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More Flooding; Sky Bus Airlines Bankrupt; Celebrity Endorsements
Aired April 05, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news is unfolding live on this Saturday, the fifth day of April. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Hello there folks, we have more turbulence to tell you about for the economy. Sky Bus Airlines is a sky bust. What it means for travelers ahead here in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Parts of the south and the Midwest, they are overflowing, forcing thousands to head for higher ground.
HOLMES: Also the exploding refugee crisis in Somalia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The food is never enough, the water is never enough. If somebody arrives a day after the food distribution, they have to wait until the next month to get food.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, those stories and this one you really need to see ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: First up, yet another airline is calling it quits today. The final Sky Bus flight has already landed.
HOLMES: Already, yeah, they said we're done and they meant we're done. The last flight has already done its thing. The discount airline was launched less than a year ago offering at least 10 $10 seats on every flight but charging for extras like checked baggage, early boarding, things like that. Sky Bus offered 74 daily flights to 15 U.S. cities. A spokesman blamed rising fuel prices and a faltering economy for the airline's failure. It's sudden demise stunned passengers as well as employees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think the economy the way it is, fuel prices really they are bad, they didn't have a chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's quite a shock. We have kids to support and a family to care for and tomorrow I guess Monday I'll be on the unemployment line.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Sky Bus will file for bankruptcy protection. It is the third airline to go belly up this week, following Aloha Airlines and ATA.
HOLMES: Unfortunately the former Sky Bus workers are going to have a lot of company on the unemployment line. U.S. employers slashed 80,000 jobs last month. That's the third straight month of job losses. The unemployment rate rose three tenths of a percentage point to 5.1 percent. CNN's senior business correspondent Ali Velshi reports that it's just the latest sign of a possible recession.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's the biggest single monthly job loss in five years. First, 76,000 in January, then another 76,000 in February and now 80,000 in March. Almost a quarter of a million jobs lost this year alone. And that's not counting job cuts announced in the last week at Dell, Motorola and now bankrupt ATA Airlines. These numbers could affect you even if your job's not on the line.
LAKSHMAN ACUTHAN, ECONOMIST: Even if you don't lose your job, this starts to impact you, your psychology, you pull back a little bit, because you're a little wary. I mean you're just not as carefree as you were because you now know somebody who lost their job.
VELSHI: The unemployment rate increased to, to 5.1 percent, the highest it's been in three years. For people looking for work, hearing numbers like this is not very promising.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pressure is very heavy, when you're out and seeing other people suffer, it's tough. People have to band together and encourage people.
VELSHI: Jobs were lost in all of the usual areas, construction fell by 51,000 jobs, manufacturing 48,000, the biggest loss in five years.
PETER MORICI, ECONOMICST: We're losing them in construction and manufacturing which is traditionally where your front line workers go to accomplish middle class status, it's a terrible situation.
VELSHI: Manufacturing jobs across the U.S. have been in a long- term decline. In fact in 2007, only six states actually created manufacturing jobs, none of them in the Russ belt. One recruiting expert says we shouldn't bet on a large scale return of manufacturing jobs, so what do you do if you lose your factory job? He says reinvent yourself.
BRAD KARSH, RECRUITING EXPERT: Instead of working in the actual production of the product, now talk about the repair of the product. If you were working on creating those for so many years, now you can help repair it.
VELSHI (on camera): And that job expert says that thinking should apply to anybody, no matter what their profession. Because the job losses are expected to accelerate so it makes more sense to get out ahead of it than to wait for them to happen. Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: High gas prices are taking a lot of money out of the economy. AAA motor club says they hit yet another record high overnight. The average price of regular gasoline rose to over $3.31 a gallon. One month ago the price was $3.18 a gallon and a year ago, it was $3.72 a gallon. Keep watching CNN, our money team has you covered, whether it's jobs, debt, housing or savings, you can join us for a special report, it's called "Issue #1, The Economy," all this week at noon eastern only on CNN.
HOLMES: It's a close race, a horse race, make or break race, whatever you want to say to describe what's happening right now in Pennsylvania as the state's voters get ready for their primary. Let's check in again with our buddy Paul Steinhauser in Philadelphia with the election express. We know there was a big lag, six weeks between primaries, the last one we saw announced coming up in Pennsylvania. Are the polls jumping around and how's everybody doing, how's Clinton and how's Obama doing in the polls right now in Pennsylvania.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We took a CNN poll of polls, we took some of the latest polls here in Pennsylvania, we averaged them together and right now we find that Hillary Clinton is 11 points ahead of Barack Obama. But you're seeing a little bit of an increase for Barack Obama. He's kind of tightening up the race a little bit with Clinton. Remember, he just had a big six-day bus tour in the state and he's up with a lot of TV commercials in the state. He's outspending her about four to one here in Pennsylvania. She's still up by double digits but T.J. it's getting a little bit tighter here. We have two weeks and three days to go.
HOLMES: And you talked about she's being outspent and of course that would sound like an advantage to him. He pulled in $40 million last month, she pulled in only $20 million. Is she using that in some way to her advantage as far as talking to people, saying hey, he's throwing all this money at me and he's throwing all these advertisements, is she using that to her advantage in a way?
STEINHAUSER: Oh yeah, boy have you seen her here in Pennsylvania with that Rocky music, right at all her campaign events, that she's Rocky the underdog and he's the big bucks guy outspending her. But she's up in the state now with TV commercials, they are running and she just went up in North Carolina as well with a TV commercial. North Carolina and Indiana are the two states that vote after Pennsylvania. But you're right though, he's got more money than her and what does that buy, that buys you TV ads, it also buys you, you know it can beef up your campaign staff, gets more people out there knocking on doors to push Obama's name.
HOLMES: Are we going to see that state bombarded really in the next couple of weeks? Like you said, they're bouncing around a little bit hitting other states, some later primary states. But I guess in that last stretch run, especially that last week, are we going to see nonstop Clinton and Obama in that state?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah, I think you will. Right now they're both out west. I'm not taking it personally, I'm here, they're long gone, they're out west right now. They're in Montana tonight, Montana votes in June, and they both had a big dinner there. They're also raising money both in California and elsewhere out west. But they'll be back right here in Pennsylvania by the middle of next week because as you mentioned, everything right now is all about Pennsylvania. There's so much on the line in this state. She needs to win big, he would like to build -- you know, break into that lead. There is a lot at stake in this state.
HOLMES: And you know what, you say you don't take it personally, you need to start taking it personally at some point when people just continue to hightail it out of town when you arrive. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, always good to see you buddy.
NGUYEN: How does this race look in the battleground states? Our "BALLOT BOWL," let's you make the call. Those folks you see flashing on your screen there, those are members of the best political team ever to be assembled Betty. "BALLOT BOWL," today, 2:00 eastern, only on CNN, your home for politics.
NGUYEN: Well, child welfare workers are trying to find foster homes for young girls removed from a west Texas compound linked to jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. And authorities believe at least 18 of the girls had been abused or were at imminent risk and 34 more are being questioned. CNN's Susan Roesgen has the latest now, she's in Eldorado, Texas and joins us live. I think when a lot of people hear this, they're a little shocked by how many girls were taken from that compound.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And maybe even more, many more Betty. Just about an hour ago, we saw more buses heading toward that ranch, toward that fundamentalist religious compound, which means that more young girls may be being brought out. The raid began with a tip that a 50-year-old man had illegally married a 16-year-old girl and fathered a child with her. And now investigators want to know just how many young girls may have been forced into arranged marriages with older men.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN (voice-over): Escorted by sheriff's department trucks and jeeps, two white buses from a local Baptist church drive down a dusty Texas road. It's hard to tell through the tinted windows, but inside the buses are dozens of girls, some just a few months old. The girls were being removed from a sprawling secretive Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints compound near Eldorado, called the WXZ ranch. Throughout the evening, dozens of girls were taken away.
MARLEIGH MEISNER, CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: We had 52 young women from the ages or 17 to six months of age that we have taken from the compound, not legal custody, but taken from the compound and of those, we have 18 that we have taken legal custody of. I can tell you that we're about halfway through our investigation. ROESGEN: The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints has an estimated 10,000 members, most of them in a tiny town in Utah and they are notoriously hostile to outsiders. Nearly all of them are followers of Warren Jeffs, a man they call their prophet. Jeffs is currently in jail after being convicted on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. Stretched across 1,700 acres, the ranch is the largest polygamist community outside of Utah and Arizona. It has a towering white temple, a water tower, dormitories, and is guarded by armed men.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: So as you heard, 18 of those girls are going to go in foster homes, they are not going to be returned to that compound. And as for all the other young girls, they're going to continue investigating this situation, talking to them Betty, and trying to find out whether they would be safe to go back or not.
NGUYEN: So 18 girls believed to have been abused or are in imminent risk of being abused, 34 more questioned, maybe even more girls coming out of the compound today. When we look at this, the big question here is, have there been any arrests?
ROESGEN: You know, Betty, they went in with just one arrest warrant, just one for that 50-year-old man in the initial complaint. The 50-year-old man who had allegedly illegally married the 16-year- old and as of last night, they have not found him. They just brought the girls out, but they have not yet arrested him.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Susan Roesgen joining us live today. Thank you, Susan.
HOLMES: A story just coming in to us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A bus rollover accident. This is the same video we're getting out of Albertville, Minnesota, where at least one person according to the Associated Press has been killed in this bus accident. This is a tour bus here that has been rolling along. Happened about 5:48 in the morning local time. That's central time so about four or so hours ago. But this bus rolled over apparently. Not sure why it went off the road and what caused this accident. But it rolled over and had some 47 people on board that bus. And now we have confirmed that at least one person has been killed in this accident, several others, dozens as it's described had to be taken to hospitals with a variety of injuries, but that is the scene there in Albertville. Again this is about 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis. We want to bring you that news. We will keep an eye on it and any updates that come in to us we will pass those along to you.
Also, maybe you can't justify some home improvements, but what about your child's life?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to say no to some kind of supplement or diet or therapy that could help your kid talk.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Families struggling with autism and debt.
NGUYEN: And still no results one week after the voting, the disputed election in Zimbabwe. The opposition party is now trying to force officials to release the final numbers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Food is never enough, water is never enough. If somebody arrives a day after food distribution, they have to wait until the next month to get food.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The exploding refugee crisis in Somalia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, video there of the president arriving in Russia. That's the latest stop for him on Air Force 1, the Russian resort of (INAUDIBLE) is going to be the site of the 2014 winter Olympics. For this weekend though it's the site of the final Bush- Putin summit. The president will have dinner with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin tonight and on that menu, NATO expansion into the former Soviet block and missile defense for Europe. Both of those issues actually have Mr. Putin a little irked. President Bush arrives in Russia from Croatia, and while he's in Croatia, he congratulated that country on being invited to join NATO.
NGUYEN: A standoff in Zimbabwe to tell you about. Police briefly blocked lawyers from the main opposition party at Zimbabwe's high court today. And once inside they asked the court to order the release of last Saturday's presidential election tally. The hearing has been postponed until tomorrow. Meanwhile long-time ruler Robert Mugabe claims a runoff is necessary but the opposition leader says he won this election out right and he's now suggesting his party may not take part in any runoff. All this delay and electoral maneuvering raises fears Mugabe is trying to cling to power.
HOLMES: We want to take a moment now to show you what's going on in Somalia, a country right now that is in despair. Fighting and hunger have displaced a quarter-million people. But these street pictures from Mogadishu are only part of this story. What's going on to the west there in camps set up for refugees is where we want to take you, these are exclusive pictures of refugee workers shared with CNN's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen closely, even the African wind can't drown out a child's cries. In Somalia just west of Mogadishu, nearly 250,000 Somalis live a heart breaking existence, in huts made of twigs, garbage, bits of cloth.
ERIN WEIR, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: This is where families, sometimes families with eight or nine children are living.
STARR: These extraordinary videos and pictures were shot by aid workers, Patrick Duplat and Erin Weir of Refugees International.
PATRICK DUPLAT, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: This is simply the largest concentration of displaced people in the world. It's absolutely massive.
STARR: Technically, these aren't refugees. These Somalis are internally displaced persons trying to live inside their own country. And more arrive each day walking for miles, escaping the fighting in Mogadishu. Already 60,000 people have fled the capital this year.
WEIR: Most of the people that we interviewed said they fled because their homes had been shelled, their family members killed, they had lost their livelihood.
STARR: The camp now stretches for more than 10 miles. One woman arrived that morning.
DUPLAT: She arrived with her eight children and she was holding a one month old little girl and her husband had been killed the day before. He was crushed under the debris because a shell landed on the family's home.
STARR: The U.N. can't keep up with a desperate need for aid.
DUPLAT: The food is never enough. The water is never enough. If somebody arrives the day after food distribution, they have to wait until the next month to get food.
STARR: When Patrick and Erin finally climbed on to a roof, they were stunned.
DUPLAT: My most enduring memories are quite clearly walking on the roof of that school and seeing the extent of displacement. It is the largest camp in the world and all the people that we speak to want us to bring their voices and their stories to the international community.
STARR: 250,000 Somalis wanting the world to know they are here.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And you know, T.J., we really can't emphasize enough how unusual this journey was for Patrick and Erin. These days Somalia is so dangerous because of the fighting, most western aid workers spend little more than 24 hours on the ground at a time and they spent eight days there. T.J.?
HOLMES: That is amazing, when you speak of that fighting, we saw some fresh and fierce fighting at least in the past week. What is the update and is there any hope on the horizon that that's going to subside?
STARR: Well at this time, you know the U.S. is watching very closely. These are Islamic fighters said to be affiliated with al Qaeda who seem to be on the rise again after laying low for several months, taking some towns, fighting spreading across parts of Somalia now and it's very worrisome to the United States from the standpoint they are concerned al Qaeda will again gain a foothold in Somalia. But for these people who are living thousands in these camps, one of the enduring problems is with the rise in food prices, in fuel prices across the world, getting food donations and getting them now to the areas that need them the most is becoming increasingly difficult especially as the fighting goes on. T.J.?
HOLMES: So that goes around, it affects everybody. And like you said, people can only be on the ground to help for 24 hours at a time, it's that dangerous?
STARR: That's right. It's a place where really most of the aid workers that go are not really from western countries. For Refugees International, for the U.N. food program, for the world food program, Somalia, like Darfur, like so many places now is just -- it's another urgent priority, they're adding to their list trying to do what they can.
HOLMES: Barbara Starr we appreciate you bringing that to everybody's attention today. Thank you so much. Good to see you this morning. And Somalia also may now be the worst place on earth to be a child according to the U.N. One in eight kids dies before reaching the age of 5. Malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world. Less than a third of the population has access to safe water. But you can make a difference. You can go to cnn.com to see how you can support the relief agencies working in the region and for ideas on how you can impact your world, again that's cnn.com/impact.
NGUYEN: We're following this, a man armed with AK-47s is now behind bars and we'll have details on the massacre police may have foiled.
HOLMES: Also the wild, wild west out in Arizona, this is what we're talking about. A sheriff's crackdown on illegal immigrants has a small town mayor fighting mad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Take a look at this, damaging thunderstorms could pop-up today for coastal Georgia and the Carolinas. But this is what the strong spring system did to northern Alabama. Trees are down everywhere and that means a buzz of chainsaws all day today. Let's take you to Mississippi, fast-moving storms unleashed possible tornadoes. Crews are working today to get power back on for almost 100,000 customers. But there is a silver lining in every cloud. The gully washers are helping ease the region's severe drought. So we'll take a little bit of that good news. Although, the folks cleaning up are not too happy about it.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Now we'll take a look at what's making news across America, the discovery at the home of a Homestead, Florida man arrested after allegedly making threats on the internet. Authorities say they found 13 firearms and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition and they say 20 year old Calin Tae Wong(ph) threatened to re-enact the Virginia Tech massacre.
Also an angry in your face confrontation between an Arizona sheriff and an Arizona mayor. It happened right in front of the cameras. Maricopa county sheriff you're seeing there is arguing with Guadalupe, Arizona Mayor Rebecca Jimenez over arrests of immigrants.
Also a plea for peace in Los Angeles. Community activists want a 40 hour murder moratorium. They want this to mark the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination.
NGUYEN: This week CNN tries to unravel the mystery of autism. You know often the first thing to unravel after a diagnosis of is the family budget. Now CNN's Gerri Willis reports, parents need to see the doctor and then the financial planner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): A house in the suburbs -- three young children and loving parents, your typical family. Except --
MICHELLE IALLONARDI, PARENT OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN: All three of my boys were diagnosed with autism. Jackson was diagnosed at 2 1/2. Twins were diagnosed a little after their first birthday so actually all three of our children were diagnosed within one year's time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the very beginning you're just numb, you just think ok, three kids with autism.
M. IALLONARDI: Where do you go from here?
WILLIS: Where they went was into debt.
M. IALLONARDI: We first took out a loan to set up an area for the children in the house to do therapy. We started out with like $15,000 or $20,000 on a home equity loan. That was three years ago. The home equity loan is now up to I think $67,000.
RALPH IALLONARDI, PARENT OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN: It's easy to say no to buying clothes and saying no to buying another car and saying no to painting your walls or whatever, but it's hard to say no to some kind of supplement or diet or therapy that could help your kid talk.
M. IALLONARDI: $8 for a bag of pretzels. This cost like $6.
WILLIS: It adds up quickly. A study by Professor Michael Ganz puts the lifetime cost of caring for an autistic child at more than $3 million.
MICHAEL GANZ, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $3.2 million per person or $35 billion for society consists of medical costs, such as doctor's visits, medications and therapies. It consists of non medical costs, such as adult care, child care, special education, transportation if necessary. And it also consists of lost income, both parental lost income and the lost income of people with autism.
WILLIS: For Ralph and Michelle Iallonardi it's not about the cost, it's about their kids.
M. IALLONARDI: You're talking about meeting basic needs.
R. IALLONARDI: Basic needs. So you'll do whatever.
WILLIS: One thing the Iallonardi's aren't doing is consulting a financial planner, which some say should go hand in hand with the diagnosis. Michael Beloff is a financial adviser with Morgan Stanley and the father of an autistic son.
MICHAEL BELOFF, FINANCIAL ADVISER, MORGAN STANLEY: I find that parents tend to focus on the day to day issues, the next doctor's appointment, meetings with the schools, meetings with the therapist. What sometimes gets lost is the long-term planning.
WILLIS: The Iallonardi's still need to plan for the financial future of their autistic son, but that plan now involves two instead of all three of their boys. One of the twins was recently declassified and is said to be developing normally.
That was funny!
M. IALLONARDI: I love my boys. We love each other, you just draw inspiration from your kids.
R. IALLONARDI: If you told me a year ago that Jackson would say his first words, I couldn't put a price tag on that, the house, equity, line of credit, who cares? That would all be frivolous.
WILLIS: Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Fighting a massive outbreak soldiers and firefighters are helping doctors in Brazil as they battle a deadly disease.
HOLMES: Also Naomi Campbell. I can just stop right there and people can probably fill in the rest. Yes, no stranger to the cat walk or the perp walk. The supermodel has been arrested again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It's 34 minutes past the hour. Here's what's happening around the world. Authorities have removed 52 girls from a Texas compound linked to jailed polygamist Warren Jeffs. Investigators believe at least 18 of the girls have been abused or were in imminent danger of abuse. The others are being questioned.
There's growing tension in Zimbabwe where one week has passed with no official results from the presidential election. President Robert Mugabe's party suggests a runoff will be necessary but the opposition candidate claims he won the election and says he opposes a runoff. An Iraqi government official is blasting a U.S. decision to renew the contract of the controversial security contractor Blackwater. Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqis back in September and an aid to Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki calls the renewed contract bad news.
HOLMES: The U.S. military is joining the fight now against dengue fever. One of the worst outbreaks they've seen in that region in recent memory. CNN's Harris Whitbeck joins us now via the phone from Rio de Janeiro. And Harris, tell us how is the military playing a role now?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice of): The military is playing a very active role. They set up three field hospitals around Rio de Janeiro which is acting as a primary care center for the thousands of people who have come down with dengue, basically people showed up these hospitals there, evaluated there. Some of them are deemed well enough to go home, others are sent to public hospitals which are overwhelmed. Authorities say 55,000 people have been infected with dengue, and they say that the rate of infection is very, very high and they don't see any end in sight. The only hope they have is for the rains to cease because it is the rainy season that provides the perfect conditions for the dengue bearing mosquito to breed and propagate. The Brazilian government has also talked about asking Cuba to send a team of medical doctors to help with the crisis because some of the hospitals here are definitely overwhelmed.
HOLMES: Harris, what's the latest you're getting on the ground about the actual number of deaths involved in this particular outbreak? And do they expect that number to keep on rising?
WHITBECK: Well the death toll now stands at 67 and those are people who have died from complications or from hemorrhagic fever which is what dengue can develop into. Many of the victims have been young children who have immune systems that are more compromised or that are weaker than adults. You know the authorities say that if the infection rates continue as such, that that death rate could go up.
HOLMES: And Harris, explain to folks here as well and I know people in the U.S. will be watching this and worried about it and a lot of people just don't know a whole lot about it. But this is nothing new for this particular area for Brazil who has seen these kinds of outbreaks before. Just explain to folks a little bit about it. It's not something that's passed from person to person.
WHITBECK: You're right. Well, first of all, dengue is nothing new, any country that's in a subtropical region can be affected by it and there have been dengue outbreaks in the past. The difference this time is the sheer numbers and some health organizations, the Pan American Health Organization says that this year, changes in climate, global warming could be a factor in this larger outbreak because the heavy rains brought about by climate change provides the conditions for it. They also say that urban sprawl and poor hygienic conditions are also factors in the breeding of these mosquitoes and that is certainly the case in Rio de Janeiro which have huge population, particularly those living in slums where there are poor hygienic conditions and such. Dengue itself is transmitted by mosquitoes, it is not transmitted from human to human, so really the only way to counter attack it is to fight the mosquitoes themselves and to the humans, the patients, all you can do is give them medicine to help them with fevers, chills and the very intense headaches.
HOLMES: Our Harris Whitbeck there on the ground from Rio de Janeiro. Harris we appreciate the update this morning.
NGUYEN: We're going to shift gears right now because London tabloids saying Naomi Campbell claims she was busted because she was black. Police at Heathrow Airport put Campbell in jail after the fur flew over one of her suitcases. The one-time queen of the catwalk reportedly hissed with rage and then spat on an officer. She's free on bail today. Campbell could spend six months in jail if convicted of assault. British Airways may ban the hot headed supermodel from its flights. We'll stay on top of that story for you.
HOLMES: Well, the stars, Naomi Campbell not included, are split down the middle. Hollywood just can't decide who they want to be president. Find out which stars are endorsing which candidates.
NGUYEN: Martin Luther King Junior, the hero to so many, a troublemaker to some, little brother to one. His sister's memories in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The turbulence of 1968 intersecting with the politics of 2008. The presidential candidates honored Martin Luther King Friday 40 years after he was gunned down on a Memphis motel balcony.
Republican John McCain calling his vote against the MLK holiday in 1983 quote, "A mistake." Hillary Clinton calling for a cabinet level position on poverty. Her voice breaking at times. Clinton recalled meeting King when she was 14 years old. As she put it, a girl from an all white school, all white church, all white suburb.
And Barack Obama talked about King's legacy during a speech in Indiana. He campaigned later in the day in North Dakota and Montana. He says his absence from Memphis should not be misinterpreted.
HOLMES: And if many of you have sent your personal recollections of that day that Dr. King was killed.
NGUYEN: Yeah, our Josh Levs has picked out some really struck a chord. We talked about some of them a little bit earlier and it really does take you back.
JOSH LEVS: It does and a lot of people sharing this on cnn.com as part of "A Conversation with Black America," people weighing in a lot on this anniversary. We have picked out some of the most poignant ones here. I'm going to share with you, let's start off with this one from Michael Johnson in Baltimore. You know you get these very specific descriptions, "I was 11 sitting in a soda shop. The lady serving me was Miss Mary. A gentleman ran in and said, "They done killed the King. The King is dead." I saw Miss Mary starting to cry. Not just tears but the crying that only an older lady could do, the type that a grandchild of a slave gave. It almost had a musical sound to it. And for the next 40 years I can hear it as clear and as sad as it was. I went out into the street and saw grown people stopping and crying. This was a death that took the soul out of the air."
Geraldine Fisher in New Bern, North Carolina, "It's like when you're in a cold room and there's only one candle keeping the light, the only thing keeping you warm. It was like the flicker of hope was dashed when Dr. King died." And finally this from Collins Dillards in Memphis, "I was 5 years old here in Memphis. I remember the urgency of everything, the national guardsmen, the curfews, my parents locking the doors at night. Little did I know the world had changed. Dr. King was a prophet, a modern day Moses leading all of humanity to a higher call." Really intense descriptions there.
Now as part of what we have going on cnn.com right now via i- Report, you can send your reflections your thoughts, your memories. We also have videos up there now. We're hearing from a lot of college students. I believe we have here a little clip that we can take a look at of one college student who has been speaking with some of his fellow students about the black American experience today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE FLETCHER, RICHMOND VIRGINIA: What exactly is black and what does it mean to be American?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing that comes to the front of my mind is the vision because the reality of being black is one reality you deal with and the reality of being American is an entire different one. But America teaches you that you have to have individualism.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: This is him right here, he's Jermaine Fletcher, he's at Florida A & M. I'm just giving you a little taste of it there. To see some of that video, what we're doing, actually CNN is gathering videos from several different schools in which students are talking with each other about different perspectives on black American experiences today, part of "Conversations with Black America." We're going to have a lot more on them and we're going to continue to follow that guys in the coming weeks and months and see what kinds of things come in and keep that conversation going.
NGUYEN: Yeah, we have a lot planned and a lot coming up.
LEVS: Absolutely. It's very moving stuff from a lot of places.
NGUYEN: Thank you Josh.
HOLMES: Josh we appreciate you. And of course folks, everybody knows the name, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was murdered 40 years ago but one person remembers him simply as Tweed. He was her little brother. Christine King Farris is Reverend King's only surviving sibling. We heard from her earlier in the NEWSROOM and found out how they came up with the nickname.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE KING FARRIS, MLK JR.'S SISTER: We were growing up and Martin, and I called him M.L. Graduating from junior high school then. And he picked out a suit, it was a tweed suit and he loved that suit. And he wore it so much and the boys teased him about it and they just started calling him tweed.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, did you know that, I did not know that. I have to ask you, Christine, what was the moment, so many questions to ask. What was the moment when you began to realize that your brother was special? And special in a kind of man, he's not only gifted, but he's really special. Was there a moment?
FARRIS: Well, I always thought he was special. He did things and when he preached his trial sermon that was quite indicative of what was to come later. He was very serious about it.
HARRIS: He was very serious about it?
FARRIS: Yes. When we first started to college and we were in college at the same time, whereas we would always like fun, we were dancing and everything and all of a sudden he got so very serious and he said I'm not going to be going to the parties. I said come on, no, he was sitting there reading the bible. That lasted for a couple of months and then he came back around.
HARRIS: I have to ask you, on this day 40 years ago, what were you doing? Where were you?
FARRIS: I was at home with my children. In fact I was making an Easter dress for my daughter. And we were looking at the evening news and I started out of the room to another room and I heard the interruption and said "we interrupt this broadcast to say that Martin Luther King Jr. has been shot in Memphis." And of course I wasn't prepared for that. And then I think it was Ted Hunt that was the reporter. And he came back, he said we have some up to date news. Dr. King has been shot and it is critical. And I knew what critical meant.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, a programming reminder here as well. Our correspondent Soledad O'Brien investigating. You don't want to miss this if you haven't seen it yet. We're going to replay this thing as many times as we can for you here. "Eyewitness to Murder, The King Assassination." We have unprecedented access to witnesses, FBI documents and the killer's room to program the first in our series of "Black in America," history revealed, that's tonight and Sunday night, 8:00 eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well the NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with our good friend Fredricka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you all.
HOLMES: And we mean that, good friend.
WHITFIELD: Do you?
NGUYEN: We do.
HOLMES: So good to see you.
WHITFIELD: I'm just making sure it's not just because it's a couple of minutes before the noon hour.
NGUYEN: Nothing to do with it at all.
HOLMES: Any time you show up.
WHITFIELD: We have got a lot going on in the noon hour of course. Presidential politics, where in the world are the democratic candidates out west? Well, Clinton is in Oregon, Obama in Montana and John McCain, well he's out west too, but that would be normal for him, right? However he had a really interesting personal journey this week. We're going to be talking to our political analyst Bill Schneider about the candidates and their week.
And speaking of experts, we're also going to talk to our legal experts about a number of cases, everything from injury suits to first amendment rights. We're going to delve into all that noon hour.
NGUYEN: Important information, all right, looking forward to it. Thank you Fred.
HOLMES: Good to see you, thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: You guys have a good one.
NGUYEN: Good to see you too.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: All right, politics, when it comes to politics, the stars really just can't make up their mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Hollywood people either sat it out or tacitly were friendly to McCain in the fall.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Hollywood is divided on who they want for president. So will it cost the democrats some votes? Stay in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: As we have seen, the stars really do come out for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
NGUYEN: Yes, but Hollywood is a house divided over the democrats. Here's CNN's Brooke Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a very close race.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In Hollywood, it couldn't be any closer.
BRADLEY WHITFORD, CLINTON SUPPORTER: You do have two star candidates, people who have really kind of taken the community by storm.
FOREST WHITAKER: I believe in Barack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am leaning completely on Hillary.
ANDERSON: Hollywood democrats remain as divided as ever between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton any way you slice it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a Hillary person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama.
ANDERSON: Among mega stars, Clinton can count on Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand and Jack Nicholson who even made an online video touting her. But Obama can counter with big stars of his own, Robert de Niro, Matt Damon and George Clooney.
GEORGE CLOONEY: I've never seen anyone like him.
ANDERSON: Among talk show hosts, Clinton has Ellen Degeneres, but Obama has Oprah. Latino stars. --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama has the support of George Lopez.
ANDERSON: Clinton has "Ugly Betty" actress America Ferrera, who co-hairs the candidate's youth outreach program hill blazers. One website, the stranger.com likens the Hollywood split to a boxing match, complete with a fight card showing who supports whom.
RAPHAEL SONENSHEIN, CAL. STATE UNIV. FULLERTON: Obama can't knock her out, but clearly she can't knock him out. It will be a little bit more the older more established Hollywood community with Hillary.
ANDERSON: But young Hollywood seems to favor Obama. Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba appeared in pro Obama online videos from music producer Will I-Am. The Hollywood divide also extends to studio boardrooms.
TED JOHNSON, MANAGING EDITOR, VARIETY: Jeffrey Katzenberg is a big Barack Obama supporter along with David Geffen, another cofounder of Dreamworks, while Steven Spielberg is a big Hillary supporter. ANDERSON: With this bitter divide, will the two sides rally behind the eventual nominee?
SONENSHEIN: I wouldn't be surprised if some of the Hollywood people either sat it out or tacitly were friendly to McCain in the fall.
ANDERSON: But the candidates assert the party will be united when the dust settles.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will be unified when this whole thing is over.
CLINTON: We're going to close ranks.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And the CNN NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield.
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