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President Obama in Ghana; Cemetery Plots Exhumed and Resold; Sotomayor Confirmations Hearings Monday; Mourners Attend McNair Service; Twentieth Anniversary of Film "Do the Right Thing" Recognized

Aired July 11, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN -- you okay?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN HOST: I'm all right. Are you okay? That is the question.

HOLMES: Yes, we are both well, from the CNN Center here in Atlanta. I'm T.J. Holmes.

NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HOLMES: It is 10:00 a.m. Eastern here in Atlanta. 7:00 a.m. Pacific, but we have a lot of news to tell you about.

Let's begin with this. President Obama's address to Africa. The president wrapped up a speech in Ghana just last hour, highlighting the importance of Africa as part of our interconnected world. Let's get right to our White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux who joins us live from Ghana's capital.

He talked a lot, Suzanne, about democracy and the fact Africa is responsible for Africa, but the U.S. is ready to support and lend a hand.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: You know, Betty, you're absolutely right. This is one of those countries that has a stable democracy, and is something that has really attracted presidents from the United States.

I was on both trips when we saw President Clinton back in 1998 offering a trade and opening up trade to this country. President Bush just a couple of years ago when he offered aid to help combat malaria and AIDS.

And it is arguably the thing that President Obama is bringing here, when he talked to a lot of the Ghanans, is inspiration, that people feel that he part of the family, that they call him their son, they say welcome home. You see the signs throughout the country.

And what the president's message today was that Africans, they're future, they're responsible for their own future, for their own government, that this is a model of democracy here in Ghana.

But the message going much farther than this country, but really to much of the rest of the continent. Particularly to those other leaders who are dictators, who are strong men in their country, where there is bloodshed.

We saw President Obama earlier with the first lady Michelle visiting one of the hospitals for mothers and their babies, specializing in prenatal care. He has been emphasizing here his personal connection to this continent as a way of having some credibility in really delivering this message of tough love. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We must start from the simple promise that Africa's future is up to Africa. I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world.

After all, I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family --

(APPLAUSE)

-- my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Betty it is very clear that President Obama is using his own personal story to deliver that message of tough love with some credibility here.

He talks about his grandfather. He says -- this is now in Kenya -- who used to be a cook for the British and was called "Boy."

He talks about his own father starting off as a goat herder as a young boy, and then eventually coming to the United States to get an education, returning back to Kenya as somebody who eventually died a broken man, one who was broken, he said, by the system, but also by his own personal choices.

So the president really trying to relate in a very direct and personal way with Africans, not only in Kenya, but here in Ghana, to make the case that he understands, that he gets it, that he's part of a legacy of tragedy and triumph and that, therefore, people here as well as the rest of the continent have to pay more attention and take greater responsibility for their futures -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Absolutely. And speaking of responsibility, he talked to young people specifically, saying that you have the power to hold your leaders accountable. And, in fact, the young people there, they making up over half the population, so that was a very important a point he wanted to make.

Suzanne Malveaux, though, joining us live. We do appreciate it. Thank you.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And the president not wrapping up his trip in Ghana. Out Anderson Cooper is also in Ghana along with the president this morning. He's going to be going with the president to visit a fort once used to ship millions of slaves, millions of Africans from their home continent of Africa to the Americas.

NGUYEN: Anderson will have an exclusive interview with the president. I want to get you more details now from Anderson on President Obama's historic visit.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Betty and T.J., the president arrived in Ghana on Friday evening. He was welcomed at the airport. The entire first family was welcomed.

The entire country of Ghana is incredibly excited about the president's arrival. You drive down the streets, there are posters and billboards, people wearing t-shirts with President Obama's picture on it.

The fact the president of the United States has chosen Ghana as his first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa as president has honored and thrilled a lot of people here.

And there are obviously other countries who could have picked, in particular, Kenya, where his father was from, where he's been before, before he was president, on several occasions.

But he picked Ghana because this administration considers the government of Ghana, the system here of driving democracy. They've had successful elections, they've seen economic growth. They've seen development policies that seem to be working.

And they see this as a model for what they want to see in the rest of Africa. And that's the message the president want to bring to this country here in west Africa.

On Saturday, he's going to be visiting Cape Coast, where there's a series of fortresses which were used by, by slave masters to hold slaves before they were sent to the new world, before they were sent to Europe and to the Americas.

And the president and his family is going to visit one of those castles. I was there yesterday, on Friday. I'll be there again with him today on Saturday interviewing him exclusively.

I have to tell you, it is a haunting sight to be in these castles, the dungeons, these holding pens, literally roomed with no windows, stone walls, where hundreds of slaves were crammed in, many of them died in these rooms, suffocated to death. It is truly a haunting place to be.

The president will be there. We'll be talking to him not only about the way he sees the U.S. economy and other world issues, but about his experiences here and on this trip to Africa, and what it's like to be in a place with such history.

NGUYEN: And just such chilling history as well. We talked today with a lady who has been there herself and said just going down into those dungeons where hundreds and thousands were kept as they were waiting for people to board them onto these ships and send them to places around the world, including America, and they would go through that door of no return and never see the continent of Africa again.

HOLMES: And some for many, many months at a time, just stuffed down there, waiting to be taken off to some land they didn't know.

I've talked to several people, that just changed them, that experience to go through that.

NGUYEN: Absolutely

HOLMES: Anderson Cooper going through that. He'll be with the president when the president goes through as well.

Then you can see the interview, Anderson Cooper's interview with President Obama, Monday night, "AC 360." 10:00 eastern. You don't want to miss it.

NGUYEN: There's other news to tell you about. Let's get to that. Police near Pensacola, Florida still searching for the motive and the suspects in the murder of a couple who adopted 12 special needs children.

Just west of Pensacola, police say three gunmen entered the home of Bird and Melanie Billings. You see the Billings with some of their 16 children in this photo. Eight of those kids were in the house when their parents were killed. They were not hurt.

And investigators are asking people in the area to be on the lookout for a red passenger van they say may have been used in the plot.

HOLMES: And also, have your heard about this happening just outside of Chicago. Hundreds of graves dug up then resold to unsuspecting families.

Now a lot of families have questions about what's going on at this particular cemetery. Sheryl Jackson joins now us live from Alsip, Illinois, right outside of Chicago. Tell us where this investigation is. We understand the cemetery is a crime scene.

ALSIP: Yes, T.J. This situation just grows more and more tragic. On Thursday, there were hundreds of people out here that were able to go through the cemetery and see if they could find the gravestones of their loved ones.

Today hundreds of people are expected to show up, but they won't be allowed to go through the cemetery because now the entire cemetery is a crime scene, and that is because some of those family members and police officers in the general part of the cemetery actually ran into bones, human bones. And it's just as bad as it can be.

There's a place in the cemetery called "baby land" where a lot of babies and infants were buried, and there is no evidence it ever even existed here right now.

Today there will be an exhumation here. A family that buried a family member recently had already asked police to get the body up out of the ground, because they said it didn't go down very far.

One of the other things that police are worried about is that there are bodies on top of bodies.

So this is a big deal. This is an investigation that's going to take weeks. And still you know, the civil rights icon is buried here. His grave was undisturbed, but the tombstone originally buried in, if you remember, he was exhumed in 2005 as part of a death investigation.

That casket he was in -- he was put into another one -- that casket was supposed to be used in a museum by that Carolyn Townes, who is the office manager and one of the people charged in this crime. She was supposed to use that as part of the museum. They found that yesterday back in an old out building. They said was rusted and torn up and full of rodents.

So she had been collecting money, to, police say, to build this museum, and then kept the money. So that's where it is today.

HOLMES: All right. This story just gets stranger and more disturbing as we find out more details. Sheryl Jackson for us, again, right outside Chicago. Thank you so much.

Turning to another story now in the Philadelphia area that has some people scratching their heads and disturbed as well. The president of this swim club says that safety, not racism, was the reason for cancelling swimming privileges for minority children.

The kids from a predominantly African-American daycare center paid to swim each week at this private club. During their first visit, some of the children reported hearing racial comments. Days later the club returned the daycare center's money and withdrew its membership.

The clubs president says there were too many kids for the size of the pool and the number of lifeguards. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize deeply for any misunderstanding. It was never our intention to hurt anyone or for anyone to be offended here, and this is a terrible misunderstanding.

And I would actually -- I would send my best wishes to the camp and all the camps, really, because they have done an outpouring of support all over the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They deserve it. They're doing wonderful work giving these children a safe place to be, which is what we were trying to do, also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Pennsylvania state officials now investigating the club's actions. That has a lot of people worked up, and certainly that video we saw of the young man crying, the little boy. That just tears your heart out.

NGUYEN: And it appears, yes, they got the apology, but the children will not be swimming in that pool.

HOLMES: The damage was done.

(WEATHER BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know, before Sonia Sotomayor makes the historic leap into the Supreme Court, she has to make it through a Senate grilling. What she faces, we'll look in that, coming up.

HOLMES: Also, can you believe it's been 20 years? "Do the Right Thing," yes, the movie, the groundbreaking movie -- Spike Lee stopping by here to tell us about it, that movie that took on race relations head on. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President Obama, he spoke to the Ghanan parliament a little earlier, also speaking to this country in his weekly address, directing his message to all Americans.

And in it, the president brushing aside the talk of a second stimulus bill. He is asking for patience, however, for that first stimulus bill, that $787 billion package that he signed in February.

He says, however, that it is showing progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In a little over 100 days, this recovery has worked as intended. It's already extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have lost their jobs in this recession. It's delivered $43 billion in tax relief to American working families and businesses.

Without the help the Recovery Act has provided to struggling states, it's estimated that state deficits would be nearly twice as large as they are now, resulting in tens of thousands of additional layoffs, layoffs that would affect police officers, teachers, and firefighters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: As he's done in the past, the president tied the economic crisis to the last administration, the Bush administration.

However, this is now Mr. Obama's economy to deal with, at least according to Republicans. That's how they put it in their own weekly address. The House Republican Whip Eric Cantor calls the stimulus bill nothing but pork, waste, and massive borrowing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CANTOR: The plain truth is that President Obama's economic decisions have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity, and simply have not worked.

President Obama has already asked you to borrow trillions of dollars, and so far nearly 3 million jobs have been lost alone this year.

Remember the promises? They promised you that if you paid for their stimulus, jobs would be created immediately. In fact, they said that unemployment would stay under 8 percent. Yet this month later, they are telling us now to brace for unemployment to climb over 10 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The GOP did have its own version of the stimulus bill. It cost about $478 billion. Not a single House Republican voted with the president's stimulus bill.

NGUYEN: Judge Sonia Sotomayor is about to face the biggest challenge in her bid to become the country's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. And Paul Steinhauser, he's CNN's deputy political director, and he joins us now with a preview of the showdown. Hello, Paul, how are you doing?

PAUL STEINGHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR, CNN: I'm doing well, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, I need to lay it out for us. When it comes to these hearings, what do you expect from them, and who's leading the questioning?

STEINGHAUSER: It all starts Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it's going to be a full week's worth of confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor for her nomination in the Supreme Court.

Right now, this is interesting, Betty, the break down on the committee, 12 Democrats, seven Republicans. The Republicans are led by Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. He is the ranking Republican on the committee. So you'll see him questioning Sonia Sotomayor quite often, and maybe he'll be leading some of the attacks if there are going to be attacks on her.

Also, Senator John Cornyn of Texas is another Republican who has been pretty outspoken about Sonia Sotomayor recently. And you can see him as well lead some of the serious questions at the Supreme Court nominee.

NGUYEN: And as we watch this play out on Monday, are there any particular stumbling blocks that we should kind of be looking out for, possibly?

STEINGHAUSER: Monday will be a day where you'll hear mostly from the senators. The question of Sonia Sotomayor may start late Monday or most likely Tuesday and Wednesday. And it could go into Thursday as well, and then testifying later in the week. And as you asked, what are some stumbling blocks? I think you can see questions about her stances on affirmative action, also those comments she made about her Latina heritage and how that may or may not affect her decisions on the high court.

I think you're going to see Republicans ask her about those kinds of things, things that we heard about soon after her nomination by President Obama.

NGUYEN: But once this is all said and done, how quickly do you we're going to know if she was either approved or denied?

STEINGHAUSER: We'll know about the confirmation vote in the Senate on the judicial committee immediate once they make that vote either at the end of next week or the following week.

After that is over, and under the assumption that she gets confirmed by the committee, then it goes to the full Senate, and President Obama said he would like the full Senate to vote on Sonia Sotomayor before they break for their summer recess at the beginning of August, Betty.

NGUYEN: And if approved, how soon will she be meeting with justices and reviewing cases, and all that?

STEINGHAUSER: If approved by the Senate, by, before they break at the end of August, she could join the high court almost immediately.

Remember, they're not in session until early October, but they will be hearing -- this is interesting -- they will hearing one case in the middle of September. This is a case that was held over from the past session, a case involving a campaign film against Hillary Clinton.

So she could be part of those discussions as well in mid-September, and then of course the full high court next session begins at the beginning of October.

NGUYEN: But it all gets underway Monday morning, looking forward to that. Thanks for the insight, Paul.

STEINGHAUSER: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: And I want to give you this programming note. CNN will provide live coverage of the Sonia Sotomayor hearings Monday morning starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern.

HOLMES: Up next, meet another leader who's on a mission to save hundreds of children by changing their diet and their lives.

Also, something else to show you here. Yes. There's a new -- airline, Betty, it caters to --

NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness, a red carpet? This is too much.

HOLMES: They're catering, yes, to your pets.

NGUYEN: Is there food service? That's all I care about. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, want to give you live pictures right now. This is out of Cape Coast. And the president is headed there. You're seeing what is going to amount to a welcome ceremony.

But essentially, this is going to be a very emotional and somewhat of a chilling, perhaps, tour, because there at Cape Coast Castle are the dungeons, the places where thousands if not millions of slaves were kept before they were sent on ships to places across the world, including the Americas.

So we'll keep an eye on that as soon as the president arrives. We'll try to bring you live pictures of it as well. But stay with us. We have much more on the president's trip to Ghana.

HOLMES: And turning to our CNN hero of today now. Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in this country since 1980. And Georgia has the third highest rate among the states. That's where this weekend's CNN hero is drawing on personal tragedy to lead kids onto a healthy track.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My life was not that great. It was not easy to carry around this weight. I want to be healthy and fit.

PAMELA GREEN JACKSON, MEDICAL MARVEL: Where did we go wrong as a country where PE in schools is no longer a priority? Our children's health is no longer a priority? Something had to be done, and I just decided to be the one to do it.

My name is Pamela Greene Jackson, and my organization is the physical fitness and nutrition education program for elementary and middle school youth in my community.

My brother Bernard died at age 43 at the weight of 427 pounds. He didn't have to die. And so I promised myself that I would do whatever I could to make sure that another child didn't suffer like he did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got about another ten seconds.

JACKSON: What we've done is converted vacant classrooms and turned them into health clubs. It's a free program. We have personal trainers, dieticians that work with them. We allow each individual child to set their own goals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pamela is my hero because she always helped me to do things that I never thought I could do.

JACKSON: If we instill these habits in them early, then they will grow up and become healthier adults. That's really what this is all about is saving the lives of children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back, everybody. T.J. Holmes here alongside Betty Nguyen. A lot going on this morning. Take a quick look at what we're following this hour.

Police have declared a crime scene at a suburban Chicago area cemetery where hundreds of plots were allegedly dug up and resold. Relatives won't be able to visit for several days because it is a crime scene for cemetery workers, now facing felony charges.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama wrapping up an address to the Parliament in Ghana this morning. We brought that to you live a little bit earlier, where the president told his audience that ethnic conflicts in Africa have no place in the 21st century.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: These conflicts are a millstone around Africans' necks.

We all have many identities, tribe and ethnicity, religion and nationality, but defining ourselves in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe or worships a different god has no place in the 21st century.

(APPLAUSE)

Africa's diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all god's children. We all share a common aspiration -- to live in peace and security, to access education and opportunities, to love our families and our communities and our faith. That is our common humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And just in case you heard that in stereo, a little extra there, a bit of a difficulty with some of the audio feeds.

But we've been asking you this morning, why Ghana? Why did President Obama go there instead of, perhaps, where his father was born, that being, of course, Kenya?

HOLMES: Certainly where they hoped he was come, the Kenyans. But still, he's the favorite son. They're not going to be too hard on him.

But Ghana has a thriving democracy, at least the President says. Josh Levs now looking into the small country for us. Good morning, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys.

And relatively speaking, that's true. The democracy in Ghana is actually a major part of the reason that President Obama is there.

Here's what I want to do. Let's do the big picture. Let's go to Google earth animation here, zoom in on Ghana. See where it is. Looking at that northwest section of Ghana, Sub-Saharan, Africa. There are two places you're hearing the news a lot today.

One is the Cape Coast, you know President Obama visiting a major area of the slave trade there, showing pictures today. And Accra, the capital. You can see the population center. That's the big picture on Ghana, and you can see where it is.

Let me give you some facts about Ghana and why it's so significant. And we'll just go straight to those.

First of all, the population is 24 million. It's smaller than some people think. But look at this next one. The religious breakdown is very important here. The vast majority of the population there, Christian -- 69 percent Christian.

And then you have 16 percent Muslim. And keep in mind, anytime President Obama goes to a nation with a substantial Muslim population that's also part of his reach out effort, and so it's interesting that that applies there in Ghana.

A couple more things -- the poverty line here, 29 percent below the poverty line. By western, industrialized standards, that's huge. For African standards, it's not so huge. And the truth is, the economy in Ghana, relative to much of Africa, not so bad. And that's something President Obama is talking about.

Two more things here. First of all, the economy is very heavily dependent on international assistance. So when a U.S. president comes to Ghana, it's very important not just politically but economically. U.S. involvement in the economy there is huge. That's part of what props up Ghana's economy.

One more thing I'm going to show you here. Interesting about the history here -- it was the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence.

Looking back at Ghana's history and even in some ways the U.S. history and the fight for independence, you can see that there are some interesting things that people point to as well. Somebody said that. See there. It's celebrated there.

OK. Oh, we have some new video, I'm told, actually. So let's go straight to you -- Betty and T.J.?

NGUYEN: Actually, we have some new video, crowds gathering at Cape Coast there. You can see them just lining the streets.

Of course, it's no doubt that word has gotten out that the president will be touring -- well I don't know what this shot is. We're really at the mercy of the poll cameras now. There we go. there's another shot of it.

And the president will be touring some of the fortresses there at Cape Coast. And this is a slave port, a lot of history, including that door of no return, where thousands if not millions of Africans boarded onto ships for places across the world, including America, and never saw Africa again. HOLMES: Here's the shot again. It looked like just a white sky, but what we are showing her with this live feed, folks. We're not controlling the feed, but this is a live picture. Not sure if this is the craft the president is on now, but it could be, and that's why the cameras now are keeping an eye on it.

He made the short trip from Accra there in Ghana over the Cape Coast, and expecting him to land there soon, shortly, maybe any minute, because he might be hopping off of that helicopter there.

So this tour will go on for a little bit, a couple hour. You can see from the crowds here, Betty, and excitement all around the continent, really, but certainly around Ghana.

No, he is not originally from, as far as ancestors go, from that country in particular, but they still claim him, calling him their son of Africa, son of Ghana. We're keeping an eye on this live picture and the crowds. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair being laid to rest today. McNair was killed one week ago in what police have now determined was a murder/suicide. Investigators say McNair's mistress shot him several times before then turning the gun on herself.

CNN's Larry Smith is live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi this morning. Set the theme for us there, Larry. Good morning to you.

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J.

Mourners began lining up here more than three hours ago. Three hours, I should say, before the start of the service. The first of an estimated capacity crowd of more than 8,000 and by the Coliseum here on the campus of the University of southern Mississippi, all to say good-bye to Steve McNair.

To the people here, he was more than just a retired football star. He was an active, leading part of a very tight knit Mississippi community. His son is a star wide receiver on the football team at local high school. McNair was always on the sidelines every Friday night.

And it was here just two weeks ago that he held his final football camp here for youngsters here at Southern Miss.

This is the last of four days of paying respects to the former NFL most valuable player. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Tennessee Titans, the team he led to their only super bowl a decade ago, they opened their stadium to the public.

Thursday night, there was a church service in the suburban Nashville area, where McNair attended church services while playing, and then last night a smaller visitation in his hometown of Mount Holly, about 30 miles away, and that is where his body will return after today's service for its final resting place.

The hearse arrived about 40 minutes ago via police escort, some 12 police vehicles leading the way, also about 12 to 15 cars carrying family and close friends following behind.

The tone here will be one of a celebration of a life of accomplishments, and not so much the decisions McNair made in recent months that led to his death, the murder/suicide at the hands of Sashel Kazemi. Let's go back to you.

HOLMES: And Larry, you have to give us a little flavor here. Of course, it's shocking, surprising. Young man, anybody can be gunned down and dying in such a violent way.

But that community knew him in a way a lot of people didn't. So how are just the people you are walking around town and talking to, are they even talking about the circumstances surrounding his death and the alleged mistress here?

SMITH: There is a shock. I was in one store, and someone said, are you from around here? And I said, no, I'm just in town. They said, are you here for the McNair funeral? It's something that's on people's minds. I passed one gas station with a sign "RIP Number 9 Air-McNair."

He went to school at Alcorn State, the historically black college, about two hours ago, made his name there as a Heisman trophy candidate from a black college. You never hear of that happening.

But again, being 30 miles away, people here are very close to Steve. As I said before, he was a guy who was on the sidelines Saturday night. He was very active in the community and thing like that.

And so the shock here, as Eddie George put it on Thursday night, his former Tennessee Titans running back, said you know, we just don't know how long the healing process is going to take.

There are so many people here, as you can tell, with 8,000 gathering, still stunned, because they lost more than just a former football star, but he was a friend to many people here.

HOLMES: All right, Larry Smith for us there in Hattiesburg. Thank you so much. We'll talk to you again soon there.

NGUYEN: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling on North Korea to grant amnesty to two American journalists. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor after being caught in the country back in March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened.

What we hope for now is that the two young women would be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Lee and Ling were working for the U.S. based Current TV when they were arrested.

HOLMES: All right, let's show you these extraordinary pictures we have been keeping an eye on. And what you're seeing, at least, live picture of a helicopter we believe may be carrying the first family to Cape Coast's Castle there in Ghana.

And these are the extraordinary pictures I was speaking of, the celebration in the streets of Cape Coast and just all around Ghana, celebrating what many of them call their son.

This son of Africa, who has now become the first black president of the United States, on his visit to Ghana. We saw him earlier making a speech there in front of the parliament of Ghana and many others who were there and lucky enough to get in there.

We are at the mercy of this live signal, this live feed. That's why it's jumping around the way that it is. So we don't have control of that. As it bounces around, we'll continue to navigate through it with you, but we believe the president may be landing there shortly to check out some of the slave porters there.

NGUYEN: And we're going to just take a moment to let this breathe for a minute so you can hear the sounds of what it's going on and take in the sights as the president is about to land and shortly tour that slave port, historic slave port area of Cape Coast, Ghana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A hot summer's day, here it is, Atlanta. We have a story about a hot summer day to tell you about. You might know this one. It was a story about even hotter racial tension.

The story I'm talking about is Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing." It's actually turning 20 years old this summer. And Spike Lee is in Atlanta for special screening this evening. But he stopped by last hour to talk about his landmark joint.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Can you believe 20 years later we're still talking about this movie did?

SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR: I think that's a testament to the power of the film. And I'm glad it happened. And 20 years went fast, too. At the time I was not married, did not have two children. So a lot of things have happened. I never thought there would be an African-American president 20 years ago. I didn't think that three years ago.

HOLMES: On that point, I'm going to roll a clip in a second from the movie, but you brought the president there. What was it, now, it was his first date, or the first movie he had seen with his wife? LEE: That was their first date.

HOLMES: Their first date, they went to see your movie.

LEE: Michelle and Barack.

HOLMES: How does that feel.

LEE: Well, he told me that when he was running for the thing in Illinois. So I didn't even know who he was.

HOLMES: You know now, don't you?

LEE: Well, it's great.

HOLMES: Let's take a quick look at one of the clips here. A lot of people will remember a lot of these. Let's take a quick look and I'll chat with you after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are brothers on the wall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Sal, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey Sal, why aren't there brothers on the wall here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want brothers on the wall, get your own place and do can do want you want to do. You can put you brothers and uncles, your nieces and nephews, stepfather, stepmother, whoever you want. But this is my pizzeria. America-Italians on the wall only.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't start with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that might be fine, Sal, but you own this. Rarely do I see any American-Italian pizza in here. All I see is black folks. So since we spend much money here, we do have some say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Bugging out.

(LAUGHTER)

A lot of the characters you created and conversations you sparked, if that movie was released something similar today, would it play the same in 2009 as it did in '89, and why not?

LEE: I don't know. I'm in a different place than I was. The world's different than it was back then. So I really try to stay out of those hypothetical "what ifs."

But the film is still relevant today, even with a black president, it's still relevant today.

HOLMES: Why do you say that?

LEE: Because I don't agree with this post-racial, whatever that thing is. To me, that's insane. It's not like this thing has disappeared because Barack is in the White House. So we still got a lot of work to do.

At the same time, now this country made great progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, 20 years ago. Like he said, he thinks the movie is still relevant to this day, 20 years later. So that -- it's relevant, it's great. You have a movie that is relevant to this day --

NGUYEN: The test of times.

HOLMES: But it's sad at the same time that maybe we haven't progressed enough in this country as some of the same themes apply today.

NGUYEN: Yes.

We're getting a lot of comments from you, some people asking, Spike, are you going to make another one of these movies, an up to date one.

Although, as we've been talking about, though, the same storylines, the same racial tensions, a lot of that, many will say still, as you mentioned, very relevant today.

I want to take you quickly to my Facebook page. And Angel Remah (ph) says, ""Do the Right Thing" is one of the best movies ever and on my top five. Got to love Spike Lee joints."

And a lot of people, a lot of these have indeed resonated, because a lot of the characters, many will say, are true to form. And you will definitely see this aspect of life out in society.

And he didn't cover it up. He didn't put makeup on it and try to hide it and make it look prettier than perhaps it might have been in reality. And that's what a lot of people thought that they took from that movie, and it sparked that conversation when it came to racial tension.

HOLMES: And I'll be talking to him about that this evening. They were here, and he's here, the 20th anniversary of the movie. The coca-cola film festival happening in town. And some of the folks in the festival by here.

But that's Sal's famous pizzeria.

NGUYEN: No pizza in there, though.

HOLMES: No pizza in there, just a box. But they're going to have a screening with the film this evening and we'll be chatting with Spike about it tonight.

NGUYEN: It's been 20 years. Hard to believe it's been that long.

Well, we do have other news to tell you about. If you are planning on taking a trip to Canada, there are some new travel guidelines that you need to know about. CNN's Richelle Carey has them in this weekend's "On the Go."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN ANCHOR: Crossing border between the U.S. and Canada is not as easy as it used to be. The new law requires travelers entering or leaving either country to present a valid passport or another approved travel document.

BRENDA SPRAGUE, PASSPORT SERVICES: There is a nexus card that is in use between the United States and Canada, and there are also enhanced driver's licenses offered by a number of states.

CAREY: Officials say the policy helps to make the process go faster and more efficiently. Travelers without those documents will be handled accordingly.

SPRAGUE: They will be assisted by the customs and border protection officers, who will do what they can expeditiously confirm their identity and their citizenship and to get them through as quickly as possible.

CAREY: If you need a passport in a hurry, visit a passport agency and they may grant you one within 24 to 48 hours.

SPRAGUE: We are going to open up seven new public counters between now and the end of 2010. And the big ones will be in San Diego and Atlanta, which are two areas that have been underserved for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right, quick break. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Live pictures now out of Cape Coast Ghana. And this is a picture, well, it was, of one of the castles there that had dungeons in it where slaves were held as they were waiting to be shipped off to many foreign lands, including America.

Now, these picture are coming to us via pool camera. So we don't have control over the different shots there. But just moments before we came on, there was this amazing shot of the crowd there. You see some people hanging out windows right now.

But if you pan down to the street -- and again, we have no control over this picture -- you will see that hundreds if not thousands have come out to catch a glimpse's President Obama. He is going to be touring these castles there, and really getting an up close look at the history there of the slave port in Cape Coast, Ghana. And, of course, when that does happen, we will try to bring it to you live.

NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, at least one American doctor already working on health care in Ghana. She is featured in one of our reports in CNN's "Black in America 2" series.

HOLMES: Yes, it airs July 22nd and 23rd. And our Soledad O'Brien, who anchors the story that looks at blacks today tells us about a doctor's search to cure one form of breast cancer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Breast cancer is the focus of this Dr. Lisa Newman's life for two important reasons. She's waiting for her own biopsy results after a troubling mammogram. And for years has been tracking a particularly deadly form of the disease called triple negative breast cancer, or TNBC.

TNBC is disproportionately kills black women, and Dr. Newman the doctor wants to know why.

Her extraordinary commitment leads to an extraordinary journey. She's taking her search for answers all the way to Africa.

DR. LISA NEWMAN, SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: The women that are most likely to be afflicted with the triple negative breast cancers are younger aged women, women in the pre- menopausal age range, and women with African ancestry.

O'BRIEN: These clues have led her to a provocative theory.

NEWMAN: Whether or not African ancestry might actually predispose women to a biologically more aggressive form of breast cancer.

O'BRIEN: To test her theory, Newman regularly traveled to Ghana. Why Ghana? Because 60 percent of the women here who have breast cancer have triple negatives.

NEWMAN: I will give you an injection to your skin so I don't hurt you with the biopsy procedure. You'll feel a little pressure here. You'll hear the popping sound in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Newman takes these samples from African women and compares them to the DNA of American women.

Nearly 200,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Black women are twice as likely as white women to get TNBC, a little known killer with black women squarely in its sights.

Lisa Newman knew she had to help.

O'BRIEN (on camera): You're doing the kind of work that generates will benefit from. NEWMAN: I certainly hope so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And, again, "Black in America 2" will be airing July 22nd and 23rd. You do not want to miss it.

But stay with us right here as the next hour of the "CNN newsroom" continues right now, here from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, on this Saturday, July 11. I'm T.J. Holmes.

NGUYEN: And hello, everybody. Welcome to the CNN newsroom.

We have a lot of news to tell you about this morning. Let's begin with the president's visit to the west African nation of Ghana. President Obama is touring Cape Coast Castle in Ghana at this hour. It's the 17th century fortress which was the departure point for African slaves bound for the Americas.

The president is expected to speak a little later in the hour, and we hope to bring that to you live.