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President Bush Meets With Pope; History of the Handshake

Aired June 04, 2004 - 15:00   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM. I'm Kyra Phillips.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Lin.

Here's what's happening this hour.

Dinner with a friend. President Bush is attending a gala hosted by Iraq war ally Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. Tomorrow, the president heads to France to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Earlier, he met with Pope John Paul II, who once again voiced his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Calling all veterans. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran is trying to enlist the support of current and former troops. In Minnesota today, he announced a campaign to sign up one million veterans to help get out the vote.

A call for unity. In his first televised address to the nation, Iraq's new prime minister urged his countrymen to work as one and to be patient as the rebuilding begins. Iyad Allawi also assured Iraqis that foreign troops would remain in Iraq only as long as they are needed for security.

PHILLIPS: Well, thousands of anti-war protesters greeted President Bush in Italy today. They marched through Rome carrying signs and chanting slogans. But it may have been the softest voice that spoke the loudest.

CNN's Dana Bash is live with the president's trip and his meeting with Pope John Paul II -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

And the president at this hour is having dinner here in Rome with one of his staunchest allies in the war in Iraq. It's the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who gave him not only moral support from the get-go on Iraq, but also help on the ground; 3,000 troops from Italy are in Iraq. And like many European leaders who supported military action, Silvio Berlusconi's stance is not backed, according to polls, by the majority of the people in his country.

And that was evident today by the tens of thousands of protesters out on the streets protesting Mr. Bush's visit, protesting the war and the fact that the troops are in Iraq, calling for them to come home. Now, meanwhile, of course, the protesters were kept pretty far from the president, but Mr. Bush did have an audience with a very powerful anti-war voice, and that is Pope John Paul II.

Mr. Bush was at the Vatican today. And while the pope is ailing and his speech was halting, he did give a very powerful speech, making clear that he is and was still opposed to the war. And he condemned what he called deplorable events, clearly referring to the abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. He said it makes it morally harder for countries like the United States to fight terrorism, to fight the war on terrorism. But the pope might have helped the president's cause here in Europe, as he said that it was important now to move forward, to get more international support on the ground, to move into Iraqi sovereignty at a brisk pace.

He said it was very important because he's very concerned about the events on the ground in Iraq. But although the president is focusing on the international front, obviously knee-deep in issues having to do with Iraq and other issues dealing with these leaders, as he is abroad, he is not too far from the domestic front, particularly when he has good news to tout.

And that today were the job numbers, better than expected for the third month in a row. The president was quick to come before the cameras to crow about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Two hundred forty-eight thousand jobs for the last month is good for the American workers. It shows that our economy is vital and growing. We've added 900,000 jobs over the last three months and 1.4 million jobs since last August. Policies in place are working. Entrepreneurial spirit is strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And it wasn't that long ago that the president's campaign thought that the economy would be a major vulnerability, foreign policy and the war in Iraq would be a major asset.

And today's numbers, given the juxtaposition between that and the president's perhaps tough times as he moves through Europe show maybe that those two issues have flip-flopped five months before the campaign -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live from Rome, thank you -- Carol.

LIN: Well, tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Hong Kong today to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. The vigil attracted numerous ordinary citizens, elderly people, young couples and small children.

Beijing shocked and outraged many people around the world in early June of 1989 by deploying tanks and troops against unarmed pro- democracy students. There is no consensus on the number of people killed. Estimates range from the hundreds to several thousand.

Well, CNN viewers in China are missing out on most of our coverage of the Tiananmen Square anniversary. Government censors are blacking out much of the audio and video when we air reports about the massacre. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Beijing's bloody crackdown on the 1989 student-led protests, when the former student leaders (AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: There you go. CNN is no stranger to Chinese censorship. In 1989, authorities in Beijing shut down our live coverage of the protests in Tiananmen Square. This is what it looked like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the government has ordered us to shut down our facility, Alec. We'll have to shut it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, the government -- our policy is, the government has ordered us to shut down our facility. So we are shutting down our facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: CNN broadcasts in China are available mostly in hotels and apartment compounds for travelers. Select government agencies and schools also have access.

PHILLIPS: Well, we do it almost every day for a number of reasons, hello, goodbye, good job, even I'm sorry. What's behind a handshake? We're going to tell you about it coming up.

And a handshake is what these guys needed last night in Saint Louis. Guys, shake hands and make up already.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to get exercise to handshake today, you know. By the time you do that, your shoulder is sore. It's no more the gentlemen's shake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: From high fives to biscuit bumps, handshakes can seal the deal or simply say hello. When filmmaker Michael Britto saw the elaborate choreography of handshakes that kids in his Boys Club exchanged, well, he knew he had to find the story behind them. So he took to the streets of New York with a camera and a simple request, hey, show me your shake.

He joins us now from our New York newsroom to talk about this documentary.

Great to see you, Michael.

MICHAEL BRITTO, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Hey, how you doing?

PHILLIPS: All right, now, tell our viewers how you got this idea. I love the story behind you hanging out at the Apollo.

(LAUGHTER)

BRITTO: I started doing the documentary because I was working with young people, teaching them video production. And they would come into the classroom and do all these handshakes. So I was like, why do you do that? And they were like, we really I don't know. So I said, I need to figure this out and try to get to the bottom of why they do these things.

And that's how I started doing the documentary. And one of the aspects of doing this documentary is going out in the street and stopping people in the street and seeing what they do and seeing what they come up with.

PHILLIPS: Well, you did stop a number of interesting people. So we're going to roll a little clip here and then talk about it.

Let's take the first one.

BRITTO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just wanted to be different from everybody. We saw everybody following behind each other, so we started up our own stuff. I look at it as a sign of unity and diversity. It makes you different from everybody, because everybody wants to be a part of something. But we don't want to be a part of what they're a part of. We want to have our own meaning, our own definitions, our own everything. It's not like we want to follow behind anybody. We're trying to make our own definition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There you go, diversity, unity. You even talked to Cornel West at Princeton and he said, hey, for years, handshakes have transcended class and economic barriers. That's what this guy was saying, too, right?

BRITTO: Yes.

Yes, Cornel West was really cool. We went and interviewed him. We went up to Princeton. And he looked at the tape. And he was really into it and he gave us really good stuff to use for the documentary. And I'm still in production on the documentary, still looking for subjects. And, you know, it's going well so far. I like it.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. Go ahead.

BRITTO: I'm sorry.

PHILLIPS: No, no, no.

I just wanted to say, you met so many people. When we talk about diversity, tell me, you met from Native American to African-American to young kids. I mean, it went all over the place, right?

BRITTO: All over the place.

And even yesterday, I met some Greek people, some Brazilian people. And this is a learning experience for me. I'm learning a lot from doing this. I love it. I love meeting people, I love interacting with people. And that's what the handshake is about. And this is the coolest project. And I've been meeting the coolest people and building, building this whole group of new friends.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Well, here was something else that was interesting. I want to make sure we get this clip in. And a lot of people, when they think of handshakes -- and, of course, these are people that are not very well educated on the handshake -- think, oh, gang signs.

Let's roll this clip.

BRITTO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We throw it up with our fingers just like this. That's for our males. And our females, they throw it up like this. That's black coordination. It's to distinguish us from other people out here, because people might see us and think that we're gang members. Well, off the bat, we let them know that we're here to do a positive thing. And it's like more or less we give each other handshakes, regular, out here in the street. We do ours a different way representing our story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, I picked this clip because he's talking about his group, Black Heart. And, Michael, it was pretty neat because he said we developed these handshakes to show people we were not in a gang.

BRITTO: Right.

And that's one of the things that I want to do with this documentary, is, I want to show just because -- I want to show just people that -- I'm trying to break stereotypes, too, with this, because I want people to not think that just because somebody is doing a certain handshake, they're in a gang or something like that. These kids -- a lot of these kids are really into positive things. A lot of handshakes mean positivity. A lot of stuff that people are into, they're just trying to set themselves apart, but also create positive change and do positive things in a community and stuff like that. And I just think that it's great. But there's a lot of negative stuff connected to this, too. And I'm trying to let people...

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm curious, did gang members come up to you, Michael, and say, what are you doing?

BRITTO: Well, some gang members, some gang members, when I approached them, they mistake me for police, undercover police, like I'm trying to find out their secret handshakes. But that's not the case.

What I'm trying to do is, just like I said, get to the bottom of what these things mean. And sometimes, you meet people and they can tell you what a handshake means for every movement. And some people can -- just tell you they just do it. It's muscle memory. They don't think about. And I think that that's one of the interesting things about it, as you come across people, how you do -- people do this thing every day and they don't really think about it.

They don't -- they just do it. It's part of their lives.

PHILLIPS: Sure, it's a comfortable reaction.

BRITTO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to bring up your Web site, www.gimmefiveproject.com, because I know that you're still looking for support. I know you're going to enter this documentary in Sundance.

But, as we're looking at this Web site, real quickly, you also talked with veteran soldiers, and they had some handshakes too, didn't they?

BRITTO: Yes.

We went up to Fort Dix and interviewed some soldiers. And we got -- there was a whole thing that happened during the Vietnam era that was called the dap line. And when the black soldiers would enter a room or something, they would have to go down these lines and shake hands with each other or do a dap, a dap thing down the line. So that's going to be in the piece also. And, like I said, I'm just finding out all kinds of things.

PHILLIPS: I can imagine. And so are we.

Michael Britto. "Gimme Five" is the name of the documentary, "History of the Handshake."

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

BRITTO: I'll let you know. Thank you. OK. Bye-bye. PHILLIPS: All right, Michael. Thank you.

LIN: That is great.

PHILLIPS: Isn't that fun?

LIN: Yes, I didn't know.

PHILLIPS: He's a neat guy.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's one for the record books.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Julio Franco Thursday became the oldest player in Major League history to hit a grand slam. The 45- year-old Franco connected on his bases-loaded shot in the first inning of an 8-4 Braves victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

A mega melee in Pittsburgh. Pirates skipper Lloyd McClendon confronted Cardinals manager Tony La Russa during a 4-2 Pittsburgh win. Well, McClendon said that La Russa was yelling at his pitcher. Both benches cleared, but only the two managers were ejected.

From unruly managers to unruly fans; 30 years ago, today in Cleveland, spectators stormed the field in the ninth inning of a game between the Indians and Texas Rangers. Now, they had been drinking 10-cent beers as part of a promotion. See, that's a problem. You just don't mix alcohol with baseball bats. So the Indians had to forfeit the game and beer night was permanently relegated to the bad ideas file. It all makes the players look like angels, doesn't it?

LIN: Good lord.

Well, hopefully, better behavior at the racetrack this weekend, because it's going to be a race to history for a horse called Smarty Jones. The colt will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in more than two and a half decades.

CNN Sports's Josie Burke is LIVE FROM Elmont, New York.

Josie, what's the latest on our favorite horse?

JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the story of Smarty Jones and his amazing triumph over adversity has really captured the imagination of the entire country.

But in one city in particular, they're watching every move that Smarty Jones makes with a very unique blend of hope and dread that is pure Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURKE (voice-over): When Smarty Jones enters the starting gate at Belmont Park Saturday to try to win horse racing's Triple Crown, the thoroughbred will truly be saddled with expectations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would break a drought, I think, in terms of morale.

MIKE LIEBERTHAL, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Does that count? Does that count as like a sports championship? If it does, then I'll be rooting for him.

BURKE: Smarty hails from Philadelphia, the home of some sport's greatest athletes, most storied franchises, and lately biggest disappointments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a lift from the Flyers, the Sixers, the Eagles losing three years in a row. And Smarty Jones is bringing the life back to Philadelphia.

IKE REESE, EAGLES LINEBACKER: I'm like everybody else in the city of Philadelphia. We're pulling for him. We need a champion here. We need something to hang our hat on and say, this is a winning town.

BURKE: In January, the Eagles came up one win shy of the Super Bowl for the third straight season. And when the Flyers were recently knocked out a win away from the Stanley Cup Finals, it marked the 34th time in 21 years that a Philadelphia playoff team failed to win a championship. It is a drought that the City of Brotherly Love has begun to hate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He'll be just another Philly horse if he doesn't win the Triple Crown.

RANDY WOLF, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Chicago has the goat, which is the animal that caused the cure. So maybe a horse can reverse Philadelphia's curse.

LIEBERTHAL: As a horse, I don't know if he knows he's from Philly. So maybe he's got that going for him.

BURKE: But could winning the first Triple Crown in 26 years be enough to satisfy the city's championship desire?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By asking that question, you probably just jinxed us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping it is the Phillies a little bit over the horse. But it may take a horse. It may take a filly.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Alas, Smarty is a Philadelphian, not a filly. But should he realize the hopes of a title-starved town, it seems anything might be possible.

JIM O'BRIEN, 76ERS HEAD COACH: Well, if he wins the Triple Crown, I'm going to have him talk to my team in training camp.

BURKE: That would be winning advice straight from the horse's mouth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURKE: Philadelphians are showing their love for Smarty Jones in many different ways, including this very unique one. This is Archbishop Ryan High School in the Philadelphia area, where the students actually spelled out, "Archbishop Ryan Loves Smarty," a very cute idea and in my book it certainly beats going to math class, although somebody probably did have to figure out how to orchestrate the entire thing. And that probably involved some mathematical equation.

LIN: I know. Josie, we're just counting up the number of kids who turned out. That's pretty amazing.

Thanks so much, Josie Burke, live in Elmont.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's check entertainment headlines this Friday, June 4.

All aboard the Hogwarts express. The new "Harry Potter" movie opens today. "The Prisoner of Azkaban" is the third installment in the "Harry Potter" series. It debuted Monday in the U.K., creating the largest single day for ticket sales in movie history.

From wizards and witchcraft to foul-mouthed villains. "The Sopranos"' fifth-season finale airs this Sunday on HBO. Next year, there will only be 10 episodes, wrapping up the mafia saga. The fate of Tony Soprano and his mob brethren will be kept hush-hush until then, or they'll have to knock your knees.

And here's a music milestone that should take you back 20 years ago today. Carol, he's throwing us back. Bruce Springsteen set the music world on its ear with the release of "Born in the USA." That's back when albums came on records, those things that we had before C.D.s. You and I have piles of those in the attic.

LIN: Mommy, what's an album?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Can you hear it now? I just can see your daughter right now. What exactly is an album?

LIN: Really big C.D.s.

PHILLIPS: Right.

LIN: That wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired June 4, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM. I'm Kyra Phillips.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Lin.

Here's what's happening this hour.

Dinner with a friend. President Bush is attending a gala hosted by Iraq war ally Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. Tomorrow, the president heads to France to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Earlier, he met with Pope John Paul II, who once again voiced his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Calling all veterans. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran is trying to enlist the support of current and former troops. In Minnesota today, he announced a campaign to sign up one million veterans to help get out the vote.

A call for unity. In his first televised address to the nation, Iraq's new prime minister urged his countrymen to work as one and to be patient as the rebuilding begins. Iyad Allawi also assured Iraqis that foreign troops would remain in Iraq only as long as they are needed for security.

PHILLIPS: Well, thousands of anti-war protesters greeted President Bush in Italy today. They marched through Rome carrying signs and chanting slogans. But it may have been the softest voice that spoke the loudest.

CNN's Dana Bash is live with the president's trip and his meeting with Pope John Paul II -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

And the president at this hour is having dinner here in Rome with one of his staunchest allies in the war in Iraq. It's the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who gave him not only moral support from the get-go on Iraq, but also help on the ground; 3,000 troops from Italy are in Iraq. And like many European leaders who supported military action, Silvio Berlusconi's stance is not backed, according to polls, by the majority of the people in his country.

And that was evident today by the tens of thousands of protesters out on the streets protesting Mr. Bush's visit, protesting the war and the fact that the troops are in Iraq, calling for them to come home. Now, meanwhile, of course, the protesters were kept pretty far from the president, but Mr. Bush did have an audience with a very powerful anti-war voice, and that is Pope John Paul II.

Mr. Bush was at the Vatican today. And while the pope is ailing and his speech was halting, he did give a very powerful speech, making clear that he is and was still opposed to the war. And he condemned what he called deplorable events, clearly referring to the abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. He said it makes it morally harder for countries like the United States to fight terrorism, to fight the war on terrorism. But the pope might have helped the president's cause here in Europe, as he said that it was important now to move forward, to get more international support on the ground, to move into Iraqi sovereignty at a brisk pace.

He said it was very important because he's very concerned about the events on the ground in Iraq. But although the president is focusing on the international front, obviously knee-deep in issues having to do with Iraq and other issues dealing with these leaders, as he is abroad, he is not too far from the domestic front, particularly when he has good news to tout.

And that today were the job numbers, better than expected for the third month in a row. The president was quick to come before the cameras to crow about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Two hundred forty-eight thousand jobs for the last month is good for the American workers. It shows that our economy is vital and growing. We've added 900,000 jobs over the last three months and 1.4 million jobs since last August. Policies in place are working. Entrepreneurial spirit is strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And it wasn't that long ago that the president's campaign thought that the economy would be a major vulnerability, foreign policy and the war in Iraq would be a major asset.

And today's numbers, given the juxtaposition between that and the president's perhaps tough times as he moves through Europe show maybe that those two issues have flip-flopped five months before the campaign -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live from Rome, thank you -- Carol.

LIN: Well, tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Hong Kong today to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. The vigil attracted numerous ordinary citizens, elderly people, young couples and small children.

Beijing shocked and outraged many people around the world in early June of 1989 by deploying tanks and troops against unarmed pro- democracy students. There is no consensus on the number of people killed. Estimates range from the hundreds to several thousand.

Well, CNN viewers in China are missing out on most of our coverage of the Tiananmen Square anniversary. Government censors are blacking out much of the audio and video when we air reports about the massacre. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Beijing's bloody crackdown on the 1989 student-led protests, when the former student leaders (AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: There you go. CNN is no stranger to Chinese censorship. In 1989, authorities in Beijing shut down our live coverage of the protests in Tiananmen Square. This is what it looked like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the government has ordered us to shut down our facility, Alec. We'll have to shut it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, the government -- our policy is, the government has ordered us to shut down our facility. So we are shutting down our facility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: CNN broadcasts in China are available mostly in hotels and apartment compounds for travelers. Select government agencies and schools also have access.

PHILLIPS: Well, we do it almost every day for a number of reasons, hello, goodbye, good job, even I'm sorry. What's behind a handshake? We're going to tell you about it coming up.

And a handshake is what these guys needed last night in Saint Louis. Guys, shake hands and make up already.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to get exercise to handshake today, you know. By the time you do that, your shoulder is sore. It's no more the gentlemen's shake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: From high fives to biscuit bumps, handshakes can seal the deal or simply say hello. When filmmaker Michael Britto saw the elaborate choreography of handshakes that kids in his Boys Club exchanged, well, he knew he had to find the story behind them. So he took to the streets of New York with a camera and a simple request, hey, show me your shake.

He joins us now from our New York newsroom to talk about this documentary.

Great to see you, Michael.

MICHAEL BRITTO, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Hey, how you doing?

PHILLIPS: All right, now, tell our viewers how you got this idea. I love the story behind you hanging out at the Apollo.

(LAUGHTER)

BRITTO: I started doing the documentary because I was working with young people, teaching them video production. And they would come into the classroom and do all these handshakes. So I was like, why do you do that? And they were like, we really I don't know. So I said, I need to figure this out and try to get to the bottom of why they do these things.

And that's how I started doing the documentary. And one of the aspects of doing this documentary is going out in the street and stopping people in the street and seeing what they do and seeing what they come up with.

PHILLIPS: Well, you did stop a number of interesting people. So we're going to roll a little clip here and then talk about it.

Let's take the first one.

BRITTO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just wanted to be different from everybody. We saw everybody following behind each other, so we started up our own stuff. I look at it as a sign of unity and diversity. It makes you different from everybody, because everybody wants to be a part of something. But we don't want to be a part of what they're a part of. We want to have our own meaning, our own definitions, our own everything. It's not like we want to follow behind anybody. We're trying to make our own definition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There you go, diversity, unity. You even talked to Cornel West at Princeton and he said, hey, for years, handshakes have transcended class and economic barriers. That's what this guy was saying, too, right?

BRITTO: Yes.

Yes, Cornel West was really cool. We went and interviewed him. We went up to Princeton. And he looked at the tape. And he was really into it and he gave us really good stuff to use for the documentary. And I'm still in production on the documentary, still looking for subjects. And, you know, it's going well so far. I like it.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. Go ahead.

BRITTO: I'm sorry.

PHILLIPS: No, no, no.

I just wanted to say, you met so many people. When we talk about diversity, tell me, you met from Native American to African-American to young kids. I mean, it went all over the place, right?

BRITTO: All over the place.

And even yesterday, I met some Greek people, some Brazilian people. And this is a learning experience for me. I'm learning a lot from doing this. I love it. I love meeting people, I love interacting with people. And that's what the handshake is about. And this is the coolest project. And I've been meeting the coolest people and building, building this whole group of new friends.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Well, here was something else that was interesting. I want to make sure we get this clip in. And a lot of people, when they think of handshakes -- and, of course, these are people that are not very well educated on the handshake -- think, oh, gang signs.

Let's roll this clip.

BRITTO: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "GIMME FIVE: HISTORY OF A HANDSHAKE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We throw it up with our fingers just like this. That's for our males. And our females, they throw it up like this. That's black coordination. It's to distinguish us from other people out here, because people might see us and think that we're gang members. Well, off the bat, we let them know that we're here to do a positive thing. And it's like more or less we give each other handshakes, regular, out here in the street. We do ours a different way representing our story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, I picked this clip because he's talking about his group, Black Heart. And, Michael, it was pretty neat because he said we developed these handshakes to show people we were not in a gang.

BRITTO: Right.

And that's one of the things that I want to do with this documentary, is, I want to show just because -- I want to show just people that -- I'm trying to break stereotypes, too, with this, because I want people to not think that just because somebody is doing a certain handshake, they're in a gang or something like that. These kids -- a lot of these kids are really into positive things. A lot of handshakes mean positivity. A lot of stuff that people are into, they're just trying to set themselves apart, but also create positive change and do positive things in a community and stuff like that. And I just think that it's great. But there's a lot of negative stuff connected to this, too. And I'm trying to let people...

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm curious, did gang members come up to you, Michael, and say, what are you doing?

BRITTO: Well, some gang members, some gang members, when I approached them, they mistake me for police, undercover police, like I'm trying to find out their secret handshakes. But that's not the case.

What I'm trying to do is, just like I said, get to the bottom of what these things mean. And sometimes, you meet people and they can tell you what a handshake means for every movement. And some people can -- just tell you they just do it. It's muscle memory. They don't think about. And I think that that's one of the interesting things about it, as you come across people, how you do -- people do this thing every day and they don't really think about it.

They don't -- they just do it. It's part of their lives.

PHILLIPS: Sure, it's a comfortable reaction.

BRITTO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to bring up your Web site, www.gimmefiveproject.com, because I know that you're still looking for support. I know you're going to enter this documentary in Sundance.

But, as we're looking at this Web site, real quickly, you also talked with veteran soldiers, and they had some handshakes too, didn't they?

BRITTO: Yes.

We went up to Fort Dix and interviewed some soldiers. And we got -- there was a whole thing that happened during the Vietnam era that was called the dap line. And when the black soldiers would enter a room or something, they would have to go down these lines and shake hands with each other or do a dap, a dap thing down the line. So that's going to be in the piece also. And, like I said, I'm just finding out all kinds of things.

PHILLIPS: I can imagine. And so are we.

Michael Britto. "Gimme Five" is the name of the documentary, "History of the Handshake."

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

BRITTO: I'll let you know. Thank you. OK. Bye-bye. PHILLIPS: All right, Michael. Thank you.

LIN: That is great.

PHILLIPS: Isn't that fun?

LIN: Yes, I didn't know.

PHILLIPS: He's a neat guy.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Here's one for the record books.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Julio Franco Thursday became the oldest player in Major League history to hit a grand slam. The 45- year-old Franco connected on his bases-loaded shot in the first inning of an 8-4 Braves victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

A mega melee in Pittsburgh. Pirates skipper Lloyd McClendon confronted Cardinals manager Tony La Russa during a 4-2 Pittsburgh win. Well, McClendon said that La Russa was yelling at his pitcher. Both benches cleared, but only the two managers were ejected.

From unruly managers to unruly fans; 30 years ago, today in Cleveland, spectators stormed the field in the ninth inning of a game between the Indians and Texas Rangers. Now, they had been drinking 10-cent beers as part of a promotion. See, that's a problem. You just don't mix alcohol with baseball bats. So the Indians had to forfeit the game and beer night was permanently relegated to the bad ideas file. It all makes the players look like angels, doesn't it?

LIN: Good lord.

Well, hopefully, better behavior at the racetrack this weekend, because it's going to be a race to history for a horse called Smarty Jones. The colt will attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in more than two and a half decades.

CNN Sports's Josie Burke is LIVE FROM Elmont, New York.

Josie, what's the latest on our favorite horse?

JOSIE BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the story of Smarty Jones and his amazing triumph over adversity has really captured the imagination of the entire country.

But in one city in particular, they're watching every move that Smarty Jones makes with a very unique blend of hope and dread that is pure Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURKE (voice-over): When Smarty Jones enters the starting gate at Belmont Park Saturday to try to win horse racing's Triple Crown, the thoroughbred will truly be saddled with expectations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would break a drought, I think, in terms of morale.

MIKE LIEBERTHAL, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Does that count? Does that count as like a sports championship? If it does, then I'll be rooting for him.

BURKE: Smarty hails from Philadelphia, the home of some sport's greatest athletes, most storied franchises, and lately biggest disappointments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a lift from the Flyers, the Sixers, the Eagles losing three years in a row. And Smarty Jones is bringing the life back to Philadelphia.

IKE REESE, EAGLES LINEBACKER: I'm like everybody else in the city of Philadelphia. We're pulling for him. We need a champion here. We need something to hang our hat on and say, this is a winning town.

BURKE: In January, the Eagles came up one win shy of the Super Bowl for the third straight season. And when the Flyers were recently knocked out a win away from the Stanley Cup Finals, it marked the 34th time in 21 years that a Philadelphia playoff team failed to win a championship. It is a drought that the City of Brotherly Love has begun to hate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He'll be just another Philly horse if he doesn't win the Triple Crown.

RANDY WOLF, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Chicago has the goat, which is the animal that caused the cure. So maybe a horse can reverse Philadelphia's curse.

LIEBERTHAL: As a horse, I don't know if he knows he's from Philly. So maybe he's got that going for him.

BURKE: But could winning the first Triple Crown in 26 years be enough to satisfy the city's championship desire?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By asking that question, you probably just jinxed us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping it is the Phillies a little bit over the horse. But it may take a horse. It may take a filly.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Alas, Smarty is a Philadelphian, not a filly. But should he realize the hopes of a title-starved town, it seems anything might be possible.

JIM O'BRIEN, 76ERS HEAD COACH: Well, if he wins the Triple Crown, I'm going to have him talk to my team in training camp.

BURKE: That would be winning advice straight from the horse's mouth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURKE: Philadelphians are showing their love for Smarty Jones in many different ways, including this very unique one. This is Archbishop Ryan High School in the Philadelphia area, where the students actually spelled out, "Archbishop Ryan Loves Smarty," a very cute idea and in my book it certainly beats going to math class, although somebody probably did have to figure out how to orchestrate the entire thing. And that probably involved some mathematical equation.

LIN: I know. Josie, we're just counting up the number of kids who turned out. That's pretty amazing.

Thanks so much, Josie Burke, live in Elmont.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's check entertainment headlines this Friday, June 4.

All aboard the Hogwarts express. The new "Harry Potter" movie opens today. "The Prisoner of Azkaban" is the third installment in the "Harry Potter" series. It debuted Monday in the U.K., creating the largest single day for ticket sales in movie history.

From wizards and witchcraft to foul-mouthed villains. "The Sopranos"' fifth-season finale airs this Sunday on HBO. Next year, there will only be 10 episodes, wrapping up the mafia saga. The fate of Tony Soprano and his mob brethren will be kept hush-hush until then, or they'll have to knock your knees.

And here's a music milestone that should take you back 20 years ago today. Carol, he's throwing us back. Bruce Springsteen set the music world on its ear with the release of "Born in the USA." That's back when albums came on records, those things that we had before C.D.s. You and I have piles of those in the attic.

LIN: Mommy, what's an album?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Can you hear it now? I just can see your daughter right now. What exactly is an album?

LIN: Really big C.D.s.

PHILLIPS: Right.

LIN: That wraps up this edition of LIVE FROM.

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