Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Three More Arrests in Gang Rape Case; Banks and Hidden Fees
Aired October 28, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, pushing forward now on the hour's big stories.
Another brutal attack in northwest Pakistan. This time a car bomb incinerated a busy market, killing at least 100 people.
It happened just hours after Secretary of State Clinton arrived in the Pakistani capital. She calls the attack the work of militant cowards.
Today or tomorrow, an al Qaeda sleeper agent will learn his sentence in federal court in Illinois. Ali al-Marri pleaded guilty in May to providing material support to a terrorist group. He's been locked up for five years, and his lawyers say that's punishment enough. Prosecutors want at least 10 years more.
And round three for GMAC? Well, the wholesale financing company for GM and Chrysler dealers hasn't raised the capital the government says it needs to stay solvent, so it's asking the government -- well, actually you -- for a third infusion of cash. Taxpayers have sunk more than $12 billion in GMAC already.
Well, we have got movement on a developing story now, the gang rape and robbery of a 15-year-old girl outside a high school homecoming damage dance in Richmond, California. The law pushing that case forward now.
Let's get right to CNN's Dan Simon.
Dan, police have had a pretty busy night.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the investigation is far from over, Kyra. But police arresting three more people in connection with this rape, two minors and one adult, pushing the number of people in custody to five individuals.
Kyra, we should point out that some of the information we are hearing about this case is so graphic, so disturbing, that we can't even tell you about it. Suffice it to say what this young victim went through was unimaginable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): For two and a half hours, police say she was repeatedly raped and beaten. Two and a half hours. And it happened right under the noses of police officers, teachers, school administrators and other adults hired to make sure Richmond High School's homecoming dance went off without incident.
What happened? How could everyone missed a gang rape happening on school grounds on their watch?
(on camera): As far as you know, nobody walked around outside of the school to see if anything was happening?
CHARLES RAMSEY, WEST CONTRA COSTA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: Obviously, they didn't because the student was gang raped for two and a half hours from 9:30 to midnight. And so, I'm certain of that that there was no surveillance done.
SIMON (voice-over): Charles Ramsey is a 16-year member of the district school board. He says procedures weren't followed. Procedures that require active surveillance during school events.
Why didn't anybody at the school bother to go outside and look around and see what may have been going on?
RAMSEY: I haven't been told that yet. I mean, this just happened over the weekend. I have to look into that and find out. I can't speak to what the motives and rationales, but I believe, from what I'm hearing that people felt the dance was going well. People were having fun. That everybody who was there was in the building and that they had closed the doors and so the situation will be contained, and this girl had left so they didn't know that she had returned or came back.
Should we have anticipated it? Yes. I believe that you have to anticipate any potential problem.
SIMON (on camera): Here's what we know -- the dance took place inside the high school gym and the victim left around 9:00 p.m., to be picked up by her father. Instead, a friend asked her to walk with him towards the back alley on the other side of school. And that's apparently where they were greeted by others with alcohol.
You can still see the remnants of some crime scene tape. This is where the people involved would have gained access to this area. Normally this fence right here is closed. We are told that everybody would have had to jump over this fence.
And this is where the alleged rape took place, back in this area where you see those picnic tables.
(voice-over): The area has no lights. No surveillance cameras either. They have been ordered but not installed yet.
Another reason why Ramsey says it should have been searched. Not to mention the high school has a history of violence on campus. And Richmond itself is considered one of the most dangerous cities in California.
RAMSEY: The elected officials are going to share in the responsibility and say that we probably could have done better. SIMON: And if what happened here couldn't get anymore troubling, listen to this. Police think as many as ten people might have been involved in the rape, and another ten just stood by and watched. Why didn't they help? Why didn't they call 911? Right now, police have no idea.
Police arrested the 15-year-old boy who led the victim to the alley. His name withheld because he's a minor, also in custody, 19- year-old Manual Ortega, a former Richmond high student. Neither has been formally charged.
What we also know is that during the two and a half hours that this crime was going on, several people came and saw what was going on and either left and didn't report it to the police or stayed and observed, and in some cases participated in her gang rape. The victim, found unconscious, was hospitalized with nonlife threatening injuries as a community wonders how a high school homecoming could turn into such madness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Again, five people now in custody and formal charges are pending.
In terms of where we go from here, obviously a lot of outrage and anger in the community. And tonight, at 6:00 p.m., members of the school board holding a forum, and a lot of people in this area expected to attend -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, Dan, there's talk of a reward now, $20,000. Is that enough of an incentive for people to come forward?
SIMON: Well, they're hoping so, especially for high school students. We should point out that as for those 10 or so people who watched what was going on but did not report it, you might find this surprising, but police say they cannot charge those folks with a crime, that the law is very specific in that regard. But as for that $20,000 reward, they're hoping that people who observed what was going on, or may have heard something about it, will come forward.
And again, $20,000 certainly a notable figure, especially for teenagers -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll keep following the story with you. Dan Simon, thanks so much.
Gang rape among friends, a mob mentality that created a monster, bystanders who weren't so innocent. This is disturbing stuff on so many levels, and we're pushing forward with police and the school board.
Charles Ramsey was the board member you just saw in Dan's story, and then on the phone with us, the detective from Dan's story as well, Lieutenant Mark Gagan.
I guess, Charles, let's start with you. What do you hope to accomplish in this forum tonight?
RAMSEY: What we hope to accomplish in the forum is to have a comprehensive conversation about the next steps in how we prevent this from happening. I do want to share, though, that my feelings are that we have to do everything to support this victim. I want to send my heartfelt sorrow to the family and to the victim, and let them know that I, along with the rest of our school board members, are here to do anything in our power to support them.
PHILLIPS: Now, Charles, you've got daughters. You've been a board member for 16 years. You have seen the violence that has plagued this high school.
What's going on? Why has it come to this point?
RAMSEY: Well, Kyra, the reality is we need to have a conversation with our classmates, our community, and even our country about the abuses that are take place in our schools and how we arrive at a point where people are so callous, that they're willing to look and observe and engage in such a heinous and despicable act.
The reality is, is that we know that there's issues in society about how we address women, how we feel about them as individuals. And we have to do a better job of turning this around, one, on the enforcement side, but also on the educational side, to ensure that these conversations are taking place and that no one has to be subjected or become a victim such as we saw last Saturday night at a homecoming dance.
And as you just stated, I do have two daughters in this very school district, and I'm concerned that we are not doing enough to step up and to make sure that these type of activities and incidents don't happen.
PHILLIPS: So, what are you going to do as a board member? I mean, from what I understand, surveillance equipment was supposed to be put in this January. What's the status of security on the campus?
I mean, why hasn't it been there? Why haven't the cameras been there? Violence is a problem there. Why isn't there more security? And what are you going to do now to make sure that campus is safer?
RAMSEY: We've had the resources there and we're doing everything. There is a process.
We had cameras that were not effective, that didn't work, and so we wanted to make sure that we lad a system that was linked in with local law enforcement to be effective.
And so, we took time to methodal, to be thoughtful, to be deliberate so that we would be certain that what we installed was effective. And so, we have now a digital system that's going in, that's linked to local law enforcement that can be monitored, that can be real timed with the city of San Pablo and the city of Richmond to ensure, at least on some levels, that there is individuals understanding that this is possible deterrent to engage in this kind of conduct.
In addition, we have two police officers that we have paid for to be in our local schools, not just at Richmond High, but in all six of our comprehensive high schools. We also have site supervisors that are there to look at the students, to be able to monitor their behavior, to do surveillance over the campus.
PHILLIPS: But where were they on homecoming night? I think that's what a lot of people are asking right now, Charles.
RAMSEY: And that's a good question. That's a very good question. Where were they?
We're in the middle of that investigation now. We have to go forward and look at that information and evidence.
And I don't want to presuppose or rush to judgment without having that full information. It would be irresponsible for me to be able to give a definitive answer as to what actually happened, and that's all being pieced together now. And as we're hearing, it gets worse and worse by the minute.
PHILLIPS: Well, Lieutenant Mark Gagan, you're on the phone with us, Richmond Police Department. I mean, you've just heard what Charles Ramsey has to say.
What does the school need to do? What do board members like Charles Ramsey need to do? And how is the police department going to join forces with those efforts, with those efforts that you see need to go forward in order to prevent something like this from happening again?
LT. MARK GAGAN, RICHMOND POLICE: Well, I believe there needs to be several things that happen simultaneously. I think the meeting tonight is going to be a very passionate push between for more collaboration between the school board and us as law enforcement.
I do want to point out that this is a tragic event that we were devastated by when we saw that it happened. And when officers were on campus for the homecoming dance, I immediately asked, how did this happened?
Only after I went to where the crime happened and saw where the dance was held, and know that our victim had gone around the block and climbed over a fence to get to the location, that I realized that it would be reasonable to suspect that the officers monitoring the dance would know this activity was going on. I spoke first hand with the officers, and they had no indication at the scene and after the dance ended, 400 (ph) students walked the campus and left, and no one stumbled upon this crime in progress, which was still going on.
So, I think that it's important that in an effort not to be defensive, but actually shed light on what really happened, this is a very dark alley, and alcove that I refer to on the north side of the campus which has no lighting and no visibility from the street. And those are two factors that really tie in to how crime can occur. When we are looking at designing a building or an area with crime prevention in mind, you want it to be very high visibility so that people driving and walking by can see. Lights, whether they're motion-activated or on all the time, are very helpful. And then cameras are the ultimate eyes that we as police need. So I'm very encouraged to hear that those are in the works.
PHILLIPS: And Lieutenant Gagan, I hear you point out that the victim walked to this area, climbed the fence. In no way, shape or form I think should we insinuate in any way that what happened to this 15-year-old is her fault. I mean, she's 15 years old, and never should anybody deserve to be treated the way she was, to be raped and brutalized the way that she was. It's just absolutely atrocious what happened to her.
GAGAN: Oh my gosh. I couldn't agree with you more.
RAMSEY: And I agree with that completely as well.
GAGAN: I know. I have been very encouraged by the response from the youth at the school and the outpouring of support for her. We have gotten calls from all over the United States and locally. This is really -- I think this has galvanized our community and this school against violence.
RAMSEY: Yes, but we have to prevent this from happening again. We have had a movie made on the school, "Coach Carter." We had a student who died in the arms of a principal at that school.
We have to make sure that this becomes a spotlight in that we don't let this opportunity pass us by again where we have this -- I have been on the board 16 years.
And Mark, you and I know that we have worked and we have talked with Chief Magnus (ph), and we've been working very hard and deliberately together. But we need to make sure we really make it stick this time.
PHILLIPS: And I want to point out we just were looking at clips from the movie "Coach Carter." It was based on your high school. Samuel L. Jackson played Coach Carter in that movie.
We're actually going to talk to him, Ken Carter, on Friday. He'll be joining us. It will be interesting to see what he had to say about this, because he was there at a time that it was extremely violent, as you well know, Charles Ramsey.
And Lieutenant, I'm sure you are familiar with that as well.
So my question is now, moving forward, you've got the forum tonight. Lieutenant, you seem to be totally locked in to what needs to be done in that community.
What do you say -- let me ask Lieutenant Gagan from a police perspective first.
RAMSEY: OK. Because I want to respond to this too.
PHILLIPS: OK. I want you to too.
Let me ask the lieutenant, what do you say now to the families of the teenage girls that go to this school, what you guys are going to do as a police department to try and prevent something from this happening again?
And then, Charles, I'll let you weigh in.
RAMSEY: Thank you.
GAGAN: Prevention is a must. I think that our partnership with Community Violence Solutions, which is formerly the Rape Crisis Center, and several other nonprofits that are dealing with youth and how they perceive violence is going to be essential. Because for law enforcement to move forward into the next generation, we're going to need to have partnerships with these nonprofits.
What we also do also is have a very specific role in prosecuting these criminals and helping our victim get through the criminal justice process, which can be very brutal for a victim. It's almost re-victimizing her to have to testify in court and go through that process. And so we do have advocates and people who are going to be able to give her counseling and training on how to prepare for what could be years of prosecution.
PHILLIPS: Final thoughts, Charles Ramsey?
RAMSEY: We have to take ownership over this problem. We have to go forward and make sure that our students and staff understand that we have to re-evaluate and re-explore who we are and what we are going to do in moving forward.
We can't worry about a snitch code. We have to say we're going come forward with information to support the victim and support local law enforcement.
And then we have to be open to dealing with the pain and the anger and frustration that we know many of these young people feel every day, and we have to have a conversation about that. But we cannot allow individuals to be so callous, that we turn this issue into an abuse against women, an abuse against young girls. And we have to make sure that we value each other as individuals and make sure we bring in partners so that we can have those conversations.
PHILLIPS: Point well made.
RAMSEY: Because it has to happen.
PHILLIPS: Point well made.
Charles Ramsey, Lieutenant Mark Gagan, as you know, we will stay on this story. Appreciate both of your time.
RAMSEY: Thank you. And I want to thank CNN for being able to put a spotlight on this. We need to have a countrywide conversation about this.
PHILLIPS: And we're counting on all of you to hold those boys and those men accountable for what they did to that 15-year-old girl.
RAMSEY: And to the family, our thoughts and prayers to you once again. It has to begin with that. We have a victim in this situation and we all have to be mindful of that.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
Charles, thank you.
Lieutenant, thank you.
GAGAN: Thank you, Kyra.
RAMSEY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: One step forward, two steps back. A surprising lurch in America's housing market. Which way is it going and where does the home tax credit figure in?
Susan Lisovicz joining us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Top stories now.
Police in Richmond, California, make three more arrests in the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance. Five suspects charged, two adults and three minors. Police say that some who witnessed the long assault actually joined in or just stood and watched.
They can talk, text, tweet or e-mail as much as they want to now, but those two Northwest pilots who overshot the Minnesota airport by 150 miles got their wings clipped by the FAA yesterday. The feds are revoking their licenses now. They say that the pilots were on their laptops and got distracted.
The duty and service of a legendary senator honored. President Obama giving former Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke the Congressional Gold Medal today, the highest honor that Congress can bestow. Brooke, a Republican, was the first African-American to be elected to the Senate by popular vote.
Well, we thought things were looking up for housing. After all, existing home sales rose last week. And yesterday, we learned that home prices are stabilizing. But today, the housing market gets hit on two fronts.
OK. What are these reports saying, Susan Lisovicz? I thought this was a little more rosy yesterday. You keep changing your tune on me. You're so fickle.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The problem with recovery, Kyra Phillips, it's not always fast enough, it's certainly not smooth enough. And there are disappointments. And that's why we have a double whammy today.
At the morning meeting, what did I say? New home sales, we are expecting them to rise for the sixth straight month. What happened in September? It fell more than 3.5 percent.
Why is that? Try to close on a house these days. Try. It doesn't happen that quickly.
And folks who want to get that first-time tax credit have to close on their house by November 30th. This was for the month of September, and that's what some analysts are saying happened, that they -- you know, you're already seeing the impact. It hasn't even expired yet.
The second report is on foreclosures. And we're seeing new hot spots.
No, not Vegas. No, not Florida. What we're seeing, places like Boise, Idaho, more than double from last year. Provo, Utah; Salt Lake City, Chico, California; Reno, Nevada, basically doubling in a year.
Why is that? You're seeing higher unemployment. You know, fresh 26-year high. And a lot of adjustable rate mortgages are expected to reset higher. That's a problem. That certainly will affect foreclosures.
PHILLIPS: We want stabilization, right?
LISOVICZ: We do. And that's why the government has been moving heaven and earth, trying to keep a lid on mortgages, and there's talk about extending that tax credit.
PHILLIPS: OK. Susan Lisovicz, we keep talking on a daily basis. Since it changes on a regular basis, you're always going to have a spot on this show.
LISOVICZ: It's important to all of us.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks so much, Susan.
Well, have you been to the ATM today? Well, guess what? It could be withdrawing from you. All kinds of hiding fees behind those buttons. We're going to bring them out in the open.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, you feel like you're getting nickel and dimed all the way to the poor House? Well, wait a minute. Sorry. That poor house got foreclosed on months ago, but those darn banks found a way to offset that loss, too.
CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis brings some hidden fees once again out into the open.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Harold Abrams is furious at his bank.
HAROLD ABRAMS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I was furious that they're charging me $35 for an expense that's $1.65. I mean, it's really crazy.
WILLIS: Bank of America charged Abrams a total of $105 in overdraft protection fees to cover three charges to his checking account totaling less than 15 bucks. Abrams would rather his transactions be declined than pay the tab he didn't even know existed.
(on camera): What's the $8.40 for?
ABRAMS: Stamps, postage.
WILLIS: And again, a $35 fee. Add it all up, it's $105.
ABRAMS: Yes.
WILLIS (voice-over): According to an annual survey of bank fees conducted by BankRate.com, most consumer banking fees are on the rise.
GREG MCBRIDE, BANKRATE.COM: Fees have gone up year in, year out over the past decade. Now, some of those fees go up at a faster pace than others. ATM surcharges in particular increase at a rate that's far faster than the pace of inflation.
WILLIS (on camera): Use an ATM on your own bank's network, no problem. No fees. But step outside that network, you're going to pay fees big time, an average of $2.22. That's an increase of 12.6 percent over last year.
And guess what? It gets worse. Your bank charges you fees for a total fee of $3.54 for accessing your own money.
(voice-over): If you have an interest-bearing account and fail to keep your high minimum balance, the average monthly fee jumped five percent to $12.25. And overdraft fees were up last year, too. Fees for bouncing a check rose two percent.
Bank of America told CNN it's changed its overdraft policies just this month. No longer will it charge overdraft fees when a customer's account is overdrawn for a total amount of less than $10, and the bank won't impose more than four overdraft fees in a single day.
Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor who chairs Congress' TARP Oversight Committee, says fees are the real way banks make their money.
ELIZABETH WARREN, TARP OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The truth is there will be another fee tomorrow and a different one the day after. And another one the day after that. Because they are all hidden, you can't find them. The first time most people discover them is when they have to pay them. WILLIS: Abrams complained to the bank twice before going to the top and writing a letter to then-CEO Ken Lewis. And that made the difference. His fees were removed, but the frustration remains.
ABRAMS: I really think it's unfair, especially coming from -- in light of what's going on with banks now, and they're being bailed out by the government. I think they have some kind of responsibility to consumers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIS: All right. So it's not just banking fees you have to worry about. There's a new study out today from the Pew Charitable Trust. They say credit card interest rates are up, guess what? Twenty-two percent in the first six months of this year -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: For full disclosure, I said to Gerri, so, you know, what do you want me to follow up? For the love of God, wasn't there legislation put in place to prevent all of this?
WILLIS: Remind me never to suggest a question.
PHILLIPS: For the love of God, Gerri, where's the legislation and how is it helping me?
WILLIS: Well, it not enacted. I mean, it's not in place yet. It's been passed, but it doesn't go into effect until next year, so the credit card companies, they're doing their work ahead of time and they're raising their rates now, for example.
But I have to tell you, according to the study we saw that's just out today, if you look at the practices of those credit card operators right now and said, hey, will this new law change what they're doing? A hundred percent are not in compliance. So there's a lot of work to do.
PHILLIPS: And because these companies figure out ways where they want to make money, and they throw in their little fees. And a lot of people just don't pay attention to their bill. There's a lesson there, too. You've got to pay attention to everything nowadays.
WILLIS: That's right. The devil's in the details.
Look at those bills. Make sure you're not paying. You really have to monitor your balances really close now, especially with people using debit cards all the time. You can get behind the 8 ball in a hurry.
PHILLIPS: Yes. I do all the time.
All right. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Their very names are synonymous with hate crimes. Matthew Shepard, James Byrd. Homicidal hatred cost them their lives. Their stories about to push the law forward.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up there, the busiest airstrip supposedly in the world. (INAUDIBLE)
VOICE OF ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": There are about 50 Marines here at any given time. And the conditions they face are extremely difficult.
VOICE OF CHRISTIAN AMANPOUR: Where the Mousavi supporters held (INAUDIBLE), there have been three election rallies.
PHILLIPS: We'll, we're getting ready to see more teeth in the hate crimes law. President Obama about to sign a bill making it a federal crime to assault a person based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identitiy or disability.
Let's get straight to our CNN senior White House correspondent. Ed Henry, you actually did a fabulous piece for us today, giving a little background, Ed, on those that basically, their lives in inspired this legislation.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it's named for Matthew Shepard and James Byrd. Remember, Matthew Shepard killed because his sexual orientation many years ago. Maybe little solace in some ways for his family. Another family I profiled today, the Wheeler family from Pennsylvania, they're going to be here, as well as relatives of Matthew Shepard, because they've lost their loved ones, but they feel now that there's going to be some real teeth in the federal law to make sure that people aren't targeted quite so much because of their sexual orientation.
They realize the new law in and of itself is not going to erase hate, is not going to erase some of the anger out there directed at various people. But the fact of the matter is, they think that now there will be some teeth in the federal law so that if people do try to assault someone, for example, because of their sexual orientation, they'll really face federal sentences, and it will be much tougher. And this may discourage some of that activity.
So, I think the broader issue is that there have been a lot of gay rights groups as you know who are upset with this president, frankly. They don't think the pace of change has been quick enough. He talked about a radical reform in the campaign last year on a number of fronts, including health care and other domestic issues, but specifically on the gay rights agenda. Talked about overturning "don't ask, don't tell," for example, the ban on serving openly for homosexuals serving openly in the military.
And the Pentagon is saying look, we're still studying that, but there are a lot of people in the gay rights community are saying you need to move quicker than that. We expected some tougher action. When I have talked to some family members of victims in the last couple of days, what they're saying is at least this hate crimes law, the expansion of it is a step forward. It's not the full agenda that the president promised gay rights advocates last year, but they think this is a very strong step forward for civil rights, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And you know what? Let's talk about that for a minute. You know, we mentioned Matthew Shepard, we mentioned the Wheeler family, we mentioned James Byrd. Let's talk about the Wheeler family first, just in case our viewers don't know about what happened to their son. You actually sat down with the mom and the sister, correct?
HENRY: That's right. And they're from central Pennsylvania, and he was in middle school. He came out to his family and said, "Look, I'm gay," and he liked to dress differently than the other boys in school. And he at one point dyed his hair red-orange as his mom said affectionately, just like Ronald McDonald. Because he had a certain flair. He wanted to be different.
And his mom said that in a very warm way, that this was who he was. At one point in high school then, he came out to other kids in school and what not, and actually wrote a poem about his sexual orientation and stuff. And he got targeted, he got bullied. His sister talked about how this boy Jimmy Wheeler was urinated on in his gym class in high school by some of the football players.
And so that kind of stuff built up, built up until the point that Jimmy Wheeler eventually committed suicide. His mother and his sister were talking to me about how they know that this new law, because some conservatives have said, "Look, why do we need a special law on this?"
They realize -- the family does -- that the law in and of itself would not have stopped their son's suicide. But they think that maybe if a tougher law had been on the books, it might have discouraged some of the taunting and the teasing and bullying and what not that eventually did lead to his suicide, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And then Matthew Shepard. A similar story there of a young boy that came out telling his family that he was gay, and those at school as well. What happened to him, different than what happened with Jimmy Wheeler.
HENRY: Yes, he was killed brutally, as you recall. A Wyoming college student, many years ago, and, you know, that is something that's much more direct, where it was actually murder as opposed to someone committing suicide. And a law like this, if it had been on the books, there might have been much tougher consequences for those responsible.
And so that's why victims' families are going to be here. It's kind of an interesting scene. You can see people getting ready here at the White House for this ceremony. And the president coming out any moment.
Because this hate-crimes expansion is not a bill unto itself. It's actually part of a broader Defense Authorization bill, which has all kinds of stuff for the Pentagon, weapons systems and what not. So, if you look at the crowd, you've got people from the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rights community, here believing this is a very historic day, mixed in with military generals who are very proud about the money that's in this bill for weapons systems.
And so, what's really interesting is I bet some of these folks from the Human Rights Campaign will talk to some of these military leaders about "don't ask, don't tell." There might be a lobbying opportunity, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And we just saw the joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen there, step up to the stage. It looks like all the players are working their way up. So, I'm wondering, Ed, do we know that they're going to talk about -- because I'm seeing the military leaders here, now we're seeing members of the Senate, we're going to go ahead and try and identify -- OK, we're not going go to go break yet.
Since all the players, Ed, are coming out on stage, the president will follow, of course not far behind, so it looks like possibly since we're seeing the joint -- the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff up there that maybe we'll be talking about the defense spending bill first, and then maybe moving into the hate crimes part.
HENRY: Yes. Kyra, you can see leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee there. Leaders like Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I'm told that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will speak in addition to President Obama. And they will focus their comments on the defense portion of this legislation.
And then a little later tonight, about 6:00 Eastern, the president's going to be coming out and having another specific event tied to the hate crimes portion of this legislation. So, he's going to cover both, but he's going to start with the defense policy first, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. And the announcement was just made that the president of the United States and the vice president are coming up to the stage. As soon as the president begins to talk, we will take that live.
I know, Ed, you're going to be listening alongside with me and we'll talk about -- there you go. Secretary of Defense Bob Gates now at the mike, going to introduce the president and vice president. Let's go ahead and listen in.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all for coming. Please be seated.
It is a pleasure to be here today as the president signs the 2010National Defense Authorization Act, the result of countless hours of hard work and coordination on Capitol Hill.
Let me extend a special thanks to the members of Congress who are with us. Though some disagreements remain, the president and I are pleased that this legislation is a result of a bipartisan, collaborative process.
The bill being signed today is a critical part of the president's reform budget. It reflects his broad goals to improve and institutionalize support for war fighters and their families, whether under fire, recovering from wounds, or here at home, to rebalance the department's priorities to address a broad spectrum of -- of threats, and to overhaul the way the U.S. military develops and buys major weapons systems.
In other words, this bill is a necessary step toward reshaping the priorities of America's defense establishment and changing the way the Pentagon does business.
I would emphasize that this bill and this budget are just the beginning. The Pentagon is not the kind of place that can turn on a dime. It will take more than a single budget to get where we need to be.
To that end, the Defense Department has already started working on its fiscal year 2011 budget recommendation to the president, and I can assure you it will focus on institutionalizing and accelerating many of the priorities and reforms embraced by this legislation.
It is now my great honor to introduce the man whose vision and determination are key to the goal of reforming the defense budget process, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please, everybody, be seated.
(APPLAUSE)
Good afternoon. I have often said that meeting our greatest challenges would require not only changing policies in Washington, but changing the way business is done in Washington, that it would require a government that's more efficient and effective and less influenced by lobbyists and parochial politics. And I'm pleased to say that, when it comes to the defense bill I'm about to sign into law, we've taken some important steps towards that goal.
I want to acknowledge my outstanding vice president, Joe Biden.
(APPLAUSE)
Attorney General Eric Holder is here.
(APPLAUSE)
And all members of Congress who are joining us here today, thank you very much for your outstanding work. You can give members of Congress a round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, as commander-in-chief, I will always do whatever it takes to keep the American people safe, to defend this nation. And that's why this bill provides for the best military in the history of the world. It reaffirms our commitment to our brave men and women in uniform and our wounded warriors.
It expands family leave rights for the family members of our troops and veterans, and it makes investments in the capabilities necessary to meet 21st century challenges.
But I have always rejected the notion that we have to waste billions of dollars of taxpayer money to keep this nation secure. In fact, I think that wasting these dollars makes us less secure. And that's why we have passed a defense bill that eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense process, reforms that will better protect our nation, better protect our troops, and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
Now, at the outset, let me just say that this effort would not have been possible without an extraordinary secretary of defense, and so I want to thank publicly Bob Gates for his service to our nation.
(APPLAUSE)
Having -- having served under eight presidents of both parties, this is a man who understands that our defense budget isn't about politics, it's about the security of our country, and who knows that every dollar wasted is a dollar we can't spend to care for our troops or protect the homeland.
And over the last several months, he took that fight to Congress. He challenged conventional thinking, and he emerged with several critical victories. So, on behalf of the American people, I want to thank you, Bob, for your extraordinary efforts.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, Bob couldn't have been successful had it not been for the next person I want to introduce, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He provided wise counsel and stood with us in our efforts to initiate reform, even though it probably occasionally caused some heartburn inside of the Pentagon, as well, because change is hard.
And so I'm very grateful for his leadership and excellent work. Please give Mike a big round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
And, finally, I want to thank the members of Congress, particularly Senators Carl Levin and John McCain and Congressmen Ike Skelton and Buck McKeon, as the chairmen and ranking members of their respective committees. They did an outstanding job.
Now, this bill isn't perfect. This bill is an important step forward, but it's just a first step. There's still more waste we need to cut. There is still more fights that we need to win. Changing the culture in Washington will take time and sustained effort. And that's why Secretary Gates and I will continue waging these battles in the months and years ahead. But I will say that when Secretary Gates and I first proposed going after some of these wasteful projects, there were a lot of people in this town who didn't think it was possible, who were certain we were going to lose, who were certain that we would get steamrolled, who argued that the special interests were too entrenched and that Washington was simply too set in its ways.
And so I think it's important to note today we have proven them wrong. Today, we're putting an end to some wasteful projects that lawmakers have tried to kill for years. We're doing this because Secretary Gates and I both know that we can't build the 21st century military we need unless we fundamentally reform the way our defense establishment does business.
The Government Accountability Office, the GAO, has looked into 96major defense projects from the last year and found cost overruns that totaled $296 billion, an amount of money that would have paid ourtroops' salaries and provided benefits for their families for more than a year.
And we all know where this kind of waste comes from: indefensible, no-bid contracts that cost taxpayers billions and make contractors rich, special interests and their exotic projects that are years behind schedule and billions over budget, entrenched lobbyists pushing weapons that even our military says it doesn't want and doesn't need, now, the impulse in Washington to win political points back home by building things that we don't need at costs we can't afford.
This waste would be unacceptable at any time. But at a time when we're fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, it's inexcusable. It's unconscionable. It's an affront to the American people and to our troops, and it has to stop.
And already I've put an end to unnecessary no-bid contracts. I signed bipartisan legislation to reform defense procurement so weapon systems don't spin out of control. And even as we made critical investments in the equipment and weapons our troops do need, we're eliminating tens of billions of dollars in waste we don't need.
So, no longer will we be spending nearly $2 billion to buy more F-22 fighter jets that the Pentagon says they don't need. This bill also terminates troubled and massively over-budget programs such as the Future Combat Systems, the airborne lasers, the combat search and rescue helicopter, and a new presidential helicopter that costs nearly as much as Air Force One. I won't be flying on that.
At the same time, we accelerated or increased weapons programs needed to confront real and growing threats, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Littoral Combat Ship, and more helicopters and reconnaissance support for our troops at the front. And this bill also reduces waste and fraud in our contracting system, as well as our reliance on private contractors for jobs that federal employees have the expertise and the training to do.
So, today I'm pleased to say that we have proved that change is possible. It may not come quickly or all at once, but if you push hard enough, it does come eventually.
Now, speaking of that, there's one more long-awaited change contained within this legislation that I'll be talking about a little-- a little more later today.
After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are.
(APPLAUSE)
I -- I promised Judy Shepard when she saw me in the Oval Office that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband, Dennis, could join us for this event.
I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation.
And, Vicki, and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible. So -- and thank you for joining us here today. So...
(APPLAUSE)
So with that, I'm going to sign this piece of legislation. Thank you all for doing a great job. All right.
All right.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: (INAUDIBLE)
There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right!
PHILLIPS: There you go, two in when -- two in one, rather. President Obama signing a massive defense spending bill, the National defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010. It's going to include about 3.4 percent pay raise for the troops. It also includes $130 billion to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also includes funding for any troop increases in the war zones and also a broadening of federal hate crimes law that we mentioned that's also tied into this.
We talked about the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. and what happened to them, how they were brutally attacked and killed for either being gay or black. The president naming the Crimes Prevention Act, part of that bill after them, significantly expanding the hate crimes law to now include crimes based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.
We're going to take a quick look at some of the other top stories of the day as soon as we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Top stories. Three more arrests in the brutal gang rape and robbery of a 15-year-old girl. It happened outside of her high school homecoming dance in Richmond, California. And all five people are in custody now. But more arrests are expected. Police say as many as ten people could be involved in that actual assault while others just stood and watched.
Some optimistic news about the swine flu. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the H1N1 virus didn't mutate over the summer, as some feared, and that the current vaccine is the right one to battle it. The government is setting up 150,000 inoculation sites.
After delays by false starts and bad weather, NASA's new Ares IX rocket grabbed a piece of deep blue yonder today. The 327-foot tall rocket is larger than anything NASA's flown lately, including the space shuttles. Today's test flight took it up about 24 miles where it could ditch a reusable rocket booster into the Atlantic Ocean. It's being picked up by a ship.
Dust so thick you can barely see where you're going. High winds have kicked up some pretty big dust storms in parts of California and Arizona. Police in both states urging travelers to be extra careful while out on the roads. In some spots, the winds were gusting up to 50 miles an hour.
Well, skiers have to be loving the Rockies right now. Heavy snow coming down, right, Chad?
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Sounds good. And what do you think about the -- you have been watching the NASA video, right? The live picture, everything is good to go now? The weather came through?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, I'm worried about this, though. They had 48 hours to launch this thing. And there was no window because they weren't trying to catch the space station, they weren't trying to get anywhere, they were just trying to launch this thing. Can you imagine all the technicalities they're going to have to figure out when they only have a four-minute window to launch this thing? Not 48 hours to figure out all the problems? I don't know. They have a lot of work to do.
Seven hundred sensors on that one rocket to see how that one rocket did. Over $400 million for that space shot today.
PHILLIPS: Seven hundred sensors and a heck of a lot of pressure.
MYERS: Yes!
PHILLIPS: On so many levels. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow between 1:00 and 3:00 Eastern time. Meanwhile, Drew Griffin in for Rick Sanchez right now.
