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'A Soldier's Story'; Bullied to Death?; Carnival Ride Passengers Trapped
Aired March 30, 2010 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is 2:00 on the East Coast. I've got my friend Jason Carroll with me. Jason and I were roommates here in New York in an office. We didn't live in the office, we just shared the office. But Jason's here, and he's got a great story for you. We were just catching up a little bit.
But let me tell you what's coming up in the next hour, and then we're going to get to Jason.
Listen, you probably heard about this. This one made me feel sick.
A shocking case of kids allegedly bullying a classmate to the point of suicide. Prosecutors say it went on for months.
This is what I want to know -- where were the adults? Why did no one step in? Apparently, they knew about this.
We're going to talk about this up top, and then I'll have some things to say about it in my "XYZ."
Plus, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter joins me live to talk about a growing problem in his city -- flash mobs. They used to be harmless, they used to be fun, but not anymore. They have now erupting into violence in a flash. We'll hear what Philadelphia is doing about it and why you need to worry about this coming to your city.
Also, health care, taxes, government. Tea Party activists have made their mark on all of it, and they are a force to be reckoned with in the midterm elections. They're on the road right now, and the CNN Express is alongside them.
We're live. We'll tell you what they're up to.
All right. He shelled his cap and gown for a helmet and camo. Now he's getting another graduation.
For the past few months CNN has been following a young soldier's journey from high school to boot camp.
As I promised you, Jason Carroll is here. He's been giving us updates along the way. He joins me now.
Jason, tell us the story. It's fascinating. We've been watching him. Now what's happened?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been great. We've been watching Will McClain as he has progressed through this Army experience. It's really been a learning experience for us as well.
You know, he's met all of the qualifications. All of the hard work and discipline for Will McClain has finally paid off, but that was not the case for everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next. Come on over.
CARROLL (voice-over): When Will McClain looks in the mirror these days, he sees a different person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your watch back on.
CARROLL: In his 15 weeks of training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he has dropped 54 pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the ground.
CARROLL: He tackled the physical challenges, the mental, the psychological, and completed weapons qualification.
Now, the day has come for Will and the other members of his company to graduate and move on to their next assignments. Will is ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want nothing to do with Missouri. I want out of here.
CARROLL: This is the last time members of Alpha Company, 35th engineer battalion will stand together.
(on camera): We are backstage. Will is just about to do his ceremonies. We're just a few minutes away. How are you feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm feeling good. You wait so long for it and now it is finally here where we are graduating and getting ready to move on.
CARROLL: Any butterflies for you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't wait to get this over with.
CARROLL (voice-over): Will knows his family won't be there to share in his accomplishment -- the cost of travel from California, too much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should have been there.
CARROLL: So we showed Will's mother the tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looked great in that video. I am very proud. He achieved something that was all him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Private William McClain, Rosamond, California.
CARROLL: It was another soldier Will missed on this day as he received his combat engineer crest, his battle buddy, Demetrius Daniels, the recruit assigned to him for every step of the training back in the barracks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't able to participate. Hopefully, everything will pull through in my favor.
CARROLL: His graduation hanging in the balance, Daniels was disciplined for disarming an alarm to sneak off base to play pool. His future plans continuing on with Will to Fort Stuart, now uncertain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a very immature decision. If I could turn back the hands of time, I wouldn't have actually did it.
CARROLL: Does it hurt when you think about Will, your battle buddy, and some of the other guys going through what they went through today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. The hardest part is disappointing myself, drill sergeants, and people who have faith in me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all make mistakes. Hopefully, he will be all right from it. He is a smart kid. He just made a bad choice.
CARROLL: As Will says his good-byes, he can't leave without thanking Drill Sergeant Ricks, who pushed him and the others every step of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No screams today. They are just doing their jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You really get to see people transformed and become soldiers. It does give you a lot of pride in what you do.
CARROLL: After 15 weeks, Will McClain and the others leave as soldiers. Will's new life as a combat engineer is about to begin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, 174 recruits started; 156 ended up graduating. According to his superiors, Demetrius Daniels is absolutely considered a very good soldier. We know the guy. He's got some great skills. And I'm told that that will be taken into account while the Army, Ali, decides his fate.
VELSHI: That 170-some-odd you said, then 156, is that about the normal?
CARROLL: It's about 90 percent. You know, generally, when the Army gets these recruits in, they generally keep about 90 that go through graduation -- 90 percent.
VELSHI: Are these people who drop out because they're not interested, or do they not make it through some testing?
CARROLL: Good question. You know, it's various reasons. Sometimes physically they can't make the demands, sometimes they are discharged for discipline reasons. It could be a number of reasons, but usually about 90 percent, even in this day and age.
VELSHI: Anybody has to leave because they tell that drill sergeant where to go and stuff like that?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Jason, so good to see you.
CARROLL: All right.
VELSHI: Jason Carroll.
All right. In Massachusetts, here's a story you're going to want to know a little bit more about.
Nine teenagers have been charged in what prosecutors say was a three-month-long bullying campaign. Here's the tough part -- it led to the suicide of their classmate, Phoebe Prince.
On the afternoon of January the 14th, Phoebe, a 15-year-old girl, was found hanging in a stairway that led to her family's second-floor apartment. The bullying had supposedly taken place for months.
The motivation? A brief dating relationship Prince had with a male student six weeks earlier. Investigators say in the hours before her death, Phoebe was abused in her school library, the lunchroom, as well as the hallways.
A canned drink was allegedly thrown at her as she walked home. And on top of it all, the bullying of Phoebe Prince was apparently common knowledge to students and faculty.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL, NORTHWESTERN MASSACHUSETTS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The harassment reported to have occurred that day in the school's library appears to have been conducted in the presence of a faculty and several students, but went unreported to school administrators until after Phoebe's death. The actions or inactions of some adults at the school are troublesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: All right. The investigation found that the actions of the faculty did not amount to criminal behavior. But could anti- bullying laws have stopped this? Forty-one states currently have anti-bullying laws on the books. Both the Massachusetts House and Senate, the state where this occurred, has passed versions of a law, but they disagree on whether to require schools to train their staff on bullying prevention.
I want to bring in CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom.
Lisa, this story really caught my attention. And I don't know what to think about it. I don't know whether to think anti-bullying laws are the answer, or anti-bullying training for teachers are the answer, or parents who are able to understand what their kids are up to and step in is the answer.
What do you think?
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it is a very disturbing case, Ali. And here's my take on it.
Why do we use the word "bullying" for behavior that, if it was done to adults, we would call stalking, harassment, threats? I mean, if someone was sending threats to my physical safety, to me, by text, on a daily basis, if someone were throwing objects at me on a daily basis --
VELSHI: Yes.
BLOOM: -- I would call the police. Why do we not do that if it's a child who is the victim?
VELSHI: I guess the question then is, where is that line? Because some people will say kids will be kids.
BLOOM: Right.
VELSHI: Is there some standard by which we decide what is the line? Is the line that you would use the same as the line that kids should use? If I threw something at you and abused you around the workplace, and you'd say this is too much, this is something the police get involved in --
BLOOM: Right.
VELSHI: -- is that what the line is?
BLOOM: That's right. I think we have to get over this "kids will be kids" mentality.
This isn't the first suicide that's resulted from bullying, and some kids act out violently, as we saw in the Columbine massacre, when they perceive themselves to be the victims of bullying. Bullying implies that it's OK because it's just kids being kids.
If someone is threatening the physical safety of someone, if the behavior goes on day after day, month after month, as it did in this case, if it's making the girl so sick she doesn't want to go to school, and ultimately is hanging herself, obviously this is behavior that's beyond the pale. I think we should start treating this as the Catholic Church finally started treating molestation, which is this is not just an internal matter, this is something that has to be reported to authorities. These are crimes being committed against our children, and we have to be serious about it before we have more of these terrible outcomes.
VELSHI: Yes. All right.
Well, when we talk about crimes, whether we talk about it in the church or we talk about crimes out there in society, we talk about some of it being -- some of the process being punishment and some of it being deterrent.
I want to take a quick break. When we come back, I want to ask Lisa what the best punishment is and what the best deterrents are when it comes to bullying that leads kids to do things like this poor girl committing suicide.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. Lisa Bloom is back with us talking about this tragic situation where nine teenagers have now been charged in bullying that led to the death, the suicide death, of a 15-year-old girl.
Lisa, I guess the decision on how to deal with bullying, whether it's process in school or whether it's, you know, criminal statutes, I guess the issue is, how much of this is punishing those nine students that led to this girl's death and how much of it is deterring kids from bullying or making their parents understand the consequences of their kids being involved in bullying?
BLOOM: I think all of the resources of the law have to be brought to bear -- criminal charges against kids who break the law, but let's not forget the school here. I mean, this was an educating moment, as educators like to call it, because some of this behavior allegedly went on right in front of the teachers and the administrators who did nothing. And so you can imagine this 15-year- old girl thinking no one is going to help me, there's no recourse for me except to take my own life.
I mean, that's the tragedy here. Why didn't the teachers and the administrators step in and say this is wrong, and if you continue, you're going to suspended or expelled? Why weren't the parents of those who were bullying called and told to do something about their kids or there would be repercussions? I think there's a major civil case against the school.
VELSHI: It makes a lot of sense, Lisa, what you're saying. It makes a lot of sense, I'm sure, to everybody who is listening to this. But the reality is, is this supposed to be policy that's implemented in every school and every school district across the country? Because what you're saying sounds like common sense. I guess my issue here is, what do you do when things that sound like common sense aren't done? Does that fall to the law to deal with?
BLOOM: I think it is. Yes, I think it is when we're talking about our children.
I mean, we parents entrust the school to take care of our children, and something as basic as protecting them from bullying has to be written into the policies of the schools and the state laws that govern education. Teachers and administrators are the adults. They should act like adults. They should take action. And if they're not going to apply their common sense, I think we have to require them to do it because they're entrusted with the health and safety of our children.
VELSHI: All right, Lisa. I mean, this is a shocking story, and it troubles me that we have to have a discussion about whether or not the control of bullying should be in the hands of the law. I hope just the threat of that happening is enough to have parents and teachers consider what their kids are up to in cases like this.
BLOOM: Me too.
VELSHI: Lisa, thanks for joining me. It's also a pleasure to see you.
BLOOM: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: Lisa Bloom, CNN, legal analyst.
I want to just show you some pictures coming in from Miami-Dade.
Fire and rescue units are on the scene of the Dade County Fair right now. There are riders who are stuck on a ride.
Check this out. They are stuck on a ride, approximately 80 to 100 feet in the air, on the Space Roller.
Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue are on the scene trying to deal with this. This is at the Dade County Fair.
We will just take a look and see, again, if we've got these pictures.
There we go. You can see it again.
It's a carnival ride at the Dade County Fair. We can see the Miami-Dade Rescue. They're having some problems with that pictures, but we'll stay on top of this for you and keep you posted on what's going on.
There are people stuck on a ride, and they appear to be 80 to 100 feet in the air. And rescue workers are trying to get them down.
All right. A day after a deadly terrorist attack, people in Moscow are showing their resilience.
We're going to take you straight there and show you what's going on.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Want to get you some more pictures brought to us by our affiliate, WSVN.
This is from the Dade County Fair in the Miami area. This is a ride called the Space Roller.
You can see what appears to be two riders stuck in a very -- what appears to be a slightly unorthodox position. They appear to be sideways.
And Miami-Dade Rescue workers are on the scene trying to figure out how to get them down. Shouldn't be too complicated deal, obviously, because these are mechanical rides, and there should be a way to do it. But there are two riders you can see there. That's what we can see, at least. And we haven't confirmed what's going on, but these are pictures from WSVN, from the air, two riders that appear to be stuck on something called the Space Roller at the Dade County Fair in Miami.
We're going to keep on top of this and try and bring you more information as soon as we have them. I'm just trying to get more information on this Space Roller and what it is.
But that's what we see, two riders on the Space Roller ride, and they appear to be stuck in the air. There we go. We're getting a better picture of it so you can get some sense of it.
This thing rotates. It looks like the arm lifts off the ground and then people rotate.
So they are about 80 to 100 feet in the air. So if you're going to be stuck, that's probably not the most comfortable place to be stuck in. But for now they appear to be stationary and emergency workers are on the scene.
We'll keep you posted on what's going on in Miami at the Dade County Fair.
OK. A day after terror attacks on Moscow's subway system, you would think people there would be scared to get on the train, right? Well, not really.
CNN's Matthew Chance joins us live from Moscow.
And is often the case after major terrorist events like this in a major city that uses public transit, people have to get to work. That's how they get to work. That's how they get around the city. And it seems they're returning, Matthew, to the subway. MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
I was on that subway this morning at rush hour, the exact time, in fact, the bombers detonated their explosives the day before. Really surprised to see that so many people had chosen to use the subway, hundreds of thousands of them, in fact, across the city, back on the subway at rush hour almost as if nothing had happened. Although when you speak to them a bit more closely, you can see that there's -- you can tell from what they say to you there's a great deal of obviously concern that they're sort of running the gauntlet, that even though there have been two suicide bomb attacks in the past day, you know, there could be more in the future. And so people very frightened about the situation there.
Now, moving to the authorities, they're focusing on the investigation, obviously, trying to work out, you know, what was behind this, who was behind it. They've issued two photographs of the two female suicide bombers they say detonated their explosives on these two metro stations in the heart of the Russian capital.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, essentially saying that, you know, there needs to be more done by the investigators. A matter of honor, he said, by the investigators -- for the investigators to bring those responsible for organizing these killings on the Moscow metro to justice.
Let's listen to what Vladimir Putin has to say.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We know the masterminds and accomplices have lain in hiding, but it is a matter of honor for law enforcement agencies to bring them out from the sewer into God's light. I'm sure this will be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Well, Vladimir Putin using his trademark tough-guy rhetoric there, Ali, talking directly to the Russian people, using language that many of them will appreciate.
The latest death toll, by the way, is now confirmed at 39 people, but there are still 70 people in hospital, some of them with very serious injuries indeed -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Matthew. We'll stay on top of the story. Thanks very much.
Matthew Chance joining us from Moscow with a story that people are getting back on to the subway.
All right. This hour's top stories.
Health care reform, part two. One week after he signed a landmark bill aimed at covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans, President Obama signed a bill that was meant to fix it. The fixes increase government subsidies for lower-income families and postpone a tax on high-value health plans. They also include a major change in the federal student loan program, and that's why President Obama chose a community college in Virginia for the ceremony.
A pretty big day for physicists trying to unlock the secrets of the Big Bang. They successfully smashed two beams of protons together in a machine called the Large Hadron Collider. By the way, this machine is 17 miles long.
The goal? To replicate the conditions just after the universe was created to better understand how it was created and what brought us to this point. Actually, fascinating stuff.
And an earthquake just rattled the Indian Ocean region. It hit off India's Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4. No immediate reports of injuries or damage. Authorities say there's a small chance of a localized tsunami.
We'll follow the situation and bring you any developments as they come in.
Well, a slow-moving storm system is basically swamping the Northeast. Boy, don't I know it. Chad called me a weather pigpen. Everywhere I go, there seems to be bad weather.
Lots of folks have not dried out from the last round of floods. Chad is going to join me next while I dry out here in New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
VELSHI: Chad Myers throwing it down. I'll bet you I'll get some comments on this. Send your comments to my Facebook alivelshi --
MEYERS: Trust me, the globe is warming. Trust me on this one. We know we're losing ice caps. We know we're losing climate.
VELSHI: OK, so, we know where Chad has come down on this one. All right, you can go to my official Ali Velshi page, those of you out here who have something to say about this. I think it's always good to rustle up the discussion about whether the global is warming and who or what you think is responsible for it.
MYERS: Exactly the case right there. It's going up, but why?
VELSHI: Fair enough. All of that is good. Chad, always a pleasure to see you.
MYERS: Sure, buddy.
VELSHI: I'll try to leave the rainy weather behind when I come back to Atlanta.
MYERS: All right, deal.
VELSHI: I tell you where it was nice weather, by the way. It's about 72 degrees and -- with light winds in Miami. This is what we're looking at right now. This is at the fair in -- in Miami, it's called the Miami-Dade County Fair and Expo. Those are emergency workers, rescue workers, getting ready to try and get two people who are stuck on a -- on a -- the Space Roller ride, out of being stuck.
They're up in the air. They're 80 -- about 80 -- between 80 and 100 feet up. That's not -- the one that's moving is not what you're looking at, but just beyond that you can see -- there you go. There you go. Two people stuck completely in the wrong direction that you're supposed to be stuck on. So, there are spokes on this ride, there's an arm that goes up and down and then on that arm there are several spokes. So the arm is up, and they are stuck on the spoke that is highest in the air.
We are -- it does look like it's nice weather. They don't have serious wind conditions there. It's 72 right now, winds are about 9 miles per hour.
Let me tell you a little bit about what we know about this. Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue has told us that they received a call about 1:54. So, just a little over half an hour ago from the -- from the Miami-Dade County Fair and Expo, reporting that there are two people stuck on the ride. A technical rescue team is responding to the scene. That might be them that you saw in the cherry picker, getting ready to go out there.
At the moment, this doesn't look all too complicated. Basically, it appears that they've got to get up there and get those people, or they've got to get that ride to move into position and be lowered.
If you pull out -- as we pull out, we're getting these pictures from WSVN, you can see, there's five -- well, one, two, three, four, five -- one, two, three, four, five, six spokes on the ride. And the ride is there.
Now take a look here. We've got the rescuers on that green device with the arm pulling into position roughly underneath the ride. We saw them all strapping up, so that they are secure. And what they're going to do is, it appears that they're going to lift the cherry picker up, up 80 to 100 feet, and try and get some sense of whether or not they can bring that machine down or they can get those guys and put them into the cherry picker and get them out. Obviously of paramount importance is making sure that they get them off of that ride safely, and I suppose they're evaluating that right now.
That's all the information we have from Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue, but they do say that they've got technical experts on the scene. As I said, weather is good, 72 degrees and about 9-mile-per- hour winds. So nothing serious out there.
Can't get a sense of what those two people are feeling up there. It can't be the worst thing to stuck in 72 degrees, but it does look like a slightly uncomfortable position to be in.
We will stay on that and let you know what happens and how that rescue is progressing. All right, another issue. Let's take you to another city, Philadelphia. You may have read about this in the newspaper or seen something about it. There are these flash mobs. What a crazy thing? Flash mobs -- groups getting together, groups of kids getting together, largely finding out where to gather because of social media, and then they're going and sometimes they're getting together. Sometimes it's silly, but sometimes it's actually getting a little harmful. It's getting a bit violent and there's some vandalism going on.
What is the cause of this? Is it anger? Is it boredom? Is it just kids being just kids? I'm going to talk to the mayor of Philadelphia about his response and the city's response to these flash mobs when we get back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I want to have this conversation about flash mobs, but before that, let me take you back to the Miami-Dade County Fair and Expo. You can see that ride, the two riders, right at the top of your screen, there are two riders, one on top of each other, stuck on the Space Roller at the county fair.
And you can see just at the bottom of your screen, right where it says "BREAKING NEWS" you can see the rescuers on the cherry picker now approaching those people. This is happening now as you look at it. Pictures courtesy of our affiliate WSVY, these are the Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue rescuers who are up in a cherry picker, in a basket. We watched them secure themselves to that basket so that they are not in danger as they go up there.
Now, these two riders who are stuck in that ride, it's a ride that has a big arm that comes off the ground, and on that arm, there are six spokes. They are on one spoke, and it is the one that is highest off the ground, about 80 to 100 feet. So that's the height that we're getting to right now with these workers. They -- they have been going higher and higher.
As they pulled up closer to the two riders that are stuck, they appear to be talking to them, but it does not appear to be getting higher at the moment. The basket doesn't appear to be getting higher. So, they're doing one of two things at this point. They are either trying to figure out how to lower the arm that the two riders are on, get them either to the ground or closer to the ground, or try to rescue them.
Now, you can see that cherry picker is now retreating back to the ground. It is going back -- let me just -- OK. So, I'm just hearing from my executive producer that we are hearing from the affiliate that there would be too much weight in that cherry picker to take these people out who are stuck on the ride and put them into the cherry picker. So, what they're doing is they're lowering the cherry picker down to the ground, they're going to take at least one of the rescuers out of it and then try and get it back up there and try and get these folks stuck on the ride out of it. Now, the weather conditions right now about 72 degrees. As you can see, it looks like it's sunny in Miami and there do not appear to be heavy winds. The winds appear to be about 9 miles an hour, so there's not a threat of blowing these guys off of it. Although, one always wonders why the ride is stuck. I always wonder why these rides get stuck, given that the mechanical -- I mean, there's some sort of an override which allows them to bring back down and then bring the large arm back down to the ground.
We don't know any of that right now. All we know is the people are stuck, 80 to 100 feet off the ground and Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue are on the scene and they are going to try and -- I'm also hearing now that they are getting another crew in there with 100-foot ladder. They're going to try and figure out which is the safest way to get these two riders off of that ride, whether it's the ladder or whether it's the cherry picker. Or, I assume, the option still remains of trying to figure out how to get this -- this ride actually into the right position it's supposed to be in, but we hear that ladder is about ten minutes away.
So, they're still determining the best way to get these two riders off the ride. That must be getting uncomfortable for them. It does not look like they're in a position of danger. They're not in a precarious position, because they seem to be belted in or secured into that ride, so that's the good news. The bad news is they're stuck 80 to 100 feet in the air. So, we'll continue to watch this for you and bring the developments as they come in.
Let's go from people to Philadelphia right now.
This started out -- and by the way, this didn't start out in Philadelphia. It just started out as something fun to do. It's all over the world, it's a pop-culture phenomenon. Groups of young people brought together on the spur of the minute through texting and other social media, like this. You're watching this, this is a spontaneous dancing in London last year.
Or this group going at it -- let me show you this pillow fight. This happened in New York, an old-fashioned pillow fight. People found out they're supposed to gather in a place, bring a pillow and have a pillow fight.
Many of you may remember that spontaneous snowball fight after the huge snowstorm in Washington last month, which was fine until somebody actually came out and pulled a gun unrelated to this whole matter.
These are all seemingly harmless events that are tagged with the label "flash mob". But recent mob gatherings in Philadelphia have not just been a bunch of kids out to have fun. Four of them since December of last year erupted into violence and most of those taking part were teens, many of them were black and most of them were from poor neighborhoods. Their targets were predominantly white business districts.
Officials say possible causes are unemployment among teens, sharp budget cuts for afterschool programs, lack of parental involvement with their kids.
Philly, as I said, has not been the only city to experience flash mobs. In the past year, flash mobs have occurred in Boston, in Brooklyn, in South Orange, New Jersey. In some cases, teens were arrested and innocent bystanders were just injured, in some cases stores were vandalized.
Joining me now is Mayor Michael Nutter from Philadelphia to talk with me a little about this. Mayor Nutter, good to see you again. Thanks for being with us.
MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Good to see you, Ali. Thank you.
VELSHI: You have taken a pretty hard line on this. You've sort of warned everybody involved that your police are not going to stand by and watch this happen and you've imposed some restrictions.
Tell me a little bit about what Philadelphia is doing to combat these flash mobs.
NUTTER: Well, we're taken a number of steps. And I didn't see the clip that you had on. That may have been the one from Saturday before last, down on South Street.
The first thing I want to say is that the overwhelming majority of the young people in Philadelphia or those who think they are young, are good young people. They go to school, they're not getting in trouble, they don't engage in that kind of negative behavior. But every now and then you get a couple knuckleheads out in large groups, thinking that they're, you know, kind of anonymous to some extent and can do bad, stupid, and slightly -- somewhat dangerous things.
We won't tolerate that kind of activity and behavior. We have a great center city, as well as commercial corridors in our neighborhoods. Anywhere in Philadelphia we want folks to be able to go, to assemble, to have a good time. We want teenagers to be able to go out as well, but we want them to be mindful of their behavior and conduct themselves appropriately.
You mentioned, you know, there are theories all over the place. I think this is -- really boils down to a small number of young people, very few, engaged in some bad behavior, which sometimes teenagers do engage in and don't always make the best --
VELSHI: Yep.
NUTTER: -- decisions. They're going to get themselves in trouble. Some have already been charged with felonies, and parents are going to be held responsible as well.
We're not playing around. We're very, very serious about this.
VELSHI: Mayor, hang on for a second. Stay right with me. We've got two stories going at the same time. We've got this ride that these two riders are stuck on in Miami. And what you can see there is the riders now appear to be facing the right direction. They are trying to move this ride very, very slowly.
As we said, there are a couple of options rescuers are looking at, that is a cherry picker or a 100-foot ladder, but as you can see they are trying a different option now and they are trying to very, very slowly move this ride -- I guess mechanically or by human force. You can see some people pulling at things there. You can see workers going under these -- there they are. Look, you can see they're almost close enough to touch these riders.
These were riders who a few moments ago were 80 to 100 feet in the air, so it appears that they have somehow manipulated this ride and got it to lower closer to the ground so that they are able to somehow get these riders off of it.
That was what the picture looked like just a few minutes ago. They were sideways 100 feet in the air, 80 to 100 feet in the air. Now, it seems, that they've lowered the arm on this ride and somehow got these folks facing the right direction so that they are -- they're the same -- they're facing the way you're supposed to be facing when you're sitting.
They do not look awfully stressed. You can see their legs dangling there, and they look -- it's very hard to get a perspective from this. These pictures are from WSVN, our affiliate in Miami.
They have been in this position -- this was reported at 1:54 p.m., so the two kids have been sitting -- I don't know if they're kids actually. These two people have been sitting on this ride for about an hour. Look, you can see the fellow on the end sort of stretching his hands a little bit.
They appear to be much closer to the ground than we saw them to be. And you saw people walking -- you can see there, somebody walking around under them, very close to them, so it appears they are just about there. They're pulling something underneath them. That looks like a hose of some sort, and it looks like they're almost on the ground.
We'll bring it back to you when they are. I want to go back to Mayor Michael Nutter in Philadelphia, who has been talking about the flash mobs.
Mayor, the reports have said they are African-American kids in white business districts. Do you think there is anything political about this, or this just happens to be kids and that's the demographic of the city?
NUTTER: I don't think it's political or racial or anything else. You know, after play-off and World Series wins, we had a ton of folks out on Broad Street and some other areas of Philadelphia. They happened to be white, there was no racial component added to that. I mean, sometimes in large groups or celebrations or whatever the case may be, I mean sometimes people do dumb things. So -- VELSHI: So there's nothing -- nothing you've heard --
NUTTER: Yes. We're taking it serious, but I mean we don't need to do a whole, you know, kind of social science class about this. Tons of young people get together every day and nothing happens, so --
VELSHI: So, what's the issue here? Is the concept of the flash mob the idea that people, through texting and social media, get invited to come to a central place and do something? Is that a problem --
NUTTER: Yes.
VELSHI: -- because we've seen that manifested in ways that are completely appropriate?
NUTTER: yes. I mean, again, I didn't see your video earlier.
VELSHI: Yes.
NUTTER: I've heard about this.
You know, if folks want to get together and have a pillow fight, you know, I'll be out there giving out the first 100 pillows. But if you want to act stupid, then you're going to be among the first 100 to get arrested.
So, you know, it's a new form of media, it's a way of communicating. I mean, you know, have a 15-year-old daughter. She, other than in school, she texts morning, noon, and night. She stays in touch with her friends, they're not doing this kind of stuff.
So we need our parents to get much more actively involved in the lives of that their children. We provide a ton of after-school and weekend programs. But again, the incident from about ten days or so ago was 11:00 at night on a Saturday night. I mean, I don't know any government in the country that's providing entertainment and activities for children. That really is the parents' responsibility.
So, our police department, our public safety sectors, our prosecutors, our courts, everyone is working in conjunction to make sure that we send the right message. You want to come out and have a good time? Wonderful. You want to come out and act like a knucklehead? You're going to get arrested, bad things will happen to you, you're going to get a record and it's not good, it's not a good outcome for you.
So, so far, I think the young people and their parents are getting the message. There are a lot of other things that we can do and we're going to stay on top of it.
But you need to get on back to Philly and we're encouraging folks, come on to Philadelphia, you're going to have a great time.
VELSHI: You know, I always love it.
NUTTER: I know.
VELSHI: And I always love a little street party or street fair or something like, so we'll do that. That's what we'll do.
NUTTER: Very good.
VELSHI: Mayor Michael Nutter, thank you very much.
Michael Nutter, talking about these flash mobs that are beleaguering the city a little bit.
All right, Tea Party ralliers taking their protest on the road. The Tea Part Express is in Salt Lake City right now. The CNN Express is alongside figuring out what they're doing. Ed Lavandera is right there. We'll be visiting with him in just a moment.
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VELSHI: OK, here we go. Everything turned out fine at the Miami-Dade County Fair. The two people -- who I'm now told might be two women. I have no idea. Don't listen to me. I'm telling you, there were two people, I knew that much. They are on the ground right now. They were able to get that ride down off the ground. They were 80 to 100 feet in the air, sideways. Rescue workers managed to somehow get that ride down to the ground, and here you see these folks walking away.
They look quite happy. There do not seem to be emergency services around them. They are being escorted away, and happy ending to the story in Miami. Thanks to our affiliates who helped us out with the coverage of that.
All right, "The Ed Henry Segment" would normally be here. There's our opening for it, but Ed is taking some much-deserved time off this week. He'll be back on the program with us next week. So, let's -- we just decided we'd keep an Ed in the segment.
Nevada, Arizona, now Utah all have big Senate races coming up this November, all are on the map of the Tea Party Express. Right now, the bus is parked in Salt Lake City. It's stop number eight on a 44-city, 20-day tour that ends on Tax Day, April 15th. All of it building up to a Tax-Day protest in the nation's capital.
The CNN Express is following along, and because we've got to get an Ed at this time of day, Ed Lavandera is live in Salt Lake City.
Ed, good to see you. This movement has gained a lot of steam. President Obama even talking about it, it's describing the movement as a loose amalgam of forces, some of whom are legitimately concerned about the deficit. You heard anything about that on your travels?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, President Obama made those comments on one of the morning shows this morning, and, you know, it will be kind of a line of questioning I think we'll approach many of the people that show up at the rally today in Salt Lake City. One of the things that President Obama said is that -- even though I think he's a political realist and doesn't think he can really attract thinks many of the people or get the support of many of the people showing up at these rallies -- the president did say that he thought there was a faction of the Tea Party movement that he could win over, especially if he were to focus more intensely on the questions of the deficit and that sort of thing, which is interesting.
We'll ask around today at many of the people that show up at this rally today in Salt Lake City. But I'm -- you know, this will be a very skeptical audience. One point yesterday we saw a sign, one of the gentleman in the crowd had a sign that said "Fear Obama More Than Osama Bin Laden." So you know, that really kind of gives you a sense of just how much distrust there is about -- for President Obama in this crowd. So, it will be interesting to see their reactions to President Obama's comments on that, Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Ed, as always, enjoy yourself on that bus. Don't get into a rumble with the folks from the other bus.
Ed Lavandera, on the CNN Express, driving alongside the Tea Party Express.
I have to say, I've seen both buses, I've been with them together. I think the CNN Express can outrun it, but we'll not get into that sort of thing. Ed, good to see you.
When I come back, earlier we talked about the Massachusetts girl allegedly bullied to the appointment of suicide. This is a real wake- up call for adults. I'll have a message for you straight ahead.
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VELSHI: Time now for "The X-Y-Z of It."
At the top of the hour we talked about a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl, allegedly bullied for months by her classmates to the point of suicide. Phoebe Prince hanged herself and now nine other teens are charged in connection with this tragic and shocking case. Perhaps worst of all, there's evidence that some adults, including school faculty and staff, knew of the bullying but didn't do enough to stop it. Now, a young girl is dead, nine other kids' lives have been changed forever and families are being torn apart.
But perhaps something positive can come from this tragedy -- a wake-up call to parents and teens and other adults. If this does not make you want to get more involved in your kids' lives, nothing will. We have an obligation to protect our kids from being bullied and keeping them from turning into bullies.
We've all heard the saying, kids can be cruel. Well, you know what? Adults can be aloof, and when it comes to children, we can't afford to be that way. If you suspect your child is bullying or is bullying someone else, please step in. Talk to his or her teachers, principals or friends' parents. Most importantly, talk to him or her. Get involved in their lives and don't take no for an answer. We're not talking about playground horseplay here. We're talking about actions that could scar a child forever. Actions that could turn into something much worse later in life.
So, please, talk to your kids. Listen to your kids. Get involved with your kids. Let's all try to make sure Phoebe Prince's death was not in vain.
That's my "X-Y-Z." Time for "RICK'S LIST" after this break.
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