and angry crowds in downtown Raleigh. I'll never forget the faces of anger and hate as we were spirited out of town by the National Guard. It was then that I started to take note of all the things I couldn't do if I were black -- like be in the 'Ice Capades.' Imagine not being able to fulfill your dream just because of the color of your skin?"
Keith in Tampa says: "We had heard earlier about the assassination from a teacher. My friend and I noticed a crowd of about 20 young black kids. The younger kids were very upset and they yelled at us, accusing us of shooting Dr. King. We ran toward the school building, but the group blocked our escape. This event changed my life forever. I saw the hurt in those kid's eyes, and I heard the frustration in their voices. This made me dedicated my life to being accepting and understanding of people of different races, and later on of people of different genders, and sexual orientation."
And, of course, we want to hear from you, where you were when Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. You can share your stories and also read others at i-Report.com.
HOLMES: Michael Baisden and his talk show help give voice to black Americans. We're going to be listening in next hour. To join that conversation there's the number -- 877-622-3269.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: One of the things that we're trying to do today with this coverage, conversations with black America, is to really get a dialogue going. You're seeing Hillary Clinton here at the Lorraine Motel where 40 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. And the Lorraine Motel is also where we find CNN contributor, Roland Martin.
He is speaking with some civil rights leaders -- Roland.
MARTIN: Hey, Brianna. Thanks a bunch.
We have a -- our second panel here today. And returning of course is Reverend Andrew Clark, a talk show host in Memphis, also a west Memphis police sergeant. And we're also joined by Jocelyn Wurzburg, a mediator, also a member of the Memphis school board. And also Pastor Kenneth Whalum Jr. of the New Olivet Baptist Church, also a Memphis school board member.
And you know, we could talk all day about Dr. King and the focus on poverty. But the reality is if you don't have folks getting an education, there will always be mired in poverty. Dropout rate in Memphis is 61 percent. What in the world ins going on and how do we change it?
REV. KENNETH WHALUM JR., NEW OLIVET BAPTIST CHURCH: We change it by impacting the economy. We change it by giving these children communities where they're thriving, where they see black business owners and they can look up to entrepreneurs to be able to move forward and have something in life. The education is not possible if we can't get the economy right and the economy can't be possible if black folks, black preachers in particular -- as Dr. King specifically charged the night before he was killed -- black preachers have to take the responsibility of empowering black-owned businesses.
MARTIN: But, look, Ms. Wurzburg, I don't understand that you have folks who say, look, we have difficulties in school, we need more money. But there was a generation of African-Americans who had worse schools than this, but they actually finished school. How can we reverse this? Because they'll be mired in poverty as long as things stay the way they are now.
JOCELYN WURZBURG, MEMPHIS SCHOOL BOARD: I think we need like a Manhattan plan to deal with education. If it takes one teacher to five kids for a 12 to 15-year period to help lift these children, we're losing a whole generation of kids that are just going to face either continued poverty or prison and I think we need a national commitment to absolutely turn around the education system to do whatever it takes to pull these kids up.
It takes preschool, it takes a school -- school should be from 8:00 to 5:00, they should be 12 months of the year. We need a commitment to it and we're not willing to do it.
MARTIN: Reverend Clark, you're a police officer, you're also a talk show host. You see it on the back ends of folks who are going to jail. Is it a matter of money; is it a matter of priorities? What is -- is education for you the most important and critical issue facing black folks?
REV. ANDREW CLARK, TALK SHOW HOST: I would say yes. It's a two- fold problem. We've got to improve the education, but we've also got to restore the family. The black family is in dire trouble. Many times the fathers are not there for a variety of reasons. I don't want to get into that.
But you've got to restore the family. You've also got to restore the moral imperative. You've got to give the family values and until you restore the family, we're not going to be able to solve this problem. It's just too monumental.
MARTIN: Now, Pastor Whalum, what is working in your estimation that can be a model in this city and others to reverse this trend?
WHALUM: Again, building on what Dr. King challenged us to do. We have a program called "Bust a Move Monday" where hundreds of people select a black-owned business the first Monday of every month. It's church led; it's black preacher led. Hundreds of people drop in on a struggling black-owned business, drop literally thousands of dollars in direct obedience to what Dr. King challenged us to do the.
The mountain top speech was not about the mountain top, the mountain top speech, if you check it, he spent the lions share of that speech challenging the black community to take personal responsibility for ourselves. We've got black folk in Memphis, we got two black mayors, majoring black legislative bodies, black folk all over the place running everything, and yet we still don't generate more than one percent of the business income in this city and in this country.
Dr. King clearly laid out the agenda. He clearly said we've got to strengthen black institutions. We can't blame racism for that. We can't blame the government for that. We can't blame white folk for that. That's our fault. We're doing it here, and it is a national model that can -- it's so simple. It doesn't cost a dime, all it costs is the collective will to pool our resources, just as Dr. King said the might -- it was his dying declaration. It wasn't about race at that time; it was about black folks strengthening themselves.
MARTIN: Brianna and T.J., one of my nieces, she came to me and I was on the computer and she once told me, she said, Uncle Ro Ro, she said, can I watch television? I shot her a look. Then she said, read a book? She understood the importance in terms of education, and I think to address all we've talked about, you've got to have parents, uncles, aunts, and church members stand up, man up and woman up and say, enough is enough.
We can't just talk about Dr. King's vision if you're not mandating your kids to get an education, trust me, they're destined to failure.
I certainly appreciate all of you for being with us. And we go right back to Atlanta with Brianna and T.J.
KEILAR: A great dialogue you've got going on there.
Roland Martin, thank you.
And The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On April 4, King was felled by an assassin's bullet.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I said Dr. -- it hit him right then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ran the gamut of emotion. Anger, sadness, fear. Determination. This wasn't going to stop the movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way from Selma County, a riot.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
