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A Body Found Believed to be Missing Yale Student Annie Le; Purported New Bin Laden Tape Surfaces; NATO Orders Air Strikes in Afghanistan; Clock Ticks on Compromise Over Health Care Reform; Blagojevich Aide Found Dead; Desecration For Profit; President Obama to Make Economic Speech; Rep. Wilson: Outburst Not a Race Issue; Tea Parties with Racial Undertones?; ACORN Workers Fired Over Tape; Serena Williams' Meltdown
Aired September 13, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: As we go on the air tonight, a live look at New York City, the home of Wall Street and once the home of financial giant Lehman Brothers, it was one year ago that the banking giant collapsed and sent the world's economy into financial freefall.
And in Washington, the president will mark the occasion with a speech to the American people about the stability of the U.S. economy. And just two days after the anniversary of 9/11, a message from Osama bin Laden to the president of the United States.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. To the president, the economy, health care and terrorism in just a moment.
But we want to tell you about some breaking news out of New Haven, Connecticut tonight, where a body has been found in the search for a missing Yale student, Annie Le. Police said the body, soon to be the 24-year-old grad student, was found in the basement of the same Yale medical building where Le was last seen on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASST. CHIEF PETER REICHARD, NEW HAVEN POLICE: Shortly after 5:00 p.m. this evening, the Connecticut State Police Western District's major crime squad located the remains of a human secreted in a wall inside the building of Number 10, Amistad Street.
At the present time, the New Haven Police Department is assuming the role as the lead agency in this case, which is more or less moving from a missing person's case to a homicide investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Earlier, investigators had found bloody clothing hidden in the ceiling tiles. CNN's Susan Candiotti has been working the story and she joins us now from New York.
Boy, this is a big development here.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Stunning developments. And imagine, this happens on the same day that was to be the wedding day of this 24-year-old grad student, Annie Le, Don. What we are learning is that, as you indicated, at about 5:00, we're still trying to find out exactly what led authorities to find and locate that body, presumed to be Miss Le within the wall of that building. That's the Medical Research building where she was last seen on Tuesday. There were surveillance, security cameras that took pictures of her going into that building at about 10:00. But authorities have been unable to establish whether she ever left that building.
We do not know exactly which wall that was. I was asking police investigators about that. They said at this time, they didn't know and couldn't tell me. We do know that they will be on the scene all night trying to remove her body. We don't know whether she is trapped within the wall, but, for whatever reason, they have not been able to remove her at this time.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Susan Candiotti. We appreciate that.
And we have this just in to CNN as well. An audio message purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has surfaced on an Islamist Web site or some Islamist Web sites, just two days after the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The last audio message from bin Laden came June 9.
Our senior Middle East Affairs editor, Octavia Nasr, is on the phone. She's in Frankfurt, Germany tonight.
Octavia, there are numerous references to President Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and to current President Barack Obama. What are your thoughts on how recent this video was put together?
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS EDITOR (via telephone): Don, we do know he references President Obama's speech in Cairo which happened in June of this year. So this message must have been recorded sometime after that, any time after that. The message itself has no news in it, really, other than the fact that Osama bin Laden was alive and able to record this message back then.
We say purported because have no way to authenticate this message, to authenticate that this is him. We'll wait for a CIA voice recognition to confirm that it is him. But we do know that it sounds like him. The rhetoric is the same. And there was never before a fake Osama bin Laden audio or video.
So this sounds like him and the message is very consistent with previous messages, especially the one he releases on 9/11, the anniversary. They're usually short and he addresses the American people directly. And this is what he did in this one.
LEMON: Octavia Nasr, thank you very much.
And make sure you guys tune in to "AMERICAN MORNING" 6:00 a.m. Eastern for the very latest on this audio tape purportedly from Osama bin Laden. NATO orders air strikes in western Afghanistan during an intense battle after an ambush kills at least two U.S. troops in the Farah Province. There are reports that dozens of Taliban militants were killed, but this has not been confirmed yet.
In the earlier ambush, a NATO-led convoy was hit by a roadside bomb and attacked by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Twenty- one thousand more U.S. troops are to be deployed to Afghanistan this year, bringing the total to 68,000.
And after this broadcast tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, an "AC 360" special report from Afghanistan.
Tomorrow, the president takes his economic message to the American people and he'll do it on the one-year anniversary of the collapse of financial giant Lehman Brothers. Lehman's folding is believed have triggered the global economic crisis.
We're learning tonight from an administration official that the president will discuss the administration's plan to wind down government involvement in the financial sector and lay out a strong case for immediate action on regulatory reform.
Eamon Javers of Politico.com joins us now.
Can we start now, Eamon, removing the government from these big financial companies?
EAMON JAVERS, POLITICO.COM (via telephone): Well, you know, that's the question that a lot of us reporters ask Larry Summers on Friday at a White House briefing. He's the president's chief economic adviser.
And what he said is, no, the White House does not want to move too quickly in removing public support for some of these companies. He said that's the lesson of some of these financial crises we've seen in the past, particularly in Japan in the 1990s, where they tried to move too quickly, put government support away, and it prolonged the crisis.
So, the intention here is the Obama administration really wants to get out of the car business, for example, and some of the other businesses that the government is in. But at the same time, they don't want to do anything to make the financial crisis any worse.
LEMON: Yes. And I've read your current article on Politico and it says that there -- people are concerned that if they start removing the government from some of these companies now, that there might be an even bigger crash than the one that happened that was triggered last year by Lehman?
JAVERS: Yes. Well, part of what's going on now is that there's a question about whether Wall Street has truly learned its lesson or not, whether Wall Street's culture has changed enough, that these guys have learned the lessons of what they did to the rest of us in the country by making these rash and irresponsible decisions that they made all the way leading up to the crisis.
I asked Larry Summers that also on Friday. And what he said is, look, I believe in trust but verify when it comes to Wall Street and regulate. And that's the pitch you're going to hear from the president tomorrow. They're going to talk a lot about this idea of regulatory reform.
The White House proposed a lot of new rules of the road for Wall Street back in June. Congress had done nothing about that.
And you're going to hear the president tomorrow really use this anniversary date, the one-year anniversary of the financial collapse, to really push Congress hard and say you've got to pass some of these things that I sent up, or else we're going to be on this boat all over again.
LEMON: Let's listen now to the president speaking tonight on "60 Minutes," Eamon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I think is a legitimate concern, because this did happen under my watch, is that we initiated a big recovery act -- $800 billion. And the reason we did so was that every credible Democratic and Republican economist at the time when we came in said if we don't have the stimulus of some sort, then this is potentially going to get a lot worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Part of that economic recovery is people who maybe having confidence in the economy, I should say, Eamon. The president is going to spread that message out tomorrow just as he tried to do the same thing with health care.
JAVERS: Yes. And this is very tricky for the White House and for President Obama. The name of the game here for the White House is to try to take credit for some of the improvement that we've seen in the economy in recent months. I mean, Dow Jones industrials is up 3,000 points from where it was in March. And there has been a fairly dramatic turnaround on some of the stats. The number of job losses each month continues to go down.
The White House wants to take credit for some of that and say, look, it's our stimulus, it's our action that's responsible for it.
But at the same time, unemployment is at 9.7 percent. That's an atrocious, painful number. So many Americans are out of work and know somebody who is, or a member of their family who is, and really feel that financial pain right now.
So they don't want to look like they're out of touch. President Obama, this time last year when he was in the campaign, made a huge political gain by blasting John McCain for being out of touch when John McCain said, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong." And Obama said, "What planet are you living on?" They don't want to repeat that mistake this time and put themselves in John McCain's shoes.
LEMON: Eamon Javers, thank you so much.
JAVERS: Thank you.
LEMON: And make sure you stay with CNN for live coverage of President Obama's speech on the economy tomorrow at noon right here on CNN.
President Obama speaks out tonight on Congressman Joe Wilson's apology and promises he'll own whatever health care reform bill that passes.
And later, it is the end of the line for an alleged serial bank robber. We have all the details for you. And we're taking your comments tonight as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In Washington, time is running short in the push for a compromise on health care reform. President Obama spent part of his weekend rallying support for his proposals with a raucous campaign- style rally in Minnesota. But potential deals continue to hinge on the so-called public option, which Democrats and the president support. Republicans insist that the public option will lead to a government takeover of health care.
Let's talk more about that now with CNN's Mark Preston. He is our political editor. He joins us tonight from Washington.
Mark, the big question in all of this, really, is going to be that public option and really how to pay for it. Those are the two concerns for the opposition.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. And, of course, we've heard a lot about that from Republicans every since President Obama gave his speech last week where he really took ownership of the health care issue.
And, of course, we heard him use that word tonight on "60 Minutes," "I own this bill."
But the fact is, how is he going to pay for it?
If you look at public polling, you know, most Americans, Don, don't think that, you know, paying for this health care bill is going to add to the deficit. President Obama assures us that it won't. He says some of the ways he's going to try to cut cost is to cut fraud, abuse and really try to streamline the process that we've become known to use all along.
LEMON: And, Mark, you paraphrased the president tonight on "60 Minutes." Why don't we take a listen to him?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I intend to be president for a while. And once this bill passes, I own it. And if people look and say, you know what, this hasn't reduced my costs, my premiums are still going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerking me around. I'm the one who's going to be held responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So in that interview, he says, "I own it, I'm the one who's going to be held responsible." The president has said that he wanted a public option all along and he's going to stand firm on that. But there are some people who are saying -- some of the opposition and some in his own party, really -- saying that he may be backtracking on that.
PRESTON: Yes. Well, I mean, it's been an interesting political strategy by the White House. You know, at first they didn't seem to invest a lot in health care in the fact that you didn't see President Obama really step into the fray until we really saw things get heated in August.
And then, of course, we heard them say that a public option, you know, was almost essential. Now, of course, there's so much opposition to that over the summer, specifically in August at these rallies. We've seen the White House say, look, the public option, you know, is one way of getting there, but let's not stake everything on that.
So, you now, there's a good chance we won't see the public option in this health care bill.
LEMON: Yes. And I know that there was a House proposal that was sort of dead on arrival that was supposed to be voted on soon, and that is not going to happen.
What are the chances do you think -- you know, the president again insists that it has to be a public -- there has to be a public option and that he won't let anything cross his desk.
But what are the chances of it being the way that the public option in the way that the president wants it and the way that many Democrats want it?
PRESTON: Yes. I don't think it's going to be the way that it's described right now, that the government is going to come in and create this other way of giving people health insurance.
But I will tell you this. You know, just talking to Republicans and Democrats over the past week, and these are folks who actually serve in Congress, they say there's 100 percent chance we're going to see health care reform this year.
The question is, will we see Republican support of that plan?
And quite frankly, Democrats don't need Republican support of that plan to get it through Congress.
LEMON: All right. CNN's Mark Preston. Mark, stick around. I want to talk to you about some other things -- about what happened last week during the president's speech on health care reform. We'll talk about that in just a minute.
Meantime, one of America's most wanted is behind bars tonight. We'll tell you how a man the FBI says hit numerous banks in four states was captured.
Also, did former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's chief fundraiser kill himself? Or is there something else at play?
And he is the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for a book that became a hit movie. I want to introduce you to Oscar Hijuelos in our new series "Latino First."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The FBI says an "America's Most Wanted" bank robber has been captured in Missouri. A retired state trooper is being credited for helping to put 37-year-old Chad Shatner behind bars after an alleged one-man crime spree. He tipped authorities after spotting Shatner at a motel. Shatner is suspected of pulling off at least 10 bank heists in four states. He's to appear in court tomorrow morning in Jefferson City.
In Chicago, the death of a long-time adviser and chief fundraiser for former Governor Rod Blagojevich is being investigated as a possible suicide. Fifty-one-year-old Christopher Kelly died yesterday in Chicago at a hospital there.
That's him in the glasses that you see.
Kelly's death comes just days before he was to report to federal prison for his guilty plea on federal corruption charges. That case is separate from the indictments involving Governor Rod Blagojevich, in which Kelly also was implicated.
And here's what the former governor had to say to New York, to the media, today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: I think that you have a situation where Chris Kelly would do something like that, acknowledging his own wrongdoing, prepared to take responsibility, but unwilling, unwilling to take a lesser sentence because he refused to lie about me, not withstanding the pressure that the government put him under is really a remarkable story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Dwight Welch is the mayor of Country Club Hills, that's a suburb of Chicago. He says that Kelly told police shortly before his death that he took a, quote, "overdose of drugs," much as his police department found several prescribed medications in Kelly's vehicle.
In Placerville, California, attorneys for Phillip and Nancy Garrido will be in court tomorrow to request bail. They have been jailed without bond for the alleged kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard 18 years ago. She was just 11 years old at the time. Both Garridos have pleaded not guilty to 29 counts, including kidnapping and rape.
South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson stands firm, refusing to apologize again for his outburst during President Obama's health care reform speech.
And it's happened again. Cemetery owners accused of horrible mistreatment of the dead. Family members have filed a lawsuit and say the workers tried to keep it all a secret.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In case you're just joining us tonight, I want to tell you about some breaking news that's coming out of New Haven, Connecticut and the search for Yale grad student Annie Le. Police tonight announced that a female body was found about 5:00 p.m. hidden behind a wall in the basement of the Yale medical building, where she was last seen on Tuesday. Tragically, Le was supposed to have been married today. The body has not been positively identified. But police say they assume it is Le's body and they're now working the case as a homicide.
Make sure you stay tuned for developments here on CNN. We'll get them to you when they become available, also tomorrow morning, "AMERICAN MORNING," 6:00 a.m. Eastern time.
Grave tampering, dumping remains and double-selling plots. These are just some of the horrible claims in a lawsuit against a Los Angeles cemetery. CNN's Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Claims of secretly breaking and opening buried caskets, dumping remains, including human skulls, and selling burial plots without actually having the space, all to make more money. Those are just a few of the allegations made in a lawsuit filed in Thursday in Los Angeles.
This is the cemetery in question. Eden Memorial Park has been around for 55 years.
MICHAEL AVENATTI, ATTORNEY: We alleged that Eden Memorial Park and its management have been, for the better part of 15 years, engaging in improper burial practices, including the desecration of graves and the improper disposal of human remains.
BOUDREAU: The lawsuit is filed against the owners, Service Corporation International, based in Houston. SCI is the country's largest owner of cemeteries and funeral homes with more than 2,000. According to the lawsuit, groundskeepers were secretly instructed to break concrete interment vaults that contain casket which is are already buried using backhoes. The lawsuit alleges human remains would often fall out of the broken caskets and those body parts were then either scattered or thrown away.
The reason they would break the concrete vaults is to make more room for a new plot, according to the complaint, even though they had no more space available.
AVENATTI: We have uncovered evidence that the groundskeepers and others at Eden Memorial Park had been instructed to break off or break apart that concrete vault and in many times that exposes human remains.
BOUDREAU (on camera): So almost like chipping away at the vault so they could make room for a new plot.
AVENATTI: That's exactly correct, Abbie. That's exactly what they've been doing for sometime according to the allegations in the complaint.
BOUDREAU: And do you know about how many victims' families we're talking about right now?
AVENATTI: We are still in the process of investigating the full extent of this. We have uncovered some evidence that suggest that it could be in excess of 500 decedents.
BOUDREAU (voice over): Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Representative Joe Wilson refuses to apologize anymore for his outbursts during the president's address to Congress last week. But what's really behind all of this heated rhetoric?
And he is the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize. We're going to introduce you to him in our new series, "Latino First."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Tonight, the president weighs in on the outburst directed at him during Wednesday's speech to Congress. Mr. Obama tells "60 Minutes" his reaction to South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouting "You lie!" during that speech on health care reform, talks about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Congressman Wilson shouting out during my joint sessions speech was a surprise not just to me, but I think a lot of his Republican colleagues who, you know, said that it wasn't appropriate. He apologized afterwards, which I think I appreciated, and I've said so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But Democratic House leaders say they will propose a resolution this week to censure Congressman Wilson. They want a public apology on the floor of the House, but the congressman says he's through with saying he's sorry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: My whole life has been built around civility. But as I heard what I believe is not accurate information and because I knew the issue, I knew that there already had been votes on providing for citizenship verification. And for the speech to indicate that this would be enforceable. It was not. And, so, I spoke out. I called immediately. I did apologize. But I believe one apology is sufficient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Joining me now, Mark Preston, again, he's CNN's political editor, and then also April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.
Thanks to you both.
Hey, before we get to that, I want to -- I just want to tell you this. It's been very lucrative for both men in the race in South Carolina, right? Well, you know, Joe Wilson has raised $1 million and then Rob Miller, his Democratic opponent. Both have raised $1 million since that whole incident happened.
So, I understand, April, that you spoke with someone at the White House about that comment and you sort of knew what the president was going to say on "60 Minutes."
APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKKS: Thursday, I talk to Rahm Emanuel. He was actually walking in to the Oval Office area and I came up upon him while he was playing with his purple BlackBerry. And we talked about it.
And he said, look, I've known Joe Wilson for a long time. He's a friend and, yes, I've accepted the apologies. But, look, is the president going to meet with him? Is he going to talk to him? He said why. He said it's over.
So, it's cyclical. Joe Wilson saying the same thing, it's wrong for the president, essentially.
LEMON: And, Mark, you know, a lot of people are e-mailing me as well and are saying, you know what, it's over. There are people who are still saying that he should -- he should -- because it happened in the House, he should give an apology in the House as well. And a lot of folks are saying, no, move on.
But I don't know -- I don't know what, you know, Congress will decide to do next week if they're going to go after it, but they're threatening censure with this. PRESTON: Well, what they're threatening is to put the resolution on the floor and really, I condemn what Representative Wilson did during the speech when he shouted out, which, of course, was inappropriate. And he himself has acknowledged that.
But, Don, you said it at the top. The fact is Representative Wilson has raised $1 million. His Democratic challenger has raised over $1 million, which is something that the Democratic Party has been touting, the fact that they've been able to raise all of this money.
So let's just say at this point, this whole issue is not about health care, this whole issue is not about illegal immigrants getting health care. This is all about politics.
LEMON: And it's all become a distraction. And you can see, you know, what I noticed -- that was the first time that I saw the president's word. I didn't get to see "60 Minutes."
But it appears, you know, the president sort of smiled about it and say, he's apologized, let's move on. And in a way, to have that sort of, you know, above-the-fray response can only be helpful to the president's cause, April?
RYAN: Well, it is helpful to the president's cause to a certain extent. Actually, many Democrats are saying that Joe Wilson gave the president a present of sorts because, one, it galvanized a lackluster party who was -- who was not so sure about his health care plan.
And it also engaged the black community on this. The black community really hadn't been into the debate on health care reform. Now, they're in it. It took this "you lie" comment to bring them in.
Also, at the same time, I think, you know, you're saying the president's above the fray. I don't think you're going to see a beer summit, though.
LEMON: All right. So, hey, listen, Mark, let's move on. If they think it's over, then maybe we should get the message and say it's over as well. Whatever the Congress does, we'll see and then we'll report it then.
Let's talk about the economy. The president has a big, big job tomorrow on the anniversary of = the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
PRESTON: He has, Don, and he's heading up to New York. He's going to give a speech for about 30 minutes, we're hearing from the administration.
And he's going to talk about how the federal government is going to wind down their involvement right now, you know, in the financial sector. He's also going to call on more global involvement.
Now, this is -- this is the administration's word -- more global involvement in trying to prevent such catastrophes in the future. He's also going to defend his administration's moves over the past seven, eight, nine months to really prop up the economy. LEMON: Yes. And I'm looking at the folks who are going to be in the office. It's comprised of members of financial community, members of Congress, his economic recovery team, which includes, April Ryan, Timothy Geithner and Christina Romer, who had been behind this.
And I was watching the talk shows this morning. They were saying, you know, the president's financial team didn't know what they were doing, but they did enough to keep the U.S. economy from collapsing.
RYAN: Bringing it back from the brink. That's what they're trying to say.
LEMON: Yes.
RYAN: But, you know, Don, at the same time, you have some Democrats on the Hill who still say there needs to be much more done. And this may be too soon because you can't say that you brought it back from the brink, because there still needs to be more legislative fixes in place to include trying to change SEC rules, the Security Exchange Commission rules, by allowing novices, people who aren't that experienced, to come in and work for them. Because, they say, if they had people who were more experienced, you could have prevented a Madoff scandal of sorts, something like that.
LEMON: And I was speaking to Eamon Javers earlier from Politico and he says, the feeling is that many on Wall Street may not have gotten the message because they're starting to repeat the behavior that got them in trouble in the first place.
So, we shall see. We'll be watching the president tomorrow noon right here on CNN.
Thanks to both of you. Have a great evening.
RYAN: Thanks. Take care, Don.
LEMON: We're going to continue to look at what's really behind all of that red-hot rhetoric that we're talking about being heard at the rallies across the country and you saw it in the House chamber last Wednesday night. We're going to talk to Tim Wise. Some wise words from an anti-racist activist.
Also, caught on tape, accusations of ACORN employees promoting prostitution and tax evasion. Our Special Investigations Unit is on the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So the inflammatory rhetoric aimed at President Obama in recent days goes beyond policy differences. Some critics are questioning his motives, even his allegiance to American ideals. "New York Times" columnist Maureen Dowd is the latest to question whether some Americans simply can't accept an African-American president.
Congressman Joe Wilson was asked today if race was a factor in his Wednesday night outburst during the president's health care speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: No, no. Hey, I respect the president. Actually, there's a relationship in a way -- his wife -- her family is from Georgetown. My family is from next door, in McClellanville. So I have a great respect for the Obama family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: When asked about the race question, Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesperson, well, he denied to really comment on it. Here's what he said to John King on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think the president believes that people are upset because of the color of his skin. I do think -- I do think again this rhetoric often just gets way too hot. I think what we have to all do is take a step back, take a deep breath and remember who we're here to represent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I spoke with anti-racist activist Tim Weis about the tone of the tea parties being held around the country and in the nation's capital yesterday. The author of "Between Barack and a Hard Place" told me he believes there are some racist undertones to these rallies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You heard the chairman from Florida saying, no, it's not race. He does a disservice. You heard David Sirota say, of course, it is, it's a factor, it's the elephant in the room.
TIM WISE, AUTHOR, "BETWEEN BARACK AND A HARD PLACE": Right. Well, like I said on the show before, it is the background noise of a lot of the opposition, not all of it, but a lot of it. You know, when we have someone like Glenn Beck saying, as he did a month ago, that the health care debate isn't really about that, it's just reparations for black people.
Well, you have Rush Limbaugh yesterday on the air saying, first, that community service is the first step towards fascism, which is bizarre even for him, and then, almost immediately after that, saying one of the problems with America is too much multiculturalism.
You wouldn't say that unless you were trying to stoke white racial resentment. And so, when you say those things, I want to know when are Republican leaders going to condemn that kind of rhetoric, because that's where racism is being interjected. It's not interjected by us, it's interjected by the leading talk show host in this country.
LEMON: So, -- I mean, but is it knowingly or is it -- maybe unwittingly they're doing it and maybe they don't realize doing it? WISE: Well, two things. I mean, it maybe either or but it doesn't matter. I mean, racism needs to be evaluated based on outcome. If you do something which has a predictable consequence, you have to be accountable for that consequence.
So, for example, when Glenn Beck lied and said that Van Jones was involved in the Los Angeles riots, which was not true, that is a very clear, as David said, dog whistle politic moment.
You're saying that because you know that the LA riots are viewed as this "racialized" rebellion and it scares white folks to death. So you say that about this man. It isn't true. Glenn Beck had to know that it was not true. And that is way to scare white folks, where race comes in. It's not old fashioned, but it's white racial resentment that they are trying to whip up.
LEMON: But, you know, it's very -- it's smart if you want to -- if you want to get your message out.
So listen, as we've been saying, it's the elephant in the room. Let's talk about this Congressman Wilson thing.
WISE: Yes.
LEMON: One person wrote me on Twitter, said -- I think it's John Main (ph), he says, "If it's not racism, then I don't what it is. Self-indulgence, selfishness, egotism or all the traits, pure lack of thought?"
Then one person says, "I'm with Ron Reagan and Bill Maher. If Obama's skin color was closer to his mom's,"-- he's talking about Joe Wilson -- "he would not have shouted out."
And I have to tell you...
WISE: I believe that.
LEMON: ...for the first time, last night, I was watching "Real Talk" with -- "Real Time" with Bill Maher, and I was like finally someone is talking about this, finally someone is talking about this.
WISE: Right.
LEMON: Do you think that Joe Wilson would have done that to a president who was of another color?
WISE: No, I don't.
LEMON: Or would he have done the same thing if it was a woman president?
WISE: I don't know. But I know here's a guy who is an avowed neo-confederate who says Strom Thurman, an arch segregationist, was his hero.
So, there's some racial stuff going on, I hate to say, with this Congress person, and it makes me wonder...
LEMON: But isn't it...
WISE: With that kind of background, it makes me wonder.
LEMON: But isn't it -- what is behind -- I think the thing that we're not getting to is what allows him to be -- to feel that that is OK to say it?
WISE: Right.
LEMON: Isn't that -- isn't that what...
WISE: Well, I think it's what David said. I think it's what -- I think it's what David was talking about.
There is a large segment of the American population, particularly a sizable amount of white folks, frankly, and in the Republican Party who do not view him as legitimate -- the "birther" phenomenon.
Let's be honest. If this man's name was O'Shanessey (ph) or O'Malley and I made up a birth certificate that said he was born in County Court, Ireland in 1961, nobody would care or believe it.
But if you say he's from Africa, oh, yes, an African daddy, he's from Kenya, people will believe that. They want to paint him as a foreign outsider out to destroy America.
And that kind of over-the-top rhetoric isn't just about political disagreement, it is about an attack on his identity and his American- ness. Because some people simply cannot accept that we are not the only folks in this country. We're not the standard anymore for what an American is. It's a multicultural nation.
LEMON: I hear -- African-Americans all the time are used to, when talking about President Bush and they would say, "not my president." That's not right, either.
WISE: Oh, it's not right. It's not right. But I -- you know, I was at rallies where occasionally there were people that had signs that would compare President Bush to Hitler. But you know what? It wasn't the leading spokespeople on the left doing that. It wasn't our talk show hosts. It wasn't our authors and our columnists and our commentators. It was folks on the street.
(CROSSTALK)
WISE: It's not right. But it's not equivalent. That is coming from the very top of the conservative mouthpiece community.
LEMON: OK. Hey, listen, I got to go. Do you think this good for us, though, because now we can examine it and talk about it? It's out there.
WISE: Oh, I think so. It's bringing some things out of the woodwork. If we address it honestly, we can move forward, but if we continue to stay in denial, I don't think we will.
LEMON: Denial, it's not just a river, right, as they say?
All right. Thank you, Tim Wise. As always, it's always good -- it's always good to have you on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Let's talk now about ACORN, in hotter water than it's ever been. This time, accusations of promoting prostitution and tax evasion, and it's all caught on tape.
Also, what was she thinking? There was no love lost when a few words from Serena at the U.S. Open -- everybody is talking about this -- probably cost her the grand slam title.
And remember the movie "Mambo Kings, " the one you see playing over my shoulder right now?
Well, I'm going to introduce you to the man who wrote the book and how he is now a first in history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us now.
Any relief for the folks in Texas, Jacqui?
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Jacqui.
You know, their mission is to help the poor obtain housing. But four ACORN employees were caught on tape advising a man and a woman, posing as a pimp and prostitute, on how to defraud the government.
CNN's Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau has this very shocking story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): First, it was Baltimore, now, Washington, D.C.
For the second time in as many days, a video has surfaced showing workers for the nonprofit housing group, ACORN, offering help and advice for a couple pretending to be a pimp and a prostitute. The man in the videos is independent filmmaker James O'Keefe. He's also a conservative activist. Remember, ACORN is a liberal community organizing group.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My girlfriend is a prostitute.
BOUDREAU: In the latest undercover sting posted on YouTube, O'Keefe and the woman posing as a prostitute are heard asking for advice from a pair of ACORN workers on how to set up a brothel without getting in trouble with the tax man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to have to say you're getting a gift from somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the money got to go in the bank.
BOUDREAU: One of the employees even offered O'Keefe, who said he was a law student, career advice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is your girlfriend. But you're talking about your career. How far are you trying to go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm using the money that she's getting, you know what I mean?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. But you don't know where it's coming from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I personally know where it's coming from.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. But when the police ask you, you don't know where it's coming from. That's what we're trying to tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're looking out for you.
BOUDREAU: ACORN, which is active in 41 states, focuses largely on housing for the poor. It's president and executive director responded to the tape saying they were appalled and angry and that the two workers have been fired. We tried to reach both women for comment, but were unsuccessful.
(on camera): And if all this sounds familiar, it's because the same couple did the same sting operation in Baltimore, where they were advised by two other ACORN workers on how to set up a brothel using under-aged girls from El Salvador.
(voice over): At one point on the Baltimore video, a worker suggests that the woman posing as the prostitute refer to herself as a performing artist on tax forms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Performing artist.
BOUDREAU: ACORN's spokesman, Scott Levenson, called the Baltimore tape false and defamatory, and says the tape was doctored. And Levenson tells CNN that the filmmakers made similar efforts in Philadelphia. And in that case, ACORN workers actually reported the filmmakers to the police. ACORN provided a copy of the police report.
Despite that, the chairwoman of the Baltimore chapter of ACORN says both workers, like their colleagues in D. C., have been fired.
SONYA MERCCHANT-JONES, BALTIMORE ACORN: They were dismissed.
BOUDREAU: We're also trying to contact the Baltimore workers. The firings are unlikely to put the controversy to rest.
Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa is calling for a full congressional and justice department investigation. Two tapes, four workers out of a job, and a raft of unanswered questions.
Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Abbie.
He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose book went on to become a hit movie. We'll introduce you to the man behind the "Mambo Kings." He is a pioneer, a Latino first, pat of our new series on Latin pioneers.
And Serena Williams -- well, she pulled a John McEnroe move at the U.S. Open and it cost her big time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Right here on CNN, we're profiling Latinos who overcame obstacles and shattered stereotypes to make history. It is part of our new series, "Pioneros: Latino Firsts."
I spoke earlier with Oscar Hijuelos, the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his book, "Mambo Kings: Play Songs of Love" I asked him how it felt to be a first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OSCAR HIJUELOS, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR: When I actually wrote that book, "The Mambo Kings: Play Songs of Love," I wanted to do a thing about Cuban music and the way I grew up in New York biculturally and about the intersection of cultures, mainstream American, as we see it through "I Love Lucy" and also the lives of two Cuban musicians who were immigrants.
And I never even thought that the book would get published when I first wrote it. And because of that, having been poor in the first place, I had nothing to lose, and not having expected it to be published, I had felt enormous amounts of freedom. And all those energies, energy of life changing and seeing, interpreting lives, sort of in that book. So, I'm very proud of it.
And the Pulitzer was secondary for me. When I talk to young kids today who want to be writers, Latinos, in particular, I tell them, don't let anyone get you down, always proceed forward with confidence and believe in yourself.
LEMON: You overcame a lot of sickness as a kid. What was going on? HIJUELOS: Well, you know, the irony is I went on a journey with my mother to visit aunts in the Oriente in Cuba, which is in the eastern part of the island and we were there for a couple months out on farms and towns. And I contracted some kind of infection that blossomed into a kidney disease which put me in the hospitals for a couple of years.
And, you know, I was like 3 or 4, 5 at that time. And I was separated from my family. And that separation from identity, ironically enough having to do with Cuba itself has always been the sub-themes going through my work which is what is, you know, an identity about. You know, who are you? And what is it all about, Alfie, you know?
LEMON: And I'm sure -- I'm sure a lot of that came from the disease, I believe is called nephritis. And you spent two years in a children's sanitarium. So, a very interesting life.
And then we have to say "The Mambo King," of course, went on to become a movie. Antonio Banderas in the movie. Great movie. There it is.
I'm sure you never thought that this would happen to you. I'm going to give you the final word here. We have to move on.
What do you have to say -- you know, I talked to you a little bit about Judge Sonia Sotomayor and what that means to Latinos, Hispanics. Talk to us about that and your wish for Latinos in America.
HIJUELOS: Well, I think that what we have to do is -- we're going to get a lot of static in life. We always have. Society is always looking for escape goats. And it seems when I listen to the news, I watch CNN or I hear that people are bad mouthing Latinos and using our people as scapegoats as they do other groups, you know, the bad guys out there in America land, who have lost their moral compass.
What I say to young kids who confront such hard adversities is to keep looking forward, "siempre adelante." You know, always got to keep going forward. And I just think Sotomayor is a perfect example of that. Rising above all of that static.
LEMON: Very well put. Oscar Hijuelos. Thank you. You're the first. You're our first...
HIJUELOS: Somebody -- hard work, somebody has to do it.
LEMON: We appreciate it. And much success to you.
HIJUELOS: Thank you, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And coming next Sunday, we profile John Ruiz, the first Hispanic heavyweight boxing champion. We'll introduce you to the man who defeated Evander Holyfield to win boxing's biggest prize.
And coming to CNN in October, "LATINO IN AMERICA," Stories you will see only here on CNN.
An on-court outburst cost Serena Williams a U.S. Open match and now it's hitting her in the pocketbook.
And wait until you get a hold to this next story. Entertainer Kanye West making headlines at the MTV Awards tonight. Not in a good way. If you think Joe Wilson's actions were bad, wait until you hear about this one. We'll tell you about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Tennis player Serena Williams usually composed, but an on-court outburst may have cost her a spot in the finals of the U.S. Open, and it's definitely going to hit her in the wallet. Williams was trailing her opponent last night. When the line judge called for a foot fault, it cost her a point. Anyway, she went on, she started cursing and then they said no go. She's going to have to pay $10,000.
Here's what we want to tell you. We want to put this one. And this is a developing news coming out. If you think that Joe Wilson's actions were bad on Wednesday night, rapper Kanye West stormed the stage just during the first awards being presented at the MTV Awards. The award was to be presented to Taylor Swift. He ran on and said, Beyonce deserved the award and then he ran off stage and flipped off the crowd. Others in the audience seemed shocked.
More on "AMERICAN MORNING." I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here next weekend.
