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Mom Takes Bullying Fears to President; Getting Paid to Smoke Pot
Aired October 15, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A recent suicides of students who were gay or perceived as gay has started a national conversation on bullies and how to stop them. Bullying and harassment have had fatal consequences in several cases just within the last month. One example, 19-year-old Tyler Clementi. He was the Rutgers freshman who jumped off a George Washington Bridge after two students allegedly posted a sex video of him with another man.
Seth Walsh of California was just 13 years old. He hanged himself from a tree after years of harassment. Friends say bullies targeted him because he was gay. Billy Lucas of Indiana was 15 when he took his own life last month. Friends say that bullies picked on Billy for years. And Asher Brown of Texas was only 13 when he shot himself in the head. His parents say that bullies picked on him because he was small, didn't wear designer clothes and because they thought he was gay.
These are just four cases that we have talked about. We're talking about one of those other cases right now as well and that's Jaheem Herrera. He was 11 years old when he took his own life last year right here in Atlanta. School bullies tormented him, called him a virgin, feminine, gay, beat him up in the bathroom, held him down until he passed out. He didn't see any escape, so he took his own life.
His mother was too distraught to even talk about what happened, but her silence broke when bullies started picking on her daughter. No way is she going to let history repeat itself. She's not just talking to us. She's taking her case all of the way to the president of the United States. Masika Bermudez joins us now along with activist, Gerald Rose. I thank you so much, both, for being here.
You're going to make me cry because I'm seeing you tearing up. And I remember when this - sorry, you're getting me emotional now. I remember when this happened and we reached out to you and wanted to talk about this story, and you weren't talking, and we can totally understand why. It's just horrible, especially when I sit here with parents like you and when I see what your kids went through and I learn so much about your son.
And in this message to the president, you actually say as you address him, "A year has passed since Jaheem's suicide and I haven't gotten any justice. Mr. Obama, I really don't know what to do. I cried so much and I feel like a failure to my son, Jaheem." Why do you feel like a failure? MASIKA BERMUDEZ, MOTHER OF BULLY VICTIMS: Because I just keep seeking the justice, and I mean, these people don't want to accept responsibility that my son was getting bullied in school. You know, they always want to say, oh, no, it wasn't going on, so I feel I'm trying my best to let these people know it was bullying going on with him and they keep sweeping it under the rug. So I feel like I failed him. I can't get no justice. A year has passed and it's still the same thing, they're denying it. They keep denying it.
PHILLIPS: And if I remember correctly, you went to those folks at school. You said, my son is coming home. He's tormented. He's aching. You've got to do something. You told them about this a number of times, right?
BERMUDEZ: Yes, yes, I did.
PHILLIPS: And we know what happened to Jaheem. And now your 12-year-old daughter, (INAUDIBLE), very close with her brother. What started happening to her?
BERMUDEZ: Well, she started to get bullied like two weeks ago.
PHILLIPS: What were they saying to her?
BERMUDEZ: Guest: The little boy was telling her that he's a ghost whisper, and he sees ghost and he don't see Jaheem because Jaheem is in hell and her brother was crazy and he should come back again and do it again. He should have done that a long time ago. So my daughter is very hurt right now.
PHILLIPS: What did she do? Did she come home and say, "mom, you're not going to believe what's happening."
BERMUDEZ: She told me, "mom, did you receive a call from the school?" I said, "no, what happened now." She said "I got into it with a little boy because he was teasing me about Jaheem, mommy and I'm tired of it. I'm tired. I just busted out screaming three times and started to cry."
PHILLIPS: And so what did you do this time around? Did you go back to the school once again, and say, what gives?
BERMUDEZ: Yes. I went the following day to the school and I went to meet with the assistant principal because I was willing to sit down with the parents and resolve this problem because I can't afford to lose another child.
PHILLIPS: God forbid. And did they do anything to the bully? Did they react differently this time around than what you went through this time?
BERMUDEZ: Yes, they did discipline the little boy but they messed up again because they let the little boy slip out of his classroom and went back to harass my daughter with the same tauntings again.
PHILLIPS: Has he been pulled out of school or is he still in school?
BERMUDEZ: Well he got suspended? But then his mom came and withdrew him out of the school.
PHILLIPS: Does his mom have any concept about what's going on here. Does she understand that your son took his own life because of this and now her son is harassing your daughter about her brother?
BERMUDEZ: I guess so. I tried to reach out to her like how I said, the following day, and they attempted to call her four times and she never returned the call. So she wanted to meet me the following Monday. I went the Monday and she wasn't there. She came to the school in the afternoon, and I was far away. I couldn't get to the school on time. So I asked this lady to please wait for me, give me 30 minutes because I want to meet her because I'm willing to meet her and squash this in the school. You know, like end it.
PHILLIPS: Right.
BERMUDEZ: And she said she got to go home and feed her kids. So I guess she doesn't care.
PHILLIPS: Gerald, you got involved. You are founder and CEO of New Order National Human Rights Organization. That's a long title there. I got it all out, though. Tell me what you're doing here in Atlanta and what you hope to do more across the country with your organization as you have gotten to know, Masika, and of course, this story around Jaheem.
GERALD ROSE, FOUNDER & CEO, NEW ORDER NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: Seek justice. This situation happened last year and we feel that we haven't gotten anywhere. My job is to mobilize, get unity, bring this case back up and get justice for this mom. I had an opportunity to meet with the young girl and when I met with her, she's a very, very smart young lady, but you can see she's going through something right now.
PHILLIPS: You're talking about Masika's daughter?
ROSE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Okay.
ROSE: She had a diary with here (INAUDIBLE) "Mr. Rose, I Miss my brother, please get justice for my brother." And that's why I'm here. I'm here to reopen the case, take it to a national movement and get justice for this family. I feel her pain, you know, again, once the cameras, once we leave, she has to go home inside her apartment and think about her son. But I'm committed to this to the end. I will let her know that I will be her and plan to get other organizations involved and help get the family for this justice.
PHILLIPS: And Gerald, you deal with cases like this a lot. What is wrong with our kids? Or should we say, what's wrong with our parents?
ROSE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: What do you think it is? You both probably want to weigh in on this. Let me start with you, Gerald. Is it the kids and their surroundings? Is it their parents and how it begins from the way they're raised in the home? What have you seen?
ROSE: Well, this starts at home. I know if my neighbors see me do something wrong, they had the right to discipline and then my parents will (INAUDIBLE) disciplined. These days, if you discipline another child, the parents is probably disrespecting you. It's a new way of life. I'm just concerned and I have a 13-year-old daughter who lives in Virginia with girls who were bullying her for a minute, but at the same time, we stopped that and that's why we're here to make sure that stop this and make sure it doesn't happen again.
PHILLIPS: And now, Masika, you're taking your message to the president. I read through your speech here and you talked about what happened to Jaheem, you talked about how you felt there wasn't enough that you could you do, and now you're seeking help from him. But do me a favor and just read the specific message you are going to say directly to the president when you hold this news conference this afternoon. Go ahead.
BERMUDEZ: Mr. President, bullying is still an issue here in Georgia and all over the United States. Our children are dying because they think this is the only way out. I think that the parents and administrator should be held accountable for my son's untimely death and I also think that if the parents were able to sue the school system federally, that would make them get their act together and for sure be responsible for our kids' well being when our kids are under their supervision. And last, but not the least, change the federal law bullying in the whole United States. Please, justice for Jaheem.
PHILLIPS: And finally, you're addressing the president. We'll hear it here. We'll take it here on CNN as well. It's OK. I appreciate your strong words. What are you telling your daughter now as she wakes up in the morning? And she's probably nervous about going to school and facing a lot of friends and teachers. What do you tell her when she rolls out of bed and starts getting dressed and has her breakfast?
BERMUDEZ: I just tell her to be like be careful, you know, just do her work. Just concentrate on what she's doing. If anybody talks to you, try to bring up anything - just try to ignore them. You know, I'm always going to be there to protect her. You know, Jaheem is not here, but I'm going to seek justice for my kids. My kids need to live a normal life.
PHILLIPS: Amen. I think we all agree with that. Masika, thank you so much for joining us. You are just fantastic. Gerald, thank you so much. And we will follow-up on the news conference this afternoon and stay on top of the story. Thank you so much for talking to us. I know it's been a really long year for you.
BERMUDEZ: OK. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you both.
All right. We'll be right back. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 18 days until the midterm elections. Washington's balance of power at stake, and incumbents are finding their jobs on the line. Nevada's Harry Reid, the top Democrat in the House facing a withering challenge from Sharron Angle, the Tea Party darling that like many challengers is seizing on all of the voter anger right now. And the same is true in Wisconsin where Russ Feingold is in danger of losing his Senate seat.
Time is running out, tempers are running hot, and both races could be critical for Democrats to hold on to Congress. Let's begin in Nevada, shall we? Where Reid is locked in dead heat with Sharron Angle. She says Reid is part of the problem with Washington. He says Angle's Tea Party believes are two extreme. So the two traded some zesty words at last night's debate in Las Vegas. It's the first and only such showdown in the highly watched race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID, NEVADA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Social security is a promise we have to keep. It takes care of seniors in their golden years. That's why I work so hard to protect social security. I feel so strongly about this that I took on the president of the United States when he tried to privatize it, and we won that battle.
Don't frighten people about social security. The deal was made by President Reagan and Tip O'Neill is holding strong. The money is there, and it's taking care of our folks and will for the next 35 years as I just indicated.
SHARRON ANGLE, GOP NEVADA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Man up, Harry Reid. You need to understand that we have a problem with social security. That problem was created because of government taking that money out of the social security trust fund. In 1990, you said it was stealing to use social security for anything but social security, and then you voted to take that social security money into the general fund where it could be generally used for generally anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, now the Senate race in Wisconsin. Our CNN- "Time" opinion research poll shows Russ Feingold trailing his challenger. Ron Johnson is a political newcomer who has won the backing of the Tea Party movement. Jim Acosta, live in Milwaukee for us. Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. That's right. This is that race that Democrats all over the country are just scratching her heads and wondering how did Russ Feingold get into this mess? I mean, it is sort of understandable that Harry Reid would be in a tough battle that he is in out in Nevada. He's the Senate majority leader. There's a very tough economy out there. Not so much the case here in Wisconsin although unemployment is also high here as well.
But Russ Feingold is trying to figure out a way to come from behind in this race. He actually disputes some of these poll numbers. His campaign will point to internal polling saying that the race is actually tighter than it is. And he is up against this challenger, you called him a political newcomer. That's basically it. Ron Johnson is a millionaire businessman, who runs a manufacturing company up in Oshkosh. He came out of nowhere earlier this year, to pick up the backing of the Tea Party movement.
And so it's not really a surprise to a lot of political observers that Russ Feingold would make a play for Tea Party supporters although it sort of caught a lot of Wisconsin liberals off guard here. But Russ Feingold is very much doing that right now, understanding that his opponent Johnson is pretty much the ultimate outsider in this race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: He's for the Patriot Act and I'm the only guy that voted against the Patriot Act. He's for the trade deals that ships the jobs of Wisconsin overseas. I'm against it. I was always.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are with the Tea Party movement?
FEINGOLD: I agree with them. There are many key issues.
RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: I've never been to Washington, D.C..
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've never been to Washington, D.C.?
JOHNSON: Not until this election. I have gone three times just to familiarize myself and meet with some groups. That's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: That's it. He hadn't been to Washington, D.C. until he started running for the Senate. Sort of an extraordinary side note about Ron Johnson. And he is not only pumping his own money into this campaign, speaking of Ron Johnson, he's also getting the help of those third-party outside groups that we have been hearing so much about, that the Democrats have been complaining so much about in the last couple of weeks.
A new study just came out from Wesleyan University saying this trend, Kyra, and it shows that the advertising in Wisconsin, in the Senate race here is actually the biggest and the most we've seen in the last month in all of the Senate races around the country. Even more ads for the Senate race here in Wisconsin than in Nevada. In that highly contested race out there. Just another example of just how much trouble Russ Feingold is in, here in Wisconsin. A lot of those ads that are running in the states are against him. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Acosta. We'll keep following it. Well, 20 states suing to stop the new health care reform bill. Will get to keep their fight alive. A Florida judge issues a ruling in the case. We'll tell you what it means?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Top stories - a troubling concern for allied forces in Afghanistan. A new report says the insurgency is getting stronger and picking up more recruits in areas where the Taliban has not been prominent in the past. Insurgent attacks were up 59 percent from the same time last year.
A legal victory for opponents of the healthcare reform law. Federal judge in Florida has turned down a government motion to dismiss some counts of a multi-state challenge to the law. The judge threw out four counts. Florida and 19 other states claim part of the reform law is unconstitutional.
And the northeastern U.S. bracing for a lot of problems from a nor'easter. Rob Marciano tracking it for us. Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is really exploding off the Long Island and Cape Cod coastline. Pretty strong storm system. Going to have a number of variables that are going to adversely affect people who live anywhere from New York City up through Boston and northward. You see the rotation around this thing is really throwing a lot of moisture across parts of northern New England and of the Atlantic Ocean, pounding waves with this as well.
The bulk of the heavier rains are back a little bit away from the coastline. That's where the flood watches are being issued right now. In some of these areas, we could see a fair amount of snow, anywhere from two to seven, maybe even higher amounts than that especially above 2,000 feet, upstate New York, the Adirondacks, the green mountains of Vermont, white mountains of New Hampshire, snowing in some of those higher elevation places now, and in some of those spots, there are still leaves on the trees.
So you know, that will catch some of that snow and likely some of those tree branches will break and we'll probably see some power outages. Because of this but we are definitely seeing some heavy rains across parts of northern Vermont, where it is not snowing, at least in the valley floors. It is raining very heavily and just nasty temperatures in the 40s and it's windy. And where it is not raining in places like New York, the winds will gust 30 to 50 miles an hour in this area.
So it's going to be a pretty blustery next day and a half. 59 in New York. It will be 76 today in Atlanta, breezy and 73 degrees expected in Los Angeles with some showers out that bay. I think the folks in the eastern half of the country, Kyra, are going to enjoy a decent fall weekend once the storm goes through but it will be breezy the further northeast you go and rather blustery as we head for the middle of October. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Got it. Hey, Rob, do me a favor. I got a hostage situation going on just south of Dallas. We're trying to get a good porno on this, I think it's Waxahachie.
MARCIANO: That sounds right.
I'll have to look at how it's spelled.
PHILLIPS: Okay. Holler at me. Thank you so much. And this is what we can tell you right now. We're getting pictures in from our affiliate there in Dallas, Texas, WFAA. That's our affiliate there. This is the Vintage Bank on Highway 77, if you know where that is.
Apparently, it's a hostage situation. We don't know how many hostages are inside that bank right now. We just got these pictures in and we're getting information just within the past 60 seconds. So all I can tell you is the Vintage Bank, Highway 77, south of Dallas in Waxahachie, Texas. I'm saying that properly. Hostage situation, police just now getting on the scenes. SWAT teams getting ready to roll in. We'll keep you posted and try to bring you more information as we get it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, marijuana is on four state ballots this November. For the past week, CNN NEWSROOM has been taking a close look at the issue, too. It's already legal for patients to smoke medical marijuana in 14 states and it's been legal in Colorado for a decade. We found one man in Denver who actually gets paid to smoke pot. CNN money.com Poppy Harlow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Not only is this legal. It pays the bills.
(on camera): So you get paid to smoke pot and write about it?
Guest: I get paid to smoke pot and write about it. Yes.
HARLOW (voice-over): His pen name is William Breathes, and he is one of the first medical marijuana critics in the country. We can't show you his face because his job depends on staying anonymous, just like a restaurant critic.
(on camera): You can be high doing the job.
GUEST: And my boss knows it.
HARLOW: A decade after medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado, it's estimated about two percent of the state's population, or more than 100,000 people have applied for medical marijuana licenses. According to one Harvard economist, roughly $18 billion is spent on pot every year in the U.S. and Denver's Westward paper has capitalized on just that, hiring Breathes as a pot critic who reviews the dispensaries and the quality of the marijuana they sell. He has his journalism degree. He is a good writer and he can also punctuate and he can spell, which is very different than all the people who apply for a job.
HARLOW: As for Breathes, he's been smoking for 15 years to ease chronic stomach pains, but now his medicine pays his mortgage. We tagged along to see for ourselves, and we didn't take our cameras inside, but take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREATHES: Oh, that's great. I'm going to have to go with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An eighth or -
BREATHES: Yes, I'll go with an eighth. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you show us what you got?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I got a joint, a prerolled joint and some and some really chunky, real good-looking pot.
HARLOW: I can smell it. It's permeating the whole car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly. That muskiness is something you really look for.
HARLOW (voice-over): Does that mean it's good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HARLOW: Back at the home office, it's time to get to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Load up a little bit and taste it. Try and taste the smoke as it comes out. You know, like I was saying, it has a real like woody finish, and then, you know, after a few hits of that, you try and feel what type of buzz it is and what it's doing to my body medically.
HARLOW: So you know the critics would say that you just want to get high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, definitely, and I'm not going to lie, there's a fun aspect to this medicine, but if could you see me on a morning when I'm really sick and when pot really helps me the most, it's truly medical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We're lucky today. We got Poppy in studio. We will talk about why you're here in a minute. Okay but I mean, marijuana has really become a huge industry in Colorado. Yes.
HARLOW: It's amazing. It's very accepted there. You know, you drive down the main street there, and there's dispensaries left and right, but when you look at what they're doing legally, they passed a lot of laws to further regulate it. So, for instance, felons are barred from owning these dispensaries now. Doctors who give the prescriptions have to be much more open about why they're giving them, who they're giving them too. And also the people who own the dispensaries now have to grow 70 percent of their own pot.
The reason is where are they getting the marijuana, right? You don't want it imported from other countries, imported from Mexico, so there are a lot more rules but it's becoming extremely accepted. We are talking about this guy, William Breathes, this pen name, and he shocked me, in terms of - he was very straight laced, very, very responsible guy who takes his job as seriously as any other job. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I mean, he's been smoking pot since he was 15.
HARLOW: 15 years old for stomach problems. And a lot of people say, yes, right, he just want to get high. I can tell you from spending a day with them, that's not it. He really thinks this works.
PHILLIPS: Now, does he - well he thinks it works but in any (INAUDIBLE) he said, I can kind of see how it has affected me.
HARLOW: He gets up early in the morning, 8:00 a.m., works all day, normal day. Smokes pot before lunch to get somewhat of an appetite otherwise because he can't eat, otherwise. I mean, he's responsible about it, you know what I mean? And many people wouldn't expect that he does it as responsibly as possible. He doesn't drive high. That's the big question, do you drive around like that?
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARLOW: I mean, this is guy that's starting to change the perception and in Denver, everyone reads his blog on Westward's web site, everyone flocks within the newspaper and he's the first guy in the country. I think the question is does this become and industry like restaurant critics. You know, if it becomes accepted, do we have pot critics?
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Some people call it the best job in america.
PHILLIPS: You know, a lot of people debating that. I really want to get in a plug for why you are here in Atlanta. You're actually are speaking at a fabulous event. Tell our viewers quickly about Outreach Project America?
So Outreach Project America, I have been working with them since I was in high school. They teach art therapy to kids around the world. They started in Bosnia for the war there and they are working with Iraqi refugees. I have the numbers. They helped 400,000 children, kids can express what is war for them and (INAUDIBLE) this helped them. It's proven by psychology time and time again.
HARLOW: And last year, Kyra, they launched "Project America" to help vets returning with PTSD, to help them and their families and their families. They have worked with 185 veteran families. You can donate at their web site, a artreach.org. But also, if you are someone that's trained in art therapy, they people to help expand this all across the country, to take what they're doing in America outside of just Georgia, take it across the country. I've seen it, myself, first hand. This helps people express what they can say and so big fundraiser tomorrow night.
PHILLIPS: And I was telling you about Van Gogh, when he cut off his ear, and they say - everyone said he went crazy. They checked him into a institution. And still, in Provance, in Remy, they have that hospital up and running with artist therapy.
HARLOW: Been proven time and time again.
PHILLIPS: It has for hundreds of years. Probably -- going on a long time.
All right, Poppy. Thanks so much. Glad to see you here.
Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has gotten a lot of attention, saying she's just like you. But she's not alone. A lot of politicians say and are acting it out these days. We're going to check out the political trend that's building for a while now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're not quite sure of all of the specifics or what exactly is happening. All we can tell is that the Brooklyn Bridge has been evacuated, cleared. They're not letting anybody cross over. We're sending crews over there right now.
We're not sure what's going on, why this has been done, but we want to let you know, if you're wondering about what's happening, if you live in the area, we're working it. And will bring you as much information as possible as soon as we get it.
Remember when American presidents were on a pedestal? They were almost untouchable. Very polished, proper, and nothing like most ordinary people. Think FDR, JFK and the whole Camelot era. Even Ronald Reagan.
Then things started to change. You had Bill Clinton munching down at McDonald's, jogging through the streets of Washington. You had George W. Bush working the crowd with a cowboy hat and his Wrangler jeans and ropers. President Obama chowing down, too, on fast food. Just like the rest of us, hitting the local diners, mingling with the peeps.
Well, Democratic Senate candidate and Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell says she's one of you, but she's not the only politician saying that. A lot of them are saying that. But just 18 days before the midterm elections, we thought we'd find out whether voters are buying into the "just like you" thing.
CNN's Carol Costello joining us live with a "Gut Check." Hey, Carol. CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's become cliche. How many politicians leading up to these midterm elections have you heard say, "I'm just like you." "I understand your pain"? How many have you heard say that?
PHILLIPS: Probably almost every single one of them. And that's what -- they're feeding off the voter anger. Hey, I get you. I understand you. I'm anti-Washington, anti-elite establishment. And of course that's what people want to hear right now in a bad economy, when they can't find a job and they're tired of all the B.S.
COSTELLO: You've hit on something, and it does seem today that every politician is fighting for the I'm just like you crown because of the anger out there.
So, it must work, right? We wondered. So, does it work? Do you want a politician in office just like you?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Christine O'Donnell wasn't the first to say she's you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But you could argue she was the first to say it in a way that arrested America's attention in a way few politicians have. Parodies abound, cue YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America's a 300-pound bearded diabetic man. Send me your donations and I will go to grandma's house and order pizza tonight. I'm you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All joking aside, the "I am you" political strategy is ubiquitous. It seems to be in every politician's playbook no matter how ridiculous it might sound. If you're wondering why --
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: They do it because it's been done.
COSTELLO: Some politicians bowl, they drink, they hunt, or they ride a horse. But President Reagan on a horse was a lot more subtle than say, Bill Clinton's I'm like you grab. All those McDonald's hamburgers, those jogging shorts and marriage problems, he was a baby boomer's "I am you" dream. He connected and he won.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: Actually analysts say the "I'm like you" strategy really exploded in 2008.
PALIN: Every day American people, Joe six-pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again.
COSTELLO: And although some political strategists might say it's a tired tactic, the idea of you running the country resonated with many voters.
PROF. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Because they're angry, they don't trust anybody. Who are they most likely to trust? Themselves.
COSTELLO: But is that what voters really want? Do they want a peanut farmer, a cowboy, a good old boy, or a hockey mom? You know, someone just like them to run the country. In the end, Zimmerman, a Democratic strategist, says no.
ZIMMERMAN: This election is not about whether a politician is like the electorate. It's about what the politician is going to do for the electorate. That's what people are demanding today and I think that's really what's resonating.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And Kyra, Zimmerman adds voters are more cynical today than they were, say, back in the '90s when Bill Clinton ruled. He says when voters hear "I'm just like you," come from the lips of a politician, it sounds just like the check's in the mail.
PHILLIPS: But I mean, c'mon. It did work for say, Clinton. I mean, remember playing the saxophone on the "Arsenio Hall Show"? Everybody thought he was cool and that generated such a buzz. And even President Bush, too, driving his truck with his cowboy hat. People do definitely respond to that sort of down-to-earth image.
COSTELLO: I guess when it's done well. Zimmerman says those candidates had something to back them up. They were experienced politicians, which mattered back in the day. and George W. Bush wasn't even that far back in the day.
Today, if you have no experience at all, and you're even more like the you out there, you're more apt to get attention from voters and perhaps get elected into office.
PHILLIPS: Thanks for the "Gut Check."
COSTELLO: Any time.
PHILLIPS: See you next week.
All right, really quickly. We want to update you. We are told now the Brooklyn Bridge has been reopened. We had heard that it had been shut down, everybody was evacuated off the bridge. That was true, we sent folks out there.
Now, we just got word it has reopened. We'll still try to figure out what happened there and why it was closed down in the first place. We'll update you.
Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Let's go to Bowling Green, Kentucky, shall we? And meet a young crusader who is definitely making his mark.
Dylan Beckham was 9 years old when bullies started picking on Cole, his autistic friend. Well, Dylan didn't let his buddy down. He stood up for Cole, and that was the moment Dylan's crusade was born. Now, two years later, he's standing up for everyone with autism. Dylan was part of a public service announcement posted on YouTube, and it's played in every classroom in his school district.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DYLAN BECKHAM, ANTI-BULLYING CRUSADER: I know that they all get picked on sometimes, but now it's starting to turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dylan is a hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm this excited.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. You're the best. Oh, thank you.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why is he a hero?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He helps kids with autism not to be bullied and to know that they're just like everybody else and we are. We just are -- we're not that different. We just have autism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Dylan's raising money this weekend by taking part in a run/walk event for autism. And we'll follow it.
The national conversation about gay bullying has a new voice. Joel Burns is an openly gay city councilman in Fort Worth, Texas. When it was his turn to speak at this week's meeting, well, his focus wasn't city business. He actually revealed for the first time his own experience with bullies, one that stuck with him all these years, and that he didn't plan to share until the recent rash of teen suicides.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOEL BURNS, FORT WORTH, TX. CITY COUNCILMAN: Life got so much better for me, and I want to tell any teen who might see this, give yourself a chance to see just how much life -- how much better life will get, and it will get better.
You will get out of the household that doesn't accept you. You will get out of that high school, and you never have to deal with those jerks again if you don't want to. You will find and you will make new friends who will understand you, and life will get so, so, so much better.
I look back, and my life is full of so many happy memories that I wish I could share with those whose photos were shown above earlier and those who have taken their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: His passionate, emotional speech has gone viral on the Internet. Chris Haas from our affiliate WFAA actually talked to him about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HAAS, WFAA-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the Joel Burns' Fort Worth knows, a confident, openly gay councilman were elected in 2007. But Tuesday night, Burns shared what his life was like as a young boy of 13, beaten up and terrorized, because bullies realized he was different.
JOEL BURNS, FORT WORTH COUNCILMAN: They said that I was a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and that I should die and go to hell where I belonged. That erupted the fear that I had kept pushed down, that what I was beginning to feel on the inside must somehow be showing on the outside.
HAAS: Burns has followed recent stories of teens who killed themselves after being bullied for their orientation, but it was an article that pushed him this week to make Tuesday's speech.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?
HAAS: A teenager who attended this debate in Oklahoma about whether his city would recognize a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender month in the city.
BURNS: And because of what he heard their, in part, one killed himself. And that was the thing that really drove me to, OK, I have to do something now.
HAAS: Burns says his message is that life does get better, pointing to his many friends and long-time partner. Today, that message resonated around the nation through the Internet.
BURNS: Literally thousands of messages and quite a few phone calls.
HAAS: He's received calls from national television producers and accolades from equality organizers.
BURNS: Perhaps it was not the political best thing for me to do. But that really wasn't the goal.
HAAS: The goal, he says, was to reach the children who needed to hear him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We sure hope he did reach al those children. Bravo to Councilman Burns.
During his speech, he added that life does get so much better, and he encouraged gay teens to stick around for the good times because they will come, and the jerks will go. Burns is just what this national conversation about bullying needs: empathetic, influential people with a voice and a platform to step up and speak out and set an example in a political position like his that can affect policy.
Joel Burns is actually going to be on CNN later today. He will join our Ali Velshi, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Just 18 days until Americans cast their votes in the midterm elections. We're counting down to bring you all of the stories that could shape the voters' decisions. CNN deputy political editor (sic) Paul Steinhauser is in Washington at the political desk. What's crossing, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, I got some brand new stuff for you, Kyra. Of course, the biggest question in these midterm elections, will the Republicans win back control of the House of Representatives? They need a net gain of 39 seats to do that.
Check this out, Kyra, our brand new CNN poll of polls for the generic ballot. Forty-seven percent say they would vote for the generic Republican in their congressional district, 41 percent say they would vote for their generic Democrat in their congressional district. That is, I guess, the most widely used barometer. What we do here in this generic ballot, we average in the most recent national polls. That's how we get that number for you.
Take that look at this, Kyra. Also something brand-new on the ticker. Jeremy Harlan (ph), our cameraman, zooming right in here to the Political Ticker. Sarah Palin on Monday, the Tea Party Express. Sound familiar? Didn't she do this last time? That's true. Back in March, she kicked off the Tea Party Express' third national tour at a rally in Searchlight, Nevada in the spring. And she is doing it again when the Tea Party Express kicks of in Reno, Nevada, this time. A two-week tour for them that they say will end on Election Day. Of course, they're targeting Democrats, including Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader in Nevada.
Finally, Barack Obama, Joe Biden teaming up today. Where are they going? Delaware. We were talking about Delaware a lot two days ago with that great debate between Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons that our own Wolf Blitzer co-moderated. Today, the president and vice president going to Wilmington, Delaware to help fundraise, raise some big bucks for Chris Coons, the Democratic nominee there. Even though he's way up in the polls, Christine O'Donnell has more money. She's been raising more than him.
So, that's what I got right now, brand-new on the Ticker. Kyra, hey, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Paul. More political news at the top of the hour. And a reminder, if you're away from your TV and need that political fix, just go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
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(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Well, every day at this time, we honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for all of us. We call it "Home and Away," and today we're lifting up lance correspondent Colin Joseph Wolfe from Manassas, Virginia. He was killed in combat in Anbar Province in August of 2006. He was just 19 years old.
Margaret Sharmen sent us this memory of him. "Colin met between seventh and eighth grade. He was one of my best friends. We talked on the phone daily and had countless late-night phone calls. We remained close up until he left for Iraq. I know for sure he was fighting for a cause he truly believed in. He's my hero, and I love him."
Well, if you have a loved one you would like us to honor, here's all you have to. Go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field, pull up the profile. Send us your pictures, your thoughts. And we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
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PHILLIPS: There was drama on the set of "The View." But what do you expect? Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was the guest. Started out with the hug and the kisses until the topic of the Islamic center near ground zero came up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Muslims killed us on 9/11.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": No! Oh my God!
O'REILLY: Muslims didn't kill us on 9/11? Is that what you're saying?
GOLDBERG: Extremists did that.
(CROSSTALK)
O'REILLY: I'm telling you, 70 percent of the country --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to sit here now. I don't!
O'REILLY: You're outraged about Muslims killing us on 9/11.
(CHEERING)
BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I want to say something. I want to say something to all of you. You have just seen what should not happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Basically, Barbara said that everybody should be able to have a civil conversation. Whoopi and Joy did come back after Barbara Walters calmed things down and after O'Reilly said it was Muslim extremists, not all Muslims, who are responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Both O'Reilly and Behar talked about the dispute on their shows last night.
Josh Levs here with some of the other views, your views, the viewers.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've got it all. We've got everything you're talking about right there. So, Bill O'reilly discussed it this really in some depth on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor." He said no one he knows wants to insult Muslims but that people, he said, are tired of political correctness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: I'm not in the business of sugarcoating hard reality. This program and my book state the truth as I see it. I enjoy jousting with "The View" ladies because with the exception of Elizabeth Hasslebeck, they don't see it my way, and I want their audience to hear both sides.
I loved that exposition today, didn't you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And on her program, on our sister network, HLN Joy Behar talked about it. And to understand this, you need to know O'Reilly's new book is called "Pinheads and Patriots."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, HLN HOST: Today on "The View," Bill O'Reilly had a real pinhead moment.
I was really angry. I saw O'Reilly - I thought he was saying something that I construe as hate speech, frankly.
I'm joined now by former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. I mean, it upsets me, as you can see, because I really think that to say that Muslims killed us on 9/11 is like -- you could you say that about any group. To lump an entire group like that --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: We reached out to you for your views. I will read you just two before we've got to go. Let's take a look at what we're getting on Twitter. This is someone saying, "Ignorance and rage are fueled by fear. We must start thinking outside the box. This type of action discourages open conversation."
We're hearing from people who agree with each side. A big dispute here.
You can weigh in on my Facebook and Twitter pages, JoshLevsCNN. We certainly look forward to seeing what kind of respectful dialogue we can have about all these issues.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Tony is out, T.J. is in.
Take it away, T.J.
