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Plane Skids Off Icy Runway; Militants Bulldoze Ancient City; Remembering Selma's "Bloody Sunday"; An Apology to Working Mothers

Aired March 06, 2015 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, what you're looking at now are pictures of the plane actually being moved. Overnight they delicately lifted that up with cranes and then moved it off to another location across the tarmac. Had to back it off of that berm and then moved it to another part of the airport so they can inspect it and figure out if anything can be salvaged from that plane.

This as the airport is still operational on one airstrip right now. They are able to get planes in and out of here. There are some cancellations, some delays, but it is amazing it is still up and running here at LaGuardia but they are certainly trying to get that second runway open as quickly as possible.

Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Miguel Marquez, reporting live from LaGuardia this morning, thank you.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the man who stabbed U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in Seoul. A district court said it was issued -- said the warrant was issued as the court has reason enough to believe in its validity and need.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an ancient city rising from the desert, now erased by the latest ISIS attack. We'll take you live to Baghdad.

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COSTELLO: ISIS has again showed its contempt for anything outside its narrow hate-filled view of the world. Its fighters have again tried to erase history, this time bulldozing an ancient city in the northern Iraqi town of Nimrud. The runs, undergoing meticulous excavation in this file video, date back as many as 3,000 years. The attack comes after this propaganda video showing ISIS militants reducing antiquities to rubble in the Mosul museum. CNN's Ben Wedeman live in Baghdad to tell us more.

Hi, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, hi, Carol.

Well, we've learned about this from the Iraqi ministry of tourism and antiquities who said that yesterday ISIS dispatched bulldozers to this site about 18 miles to the south of Mosul and began razing this ancient city. The most significant ruins there dating back to 1300 B.C. Now, ISIS has yet to actually say they did it. They haven't posted a video along the lines what we saw them posting from the Mosul Museum last week. But it may be simply a matter of time before that happens.

Let's keep in mind, however, on the one hand they like to go out symbolically destroying the heritage of humanity, but they also have another interest. You know, in 1989, the Iraqi archaeologists found what was known as the treasure of Nimrud, more than 160 priceless pieces of jewelry and other items of gold and silver and, obviously, we know that ISIS, one of their sources of income is this sort of thing, artifacts that they can sell on the black market. So probably before they even sent those bulldozers there, they have probably been digging away, looking for things they can sell. And keep in mind, that since 2011, the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring, you've had unrest in Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Iraq, all countries rich with archeological sites. With the collapse of state authority, it's been a field day for looters.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman -- Ben Wedeman reporting live from Baghdad.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, he was one of Martin Luther King's closest aides during the Selma march. Now, 50 years later, former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young is talking to CNN about the experience.

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COSTELLO: It is known as Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. A day when hundreds descended on Selma, Alabama, in a bid to secure voting rights for African-Americans. Tomorrow, some of the original marchers will return to Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 50th anniversary of an event that's viewed by many as the turning point in the civil rights movement.

Among those attending, President Obama. And his appearance comes as a new CNN poll gives a snapshot on America's views on race since he was elected. Just 15 percent say relations between blacks and white have gotten better over the last eight years, while 39 percent say they've actually gotten worse. Forty-five percent, however, say race relations remain the same.

One of the activists whose work in Selma and beyond paved the way for President Obama is Andrew Young. He's the former mayor of Atlanta and U.N. ambassador. He talked with my colleague Fredricka Whitfield on the eve of the Selma milestone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Selma, the Edmund Pettus Bridge represents both a painful beginning and a hopeful continuum. Among those who helped coordinate these movements for change, Andrew Young. He wasn't among those who walked across this bridge and was beaten that Sunday, March 7, 1965, but he was on the other side helping to coordinate the hundreds of people who had turned out. Today, Reverend Andrew Young is 82, and he says pushing for voting

rights with this small Alabama city as a backdrop helped move a nation, both spiritually and politically, after the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

AMBASSADOR ANDREW YOUNG, CHAIRMAN, ANDREW J. YOUNG FOUNDATION: Even though Lyndon Johnson had been the master of the Senate and the majority leader and had more IOUs than almost anybody in the history of the Congress, it was hard for him to go right back six -- five months later for another civil rights bill. But when we left the White House and I asked Dr. King, well, what do you think? I thought he was being flippant when he said, I think we've got to figure out a way to get this president some power. And I laughed. And he said, no, he said, we really have to -- we can't wait.

For him it was not a political problem. For him it was a spiritual problem. He had gone through the valley of the shadow of death, and he felt it was inevitable that his days were numbered. And so he didn't have any time to waste. And so when we got back from that meeting, it wasn't a day or so before Mrs. Boynton came over and said that you've got to come and help us in Selma.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): That lady was Amelia Boynton, now 103 living in Tuskegee, Alabama. In a rare conversation with cnn.com, she remembers, too.

AMELIA BOYNTON ROBINSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: I got to the foot of the bridge, there were men on horses. There were police. I was standing up there and the people started running. He hit me across the -- across my head. And when he did, I fell to the ground.

WHITFIELD: Witnesses claim the sheriff said, leave her, quote, "for the buzzards to eat." Reverend Young says Boynton's role was hugely pivotal.

WHITFIELD (on camera): So who were you in 1965? Describe that young man that we see in these pictures, and what was it that you envisioned for the future? How did you know that your efforts would -- would promote change?

YOUNG: I think -- I think we didn't know. And I often said, if I had set on the road from Selma to Montgomery to Dr. King, you know, Martin, I'm going to be the mayor of Atlanta, or ambassador to the United Nations, I want to go to Congress, he'd have said, boy, you're sick, you know? Sit down. Have a cool drink of water.

It -- we were really doing something so that our children would have a better life. And we never thought -- I'm sure John Lewis never thought he'd be in Congress, see. In fact, we all probably thought we would not live. In fact, the general consensus was, we were all in our early 30s and most of us didn't think we could make it to 40. Martin did not make it to 40.

WHITFIELD: Because this was too risky?

YOUNG: Because we'd be killed along the way and because we had no intention of stopping and we knew what we had to do. And he would say, if you haven't found something that's worthy of giving your life, you're not fit to live anyway.

WHITFIELD: So, what is the -- the voting rights fight of today?

YOUNG: Helping people to see that, one, it's important, but I think it comes down to fighting against those efforts that people are using to make it difficult for us to vote. We're now seeing people drop from the voting roles. The difference is that we voted, and we had an impact.

WHITFIELD: And as it pertains to voting today, is the biggest problem apathy?

YOUNG: The biggest problem is obstructionism. It's not easy in most places, and especially in those tight precincts where the shift of a few hundred votes can mean the difference between how a state goes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Fredricka Whitfield joins me now from Selma. What a fascinating interview.

WHITFIELD: Oh, thank you. You know, it really is a powerful journey, whether you talk to Reverend Andy Young as it pertains to looking back and even looking forward, but it's a powerful journey for all the civil rights soldiers, many of whom will be here. Of course, Congressman John Lewis, C.T. Vivian, as you know, who received a presidential medal of freedom last year.

And then, you know what, for the many of the 20,000 people who live here in Selma, who feel like they kind of re-live, if they weren't part of 1965, then growing up with the images of what took place at this Edmund Pettus Bridge here. Almost every time that they cross it, they can't help but think about those very powerful images of Bloody Sunday. But at the same time, what we're seeing today in preparation for what is going to be a huge weekend.

We know that ten years ago, 10,000 people turned out, so there's no telling how many will come. The expectation is the numbers will be much higher. You're going to have President Barack Obama, his wife, you're going to have former President George w. Bush who are all going to be right here is about where a podium will be set up.

But you're going to have people coming from all walks all over this country. We've seen bus loads from as far away as Minnesota, other parts of Alabama who have come here. I talked to a number of people who grew up here. A woman who was name of Sarah, she was 12 years old. In defiance of her parents' orders, she walked across the bridge on Bloody Sunday. She, like many young people, will say their parents didn't want them to be a part of the movement because they would lose their jobs. Many of their parents were day laborers, but their white employers would tell them if you go out with the civil rights movement, you're going to lose your job. If your children are a part of it, you're going lose your job. In defiance, she went,, but she comes every year. She was lucky

enough to get a college grant and go to college in Cincinnati, and every year she comes here, and she says it's like renewal, like revitalization. She needs this moment to reconnect. I spoke with Reverend Orloff Miller. As you'll recall, he was alongside Reverend Jim Reeb in 1965, two days after Bloody Sunday. They were leaving a cafe just down the street over here and they were met by a mob of white segregationists, and Reverend Jim Reeb was beaten to death. Reverend Orloff Miller came back, he said he was reluctant to come here 50 years later. He decided to do it because he was going to be meeting for the first time some of the offspring of Reverend Reeb, and they met, and it was an electric moment.

We were lucky enough to be witness to it. 17 members of Reverend Reeb's family came here meeting Reverend Miller, and they got together, they hugged, they shared stories. And one of the sons, Reverend Reeb had four kids. One of the sons, Steven, was 3 when his dad died here, and he said it has taken him 50 years to come to terms with this moment. For the first time in 50 years, he has come here and he met Reverend Miller. And he says it's really a moment that is bigger, you know, than his whole life. So it's going to be a remarkable weekend here. We're going to be here all weekend long and you will see it all unfold here at this historic city.

COSTELLO: I can't wait. Fredricka Whitfield, thank you. I appreciate it. And, of course, we'll bring you live coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Selma march. I all begins tomorrow, 11:00 am Eastern. Fredricka will be part of it.

We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: "I'm Sorry to All the Mothers I worked With." That headline triggering a social media firestorm after a woman executive apologizes for not valuing working mothers until she became one. Katharine Zaleski writes this, quote, "For mothers in the workplace, it's death by a thousand cuts, and sometimes it's other women holding the knives. I didn't realize this or how horrible I'd been until five years later when I gave birth to a daughter of my own." She goes on to say, "I wish I had known five years ago as a young childless manager that mothers are the people you need on your team."

In fact, this article went viral. Hopefully it means America is finally taking the issue of child care seriously. It will certainly be on the front burner in 2016. Hillary Clinton has already highlighted issues like pay equity, family leave and access to affordable child care in some of her early speeches.

But let's talk more about this article with the author, Katharine Zaleski, the executive, she wrote the article. She's now the co- founder and president of a start up called Power to Fly which matches stay at home moms with jobs at companies like BuzzFeed, Conde Nast and Hearst, just to name a few.

Welcome, Katharine. KATHARINE ZALESKI, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, POWER TO FLY: Thanks,

thanks so much.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here.

So, I have to admit, you are a brave woman for writing that article.

ZALESKI: Thank you. I had to - You know, I was co-founding this company. I was thinking about all of the reasons why it's so difficult for mothers in the workplace and how we need to change the culture, and then I started to think back like, well, I was part of the problem. I mean, you know, if we're going to really attack the issue, we have to look at a lot of the base problems.

COSTELLO: I think you were brave to write this because you were honest. And you admitted that you were wrong, which a lot of people don't have the strength to do, especially publicly.

ZALESKI: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Why do you think it caught fire on the internet?

ZALESKI: I just - well, I mean, this affects so much of the population, especially 80 percent of women are going to become moms by the time they're 44. You know, a billion women are going into the workforce over the next ten years. Just coming in today, like, I just saw tons and tons of women getting out of the subway. They all have families. They're all, you know, leaving kids at home. They're all making huge, huge sacrifices to contribute to their households and feed their kids, and yet we never talk about how cultures really need to change and adapt to the fact that now there are more highly educated women working than ever before.

COSTELLO: And there should be things like -- why is it so difficult to provide child care? I just don't, I don't get it. But before we get into that, I want to read just one of the many responses that we found online in reaction to your article.

One woman wrote, "Thank you for writing this. There are so many people like your then childless 28-year-old self who need to read it. Seriously. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." So, it's interesting because I don't have children and I never really thought about it, but I think that if I'm really honest with myself, I felt some of the things that you wrote, and I feel really bad about that.

ZALESKI: Thank you for saying that. But, look, I just think that we're all in different situations in our lives, and, you know, a lot of people are caring for their relatives, or they're caring for a sick, you know, husband or wife, and so it's really about care giving in general, too. But, yeah, I know, I mean, I talk to young women all the time because we place women in jobs, and a lot of them talk about how, you know, culturally everybody needs to be in the office all the time, but yet they can't find enough women to fill their jobs.

And I say to them, well, the reason you're having that issue is because you're essentially imposing these ideas that women have to sit in a chair all the time to show that they're doing a lot of work when those women can be just as productive working remotely in most cases.

COSTELLO: And that's why you started this new company, right? You found a solution for women, for working mothers. So, tell us about that.

ZALESKI: Well, my co-founder has three children and, you know, she was able to be a chief technical officer working from home and managing women remotely. So I looked at her, I look at the women I talked about in the piece and how productive she was, and so, we decided that, you know, there's really a third way for women. Women are incredibly productive. Mothers are incredibly productive, because of their...

COSTELLO: They are champion multitaskers, I will say that..

ZALESKI: Exactly. And so, but we value too much of - we put too much value on people sitting in a chair, and women really can't compete on that level. We need to value the output that women can do, and we have the tools now. We have JIRA, Skype all of these tools that allow you to produce just as much remotely.

COSTELLO: So, if your child is sick, you can go home, you can work remotely from home. What's the big deal, right?

ZALESKI: Right, well we have - you know, you definitely need people helping and, you know, some women do it all on their own. It's amazing. I've heard amazing stories in the last couple of days. But, you know, we had a snowstorm yesterday, and one of the mothers that I work with has three kids. She was able to stay at home with her kids and work, and not sacrifice, you know, everything. So, you know.

COSTELLO: Thanks for shining the light.

ZALESKI: Thanks.

COSTELLO: I'm sure many, many women appreciate it, Katharine. Thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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