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Gaza in Ruins; Christmas Eve Bloodbath; One Tennessee Town Flooded By Sludge
Aired December 28, 2008 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Gaza in ruins. While we prepare for a new year, Palestinians are burying their dead. With the morgues filling up, both sides are up in arms, neither backing down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And the Republican who distributed this song says it is a light-hearted parody. Others say it is racist. We play it, you decide.
Christmas Eve massacre. New details tonight on what led an angry ex-husband to dress up as Santa Claus and annihilate an entire family.
And the blob returns. This sludge has taken over, and an entire town is stuck in a real-life horror show.
And Christmas emergency. 911 operators thought they heard it all until a little boy's Christmas call, well, it changed their lives. The news starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Don Lemon.
LEMON: And good evening, everyone. I have to warn you, what you're going to see at the top of this broadcast will be hard to watch. It is Palestinians digging through the rubble for survivors. Some with nothing but a pick axe, others with just their bare hands. And because this could quickly escalate to a protracted ground war, we'll tell you why the current and incoming administration and all other Americans should be concerned. We'll talk live to someone witnessing all the devastation. Plus, we'll hear the Palestinian side and the Israeli side live, and sum it up with what's true and where it's headed.
But first, new unfiltered video of what life in Gaza is like right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALES: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Boy, it is tough to watch, but this is what is going on right now there. I want to catch you up on the latest on Gaza. It is a land under siege. And just a short time ago, Israeli warplanes screamed into Gaza City and unleashed bombs on Islamic university. It was just one of dozens of air strikes into Gaza, hitting hundreds of targets allegedly linked to Hamas.
Palestinians say nearly 300 people have been killed in two days of attacks. And despite growing international appeals for calm, the Israeli offensive against Hamas is expected to grow even more violent and more deadly. Israeli tanks and troops are massing for what many fear is an impending ground assault. 7,000 Israeli reservists have been told to prepare for battle. At Gaza's southern border, hundreds of Palestinians tried to flee into Egypt through a breach in the border, but they were turned back by Egyptian troops.
The area is porous with smuggling tunnels, and Sunday, those tunnels, were prime targets of Israeli warplanes. No part of Gaza has been spared by the Israeli assault; and CNN's Cal Perry in Jerusalem tonight with the very latest.
CAL PERRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, global leaders around the world calling for a cessation of violence, but till now those calls are being completely ignored.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PERRY (voice-over): Fears turns to a foot race for safety. Some of the wounded are rushed to hospitals by civilian cars, others by ambulance. CPR in progress.
There were at least 40 airstrikes in Gaza on Sunday alone, according to the Israeli army, and a major lifeline for Hamas has also been destroyed -- forty tunnels that run between Egypt and Gaza. But even after all the airstrikes, a simple gunshot still makes people jump. Gaza is burning.
"What is happening now is destruction," the man says, "an Israeli massacre and everyone is watching this in silence and they are just sitting there watching us. We demand Israel to end these massacres and open all the crossings."
They're scrambling in Israel, too, in the city of Ashdod, 30 kilometers to the north of Gaza, sirens wail. More than 110 Hamas rockets have been fired from Gaza since Saturday morning, according to the Israeli military, many raining further down into Israel than ever before, police say, killing at least one Israeli since the ceasefire ended. Which is partly why Israel is being so steadfast and its leaders in the south are urging calm in the face of dark realities.
"Be patient," the mayor says, "The army is doing its work and doing it well. It's possible there are more difficult days to come. We will be calm and we will wait for better days."
As Israeli tanks mass along Gaza's border, poised for a possible ground invasion, old faces and familiar scenes of Palestinian frustration are also playing out across the West Bank in east Jerusalem. The people of Gaza have begun to bury their dead, while just a few kilometers away, Israel, too, begins to mourn its losses.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PERRY: And with every air strike from Israel, and each rocket fired from Gaza, there is no misconception here on the ground that those funerals are likely to continue in the coming days.
Don?
LEMON: All right, Cal Perry, thank you.
Israel's military action has provoked outrage across the globe. Thousands of protesters appeared at large demonstrations in Phoenix, Damascus, London and Chicago. Angry protests were also held in Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
The Bush administration is squarely behind Israel in this crisis. President Bush has been monitoring the situation from his Texas ranch where he has been spending the holiday. A White House spokesman says it is up to Hamas to prevent an escalation in violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON JOHNDROE, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel. The United States holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire. Now the ceasefire should be restored immediately. The United States is also very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and want all parties involved to work to get the people of Gaza, the humanitarian supplies that they need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, assuming this crisis does not go away it will become Barack Obama's headache in just about three weeks. That's why even though he's on vacation in Hawaii, he is staying in the loop, and he's even been talking by phone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. One of Obama's senior advisers says the president-elect will be ready.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: He did as you said visits the road in July, and he said then that he thought that when bombs are raining down on your citizens, it's obviously unacceptable and there is a -- an urge to act and so -- but again, I don't want to go beyond that because we only have one government and one president at a time, and he's going to continue to consult with Secretary Rice and the president and the administration on this and monitor these events. And he will be prepared to take over on the 20th and discharge his responsibilities then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Gaza in the crosshairs. The finger pointing and accusations. Is there any common ground to be found?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SONG PLAYING) Barack the magic Negro lives in D.C.
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LEMON: Is what you just heard racist, or is it a light-hearted parody? What if I told you the person who's sending it out is in the running to lead the Republican Party. We are taking your comment on that, and all of our stories tonight. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. We will get your responses on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back now to our top story. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been around for generations. Many world leaders have tried to help resolve it, and for the next few minutes, we are going to try to bring you more insight into why this has been a stubborn and persistent problem here.
Joining us now is Mustafa Barghouti. He's a member of the Palestinian parliament. Thank you so much for joining us. We know it's early in the morning there. I have to ask you, first of all, what do you want from Israel in this? Obviously to stop the fighting?
ON THE PHONE: DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Stop the fighting and end the occupation. The occupation has been there for 41 years. This has been the cause of all problems. It has been breeding violence for such a long time, and if they stop occupation, we will not have a problem. They want to keep the violence. They have conducted a terrible war, which I consider a war crime on Gaza, and this has to be stopped immediately because it's taking away people's lives.
LEMON: There's -- it has been said that this started because Palestinian disobeyed a cease-fire, is that so? Do you agree with that?
BARGHOUTI: The opposite, it was Israel that broke the cease- fire. We had the cease-fire for six months. Israel started to provoke it for two months, for the last two months. They conducted one attack after the other and -- until they got a reaction, but this is not a war on Hamas, this is a war on the Palestinian people. In 48 hours, Israel has killed more than 300 people, including 30 children. And they have injured more than 1,000 people, including 152 children and 40 women. How could the world stay silent about this crime?
LEMON: Mr. Barghouti, we are in the middle here, sort of to put it mildly. We are in the middle of a changing of the guard in the U.S. between two presidents here. Would you like to get this resolved, obviously, before the president-elect takes over? Do you think that it helps or hurts you? Which president in office will help or hurt your cause? BARGHOUTI: Well, I'm sure President Obama is much better than President Bush in every sense of the word. I think that's why the Americans have chosen him. But I hope that Mr. Obama will be distant, in the sense that he will conduct a fair policy. He will stop being so biased to the Israel side, and at least would listen to the Palestinian argument, but we cannot wait. At this rate, we will have thousands of people killed by the Israeli army. And maybe tens of thousands of people injured before the new president takes office. That's why we need and we demand an intervention of the international community.
LEMON: That was my next question. What would you like to see done by the international community? The United Nations met last night, what would you like to see done?
BARGHOUTI: Immediate decision to stop this fight. The Palestinians are ready for a cease-fire. It is Israel that is objecting to cease-fire. It is Barak, the defense minister of Israel, who declared he refuses a cease-fire. He wants to continue this war. The Israeli military industry is benefiting from this war. The Israeli politicians are using this bloodbath, which is the worst since 1967, for their election campaigns. This is insane. At the end of the day, this will hurt both Palestinians and Israelis because violence breeds violence. Time has come to end this terrible occupation. Time has come to end this aggression on the Palestinian people.
LEMON: Mustafa Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian parliament. Thank you very much for joining us this evening.
And for the Israeli perspective, Andy David joins us now by phone. He is a deputy spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He joins us by phone, and he is in Sderoth, Israel.
You heard Mr. Barghouti there saying it is not their war, it is the Israeli war. Do you agree with his comments?
ON THE PHONE: ANDY DAVID, DEP. SPOKESMAN, ISRAEL MIN. OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Yes, well, Mr. Barghouti spoke about occupation, which is a nice sound byte, but it's totally wrong. Israel left Gaza. Actually, the Hamas government took over Gaza after Israel ended the occupation. So, if that is the model that Mr. Barghouti is offering, that when we get out of those territories, they will become launching pad for more attacks. I think that's not going to happen.
LEMON: Have you been able to -- are you witnessing any of this? Are you seeing the pictures that are coming out of Gaza? They are horrific. People are digging by hand and by pick and hoe to try to rescue people in the rubble. Have you been able to look at those pictures?
DAVID: Yes, of course.
LEMON: And your thoughts?
DAVID: Well, my thoughts are very clear. We are no quarrel with the Palestinian people. We have a quarrel with Hamas terrorist organization, illegitimate organization using terrorism since '95. Let's remind the people who are viewing this that '95, that was the middle of the Oslo process, the peace process, when Hamas started to blow up citizens of Israel on buses and on the streets, suicide bombing. This has not started yesterday or the day before. It started over 12 -- 13 years ago with Hamas, and I think that this is the time to put an end to that.
LEMON: Does it make a difference, Mr. David who is in office -- whether it's President Bush or President Barack Obama to you?
DAVID: Well, to me, it matters what the American people who are democratically electing their president think. I think they -- the fact that they elect this president or that president means that they think that they can use their right, their democratic rights to express their opinion about who they want to be their leader.
LEMON: Well, I ask you that because Mr. Barghouti in my conversation with him said that he believed that President Bush was biased towards Israel. That's why I ask you that question. Do you agree?
DAVID: Well, I believe that American presidents are doing what's good for their country, and I think that they are doing what they think is the right thing to do. And there is a good guy and a bad guy in the story. So, if it is calling that biased, I'm willing to live with that. I would describe it differently. American presidents stand on the side of their friend.
LEMON: Do you think that you should abide by the cease-fire that the United Nations called for last night, and/or, do you think that Israel will?
DAVID: You mentioned that I'm speaking from Sderoth City where children could not get a night's sleep for eight years now. I see that in the streets. I see children with tired eyes. We are tired of that. The United Nations was not there on the side of those children for the last eight years. I think it's time for the Israeli government to be on their side, on the side of the children and the parents who actually have to elect the government in Israel. The United Nations will have to wait a little bit until we finish this job.
LEMON: Until you finish the job? I was going to say, obviously, you would like to see this end, but it doesn't seem like from your last comment that you want to see it end until what? What is the end game? What is the outcome for you?
DAVID: The end game is that what has been here in the last eight years will not continue to be here, which is terrorist organizations. You know what, let's say this. I have no problem with people who want to have a dictatorship as their leadership. I have a problem with the dictatorship that shoots rockets at us. That's not acceptable.
LEMON: All right. Andy David, thank you very much for joining us tonight from Israel. We appreciate it. And CNN senior editor for Arab Affairs, Octavia Nasr joins us now via the Internet with some insight on the current crisis there. And what you're hearing from both Israel, and from the Israelis and from the Palestinians.
Usually, you know, Octavia, we always say the truth. Everybody has their side and the truth is somewhere in the middle. Tell us what you're seeing, and after hearing both men what you can sum -- what you sum of it.
OCTAVIA NASR, SENIOR EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Of course there is a lot of truth to that. You listen to both men, they both make sense. They both are right on some points. They both are wrong on others. And even people within their own communities will tell you that.
The problem in that region is that it's a vicious circle. So both of them are right. Israel wants peace. They want the Hamas group to stop attacking Israel with Katyusha rockets, and the Palestinians say that they want peace and they want Israel to end its occupation. So it's a vicious circle. Who started it? Who broke the ceasefire? That's the biggest question. Palestinian say Israel did. Israel says the Palestinians did.
The truth is somewhere in between. But you heard Mr. David, for example, talk about Gaza, and Israel's presence in Gaza. It is true that Israel pulled out of Gaza unilaterally, on their own terms, they just left. The problem the Palestinians will tell you is that Israel controls the borders to Gaza. So basically they control the fuel, they control the aid, they control everything that goes in and out of Gaza, and then they use that excuse to attack Israel with the Katyusha rockets. It is a vicious circle.
LEMON: And the big question is when you said American people are wondering why should I be concerned about this? What does this mean? Well, obviously, it means instability for the region but also for the rest of the world as well. And this one, Octavia, is different because even Palestinian people are criticizing their own government as well during this current uprising.
NASR: It is true. The Palestinians are split. You have the Fatah group, you have the Hamas group, you have the government that is very friendly with Israel. We are talking about the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He's very friendly with Israel, very friendly with Egypt and the U.S. And basically, the Hamas camp looks at him as someone who sold them off, someone who is not really caring for the issues that concern Palestinians.
LEMON: Right. Right.
NASR: That he's only serving the agenda of the West. The rest of the Arab world is up in arms about what's going on in Gaza. They are really upset with their governments. They feel the governments are not doing enough to support the Palestinian people in Gaza and to do something to stop the violence against those people. So it is true.
Now, why should the American people care? Because Israel is the biggest ally of the U.S. in the Middle East. This is very, very important. This is about the U.S. interests. The U.S. supports Israel. You can see from the reaction to this -- basically, to the airstrikes. The U.S. believes that it is Israel's right to defend itself.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: All right, well, Octavia --
NASR: And they see that as Israel defending itself against Hamas and its attacks.
LEMON: Octavia, thank you very much. Our senior editor of Arab Affairs. We appreciate you joining us tonight via Web cam. Thank you very much.
Please join our conversation tonight. Make sure you logon to Twitter, to Facebook, to MySpace or iReport.com, and tell us what you're thinking. And I'm sure you're going to want to comment on this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SONG PLAYING) They will vote for him and not for me 'cause he's not from the hood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This was sent out to members of the Republican Party by a man who wants to lead the Republican Party.
Also, from snow to rain to flooding, one mess leads to another across the Midwest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have an update tonight on a shocking story we have been following for days. Police have found a second rental car used by Christmas Eve killer Bruce Pardo. They use a robot vehicle to examine the car which they feared was rigged with bombs. No explosives were found. Pardo is believed to have gunned down nine people in his former in-laws' house outside of Los Angeles dressed like Santa Claus. Another car, which he drove to the house, was rigged with explosives. It later blew up. Pardo later killed himself.
Police say his downward slide may have started years earlier. A 2001 swimming pool accident left Pardo's young son with severe brain damage that left him a paraplegic. An attorney who represented the child's mother says Pardo may have suffered lingering guilt. Then in February, his wife asked for a divorce. In July, Pardo lost his engineering job, and he found himself in such financial straits, he wanted his ex-wife to pay him support. Well, that didn't happen and the couple appeared in court just days before the killings to finalize their divorce. Let's turn now to the weather, where there is a messy mix of weather across the nation tonight. Rain is mixing with snow and higher temperatures to create what can only be called a wet mess.
Heavy, wet snow is blamed for collapsed roofs in Washington State, and it also collapsed four buildings at a county fairground. People across the Midwest are bracing for more flooding tonight. Check out the usually snow-bound Chicago land area. Rising temperatures there and heavy rain are melting snow banks and bloating rivers. Flood waters are posted tonight over parts of Illinois, and warnings, I should say, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and also Ohio. Those flood warnings, as I said posted tonight.
Karen Maginnis, not boding well for folks in the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Oh, boy, snow melt. OK, nothing like this, though. This weird, sort of sludge that's taking over one eastern Tennessee town, though. It's an update now on a massive coal ash -- coal ash spill, or what have you. They are not exactly sure what's going on in this Tennessee town.
It is one billion gallons of sludge, and it has flooded an entire neighborhood. The huge spill happened in a town called Kingston, which is close to Knoxville. And CNN's Brooke Baldwin is there with the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Situated in the shadow of a TBA Kingston steam plant.
TOM VEREB, HOMEOWNER: You couldn't see the smokestacks from our house.
BALDWIN: Sat Tom and Wendy Vereb's dream house, complete with a dock, a boat and this love seat swing, now it's all gone.
So, looking at this and then looking at this, what -- what goes through your head?
WENDY VEREB, HOMEOWNER: Depression, really. I mean, it's so sad because it was so pretty here. I mean, we used to sit here and do -- have fire, you know, have the fire going and stuff, and they would row across the way to us and have some wine together and stuff like that, and sit out here. It's really peaceful.
BALDWIN: One week ago, a tidal wave of water and coal ash burst out of the plant's retention pond, cascading sludge onto 300 acres of surrounding land and waterways, including this couple's cove.
T. VEREB: And as we walked around, we came down here and said, oh, man. It was just kind of hard to believe, the view of it.
BALDWIN: Some families just stop and stare, but most want answers. Sunday night, so many people packed into this emergency meeting that last minute city council had to change the venue, and then the questions came.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was the last time this levee had been expected?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you have an emergency plan in place for such a thing.
BALDWIN: The target, TBA. The president and CEO trying to assure every that cleanup, containment and safety are TBA's top priorities.
UNIDENTIFIED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF TBA: I'm here to tell you, we'll clean it up, and we're going to clean it up right. And we are focused on that job.
BALDWIN: It's a job that Tom Vereb knows for now has no end in sight.
T. VEREB: This mess is going to be around for a while.
BALDWIN: And if they decide to sell, who would want to buy? Brook Baldwin, CNN, Kingston, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It was meant for laughs, but an Obama parody song is no laughing matter for many people. Hear it for yourself and you decide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK, well, it is no laughing matter. It is a parody. It's a CD given out by Chip Saltsman. He's a Republican in the race to be the head of the GOP, and it is generating quite a controversy. Here's just a few seconds of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, again, that is just a few seconds of that. That's not all. There are other duties on the CD like John Edwards' poverty tour, a Wright place, wrong pastor, W-R-I-G-H-T, and the Star Spanglish banner.
OK. Well, Chip Saltsman released a statement on TheHill.com, and here's what he says. He says "Paul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies."
All right. So joining us tonight for this discussion -- Reid Wilson is a writer for TheHill.com. I could say you broke this story because you are the first one to report about it. And then Lynn Sweet for the Washington -- she is from the Chicago Sun-Times, the Washington Bureau Chief. She joins us as well.
OK, thank you both. Reid, what was the response? When you started doing this story and digging around, what did you hear from the people involved?
REID WILSON, STAFF WRITER, THEHILL.COM: Well, we heard a lot from Republican National Committee members that they were really shocked by the sort of tone deafness of this decision to send out this CD. As you mentioned, Paul Shanklin is the guy who does a lot of parody work for the Rush Limbaugh radio show.
Limbaugh has been playing this a while. He was attacked when he started playing it by a bunch of liberal groups, Media Matters of America, some other groups like that. And then Saltsman sends this CD out. They have a good relationship. As you mentioned, they have been friends for a very long time. Still, though, the notion that this would go out at a time when the Republican Party is really having trouble attracting minority voters and minority interests at all is -- it smacks of tone deafness.
LEMON: Tone deafness. There are some people who say, you know what, it's humor. It's humor. Come on, lighten up a little bit. Do you agree with that at all, Lynn Sweet?
LYNN SWEET, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Peter, Paul and Mary must be spinning around that their own song, of all people, of all groups, you know, to use their "Puff the Magic Dragon." It's tasteful parody. See, it's one thing if Rush Limbaugh wants to use it on his show. It is another thing when an official, especially one who aspires to be a Republican National Committee chairman takes it out of the Rush Limbaugh venue and puts it into a political context. So, it is -- it is not -- that is the message that he wants to send, it is impossible to think he would ever be elected RNC chairman now.
LEMON: But Lynn, I'm getting e-mails from people and notes on Facebook and Twitter saying, you know what, this was taken care of -- wasn't this taken care of during the campaign? People thought it was racist? Rush Limbaugh has been doing this for a year now. Why are you bringing it up? For the fact that your bringing it up is because people like Reid, and you guys, you uncover that someone was distributing it again.
SWEET: Well, that's what makes it different, is that it left the confines of the Rush Limbaugh show.
LEMON: Reid?
WILSON: That's absolutely right. It was sent out to all 168 members of the Republican National Committee. Some of whom -- at least one of whom I was told wanted it out of his house. He didn't want the CD anywhere near him, and he threw it away as fast as could. This is something that the Republican Party is really dealing with right now. They got somewhere between, you know, four and five percent of the African-American vote. You are not going to attract a lot of African-American voters in 2010 or 2012 if you're, well, engaging in this sort of, well, what could be a joke, doesn't really look like, though.
LEMON: Whatever you think of it. I mean, it wasn't real smart to send it out. Come on, let's be honest. I mean, I'm not going to call anyone a racist here, but these are grown men, and you have to suffer the consequences of whatever you do.
I mean, sending it out to members of the RNC, shouldn't -- shouldn't they know better? I mean, that's just silly.
WILSON: One thing that a lot of people brought up was that these are not -- this was not only sent out to folks who listen to the Rush Limbaugh show. Sure, there are a lot of RNC members. There are a lot of Americans who listen to the Rush Limbaugh Show. But there are also folks who are from the -- you know, from the upper west side of Manhattan, who were the Republican Party's big donors who don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, who might not find this funny. Some older folks who wouldn't find this -- the satire that it was maybe intended to be.
LEMON: Yes.
SWEET: Moreover, if this is a man who wants to lead the Republican Party, and to have any impact of trying to -- you know, whatever happened to the old big tent that the GOP used to have. You know, it's taunting and making fun. Again, this is -- this is the kind of stuff that -- you know, what goes on Rush Limbaugh Show is very different than what a person who wants a public -- you know, a political office has. It's also -- it wasn't smart politics, because it is going to ruin his bid to be RNC chairman. So if he couldn't even figure that out, then perhaps he did the party a favor.
LEMON: All right, Reid Wilson and Lynn Sweet, thank you both very much. Lynn, stick around. I want to talk to you about Caroline Kennedy. Will you hang out with us to talk about that?
SWEET: Absolutely.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much.
Well, this story that we talked about. This supposed parody sure to be a big talker come Monday morning on the radio. We tune in for the drive time buzz with our radio king and queen, Warren Ballentine and Martha Zoller.
And her family's political pedigree is unquestionable. But is she ready for the U.S. Senate? Caroline Kennedy's bid for the big time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So before the break, we played a snippet from the controversial Barack Obama parody CD generated by members of the RNC. Here is a little bit more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (SONG PLAYING): The guy from this L.A. paper said it make guilty whites feel good. They will vote for him and not for me 'cause he's not from the hood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, this controversy may eat up a lot of your air time come Monday morning, right, Martha Zoller? Warren Ballentine? Host of The Martha Zoller Show and The Warren Ballentine Show, respectively. Right? I mean, what can you do?
Warren?
WARREN BALLETINE, RADIO HOST, "WARREN BALLENTINE SHOW": Yes, sir.
LEMON: During the campaign, did this not come up? This thing?
BALLETINE: I actually played this on my show about six months ago, straight from the Rush Limbaugh Show. And it was a hot topic then. I mean, what's disappointing about this, you know, I'm in my early 30s. I mean, we have evolved in this country, and for somebody that wants to be the head of the RNC to be sending something out like this -- look, if I'm a Republican right now, you know, I'm taking a hard-line stand saying -- look, we disagree with this. We do not co- sign on this at all. This guy will never be the head of the RNC.
And Don, what my listeners are going to be most upset about is when they turn on the television, you have Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, you have Bill O'Reilly, you have Glenn Beck, and this other radio guys who have talk shows, that get on the air and spew the same hate on TV every night, and it's no minorities with any kind of a show to even combat this. That's the problem. Because you've got RNC and you have people that are spewing hate all over the air waves, not just on radio, but on television every day and there is no way to balance it out, because there's nobody else out there doing it.
LEMON: You don't think -- you don't think a journalist -- I will save that for later. I will save that for later, Warren. Let's move on and talk about, because there's also response also from black Republicans who are saying -- someone sent me an e-mail saying if it were not so hypocritical, it would be comical how Democrats and their media allies have created a firestorm over a parody of racism in the Democratic Party. Now this is according to -- actually, this is from Mark Preston, who says it's from the National Black Republican Association, not sure. Doesn't know much about that group. But also Michael Steel said, you know, come on, lighten up.
Martha, you know, this is -- it's a joke.
MARTHA ZOLLER, RADIO HOST, "MARTHA ZOLLER SHOW": Well, first of all, Chip Saltsman was not a guy that was on anybody's top three list for the RNC chair. And I think this has probably got him a knock him off. I mean, this is as if you are going to take something seriously when Alan Keyes was running against Barack Obama. OK? I mean, this is the level of candidate he is. LEMON: But Martha, he is --
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLLER: But I don't think -- I don't think he should have sent that out.
LEMON: Yes.
ZOLLER: On that, but it is a funny parody. And if you know the history of it, it was a column in the "Los Angeles Times" that was written based on some things that Al Sharpton said about why white folks were voting for Barack Obama.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: But how is that -- Martha, how is that funny? How is that funny, someone -- this person who is singing supposedly is imitating Al Sharpton in a voice that's like a black man. I think it's a white guy imitating. How was that parody -- I don't see anything funny about that.
BALLETINE: There's nothing funny about that.
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLLER: Well, you're not seeing it in the context of what the song is, but I do think that it's a parody. I mean, this is the kind of parodies that Limbaugh does. He makes fun of McCain. He makes fun of Zell Miller. He makes fun of plenty of people that are out there, not just Barack Obama and Al Sharpton. Although, he's had a lot of fun with Al Sharpton over the years.
BALLETINE: Don, what's sad about this, there's nothing funny about this. I mean, look, whether white America is ready to hear this or not, you got a black president and you have Reverend Sharpton who --
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLLER: But don't judge white -- wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't judge --
(CROSSTALK)
BALLETINE: You have Reverend Sharpton out here who's been fighting for black issues before most of us have even been born. There's nothing funny about this, Martha.
ZOLLER: Don't judge white --
BALLETINE: It's nothing comical about it. And to say it's comical coming from a druggie, which Rush Limbaugh is, who should have been --
ZOLLER: Oh come on, now listen -- (CROSSTALK)
BALLETINE: who should have went to jail --
ZOLLER: Don't judge white America by what happen. It was just one song.
(CROSSTALK)
BALLETINE: I mean, it's just absolutely ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous that anybody would think this was funny at all.
ZOLLER: I don't think the sending out of the CD was funny. But to judge white America based on what Chip Saltsman did is not fair. It's not fair to be --
(CROSSTALK)
BALLETINE: I'm not judging white America, Martha.
ZOLLER: You just did. White America, get ready.
(CROSSTALK)
BALLETINE: No, I'm saying this, Martha, for anybody to sit back and say that this was just a joke and it is funny. Even Michael Steel - it's a disgrace for him to say lighten up about it.
ZOLLER: It's a disgrace they sent it out.
BALLETINE: It is. It is.
ZOLLER: I don't agree with them sending it out. But it's not that big of a deal.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: And I've got to say this -- I've got to say this, because it took every kind of American. It took most of white American to vote for Barack Obama...
ZOLLER: It took a lot of -- yes.
LEMON: ...in order for him to become president, so it's not all of white American. But I do have to say that someone who is a key player in the Republican Party sending this out is really ridiculous and should have known better than that.
ZOLLER: Chip Saltsman would like to be a key player in the Republican Party. He is not going to be. And maybe because we are talking about him today will make him a little more popular.
LEMON: OK. Final words, talking about this tomorrow you believe...
ZOLLER: Sure. LEMON: ...Warren?
ZOLLER: Oh, we will.
BALLETINE: It's going to be the number one issue on my show outside of what is going on over in the Middle East. Because we are going to be dealing with that as well.
LEMON: Same thing, Martha?
ZOLLER: Yes, it will be a big topic. It would be a big topic.
LEMON: OK, both of you guys -- whew, man, I can talk all night about this one. This is hot. I have my own opinion on that, but I will keep to myself, because I like being able to pay the bills. Hey guys, hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Year, OK?
BALLETINE: Happy New Year, Don.
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLLER: Thanks, guys, Happy New Year.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I'll see you in Times Square. Watch me in Times Square on the 360 Special. You guys going to be there? Where are you going to be?
BALLETINE: I'm probably going to sit at home and just relax. I need some sleep.
LEMON: Martha?
ZOLLER: Yes, I'm going to be home watching bowl games and then of course watching the ball drop.
LEMON: All right. Let's hope it's warm in Times Square. Thank you, guys.
ZOLLER: Thanks, guys.
BALLETINE: Thanks.
LEMON: We want to know what's on your mind tonight. You heard this conversation. Boy, it was heated. Make sure you logon to Facebook, to Twitter, to MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking. Do you think it's racist? Do you think it's funny? Let us know.
Also, we talked about this a little bit early. She wants to be the New York senator, a senator from New York. But how does America feel about Caroline Kennedy's campaign for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Caroline Kennedy is unofficially campaigning for Hillary Clinton's soon-to-be vacant Senate seat. Well, she knows not everyone thinks she is right for the job. But here's what she says to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLINE KENNEDY: I would be an unconventional choice. I haven't followed the traditional path. But I think I bring a lifetime of experience to this. In my family, you know, public service is really, you know, the greatest honor that anyone can have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Lifetime of experience. Lynn Sweet, Chicago Tribune -- Chicago Tribune. Sorry, Lynn, don't hit me, Chicago Sun-Times.
SWEET: What station am I on?
LEMON: Washington Bureau Chief. Don't say it, please. All right, thank you very much. And I should know that, being from Chicago and everything. She is back with us.
SWEET: Sure. I know. What high school did you go to?
LEMON: Oh, I can't tell you. I didn't go to Chicago -- I didn't go to high school in Chicago.
SWEET: OK.
LEMON: All right. So forgive me, thank you very much. I would say Marquette, but I would be not telling the truth. So, Lynn sweet, do you think she's qualified for that job?
SWEET: Well, we know that people come to this from all walks of life. There is no one qualification for Senate. Part of it is in a sense of the public hazing she's going through. It's not hazing. It's just to see what she's about, what she might stand for.
When you have somebody that has had a private life like she has. You know some of her causes and some of her passions from her writings, I think you don't know a lot about her, and this is kind of a vetting. You know, one thing, Don that is interesting, she has been reluctant so far to disclose her finances. For example, that's something that anyone who runs for a Senate seat has to do and has to put that out there, whether or not they win or lose. You know, she has been reluctant to do that. It's an awkward position she's in, where she has to sell herself to an electorate of one, the governor of New York.
LEMON: Especially with the scrutiny that comes with that now, and a lot of people had been out of the running in the political process because they don't want to disclose such things. But you have to give to her. She is -- I mean, she does come from a political dynasty. And to some people, especially a lot of voters, and especially in the northeast, that means a heck of a lot, Lynn. SWEET: Well, it does. We come from Chicago, where you have these local dynasties, where people tend to treat these political offices as if they own them. She does not say that. She understands that it's not hers for the taking, and she is doing what I think is right right now. She wants to in this short time, show Governor Paterson that she could earn the -- earn this appointment.
LEMON: Hey, Lynn -- hey, Lynn, real quickly, there are lots of people, though, or at least a number of people who may be -- who are qualified as well, but we are not hearing about them.
SWEET: Well, you know, this is the megaphone of the Kennedy celebrity. This is one -- this is the most famous political family in America, the legendary family. So I guess we are not paying as much attention. What's interesting here, one of the other people who would like to be appointed, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, he comes from another big New York political family, but, yes, it's hard even for him even to be heard.
LEMON: Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Bureau Chief, thank you very much.
SWEET: And thank you, Don.
LEMON: Did you have a good Christmas?
SWEET: It was a lovely holiday. I hope yours was good, too.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that.
All right. It wasn't your usual 911 call. This one is also coming from Chicago. Some emergency operator help a boy find Santa. Well, sort of. You want to stay tuned for this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to make you smile tonight. We hope this story does. It's about a little Chicago boy. He gave his grandmother a scare on Christmas morning. She couldn't calm him down so what did she do? Well, she called 911. An operator, Pamela Jenkins took the call. Here she is with our colleague Dionne Judkins. And when Judkins got the boy on the phone, he calm down a bit and said he was grateful for his grandmother, grateful for his home, but he was upset because Santa couldn't afford to come to his house.
And the 911 operator sent the police over to check it out. What happened next is sure to fill you with Christmas cheer. So let's finish the story now with Pamela Jenkins and Dionne Judkins. They answer that call that night, and both are joining us now from Chicago. Hey, guys, thank you for joining us.
PAMELA JENKINS, CHICAGO 911 EMPLOYEE: You're welcome.
DIONNE JUDKINS, EMERGENCY DISPATCHER: You're welcome. Thank you for having us. LEMON: Hey, listen, I'm sure you guys probably thought you've everything being emergency operators, 911 operators. But was this the first time you had ever heard anything like that?
JENKINS: No, not really.
LEMON: No?
JUDKINS: No, we get a lot of children and grandmothers and mothers and fathers complaining about their children.
LEMON: So what was different about this one then?
JUDKINS: Well, actually Pam took that call. And we're going to let her explain that to you.
JENKINS: Well, I was working in a call-taking capacity at the time, I'm a dispatcher. But it was just that the grandmother sounded so serious and so tired from trying to deal with Malik that morning. And she wanted the police to come and talk to him. And I thought that maybe I could help, because he was already crying in the background.
LEMON: So when you got him on the phone what happened?
JENKINS: You know, he told me his name. I introduced myself, and I was trying to give him some things to be thankful for, for Christmas. And he told me that he didn't have any toys for Christmas. And I said, what, you don't? And I told him that if he was very respectful with grandma and didn't give her anymore trouble, that I would come and bring him a toy or I would send a really nice police officer to bring him a toy before the night was over.
LEMON: And what happened after that?
JENKINS: Well, I asked him to put grandma back on the phone and she came back on the line. And I, you know, asked her was that true and she said, yes, that she had been very ill and hadn't been able to get out to get anything and whatnot, some more problems. And I told her what I wanted to do and she thanked me and she cried and we cried and soon I -- I sent a message to a couple of my friends on the floor, and I said, what do you suggest? What should we do? And they said, let's go shopping.
And one of my partners, she sent the message out to everyone on the floor, when I had sent this to just a few people. Well, by then, people were bringing money over saying, you know, you know, go and get them something really, really nice.
LEMON: Did you collect a lot? How much did you collect? Toys and money and clothing?
JENKINS: Within 30 minutes, we had over $100.
LEMON: Wow.
JENKINS: And the dispatcher that dispatches to the area where they live, she says, you know, well, I'm leaving early, I can, you know, do the shopping because I couldn't get out early.
LEMON: All right. We have a few seconds left. So once you -- you all get over there, when you get to his house, or when they bring it to his house, do you know what the reaction was?
JENKINS: They were ecstatic. They were overjoyed. Ann Clancy and her children, Patsy, Timothy and Ryan, they took the things that Ann went out shopping for. They also took some things that they didn't play with anymore, clothes that Patsy had never worn before. She gave them to the 12-year-old, and they were just -- I can't even -- I don't have any words for the joy that they felt.
LEMON: And I bet you guys -- I bet you guys got more out of it than the little boy did?
JENKINS: Oh, yes, because --
JUDKINS: Yes, actually --
JENKINS: Dionne went over the -- the next day, which was Christmas morning and brought groceries for them.
LEMON: All right. Well, Dionne, I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk a lot. We're out of time.
JUDKINS: That's OK.
LEMON: But hey, listen, you guys are two Santa Claus, Good Samaritans. Thank you so much. I'm going to get your addresses. I'm going to send you some CNN stuff. Maybe a cap or something to wear, and something to give to little Malik.
(CROSSTALK)
JENKINS: Thank you. And hi co-workers and family.
LEMON: Giving shout-outs, just like a Chicagoan to give a shout- out on the air.
JENKINS: Yes, it was a group effort, and everyone responded to the call.
JUDKINS: That's right.
LEMON: Happy New Year.
JUDKINS: We couldn't have done it without them.
JENKINS: Happy New Year.
LEMON: All right, thank you, guys.
JUDKINS: All right. Bye bye.
JENKINS: Thank you.
LEMON: We are taking some of your comments. If you want to comment on this, do it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, some of your response. We've been asking for them tonight. I got one just a second ago from RegularGuy. That is not up there. The RegularGuy68, he says, "I'm glad those ladies took so much happiness in helping that family." That was from RegularGuy.
Also, we've been talking about the unrest that is happening in Gaza. "Gaza has been under siege, where people were dying from lack of food, medicine, electricity and should be fuel. This was during a cease-fire."
And then also Bratts says, "The video is over a year old. I think we should move on and stop wasting our time over the RNC bigotry. Obama is our president now."
Thank you all for your comments. Thank you all for watching. Make sure you have a great week. Oh, we are back in a moment. Yes, one more block after this. We'll see you in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here next weekend. Saturday night at 5:00 and 11:00, Sunday night 6:00 and 10:00.
