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Sarah Palin Campaigns for John McCain in His Senate Reelection Bid; Questions Raised About Pope's Knowledge of Sex Abuse Cases; African American Unemployment Double That of White Americans; Chicago Street Violence Prompts Response From Religious Leaders
Aired March 27, 2010 - 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 ANCHOR: Hi. How are things?
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, we are still getting Alina here. Still happy to have you here.
CHO: Warming up.
HOLMES: Better be warm by now. We've been on since 6:00. It S 7:00 a.m. in Searchlight, Nevada, where there is that party going on today. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: Good morning everybody. I'm Alina Cho. We're so glad you're with us this morning. Some stories we're watching this Saturday morning, the power of Palin. Does this picture look familiar? It's been 16 months but they're together again -- Sarah Palin and John McCain on the campaign trail. She is stumping for him as he fights to keep his Senate seat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Keep fighting hard for these candidates who are all about the common sense conservative solutions that we need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, if you missed Palin's speech, you can see more of it throughout the morning right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Also we told you there was a party out in Searchlight, Nevada this morning. It is for, kind of, sort of, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
CHO: In a sense.
HOLMES: Don't call him the guest of honor, necessarily. The conservative tea party group getting bold and taking action and taking their message straight to his hometown. We are there to take a look.
We do have some top stories to pass along here first. An important one here from General Motors, saying if you have one of these vans that we're going to show you here in a moment you need to stop driving it right now.
The carmaker recalling 5,000 Chevrolet Express and GMC Havana passenger and cargo models. The recall affects vans built over the past two months. GM says the problem is a faulty alternator that can actually cause the engine to catch fire.
CHO: Want a job, try the White House. Retired army major general Robert Harding is the second nominee to back out of the top job at the transportation security administration, the TSA. Now the search is on for a replacement.
HOLMES: We've been waiting on these election results and they are finally in. After Iraq's elections almost a month ago. Supporters of Ayad Allawi celebrating there. His coalition won 91 seats in parliament. But he still needs to get more support to be able to form a coalition government.
Meanwhile the current Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is vowing to challenge the election results.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, a party is a party like we talked about this morning happening in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown. Not exactly expecting him at this party, though. The tea party movement rallying against Senator Reid and the health reform legislation.
After today's rally the tea party is going to head out across the country for a rally that's going to happen April 15th in Washington. Sarah Palin is going to be the keynote speaker today in Searchlight. Our Jessica Yellin tells us her appearance comes after a chummy reunion with John McCain in Tucson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Palin mania is back. In Arizona the governor had this crowd under her spell, taking on President Obama ...
PALIN: Nobody gave us a teleprompter this go around.
(LAUGHTER)
So it's time to kick it old school again, resort to the old poor man's version of the teleprompter, write my notes on my hand again.
YELLIN: The Democratic agenda ...
PALIN: When it came to Obama-care ...
(BOOS)
Hey, by the way, I see today that Fidel Castro likes Obama-care but we don't like Obama-care. Doesn't that kind of tell you something? YELLIN: And the faceless critics.
PALIN: You know we're being accused of being the party of no because we oppose some of the things the administration is doing. The Louisiana governor says, well, no we're not the party of no, we're the party of "hell no."
YELLIN: Did we mention the event was for this guy? Palin endorsing the man who plucked her out of obscurity.
If you want real leadership and not just rhetoric, not just talk, blah, blah, blah, if you want somebody to fight for what it is that this state and this country needs, then I'm asking you to vote for John McCain. Let's send the maverick back to the Senate.
YELLIN: This time he followed her lead.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: All I'm telling you -- so, my friends, as Sarah said, yes, we're the party of no. On this bill -- hell no.
YELLIN: Senator John McCain needs her help. His reelection is in jeopardy as he fends off a challenge from a more conservative opponent in the state's Republican primary.
J.D. HAYWORTH, (R) SENATE CANDIDATE: John comes home and campaigns as a conservative, but he goes to Washington and legislates like a liberal.
YELLIN: Lately McCain has moved to the right on bailouts, taxes, even on his signature issue, immigration.
MCCAIN: We failed because the American people were not convinced that we were really going to secure our borders.
YELLIN: The hope here -- that Palin's conservative credentials will rub off.
PALIN: You know, many, many years ago I competed in a pageant. And, you know what, coming then from an expert, I can tell you, he could win the talent and the debate portion of any pageant but nobody's ever going to dub him Ms. Congeniality.
YELLIN: She even declared McCain a candidate for tea party voters.
PALIN: Everybody here today is supporting John McCain. We are all part of that tea party movement.
YELLIN: But is it enough?
YELLIN (on camera): Did Sarah Palin's endorsement of him help change your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still -- I'm torn. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm undecided about John McCain. It seems that he says one thing here and then goes to Washington and does another.
YELLIN (voice-over): He was her ticket to stardom. She did what she could to return the favor.
You can expect this event to be turned into a campaign ad for John McCain. His team was so pleased with the endorsement one aide declared to us, "The Mac is back." We'll see.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: All right, let's talk about the tea party's effect on Harry Reid, national politics and health reform, we've got it all. Here is CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser in Washington for us.
So Paul, Harry Reid is the second most powerful Democrat in Congress after Nancy Pelosi. There was a time not too long ago when we never thought he would be vulnerable, and yet here we are. The question is, Paul, just how vulnerable is he?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He is facing a very, very tough reelection, no doubt about it. His home state of Nevada has the highest home foreclosure rate in the United States, it's got the second highest state unemployment level. It's a tough year for any incumbent and Harry Reid is getting targeted by conservatives, by Republicans.
Sarah Palin you just saw her there in Jessica Yellin's piece. She's got one more rally this morning with John McCain and then she is going to Searchlight, Nevada to headline that rally today, the kickoff event by the tea party express.
And, again, why Searchlight, why Harry Reid's hometown? Because they are targeting Harry Reid trying to make sure he does not win reelection this year.
CHO: You mentioned Palin in Arizona with John McCain. I mean, what a difference a year and a half makes. I mean, now she's stumping for him and he's in a tough primary fight.
But I'm wondering, tea party organizers, Paul, as you know, say they expect about 10,000 people to go to search light today. Among the headliners, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Joe the plumber -- remember him? So how much of this is show and style and how much of this is going to be substance today?
STEINHAUSER: I think this is going to be a little bit of both. Of course there's going to be a lot of rhetoric, no doubt about it. This is their kickoff event and they want a big rally and they want media coverage.
But the tea party activists both with this tea party express organization and with many of the other tea party groups across the country, on their agenda is limited government. They feel the government is too big, the federal government is too big. They feel federal taxes are too high.
They are definitely dead set against the president and the Democrats' health care bill which the president just signed into law. You're going to see them targeting other House Democrats as they make their way across the country. They'll target other House Democrats who voted in favor of the health care bill.
They're also very much against the federal stimulus package, and they even have some problems with some Republicans, especially Republicans who voted for the Wall Street bailout. So that's kind of their mantra.
They say this all ends on April 15th right here in Washington, D.C. with what they hope will be a very large rally on tax deadline day, Alina.
CHO: Of course, April 15th, the key day. I'm wondering, how did you get that gig in Washington while Ed Henry is out in Nevada? How did that happen?
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: Yes, Ed Henry helping us out. You'll see him live next hour.
CHO: Helping us out. He knows Las Vegas.
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: Yes. Jessica Yellin will be out there this afternoon. We'll have live coverage throughout the day and throughout the night first with Ed and then Jessica right into primetime, Alina.
CHO: You're making sure the house is in order. Paul Steinhauser, Paul, thank you. Good to see you.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
CHO: T.J.?
HOLMES: We turn now to a story about accusations, denials, and the Vatican. A complicated story here with one question that continues to surface -- what did Pope Benedict know about sex abuse allegations when he served the Vatican as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger?
For some 24 years the man we now know as Pope Benedict oversaw the Vatican's office that investigated sex abuse allegations. That fact is key as new allegations surface in Europe against pedophile priests.
But it is actually the decades old story about a now deceased priest in Wisconsin that has drawn the Pope further into this scandal. We will be joined once again by our CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen, who is also senior correspondent for "The National Catholic Reporter," an independent newspaper.
John, good morning. Good to have you here again. We talked to you a week ago. I guess kind of tell me what has changed in the week since we've talked.
And also it has got to hurt the Vatican and the church's image for people to be asking about the Pope when he was, in fact, Cardinal Ratzinger. What did he know and when did he know it? You don't want to be asking that about a Pope.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Hey, T.J. First of all, I want to tell you that I'm here this morning to play Sarah Palin to your John McCain. That is, I'm giving you a boost just by showing up.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: My goodness, John.
ALLEN: But to come to your question, I mean, you're right. Increasingly the question is being asked, what did the Pope know and when did he know it?
And it's being asked on two fronts. One, a case in Germany during the five years when he was the archbishop of Munich from May, '77 to February, '82, of a priest who had come into his diocese with accusations of sex abuse, got another job in a parish, went on to abuse other people.
The other, as you mentioned, this god awful case of Father Lawrence Murphy in Milwaukee who allegedly abused some 200 hearing- impaired kids. And, of course, there is a story in "The Times" this morning about how these kids tried to get everyone under the sun to listen to them -- church officials, cops, D.A.s, and apparently no one took them seriously.
That case ended up in the Vatican in the mid '90s a few months before this guy died and the Vatican didn't do anything about it.
In some ways, T.J., I'll tell you, the question of what the Pope knew was almost irrelevant. The point is both of these things happened on his watch, and ultimately, he has to take responsibility for them.
To date the Vatican has not responded to the substance of either of these cases. They've simply sort of pointed the finger at the media, suggesting there is a campaign to beat up the Pope.
Regardless of the substance of that, I don't know in the court of public opinion that that's going to do the trick. Crisis management 101 tells us blaming the media rarely works. I think people are waiting to hear the Pope address these cases in his own voice.
HOLMES: But at the same time are we seeing the church, the Vatican, and we can understand why they would want to, but are they trying to keep this as far away from the Pope as possible, and could that be part, in fact, of the problem in trying to deal with this and to try to help people to heal and move on, because people need to hear from him?
ALLEN: Oh, sure. Look, T.J., here's the arc of this crisis. Ten years ago the church didn't have a vocabulary for talking about its corporate failures on this issue. In the subsequent ten years they've had to figure out how to do it, and now they can. We saw it just a week ago with the Pope's letter to the Catholics of Ireland apologizing directly and with no sort of, you know, tinge of defensiveness for the way the church had let people down.
What they don't yet have is a vocabulary for talking about the Pope's personal failures. And I think what's happening now is in light of the revelations coming both in terms of the Pope's Munich years and also his years in the Vatican, they're going to have to figure out how to talk about that as well.
Now, listen. One footnote to the way you set up this discussion. You said that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, was the point man in the Vatican for 25 years on this issue. That's not really true. He didn't become the point man until 2001 when John Paul II assigned him the responsibility.
That's not to excuse him, but it is to say that it's not the case that every one of these allegations that arose for 25 years somehow ended up on his desk.
HOLMES: That's a very important point to make there.
But also interesting to hear you say he has to come out as Pope and of course say certain things and apologize. But he might need to say something more on a personal level and take some personal responsibility as well. We'll see how it plays out.
John Allen, always good to have you here to give us a boost here on CNN Saturday morning. John, good to see you, buddy. Thanks so much.
ALLEN: You bet, T.J.
CHO: He gets more than just a little bit of credit for showing up by the way.
HOLMES: Of course he does.
CHO: You know what, as always, sun and showers this weekend, so it just depends on where you are, right? So Reynolds Wolf is going to be ahead with the forecast.
HOLMES: Also, health reform, why health care reform has become a bitter pill for many Americans to swallow -- politics now turning a bit dangerous.
CHO: That's interesting.
And not just numbers or statistics. We are putting a face on the victims of crime in America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The numbers are just sobering. According to a new report by the National Urban League, the number of African-Americans in this country who are unemployed is almost double the number of whites.
Our CNN all platform Journalist Sarah Hoye went beyond these sobering statistics to bring you a name and a face.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LASHONDA: It makes me feel angry and frustrated because I don't think those numbers are completely accurate. I think it's a lot higher than that. It's just been a big kind of regrouping that we've had to go through and understand that this is for a while. We don't know how long, hopefully not much longer, but just understanding that it's for a time and for a season.
So I'm just trying to stay connected with, you know, sending out resumes, going to different jobs and career seminars and things like that, and this is really about staying positive. You know, once I start thinking, oh, never going to get a job, nothing is ever going to change, that's when it won't.
I don't take it personally. I know whatever is next for me to do it'll be the perfect opportunity, and I'll thrive in it.
Well, if my benefits are cut off, if my unemployment insurance is cut off, that's going to be pretty much the end of the resources that we have for now, as things continue to pick up. So, I mean, I won't even allow myself to think about oh, if it cuts off, then what am I going to do?
Because I am going to continue to be steadfast in what I'm doing, you know, like I said, networking and sending out resumes and going to career fairs and all of those things. And it has to get better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, put a name and a face with some of those statistics we've been seeing. We're also going to put a name and a face to another story you've been seeing a lot in the news. We're going to introduce you to someone very special this morning.
CHO: His name is Steven Lee, and coming up we'll tell you why it is so important that you know who he is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: It's 23 minutes after the hour. Time now to get a check of our top stories. Car loads of conservatives are in tiny Searchlight, Nevada today for a tea party rally. Organizers say they're expecting more than 10,000 people to rally against Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Searchlight's population is less than 1,000. Reid is up for reelection and Searchlight is his hometown.
British Airways says it's coping well despite a strike by thousands of crew members. According to the airline, flights are operating normally at two of London's airports after some workers crossed the picket line. Heathrow apparently is operating but not at capacity.
The walkout is expected to last until Tuesday. Workers are striking over pay and benefits.
And on the road to the final four -- as of this morning there are eight teams left standing in the NCAA tournament, the elite eight as it's called. They will slug it out for college basketball's biggest honor. Tennessee, Baylor, Michigan State, and Duke all made the cut. Two games are scheduled today. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, every week we report on bombings, soldier deaths, innocent killings that happen across the country, around the world even. We don't often get to tell you all the stories behind those deaths.
But starting today, right now, we're going to introduce you to people who are not just numbers or statistics. They are, in fact, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends, and sometimes even children.
Meet now Steven Lee. Steven was 33 years old, a college graduate, worked in the finance industry, and he was very active in his community, also with his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. Steven Lee was gunned down this week on the south side of Chicago. Why? Simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Police believe the bullet that killed Steven was intended for another man.
Steve's brother was a Chicago police officer. He was killed in the line of duty just a few years ago as he tried to save a homeless man from getting beaten. Today Steve's parents, Anna and Bobby Lee, are bearing their second child loss to Chicago gun violence. Steven's funeral is this morning. He is just somebody we thought you should know.
Of course, the Chicago violence has attracted the attention of the entire country. It's been called a genocide by some, an epidemic by others, of large proportions.
You may remember a short time ago I went to Chicago to try to wrap our arms around the problem. I spoke to a lot of people there, spoke to a lot of young people, even walked to and from school with a couple of young people to see what they go through every day. I also spoke to a few faith-based leaders who say the solution, in fact, starts at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATHER MICHAEL PFLEGER, ST. SABINA CATHOLIC CHURCH: Parents have to know where their children are at, they have to be held responsible to their children. We have no communication out in the streets. And the homes are broken down so we live in little bubbles in our own little rooms.
So we have to hold parents accountable, but we also have to hold communities accountable again for what happens, how we take care of each other.
HOLMES: That sounds huge. That sounds like a big -- how would you change that culture?
MINISTER ISHMAEL MUHAMMAD, MOSQUE MARYAM: We have lost that connection to God, and thereby the family has broken up. And so if the church can take their ministries, which we are attempting to do in making that effort every day, take the gospel, take the ministry, take the word of god from the four walls of a mosque or a church and take it into the streets.
HOLMES: You mentioned a loss of a connection to God.
MUHAMMAD: Yes.
HOLMES: When did that happen? Why did that happen?
MUHAMMAD: Over the last 30, 40, 50 years we see a further departure from God.
I think that it is a crime that our children are forbidden to lift God in the school and to say prayer, yet we allow them or permit them to pledge an allegiance to a flag where the name of God is invoked. They, of course, are chasing after money that has God's name printed on it.
HOLMES: Father, you famously put up a billboard and essentially issued a challenge out there to folks, telling them you're not going to be shooting at our kids, you're not going to be shooting on our streets. We will put a bounty on your head.
PFLEGER: We have to send a message that you cannot shoot children and kill children, go home and turn on TV, go to McDonald's, kick at home and everything's fine like that's normal. That is not normal. One of the things we have to do is wake up the conscience of America.
REV. STEVEN J. THURSTON, NEW COVENANT M.B. CHURCH: We have a right to live in peace without fear. We have a right to raise African-American young men to be productive and to be heads of households.
REV. SEN. JAMES MEEKS, SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH: God does not call us all to the same vision. Father Pfleger has a vision. He's dealing with guns. He's dealing with the billboards. While Thurston says, look, I think the family is what's wrong.
So he puts together a campaign, and we and Father Pfleger and Minister Ishmael join him in that campaign. I think it's the educational system. I think the state is not doing its part. All of us don't have to work on the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK. We wanted to bring that piece back, bring that conversation back, because, unfortunately, we all have been in this business a long time and, unfortunately, we just say this many people killed this, many soldiers killed, something like that, trying to put a face and a name to the violence we're seeing, oftentimes in Chicago.
Unfortunately, it's been going on for far too long.
CHO: It must be so hard for them to keep the faith and fight on. I mean, that billboard is so telling of just how bad it is in some parts of Chicago. But it's encouraging to see that as well.
HOLMES: They'll keep fighting the good fight.
CHO: That's right.
HOLMES: All right. Well, politics is getting a little -- not a little ugly. This is just nasty.
CHO: It happens.
HOLMES: Yes, it's getting personal. It's getting violent, and some scary stuff. We're going to be showing you the ugly effect of this health care reform.
CHO: That's right. Some are saying, you know, pick on someone your own age. Conservatives are going on the attack against an 11- year-old boy. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a historic victory and a crushing setback. We're hearing from both sides of the political fence this morning on health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This was a momentous week for America. It was a week in which together we took bold, new steps toward restoring economic security for our middle class and rebuilding of a stronger foundation for our future.
It was a week in which some of the change that generations hoped for and worked for finally became reality in America.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Democratic leaders and White House officials may be celebrating their victory this week, but most of the rest of the country is not. Most people aren't interested in celebrating a bill that makes their lives more complicated, takes more out of their paychecks, and puts decisions they're used to making themselves into the hands of federal bureaucrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Some backlash from the health care reform vote grew more intense and potentially dangerous even. Dana Bash reports now Republicans and Democrats accusing one another of fanning the flames for political gain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The second ranking house Republican came to the cameras to say he's been the target of violence, too.
REP. ERIC CANTOR, (R) MINORITY WHIP: A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I've received threatening e-mails. But I will not release them because I believe such actions will only encourage more to be sent.
BASH: Then the main reason he was there -- to accuse Democrats of using threats of violence for political gain.
CANTOR: I have deep concerns that some, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine in particular, are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What makes you say it's political?
BASH: Eric Cantor would not answer questions about his accusation, but Democratic leaders have been going after Republicans, saying they're inciting threats against Democrats.
DNC Chairman Tim Kaine issued a statement Wednesday, saying Republican leaders are themselves "engaging in actions and rhetoric that previously would have been limited to fringe elements of the Republican Party."
And now Organizing for America, President Obama's political organization, is even trying to raise money off threats against fellow Democrats, specifically citing an incident with Democrat Tom Perriello and asking for political donations.
Meanwhile, many Democrats are not relenting, lashing out at Republicans like Sarah Palin for releasing this map with 20 house Democrats in rifle cross hairs and House GOP leader John Boehner for what Democrats call over heated rhetoric.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Hell no, you can't!
BASH: Boehner called Democrat Steve Driehaus "a dead man" for voting yes on health care. Driehaus says he understood it was political but insists others may not. REP. STEVE DRIEHAUS, (D) OHIO: It's not how I take it. It's how somebody back home or somebody in another state might take it. We've got death threats coming into our offices, coming into other offices of members of congress.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Given what's going on. do you think maybe those words might have been taken out of context?
BOEHNER: I don't think so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said it incited things.
BOEHNER: Listen, no one saw this quote of mine in this publication until Mr. Driehaus and others made a public issue of it.
BASH: No apology for rhetoric Democrats call incendiary, but he did say this.
BOEHNER: Violence and threats are unacceptable. They have no place in a political debate.
BASH (on camera): So both parties are accusing the other of using politics to distract from a serious issue, and that's security threats. But all of this seemed to over shadow the big news here on Capitol Hill, and that is Congress passed the final piece of health care legislation to send to the president once and for all his signature issue.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is pulling punches and he's aiming squarely at an 11-year-old boy. It was one of the pictures of the week. Remember this? Marcelas Owens was the young boy standing next to President Obama when Mr. Obama signed the landmark health care reform bill.
Owens' mother died after losing her health insurance, but his story became a punch line for conservative hosts, including Limbaugh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I would also say this to Marcellus Owens. Well, your mom would have still died, because Obama- care doesn't kick in until 2014 if they sign it this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now, Marcellus says he's taking the attacks from Limbaugh in stride. He says his mother taught him that everyone has an opinion, but it doesn't necessarily make them right.
HOLMES: It's amazing, the one who's going to bring civility to the argument is an 11-year-old? Maybe that's what we need right now. It's certainly also a contentious decision that could put the end to diversity in one city's public schools. This one got a little ugly as well. That story is coming up just ahead.
CHO: And usually we pick a new hero to highlight here on CNN each week. Well, this week one of our old heroes has actually topped herself. So if you have not already, you'll meet her next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: It's 41 minutes after the hour, checking our top stories now. The tea party movement holds a rally in Searchlight, Nevada today, the hometown of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a top target for conservatives in elections this year.
After Nevada the movement goes on the road, 23 states. Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is today's keynote speaker.
Looking for work? Try the White House. Retired Army Major General Robert Harding is the second nominee to back out of the top job at the transportation security administration. Now the search is on for a replacement.
And leading civil rights activist Dorothy Hyde has been hospitalized in Washington. She just turned 98 years old. She was one of a handful of key African-American leaders to meet with President Obama last month for a summit on race and the economy. A family friend tells CNN her condition is stable but serious.
We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In Raleigh, North Carolina, they're nearing the end of the road for a busing program they had there that bussed students in order to achieve racial diversity in the schools. In a five to four vote this week the Wake County School Board decided to end the decades-long practice of busing in favor of a new neighborhood school plan that would keep students closer to home. Critics say it's a new way to spin old fashioned segregation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATTY WILLIAMS, OPPOSES END OF SCHOOL BUSING: We're not going to relent in our pursuit of what's right for all of those children and for our community at large.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got a new system. We need to quit fighting it and embrace it and try to make it work. If it doesn't, vote them out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's certainly got some education officials across the country talking, including our education contributor Steve Perry, joining us from Connecticut. Steve, explain to people just briefly if you can the point. What was the point of the system in the first place to actually bus schools out from their particular neighborhoods?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: The point was that based upon what we knew up to that time and what has since been proven is that students who go to school in segregated, poor communities tend to do worse and creating a greater achievement gap. This was to address that.
It did begin to allow students to go to schools outside of where they were born, and as a result gave children more access to greater quality of education.
What this policy is suggesting is that no longer will you have regional choice. You have to go to school virtually within your same neighborhood. We know people live in economically isolated pockets and so thereby creating a re-segregation.
I was down in Raleigh last weekend actually and I talked to over 300 educators and they made it very clear they were dead set against this. The real story here is not so much that this is a racial issue, but this may be an issue that's generational, because some of the most vehement opponents of this are young children, many of whom are white.
HOLMES: Many of them of course oftentimes want to stay close by, want to stay in their neighborhood schools, they want to stay close to their friends and so on and so forth.
But is there evidence, because some argue that it didn't really achieve I guess the goal of raising the academic standards, if you will. The kids aren't necessarily doing better.
PERRY: Well, some children go to schools in which where they start and where they end seem to be in the same place, meaning the schools are not good enough to mitigate the impact of race and poverty and all of the other starting limitations.
But when you send a child to effective schools you can create an opportunity for them to move forward. So if the children are not moving forward, it's not integration that's the problem. It's the school that's failing the children.
HOLMES: Now, what do you see as the problem? What came up here in North Carolina that they decided it was time to let this policy go? What happened?
PERRY: Well, I think it's just general provincialism. You can't just dress Jim Crow up and call him something different than he is. This is simply saying people want their children to go to their own schools and their own neighborhoods, which means essentially that we want you to go back to your neighborhood and not have your child in our schools.
Which is frightening, to be very honest with you, and really disappointing, because typically the Republicans in the past 15, 20 years have been the ones who have been at the forefront in terms of education reform. I would imagine nationally the Republicans wouldn't feel like this is necessarily the best use of their name.
HOLMES: Last thing here, Steve -- are we going to see this have impacts on districts around the country, because some were actually starting to follow this particular model or have been following this model, are they going to take a look and say, hey, maybe it's not for us either?
PERRY: I hope not. Here in Connecticut we have integrated -- we have inter-district schools, and as a matter of fact our own school came under fire just last week because the state's commissioner said we didn't have enough white kids in our school.
Now there are some limitations to being able to integrate when you have typically a full minority community, a slightly minority community, and then far out white communities. There are some limitations as to what you can do in terms of integration, but it doesn't mean it should not be a goal we pursue with all due haste.
HOLMES: All right, Steve Perry, our education contributor here, good to see you. We haven't seen you in a while, but thanks for being here. An interesting topic, a lot of people are going to have a say in it. We'll see what happens in North Carolina. Thanks so much.
PERRY: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right, the CNN NEWSROOM is going to be starting up again next hour. And coming up, shipping in your gold for cash, are you getting some of the lowest estimates there through the mail? We'll take you inside one of the companies being sued now over this whole issue.
CHO: And coming up at noon eastern time, they broke the color barrier in secret, the triple nickel parachute battalion -- that's a mouthful -- finally gets its due.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Pardon the pun but it's been a, well, fluid issue since 2006, restrictions on just how much liquid a passenger can carry on to an airplane.
HOLMES: Despite predictions the rules would have been eased by now, they continue, and that's why knowing the rules before you get on the plane or before you get to the airport is key.
Here now is Ayesha Tejpar.
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AYESHA TEJPAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More travelers are carrying their luggage onto planes these days. That makes knowing the rules for bringing liquids, gels, and aerosols onboard more important than ever. TSA officer Shekia Gay says just remember three-one-one. SHEKIA GAY, TSA OFFICER: Three basically is just the size of the containers themselves, which is three ounces or less, the one being the one-quart size, plastic, clear, re-sealable zip top bag, and one also per passenger.
TEJPAR: But there are exceptions to the rules. For example, regular sized liquid prescriptions and over-the-counter medications like cough syrup are allowed as well as petroleum jelly and saline solution. But you have to declare these items.
GAY: If you say it's medically necessary that can be above the 3.4 ounce size limit.
TEJPAR: And those items will be subject to additional testing.
GAY: We have to do that just to ensure there's not anything toxic.
TEJPAR: One of the biggest offenses for novice travelers?
GAY: A lot of drinks, juices, bottled waters.
TEJPAR: Know the limits for liquids. It'll make it easier to bring the things you need onboard.
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HOLMES: In 2008 Ann Malem started a program to help the homeless get back on their feet, and that effort earned her a CNN hero award.
CHO: Yes, but as Anderson Cooper tells us, that was just the beginning.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN hero Anne Malem.
(APPLAUSE)
ANNE MAHLUM, CNN HERO: You can change the world through decent humanity, kindness, and encouragement, and giving people a second chance.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Two years ago Anne was honored as a CNN hero for helping those who might otherwise be forgotten, the homeless.
MAHLUM: So we're going to go over there and fit you for shorts and fit you for your shirt.
COOPER: Her "Back on My Feet" program inspires homeless men and women to change their own lives, sharing the benefits of running as well as providing job training skills. What started off as a small running club of 300 and has expanded to more than 1,500 members with 17 teams running three times a week. It's spread throughout Philadelphia, Baltimore, and just this week, Washington, D.C.
MAHLUM: You're doing great.
Since being a CNN hero it's been extraordinary. We've received so many requests for expansion and people wanting to bring this program to their city.
COOPER: Anne has done more than just help get them off the streets. Last year alone more than 170 members found work, started job training, or moved out of shelters. And Anne isn't stopping any time soon.
MAHLUM: All right, we're at the homestretch, guys. Pick it up!
COOPER: Along with First Lady Michelle Obama she's featured in this month's issue of "Fitness" magazine and has plans to expand to Chicago and Boston later this year.
MAHLUM: We just gave them the opportunity to do something great, and they took advantage of it and they did it.
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HOLMES: To find out if Anne's program is coming to your city next, or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.
