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Immigration Fight Goes to Court in Arizona; Latinos Leaving Arizona; Fight Over School Diversity
Aired July 22, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody it's Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the "CNN NEWSROOM" where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories. The Arizona immigration battle moves from politics and protests to court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You love the state?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arizona. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE : And now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE Little by little they are pushing us out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE Comes with that invasion of illegal aliens is a destruction of the rule of law and a damage to the taxpayer.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We're talking about a storm threat. A tropical depression churns threatening to shut down efforts to clean up the Gulf oil disaster. You are online right now we are two. Josh is following the top stories trending on the internet. Josh--
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, you are going to love this. The biggest star ever found. That's right Tony, on the show today we have a star even bigger than you.
HARRIS: Yes, right.
LEVS: Plus Comic-con is starting. This is this massive financial impact we're going to tell you about. And I'm going to tell you which Hollywood stars are on the way there. All that coming up this hour.
HARRIS: All right Josh thank you. Let's get started with our lead story. On day 94 of the Gulf oil disaster a new threat for folks along the Gulf coast to worry about.
There is a nasty weather system brewing. It could be headed that way right now. It is a tropical depression, but it is expected to get stronger, and there is a concern it could put oil containment and cleanup operations on hold for as long as two weeks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Arizona's hotly-debated new immigration law is set to take effect a week from today. Police officers are undergoing their final training, and a sheriff is preparing a new tent city for violators. But what happens in court next hour could determine whether the state will get to enforce the law.
CNN's Casey Wian is in Phoenix with details.
And Casey, let's do this -- what do we expect today? Could we in fact get a decision today?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think we could, but we don't expect it, Tony, because this case is so complicated.
There's two lawsuits, as you mentioned, being heard today. There are five others that are pending.
So, the first lawsuit that the judge is going to hear today is by a group of labor organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union, Latino advocacy groups, and some individuals. And their main concern, their main grounds for challenging this law, is that they allege that it will lead to widespread racial profiling and harassment by police of people including U.S. citizens and lawful residents of the United States.
The other lawsuit this afternoon is by the Obama administration. They are arguing that Arizona's efforts to pass an immigration law are basically in conflict with the federal government's authority to regulate immigration as spelled out in the Constitution. And so both of those lawsuits are seeking at least a temporary injunction to try to get this law to not take effect one week from today.
Now, in her response to the court, Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, says that the state will suffer irreparable harm because of rampant illegal immigrant and drug smuggling that is ongoing that the federal government has failed to control if this law is blocked. So that's why they're saying it needs to go into effect, and they're saying that the federal government and the advocacy groups have not proved that they will suffer any harm if this law goes into effect.
Now, we also spoke with Janet Napolitano, who is the former governor of Arizona and is now the woman who is in charge of securing the nation's borders. She says she understands the frustrations of Arizonans, but says this law is misguided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The fact of the matter is the federal government is doing more at the border of Arizona and Mexico than ever has been done before. There are more boots on the ground. There is more infrastructure. There is more technology. And even more significantly, there is more on the way.
It's not just the National Guard. The president has asked for Congress to appropriate another $600 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: One of the reasons that we expect that there is not going to be a decision today is there are so many groups, you know, that have filed Friend of the Court briefs and lawsuits. We've had groups of Republican lawmakers who are filing Friend of the Court briefs in support of the state of Arizona. Also, nine other states have filed motions in support. We have got individuals who are filing lawsuits.
There is a lot of legal wrangling to go through, and that's why we're not expecting a decision as early as today -- Tony.
HARRIS: Hey, Casey, how many people behind you there? And have you had an opportunity to see what's on some of those signs?
WIAN: Well, the signs are basically typical of what we've seen throughout this debate, and that is that some of the folks here are using Nazi images to talk about Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial Maricopa County sheriff who says he's going to enforce this law no matter what the court does. We've seen a smaller number of supporters of Arizona's law including some Latinos who say they support the law, they want the law to go into effect. They want people to come to this country legally.
And we have got about, I would say, probably four or five dozen folks behind me. Nothing like the protests we saw a couple of months ago when this law was first signed.
HARRIS: Right. All right, Casey. Appreciate it. Thank you.
So, you're in this country legally, but your spouse is not. And Arizona's tough new immigration law is fast approaching. What do you do?
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports on some Latino families who are leaving Arizona and the economic impact of their decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a middle-class suburb near Mesa, Arizona, a family is packing it up, preparing to flee the state. They asked us to call them "Carlos" and "Samantha."
"CARLOS," LEAVING ARIZONA: This is the living room. This is my boy's room.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): And they're all empty.
CARLOS: Yes. I mean, everything we worked for.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): They say they were living the American dream -- a house, two kids, a small jewelry business that catered to Latinos. But when his customers, many of whom were immigrants, started losing their jobs and leaving the state, his business collapsed. Now, he says, he, too, wants to get out before SB-1070 goes into effect.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): You love the state?
CARLOS: Arizona, yes.
GUTIERREZ: And now?
CARLOS: Little by little, they're pushing us out.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): They would say you're leaving because you want to go. You don't have to go.
CARLOS: I don't have to go? I do, for my family's sake.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Your wife is undocumented?
CARLOS: Yes.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Carlos is a legal resident. Their children are American. But he says they can't run the risk that his wife could be arrested and deported.
(on camera): You're one family who's leaving. Do you think there are others?
CARLOS: There's many, there are a lot of people who have left since this started.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Todd Landfried agrees.
TODD LANDFRIED, ARIZONA EMPLOYERS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM: This was just another strip mall in the Latino neighborhood of Mesa.
GUTIERREZ: Lanfried represents a group called Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform. He drove us through Mesa, Arizona, and pointed out what he says is the fallout in the state's immigration laws and a bad economy.
LANDFRIED: Anytime you start running people out of a state, you make it harder for the businesses that provide services to those people whether they're here legally or not. They're not going to be able to fill their strip malls. They're not going to be able to fill their apartment complexes.
RUSSELL PEARCE, ARIZONA STATE SENATE: If it comes with that invasion of illegal aliens, it's an obstruction to the rule of law and a damage to the taxpayer. There's a cost to that.
GUTIERREZ: Russell Pearce is a state senator and the author of SB-1070. He also lives in Mesa, Arizona.
(on camera): Do you believe there's any correlation between those empty businesses and Russell Pearce's law?
PEARCE: I think there's a correlation, probably. I think there's a correlation to the war. I think there's a correlation to the tough economy. I don't think I'd take credit for all of that.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Credit, he says, for forcing people like Carlos and Samantha to self-deport.
(on camera): What do those boxes represent to you?
SAMANTHA: So much of my memories.
GUTIERREZ: You don't want to go?
(voice-over): Carlos says he will remember Arizona as the state that allowed him to achieve his American dream and as the state that took it away.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Mesa, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Shirley Sherrod comments on the new job offer from the Agriculture secretary who forced her to resign. Plus, find out why she wants to talk to President Obama.
First, though, our "Random Moment' in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Yellowstone National Park is known for bison, but you just cannot get too close. Right?
Cathy Hayes didn't pay attention to the warning signs. Take a look at what happened next. It's our "Random Moment."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHY HAYES, ATTACKED BY BISON: We'll get a shot (INAUDIBLE) buffalo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom, back. Back. Back. Back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Move away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Oh, man! Hayes obviously had her video camera rolling when she got out of her car to record a bison, right? The bison said, oh, really? I don't think so. I'm not here for your entertainment.
So the bison took off after Cathy, flipping her over and goring her leg. Hayes' husband scared off the animal with loud noises. Hayes says she is bruised and sore, but is lucky she wasn't killed.
Because she's OK, she gets to be our "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Well, the now vindicated Shirley Sherrod deciding whether she will accept a new job offer from the Agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack. He has expressed his profound apology for forcing Sherrod to resign over a videotaped speech and edited clip that suggested Sherrod discriminated against a white farmer. Sherrod tells CNN Vilsack is now offering her some sort of civil rights position in the department's Office of Outreach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FMR. GEORGIA DIRECTOR, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: He told me he would send the offer in writing. I haven't had a chance to see that yet.
I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure that going back to the department is the thing to do. I know that I have lots of farmers and others in Georgia -- I've been getting messages saying, "Shirley, please come back to work with rural development in Georgia." But that's not what the offer is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Sherrod also tells CNN she would like to talk to President Obama about things he could do to advance togetherness in the country. She says she supports the president fully, but she knows he has not lived the kind of life she has lived.
Nineteen arrests during a school board meeting all over a decision to end a diversity plan in North Carolina. It sends kids from disadvantaged communities to schools and districts with more resources.
So the decision ends a decade-old policy of desegregation that was followed by districts around the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep up the good work, and thank you for ending forced busing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The voters who paid attention knew exactly what you were promising, and that's what they voted on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Segregation was wrong then. Segregation is wrong now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Critics say the policy helped student achievement and should not have been removed.
The new policy would instead focus on kids in their own communities going to school nearby, and having the choice to go to a charter school instead.
My colleague Kyra Phillips talked with the man behind the new policy, Wake County school board member John Tedesco, and the head of a local NAACP chapter, the Reverend William Barber.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN TEDESCO, WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: This policy, as you noted earlier, was merely around for the last 10 years. It's not something that was born out of the needs of desegregation. It was an experimental policy that they tried a few years ago and, quite frankly, ,was noble. It had noble intents.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why get rid of it --
TEDESCO: But it didn't work.
PHILLIPS: It didn't work?
TEDESCO: It didn't serve our community the way it needed to.
PHILLIPS: So let me ask you this -- what was it supposed to do, and where do you think it failed?
TEDESCO: Certainly. It failed on a couple levels.
One, it was supposed to take all of the schools in Wake County's system -- we have 162 schools with 144,000 kids -- and it was supposed to ensure that no schools would exceed a high poverty threshold. So, they set in place a goal of 40 percent high poverty and would use the forced busing mechanism to reassign children if those schools exceeded that threshold.
Unfortunately, at that time five percent our schools exceeded that threshold. And the goal was to get it down to zero. Today, over 30 percent of our schools exceed that threshold.
REV. WILLIAM BARBER, NORTH CAROLINA NAACP STATE CHAPTER PRESIDENT: This is a step back. It's regressive and it's wrong.
We know what makes excellent schools. They want to build fences. We want to build schools. They want to have private schools with public dollars. We are saying black and white and Latino, all different faiths, not on our dime.
We are not going to be prisoners to the past. We want to move to the future. We want to see all of our children educated.
We want high-quality, constitutional, diverse schools for all of our children. That is what our Constitution says, that's what my faith tradition says, that we're all one. And they're exactly wrong.
And, in fact, they don't have a plan. They dismantled this plan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Saving the Gulf of Mexico from a massive oil leak. Skimmers a key pat of the cleanup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The oil is so thick right now, they are having a hard time actually getting it into the mouth of the skimmers. So, chopping up the water is helping a little bit, but you can see most of it is just sitting there and it's sucking in more water than it is oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We will go live to the Alabama Gulf Coast, where our Rob Marciano has been keeping track of the latest developments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A tropical weather system could soon be threatening all of those containment and cleanup efforts under way right now in the oil disaster zone.
CNN's Rob Marciano is joining us live now from Gulf Shores, Alabama.
And Rob, if you would, give us an update. What are you hearing?
MARCIANO: Well, this thing is now a tropical depression. I think you mentioned that, forecast to be a tropical storm. I heard Chad talking about that.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: And the track of this thing looks like it's headed towards the center of this oil spill. So certainly not the news that they want to hear.
They are hoping the forecast for it not to become very strong hold true. But we'll just have to see about that.
Last I checked with the BP officials, they have not pulled a trigger on moving any assets or personnel yet, but that may change later on today now that this forecast has come out. They are leaving the cap as is, but they may opt to open the vents if they have to move more assets out. But again, they haven't decided to do that just yet. I would suspect that the static kill operation has been postponed, or will be postponed, due to this incoming weather.
Right now it's nice. A little bit breezy, a little bit choppy out there. So that makes skimming a little bit difficult at times.
And you know what? I can tell you this -- I had an experience with some skimming. I had the opportunity to embed with a Coast Guard cutter just a couple of weeks ago that was doing some hardcore skimming just about 20 miles south of here. And here is what some of that experience was like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just going to -- we're just going to spin (ph) over the thrusters, and that will keep the right rotor on.
MARCIANO: They're working the vacuum right now. The other side of that wall is a skimmer.
The oil is so thick right now, they're having a hard time actually getting it into the mouth of the skimmer. So, chopping up the water is helping a little bit. But you can see most of it is just sitting there and it's sucking in more water than it is oil. It's been the problem they've had the past couple days.
On a good day, how much oil could you get off this water?
C.W.O. DAVID HANSEN, U.S. COAST GUARD DECK SUPERVISOR: Well, if we're going right to the barge, the skimmer's capable of 440 gallons a minute. So --
MARCIANO: Four hundred forty gallons a minute?
HANSEN: A minute.
MARCIANO: That's a lot?
HANSEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: What was your best day so far during this whole operation?
HANSEN: At this point, I'm not really keeping track anymore.
MARCIANO: It all blends in day to day?
HANSEN: It does. Every day is Monday when you're under way.
MARCIANO: That's got to be grinding.
HANSEN: It can be. You wear down. It's nice when you pull in for a couple of days' rest.
MARCIANO: Well, you're doing great work.
HANSEN: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Every day is Monday in 90, 100-degree heat out there in the Gulf of Mexico, right here along the beaches, in the swamps. Getting it done, Tony.
There is an hour special that we are going to premier tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern and Pacific Time. And I was able to go shoulder to shoulder with these people that are just getting it done and saving the Gulf of Mexico. And it's going to be an hour of inspirational television, something a little bit more positive than we have been able to report on. And I was happy to do that. HARRIS: Amen, brother.
All right. Rob Marciano for us.
Rob, good to see you. Thank you, sir.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Obama signs legislation aimed at reducing fraud and government wasteful spending. Last hour, the president signed the Improper Payment Elimination Act. It targets things like payments to dead people, fugitives, or people in jail.
The law requires federal agencies to spend $1 million each year on audits to identify fraud and waste. The president says the government improperly spent $110 billion last year. He hopes to reduce that by half by 2012.
New numbers just out on what you think of President Obama's job performance. In the new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 47 percent you approve of the way the president is handling his job, while 50 percent disapprove.
Senior political analyst Gloria Borger joining us from Washington with more on the poll numbers.
Gloria, great to see you.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.
HARRIS: Yes. A couple of questions here for you.
Is there a difference between how minorities and white voters now view the president?
BORGER: Absolutely. Absolutely.
There is a large difference. Take a look at this.
When we asked that question, we saw that 93 percent -- get that -- 93 percent of African-American voters approve of the way the president is doing his job. As you see, Hispanics, 57 percent. That's still quite good. There is some disappointment among Hispanic voters that he hasn't done immigration reform.
And you see though, white voters, Tony, 37 percent. And this is the problem for the Democrats and the president right now, is those white voters, particularly white men who are growing increasingly disenchanted with Barack Obama. If those people don't vote for Democrats in the congressional midterm elections, they are going to lose a lot of seats.
HARRIS: How is it that -- anything in the poll to suggest how it is that African-Americans and whites, and particularly white males, view the president so dramatically differently? Anything there?
BORGER: Well, you know what? They've always viewed the president differently.
African-Americans have always been more enamored with Barack Obama than white men. But there were a bunch of Independent voters who gave this president a chance when he was elected, and now they are growing disenchanted with him.
But you look now at this question that you just put up about the optimism about whether race relations are going to be a problem. When Barack Obama was elected, look at that number, 44 percent of blacks said that it's always going to be a problem. So there was a little bit of optimism there, less than half.
Now it's back up, 59 percent. So you see that blacks are saying -- and, you know, as we watched the whole Shirley Sherrod story play out, you can understand why blacks are growing increasingly optimistic that the race issue is going to go away because we have an African- American president.
HARRIS: And Gloria, let me get to something else in the polling here. Do Americans believe that the Tea Party supporters are prejudiced against minorities?
BORGER: You know, I think the jury is really still out on that, Tony. This is a relatively new movement.
We see -- and you see up here on the poll, only 25 percent are convinced that there is. Thirty-eight percent say almost none. And some, 35 percent.
So, however, I will tell you this -- if you look at our poll, if you're black, you believe -- seven out of 10 African-Americans believe that there is some prejudice among Tea Party members. So, again, you see a difference there if you just look at African-Americans.
HARRIS: Yes.
BORGER: And so they are the ones clearly clued into this. You saw the controversy with the NAACP and the Tea Party. And I think we're going to continue to see that play out.
HARRIS: Boy, the fault lines in this country, it's just dramatic.
Gloria, good to see you. Thank you.
BORGER: Just dramatic, yes.
HARRIS: Yes.
Three million jobs just waiting for someone to apply for them. We will show you where they are.
That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: CNN, of course, is your source for financial news. We've got a big run up in the Dow today. Let's get you to CNNMoney.com, and take a look at the numbers here. We are three hours into the trading day for Thursday. Dow in triple-digit rally.
Better than expected existing home sales index and spate of corporate profit reports among the factors boosting stocks so far. Let's take a look at the number. We are up 201 points. The NASDAQ is up 51. We have most of our stocks in the S&P 500. The S&P up 23 points. 464,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. And the unemployment rate is expected to remain very high for the foreseeable future. But there are jobs out there.
Patricia Wu joining us now from New York. And Patricia, can you tell the people who are watching us, who are desperately in need of a job see the Dow going up 200 points today and see the markets seemingly on a nice little roll at least today, wondering when all of that will translate into jobs and yet there are jobs out there?
PATRICIA WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Tony. There is indeed some good news. The labor department says there are 3.2 million job openings in this country, but there is also a lot of competition. Nearly five people are vying for every opening. So who is hiring? CareerBuilder.com says job listings in information technology, customer service, sales and healthcare are growing.
Recruiting for administrative, business development, accounting and finance positions also up. So where can you find these jobs? 21 states and Washington, D.C. saw employment increase last month. And these states that you see there on your screen hired the most workers.
In Texas, education and health services saw the most new jobs adding 8,900 alone. So if you are thinking of relocating to find work, those places might be worth considering.
Tony?
HARRIS: Yes, you might have to do that. So if we're talking about 3 million jobs out there, why is it so difficult to get them?
WU: Well, a few things. It can take three to four months for openings to translate into actual hires according to the career Web site Beyond.com. That's because HR departments were scaled back during the recession and at the same time more resumes are flooding in so a little bit of a backlog.
Also many of the applicants are not necessarily a good fit. 22 percent of employers say they can't find qualified candidates to fill their openings. And you really see that in the healthcare industry. Those jobs often require a lot of specialized training and experience. So there you go, Tony.
HARRIS: Appreciate it. There she is, Patricia Wu with the breakdown today. Good to see you, Patricia. Thank you.
HARRIS: A building up America Post Katrina helping families buy homes with a little creative financial aid. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: After Hurricane Katrina people in Gulf Port, Mississippi, formed a group called Gulf Coast Renaissance. Now, despite some setbacks it has found housing for more than 500 people. Building up America one home at a time. Here is Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little more than a year ago, Craig and Mandie Neicase were struggling. They lost so much income and property in Katrina his job with the sheriff's department could not overcome the setbacks, let alone the recession.
(on camera): Did you have at that time any hope of buying a place like this?
CRAIG NEICASE, HOMEOWNER: No.
MANDIE NEICASE, HOMEOWNER: No. Not at all.
FOREMAN: This wasn't just you. This was everybody.
M. NEICASE: I mean everybody on the street, everybody in the neighborhood. I mean, everybody had lost everything.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The situation was driving desperately needed workers away even before the catastrophic oil spill.
(on camera): Everyone knew the community had to get out of that trouble and that is where this place came in.
(voice-over): Business and civic leaders raised $12 million to start the nonprofit Gulf Coast Renaissance Corporation to help house those families. The state gave money too and when Renaissance opened the doors, CEO Kim Larosa saw an immediate response.
KIM LAROSA, GULF COAST RENAISSANCE CORPORATION: Boy, did the people respond. We had people coming out of the woodwork.
FOREMAN: It worked like this, if a worker with a family of four making $50,000 or less needed a leg up to buy a home, the corporation and the employer together would provide the down payment. The Neicase has got $30,000 from the sheriff's department and $10,000 from Renaissance, and in return, they pledged to stay and help rebuild as they repay the loans.
C. NEICASE: It keeps employee base down here. It keeps tax base down here.
FOREMAN (on camera): And this stabilizes this community. M. NEICASE: Yes.
C. NEICASE: Yes, sir.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Banks joined the program, too. Almost 600 families have been put into houses.
(on camera): And you are requiring these people to go to classes, to know how to be good homeowners, and to manage their budget, to stay in these houses.
LAROSA: Yes. We did not want to set them up to fail. And we have had no one to date fail, no foreclosures.
FOREMAN: Not one.
LAROSA: Not one.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Call it an investment in the heart of the town. In people who can fight the storms and can fight the oil spill and who will because this is truly still home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Let's bring in Tom Foreman now.
Tom, you know, this seems like a plan that could work elsewhere as well. Am I right about that?
FOREMAN: Yes, you are, Tony. One of the questions I had was the same as yours. I looked at this thing, and I said, look, you are really talking about addressing the mortgage crisis raised to a higher level here, because of these other issues.
Insurance cost is up. The value of the property that was left after the storm rose. They addressed it successfully here, and that is the first thing they said. Yes, they think this model could be applied in Seattle and in Tucson and in Dothan, Alabama and in Rapid City, South Dakota. All sorts of places where people are looking at mortgage crisis issues because it is a cooperative agreement. It's really very clever and very impressive.
HARRIS: That is terrific. Tom Foreman reporting on the building up of America. Tom, good to see you as always.
Foster kids are facing lots of problems. One of them is being unprepared for the world once they turn 18. I am going to talk to Randy and Jermaine Jackson, spokesman for a group trying to help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, the transition from foster care into the rest of society can be a traumatic one financially for thousands of teens in this country. Once you turn 18, you no longer receive funds that the foster family received to care for you. And many are struggling to survive. That's just one of the problems for foster kids in America.
I am joined by three distinguished guest Jermaine and Randy Jackson.
Randy, you are on television, my brother. They are doing terrific work. They are working with a group Children Uniting Nations. And the founder of Children Uniting Nations, Daphna Ziman, is with us as well.
Daphna, we will talk to you in just a second.
Let's do this together. Let's take a look at Thelma Gutierrez' profile of one young lady who was in the foster care system, then we will come back and we will talk about your efforts to change the lives of people in this situation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLA, FOSTER CARE TEEN: Well, this is my room. This is my bed. I have food. I have clothing. I have some place where I can call home.
GUTIERREZ: (voice-over): Just imagine how frightening it would be to turn 18, then to be turned loose out here without an education, money, apartment or game plan for the future. That's what Carla is up against as California cuts $80 million from child welfare services. We follow her emotional journey as she transitions out of the system.
CARLA: I'm really stressed out. In the past few weeks and days have been just terrible.
GUTIERREZ: This bedroom in her foster home is the only real bedroom Carla has ever known.
CARLA: My mom, she started having mental problems and that's when everything just went bad.
GUTIERREZ: From the age of 10 she says she and her mother lived in homeless shelters in Orange County.
CARLA: I pretty much didn't get to be a kid.
GUTIERREZ: Carla fell behind on her education, too. At 16 when the state found out she wasn't in school, she was taken away from her mother and placed in foster care.
(on camera): Has it been a good experience or a bad experience?
CARLA: Well, for me, I think it's been good. I have, you could say, a family.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Now just as Carla says she is finally feeling like she is part of the family --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole number is divisible by three. GUTIERREZ: And beginning to catch up in school and making friends for the first time, Carla turns 18, the age when foster children emancipate or age out of the system.
(on camera): Do you feel you go out there, make your money and pay for your bills and take care of yourself?
CARLA: No. Not yet.
GUTIERREZ: Once you are emancipated could you turn to your father for help?
CARLA: It's been really hard for me. The fact that I never met my dad. And when I was newborn, he just left me with my mom and he got remarried again. So he practically left my mom with nothing and nowhere to go knowing that he had a daughter on the way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Wow. All right. That is our Thelma Gutierrez.
Daphna, let me come right to you. Does your foundation have anything to help a young woman like Carla and others in her position?
DAPHNA ZIMAN, FOUNDER, CHILDREN UNITING NATIONS: We actually while Gray Davis was governor of California, we did manage to get the governor to agree to support children until age 24. But that was never implemented. And now we have the Speaker Bass who is trying to at least get support for these children to age 21. And that's got complete unanimous support, Republican and Democrat in California.
Here in the federal government with Congressman McDermott, Senator Mary Landrieu, Congresswoman Jane Harman and many others have joined forces as of yesterday to try and support a bill to allow these children to have support until at least 21. It is unreasonable to think the children who have been taken from their home, for no fault of their own, and thrown into a system that is a very unforgiving system, at best, it is a revolving door of strangers, they learn no life skills because they are moved from home to home and school to school and then at 18 when they are not even properly educated for any occupation, all for tertiary education, they are thrown out on the streets. And their only option is the drug economy, crime and human trafficking. And that is not an option.
HARRIS: Randy, I know the Jacksons are planning to redouble efforts in charitable giving sort of generally speaking. My understanding is the family made an announcement I believe at the conference yesterday important to that effort. Maybe you can share it with the rest of the country.
RANDY JACKSON, SPOKESMAN, CHILDREN UNITING NATIONS: Yes. First, I want to thank you, Tony, for having us on.
HARRIS: Our pleasure.
R. JACKSON: We are, in fact, planning our world tour. And we did announce last night that we will be donating --
JERMAINE JACKSON, SPOKESMAN, CHILDREN UNITING NATIONS: Next year.
R. JACKSON: Next year it is as Jermaine said. Jermaine is going out first, then we we're going to do our world tour. We're going to be donating a certain amount of proceeds from that tour to this organization as well as helping children, foster children to improve their conditions.
HARRIS: Wow. Jermaine, talk to us about the tour and how things will roll out. Are you going out first and then join the rest of the family? How is this actually going to play out? Your fans would certainly like to know this.
J. JACKSON: Well, I'm doing some dates now, just to keep the legacy alive and the family's music, but then the tour with the family is always exciting because we are coming back together. And what we want to do is definitely like Randy said, donate part of the proceeds to foster care. Because it's important -- these kids are turned loose at a very young age, and I think the government becomes responsible because the very reason they take them in and then they let them out is no care. And they don't develop childhood. I mean, adulthood yet. They are still young. I think it is important, you don't really accept adulthood until you are able to accept responsibility. They are still young. They are still young.
HARRIS: Hey, Daphna, can you envision the Jackson' foundation and your foundation sort of working on projects together. And if so, what kinds of projects?
ZIMAN: I'm so glad you asked that because we've been planning to adopt some schools together. We already adopt schools and open up academic mentoring centers in the schools for foster kids because historically foster kids because they have no support and no parental guidance dropout.
So what we've done as the legislation also to back it up is we've adopted schools, brought in educational therapies and graduate and undergraduate students that we train in the neurosciences to go into the classroom with the foster kids so that they can translate the curriculum to them and help them graduate from high school.
What Randy and Jermaine, and the rest of the Jackson family would like to do is to adopt the first school in south Los Angeles and then from the proceeds of the two continue to adopt schools so that we can create these safe havens, educational safe havens for foster children. And give them a fighting chance.
HARRIS: Yes.
Well, Randy, Jermaine, as always, great to see you. Daphna, what a pleasure.
J. JACKSON: Thank you. HARRIS: And will you all come back and give us updates on the project and how it's working? And Randy and Jermaine, the best on the tour and getting out on the road and keeping the family's musical legacy alive. That's terrific. I'm sure your fans are happy to hear it. Thank you all and we'll talk soon.
J. JACKSON: Thank you.
R. JACKSON: Thank you.
ZIMAN: Thank you, Tony, so much.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, it's my pleasure. My pleasure.
We should give you an update here. Carla from Thelma's piece ended up at the Teen Project Home. It is a house for foster kids where they live under supervision of a house mother while they go to college. She also got a full scholarship to Paul Mitchell School where she will study cosmetology.
We have a new development to tell you about, a new development in the Shirley Sherrod story. We understand she was just on the phone, just spoke moments ago with President Obama. We expect to hear from her soon. Let's take a break. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: OK. So we have breaking news for you.
We understand that Shirley Sherrod has spoken a short time ago with President Obama. The path for this call seemingly made clear by the apology from the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday. One of our producers from our special investigations unit was with Shirley Sherrod at the moment when she made the call to the president. We don't know the details of what was discussed in that call. But it did happen a short time ago, a conversation between President Obama and Shirley Sherrod. We expect to get details on that call shortly. And of course we'll bring those to you.
Let's get to Josh Levs now for a look at what is trending right now. You are online, we are, too.
So what is hot, Josh?
LEVS: That is going to be trending when we get --
HARRIS: Yes, that's true.
LEVS: -- the information about that phone call. We're going to be all over that. A few other things though that a lot of people are all over. This has been one of the top stories over the past 24 hours on CNN.com.
Scientists discovering this massive star. It's so interesting. It is way huger than our own sun. Let's go in right here, and I will tell you a little bit about it. This is how the University of Sheffield. It is 10 million times brighter than the sun. And the heaviest star ever found.
And, Tony, I found this great imagery over here at the Guardian Web site. Guardian --
HARRIS: Hey, Josh,
LEVS: Do we have it?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, we are about to get to details.
Julie O'Neill is the producer I mentioned just a moment ago from CNN who was in the vehicle with Shirley Sherrod.
Julie, let me have you take the story from here. My understanding is that Shirley placed the call to the president, correct?
JULIE O'NEILL, PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes. She received a text message saying that the president had been trying to reach her. She made a call and was told that the president had been trying to reach her since last night and that she should call back in ten minutes and talk to him. She did call back in ten minutes and spoke to the president.
HARRIS: What do we know, if anything, about that call? Did Shirley take the call with you present or did she ask you to leave? What happened here?
O'NEILL: I was present. She asked that I not film it, which I obliged. And, you know, she -- the conversation went on for a few minutes. She was very, very pleased with the conversation. She gave me a few details afterwards saying that the president conveyed that Secretary Vilsack was indeed very, very apologetic and very sincere in that apology. She said that the president compared some of the things he spoke about in his book to some of the things she has been talking about over the past two days in interviews. She invited him down to South Georgia. We'll still have to see if he takes her up on that. I think he also mentioned that the black farmers lawsuit and things they are trying to do with discrimination of black farmers, so that is the gist of it.
HARRIS: Well, that is a lot. But, Julie, did she ask the president if, in fact -- do we know whether she asked the president if, in fact, the White House wanted her to resign.
O'NEILL: I asked her that and she said they didn't get into that.
HARRIS: OK.
O'NEILL: It didn't seem to steer in that direction.
HARRIS: OK. Anything else? Any other tidbits? Anything else you want to share from what Shirley shared with you? O'NEILL: You know, she didn't really say too much. I think she is very, very tired. She was very pleased with the conversation. And I think she is feeling pretty good after talking to him and knowing that he reached out after all this.
HARRIS: And was trying to reach her --
O'NEILL: Since last night.
HARRIS: Since last night. Shirley, you got to clear the phone line.
All right, Julie, appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate it. I can't wait to see the reporting and the work you are doing for SIU on this story as well.
Let's take a break. You are in the "CNN NEWSROOM".
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