Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

GOP Debate Night in Arizona; Inside an Opposition Media House in Homs, Syria; Museum to Honor African-Americans; Escaping The Grip Of Addiction; Heart Attack Deaths And Women; Interview With Actress Phylicia Rashad; At Least 49 Dead In Argentina Train Crash

Aired February 22, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed.

Just last hour, the details of the president's plan to cut corporate taxes, they were announced. Now, this plan would lower the overall corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent. The rate would go down to 25 percent for manufacturing companies. The president's plan would also get rid of some corporate tax rates and limit the ability of corporations to shift profits overseas.

We now have video from the scene where two Western journalists were killed in heavy shelling today in Syria. The French Foreign Ministry is demanding that Syria give the Red Cross access to the city of Homs to remove the bodies.

American Marie Colvin, she was one of those journalists who was killed. She was a veteran correspondent for "The Sunday Times of London." The other was prize-winning French photographer Remi Ochlik.

Now, Colvin was a frequent voice here on CNN, reporting on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIE COLVIN, "LONDON SUNDAY TIMES": Every civilian house on this street has been hit. We're talking about -- you know, this is very kind of a poor, popular neighborhood. The top floor of the building I'm in has been hit. In fact, totally destroyed.

There are no military targets here. There is the Free Syrian Army, heavily outnumbered and outgunned. They have only Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades, but they don't have a base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: New protests rage across Afghanistan over the burning of Qurans at a military base. At least five people have been killed. The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan says the burning was a mistake. The Qurans was among other materials that were gathered to be thrown away. Officials plan to train troops on handling religious materials.

We're now just getting video into CNN from a deadly train crash. This, in Argentina.

Now, state TV is reporting at least 49 people were killed, more than 600 injured, when a train plowed into a platform at a station in Buenos Aries. Now, authorities say that those numbers could dramatically go up. You've got shaken passengers describing this crash as sounding like a bomb blast.

Chris Christie, he's had it. With who? Warren Buffett.

Listen to what the New Jersey governor told CNN's Piers Morgan last night. It is some advice for the billionaire who is now pushing for a tax hike for the rich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Well, he should write a check and shut up. Really, just contribute, OK? The fact of the matter is that I'm tired of hearing about it. If he wants to give the government more money, he's got the ability to write a check. Go ahead and write it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I can't believe I'm about to -- I'm so sorry.

ADELE, SINGER: Can I just say then, good-bye and I'll see you next time around?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: British singing sensation Adele raising some eyebrows today for an obscene gesture. The Grammy-winning star had just been awarded Album of the Year and the Brit Awards show in London, apparently became annoyed when her "thank you" speech was cut short. A Brit Awards presenter offered her an apology.

And tonight, Republican debate night out in Arizona. CNN hosting and moderating the discussion. Be sure to tune in at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That is when John King begins live from Mesa, Arizona.

CNN's Jim Acosta, he is just down the road in Chandler, Arizona, right now.

So, Jim, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, they are both going to the debate, and they are virtually tied. How do both of them plan on changing that?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think we're going to see some fireworks tonight, Suzanne. This could well be the last Republican debate for this field of candidates until we get a nominee for the Republican Party that goes into those presidential debates in the fall. So it could be a big game-changer tonight.

Mitt Romney is expected to talk here in just a few moments about what may be the details of his upcoming tax plan that his campaign is unveiling today and that he'll be talking about more on Friday. We may hear just a little bit from Mitt Romney about that tax plan.

He's proposing a fairer, flatter tax plan. And you can see what they're calling basically the title of his economic plan, his tax plan, "Restoring America's Promise." One of his surrogates will be giving a conference call with reporters later today about this.

But let's make no mistake about this, Suzanne. This campaign has not really been about fiscal issues in the last 24 to 48 hours. They have been about social issues.

We've heard Mitt Romney talking about what he called the president's secular agenda. He talked about that yesterday.

He was really borrowing a page from Rick Santorum's book, because Rick Santorum has been talking about his faith, talking about morality issues over the last 48 hours. And as we all know now, one of his previous speeches that he gave back in 2008 in which he talked about the threat of Satan in America came back to haunt him. It was flashed across "The Drudge Report" yesterday.

Last night, we were at a Santorum event, and we had a few moments to ask the former Pennsylvania senator about that speech. He defended the speech. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Hey, Senator, any chance you can respond to this headline that was splashed across "The Drudge Report" today about the speech you made in Florida?

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, the person -- I'm a person of faith. I believe in good and evil. I think if somehow or another, because you're a person of faith, you believe that good and evil is a disqualifier for president, we're going to have a very small pool of candidates who can run for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Suzanne, as you mentioned at the very top of all of this, polls show this race very tight right now here in Arizona. There's a new NBC/Marist poll that came out earlier this morning that shows a wider spread than what our CNN poll showed yesterday. So it's going to be interesting to see how all this shapes up in the coming days.

But if Rick Santorum can pull off an upset here in Arizona, and knock off Mitt Romney in Michigan, you can be looking at a very interesting race for the GOP nomination -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. And how much of tonight's debate is actually going to be looking ahead to Michigan? That's where the two leading candidates are much closer, neck and neck in the polls.

ACOSTA: That's right. I think we're going to hear a lot about Michigan tonight. You know, the candidates don't stand that far apart on the issue of, say, the auto bailout that Mitt Romney has had to explain a lot about. He opposed the auto bailout, wrote a pretty well-known editorial in "The New York Times" about it that he's taken some heat for it. But the other candidates have essentially the same position on that issue.

But we're going to hear more about, I think, Michigan tonight. We're going to hear Mitt Romney probably talk about his Michigan roots.

And I think once this debate is over, you're going to see a lot of those candidates stumping for votes out in Michigan over the weekend. It could be really the firewall for the Romney campaign if he wants to keep going as basically the front-runner in this race.

A loss there would certainly change really almost every dynamic of this race. It would make Rick Santorum probably the front-runner in this nomination battle -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Jim. Obviously, it's going to be an interesting and fun evening.

A reminder. The GOP contenders debating the issues tonight. That is the Arizona Republican Presidential Debate. That's on CNN, right here, tonight, 8:00 Eastern.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: "The Syrian army is shelling the city of cold, starving civilians." Those sobering words were from American journalist Marie Colvin, speaking to CNN hours before she was killed in heavy shelling by government forces in the city of Homs. Colvin was a veteran correspondent for "The Sunday Times of London." Prize-winning French photographer Remi Ochlik was also killed in the attack.

Here's more of what Colvin reported last night on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLVIN: This is the worst, Anderson, for many reasons. The last one -- I mean, I think it was the last time we talked, when I was in Misrata. It's partly personal safety, I guess.

There's nowhere to run. The Syrian army is holding a perimeter, and there's just far more ordnance being poured into the city, and no way of predicting where it's going to land.

Plus, there's a lot of snipers on the high building surrounding the Baba Amr neighborhood. You can sort of figure out where a sniper is, but you can't figure out where a shell is going to land.

And just the terror of the people and the helplessness of these families hiding on the first floor, all they can do is hope it doesn't hit them. That's very, very difficult to watch. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Many young people in Syria are risking their lives every day to bring us the news images of those attacks. Our Arwa Damon, she is taking us into a building in Homs that has become a hub for the opposition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "It hit us. It hit our house. There is something burning!" the voice on the tape cries out. "The media house in Baba Amr has been hit!"

"Drop the live camera!" someone shouts. "They have discovered our position." But nothing, they swear, will shut them down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allahu Akbar!

DAMON: We survey the damage

(on camera): To get to the upper floors, you really have to hug the wall because there's one window that is exposed. But this is where you really see the full impact of the damage that was caused by the incoming rounds. I mean, this, right here, it just speaks for itself

(voice-over): It's not the first time this house has been hit.

(on camera): This floor has obviously been completely trashed, and the activists were telling us that the bombardment -- we keep hearing it over and over again, the sounds of artillery falling -- is nothing compared to what they have been through before. But this was once an ordinary home, an ordinary family lived here, and we don't know what their story was. There's just bits and pieces of their lives that have been left behind, including this children's toy.

Now this battered home is the opposition's media hub, buzzing with activity. Some of the activists don't want their identities revealed. They are all wanted men, most in their 20s.

Many of those Homs videos you see on YouTube are uploaded from here. In the face of great danger, teens go out to shoot videos like this one. Others post images to Facebook and other social media sites.

(on camera): One of the biggest accomplishments for the media team here was getting up a live stream so that they could show the world exactly what was happening in real time. And they believe that this really aggravated the Syrian government.

Now, this is one of the live cameras that they had set up outside, and they are telling us that it was shot by a sniper's bullet that went in right there and then came out the other end. But even though the government managed to bring down this live feed, they still had other cameras set up, still managed to get the images and the message out. (voice-over): Every morning, 29-year-old Raji (ph) writes slogans to help keep up the team's resolve. The message this time, that they will fight until the nation's pain is lifted, the killing stops, the fear is gone. But by nightfall, his words of encouragement will be replaced with the names of the dead.

Raji (ph) is the father of two small children and says he does this in the hope that they will grow up with freedom and dignity. But he warns, "If there is an outside interference, it will be an ocean of blood, an ocean of blood if this situation continues like this."

"People will explode. They won't be able to take it anymore. They won't respond to us. It will be a cycle of, you are attacking me, so I have to attack you." Once that demon is unleashed, he says, no one will be able to control it.

Raji (ph) and the others go back to the job of telling the world about the incessant terror that is life in Baba Amr.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Homs, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: To the outside world he seemed to have it all, but privately, this former news anchor was battling a powerful addiction. Hear his story of recovery.

And a brand new museum is being built in Washington right now. It's going to highlight the history and accomplishments of African- Americans. It's also going to be home to some amazing cultural artifacts, everything from Michael Jackson's fedora to shackles once worn by slaves.

And this trumpet also will be on display. Can you guess whose it was? We're going to speak with the museum's director

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: They are artifacts from the icons of African-American history. Imagine Michael Jackson's fedora, Rosa Parks' dress and Louis Armstrong's trumpet all in display in the same place and for the very same time, first time. That is the dream behind the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

President Obama, he was at the groundbreaking ceremony today in Washington, along with civil rights icon John Lewis.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: We didn't give up! We didn't give in! We didn't give out! We didn't get lost in a sea of despair!

We kept the faith. We kept our eyes on the prize.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Earlier today, I spoke with the museum's director, Lonnie Bunch, about his vision for the museum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: It has been a labor of love, I know, for you. It is the first national museum devoted exclusively to the African-American experience.

Tell us how this idea came about.

LONNIE BUNCH, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: Well, as you know, this is an idea that's been floating around for nearly 100 years. When people realized how important the African-American experience has been, they wanted to see a place (ph) on the Mall. But it really didn't become real until after the civil rights movement and people began to realize that those leaders were fading from the scene.

And in 2003, legislation was created by John Lewis, signed by President George W. Bush. And since 2005, I have been working hard to make sure this museum happens for the American public.

MALVEAUX: Lonnie, tell me a little bit about this museum, how it's different than others. We know that there are African-American museums around the country that are directed primarily to a black audience to promote pride, to learn about history.

How is this going to appeal to beyond the black community?

BUNCH: In many ways we realize that we are standing on the shoulders of all those institutions and they have done brilliant work. And while part of the museum will do what they do, which is help people understand deeply the African-American experience and feel that pride, we realized that that experience is bigger than just the African- American community.

And so what we want to do is use African-American culture as a lens to understand what it means to be an American, because we believe that if people realize the core American values of resilience, spirituality and optimism are shaped by the African-American experience, then we'll begin to see that all of us are shaped by what is happening in our history to the African-American community.

MALVEAUX: So, Lonnie, talk a little bit about what we're actually going to see in this museum. Are we going to be exposed to, say, the ugliness of America's past, Jim Crow, the signs above the toilets, "Colored Only," "Whites Only," that type of thing?

BUNCH: John Hope Franklin, the great historian, used to always whisper in my ear, and he used to always say, "Lonnie, your job is to tell the unvarnished truth." So there's no doubt that this museum will talk about the pain of enslavement, will help people understand the suffering that came from segregation and the struggle to find civil rights. But we also think this is a museum that will tell the resiliency of a community.

It will allow you to tap your toes to Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong, but it will also allow you to celebrate the woman who created a dress shop in Philadelphia for 40 years without much support so that we feel that this museum, in order to help people understand this resiliency, this great community, has to understand the depths to which it had to go through to help America be America.

MALVEAUX: So you will see things like those cuffs that the slaves wore, but you will also appreciate the music and vitality of the community as well?

BUNCH: I think it's important for us to make sure that whatever has happened, that we tell that truth, that we illuminate all the dark corners of the American experience. But by doing that, we'll also illuminate those wonderful moments of resiliency and optimism that are so key to what America has become.

MALVEAUX: I spoke to Professor Skip Gates of Harvard, and one of the artifacts in the museum is going to be the handcuffs that were used to arrest him in his own home that led to that infamous beer summit at the White House. When you see something like that, is it meant to promote healing or controversy?

BUNCH: Well, a couple of things.

The museum's job is not just to look back, but it's also to make sure we collect material that curators 50 years from now can use. And I think that the Skip Gates issue may become really important to illuminate how race played out in the era of President Obama. But we're going to figure that out over time.

It's more important for us to make sure we have it so scholars can use it in the future. Our goal is never to be controversial, but we recognize that telling the African-American experience is controversial.

MALVEAUX: Lonnie Bunch, it's such a pleasure to talk with you. And again, congratulations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: A former news anchor recovers from drug addiction and now he wants to help others. I'm going to talk to Roy Hobbs, live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: He went for anchoring the news to becoming the lead story. And for Roy Hobbs, the death of Whitney Houston not only sparked memories of his own struggles with addiction, but inspired him to share his story.

Martin Savidge has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Roy Hobbs heard about Whitney Houston, the news sounded familiar.

(on camera): Did you see parallels between your own life and the life of Whitney Houston and what she was going through that you new (ph)?

ROY HOBBS, FMR. NEWS ANCHOR: Oh, yes.

BRENDA LADUN, NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Brenda Ladun.

HOBBS: And I'm Roy Hobbs.

Tonight, we continue our coverage of --

SAVIDGE: You see, for years, Hobbs was the news, the television anchorman. But off camera, he struggled with marriage problems and depression.

HOBBS: So I tried crack cocaine.

SAVIDGE (on camera): That was your drug of choice?

HOBBS: That was my drug of choice.

SAVIDGE: So when did it all come crashing down?

HOBBS: It all came crashing down here in Birmingham.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): His bust in 2010 was big news. He says he lost his job, his home, and went broke, but eventually got into a recovery program. Houston's death, he says, is a tragedy, but is also an opportunity for a nation to finally, openly talk about addiction.

HOBBS: You know, it doesn't have to end this way. It can end differently, but we as a nation have to look at it differently.

We can't look at it as being a problem of willpower. We have to look at it as a disease. That's what it is.

SAVIDGE: He's been drug-free for two years. Now 58, he's still unemployed, but finally happy. All because he got help, which he says there needs to be more of, especially in black communities. So he's choosing now to speak out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is difficult because, you know, I'm coming out and I'm letting people know. There may be people that want to give me a job, he's an addict. Now I'm not going to touch him.

SAVIDGE: These days he finds his audience online including other addicts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope to show people that there is hope and that's what I've done. I've talked to some people and I've told them that there's hope. Try this. Try whatever you have to, but get the help you need.

SAVIDGE: This former anchor man still has a story to tell and it's good news. Martin Savidge, CNN, Birmingham, Alabama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Former Atlanta anchor Roy Hobbs is joining us now. Roy, first of all, as a friend, as a colleague, I am so proud of you for you to be here with us today to tell your story.

You and I met at New England Cable News, my first on the air gig and --

ROY HOBBS, FORMER NEWS ANCHOR: A long time ago.

MALVEAUX: We all looked up to you. Can you tell me how it happened?

HOBBS: Depression. I will tell you that it was depression and that depression even started before then, even back in those days. But the funny thing about it is, you never know that you're suffering from something until you get diagnosed.

You just try to keep pushing through. And for me, you know, I'm in a business. We're in a business where it's pushing through every day. You have to do what you have to do. People at home who are watching don't care whether or not you've had a fight with your wife, you had a wreck on the way to work, most times they want you in that seat and giving them the news.

And you even have some employers who don't care either, but the fact is, that depression was an issue for me and self-medication became the way to deal with it.

MALVEAUX: Explain to me -- because a lot of people don't understand this -- you say it's a disease. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we just spoke to, said it's a disease. It's not this issue of will power. How is that so?

HOBBS: Well, it's not like your character is bad or you are immoral. People who have the disease of addiction don't have -- the simplest way for me to put it is they don't have a green button in their head and the red button.

They only have the green go button and you are genetically predisposed to this so people don't realize that they are genetically predisposed until they suffer from addiction. I didn't know that I was genetically predisposed.

MALVEAUX: When did you realize that you hit rock bottom, that you had a problem?

HOBBS: When I tried to commit suicide and I didn't make it. I didn't succeed and I was about to make a second attempt when some friends who knew what was going on got me taken to the hospital.

And even there I was angry, upset because at that point I had given up. I wanted to die. It was only until after I started getting -- I got diagnosed and started getting antidepressants and after about three or four days when they started to kick in is when I realized what was going on with me.

It was kind of like the noise in the back of my head disappeared and I could accept the fact that I had a drug and alcohol problem and that I could no longer do those things that I don't have a stop button in my head.

MALVEAUX: What would you recommend? Because this is the hardest thing for people to deal with, if you know somebody, a friend or a family member who is dealing with drug addiction?

Should you step back? Should you let them fall and go to the lowest point possible until you let them intervene? I mean, what can someone help someone who is in your position who is out of control?

HOBBS: Well, there's no real easy answer to that because it can affect your -- depression could be a part of it and you don't know that, but what I would suggest is trying to get them into some sort of counseling program, first, to determine whether or not they are suffering from depression.

Because even if they try to -- you try to get them to stop using drugs, if they are still suffering from depression it's not going to help. They've got to get into a program that shows them what's wrong with them mentally and then move from there.

And you have to develop a strong sense for people who are suffering. There is hope. If they get into a program and develop a sense of spirituality and realize that they can do this one day at a time.

MALVEAUX: Roy, what's your next day and the next day look like? What are your plans for the future?

HOBBS: Well, I don't know about tomorrow because I live life one day at a time. I plan to get married, which has happened in the last year. I found a wonderful woman.

MALVEAUX: Congratulations.

HOBBS: Thank you. And now the only thing I need now is a good job. I started a company but, you know, this is not the best time to start a business. So I'd like to get back on the air again.

I think I can provide some hope for people. If they can see me as a person who went all the way down there and was able to rise back up, then I think that offers hope to any community. And I want to get in those communities and help those people.

MALVEAUX: All right. Roy, you are hope. You are hopeful and you're inspiring. Thank you very much. It's good to see you again.

HOBBS: Proud of you.

MALVEAUX: I'm proud of you. Thanks.

We've got some surprising findings about how heart attacks affect women. A study of U.S. heart attack patients finds that women are more likely to die in the hospital following a heart attack.

They are also more likely to show up at the hospital without the classic symptoms of chest pain or discomfort. The National Database is sponsored by Genetac, the maker of anti-clotting prescription drug, but the product was not discussed in the study.

Well, she played one of America's most famous TV moms, actress Phylicia Rashad, she is going to joins us live to talk to us about a new museum that is dedicated exclusively to black culture and history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A big dream is one step closer to becoming a reality. This morning, President Obama, former first lady, Laura Bush and others at the groundbreaking for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Actress Phylicia Rashad, she emceed today's ceremony and she is best known to many of us as Claire Huxtable, the character she played for eight years on the popular TV show, "The Cosby Show."

Well, she's joining us live from Washington. First of all, what an honor to have you here. It's just such a pleasure to see you. Tell us a little bit about the ceremony.

PHYLICIA RASHAD, ACTRESS: The ceremony was exquisite. It was -- well, just so very authentic in expression and very real. This was a ceremony of exquisite music and inspiring speeches.

Mrs. Laura Bush, Congressman John C. Lewis, Linda Johnson Rice, Dick Parsons and from the Smithsonian Museum, Dr. Richard Curan and Dr. Cluff as well, Wayne Cluff. This was -- I can't say enough about it. It's huge.

MALVEAUX: It is huge.

RASHAD: It is huge. It is grand. Yes.

MALVEAUX: You look exquisite yourself. Really, just from "The Cosby Show," you don't look a day older. Tell us a little bit about what this museum actually holds the treasures and why it's important to you.

RASHAD: In this museum, the Smithsonian rounds out the telling of the American experience, rounds out the telling of the American story. With the Smithsonian has 18 museums and this will be the 19th.

And in this one, well, this one is dedicated to, what it says, African-American history and culture. And African-American history and culture is about descendents of Africans, but it's also about other people as well.

Our stories intermingle, you know. It's going to be very special and very great. It will be commemorative of the entirety of the story of descendents of Africans in this country.

MALVEAUX: I assume, too, that there will be some sort of chapter. Because we know we have there is Michael Jackson, there are athletes, there are, you know, obviously the remnants of the time of slavery and Jim Crow. I imagine, too, there will be something about "The Cosby Show" because it was so transformative. Is that correct?

RASHAD: Well, that might be so. I really don't know. The building is three years away and I don't know exactly how the spaces are designed or how they will be programmed. But I wouldn't rule it out.

MALVEAUX: It is certainly our hope. It is obviously a part of American culture and African-American culture and history as well. Give us a sense of what that moment was like to be there with those luminaries, when you talk about John Lewis, when you talk about the history the fact that you played a role in this moment.

RASHAD: My goodness. Sometimes you're in a great place and you know it's a great place, but you don't realize just how great it is because you're working while you're there.

And that's a very grounding experience. Actually, it was a really are humbling and grounding experience and it's largest, it was really very simple.

MALVEAUX: I have to ask you before you go, I don't know if you got to see "SNL" this weekend. You were played spot-on in a spoof of "The Cosby Show." I want to play a little clip there. It was really kind of funny and people still to this day --

RASHAD: My goodness, my goodness.

MALVEAUX: Look at your character.

RASHAD: My goodness.

MALVEAUX: She did a pretty good job, don't you think?

RASHAD: Yes, I think so.

MALVEAUX: Well, I tell you, it was a special time for all of us, "The Cosby" years and obviously, you have done a lot since then as well as your family and we appreciate your role today with the museum as well. Any future projects you've got going?

RASHAD: Yes, this Friday in theaters across the nation, Tyler Perry's "Good Deeds" opens and I'm appearing in that.

MALVEAUX: OK, good. We'll be looking out for that this weekend. Thank you very much, Phylicia Rashad. We appreciate your time.

RASHAD: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: We have breaking news. Dozens dead after a train crash in Argentina. We're going to have a live report after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We've got some breaking news. Want to go to Luis Carlos Velez. He is reporting on the Argentina train crash that has occurred. He's with CNN Espanol.

Can you give us a sense of what you know?

LUIS CARLOS VELEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne.

Yes. It is a horrible accident. It happened at a train station in the Argentine capital Buenos Aries. As of right now, 49 people have been killed and more than 600 have been injured.

This is the story, Suzanne. The train slammed into the (INAUDIBLE) at the end of the platform at the onset (ph) station. That's the 11th station. That happened during the morning rush hour. It was around 8:36 local time.

Now, eyewitness interviewed by local media say the train was traveling very fast. Dozens of people remained trap for several minutes after the crash. And according to an official preliminary report, the train had hit the barrier (ph) at 12 miles per hour. That's 20 kilometers per hour, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any sense of whether or not these are the final numbers, or do they anticipate that this is going to be a lot worse as the day goes on?

VELEZ: Exactly, Suzanne. These are just preliminary numbers. The investigation is going on right now. And the police department and the -- and several authorities are working right now to gather more information. This is breaking news in Argentina. So I guess we're going to have more details in the coming minutes.

MALVEAUX: Are there rescue efforts, I assume, that are going on, that they have all of the force that they need to -- that's bringing to bear on this situation?

VELEZ: Yes, they're working on the situation very quickly right now in Argentina, Suzanne. This is not the first time that something like this happens in Argentina. As a matter of fact, the most recent accident that happened in Argentina was, I'm gathering information here, it was in 2010 when 11 people were killed in a train accident. So they're getting used to this kind of situation. But, definitely, this is one of the worst they've ever seen.

MALVEAUX: This sounds a lot, lot worse.

All right. Luis Carlos, thank you very much for bringing us the very latest. And, obviously, we'll be coming back to you as the news warrants. Thank you.

CNN's Republican debate is live from Arizona. It happens tonight at 8:00 p.m. There are some hot button issues, of course, on the table, from immigration, separation of church and state. So we're asking, if you were moderating tonight, what would you ask the candidates? Jesse asks, "do you need to be Christian to be president?" More of your responses up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It could change the shape of the race, CNN's Republican debate live from Arizona tonight, 8:00 p.m. The stakes are pretty high. So we're asking you, if you were moderating tonight, what would you ask the candidates?

Tony asks, "what if you don't win the nomination and someone else on this stage is the nominee. What would he be, why, and would you serve as his Vice President if asked?"

Jeffrey asks, "do the candidate feel that prior military service is an important factor for the presidency?"

Bob asks, "if abortions become banned, and a woman has one anyway, what should be the penalties?"

You can see more responses on my Facebook page. You don't want to forget watching the debate tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

This week we have many voices telling us, "I am America." Well, next, I want you to meet this family. A same-sex married couple and their adopted children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: In a year which politicians and pundits insist they know exactly what is right for America, we wanted to know more about just who we are. All this week CNN NEWSROOM goes in depth sharing the stories of unique individuals across the country. People who are proud to tell CNN, "I am America." Today, meet a same-sex couple who have adopted children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANGIE GRIEGO: What are you guys going to do in soccer today? Is there anything special?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet the Forney- Griego family. Their kids, Toby (ph) and Gabriel (ph). Their parents, Vangie and Marita.

GRIEGO: This photo is of us. And this is in our very early stages of early love, huh?

MARITA FORNEY: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

This is Gabrielle's adoption day. And it was a really happy day.

GRIEGO: And this is Toby's first Mother's Day with us. GUTIERREZ: Vangie and Marita showed me snapshots of their lives together as a couple. A relationship that has lasted a quarter of a century.

FORNEY: From the first day he loved his brother so much.

GUTIERREZ: For many years, they knew they wanted children. But as a lesbian couple, they had doubts about whether it would happen.

FORNEY: I remember vividly Vangie, when I was Vangie's friend, we had a friendship and she came out to me and she cried. And in the many things she said, one of the things she said was, I'll probably never have children. And that was heartbreaking.

GRIEGO: It was agonizing for us to -- because, I mean, we thought we would -- you know, are we hurting a child by bringing them into this life? You know, they're going to have interracial parents, they're going to have lesbian parents.

GUTIERREZ: After a decade of introspection, Vangie and Marita adopted their first child.

GRIEGO: This is the day that our first son, Gabriel, was adopted.

FORNEY: We were just really happy. We were a family.

GUTIERREZ: Six months later --

FORNEY: That was crazy. Just like it would be for anyone.

GRIEGO: For anyone.

FORNEY: To receive a call, your child's baby brother was born. Do you want him? And within hours you have two babies.

GUTIERREZ: And for a short four and a half month long window, when it was legal for gays and lesbians to marry in California, Vangie and Marita tied the knot.

FORNEY: You know I joke that it was really about saying "I did" rather than "I do."

GUTIERREZ: Other gay and lesbian couples are also coming out as families. New census figures show same sex couples make up one in every 100 California households. And like this family, one in five in the state are raising children.

GRIEGO: I just sat down and just -- I cried. I thought, wow. Look at us. Here on the front page is three lesbians and a little daughter. And I thought, wow, we're finally here and they don't have to be afraid, you know, that their house is going to get firebombed or that their daughter is going to get attacked in any way. I mean, God. And then I thought, what courage.

GUTIERREZ: A family, they say, that generations past were not allowed to have, but one that future generations will no longer be denied. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Eagle Rock, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Fredricka Whitfield.

Hey, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, hello to you. Have a great afternoon, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you. You too.