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Josh Hamilton's Comeback Trail; School Board VP Posts Anti-Gay Tirade
Aired October 28, 2010 - 09:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Game one in the World Series in San Francisco was supposed to be a pitcher's duel but the big bats came out and the Giants beat the Rangers 11-7. Game two of (INAUDIBLE) goes tonight.
One of the Texas Rangers on the comeback trail, Josh Hamilton wasn't slumping on the field. He was getting high off the field. Now a recovering addict, Hamilton has earned the respect of his teammates, and they have even changed a championship tradition just for him.
Here's CNN's Mark McKay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Josh Hamilton is one step away from every major leaguer's dream, winning his first World Series. Only for Hamilton, it's a dream he stopped thinking about a few years ago.
HAMILTON: all I could think about was how to get and use more drugs. That's all I cared about. And all I thought about.
MCKAY: Hamilton was the top choice in baseball's 1999 draft, a can't-miss center fielder with all the skills to be one of the games greats. Then he got hurt. Too much time away from the field found him hanging with a dangerous crowd, descending into drug and alcohol abuse.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Chen remembers Hamilton telling his story.
ALBERT CHEN, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: You know, the heavy drinking started, the drug use started, and then you had this cycle of failed drug tests, suspensions, you know, relapse, rehab, relapse again, and more failed drug tests.
MCKAY: Hamilton spent three years banned from baseball, blowing some $4 million on drugs before finally hitting rock bottom.
CHEN: One night he woke up from a crack binge in a trailer with half a dozen strangers. He had no idea who these people were. He had no idea where he was. He kind of wandered the streets that night and as fate would have it, he actually ended up at his grandmother's doorstep. And at that point, he had lost 50 pounds, his wife had kicked him out. MCKAY: His climb back since 2007 has been nearly as swift as his demise once was but not as quick as a swing that helped him lead the majors and hitting this season and the Rangers into their first World Series.
IAN KINSLER, RANGERS 2ND BASEMAN: Just for him to get back in the position he is in now takes a lot of fight and a lot of courage. You know, at the same time, he inflicted it on himself somewhat, but for him to fight through that and to fight through the addiction that he had and to overcome it, and to be where he's at now is pretty impressive.
MICHAEL YOUNG, RANGERS 3RD BASEMAN: I can't pretend to understand what he's gone through but as teammates, we respect Josh's decisions and we respect where he's at his life right now. And we try to make sure we put him in situations where he can thrive.
MCKAY: That means that the Rangers dowsed Hamilton with ginger ale rather than the traditional champagne after each of their playoff wins. It fits with the steps that he takes to keep him sober, including never going out alone at night or with teammates after games, never keeping more than $20 in his wallet to avoid temptation and being drug tested every three days.
He's obviously a guy who can't sit after a game, drink beer with us or go out to dinner and have a couple of glasses of wine or beer, so we try to do what we can to make him feel like he's part of the team.
JOSH HAMILTON: My teammates understand my situation and let's you know what kind of character they have, they want me to be a part of the celebration.
NOLAN RYAN, RANGERS CO-OWNER: We are really proud of him and understand that it's something that he has to be very vigilant about, but we feel like that it's a great story and that he - and he very much is committed to helping other people that have the issues he has.
HAMILTON: It's truly a miracle that I'm here in this situation. I've been blessed and god is absolutely the biggest reason I am where I am.
MCKAY: Mark McKay, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour. 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. I'm Kyra Philips. Here's what we're talking about this morning.
Storm-weary residents cleaning up from Wisconsin to the deep south. A freak storm spawned more than two dozen suspected tornadoes. The left a trail of damage for thousands of miles.
(INAUDIBLE) high winds blamed for the death of a 20-year-old college student on the Notre Dame campus who was actually in a camera tower videotaping football practice when the winds caused that structure to collapse.
And out of Arkansas, a shocking story of intolerance, a Facebook entry urges more gay people to commit suicide, and the person who posted such a hateful thing? A school board member.
Let's begin with the five days until the most important midterm election that we've seen in sometime. President Obama is doing a final campaign blitz to keep Democrats in office. Last night he reached out beyond the party base.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST "THE DAILY SHOW": Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the president of the United States, Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The president did this guest appearance on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. CNN's Ed Henry is at the White House. So, Ed, what's the buzz over there about how it went, and, also, the fact that Jon Stewart called him "dude"?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they think that maybe that will humanize him a bit. This president has been accused of being aloof and didn't emote enough and he sort of laugh that off here in the White House. But when he's there, sort of one dude to another, if you will, with Jon Stewart, maybe that humanizes him before this midterms.
But I think more seriously, what they tried to do is they've been aggressive about sort of unique forms of media, newer forms of media, the president going on "The View" recently, and some people raised their eyebrows but it was a way for him to reach out to female voters, and now with Jon Stewart, reaching out to younger voters.
And this was not softballs. I mean, he got some hardballs from Stewart on whether or not he sort of lived up to the hype of 2008. And from the White House standpoint, they think the president gave as good as he got.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have passed historic health care reform, historic financial regulatory reform. We have done things that some folks don't even know about.
STEWART: What have you done that we don't know about? Are you planning a surprise party for us? Filled with jobs and health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, there was another light moment when the president defended his economic team by saying that Larry Summers was doing a heck of a job, and that's when Jon Stewart jumped in and said "I'm not sure that's the analogy you want to use," thinking back to the Bush days when and, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job, after Katrina." And that's also when Jon Stewart said, "dude, I'm not sure you want to go there." Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the timing of this appearance. Stewart has got his rally this weekend, right?
HENRY: That's right. The "Rally to Restore Sanity" is what he's calling it and trying to maybe improve the political dialogue in particular in this country, something the president has talked about as well. And look, there have been other rallies here in Washington, people like Glenn Beck from the other side certainly beating up on the president, getting hundreds of thousands of people on the National Mall. We'll see how big a crowd Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert can draw on Saturday.
But sure, the White House says they agreed to this interview long before they knew about the rally. Because Jon Stewart was going to be here this week, leading up to the midterms. But look, if the rally is going to happen anyway, they think it's a nice bonus that the president has been saying, get out there and vote and they assume that with a lot of activity on the mall this weekend, it's going to spark some people to get out and vote, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry live at the White House. Thanks, Ed.
We got a developing story this morning on an alleged terror plot in the nation's capital. A Virginia man charged with planning bomb attacks on Washington's subway system. The feds say that Farooq Ahmed thought that he was conspiring with Al Qaeda operatives. They were actually federal agents working under cover. Investigators say that the public was never in danger and one official actually tell us that Ahmed had no known connections to any terror groups. If convicted he could face five years in prison.
Also this morning, safety precautions being beefed up for this weekend's Marine Corps marathon. That race begins at the Pentagon less than two weeks after someone shot at the building with a high powered rifle. There were also recent shootings that targeted the nearby Marine Corps museum and earlier this week, a Marine recruiting depot in Virginia. Pentagon will not say what additional security measures are in place.
Now people running for cover in parts of the southeast. Those storms are part of the massive system that actually spawned two dozen tornadoes in the midwest yesterday. In Hamilton County, Tennessee, one man watched a tornado touch down by his work site. Allen Clark said that he knew something was wrong when he saw the rain going up instead of down.
Here in central North Carolina, tornado watches and warnings were issued for several counties. The storm brought high winds and heavy rains, downed trees and flooded roads. And parts of the midwest also pounded yesterday. A tornado ripped through three barns in Hamilton County, Indiana. (INAUDIBLE) man said his truck was hit by flying debris as he was driving right through that twister. Rob Marciano, I tell you what, pretty crazy couple of days.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has been. A huge storm. The number of severe weather reports that we had from this, truly staggering across such a wide range of real estate, from the upper midwest to the southeast. This thing continues to sit and spin. There is the center of it. It is weakening a little bit and finally beginning to move out. But the bottom half of this is seeing still some showers and thunderstorms, mainly across parts of southern Georgia, South Carolina, the panhandle of Florida. These are trying to make their way to the coast, the front has actually finally caught up to the convective bands and as that happens, we will start to see some dry, a little bit of cooling and more importantly more tranquil weather.
They are starting to see that from Boston to New York to Philadelphia and D.C., dry air starting to fill in. There will be some showers just leaving the Great Lakes. But that's about it. And then cooler air (INAUDIBLE) will get temperatures close to freezing. So freeze warnings and freeze advisories and some frost advisories out for parts of the central plains and the southern plains as far south as New Mexico and parts of southern Texas.
San Francisco to Seattle, some showers here but probably won't get into San Francisco until after the game tonight. Here's your game two forecast, 58 degrees expected at game town, cloudy skies, southwinds at about 10 miles an hour. If the game goes into extra innings, we might see some sprinkles, but until then, I think we'll be all right.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Here's a blast from the past. Remember the "Goonies"? It's been 25 years since the movie hit the theaters. Now the cast members are all grown up, and a collector's item is coming your way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chunk! Chunk! Chunk!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Chunk! It's Chunk! It's Chunk!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Captain Chunk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chunk, chunk!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Can you believe it's been 25 years since the movie "The Goonies" came out in theaters? Now get ready for the ultimate collector's edition in Blu-Ray. The original cast members of the "Goonies" actually attended a launch celebration. Remember Data, Mouth and Chunk? Well, guess what? They're back, and they're all grown up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KE HUY QUAN, "DATA": There's that great chemistry between all of us, you know, and it's really to Dick Donner's credit that he allowed us to be who we were. You know, it didn't feel forced or staged or rehearsed. It was that genuine organic performance from all of us.
COREY FELDMAN, "MOUTH": If you look at what's going on today in the economy, in the environment, in the world, 25 years later it was almost like it was a premonition of things to come because now we really are dealing with big, corporate takeovers, and you know, the demolition of all things that are intimate and personal and private, and it's all being taken over and run by these big massive conglomerates. And that's really what it's all about.
JEFF COHEN, "CHUNK": Well, the truffle shuffle was kind of a key thing where as a kid I shake my belly. That's something people want me to do. I will only do it if I had four martinis. It's actually takes four dry vodka martinis to make that happen.
RICHARD DONNER, "GOONIES" DIRECTOR: They were untouched. They were naive. They were clean. They were cute. They were wonderful and fresh in all their thinking and so they became the characters or the characters became them. I don't know which. And for me going in every day was a dream. I love them. I'll never have an experience like that again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Blu-Ray will have amazing memorabilia, including a new board game and a souvenir magazine will actually be released November 2nd.
Well, it's splitsville for singer Billy Ray Cyrus and his wife, Tish, after 17 years of marriage. According to "People" magazine, the couple issued a statement yesterday, asking for the public's thoughts and prayers as their family works through a "difficult situation." The Cyruses have five kids including teenage phenom, Miley of "Hannah Montana" fame.
All right. Getting closer. The hip hop group that's changing the world through music. The mission behind "Arrested Development" that has never wavered. They are out with a new CD and they are strong.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about a shocking Facebook post after the aftershock. Clint McCance refers to young people who committed suicide as "queers" and he wants all gays to kill themselves. Now you might expect a post like that from a kid who doesn't know any better. But this is a grown man in Arkansas. Clint McCance posted it, bad grammar and all. And get this, McCance is the elected vice president of a school district.
Apparently this is his contribution to the national conversation on bullying. He repeatedly refers to homosexuals as "fags." I apologize for even saying that word. It actually makes me cringe but the very idea that an elected school board vice president would use it so freely in a Facebook rant is stunning. He went on to say that he would disown his children if they were gay. Here's more on how the community is reacting to all this. Stephanie Simoni of KATV reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE SIMONI, REPORTER, KATV (voice-over): A Facebook firestorm strikes the Midland School District.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not right. He shouldn't say stuff like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's his personal affair. He shouldn't be broadcasting it out to the public on something like Facebook.
SIMONI: In regards to wearing purple in remembrance of recent students who committed suicide, Clint McCance's Facebook profile allegedly stated "the only way I'm wearing it for them is if they all commit suicide." He continued "we're honoring the fact that they sinned and killed themselves because of their sin." The rest of the comments are laced with homophobic slurs and hateful remarks. Now more than 20,000 people support the page "Fire Clint McCance."
Everyone at the district refused to go on camera but in a statement said "The Midland School District Board of Directors, Administration, faculty and staff do not support or condone the comments Mr. Clint McCance posted on his personal social networking page. Mr. McCance was not acting as an agent of the school board but as a private citizen when this comment was posted." McCance was unreachable by phone and at his house no one answered.
Meanwhile, a protest is in the works for (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think that there is no place for that type of hatred on a public school seat position, and we also would like to see a public apology where he would acknowledge that his speech was uncalled for and unnecessary.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now, as you saw, McCance isn't talking but his father sure is. He actually told us this by phone. Ron McCance says that everyone has been blindsided by this, and quote "I don't know why he said it. All of this caught everyone by surprise. He said it was his page, he pulled it and he got caught up in the moment. This is out of character," he says.
And now a new Facebook group called "Fire Clint McCance" has more than 41,000 likes. And now the Education chief in Arkansas is suggesting that McCance resigns. So the pressure is on. Let's keep the conversation going with Max Brantley. He is the editor of the "Arkansas Times." Max, I just got to ask you, you have spoken to McCance in the past. You know, what is this guy thinking?
MAX BRANTLEY, EDITOR "ARKANSAS TIMES" (ON THE PHONE): Well, he's not thinking very much. I'm afraid he gave voice to what are truly deeply held opinions of his and that's sad and or outrageous, depending on your point of view. I think he thought he was speaking in a protected environment. It shows how uninformed he is. I mean, it was not long from his mouth to the ears of a gay graduate at a high school that he represents as a school board member and who then blew the whistle.
PHILLIPS: And we're talking about a school board official here using the word faggots and calling for gays to kill themselves. I mean, does he have all his mental capacities? Do you know anything about him and his past?
BRANTLEY: Well, I know - no. I mean, he looks to be a lot like what you call a good old by in Arkansas. He's a big bass fisherman. He loves to play video games. He runs a carpet cleaning service. He is a high school graduate. He is not the most eloquent man in the world as his Facebook page shows. I think prejudice against gay people runs deep, particularly in rural Arkansas, and it has religious roots because the protestant religion take a dim view of it, of the practice.
And as I say, I think it's reminiscent really of the deep south in the years that civil rights was a big issue. People said things then that they don't say anymore because they felt you were protected saying them. We haven't yet gotten there on gay people unfortunately.
PHILLIPS: It's heart-breaking to see this kind of language. And Max, I want to ask you, do you think gay kids should feel safe?
BRANTLEY: No, and that's the serious part of this story. I don't see how a child in the Midland schools can feel completely safe as long as there's a school board member who not only says what he says and has now had three days to say it was misinterpreted and has refused to utter a word of apology for what was said. Even if he believes what he said, he has to recognize the threat that his words represent to children.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
BRANTLEY: And he should not represent that school district. A child absolutely should not feel safe there as long as he does represent the district. There's a real liability here for the district. The feds have said they are not going to extend money to schools that don't provide a safe environment for children. The State Education Department director in Arkansas said that they defend the safe environment for children and this is wrong. It's more or less said the school board member should resign. He can't make him quit but he's issued the strongest possible words that he should resign and it should have happened two days ago, frankly. PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to follow the story with you, Max Brantley, editor of the "Arkansas Times." Doing a great job of covering this story. All right. Max, thanks so much for calling in.
BRANTLEY: Sure, you're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, what do you think about this, should the district try to boot this guy over something that he posted on his personal Facebook page. Weigh in for me, please.
Go to CNN.com/kyra, I want to hear what you have to say.
More workers calling off sick when they're not really sick. Many bosses know, but most of them apparently don't even care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, stock market opening bell, just rang about an hour ago. Let's go ahead and check the numbers. Dow Industrials down almost five points. And when you think of words to describe warriors, there you go, you probably don't think of - are you with me, prompter - blissful, but the web site is ranking the military high of its list of blissful places to work.
I tell you it's blissful working with Stephanie Elam, that's for sure. You don't hear very many grunts and groans -
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Are you saying the bliss right now, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Yes. That's part of my job. Not everybody pays attention, and I just try to keep up with everything on my plate here, but we're smiling and we're having a good time. We have determined that we are happy at work.
ELAM: Yes, yes. We are happy at work and apparently so are the people in the military. In fact, according to this new survey done by Career Bliss, all four major branches of the military and the National Guard rank in the top 11 spots. There are some happy people working in the military right now. That's really interesting to say that they rank higher than Disney. Of course, that's where you go for the happiest place on earth but they got more happy people in the military.
Google is number one, 3M is number two, in case you're wondering, based on the overall rankings. But if you look at it, you know, the military - they rank high because you're looking at career advancement opportunities. You're looking at good job security. And these things factor in even if salary isn't the highest and best thing about the military, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, then on the complete opposite side of things, you got to know that another survey saying "Hey, people are playing hooky all the time as well." What's that about?
ELAM: Yes. Apparently people just need to get away from the office and they're calling in sick. At this point, bosses are paying attention. It would be kind of hard for us to do that though because people would see us on the street like "Don't you - aren't you supposed to be on the air right now, at 10:30 Eastern time?" Yes, we can't really get away with that but playing hooky, 29 percent of workers have played hooky this year, at least one. 27 percent of employers say the trend is increasing and they're saying this is all about stress and burnout because of the weak economy.
But you know what, the majority of the bosses they just really do not care, although 16 percent have said that they've actually fired a worker who didn't have a proven excuse but get this, about 30 percent of employers are actually checking up to make sure that the employee is really sick, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Really? so they're following up. That's kind of scary. I'm thinking I better warn a couple of co-workers around here.
ELAM: I know.
PHILLIPS: They better watch themselves.
ELAM: I know, because they'll like, we will send an employee at your house and see if you're actually there. Or maybe even call by later, see if you answer the phone at home. That kind of thing.
But yes, they're checking up on them, but, overall, employers are like, we're not really worried about it. And 6 in 10 say they actually let their team members use a sick day to go and get their mental health back together because it's better for the office place if they keep their crazy outside of the office. You know how that is.
PHILLIPS: Oh, we all need a mental health day once in a while. That is so true.
ELAM: I'm taking one tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Oh, you are? Oh, OK. Fabulous! All right, well, I'll see you on Monday. You enjoy your day off. I'm glad you admitted to it.
ELAM: Thank you!
PHILLIPS: We won't be stalking Stephanie's house.
All right. Here's a look at other stories that have us talking this morning. Parts of the Tennessee targeted by a monster storm. A tornado snapped trees and overturned trailers. All this destruction, but not a lot of heads up. Hamilton County has no tornado warning system for its 300,000 residents. The emergency management system says it's just too costly.
Well, a first for a sitting president. Barack Obama making an unprecedented appearance on "The Daily Show. The White House reaching out to young voters, working to reel in core Democrats with just five days to go before the midterm elections. Nearly 200,000 people have poured into the streets of France, fighting a government plan to raise the retirement age by two years to 62. The interior ministry says it's a clear drop from the number of protesters out last week. Still, unions aren't giving up hope, though. The bill has been already approved by parliament, but lawmakers can still challenge its constitutionality.
Well, this morning, a glimmer of good news from the job market. The number of Americans filing for first-time jobless benefits actually dropped unexpectedly last week. The new number? 434,000. Congress had expected it to rise to 458,000.
But here's some sobering perspective. For the past year, initial jobless claims have been stuck in the same range, well above the level that would signal a strong recovery.
All right. Time now for our "30-Second Pitch," a chance for a viewer to speak directly to potential employers on why they should be their next hower - or hire, rather.
And today, it's Sharon Woodlief. She's actually looking for an administrative job in higher education and used her time off to finish her Ph.D. Smart move. But even with that, she's still having a tough time.
Sharon joins us from Calabasas, California. Good for you, Sharon! You got your Ph.D.. How tough was it to actually be stressed out about finding a job, dealing with the tough economy, because it's not easy working on a Ph.D. And how did the thesis go?
SHARON E. WOODLIEF, JOB SEEKER: It is not working -- it is not easy working on all of that at the same time. Good morning.
How was it for me? Well, it was a challenge. I saved every penny so I could afford to live as well as work on my schoolwork and search for a job. And it has been a challenge, and I'm still looking. But I'm finished with my Ph.D..
PHILLIPS: And what was your thesis?
WOODLIEF: My thesis was actually research done on studying student residents' reaction to access to multicultural awareness education outside of the classroom because I'm very interested in looking at how a student can enrich her experience outside of the classroom but while they're a student in the university setting. And students are hungry to learn inside and outside of the classroom. It's very exciting.
PHILLIPS: Outstanding. Well, I tell you what. We are all about multiculturism here on this show. In fact, we've got Arrested Development live here. You talk about multicultural, Sharon. So, you know --
WOODLIEF: Awesome.
PHILLIPS: Yes, there we go. I know you're a big fan. So, this is great. It's a twofer here.
All right, well, listen. Let's get down to the "30-Second Pitch," all right? We want everybody out there listening. And I love your e-mail. You've tacked on that Ph.D. Good for you. SharonWoodlief - and Woodlief is with an l-i-e-f -- Ph.d.@gmail.com.
All right, Sharon. You ready?
WOODLIEF: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Take it away.
WOODLIEF: Thank you.
My name is Sharon Woodlief. I have a doctorate degree in education, emphasizing educational leadership and organizations, a master's degree in clinical psychology, and a bachelor's degree in political science. I'm interested in student affairs, cultural affairs, higher education, training students and leaders in multicultural awareness and diversity. And any interested employers out there, I invite to you contact me at sharonwoodleifph.d.@gmail.com. That's S-h-a-r-o-n W-o-o-d-l-e-i-f -
(BELL RINGS)
WOODLEIF: -- ph.d@gmail.com
PHILLIPS: Dr. Woodleif, thank you for joining us this morning.
WOODLIEF: Thank you, CNN, and have a wonderful day!
PHILLIPS: You, too.
And if you're out of work and you want to sell yourself to prospective employers just like Sharon, let us know. Send your resume and letter to 30secondpitch@CNN.com. Also, if you want to hire our 30-Second Pitchers like Sharon, just go to our blog. CNN.com/kyra. All of the information and e-mails will be there.
Hip hop superstars Arrested Development singing to change the world. They're here with their new songs and their new CD, and you will hear straight from them. They are strong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Arrested Development has been teaching us about the human connection and world issues through its music for two decades now. A hip hop group with a soulful, socially conscious sound that has always made us stop and think. And we got to know them through songs like "Mr. Wendal" and who could ever forget this smash hit?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That was 1992, and we were all very young. But this is 2010, and the sound has evolved, and the message has, of course, grown. And there's a whole new generation of fans, but the band's mission hasn't changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That's from the Arrested Development's new album, "Strong." And the lyrics are just that. You heard them throughout the morning, and now I'm joined by the front man and founder Speech and original member, Ecee.
Great to have all of you guys here. This is so awesome!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great to be here.
PHILLIPS: It's taking me back to our college days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
But I got to tell you, this new album, we were so excited because we finally got to hear all of the tunes. I was making a list, like "Greener" is about the environment and the economy. You're going to sing that coming up in a little bit. You got the "World Is Changing" We just heard a little bit there. We've got "Bloody," where you talk about the Congo and Israel and Palestine.
You guys are still hardcore. How do you pick your issues? How do you pick what to write about and sing about?
SPEECH, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT FRONTMAN: It's funny because a lot of people would think we come up with a bunch of issues to talk about. The truth is, we talk about whatever is on our heart. Those are the thing that were on our heart. It's really that simple. We don't say, what issues can we tackle? It's more so, what are we thinking? What are we feeling right now.
PHILLIPS: And tell me about that brainstorming process. Are you all just hanging out, having a coffee? How does that happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Mr. Starbucks right here, and Mr. Dunkin' Donuts back here.
PHILLIPS: Oh, we got Dunkin' Donuts.
ESHE, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Yes. We go to the studio, which is at Speech's place, and we hang out with our kids and just joking around. We are always jonin on each other, ragging on each other. A lot of food, a lot of fun, a lot of wasting time. (LAUGHTER)
SPEECH: And then an album pops up.
PHILLIPS: Next thing you know you say, "We have a big hit." But now, this took more than ten years, right?
SPEECH: We have been back together for ten years. We did a lot of stuff overseas in Japan.
PHILLIPS: You have a huge following over there. I saw the pictures. What is it?
SPEECH: It's just -- I don't know. I think it's our melodic vibe that they relate to, and the music is just uplifting. We were doing that in Japan and now we are back here with "Strong."
PHILLIPS: You said the melodic vibe, but you also have this Afrocentric viewpoint.
SPEECH: Very much so.
PHILLIPS: Why?
SPEECH: I think - as I grew up as a little kid, my mom had this black newspaper that she still owns called "The Community Journal" and my mom and dad would talk about the issues at the breakfast table, and I was around that atmosphere. I think that's why it just became natural me to write about those things.
We tried the gangsta thing at first. We did.
PHILLIPS: You did try it! But that's what we were all talking about. This is the one band, right, that is the antithesis to gang that rap and that cookie cutter hip-hop. Y'all said no. But you are fessing up. You did try it.
SPEECH: Well, what's funny -- we definitely did. It was the hot thing, and we was just like, let's try this, that and the other, and we were still trying to find our voice. This was before we ever released our first album. But we was like, trying to find our voice. And when we tried it, we did a few cuts like that, and we said, this is not what we really feel or what we're about. So, we just switched it up.
PHILLIPS: That's nice because a lot of these bands have sort of given into, where's the money, what's B.E.T. going to play? What are people going to show up and hear? Do you - or I guess, there's obvious there's still a draw to your type of music.
SPEECH: Without a doubt.
PHILLIPS: So, why is that? Eshe? And both of you weigh in on this. Why is there still such a desire for your type of music but not that angry gangsta rap that's so negative and shows women in a bad light and all of the bling -- I could go on and on. Anyway, you know what I'm saying! You guys have resisted that.
ESHE: I think that right now we need a balance of music, and one thing about Arrested Development is balance. You know, we bring a family vibe. As you see, different shades, different sizes, different genders.
SPEECH: Different sexiness.
(LAUGHTER)
SPEECH: But I'm just keeping it real.
PHILLIPS: I pointed out you haven't aged at all. Two decades, still looking good.
SPEECH: I'm holding it in! We all are!
(LAUGHTER)
ESHE: You know, we just try to stay true to ourselves, and I think that's why people connect with our music. And we want to definitely want to give love to Bob Ojay (ph), who's not here with us. He's 78 years old.
(CROSSTALK)
ESHE: He's very sick right now.
SPEECH: He's very sick.
PHILLIPS: Not a good sick.
SPEECH: Also, I wanted to just say, it's not that we don't have love for all of our peers in the hip hop world. It's just that for us, for Eshe said, we just want to have balance. And we want to be true to who we are. And a lot of these artists love Arrested Development that's went more gangsta style or just whatever. They love Arrested Development, and we appreciate that. But our thing, is we want to bring a trueness and honesty from where we're coming from.
PHILLIPS: Well, you're going to do that with the song "Greener," coming up in just a few minutes. We're so excited. We're thrilled to have you guys here. Thank you so much.
ESHE: We're going to have to you rock with us.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Oh, boy. I got to put on some different shoes.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: But first, we're going to talk about France. That's what's coming up next. And the protesters that have hit the streets. This is something you all should sing about. You talk about a social issue.
They're talking about a last-ditch attempt to derail a bill raising the retirement age. We're going to take you live to Paris for what they're saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we're down to just five days until a midterm election that could change the balance of power in Congress. With so much riding on the vote, it's not surprising that campaign spending is up. What's staggering, though, is the actual amount. Here's CNN's Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, there's a lot of money flowing in this year's election, but exactly how much being spent is mind blowing -- $4 billion.
To put $4 billion in context, that's enough to send about 80,000 students to Princeton for a year. It could buy every person in America three Big Macs with fries at McDonald's. Four billion dollars is far more than the $2.85 billion in the last midterm election in 2006 and dwarfs the $1.6 million spent more than a decade ago in 1998.
Opensecrets.org compiled these figures in a new reporter.
SHEILA KRUMHOLZ, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: The stakes are so high this cycle that it's not surprising there's an intensity to the cycle that was perhaps reduced or missing in the last cycles.
BASH: Though much of the four billion is spent by candidates themselves, an eye-popping amount is coming from outside candidates' campaigns, political parties and independent groups. $430 million in overall outside spending, only $31 million was spent in 2002, less than a decade ago.
Despite Democrats' complaints about being outspent when it comes to political parties, Democrats are winning. All told, the Democratic Party has raised $782 million, a lot more than the Republican Party at $515 million. GOP outside groups with ads like this are making up for that gap and then some. Although Democratic groups are catching up, they're being outspent by GOP counterparts, two-to-one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Another fascinating trend this election year is the way key industries have moved their money from primarily supporting Democrats to Republicans. We're talking about the health care sector and the energy sector and Wall Street, Kyra. These -- all of these industries were given primarily to Democrats after the president won two years ago.
But since Congress passed legislation, all of those fronts that many of those sectors didn't like, and since they had their finger in the air and know that the wind is shifting towards Republicans, they have shifted their money big-time toward the GOP, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, thanks.
Now, scanning our "Morning Passport." Strikes and protests in France, all fueled by a vote in Parliament to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Paris and beyond. CNN's Jim Bitterman joins us now from Paris with the latest.
So, Jim, the legislation has already passed. So why the strikes and demonstrations today?
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There may be some union leaders who are asking themselves that very question, Kyra, because the fact is that the turnouts today have not been anything like the previous strikes and demonstrations. Less than half the size that we've seen here in the past.
And basically, I think what everybody is hoping for, at least those people in the opposition and unions are that they can morph this movement against the pension reform into other kinds of issues, basically to take in issues of people that are against President Sarkozy and angry about the various reforms that have come down the line. And particularly the Socialist Party, who's opposed this from the very beginning is trying to make it as painful as possible for the government of Nicolas Sarkozy. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, Jim. Thanks so much.
Straight ahead, a socially conscious message that you can definitely groove to. Arrested Development performs "Greener" coming up in just two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. It's the moment we've been waiting for. Finally, the song. One of the best songs on their new album, "Strong." Arrested Development joining us, still going strong after two decades. They have their social conscious. They've got their political messages. You are still a group on a mission, let me tell you.
SPEECH: That's right! We are more excited than ever before.
PHILLIPS: I tell you what, we are excited! You can see by the studio. Its' filling up with all your fans from the last two decades. All right. You're going to sing "Greener." Give me the background, because this talks about the economy. This talks about the environment.
SPEECH: It does. Basically, our families, all of us and our families have been doing some recycling. We've been striving to get more active, and it was like, you know what? Let's write about it. It was really that simple.
And we'd been feel like our activism has been notching up a little bit. And we've been meeting people that's like, hardcore activists, and so we're inspired by them. And so everything we doing now, whether it's our album cover, whether it's our T-shirts. It's like, OK, organic. How can we be more greener with this, be more greener with that. And we're just trying to get on - really just follow what we know is right to do is the bottom line.
PHILLIPS: Well, you have always written from the heart, sung from the heart. And you're going to do it now. You guys ready?
SPEECH: Definitely.
PHILLIPS: OK, fabulous! OK, take it away, Arrested Development. There you go.
(MUSIC AND SINGING)
SPEECH: Brand-new. We wanted to premiere this on CNN. Thanks y'all.
(APPLAUSE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
