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Teachers Walk out over School Conditions; Attorney General Testifies on Gun Control; The Person Who Changed My Life. 10:30-11a ET
Aired January 20, 2016 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:30:36] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
In Michigan, two crises are thundering through state government and threatening the very quality of life for tens of thousands of children. Today in Detroit, some 90 percent of the public schools forced to close. Desperate teachers are calling in sick to call attention to decaying schools and a system that could be inching toward financial collapse.
They're trying to send an SOS President Obama who will be in town today. A short time ago we learned, he'll have lunch with Detroit's mayor.
The other crisis already demanding the president's attention and the governor now vowing to fix it, the tap water in Flint, contaminated with lead and posing the greatest danger to young children who could develop a lifetime of problems.
Let's begin with Detroit's embattled school system and CNN's Jean Casarez. Good morning, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, on a positive note, this community is very excited that President Obama is coming. When we were here last week people just kept coming up to me Obama's coming to Detroit. So they are waiting for this visit, but they also realize that their public school system is in dire straits.
We visited three different schools, and we saw conditions for ourselves: floors that were buckled, gymnasiums that are not operable, students can't go in there to get their exercise. Floors that are dirt floors, swimming pools that don't have the water in them, technology ruined but while we were there last week were being rewired so they could finally get the Internet for that technology course to educate the students.
And we are standing right here in front of Martin Luther King High School; 88 of the 97 schools are having sick-outs today. Teachers believing that this was an opportunity for them to demonstrate that something has to be done about the conditions
And the school district tells us it's not all 97 schools. There are some schools that do not have these issues, but the fact is, students day in and day out are in those schools. I went in one, and I got very hoarse after being in there for just a short period of time.
School officials told me there was mold. We don't know if that is substantiated, but we do know the mayor is now requiring all schools to be inspected by the end of April. Michigan's OSHA has already launched an investigation into one of those schools.
And the fact is, there's a $515 million debt for the Detroit public schools, and Darrell Earlsley tells me, the emergency manager, that if they can't get funding from the state by the end of April, that they will have to declare the school system completely insolvent -- Carol. And then they have to decide what to do with all these students -- all 46,000 of them.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Jean Casarez reporting live from Detroit.
Now to the Flint water crisis: Michigan's governor addresses his state and apologizes for his government letting them down.
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GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: I want to speak directly, honestly, and sincerely to let you know we are praying for you. We are working hard for you. And we are absolutely committed to taking the right steps to effectively solve this crisis.
To you, the people of Flint, I say tonight, as I have before, I am sorry, and I will fix it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Snyder says fixing the toxic lead contamination starts with an injection of $28 million to fund immediate action. The protesters, as you can see, on the steps outsides capitol were doubtful, chanting Snyder must go.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the attorney general defending the President's executive action on gun control: Loretta Lynch front and center at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
We'll take you there live.
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[10:38:32] COSTELLO: All right. Straight to Washington, D.C. now -- this is a live look from the Capitol, from Capitol Hill where the Attorney General is testifying before the Senate appropriations committee. She's expected to face tough questioning on the President's executive action on gun control and how the Justice Department plans to implement them.
Joe Johns is outside the White House with more. Hi, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We are going to be watching the Attorney General's testimony very closely for a bunch of reasons. Number one, for the reason that she was invited to Capitol Hill by Senator Richard Shelby, the Republican of Alabama, one of the senior members of the Appropriations Committee, one of the people in Washington who handles the purse strings on justice issues.
He's a huge supporter of gun rights; in fact, just in the last ten days, honored by the board of the National Rifle Association for his support of the cause. He's not going to take any of the President's executive actions on guns lightly at all.
In fact, in a letter inviting Lynch to the hill, he wrote that he's not going to sit idly by and allow DOJ to implement what he called unlawful, unconstitutional actions.
Now, Lynch, for her part, is very much the point person for the administration on the issue of the President's executive actions. In fact, she met with the President just the day before he made his big announcement.
We do expect her to carry the administration message to Capitol Hill that in their view, everything the President is doing is lawful and simply clarifying existing law on guns. So a possibility of a halfway-decent face-off here on Capitol Hill -- Carol.
[10:40:10] COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns -- reporting live from the White House -- thank you.
Still to come in the newsroom, Ashleigh Banfield makes the long trip home to reveal the person who changed her life. It's all part of a new CNN special, and it is very special indeed. Ashleigh's here next.
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COSTELLO: All right. Play along with me here for just a moment. I want you to think about your life and where you are right now. Can you think of the one person who's the reason you're there?
[10:45:04] Ashleigh Banfield can. And in a new special, she along with other CNN anchors, myself included, set out to recognize the people who changed our lives. Here's Ashleigh.
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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This is the hairpin. Look out.
I've come from New York City where I work to Winnipeg, my hometown in Canada. And then two and a half hours by car to a remote cabin on a lake.
It's sort of like the annual family reunion. And I'll tell you why -- my mom.
Ok. Here we go.
My mother's name is Susie Lount.
Isn't that wonderful for a fire at the lake? She has the elegance of Jackie Kennedy and the strength of Hercules.
And without her, I am certain I would not be where I am. I'm certain.
So how many pounds of fish total?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten.
BANFIELD: This is our Sunday brunch. My brothers Jeff and Joe are there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was a decent fish.
BANFIELD: My sister, Alex. And as the youngest, I get zero respect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only because there's no such thing as less than zero.
BANFIELD: So it's a pilgrimage of sorts because we all come back to mom.
SUSIE LOUNT, ASHLEIGH BANFIELD'S MOTHER: This is the traditional way we cook our fish. It is bacon dripping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm out.
BANFIELD: She's the boss. She's the glue. She's the mom. She's the friend. She's the mentor. She's pretty much every role.
Certainly more roles than she ever expected. My mom, just out of college, married John Banfield in 1959. He was from an upper-class family and seemed destined to a promising career as an architect.
LOUNT: I envisioned being a wife, being a mother. Everything looked perfect.
BANFIELD: But it was not perfect.
Dad struggled with alcoholism. But back then, people didn't talk about it.
The disease had such a tight grip on dad that he went bankrupt twice. I was too young to understand. But my mom did.
LOUNT: We don't have any money. We don't have any money. Don't spend any money. Well, the children need socks. The children need shirts. The children need, you know, whatever. Well, don't spend any money.
BANFIELD: To pinch pennies, she bought day-old bread, meat and produce from the back of the store.
LOUNT: Everybody was moving up. And I was moving down. I was terrified. I was terrified. I was a housewife with four children, a home economics degree which wasn't going to get you a job anywhere.
BANFIELD: Nonetheless, mom entered the cutthroat male-dominated world of real estate back in 1970.
LOUNT: Those days, ambition and a woman was a bad thing.
BANFIELD: It didn't matter. It turned out mom was really good. How good?
LOUNT: I became the breadwinner.
BANFIELD: Was that uncomfortable for dad?
LOUNT: You know, I think by the time the role reversal took place your father, I think he'd sort of given up.
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[10:51:14]
LOUNT: That is so cute. I guess you were.
BANFIELD: Each time mom offered a shoulder to cry on and maybe more importantly, blunt words if I sounded like giving up.
Move it. Don't complain. Get to work.
LOUNT: Those words have followed them all the way along in their life. Tough it out. To have all my four children around the table right now is extremely special for me.
BANFIELD: I often think about the impact that she's had on me as a professional, as a person.
LOUNT: Love you all.
BANFIELD: Love you, too, gum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love you too, gum.
BANFIELD: She may not look it, but mum is now 77.
I can never actually think about losing mum. I just -- I can't. I don't know. I don't know who I'd call. I don't know what I would do. There's no one like her.
LOUNT: Ok, gang.
BANFIELD: There is really no one else. Have I thanked you properly?
LOUNT: I think I'm going to cry. You know, sweetheart, you have. Just sitting here today with you, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: I didn't expect this. Oh, Carol.
COSTELLO: That was so awesome. BANFIELD: I actually can't watch the end because it makes me a little
weepy.
COSTELLO: I know, stop crying and I'll stop crying. And I'm glad you have been fired, too -- fist bump.
BANFIELD: You do not get into television for the hours or the job security.
COSTELLO: Hey, you're nowhere unless you've been fired.
BANFIELD: Right?
COSTELLO: I had the pleasure of meeting your mother not so long ago. And she is a pistol just like you are. You're very much like her.
BANFIELD: Thanks. You know, that's the greatest compliment that I can get. And ever since I was little, everyone said that I was the spitting image. I didn't realize how significant that would be until later in life. But now I just -- I should be so lucky if I have any of that DNA. You know?
COSTELLO: Well, I'm curious because when they asked me to look back and, you know, pick out the special person, I was hesitant. Were you?
BANFIELD: Well, right away, she popped into my mind because there really haven't been a lot of mentors. I never had an internship. I never got those opportunities out of college. And I always felt that in the early days of TV, and I hate to even admit this, because this is so against what we're supposed to do as the ladies of the business.
But back in the 80s, women were pretty competitive with one another. And there wasn't a lot of room at the top. And so --
COSTELLO: And there went a lot of women.
BANFIELD: No. And we were bimbos. I mean that was it. I met my fair share of bimbo men, and they never got the label. So men weren't really willing to do a lot of mentorship, and certainly other women weren't either. And I remember thinking, I am going to make it my mission not to be like that as I grow in this business, if I am so lucky to be able to grow in this business.
COSTELLO: You mean you refused as I did to do 100-year-old birthday parties?
BANFIELD: But you know, I have found as I've gone through this business 27 years now, that some of my best friends are women in the business, you know? And I'm just so grateful that we came through those 80s that were kind of ugly. We moved through the early 90s were the shoulder pads were just hideous. And then, you know, we got over it. And I think this is sort of a women-dominated industry now.
COSTELLO: And I love what your mother said. You know, get over it.
BANFIELD: To hell with you. [10:55:04] COSTELLO: Yes. And I like how she said "out".
BANFIELD: Oh, the Canadian thing? It's adorable, isn't it?
COSTELLO: I know.
BANFIELD: Pretty strong with Canadians out there.
COSTELLO: I know.
Ashleigh Banfield -- thank you for sharing. And we look forward to seeing you in just a couple of hours.
BANFIELD: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Thanks so much.
You can catch the entire two-hour special this Sunday night, "THE PERSON WHO CHANGED MY LIFE" airs right here on CNN 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
All right. Before I go, I want to take you just for a bit to New Hampshire and the former President Bill Clinton. He's about to take the stage to stump for his wife, Hillary Clinton -- something perhaps that is much needed at this moment since Hillary Clinton seems to be lagging in some of the polls that are out there.
Bernie Sanders is having this huge surge, especially in New Hampshire. And Hillary Clinton is trying to combat that. She's gone kind of negative against Bernie Sanders. Bernie sanders who said he would never go negative against Hillary Clinton, well, it turns out he's gone negative, too, because I think he smells victory in New Hampshire. We'll see.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.
"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" after a break.
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