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At This Hour

Are Police Targeting Black Children?; U.S. Continues Iraq Humanitarian Aid, Considers Yazidi Evacuation; Robin Williams' Daughter Quits Twitter; Does Tweet Glorify Suicide?; Actress Lauren Bacall Dies

Aired August 13, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's supposed to be the police that protect us, and keep us safe. But these actions and all these gestures that they do is making it hard for us. It's like, who do we turn to if the ones protecting us are hurting us, who do we turn to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should I be afraid to walk down the street and get discriminated because the color I am or the way I dress or the way I look?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Discussion and reaction there to the police shooting of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, in Missouri. That incident sparked anger not only in the St. Louis suburb where he died, but all across America.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama called Brown's death heartbreaking. The circumstances of the shooting are unclear, although we should say we did get information from Ferguson there are reports that the police officer involved was struck somehow in the face. That, in and of itself, would only explain part of what went on there. Nevertheless, it has started a conversation.

Parents of black children nationwide say one thing is clear, they think that their children are being profiled, in some cases, even targeted, they say, by police.

PEREIRA: I'm going to turn to Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles.

You've had some interesting conversations and great reporting for us. And I want to address this conversation that many African-American parents have had with their sons, and often time their daughters, these written or unwritten rules for raising black boys.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And it's a conversation -- I talk to so many people across the country, John, and Michaela, about this very issue, and everyone agrees that no one has told them how to have this conversation with their kids, but all of them are having them with their children, especially their sons. Everyone I talked to also agreed it's more important to their sons to understand the codes of contact on the streets.

I want to introduce you to Kelli Knox. She's still very worried about her son, who is 26 years old. He has some basic rules that he has to follow on the streets. And listen to what he has to say about his mom's concern for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLI KNOX, PARENT: I've always said to him, always be still, especially when he's in a vehicle. Keep your hands on the steering wheel. Do not make any moves until he tells you to make the move. I mean, these are, you know, like almost as if he's in the military and I got to tell him this is what you have to do because I don't want anything to be misconstrued that he's doing something wrong that I could lose him.

JOSEPH KNOX, SON OF KELLI KNOX: Especially when you are with -- dealing with police, you know, you can't act off emotions. Sometimes they will say things to kind of provoke you, and you just have to bite the bullet and not say anything and just -- you swallow your pride and let them go on about their day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And now, it's important to note here that Joseph told me that at first he was reluctant to talk to me but he decided he should because he's a young man, he's a college graduate and he's still faces these same sort of things.

The overwhelming message, John and Michaela, for these people, it doesn't matter how wealthy you are, it doesn't matter where you live, your education level, it doesn't matter if you are light skinned or black skinned. If you are a black person, these parents are saying you have to warn your sons about this because they could be perceived for their skin color before they will be perceived for their content and their character.

BERMAN: It was interesting to hear Joseph talk about that. Almost -- not accepting of the situation, but my gosh, it's a --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: It's a reality for him.

BERMAN: How frustrating and I'm asking to both of you for young black men that they have to live differently, behavior differently than I would have to behave in a similar situation.

ELAM: Well, you know, I wonder John, before you heard this story, did you even think about having a conversation with this with any young men that you care about?

BERMAN: No, no.

ELAM: No. And that's the message I have gotten consistently from the white folks that I've talked to. Good friends of mine, people that are very close to me, people I don't know, have all said the same thing, when they have talked to them, they have not had to have this conversation. It's a conversation I'm very aware of. I have a four- year-old daughter. It's not that point where I have to have this conversation. But I have three older brothers. I've seen it with my own eyes, where in the town we live, there were about three black families, and they knew where we lived. I'll just put it to you that way. And that -- that sort of dialogue happens all the time. So if you want to raise black boys to become black men that are responsible members of society, these families are saying you have to address the fact that when you are first seen, people may perceive you to be one thing that you are not, so therefore act accordingly so as to disarm the situation.

PEREIRA: Look, it's interesting, we know what happened after Trayvon and just the idea of a hoodie, a lot of people took that on as a symbol of standing with Trayvon and his family, we had this conversation, we've been having this conversation for a long time, Stephanie. But here we are back again. And I think it gives so many families, black and brown families and Latino families cause to sit down and look at their sons and say we need to have this real conversation now. I know it seems a little off putting, it shouldn't be a reality to face, but it is.

BERMAN: The question is, how much do you walk the line or how much do you work to change the lines?

PEREIRA: You have to do simultaneously. Safety has to be first though which is what I bet a lot of families would tell you.

ELAM: Keep in mind, this conversation is not new in light of Trayvon. This is a conversation black people have been having with sons for the ages. This has been going on.

I talk to Dr. Steve Perry, who is a principal and he founded a magnet school in Connecticut, he said, if you are not having a conversation with your black boys, you are failing them, because this will hurt them when they go out in the world. It is a necessary part of this dialogue to know that.

I talked to another person in D.C., a woman who said, when she found out she was pregnant with her son, she got a pit in her stomach, she was already fearing for his life.

The idea of fearing for your child's life when they're that young, when they leave the safety of their neighborhood or their home, that something could happen to them is real for a lot of black people. Even if they grow up wealthy and well educated, it's the same thing, you are still perceived for your skin color. That's why they make it clear, keep your hands, keep your music low. Swallow your pride. Just get out of there alive. And the reason that, you know, white parents would have to say that, they say that is just a foreign idea, they don't think white parents do the same thing.

PEREIRA: That shows you disconnect.

Stay right there, Stephanie. We're taking a short break. We'll be back in a minute.

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PEREIRA: Really interesting conversation we're having with Stephanie Elam. Let's bring her back from Los Angeles.

This ongoing conversation we're having about these unwritten rules for black sons, for some communities, it's more overt.

BERMAN: Stephanie, I'm getting a lot of reaction on Twitter. Someone who tweeted me, saying, "I'm white, I'm 53 years old. My mother didn't have to say anything. I grew up knowing I had to respect police."

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: I think this is more than just respecting police, is what you are talking about?

ELAM: There's a difference here. Let me point out, with the case of Trayvon Martin, that was not a police officer. With the case of Renisha McBride, that was not a police officer. It's not always about police here. It's about the perception from society as a whole, and we have to be clear about that.

The other thing these families were very clear about is they do not believe all police officers are bad or corrupt or that there can't be one to come to their aid if necessary. The conflict that's inside the young 15-year-old is, how do I know if you are telling me I need to be mindful, how do I discern when I'm supposed to do this? You get that for a teenager here. The difference between respect and knowing that you are approached differently are two different things, John. I see people saying that we're convicting the cop already. That is actually not the point of this discussion. The point of this discussion is to understand that for black boys and young black men the way that they are perceived as one teacher I talked to D.C. said, if you understand that people perceive you with fear first, and you internalize that into your character, then you should carry yourself in a different way. Understand that this is how you are perceived, and so that way you can stay safe and come home to your parents. That's the discussion.

PEREIRA: Stephanie Elam, a big conversation for us to have. We needed to have it @THISHOUR.

We appreciate you staying with us. Thank you so much. Great reporting.

ELAM: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Appreciate it.

BERMAN: We have some big news going on this hour as well. The Pentagon considering an air evacuation of those Iraqi minorities, the Yazidis, trapped on the mountain in Iraq. When we come back, we'll have a White House briefing from the president's vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Stay with us.

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BERMAN: We're standing by for a White House briefing, Martha's Vineyard version, from the island off the coast of Massachusetts, where the president is vacationing. 130 more U.S. troops headed to northern Iraq right now to help aid in the growing humanitarian crisis there.

PEREIRA: They are going to evaluate the possibility of evacuating by air the thousands of Yazidis fleeing ISIS militants. We've heard estimates of 20,000 to 30,000 Yazidis are on that mountain top. That's going to be a sizeable operation to rescue them. That would put the troops on the ground in harm's way obviously. We're going to listen to the briefing and bring you any news.

BERMAN: Any air evacuation would require a ground component. This is a big change in the U.S. mission there.

First, more news we're following this morning. There's more information coming to light about the death of Robin Williams. In painful detail, we're learning how the entertainer hanged himself in his northern California home. We now know he was also trying to get help for his depression.

PEREIRA: Tonight, at 7:45, Broadway is going to dim the lights for Robin Williams.

BERMAN: Joining us know is CNN correspondent, Dan Simon; also psychologist, Terry Lyles.

Dan, we did get these grim details about Robin Williams' death. There is some criticism about the sheriff's office, I suppose, being so open about what happened, and Robin Williams' daughter leaving Twitter over the reaction the whole thing.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of people have voiced their frustration about the amount of information that the sheriff's office gave yesterday. I think some of that has to do with the fact that the details came out so soon, John. We're talking one day after Robin Williams died, and here you had authorities come out and basically lay everything bare for the public to see. I think if there was some time in between, perhaps the reaction would not have been so sharp.

As for Robin Williams' daughter, she was frustrated by people posting fake pictures of her father's dead body. You can understand this is a very emotionally fragile young woman and she's being subjected to seeing some of these terrible images on line. People also saying some insensitive things. So she tweeted that she'll be leaving the service for a while. I guess, we'll see what happens.

PEREIRA: Obviously, she needs to find comfort from family and loved ones and not necessarily from the Twitterosphere.

Let's bring in Dr. Lyles.

I want to talk to you about something unsettling. Let's show this tweet that was sent out by the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Oh, we don't have it?

Essentially, it shows the character that Robin Williams played in the movie "Aladdin." It's a picture of the genie saying, "Genie, you are free." There are voices, including from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, they are very concerned about this image, saying, wait, wait, this is making it look like suicide is an option, and it somehow glorifies suicide, and it's a dangerous message.

DR. TERRY LYLES, PSYCHOLOGIST: I think it is a dangerous message. I saw it as well, and I had to study for a moment and I tried to look at every angle I could to see what would be the messaging behind it. And I tend to agree what you just said. I think it invites it for others, especially for teens and military personnel. One an hour, in the military takes their live every single day. We need to combat this by what we're doing, having a conversation about it, but not glorifying it, but glorifying what life has to offer, and that we stay because of our friends, our loved ones in life. That's the key.

BERMAN: Dr. Lyles, especially interesting about this, is that Robin Williams did get treatment recently for depression. This was not a man hiding anything. The stigma of depression is not what killed him here. He was willing to talk about it and get treatment for it. Even then it wasn't enough. So do we know enough about how to treat depression? Do we need to know more?

LYLES: I think we constantly have to be learning. Because it's such a dark imagery of the internal system of our mind and even our physiology and there's multiple ways to treat it. I think if someone's reaching out, I think they need even that much more accountability around them, that people stay in touch with them that are very close with them.

I was always concerned with Robin. He was always in character, it seems, even when he was doing interviews. He was always in character. I never really saw Robin, the man. I didn't know his personally. That, to me, is a flag with people. When we see people that are just going through life and it looks like everything's great, don't automatically assume that's the way it is. Have a conversation. Ask, how you're doing. Ask, what's going on in your life. Because people just need and want to be heard. And if they don't, they end up in a dark space that something terrible can happen like what happened with him.

PEREIRA: I suppose that's a slippery slope when you're talking about performers, because they're always on. I mean, at home, they're not. And we don't, and we shouldn't have access to their home life when they're off, you know, off camera and out of sight and having private moments.

I want to ask you about this. I think we have often thought that the most susceptible to suicide attempts were sort of the young. He was 63. He had battled these demons for a long time. We shouldn't limit this to age, should we? LYLES: No, absolutely not. Because age now is just that number. It

doesn't really matter. I think what tends to happen, we just see a higher rate in suicide and teenagers, because of that development age, chemicals are racing and changing. And the identity of friends are more important than anybody in the world. If you lose a friend because of an argument, now your life is over. I've been through this with my own. It's challenging.

But the point is age is not the issue here. The issue is depression. And it's dark and it's heavy and it needs accountability. What I mean by that it needs people to walk along beside them who love and care and who will continue to reach out. Not that Robin's family didn't care, but I think you just have to go over the top. When you know someone is struggling, you've really got to stay on top of it and be there for them, no matter what's going on in your life, even to the point of inconvenience, because that moment of life and death is a fine line that can end itself in the wrong thought process.

BERMAN: Sadly, the investigators say it appeared to them as if it was perhaps wasn't planned extensively by Robin Williams. So you make a great point there.

Dr. Terry Lyles, great to have you.

Dan Simon, we always appreciate your reporting. Thank you for coming on. PEREIRA: Ahead @THISHOUR, another legend we've lost. She filled the

screen with that confidence, the stunning beauty, and that voice. Oh, that voice. Unmistakable. Today, we mourn the passing of actress, Lauren Bacall. And we also celebrate her life and her tremendous career.

PEREIRA: You know how to whistle.

(LAUGHTER)

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BERMAN: Oh, the voice. The look.

PEREIRA: I know. Go ahead, have a moment. I'm with you on this.

BERMAN: The trademark wit. The talent. Incredible talent. This morning, we are remembering Hollywood legend, Lauren Bacall, who passed away Tuesday.

PEREIRA: What a beauty.

BERMAN: She was just 19 years old when she made her big screen debut I 1944. What a classic that is. And she stole the scene, and my heart, not to mention others here.

(LAUGHTER)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN BACALL, ACTRESS: You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.

(WHISTLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I mean, right, right.

PEREIRA: I literally wish you could be in the studio with John Berman, during that scene. His knees knocked together. You melt literally.

Before becoming an overnight sensation, Bacall was a model. The leading man, Humphrey Bogart, who would later become the love of her life. They married a year later. They made several more films together.

BERMAN: Joining us is Robert Thompson, the professor of television and pop culture at Syracuse University.

Professor --

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PEREIRA: He looks smitten, too. Look at his face.

BERMAN: You can't not be. You can't not be. The look is in quotation marks. It's not just the look, it's "the" look. But really, she represents more than a look, professor. She's, in a way, one of our last connections to this Golden Age.

PEREIRA: Yeah.

ROBERT THOMPSON, PROFESSOR OF TELEVISION AND POP CULTURE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: That's absolutely right. I mean, first of all, that is arguably the sexiest scene in all of American cinema.

(LAUGHTER)

Or pretty close to it. And you never see any flesh. And nobody ever swears. But that whole bit about putting your lips together and blowing just sounds so dirty, even though it's not.

(LAUGHTER)

And there were other lines there as well.

But you're right, this is -- she really represented the Golden Age of Hollywood in its most 24-carat glory. Her very story, she's 18 years old and on the cover of "Harper's Bazaar." And then Howard Hawks, the great director sees it through his wife and beckons her out to Hollywood, and before you know it, she's doing that scene, and then becoming one of the great love stories, with her co-star --

PEREIRA: Humphrey Bogart.

THOMPSON: Right, who she stayed with and loved until he died of cancer in 1957.

PEREIRA: Important to point out, she was only in her 30s when he passed away.

BERMAN: 32.

PEREIRA: She had so much of her life ahead.

Quickly, can you talk about the look? She had sultry bedroom eyes. But it was born out of a case of the nerves.

THOMPSON: Yeah, apparently, she was all nervous in a scene and she was to light a cigarette and she put her head down to her chest and she looked up with her eyes, and suddenly a look was born with a capital "L." But, of course, it wasn't just an accident. She was created. Hawks worked with her to make her voice lower and that whole kind of smoky atmosphere that she kind of came out of. When you think of 1940s Hollywood, you think of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart first, I think.

BERMAN: They were the first couple of the Rat Pack in some ways also.

Let's just finish up about their relationship because it is a love affair for the ages. Not traditional in many ways. He was 25 years older. It was, what, his fourth marriage.

PEREIRA: He was married at the time.

BERMAN: Nevertheless, we look at it like it's perfect.

THOMPSON: Yes, it was his fourth marriage. She was only a teenager when they first met, almost -- he was almost twice as old. I mean, we raised our eyebrows at this relationship today. And Bogart was still married. A troubled marriage, but he was still married at the time. So it was very unconventional.

PEREIRA: What a life.

Robert Thompson, Professor, thank you so much for recalling this tremendous career and woman with us today. We appreciate it.

THOMPSON: Thank you.

PEREIRA: And I guess that wraps it up for us @THISHOUR.

Are you going to whistle your way out?

BERMAN: You bet, man.

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm John Berman.

PEREIRA: And I'm Michaela Pereira.

"LEGAL VIEW" starts now.