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President Obama Urges Americans to Salute Veterans; White House Aide says Supreme Court Nominee may be Named Next Week; Pakistan Says It is Winning the War on the Taliban; Military Combats Stigma Associated with PTSD; Mississippi Town Elects its First African- American Mayor
Aired May 23, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering the service men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Honoring veterans on this Memorial Day weekend.
For 32 million Americans this weekend also means travel, but the weather may make that trip a bit unnerving.
Journey to the valley. CNN gets a look at the region where the Pakistani military says it is toppling the Taliban.
And closing Gitmo, why is President Obama facing opposition over his decision from his own party?
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Row upon row, flags at each gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery. A reminder of what this Memorial Day holiday is all about. And a chance to honor those who served the United States and paid the ultimate price. Among those paying tribute, the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group, many of them veterans. They ride in support of troops missing or killed in action. And then on Monday, President Obama will be at the Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional wreath laying.
The president salutes the men and women in uniform in his weekly address, and he urges all Americans to do the same. Even if it means just walking up to a veteran and saying, thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our fighting men and women and the military families who love them embody what's best in America. We have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they have served us. And yet all too often in recent years and decades, we as a nation have failed to live up to that responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve. That's a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has with all who wear and all who have worn the proud uniform of our country, and that is a sacred trust I'm committed to keeping as president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: In their weekly response, republicans also focused on honoring fallen heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO, (R) WYOMING: Many Americans spend their Memorial Day weekend traveling with family to visit relatives and friends. It's a weekend of ceremonies, parades and cookouts. Memorial Day is a time to remember America's fallen heroes. Men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and prosperity of our great country. This weekend, we pay tribute to their courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Senator John Barrasso also pointed to a plug for a more comprehensive energy plan. Republicans say their plan would increase funding for energy research, develop America's oil and gas resources and promote coal and nuclear power.
President Obama, by the way, is at Camp David this weekend. And among the items he may be contemplating, his short list of candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. An announcement about that could come, we hear, as early as Tuesday.
Our Elaine Quijano is at the White House.
Elaine, how close is the president to settling in on a nominee?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPPONDENT: Well, closer, Fredricka, I guess it's safe to say. A top aide to the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent out an e-mail to democrats yesterday saying, look, be ready. President Obama's pick to replace retiring Justice David Souter could come -- and we stress could come -- early in the next week -- early next week, I should say.
Really, that seems to square with what President Obama himself has said as well. In an interview with C-Span television, the president described his time frame, if you will, for when he would like to see confirmation hearings get under way for his nominee. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think it's safe to say we're going to have an announcement soon. And my hope is that we could have hearings in July so that we end up before Congress breaks for the summer, have somebody in place. One of the things I would prefer not to see happen is that these confirmation hearings drag on and somebody has to hit the ground running and take their seat in October without having the time to wrap their mind around the fact that they're going to be a Supreme Court justice. I would like to give them a little bit of lead time so they can get prepared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, among the names that's getting a lot of buzz is Judge Diane Wood. She is a federal appeals court judge from Chicago, well known to President Obama and his top aides. She was in Washington for a law conference a few days ago, and she met privately with the president, according to a source close to the selection process.
In any case, we know this weekend, as you pointed out, could be decision time for the president. As you noted, he's at Camp David, where he's likely to be not only mulling over his choices but he could possibly be sitting down one on one with his top contenders. Of course, that is an ideal location to do those kinds of things, Fredricka. As you know, he would be able to do that away from the media, away from any nosey reporters.
WHITFIELD: I wonder who you could be talking about. Besides his Supreme Court pick, another interesting bit of news in that interview with C-Span, that the president alluded to and it was really about his predecessor, what was said and what was not said.
QUIJANO: There was a lot that was not said but this is something that is really fascinating, Fredricka. President Obama says that since the inauguration, he has actually talked to former President George W. Bush.
Now, he did not say what they talked about. He did not say how long they spoke or even if they spoke multiple times, but really this is such a fascinating thing, Fredricka. Because as you know, former Vice President Dick Cheney has really been going out very publicly and doing battle with the Obama administration. So this is interesting. A little tidbit that came out from that C-Span interview. Who knows, perhaps we'll get more details about what exactly that conversation was about.
WHITFIELD: Yes, the president saying he's keeping that conversation private, at least for now.
Elaine Quijano, thanks so much from the White House. Appreciate it.
Picking that U.S. Supreme Court justice is only one of the challenges facing the Obama administration in the next 100 days. And we're in it right now. There are two wars, there's the economy. An encore presentation of the "AC 360" special edition "Extreme Challenges" comes your way tonight, 8:00 P.M. Eastern.
Stuck in space yet another day. They probably like that, though. NASA has canceled this morning's scheduled landing of the space shuttle "Atlantis" due to bad weather in Florida. Mission control will try again tomorrow to bring the shuttle home. And former space shuttle commander and retired marine general Charles Bolden Jr., he has been nominated by President Obama to become NASA's next administrator. If confirmed, Bolden would be the first African- American to lead the space agency.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: A major blow against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Afghan commandos and coalition troops say they killed 60 militants in Helmand Province. The operation targeted an area that is considered a center of the drug trade. The troops say they seized nearly 100,000 kilograms of narcotics.
Across the border in Pakistan, the government says it is winning its own war against the Taliban. Troops now hold ground in the Swat Valley, where the extremists used to be dug in. CNN's Ivan Watson went along on a military tour of the valley to see for himself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Two days ago this tunnel was a Taliban hideout, part of a network of bunkers and caves that Pakistani troops captured from Taliban militants. The Pakistani military says this was a Taliban training camp. You can see how high we are over the Swat Valley and what a strategic vantage point it would have given the militants.
(Voice-over): The army says the camp was a key stop on a Taliban supply line running across the Swat Valley.
(On camera): This was a Taliban bunker, and there are still blankets and bedding left over from when the militants were occupying this space. Now, it's built out of stone and timber and look at this, they even had electric wires running into here so they could have light in their cave.
(Voice-over): Now, Pakistani soldiers sit in what used to be Taliban machine gun nests. While the generals congratulate each other on their victory and boast of losses inflicted.
BRIG. AJAB KHAN, PAKISTANI ARMY: They lost the maximum here. They lost 160 confirmed kills.
WATSON: Oh, really?
KHAN: Yes.
WATSON (voice-over): The camp was one stop on a military helicopter tour of the Swat Valley. Once a tourist destination, Swat's roads, fields and orchards are now almost completely deserted. The military shows us captured weapons and parades three prisoners. This traveling captive tells reporters he's a volunteer fighter from Afghanistan.
There's no way for us to verify that. The army claims it has broken the back of the Taliban in Swat. The problem is, we've heard all of this before. In February of 2008, the army brought journalists on this very similar tour of Swat to show the military's victory over Taliban militants during an earlier round of fighting. The top military spokesman swears this time it will be different.
GEN. ATHAR ABBAS, PAKISTANI MILITARY SPOKESMAN: The actions will speak louder than the words. The very operation has had huge success, in not only capturing these spaces but also killing a great deal of them.
WATSON: The latest campaign is taking its toll on the troops. More than 60 soldiers have been killed this month, and many more wounded.
(On camera): Have you had to fly injured soldiers in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many times. So many times, so many bodies.
WATSON (voice-over): There are likely to be more bodies. Militants are still holding out in several key towns. The battle for Swat is still far from over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Fredricka, one of the reasons why we didn't see too many civilians there is also because more than a million people had fled northwest Pakistan, fled the fighting that is taking place this month. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And Ivan, today the military actually announced it's starting the most important phase of its operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. So what is that exactly?
WATSON: Well, here in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, the military announced earlier today that it was moving into this largest town in the Swat Valley, Mingora. It's very difficult for us to confirm that. We did see the town, while we flew over Mingora, we saw a fire burning there and a big cloud of black smoke coming up from Mingora.
We've heard some really horrifying stories Fredricka over the course of the past month. Bodies lying in the streets, nobody able to come and retrieve them because of the strict curfew that has been in place there and we can't reach any of the residents that are left there right now because the phone systems have been cut off to that area. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right Ivan Watson, thanks so much for that update, appreciate it.
All right closing Guantanamo, why can't President Obama get senators from his own party to make it happen?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. MAURICE DEWITT, U.S. ARMY; FROM ENTERPRISE, ALBAMA: Hello, my name is Captain Maurice Dewitt with 425 Civil Affairs. I would like to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day, hello family and I hope to see you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Today at 4:00 Eastern, I will actually lead a discussion exploring housing difficulties, job search obstacles and mental health care for our returning troops. Are you facing any of these challenges or do you know someone who is? We want to hear from you on my blog page at cnn.com/newsroom, on Facebook at Fredricka Whitfield CNN or by sending an e-mail to weekends@cnn.com and be sure to watch today at 4:00 P.M. Eastern. Perhaps some of your questions will be answered as well.
Well, she sang the Star Spangled Banner to herself to survive 100 days in an Iranian jail. Journalist Roxana Saberi arrived Friday at Washington's Dulles International Airport, she thanked her supporters and said, quote, "I'm so happy to be home in the land of the free," end quote. Saberi was convicted of espionage last month by an Iranian court and sentenced to eight years in prison. A judge later reduced the sentence and set her free.
Some wonder if it will usher in a new phase of U.S. Cuba relations. The Obama administration is offering to resume immigration talks with Havana. The U.S. State Department said the talks would focus on ensuring safe and orderly migration by Cubans to this country. In April, the Obama administration lifted travel and money transfer restrictions for Americans who have relatives in Cuba.
More contradiction within the GOP as to whether America is safer today from the threat of terrorism. Former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Obama sparred Thursday in dueling speeches on the same matter. And in a move that crosses party lines, former homeland security chief republican Tom Ridge is siding with President Obama. Just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: You had the intelligence. You served in a very sensitive position in those days after 9/11. Do you believe we are less safe today because of steps taken by President Obama?
TOM RIDGE, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I do not.
KING: You disagree with Dick Cheney then?
RIDGE: I disagree with Dick Cheney but I also disagree with the approach both men are taking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hear John King's entire interview with the former homeland security chief Tom Ridge tomorrow morning on "State of the Union" beginning at 9:00 A.M. Eastern right here on CNN.
President Obama said if America lives up to its values, it will close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. He says that will make it safer for the country. So why did senators from his own party vote against the president? Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun-Times," a columnist for Politicsdaily.com joins me now. Good to see you.
LYNN SWEET, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: I wonder how much of a surprise this was for President Obama that a good number of democrats said we actually don't agree with you on this plan that he exhausted with a little bit more detail this week as to why Guantanamo should be closed and what to do with these detainees or enemy combatants? Whatever we're calling them these days.
SWEET: There's a lot of work Fredricka that the Obama White House has to do before they get money for closing Guantanamo. Part of the message the administration got this week is that lawmakers want plans. That's why most of the democrats in the Senate voted against giving money to the Obama White House to shut down. Now, that's now compounded just by the civil rights issue that you talked about, within the democratic community, that is a very, very important question.
Obama talked about holding people under what would amount to be indefinite detention. He called that a prolonged detention. Whatever you call it, it's a very controversial notion to hold people in the United States without a trial. Within the civil liberties community, there's the thought that if you have that much concern about these people, you probably have enough to charge them and try them. One of the things Obama said, and this will be very interesting to see how this unfolds, he wants to create a legal framework to deal with the worst of the worst.
WHITFIELD: The president also said there would be some sort of cooperation with other countries. The U.S. wouldn't be the only ones to house these detainees. I think that really is the correct vernacular these days, detainees, but that other countries might participate as well. But nothing is definitive and therein lies part of the problem.
SWEET: Yes, so you have a few issues. One is the legalistic framework for holding people that other countries don't want. You have the lack of a detailed plan. Obama addressed some of that in his speech Thursday about assuring people that these people will be scattered among the nation's super max prisons and could we already have a bunch of terrorists there and very dangerous people in super max prisons and they're able to not escape.
One by one, some of these notions, some of these issues can be addressed. But the one that actually I think will end up being the toughest is the proposal just to have people held indefinitely with no criminal charges. That's where the Obama administration will be seen by democrats as backing down from a pledge.
WHITFIELD: And the president really had been touting that January 2010 would be the date of closure, resolution as well. But this week, when he addressed this topic one more time, it was quite clear. He stayed away from any kind of post marking or date, anything in which to look forward to. Is that an indicator that perhaps he's feeling like this is going to be a little bit more difficult than he thought? Maybe January 2010 is a bit ambitious?
SWEET: Well I think all of the above are true. There could be four answers that are both true to one problem. Yes, I think that he wants very much to keep the pledge of closing Guantanamo. Will you in effect recreate a Guantanamo on U.S. soil in these super max prisons? Maybe.
WHITFIELD: And he also has to respond to the criticism of some who say wait a minute, what we're hearing from you now isn't that much different from some policies administered by the Bush administration. So what's going on here?
SWEET: What's going on, too, is that no matter what is happening domestically, even within the divisions within the Democratic Party over this, closing Guantanamo still sends a powerful, symbolic message to the rest of the world that the U.S. is not turning a blind eye to these problems and that somehow as a nation we try to work these out, even in some cases where there's an imperfect solution.
WHITFIELD: All right. I'm sorry, we're out of time, Lynn. You're awesome, I'm so glad we had you back. Head of the "Chicago Sun-Times," Washington bureau chief. Thanks so much, Lynn, appreciate it. I know we're going to be talking about it again.
SWEET: Ok thank you.
WHITFIELD: We will pick it up from where we left off today. Thanks so much Lynn.
One of America's most legendary crime sprees came to an end 75 years ago today. Hard to believe. We will tell you about it and why so many are still talking about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: News across America right now. Police in Michigan say one man is dead after a seven-hour armed standoff with officers near Detroit. They were trying to serve the suspect an eviction notice when an officer was shot in the arm.
And three people are recovering after a single engine plane crash landed in a car lot outside Indianapolis yesterday. The pilot said he was trying to land at a nearby air strip when he clipped some power lines. One person on the ground suffered a broken leg.
And the Kansas City Fire Department pulled off a dramatic rooftop rescue yesterday. A piece of scaffolding collapsed, stranding two painters eight stories up. Both men are OK.
It was 75 years ago today that Bonnie and Clyde, the killings and mayhem caused by them, came to a brutal end. It happened just outside Gibbs Land, Louisiana. Actually, this weekend that town is holding its annual Bonnie and Clyde Festival and they are actually re-enacting everything that happened 75 years ago today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Bonnie was Bonnie Parker. She was just a teenager when she met Clyde Barrow. He was 21. They became famous for robbing banks during the Great Depression, an era when bankers were especially unpopular because of foreclosures on homes and farms. To some, Bonnie and Clyde were folk heroes but the legend was bigger than life. Their crime spree ran only about four years and many of the robberies targeted groceries and gas stations. The robberies didn't net that much money, but they were violent. The FBI says Bonnie and Clyde may have killed 13 people. According to Barrow's sister, they never expected to be taken alive.
MARIE BARROW, CLYDE BARROW'S SISTER: He knew he was going to get killed. He knew it. She did too. He tried to get her to come home and stay but she wouldn't leave him. She loved him too much.
WHITFIELD: On May 23, 1934, lawmen acting on a tip hid along a Louisiana highway and opened fire on a stolen Ford sedan. Bonnie and Clyde were dead. But over the next three quarters of a century, their legend continued to grow. A celebrated 1967 movie starred Warren Beatty and Fay Dunaway, and production is scheduled to begin in July on a new Bonnie and Clyde movie starring Hilary Duff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, it is Memorial Day weekend. We'll take you to a little known area of Arlington National Cemetery called the saddest acre in America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Whatever the weather, expect roads everywhere to be crowded. AAA estimates 27 million people will actually be traveling the highways this holiday and most will be paying around $2.39 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. That's the national average. Earlier this month we were paying about 30 cents less.
All right, take a look right now. This is the Arlington National Cemetery. And nowhere is the sacrifice of American service men and women more evident than in the cemetery there. Our Barbara Starr visited the part of the cemetery known as the saddest acre in America, section 60.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain Marissa Alexander brings Avery and his twin sister Aleah here to visit the father they never knew. Staff Sergeant Leroy Alexander was killed before they were born. This is section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. It's been called the saddest acre in America. More than 500 troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are here.
CAPT. MARISSA ALEXANDER, WIFE OF FALLEN SOLDIER: They need to know what their father was about, have that connection with him.
STARR: Marissa is trying to make section 60 part of her children's lives.
ALEXANDER: Myself and the children came here and we released balloons to him. And we explained the story of how he passed. STARR: Families, buddies, friends come here. They mark their visits, leaving stones, notes, pictures. Some items, reminders of memories we do not know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You put the blue rock there.
STARR: Angie Capra, widowed with five children, is visiting husband Tech Sergeant Tony Capra's grave.
ANGIE CAPRA, WIFE OF FALLEN AIRMAN: I got the news that day. I had talked to him about 12:30 my time, and by 3:30 my time, they were knocking on the door.
STARR: Today, a drawing and Yoda has been left. Tony was a "Star Wars" fan. With her youngest Adriana, Angie is now part of the section 60 family.
CAPRA: Other widows will come by and put something on for me if they don't see me out there, they'll put something. Kind of a community.
STARR: Lieutenant General Benjamin Freakley just attended a funeral for a fallen soldier. He has other men buried here.
LT. GEN. BENJAMIN FREAKLEY, U.S. ARMY: They're still standing shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and sisters at ranks.
STARR: A place of grieving but a place for young children to learn of parents they never knew.
ALEXANDER: Knowing that this place gives them a happy remembrance of their father rather than something that's so tragic and so sad that they feel very comfortable to come here and be able to have that time with him and his memory.
STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, section 60, Arlington National Cemetery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And today at 4:00 Eastern, I will lead a discussion exploring the challenges America's troops face when it comes to finding employment, post deployment, keeping their homes and getting all of the needed mental health care needed.
We want to hear from you, you can post a comment or question on my blog page at cnn.com/newsroom, on Facebook at Fredricka Whitfield CNN or by sending an e-mail to weekends@cnn.com and be sure to watch today at 4:00 P.M. Eastern and get some of your questions answered.
Headlines from around the world right now today. We will begin in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, where soldiers are battling against Islamic rebels with alleged al Qaeda ties. More than 40 civilians have died in the crossfire, including one journalist. Another 140 civilians have been injured. South Korea's government says former President Roh Moo-huyn killed himself yesterday by hurling himself off a bluff. His death comes amid a bribery scandal and police investigation. Roh served as South Korea's president from 2003 to 2008. President Obama said he is saddened by the news of his death.
U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-Moon is in Sri Lanka. He's there to see the plight of as many as 300,000 Sri Lankans displaced from their homes during the nation's 25-year-long civil war. Government forces put down the separatists Tamil Tiger movement for good. Late last week, an estimated 70,000 people were killed in that war.
A new mayor boasts that he now has the keys to a city that once locked him out. The first African-American mayor of a city made famous in the civil rights struggle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's called an invisible wound of war, post traumatic stress disorder. A Rand Corporation study says that nearly 300,000 U.S. troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from either PTSD or major depression but only about half have actually reached out for help from a doctor.
I talked to the highest-ranking psychiatrist in the U.S. Army, Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, and we discussed what the military is doing to combat the stigma associated with PTSD so our service members can get the help they need.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIG. GEN. LOREE K. SUTTON, DIR., DEFENSE CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE: The current conflict has certainly reminded us of the struggles that come from invisible injuries, it's been because of that, that it's been so important for us to launch this real warriors campaign in which we harness the power of real stories, of real warriors.
Such as if you go to our website, for example, www.realwarriors.net, you can see the profile of a marine named Sergeant Josh Hopper, who talks about how he had done what so many of our troops do, and that is he came back from some tough deployments and he was struggling but kept everything together at work but he took it out on those that he cared most about, his loved ones at home.
And it wasn't until he was actually receiving an award for his performance in combat and as his sergeant major was reading the signed (INAUDIBLE), Sergeant Hopper actually started reliving those experiences. Fortunately, his commanders saw that something was wrong and was able to get Sergeant Hopper into treatment, and that's such a central message of this campaign. Sergeant Hopper today is stronger than ever. He knows that he is not alone and he's volunteered to join this campaign, as so many others have, to get the word out.
WHITFIELD: Is there a way to describe this stigma, using the words of many of these solders who say this is the barrier that kept me from asking for help immediately? SUTTON: Here's what our warriors and their loved ones are telling us about stigma. They are telling us, you know, they're worried. They're worried that if they stand up and get help that they might lose their careers.
They're worried about being thought less of. Perhaps their families will think less of them. Perhaps their buddies at work will think that they're weak. And so all of these fears are things that not only affect our military but also affect our nation. So it's really a public health campaign that's designed to ignite a different level of dialogue, of connection, and, yes, of action across our country.
WHITFIELD: Has DOD, the Department of Defense, discovered that this stigma is much more pervasive dealing with their current-day soldiers than perhaps it was during Vietnam or even post World War II?
SUTTON: You know, we don't have data that can really compare across the conflicts in that way. We do know that stigma is as old as war itself. So part of the message of this campaign is directed not just at our warriors from this conflict, but from veterans of all conflicts and their loved ones, to let them know that we want to help you come all the way home. If you served in Vietnam, we want to thank you for that service. If you served in Korea or World War II, we want to join with you and draw the strength and courage that comes from being connected.
WHITFIELD: So realwarriors.net is one way that people can reach out to the campaign. How is the campaign reaching soldiers in other ways?
SUTTON: Well, let me give you a couple of examples. If you go up to the realwarriors.net, you will see that you can click on the profiles of folks like Sergeant Hopper as well as Major General Blackledge, Lieutenant Colonel Blackledge.
You can also join up and if you're an organization, for example, you can be one of our partners. You can be a friend of Real Warriors and join up on our list server. You can also connect through a variety of social networking tools that include Twitter, Facebook, Dish and Delicious. We are not limited to any means of connecting.
We want to be able to get feedback. We want to be able to build this campaign and to learn from those whom we serve. If you prefer to call our 800 number, we also have 24/7, we've got coaches that are standing by, 866-966-1020. That's 866-966-1020.
WHITFIELD: Brigadier General Loree Sutton, thanks so much and thank you for your service.
SUTTON: Well, thank you so much. It's a real privilege to serve in uniform and in fact as our president has said, it's a sacred trust, a privilege, an obligation and duty. So thank you for your interest in helping us spread the word.
WHITFIELD: We honor everyone.
SUTTON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Again, join us at 4:00 P.M. Eastern today. We'll talk more about this issue and other challenges like jobs and housing facing vets. Of course, we want to hear from you on my blog page at cnn.com/newsroom. On Facebook as well at Fredricka Whitfield CNN or by sending an e-mail to weekends@cnn.com. Be sure to catch us at 4:00 Eastern to get some of your questions answered.
Some of the world's most gifted song writers and musicians are working on a campaign to help eradicate poverty. Our Don Lemon talks to one of the artists who's doing extra duty and making an impact on your world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Israel Houghton, is a two- time Grammy award winning Christian worship leader and singer, mostly known for his cross-cultural style of music. He joined the Compassion Art Project, which began as an "a-ha" moment for creator and founder Martin Smith, who is also a musician. Smith began creating the infrastructure for a global charity that challenged the artists to put their art where their compassion is.
ISRAEL HOUGHTON, CHRISTIAN SINGER: Every record company, there were five or six different record companies that had to say yes to it. There were several different publishers that had to say yes to it. Every writer said, no problem. The thing that was very intriguing to me was, this is not hey, do this and write a check. This is, do this and designate your future earnings and future royalties and residual income that comes out of publishing to this. And it was a no-brainer for me.
LEMON: The artists have agreed half of the proceeds from the project will benefit their charities. The other half will fund collective charities selected by the group, charities that support the poorest countries in the world. Don Lemon, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And read more about the Compassion Art Project online at cnn.com/impactyourworld. Where you can learn more about the weeklong artist retreat, develop material, plus you can find out ways that you can actually help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: As a child, he lived in fear. Now he has been chosen to lead his city. A Mississippi town once known for racial intolerance has its first African-American mayor. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): James Young is on a victory lap. He is the newly elected mayor of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
Thank you, man! We did it!
LAVANDERA: They call him mayor, but Young doesn't quite believe it.
MAYOR JAMES YOUNG, PHILADELPHIA, MISSISSIPPI: Who would have thought that a little country boy like me would be mayor of Philadelphia, Mississippi in '09? I couldn't have even wrote that in a fairy tale.
LAVANDERA: As you will see, the emotion of this moment will soon sink in. James Young is the first black mayor of a town tormented by a legacy of racism.
JIM PRINCE, PUBLISHER, NESHOBA DEMOCRAT: In Philadelphia, I am resolved, will always be connected to what happened here in 1964.
LAVANDERA: That year three civil rights workers were murdered driving down a country road. The savage attacks were a defining moment of the civil rights era and immortalized in the movie "Mississippi Burning." Newspaper publisher Jim Prince says the scab from that wound is finally falling off.
PRINCE: This city is 55 percent white. So the fact that Philadelphia, Mississippi, with its notorious past could elect a black man as mayor, it might be time to quit picking on Philadelphia, Mississippi.
LAVANDERA: Young says he won by shaking hands and knocking on doors but he only beat the white incumbent candidate by 46 votes. Young knows that for every hug he gets, some still look the other way.
YOUNG: We have some, very small pocket, that will never change. That's what we got to deal with.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Some of James Young's earliest memories of growing up in this house here on Ivy Street are of fearful nights listening to the Ku Klux Klan roam through these neighborhood streets in the middle of the night. His father sleeping on the sofa in the living room with a gun on his lap. But the new mayor of Philadelphia hasn't left that very far behind. He lives now just across the street.
(Voice-over): Young was nine years old when the civil rights workers were killed. He was one of the first black students to integrate white schools here. He worked as a hospital housekeeper until a white boss recommended he become a paramedic. Young worked his way up to become the city's EMT director. That catapulted him to his first elected job. Now he's mayor.
YOUNG: It's just beginning to sink in. The places that we were locked out, I'm going to have to key. The places that we couldn't go, I have the key. LAVANDERA (on camera): Why do you think you're so emotional?
YOUNG: When you have been treated the way we've been treated -- excuse me. I guess maybe that's what's been boiling up, and it finally comes to the surface. How are you all doing?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): James Young believes it now. He can call himself mayor. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Philadelphia, Mississippi.
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WHITFIELD: And congrats to Mayor Young and the city of Philadelphia.
It's a ban still in force at Harvard since the Vietnam War and now some students are saying, bring back the ROTC.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father was Edward "Buddy" Carter. He was a sergeant in company E of the 60th infantry. He was killed in Normandy, France. The picture is one of the few that I have of my father and myself. Actually, it was made in the spring of 1944. He's one of those people I really wish that I had known not just as my father but as a person. I think I would have enjoyed knowing Edward even if it wasn't as my father.
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WHITFIELD: It's a program you can join at many colleges, except one of the most prestigious institutions in the country. CNN's Carol Costello looks at Harvard's ban of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, best known as ROTC.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost 40 years have gone by, four decades since students passionately and sometimes violently protested the Vietnam War. It was no different at Harvard. Protesters torched an ROTC classroom and got what they wanted. ROTC, then considered a symbol of American imperialism, was booted off campus.
Today, the ROTC is still banned at Harvard, but for a different reason. Now it's the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. The student handbook says, "It's inconsistent with Harvard's values as stated in its policy on discrimination." However well intentioned that policy may be, some ROTC students say it's time Harvard let go of the past.
JOE KRISTOL, HARVARD ROTC CADET: To be able to recognize and support ROTC on the one hand, on the other hand, do whatever they want to protest policies that they might not agree with. And not to punish the students and use them as their tool to make that political statement.
COSTELLO: These students want to use their Harvard education to serve not in America's boardrooms but on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But because of Harvard's ROTC ban, they have to train at nearby MIT. And while MIT doesn't blink an eye at a student in uniform, Harvard sometimes does.
SHAWNA SINNOTT, HARVARD ROTC CADET: I walked into the classroom in uniform and the professor looked at me and said, what are you? Not like who are you, what are you doing, what is this about, but like what are you? That was really shocking for me.
COSTELLO (on camera): So you felt comfortable in the class from that point forward?
SINNOTT: Sort of. It was a pretty confrontational class.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Shawna Sinnott does say increasingly Harvard students support her choice but not all.
MARCO CHAN, HARVARD QUEER STUDENTS & ALLIES: What's not often covered is the fact that queer students don't have that choice at all. There's not a choice of oh, I guess I'll be inconvenienced and participate in this program, they simply can't.
COSTELLO: The ROTC says recruits cannot comment on military policy but on the subject of why it's so important for schools like Harvard to embrace ROTC.
CHRISTI MORRISSEY, HARVARD ROTC CADET: As (INAUDIBLE) once said, the nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.
COSTELLO (on camera): Members of Harvard's faculty who could vote to lift the ROTC ban would not comment, although the university's president told ROTC students at last year's commissioning ceremony, "I believe that every Harvard student should have the opportunity to serve in the military, as those honored in the past have done."
Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
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WHITFIELD: All right, a lot happening this Memorial Day weekend and a lot of tributes. In a few minutes, you will meet three young men who recently made a special trip to say one final good-bye to a fallen comrade. You'll also hear the power of words, school children share very personal stories of living in the shadow of violence.
