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Live From...
Iraqi Suicide Bombers Strike Marketplace, Police; Defense Witnesses Say No Abuse at Neverland; Book Tells Story of Forgotten African-American Sports Hero
Aired May 06, 2005 - 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Checking some stories now in the news. An ultimatum from the kidnappers of an Australian contractor in Iraq. Douglas Wood dies unless Australia withdraws its troops from Iraq. Al Jazeera TV reports the kidnappers have set a deadline of 72 hours.
In a California courtroom, a mother takes the stand in defense of Michael Jackson. Her son is one of the boy prosecutors claim Jackson molested during the 1990's. We'll have more on her testimony in a moment.
Leaving Las Vegas, the woman who said she found a finger in her Wendy's chili being moved from Nevada to California today to face charges. Police say Anna Ayala planted the finger in her own food at a San Jose Wendy's.
And a developing story at a beef processing plant in Franconia Township, Pennsylvania. Plant officials tell us there's been a shooting there. All we know right now is it happened in an employee parking lot outside the Moyer packing plant. There are reports of injuries. We will update this story as we get more information for you.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Police on a bus and civilians at a market, six hours and 120 miles apart, killed and maimed by suicide car bombers on yet another grisly Friday in Iraq.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote has the latest on that and a discovery at a Baghdad landfill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No let-up in the violence in Iraq today. Two separate suicide bomber attacks. The first one, the most recent one in the southern city of Suwayra, a suicide bomber blowing himself up in the middle of a very busy marketplace, killing at least 22, wounding at least 43. No sign of any military target there.
And in the northern city of Tikrit, another suicide bomber attack. This time the suicide bomber drove his car into a bus carrying Iraq police to work, killing at least seven of them, wounding three more. That was the third attack on Iraq's security forces in the last three days.
And lastly, a gruesome discovery in the Iraqi capital. The bodies of 14 Iraqi men were found in a garbage dump. All of them appeared to have been shot in the head execution style.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: President Bush due in the Baltics any second now. Stop one on a five-day, four-nation tour highlighting the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. V.E. Day was undeniably one of the turning points of the 20th century. But Eastern Europe languished in oppression for decades afterward.
Beginning in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mr. Bush will sound the theme that freedom is worth waiting for and fighting for and that it comes with responsibilities.
From Latvia, the president travels to V.E. ceremonies in the Netherlands, then to Moscow, where he'll watch a military parade in Red Square, a notion unthinkable in the days of the Iron Curtain.
Mr. Bush's last stop is to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, one of three to undergo nonviolent democratic revolutions in the past year and a half. He's due back in Washington on Tuesday.
Bush and other world leaders are sending congratulations to British Prime Minister Tony Blair today. He's just earned a third term, his Labor Party making history by winning three straight elections. But it came at a huge political price. Before yesterday's vote, Labor had about 160 more seats than the Conservatives in the House of Commons, that margin down to about 66 seats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've listened and I've learned. And I think I have a very clear idea of what the British people now expect from this government for a third term. And I want to say to them very directly that I, we, the government, are going to focus relentlessly now on the priorities the people have set for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The prime minister's term lasts five years, but analysts say they won't be surprised if Mr. Blair steps down early.
PHILLIPS: In Santa Maria, California, the Michael Jackson defense calls a mom to the stand. CNN's Rusty Dornin with more on the campaign to refute prosecution claims of child molestation at Neverland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Both mothers and a sister of the two witnesses that testified yesterday in the case have come forward this morning to talk about the fact that they don't believe anything inappropriate happened between Michael Jackson and their son or their brother.
Legal experts here say there could be some problems with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this witness is a good example of the perils and pitfalls of calling people who ultimately want to say nothing happened. To get to the nothing happened, you have to go through, "But I let my son" or "I stayed and slept with Michael Jackson in his bed." That is simply going give the jurors a lot of pause.
DORNIN: Prosecutors appear relentless in their questioning of these witnesses on that same note, in that same vein, saying, "How do you know what happened between Michael Jackson and your son or brother behind closed doors? Are you sure nothing could have happened? How do you know? The doors were closed," and that sort of thing, trying to attack their credibility in terms of the fact they may not have known something was going on.
The mother of one of the witnesses will be back on the stand. Then we're expected to hear from the sister also of the second witness.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Across America this hour, arrested this Florida. Patrick Wayne Bell, convicted sexual predator sought by police since Tuesday when he removed his tracking bracelet then vanished. He was spotted and arrested by U.S. marshals in Tallahassee.
The FDA drawing fire. The agency will recommend that sperm banks bar homosexual men from anonymously donating sperm. Gay rights groups are outraged, claiming discrimination. FDA officials say men who have had homosexual relations in the last five years carry a high risk of disease. The ban could go into effect this month.
And if you vote Democrat, you won't be welcome here. Several members of this Baptist church in North Carolina say the pastor gave them an ultimatum: support President Bush or find another church. Nine members were reportedly asked to leave; 40 others, we're told, also left in protest. We've asked the church to comment. Not a prayer.
PHILLIPS: Apart from her 911 call we really don't know what Jennifer Wilbanks sounds like. But an Albuquerque radio station is offering Duluth, Georgia's own runaway bride a job. The program director at talk radio station KAGM-AM says, "Of course, we're looking for publicity," but he insists it's a serious offer. But would Wilbanks consider such a huge lifestyle change? The station's faxed particulars to Wilbanks' attorney and spokesperson, Reverend Tom Smiley, who seems to think there's still hope for Jennifer and John's relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. TOM SMILEY, WILBANKS' PASTOR: Well, their relationship stands rights now, I think in good stead. They're very communicative. They've spent a lot of time together. They're not making any, you know, great, grand decisions right now. They're really working together.
John is involved in some of her professional treatment. He's with her. He's been with her in her earlier treatment sessions and her other -- other professional visits. So the relationship is going along well. What their future plans are, I think, remains for them to decide and for them to work out. And I believe they will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: By the way, the gig would be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it would be her very own talk show or sidekick status on the morning show and would pay a whopping $30,000.
O'BRIEN: I wonder what she has to say? We'll find out.
PHILLIPS: She's running from it right now.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Dramatic developments from Blockbuster Video as the drama leaps off the rental shelves and into a business meeting. Details on the plot twist ahead on LIVE FROM. No late fees.
And also ahead, he was the last African-American to win the Kentucky Derby and he did it more than 100 years ago. The amazing story of the man known as Wink coming up.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, HOST, "TURNAROUND": I'm Ali Velshi with a "TURNAROUND" tips.
Every day small businesses get hit with lawsuits, and they can turn your small business dream into a nightmare. So to protect your business against lawsuits, think about getting a lawyer before you need one.
JACK KAUFMAN, KAUFMAN, KAUFMAN & MILLER LLP: There is no poison pill to kill the possibility of a lawsuit. They come from various sources such as your employees, your vendors, your own customers.
VELSHI (voice-over): Look for an attorney that specializes in small business. Ask other entrepreneurs if they would recommend their lawyer. Ask your banker, accountant or insurance agent for a recommendation, and create an employee handbook.
KAUFMAN: An excellent way to safeguard a business is to have an employee handbook that will deal with the responsibilities of the employer and advise the employee what their responsibilities are. VELSHI (on camera): There are many rewards to owning your own business. Don't risk losing it all because you failed to protect yourself with legal advice.
I'm Ali Velshi with today's "TURNAROUND" tip. See you next time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Ali Velshi, in all his sartorial splendor, will be there for you to tell you how to run your business tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Eastern. "TURNAROUND" is the program.
PHILLIPS: He's one of our favorites.
O'BRIEN: Friend of the show.
PHILLIPS: Now that he has his program, we can never get him on live.
O'BRIEN: No, he's not available to us anymore. But we wish him well. He's on to bigger things. And he's got a great show there. It's a great idea.
PHILLIPS: Big drama brewing at Blockbuster. That's the headline, of course, I think that's kind of gotten overused. Brewing at Blockbuster.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, we like that term, brewing.
PHILLIPS: And it's nothing to do with movies that they rent.
O'BRIEN: It has to do with movies meeting Carl Icahn. And whenever Carl Icahn gets in the mix you know there's going to be a fight, right Kathleen?
PHILLIPS: Lots of money.
(STOCK REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Kathleen.
PHILLIPS: While the celebrities and the racing fans get set for the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, we found one of the most fascinating stories in horse racing that very few people know about. The tale of the epic journey of Jimmy Winkfield, both on and off the track. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's probably one of the best athletes you've never heard of. He was a fierce competitor and a giant of a man who stood barely five feet tall.
His name is Jimmy Winkfield, but he went by Wink. His story is now being told in the book "Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield." Author Ed Hotaling joins me live from Washington to talk about it. Very appropriate as we get ready for the Kentucky Derby.
Ed, great to see you.
ED HOTALING, AUTHOR, "WINK": Hi.
PHILLIPS: Well, I think probably one of the most fascinating things about Wink is this is somebody that dominated horse racing up to the Civil War, and we've never even talked about this man.
HOTALING: Yes, very few people know that horse racing was our oldest professional sport, 200 years older, starting in the mid- 1600's. And the great black jockeys of the old days were our first professional athletes.
PHILLIPS: And he grew up in Kentucky.
HOTALING: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, we've talked so much about discrimination and the racism that took place, but at that time, they were protected by their talents, right?
HOTALING: Exactly. The Ku Klux Klan was not about to attack the trainers and jockeys of the huge, very expensive Kentucky horse farm, so that protected these very talented people.
But they also had their own role models. We're talking about the 1880s and 1890s, when racism was rampant all over the country. But these young men had their own role models in the great jockeys of the past, going way back to colonial days down to the Civil War and then afterwards up to the Kentucky Derby.
PHILLIPS: So let's talk about what happened in Kentucky and what led him to Russia?
HOTALING: Well, in Kentucky he became one of the top jockeys. The black jockeys dominated the early Kentucky Derby. They won 15 of the first 28. And he won two back to back. Even today he's one of only four jockeys to have won it back -- to have won the Derby back to back.
But racism was forcing the black jockeys out of the sport, and so were hard times, rough economic times. So the black jockeys were getting kicked out, ending up in the ghetto, having to lose their livelihoods, never to return to the sport. He wasn't going to take it.
Here's this young 21-year-old kid sailing to Russia by himself because the sport had moved to Europe. Everybody in Europe loved racing. So, unable to become the top jockey in this country, in the country's leading sport, he became the leading country under the czars of Russia.
PHILLIPS: Incredible.
HOTALING: He won the Moscow Derby four times. He made side trips into Germany and Austria and became a great champion there.
His neighbors when he was living in Austria were Adolf Hitler, who had to read about this lone black American winning these races and hated it, and Sigmund Freud, the psychiatrist, who probably had to treat people who were foolish enough not to bet on him. And the Bolsheviks finally chased him out of Russia, though, at gunpoint.
He went to Odessa, the last of the holdouts of the czars, and then he led 200 czars, men, women, and children, and 200 thoroughbreds on an 1,100-mile odyssey across Eastern Europe, believe it or not, and they survived. Some of the horses died and they ate some of the horses that died.
But it was an incredible courageous march away from, escaping from Russia. And then one day in Poland he got a call from one of the Russians who had escaped to France and said, "Come on and ride my horses in Paris."
PHILLIPS: OK. So there -- all right. Hold on, I'll be -- just stay with us a minute, Ed. Just quickly, a live picture, the president of the United States actually left Washington early this morning. He's now arriving in Latvia with, of course, his wife, the first lady.
It's the first stop here in Latvia on a four-nation trip to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The president's also going to visit the Netherlands, Russia and Georgia.
But right now, you're seeing him side by side with the president of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and he's going to spend time with her. And then, of course, continue his trip, ending up, actually, with a pretty emotional memorial service, we're told, at an American cemetery in the Netherlands by the end of the weekend.
So we're going to continue to follow the president's trip, now in Latvia, begins his four-nation tour, once again, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
All right. Back now to the incredible life and epic journey of Jimmy Winkfield. Ed, we'll continue our conversation.
He arrived in Paris and now he becomes friends with Ernest Hemingway and all these...
HOTALING: That's right.
PHILLIPS: ... fascinating folks in Paris. But once again haunted by the Nazis. They arrive in Paris. He's got to get up and move again.
HOTALING: That's right. He -- the Nazis arrive in 1940, take over his stable, ship the horses back to Germany, because horse racing, believe it or not continued all during World War II in Germany. And not only did the Nazis steal great art from France but they also stole thoroughbred horses all over Europe. And he went after him one day with -- they moved into his house and into his stables. And he went after a group of Nazis one day with a pitchfork who were mistreating his horses. But he wasn't going to defeat Nazi Germany, obviously, with a pitchfork. The Nazis seized his property. He escaped, arrived in New York City a short time afterwards with $9 to his name. And got a job...
PHILLIPS: So here -- yes. I was going to say, so here he was with $9, his Russian wife, and but he got himself a job, ended up buying a horse, right?
HOTALING: Right. And the horse, Little Rocket, a sort of a Seabiscuit of his day, rocketed him all the way back to France, where he took over his stable again, became a top trainer again and one went back to Kentucky to visit. It's an incredible story. When he went back to Kentucky...
PHILLIPS: This was in the '60s, right?
HOTALING: It was 1961.
PHILLIPS: OK.
HOTALING: And a lot of people in Kentucky, apparently, for some reason, were surprised that after 60 years, he was still black. And they wouldn't let him in the front door...
PHILLIPS: Unbelievable.
HOTALING: ... of the Brown Hotel in Louisville, where he was going to be one of the guest of -- one of the guests of honor at a banquet there.
But he eventually got in. His daughter, who was with him, was absolutely furious. She was a child of the civil rights movement. He -- he didn't let it get to him. He went to the Derby next day and had a great time, went back to France and died a well-to-do, wealthy man, very happy.
What carried him through all of his battles with the Bolsheviks and the Nazis and early racists was his self-esteem. Nobody could get to him. He knew who he was. He knew he was an incredible man. Nobody, not the Ku Klux Klan in the early days, not the Bolsheviks, not the Nazis, nobody was going to get to him. He knew what he was worth.
PHILLIPS: Ed Hotaling, it's a fascinating book. It's interesting. Tomorrow, Kentucky Derby, 10 of the 20 jockeys Hispanics, still no black jockeys.
HOTALING: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I know that you're working on another book. My guess is that's part two. But this book, incredible. Just the life and journey of Jimmy Winkfield. It's fantastic that you're remembering him and that more people now recognizing him. Now he's in the hall of fame and even a race created in his name. Ed, thank you so much.
HOTALING: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right.
O'BRIEN: That's all the time we have for LIVE FROM for this whole week. Time to take a couple days off. What do you say?
PHILLIPS: Sounds good to me.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's do it. Thanks for being with us.
PHILLIPS: Judy Woodruff now with "INSIDE POLITICS."
Hi, Judy. Happy Friday.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Thanks to you. Happy Friday to both of you. See you Monday.
Well, should evolution be taught to students in Kansas? That is one of our topics today.
And is Justice Scalia lobbying to be Chief Justice Scalia?
And if it's Friday, it's "Play of the Week" day. You probably won't believe who wins it this week.
"INSIDE POLITICS" just minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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 May 6, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Checking some stories now in the news. An ultimatum from the kidnappers of an Australian contractor in Iraq. Douglas Wood dies unless Australia withdraws its troops from Iraq. Al Jazeera TV reports the kidnappers have set a deadline of 72 hours.
In a California courtroom, a mother takes the stand in defense of Michael Jackson. Her son is one of the boy prosecutors claim Jackson molested during the 1990's. We'll have more on her testimony in a moment.
Leaving Las Vegas, the woman who said she found a finger in her Wendy's chili being moved from Nevada to California today to face charges. Police say Anna Ayala planted the finger in her own food at a San Jose Wendy's.
And a developing story at a beef processing plant in Franconia Township, Pennsylvania. Plant officials tell us there's been a shooting there. All we know right now is it happened in an employee parking lot outside the Moyer packing plant. There are reports of injuries. We will update this story as we get more information for you.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Police on a bus and civilians at a market, six hours and 120 miles apart, killed and maimed by suicide car bombers on yet another grisly Friday in Iraq.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote has the latest on that and a discovery at a Baghdad landfill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No let-up in the violence in Iraq today. Two separate suicide bomber attacks. The first one, the most recent one in the southern city of Suwayra, a suicide bomber blowing himself up in the middle of a very busy marketplace, killing at least 22, wounding at least 43. No sign of any military target there.
And in the northern city of Tikrit, another suicide bomber attack. This time the suicide bomber drove his car into a bus carrying Iraq police to work, killing at least seven of them, wounding three more. That was the third attack on Iraq's security forces in the last three days.
And lastly, a gruesome discovery in the Iraqi capital. The bodies of 14 Iraqi men were found in a garbage dump. All of them appeared to have been shot in the head execution style.
Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: President Bush due in the Baltics any second now. Stop one on a five-day, four-nation tour highlighting the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. V.E. Day was undeniably one of the turning points of the 20th century. But Eastern Europe languished in oppression for decades afterward.
Beginning in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mr. Bush will sound the theme that freedom is worth waiting for and fighting for and that it comes with responsibilities.
From Latvia, the president travels to V.E. ceremonies in the Netherlands, then to Moscow, where he'll watch a military parade in Red Square, a notion unthinkable in the days of the Iron Curtain.
Mr. Bush's last stop is to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, one of three to undergo nonviolent democratic revolutions in the past year and a half. He's due back in Washington on Tuesday.
Bush and other world leaders are sending congratulations to British Prime Minister Tony Blair today. He's just earned a third term, his Labor Party making history by winning three straight elections. But it came at a huge political price. Before yesterday's vote, Labor had about 160 more seats than the Conservatives in the House of Commons, that margin down to about 66 seats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've listened and I've learned. And I think I have a very clear idea of what the British people now expect from this government for a third term. And I want to say to them very directly that I, we, the government, are going to focus relentlessly now on the priorities the people have set for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The prime minister's term lasts five years, but analysts say they won't be surprised if Mr. Blair steps down early.
PHILLIPS: In Santa Maria, California, the Michael Jackson defense calls a mom to the stand. CNN's Rusty Dornin with more on the campaign to refute prosecution claims of child molestation at Neverland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Both mothers and a sister of the two witnesses that testified yesterday in the case have come forward this morning to talk about the fact that they don't believe anything inappropriate happened between Michael Jackson and their son or their brother.
Legal experts here say there could be some problems with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this witness is a good example of the perils and pitfalls of calling people who ultimately want to say nothing happened. To get to the nothing happened, you have to go through, "But I let my son" or "I stayed and slept with Michael Jackson in his bed." That is simply going give the jurors a lot of pause.
DORNIN: Prosecutors appear relentless in their questioning of these witnesses on that same note, in that same vein, saying, "How do you know what happened between Michael Jackson and your son or brother behind closed doors? Are you sure nothing could have happened? How do you know? The doors were closed," and that sort of thing, trying to attack their credibility in terms of the fact they may not have known something was going on.
The mother of one of the witnesses will be back on the stand. Then we're expected to hear from the sister also of the second witness.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Santa Maria, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Across America this hour, arrested this Florida. Patrick Wayne Bell, convicted sexual predator sought by police since Tuesday when he removed his tracking bracelet then vanished. He was spotted and arrested by U.S. marshals in Tallahassee.
The FDA drawing fire. The agency will recommend that sperm banks bar homosexual men from anonymously donating sperm. Gay rights groups are outraged, claiming discrimination. FDA officials say men who have had homosexual relations in the last five years carry a high risk of disease. The ban could go into effect this month.
And if you vote Democrat, you won't be welcome here. Several members of this Baptist church in North Carolina say the pastor gave them an ultimatum: support President Bush or find another church. Nine members were reportedly asked to leave; 40 others, we're told, also left in protest. We've asked the church to comment. Not a prayer.
PHILLIPS: Apart from her 911 call we really don't know what Jennifer Wilbanks sounds like. But an Albuquerque radio station is offering Duluth, Georgia's own runaway bride a job. The program director at talk radio station KAGM-AM says, "Of course, we're looking for publicity," but he insists it's a serious offer. But would Wilbanks consider such a huge lifestyle change? The station's faxed particulars to Wilbanks' attorney and spokesperson, Reverend Tom Smiley, who seems to think there's still hope for Jennifer and John's relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. TOM SMILEY, WILBANKS' PASTOR: Well, their relationship stands rights now, I think in good stead. They're very communicative. They've spent a lot of time together. They're not making any, you know, great, grand decisions right now. They're really working together.
John is involved in some of her professional treatment. He's with her. He's been with her in her earlier treatment sessions and her other -- other professional visits. So the relationship is going along well. What their future plans are, I think, remains for them to decide and for them to work out. And I believe they will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: By the way, the gig would be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it would be her very own talk show or sidekick status on the morning show and would pay a whopping $30,000.
O'BRIEN: I wonder what she has to say? We'll find out.
PHILLIPS: She's running from it right now.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Dramatic developments from Blockbuster Video as the drama leaps off the rental shelves and into a business meeting. Details on the plot twist ahead on LIVE FROM. No late fees.
And also ahead, he was the last African-American to win the Kentucky Derby and he did it more than 100 years ago. The amazing story of the man known as Wink coming up.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, HOST, "TURNAROUND": I'm Ali Velshi with a "TURNAROUND" tips.
Every day small businesses get hit with lawsuits, and they can turn your small business dream into a nightmare. So to protect your business against lawsuits, think about getting a lawyer before you need one.
JACK KAUFMAN, KAUFMAN, KAUFMAN & MILLER LLP: There is no poison pill to kill the possibility of a lawsuit. They come from various sources such as your employees, your vendors, your own customers.
VELSHI (voice-over): Look for an attorney that specializes in small business. Ask other entrepreneurs if they would recommend their lawyer. Ask your banker, accountant or insurance agent for a recommendation, and create an employee handbook.
KAUFMAN: An excellent way to safeguard a business is to have an employee handbook that will deal with the responsibilities of the employer and advise the employee what their responsibilities are. VELSHI (on camera): There are many rewards to owning your own business. Don't risk losing it all because you failed to protect yourself with legal advice.
I'm Ali Velshi with today's "TURNAROUND" tip. See you next time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Ali Velshi, in all his sartorial splendor, will be there for you to tell you how to run your business tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Eastern. "TURNAROUND" is the program.
PHILLIPS: He's one of our favorites.
O'BRIEN: Friend of the show.
PHILLIPS: Now that he has his program, we can never get him on live.
O'BRIEN: No, he's not available to us anymore. But we wish him well. He's on to bigger things. And he's got a great show there. It's a great idea.
PHILLIPS: Big drama brewing at Blockbuster. That's the headline, of course, I think that's kind of gotten overused. Brewing at Blockbuster.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, we like that term, brewing.
PHILLIPS: And it's nothing to do with movies that they rent.
O'BRIEN: It has to do with movies meeting Carl Icahn. And whenever Carl Icahn gets in the mix you know there's going to be a fight, right Kathleen?
PHILLIPS: Lots of money.
(STOCK REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Kathleen.
PHILLIPS: While the celebrities and the racing fans get set for the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, we found one of the most fascinating stories in horse racing that very few people know about. The tale of the epic journey of Jimmy Winkfield, both on and off the track. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he's probably one of the best athletes you've never heard of. He was a fierce competitor and a giant of a man who stood barely five feet tall.
His name is Jimmy Winkfield, but he went by Wink. His story is now being told in the book "Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield." Author Ed Hotaling joins me live from Washington to talk about it. Very appropriate as we get ready for the Kentucky Derby.
Ed, great to see you.
ED HOTALING, AUTHOR, "WINK": Hi.
PHILLIPS: Well, I think probably one of the most fascinating things about Wink is this is somebody that dominated horse racing up to the Civil War, and we've never even talked about this man.
HOTALING: Yes, very few people know that horse racing was our oldest professional sport, 200 years older, starting in the mid- 1600's. And the great black jockeys of the old days were our first professional athletes.
PHILLIPS: And he grew up in Kentucky.
HOTALING: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, we've talked so much about discrimination and the racism that took place, but at that time, they were protected by their talents, right?
HOTALING: Exactly. The Ku Klux Klan was not about to attack the trainers and jockeys of the huge, very expensive Kentucky horse farm, so that protected these very talented people.
But they also had their own role models. We're talking about the 1880s and 1890s, when racism was rampant all over the country. But these young men had their own role models in the great jockeys of the past, going way back to colonial days down to the Civil War and then afterwards up to the Kentucky Derby.
PHILLIPS: So let's talk about what happened in Kentucky and what led him to Russia?
HOTALING: Well, in Kentucky he became one of the top jockeys. The black jockeys dominated the early Kentucky Derby. They won 15 of the first 28. And he won two back to back. Even today he's one of only four jockeys to have won it back -- to have won the Derby back to back.
But racism was forcing the black jockeys out of the sport, and so were hard times, rough economic times. So the black jockeys were getting kicked out, ending up in the ghetto, having to lose their livelihoods, never to return to the sport. He wasn't going to take it.
Here's this young 21-year-old kid sailing to Russia by himself because the sport had moved to Europe. Everybody in Europe loved racing. So, unable to become the top jockey in this country, in the country's leading sport, he became the leading country under the czars of Russia.
PHILLIPS: Incredible.
HOTALING: He won the Moscow Derby four times. He made side trips into Germany and Austria and became a great champion there.
His neighbors when he was living in Austria were Adolf Hitler, who had to read about this lone black American winning these races and hated it, and Sigmund Freud, the psychiatrist, who probably had to treat people who were foolish enough not to bet on him. And the Bolsheviks finally chased him out of Russia, though, at gunpoint.
He went to Odessa, the last of the holdouts of the czars, and then he led 200 czars, men, women, and children, and 200 thoroughbreds on an 1,100-mile odyssey across Eastern Europe, believe it or not, and they survived. Some of the horses died and they ate some of the horses that died.
But it was an incredible courageous march away from, escaping from Russia. And then one day in Poland he got a call from one of the Russians who had escaped to France and said, "Come on and ride my horses in Paris."
PHILLIPS: OK. So there -- all right. Hold on, I'll be -- just stay with us a minute, Ed. Just quickly, a live picture, the president of the United States actually left Washington early this morning. He's now arriving in Latvia with, of course, his wife, the first lady.
It's the first stop here in Latvia on a four-nation trip to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The president's also going to visit the Netherlands, Russia and Georgia.
But right now, you're seeing him side by side with the president of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and he's going to spend time with her. And then, of course, continue his trip, ending up, actually, with a pretty emotional memorial service, we're told, at an American cemetery in the Netherlands by the end of the weekend.
So we're going to continue to follow the president's trip, now in Latvia, begins his four-nation tour, once again, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
All right. Back now to the incredible life and epic journey of Jimmy Winkfield. Ed, we'll continue our conversation.
He arrived in Paris and now he becomes friends with Ernest Hemingway and all these...
HOTALING: That's right.
PHILLIPS: ... fascinating folks in Paris. But once again haunted by the Nazis. They arrive in Paris. He's got to get up and move again.
HOTALING: That's right. He -- the Nazis arrive in 1940, take over his stable, ship the horses back to Germany, because horse racing, believe it or not continued all during World War II in Germany. And not only did the Nazis steal great art from France but they also stole thoroughbred horses all over Europe. And he went after him one day with -- they moved into his house and into his stables. And he went after a group of Nazis one day with a pitchfork who were mistreating his horses. But he wasn't going to defeat Nazi Germany, obviously, with a pitchfork. The Nazis seized his property. He escaped, arrived in New York City a short time afterwards with $9 to his name. And got a job...
PHILLIPS: So here -- yes. I was going to say, so here he was with $9, his Russian wife, and but he got himself a job, ended up buying a horse, right?
HOTALING: Right. And the horse, Little Rocket, a sort of a Seabiscuit of his day, rocketed him all the way back to France, where he took over his stable again, became a top trainer again and one went back to Kentucky to visit. It's an incredible story. When he went back to Kentucky...
PHILLIPS: This was in the '60s, right?
HOTALING: It was 1961.
PHILLIPS: OK.
HOTALING: And a lot of people in Kentucky, apparently, for some reason, were surprised that after 60 years, he was still black. And they wouldn't let him in the front door...
PHILLIPS: Unbelievable.
HOTALING: ... of the Brown Hotel in Louisville, where he was going to be one of the guest of -- one of the guests of honor at a banquet there.
But he eventually got in. His daughter, who was with him, was absolutely furious. She was a child of the civil rights movement. He -- he didn't let it get to him. He went to the Derby next day and had a great time, went back to France and died a well-to-do, wealthy man, very happy.
What carried him through all of his battles with the Bolsheviks and the Nazis and early racists was his self-esteem. Nobody could get to him. He knew who he was. He knew he was an incredible man. Nobody, not the Ku Klux Klan in the early days, not the Bolsheviks, not the Nazis, nobody was going to get to him. He knew what he was worth.
PHILLIPS: Ed Hotaling, it's a fascinating book. It's interesting. Tomorrow, Kentucky Derby, 10 of the 20 jockeys Hispanics, still no black jockeys.
HOTALING: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I know that you're working on another book. My guess is that's part two. But this book, incredible. Just the life and journey of Jimmy Winkfield. It's fantastic that you're remembering him and that more people now recognizing him. Now he's in the hall of fame and even a race created in his name. Ed, thank you so much.
HOTALING: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right.
O'BRIEN: That's all the time we have for LIVE FROM for this whole week. Time to take a couple days off. What do you say?
PHILLIPS: Sounds good to me.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's do it. Thanks for being with us.
PHILLIPS: Judy Woodruff now with "INSIDE POLITICS."
Hi, Judy. Happy Friday.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Thanks to you. Happy Friday to both of you. See you Monday.
Well, should evolution be taught to students in Kansas? That is one of our topics today.
And is Justice Scalia lobbying to be Chief Justice Scalia?
And if it's Friday, it's "Play of the Week" day. You probably won't believe who wins it this week.
"INSIDE POLITICS" just minutes away.
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