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A Plea for Anita Hill to Apologize, Anita Hill; Countdown to Election Day
Aired October 20, 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: It's the top of the hour. We got new developments on the case that first got Americans talking about sexual harassment. It was 1991. Anita Hill versus Clarence Thomas. Millions of Americans glued to the congressional hearings and for good reason. After all, Thomas was being considered for one of the most venerated jobs in the country, a Supreme Court justice, but what Hill said about her boss was shocking and tawdry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANITA HILL, THOMAS ACCUSER: The conversations were very vivid. He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals, and films showing group sex or rape scenes. He got up from the table, at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke. Looked at the can and asked, who has put pubic hair on my Coke?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Justice Thomas has never wavered in his denial before his confirmation, and now 19 years later his wife is bringing the scandal back into the headlines. Ginni Thomas left a voice mail for Anita Hill asking her to apologize for the accusations. Here's the transcript.
"Good morning, Anita Hill. It's Ginni Thomas. I just wanted to reach across the air waves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love to consider an apology some time and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day."
Anita Hill said she first thought this call was a prank. When she found out it was genuine, she issued this response. "I certainly thought the call was inappropriate. I have no intention of apologizing because I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony."
Our next guest spoke to Anita Hill yesterday as well as the story was just coming to life. Bryan Bender is a reporter for the "Boston Globe," and Bryan, you were able to get through to her when a lot of people were trying to get through to her. How did you do it and what was the first thing she said to you?
BRYAN BENDER, REPORTER, "BOSTON GLOBE": Well, I reached her through Brandeis University where she is a professor and the strongest impression I got was this is clearly not something she likes to talk about, but I think in this case she felt the need to respond because this is not the first time that the Thomases have accused her of being a liar and demanding that she retract what she said all those years ago.
In fact, Clarence Thomas wrote a book a few years ago where he really - I think he called her his enemy, most treacherous adversary at the time. It was 2007 (INAUDIBLE) also raise the issue of an apology. In this, case she was very surprised that she would take this step to call her. And she felt that she would talked about it but I think it's an episode she is very uncomfortable talking about. She's moved on but it seems that the Thomases have not.
PHILLIPS: Did she give you any kind of idea to why Ginni Thomas would call and leave this voice mail? Did she have any speculation or any insight to what it felt like to get this call, why she thinks this happened 19 years later?
BENDER: Well, I asked her that, and she really didn't want to go there. She said "listen, that's a question to ask the Thomases. You know, I can't speculate on what's going on in their lives and why this is still such an issue." But like I said, I think it's an issue that overall Anita Hill is very uncomfortable talking about. She's moved on with her life, and, you know, I think she'd like to see the Thomases move on, too, but clearly that's not the case.
PHILLIPS: Now, she thought this was a prank. So what did she do when she first heard it? Who did she call first, and how did it sort of escalate, and how did she confirm that indeed it was Ginni Thomas?
BENDER: Well, I think the call came on Saturday morning, October 9th, very early in the morning. She picked up the message the following Monday, Columbus day, and I think at first a few days had passed before she did anything. The way she tells it, she was just puzzled and couldn't figure out what to make of it, and then a couple of days later she contacted the campus Public Safety Department because she thought maybe it was indeed a prank and she wanted to alert the authorities and maybe they can get to the bottom of it.
The Public Safety Department apparently contacted the FBI, and word of this leaked a number of days later, and that's when we saw yesterday Virginia Thomas put out a statement acknowledging that it was indeed her that left the message and that she wanted to reach out and she said that the invitation was still open, if you will, if Anita Hill wanted to apologize or wanted to make amends to the Thomases.
PHILLIPS: Bryan Bender at the "Boston Globe," getting straight to the source there in responding to this voice mail. Appreciate you coming in, Bryan. Thanks.
BENDER: Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Well, we're just 13 days away from an election that could change the direction of our country. First, the balance of power is at stake in Congress. All 435 House seats up for grabs plus 35 seats in the Senate. And closer to home, voters will also elect governors in 35 states. Georgia is one of those states electing a governor.
T.J. Holmes has taken the CNN Election Express to Macon, Georgia, where voters have been venting about their frustrations. T.J., what have you heard?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: Well, you talk about frustrations. My frustrations right now is the weather. A kind of a cold, dreary, rainy, Macon, Georgia right now, just about an hour south of where you are right now, Kyra, in Atlanta, Georgia. And you talk about those 435 seats up for grabs, and we talked about the Republicans need to take about 40 of those back. Where are those going to come from?
They're going to come from places like Macon, this particular district. This is the 8th congressional district here in Georgia, where a Democrat is trying to hold onto this seat, but at the same time this is a conservative district and it's so important that this is where the man who wants to be the next House speaker, John Boehner, he was just in this area yesterday campaigning for that Republican who is trying to unseat hat Democratic incumbent.
Now, this area, just like the rest of Georgia, just above the national unemployment rate. Statistics, though, are one thing. You talk to people here, they're going to be voting more so about how things just feel to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think this area is doing very well at all. A lot of small businesses are going out of business. A lot of people suffering.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're seeing more people hanging out on the street than you see going into the stores buying things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think Macon is growing, know.
DANNY PATTERSON, MACON RESIDENT: Christmas and Thanksgiving coming up. People getting laid off. They need their jobs back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a little concerned about when I get out of college here. I'm not really, you know, sure what kind of job there is out there for me.
DYLAN BROWN, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I was a political science major in college and I'm also a hard core libertarian, which means I have absolutely no future in politics. (INAUDIBLE) both sides of the spectrum I think that people are starting to realize that there is nothing for them with Republicans or Democrats. So maybe the future isn't as bleak as I think for libertarians but there definitely is a third party edging in.
ROGER COWELS, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I think it's a sad commentary for our representatives that we are not in a more secure situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a beautiful climate right on i-75. There's a lot of property available. It's a wonderful family environment to raise kids. Property values are good here. Some real steals to be had. So you all come to the south.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So you hear the folks there, you hear a lot of what you hear around the country. Now, here we are, Macon, Georgia, the home of Otis Redding actually. A very popular place right now because it's one of those districts that Republicans think that they can take back. And Kyra, coming up next hour, we are going to have that Republican who thinks he can unseat the Democrat.
He's going to be here with me live. So looking forward to talking to him next hour. As we make our way down the coast, day three, stop number four on the Election Express. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I love it. You always figure the how to weave in music somehow but it's not something on your iPod. We find out it's Otis Redding territory.
HOLMES: Yes, it is.
PHILLIPS: I will find some music and queue it up for the next hit.
HOLMES: "Dock of the Bay" would be great.
PHILLIPS: OK. You got it. I'm working on it. (INAUDIBLE) you heard the request.
Thanks, T.J.
CNN Election Express on the road and as you can see T.J. is along for the ride. Next stop tomorrow, Gainesville, Florida. Follow the Election Express, T.J. and the gang every day in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, blackened shorelines and a massive environmental disaster. Six months later, we go back to the region for a firsthand look at the stubborn hotspots.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We all remember those horrible images, don't we? Oily birds, black crude and muck suffering the Gulf Coast. Can you believe it's been six months since the BP oil spill, since that rig burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers? You know, that blast led to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
CNN's Rob Marciano went back to the region to actually see where things stand now. He joins us live from New Orleans. What do you think, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they have done a remarkable job and considering all of the things you've said, Kyra, and that, you know, there's almost five million barrels of oil that were spewed into the Gulf of Mexico during that three-month period.
It's been three months now since the wellhead has been capped, so they certainly got a handle on things and they have pared things down quite a bit. They have gone from having 6,000 boats on the roster to under 300 now. But make no mistake, there is still oil out there affecting the shoreline and it needs to be cleaned up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (on camera): (INAUDIBLE) Coast Guard. That's the new admiral in charge. Aerial tour, and we're getting on a boat.
(voice-over): I strap in with newly appointed unified area commander Admiral Paul Zucumpf whose workforce has shrunk from almost 48,000 this summer to just 13,000 now.
(on camera): "There's been some criticism from the local communities that BP is peeling back way too much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we're dealing with hot spots. Prior to that the entire Gulf of Mexico was a hot spot.
MARCIANO (voice-over): What's surprising is how many hot spots there still are six months in. Even Mississippi's Barrier Islands remain littered with oil. The beach response here on Cat Island is much like Florida and Alabama, men and machines still scrambling to clean the sand. It's a similar scene near Grand Isle, Louisiana.
In total over 500 miles of shoreline still have some oil.
Examining the wetlands requires a different mode of transport.
As we motor west, there are signs of encouragement. We cruise past clean water, clean grass and even some fishing boats.
(on camera): It's nice to notice a fishing vessel with fishing equipment on it versus booming equipment.
(voice-over): 40 minutes into the marsh, we arrived at one of Louisiana's hardest hit areas, (INAUDIBLE). Here compression guns are positioned to scare off birds that might try to land in this still very oily wetland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last time I was up here was about a month ago. Back then we had about 600 workers and we were in there, in the real shallow areas trying to vacuum up pockets of oil along this entire stretch. So real time consuming.
MARCIANO: BP's George Carter knows cleaning the marsh is not easy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've actually cut the grass, we've raked the grass, we flushed it on a couple of occasions. We tried some chemicals to remove stuff. MARCIANO: This area is for experimenting, hoping something will yield clean, healthy grass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are patches of new growth that are starting to come out.
MARCIANO (on camera): Yes, it is some grass trying to grow.
AMD. PAUL ZUKUNFT, UNIFIED AREA COMMANDER: As tempting as it is to go in and do something very aggressive, the worst thing you can do right now is tread heavily on this marsh grass. So really now this is a test of patience.
MARCIANO: Talk about patience, we all want it. The people that live here may be out of it.
ZUKUNFT: Well, we're not done yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: And they tell me they're going to be here as long as it takes, and employing people as long as it takes as well. But they don't nearly employ as much. And those people that were employed to clean up the BP spill, well, they are not so employed now.
But the amount of commercial fishing area in the gulf that was closed has shrunk dramatically, just down to 16,000 square miles, really out by the wellhead where they are cleaning off some of that equipment. And all of the fish that they tested for consumption has come back negative as far as oil and being harmful to humans. So the hope is, Kyra, is that the industry, the fishing industry bounces back as well and so does the economy and we're hoping that the stalks of green grass take root as well and the marshlands recover. But we'll have to wait and see on that one. We'll certainly check up, at least, in another six months. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Rob.
The NFL fines three players for vicious hits on the field. Now the league is sending out a warning to all players. More of those violent hits means suspensions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Check it out. Hard hit in last night's baseball play at the Yankees' Stadium. Tony, I know you are watching. Yes, that's a cool shot.
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: OK. Let's talk about how they got the cool shot. The bat actually flew almost as far as that ball did. Smashing into the TBC camera and shattering the lens. Thank goodness the camera operator wasn't hurt but -
HARRIS: Is it that from one of our sister networks? PHILLIPS: Yes, it is.
HARRIS: That's not coming out of our checks?
PHILLIPS: I hope not.
HARRIS: Replacing that lens?
PHILLIPS: It shouldn't be too expensive but then again it's a camera lens.
(INAUDIBLE)
HARRIS: And then the Yankees took that beat down, too, right?
PHILLIPS: They did.
Now, all right, we can kind of laugh about that, but serious stuff here. My, god, if you watched football over the weekend -
HARRIS: Right.
PHILLIPS: I mean what stands out in my mind, the Rutgers defensive player Eric LeGrand paralyzed after that hit.
HARRIS: Right.
PHILLIPS: We saw what happened in the NFL. Guys were fined for these hits, and now the NFL is stepping up and saying something about it.
HARRIS: Look, this is really sea change stuff for the NFL that we're talking about here. Maybe we can start with this, maybe we can show folks the players in particular that we're talking about. There's James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think we have this play here. Mohammed Massaquoi so is that Cribbs, takes the hit and James Harrison is fined $75,000 for a pretty hard hit there. He also hit Joshua Cribbs -
PHILLIPS: And hits Massaquoi.
HARRIS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And Cribbs, the wide received came in. Now, remember Cribbs because that's an important name as we talk through this story and then in think we got a shot of the Patriot safety Meriweather. He was fined $50,000 - you might see this in a second here, for his hit on Baltimore Ravens wide receiver - tight end, Todd Heap. And Todd Heap and that looks like a head butt.
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: All right.
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: That looks like a head butt.
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: So he's fined $50,000 for that hit. Remember Todd Heap's name, important as we talk to this story.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Heaps and Cribbs.
HARRIS: And then we got - Heaps and Cribbs, sounds like - anyway. Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Dante Robinson. Look at this ow, ow! Big hit there on DeSean Jackson of the Eagles. Right?
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: So three particularly vicious hits. Now, both players, Jackson and Robinson ended up with concussions from that particular play. So both players are pretty wiped out and jacked up on this hit.
PHILLIPS: OK.
HARRIS: So the question, as you look at those plays for folks watching us now and watching over the week, are the fines for these hits justified? Do they feel like particularly vicious hits in the NFL in a game where hits happen? Right?
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: So now the league is stepping in and threatening not just fines, Kyra, but the league is also threatening to suspend players who hit defenseless players, right, in an illegal way. So that's the sea change moment here. This is a league that prides itself on its contact. This is a high velocity vicious, tough, hitting game.
PHILLIPS: That's what I'm trying to figure out as a person that doesn't know -
HARRIS: It's a culture change.
PHILLIPS: - the rules, so there are guidelines?
HARRIS: Oh, yes. Yes.
PHILLIPS: That say.
HARRIS: Can't leave with your head.
PHILLIPS: OK. So you can't?
HARRIS: Particularly on a wide receiver. You can get helmet-to- helmet contact if it's a running play.
PHILLIPS: All right.
HARRIS: That happens.
PHILLIPS: All right.
HARRIS: But on the premise that we're highlighting here, these are passing plays, you can't lead with your helmet.
PHILLIPS: So is this nasty play? Is it a player coming in.
HARRIS: Let me tell you, I don't think any of these - these are defensive players who were taught to hit, to plant you. If I'm a 220- pound linebacker, d-back, right, a safety or a cornerback, and you're sending a 175-pound wide receiver across the middle, my job is to plant you -
PHILLIPS: Right.
HARRIS: And it has been that way since peewee football, Kyra, right? Pop Warner (ph), pee wee football, back to the coaches have been teaching these players. This a high velocity, vicious, contact sport, and what we do in this game is we hit people. So this is a culture game.
PHILLIPS: Until your son or your boyfriend or your husband or the father ends up, you know, down for the count paralyzed for life.
HARRIS: And that brings us back to Todd Heap, to DeSean Jackson and to Josh Cribbs.
PHILLIPS: OK.
HARRIS: These are stars in this league. If you're the NFL, seeing your star players on the turf, that's not a good look. All right. You can't be decimating your workforce. So what do you do? The league has taken some steps recently to try to combat concussions. All right. Everyone views those as positive steps, and now it's taking this next step to say, look, we really can't have our star athletes on the sidelines, particularly at the time we're about to enter a new bargaining agreement with the players union, we're talking about adding additional games, we can't have our stars on the sideline but players are saying, particularly the defensive players are saying "this is the game. You're taking the game away from us." This is what you build documentaries around with NFL films. You know, the NFL's greatest hits, and now you're talking about a sea change, a culture change that could take a generation or so.
PHILLIPS: There's a change going on here. Folks, if you're tuned in at this time, every day you can hear a little Tony Harris on our sports half.
HARRIS: Can we do this?
PHILLIPS: Yes. This is going to be a regular thing now.
HARRIS: Is that all right?
I'm great with that. How did we do? Did we do OK?
PHILLIPS: Sarah said, yes, now wrap. Oki. We have too much fun.
HARRIS: We'll hear that a lot, won't we?
PHILLIPS: Yes, we will. We're going to get in a lot of trouble and burn a lot of time. But hey, (INAUDIBLE) have fun sport stuff.
HARRIS: People are talking about sports. This is big. I mean, this is the most popular sport on the planet.
PHILLIPS: See you tomorrow.
HARRIS: Bye.
PHILLIPS: Well I don't people would argue Nascar.
HARRIS: It's football. I'll take that argument.
PHILLIPS: Speed on out of here. Tony.
HARRIS: Women who get hormone therapy to treat menopause may be taking a big risk, even bigger than they first thought. Find out what a new study reveals.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Ladies, listen up. There is more evidence linking hormone replacement therapy to breast cancer in post menopausal women. In fact, new study shows that using HRT is even riskier than thought. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been following this for us.
OK? What's the latest?
We heard years ago that if you use HRT, which is hormone replacement therapy, when you're going through menopause, that it could increase of chance that you will get breast cancer. Well, this new study of 16,000 women shows not only are you more likely to get breast cancer, you're more likely to die of it. Take a look at this statistic. Post menopausal taking HRT, are twice as likely to die from breast cancer. It's a serious risk that women, really need to know about.
All right. So what's the drug companies' reaction to this study? Have we heard anything specifically.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They say, we're taking this seriously, we're reading the study, we're paying attention to it. What they also say is this. They say "It's important to view the data in the full context of both the symptoms of menopause, as well as the extensive body of information on the known benefits and risks of hormone therapy." So they say put this in context with what the good things that hormone therapy can do.
PHILLIPS: All right. So given the new findings, what do women do? COHEN: You go to your doctor and you say "look, let's say you have terrible, you know, menopause symptoms, and you really want to do something about it. You say look, I understand there are risks of taking hormone therapy. Is it worth my taking those risks for the benefits that I could get from the therapy and what experts tell us, Kyra, is the trick is to go on the lowest dose for the shortest possible time.
That's what you want to try to do. You don't want to go on hormone replacement therapy for 20, 30 years. That's the old way of doing it.
PHILLIPS: Right.
COHEN: So just shortest time, lowest dose.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Openly gay Americans can sign up and serve in the armed forces for now. But it's not without a fight. We're going to look at what's next for don't ask, don't tell?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Subprime lenders built an entire industry by taking a huge risk. They lent lots of money to the very people that other banks turned down. We know how that risk turned out. The loans failed, the economy tanked, and the foreclosure crisis was born.
Now some of those homeowners are fighting back, saying they were targeted by shady lenders. Stephanie Elam is here with one family's story. Steph?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, you know, when you actually take time to sit down with people who feel like they're probably going to lose their home because of the subprime crisis, because of predatory lending, it really changes the way you may see the story.
We took the time to go to Chicago to meet a couple of families who are dealing with this and also to find out exactly how the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan, is responding to these claims. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (voice-over): Linda Rhee (ph) and William Wilson believe they have limited time left in the home they've owned for five years.
WILL WILSON, HOMEOWNER: If I keep working, I probably can hold on a while. But I don't know how long my job is going to last now, you know.
ELAM: In 2006, the Wilsons took out a second mortgage to add bedrooms for their foster children. But those bedrooms came with a hefty price tag. A subprime loan with $12,000 in closing costs, $1,200 in monthly payments, and required lump sum payment of $100,000 in the final month to pay off the balance of the loan. When all is said and done, there will be no equity in the property.
LISA MADIGAN, ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have communities who for years didn't have access to mortgages, didn't have access to credit, and suddenly they're being targeted.
ELAM: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is a leader in the fight against both predatory and discriminatory lending practices.
Earlier this year, she sued Countrywide, now under Bank of America, alleging they used discriminatory lending practices in violation of federal lending and civil rights laws. Bank of America denies that and vows to vigorously defend against the allegations.
Last year Madigan sued Wells Fargo for similar practices; That lawsuit is still pending and Wells Fargo released this statement to CNN: "With the overarching goal of doing what is right for our customers, Wells Fargo has a longstanding history of being a responsible leading lender to diverse populations."
Richard Thomas was a widower when he first moved into this middle class Chicago neighborhood. Also claiming to be a victim of subprime lending, he's now part of a class action lawsuit against Ameriquest.
RICHARD THOMAS, HOMEOWNER: I just want a comfortable, you know, a nice, comfortable place to live. And I don't mind paying for it but just don't rip me off.
ELAM: The Center for Responsible Lending estimates 11 percent of black homeowners have already lost their home to foreclosure or are now in imminent risk. And it gets worse. Even living near a foreclosed property in black and Latino communities can drop the value of a home.
The Wilsons believe they will ultimately lose their home to foreclosure.
WILSON: All I can say is, is I'll go as far as I can go. Once I do that, then --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's in the Lord's hand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: Now, you take a look at the a family like the Wilsons, kyra, and on top of all of the drama they are dealing with, Mrs. Wilson lost her job in May, so she's been really struggling to find a new place to work so that she can help out. But overall, they are thinking it probably won't be very long unless something happens, unless there is some intervention. And they will be without their house. And for their foster children, that's a very scary situation to be in.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know you will keep following up on the family. Stephanie, thanks.
And tomorrow might, CNN's Soledad O'Brien examines how some are fighting the financial crisis from the pulpit. "ALMIGHTY DEBT," a "Black in America" special, tomorrow night, 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, here's a quick update on "don't ask, don't tell." The Pentagon is telling recruiters they may sign up gay and lesbian applicants right now. And that comes after a federal judge reaffirmed that the military may not kick out openly gay service members. But the Obama administration likely will appeal, and that's why a legal defense group for service members is warning troops not to come out now and recruits to be careful while this case is still in flux.
You know, "don't ask, don't tell" sure changed Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fehrenbach's life. He was a seasoned and decorated pilot, and was abiding by the policy. And then someone outed him. Now, he risks losing his pension and has been fighting "don't ask, don't tell." Last hour, I had a chance to ask him about the court ruling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. VICTOR FEHRENBACH, U.S. AIR FORCE: I think you can see this go back and forth with judges and courts and the Justice Department for weeks if not months. And so, that contributes to the uncertainty and the confusion that a lot of service members are seeing right now.
I think my case will remain in limbo. I've got ten months left until I'm eligible for retirement. But while this is still tied up in the courts, like Service Members' Legal Defense Network has told all the troops out there, they need to be careful. They can't come out if they're not safe yet.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is still the law, so if this appeal fails, if the Justice Department gets its stay or this injunction, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," they'll start enforcing it once again. So, this is only temporary. The only long-term solution is for the Senate to take this up again as soon as they get back from the elections in November, December.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Fehrenbach, by the way, has earned nine Air medals, including one for heroism, including so many others I couldn't name the entire list. And also after September 11 and the attacks, he was handpicked to protect the air space over Washington, D.C.
More than a million people are pledging to stand together against gay bullying today by wearing purple. A Facebook page for the event shows more than 1.6 million people have already signed up to take part. The day is in memory of the string of kids who have died by suicide after they were bullied for being gay. Wear Purple Day comes as Facebook launches a network of support with GLAAD, MTV and the Human Rights Campaign, among other groups, all of it in the name of helping LGBT teens protect themselves from bullies on line.
Rashad Robinson is the senior director of media programs for GLAAD. He joins us by phone. And Rashad, we were watching the numbers started out 1.2, 1.4 and now 1.6 million. I mean, just the fact that so many people are signing up really sends a strong message.
RASHAD ROBINSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MEDIA PROGRAMS, GLAAD: I think it absolutely does, Kyra, sends a strong message to folks all around the country that we won't tolerate. We won't stand up - we won't sit down and be quiet when young people are being bullied and targeted because of who they are. So, for folks all around the country who want to get involved, they go to glaad.org/spiritday.
PHILLIPS: Now, as GLAAD and MTV and The Human Rights Campaign among other groups came together to do this, how exactly did it happen and what does everybody hope to achieve through this effort, Rashad?
ROBINSON: Well, it really happened organically. Folks on Facebook and social networking realized we had a real opportunity to raise our voices and be visible to the fact that young people are being bullied around the country. And we've seen that results in really concrete harm. Young people taking their own lives because of the bullying, and because in many schools and in many communities around the country people were turning a blind eye. And we really as a community we could do more by raising our voices and raising our visibility.
And so GLAAD and a number of other organizations really got together. And for folks in their community who are watching and listening right now and want to get involved, they can go to GLAAD.org/spiritday, and they can turn their Facebook pictures purple or their Twitter pictures purple, even if they're already at the office and realize you don't have time to go out and buy something purple. It is really an opportunity for us to show our spirit and commitment to standing up for the young people who have been facing these harms in their community.
PHILLIPS: Rashad Robinson, thanks for calling in.
ROBINSON: Thank you for having me, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
All right. Let's broaden the conversation on a story that's a real talker, shall we? It's about a fraternity pledge ritual at Yale that's gotten the Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter in some pretty big trouble. Listen to what the DEK pledges were chanting over and over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUDIENCE: No means yes! Yes means (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! No means yes! Yes means (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: yes. You heard it, no means yes, yes means -- and we bleeped the last word. You can look it up online if you want, because I'm definitely not going to say it. Basically, these DEK pledges are chanting about rape. Highly offensive, shouting this stuff in an area of campus where freshmen women live.
Just imagine being an 18-year-old woman in a new place and hearing that from your room at night. Imagine your daughter hearing that from a gang of young men moving around in the dark chanting about rape in an area that's supposed to be a safe home away from home.
The national DEK fraternity has told the Yale chapter to stop all pledge activities for now. The school says this is a good chance to talk about sexual harassment, but it's not saying anything about punishment.
Now, last hour, I had a chance to talk with a Yale junior who manager editor of the school's feminist newspaper. She says this episode is the last straw and that the school needs to act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH ZEAVIN, YALE JUNIOR: No, it's not enough for me that the boys have apologized. This was a completely offensive and shocking thing to -- to do in front of our all -- almost all -- 10 out of 12 Yale freshman women and men.
And so something must be done further than an apology more than an open forum, more than dialogue.
PHILLIPS: Now, we all know frat boys are going to do stupid things, you know. They're not always the most mature of the student body. Tell me, though, where you thought this really crossed the line.
ZEAVIN: I think it really crosses the line when you deny a woman or man -- of course, there's no subject in the sentence, so it's not gendered -- their bodily agency and their right to body. That crosses the line, and then to do it in such a symbolic way, in the dark, where all the freshman lived, almost all of the freshmen live is totally unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: As you can imagine, we have received a lot of responses on our blog about the Yale fraternity chanting. Here's what some of had you to say.
Lindsay said, "You mentioned this morning that these boys are frat boys and somewhat expected to do stupid things. However, these frat boys are young men seeking a college education at one of the most respected universities in the United States. Their standards of behavior should be extremely high. Frat boys or not, this is unacceptable."
And Mike says, "While stupidity is never condoned, it's also equally ignorant to lump all fraternities into the same group. It's obvious that the local leadership of DEK is either nonexistent or poorly educated in the goals of that organization. A true fraternity fosters a true balance of man, spirit, mind and body."
Remember, we want to hear from you. Just log onto CNN.com/kyra and share your comments. We sure appreciate you weighing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Countdown to election day. Thirteen days until a vote that could switch the balance of power in Congress. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser rolling up his sleeves, standing up, full of energy -- ready to get really excited within the next 13 days.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I tell you, Kyra. We have some new stuff for you this morning.
Let's talk about the Democratic National Committee. That's the Democrats' national organization. They announced this morning, you know what, just in the first 13 days of October, they have raised $11.1 million. They set that could set them towards the most profitable and biggest fund-raising month they ever had in the midterm cycle.
So, why are they doing this? The whole idea here is they're trying Americans - you, me, everybody else -- that their voters, Democratic votes are energized because just about every poll has indicated that Republicans are more energized than Democrats. I got a brand new wire. It's up on the CNN Political Ticker. You can read more about that.
Let's also talk about Nancy Pelosi. You know Republicans have been targeting her, using her in ads, trying to tie every Democrats in the House to Nancy Pelosi. Well, here's one reason why. A brand-new poll from Gallup Organization out this morning indicates that only 29 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the House speaker. So, I guess you can say that is kind of an effective tactic, maybe, for Republicans to try to tie other Democrats to Nancy Pelosi. We'll keep an eye on that.
You know, one thing for sure. You haven't seen a lot of Nancy Pelosi campaign events. She's been behind the scenes at fundraisers, but not too many public events, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Well, what about this ad telling Latino voters not to go to the polls? What's up with that?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. This a big story yesterday afternoon and this morning. The thing here is this Univision is saying they are not going to run the ad. Univision, of course, the Spanish language network. The ad was from a conservative group and the ad -- a conservative group called Latinos for Reform. It debuted in a couple of Nevada markets yesterday. Basically what the ad says is that Barack Obama hasn't delivered on his promises to Latinos and Hispanics. And that come November, don't vote.
Well, Univision said just the opposite. That they feel it's imperative, important for Latinos and Hispanics to vote. Remember, the Hispanic and Latino vote could be crucial in that Senate race in Nevada with Harry Reid and Sharron Angle. Could also be crucial next door in California with the governor and Senate races as well. We'll keep an eye on that story, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Paul, thanks.
And your next political update is in about an hour. And a reminder, you can also go to our Web site CNNpolitics.com.
"PARKER/SPITZER," CNN's newest program in our primetime lineup. Besides looking at the hard hitting topics of the day. The show has room for lighter stuff. Last night's panel talked about celebrity politicians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: In this country, we elevate our politicians to superstar status, and elsewhere, it's the superstars -
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Right. But in our country, we make our politicians, elected officials superstars.
JOHN RIDLEY, COMMENTATOR, NPR: California.
(CROSSTALK)
RIDLEY: If you haven't done $100 million at the box office, please don't show up.
KATHLEEN PARKER, CO-HOST, "PARKER/SPITZER": Sam, I can't bear this. You're too quiet.
SAM SEDER, SAMSEDARSHOW.COM: Well, I was going to say, the celebrity I'd like to see run in 2012 is Sarah Palin because I'd like to see a Democrat retain the presidency.
PARKER: Har de har har.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, for more opinions, and analysis, don't miss "PARKER/SPITZER" tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: Every day at this time, we honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for us. We call it "Home and Away." And today we're lifting up Daniel Todd O'Leary from Youngville North Carolina. He was killed in Fallujah, Iraq on February 23rd of this year. Daniel's wife, Lakita (ph) wrote us about him. The couple met in middle school, started dating in high school, and were married in July of 2009. Lakita says "Daniel cared for others more than himself, loved nature and helping people." She says, "He was a comedian, positive person and believed in chasing dreams. I believe if he could give anyone advice now, he'd say do not waste any time. Find what you love and put everything you have into it. Daniel lived by that motto."
If you've got a loved one you'd like us to honor, here's all you have to do. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, check the resumes of some of this year's political candidates. You will find a former escort service madam, a woman who admits to dabbling in witchcraft and apparently a man who founded the -- say it, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The rent is too damn high!
PHILLIPS: There you go. Party. Jeanne Moos takes a look at this election's most eccentric moments so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's as if we're bingeing on the fringe this political season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I represent the rent is too damn high party.
MOOS: From candidates who look like cartoon characters to a former escort service madam.
KRISTIN DAVIS, NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The career politicians in Albany are the biggest (EXPLETIVE DELETED) in this state. I might be the only person sitting on this stage with the right experience to deal with them.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: This was just at the New York governor's race debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rent is too damn high. Rent, it's too damn high.
MOOS: Turns out this rent is too damn high stuff is highly contagious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The property taxes are too damn high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with Jimmy, the rent is too damn high.
MOOS: Somehow, it all feels like this year is more of a circus than usual, a political zoo.
And if you think the kung fu bear is entertaining, check out Bristol Palin in her latest incarnation on "Dancing With the Stars" while the political circus continues.
Oh, we've had some winners, like Alvin Green of South Carolina. That's him in the background wailing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has he told you what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. But we're going to stay in the race.
MOOS: And like a bear, an angry bear, New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino practically ate a reporter.
CARL PALADINO, NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'll take you out, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll take me out?
PALADINO: Watch.
MOOS: We also watched Paladino leave the debate stage - that's him in the backgroudn -- to go to the restroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you got to go, you got to go.
MOOS: Christine O'Donnell's witch commercial has got to go.
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not a witch.
MOOS: It's been auto tuned.
O'DONNELL: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard.
MOOS: It's been parodied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a witch. I'm you. America's a 300- pound bearded diabetic man.
MOOS: This may be the first election in which a gubernatorial candidate debated in gloves. Jimmy McMillan says it may be psychological, but he wears them because of agent orange he encountered in Vietnam. At least he manned up to wearing them.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Some of you need to man up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Man up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Man up, Harry Reid.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As for being man enough to be OK with gay marriage -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rent's too damn high (INAUDIBLE). You want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you. MOOS: Now that's really manning up.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Tony, are you ready to man up?
HARRIS: What does that even mean, to man up? I'm going to do my best, whatever it means.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I'm going to woman up. Are you going to man up?
HARRIS: As nondescript as it is, I'm going to do my best.
Kyra, you have a great day.
PHILLIPS: See you, Tony.
