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CNN Live Today
Prosecutors Charge Man They Say Caused Deadly Train Crash; Nazi Ideology Has New Generation of Possible Devotees
Aired January 27, 2005 - 11:30 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Eleven counts of murder. Prosecutors charged the man they say caused the deadly train crash in Southern California.
CNN's correspondent Ted Rowlands is in Glendale this morning, just outside of Los Angeles.
Good morning.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Juan Alvarez is also facing the possibility of the death penalty as special circumstances has also been added to the charges against him, making him eligible for the death penalty in California, because he was involved in a train derailment. He's automatically eligible for that, and that has been filed along with murder charges. And as Rick mentioned that could go up in terms of 11 counts if more victims are found. There's still another missing person. Alvarez is cooperative, according to investigators. He is hospitalized because of self-inflicted wounds that are being characterized as nonlife threatening. He may make a court appearance today if he's physically able to do so. If not, he will most likely be arraigned tomorrow.
He was suicidal when he parked his car on the tracks in Glendale, which of course led to the derailment and death of at least 11 people here. The fact that he may have been suicidal does not exclude him from murder charges. In fact they say just the fact that he didn't try to kill 11 people really in this case doesn't really matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COOLEY, L.A. CO. D.A.: All of the facts relate to state of mind will be brought out in a court of law, and sometimes someone's being despondent, or suicidal or upset, or whatever the problem is nothing more than a motive that can suggest an attempt to commit a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Now, meanwhile here in Glendale the search continues for victims. There is one woman passenger who has been identified by friends and family as missing. They are looking for her remains if indeed she was on one of these commuter trains and was killed. They hope they don't find her, but they continue to look through the wreckage and will continue through the day looking for her and other possible victims -- Daryn. KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, live from Glendale, California, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Here are some of the logistics of the elections, their goals, a 275-member national assembly and 18 provisional councils. That's what they hope to choose. Also a president and two vice presidents that will then be selected by the national assembly in Iraq, a new Iraqi president, also going to select a prime minister. A new constitution will be written by the national assembly, and will have to approved by voters in yet another referendum.
Also Iraqis living in the United States can vote starting tomorrow. That's an estimated 25,000 registered voters. Eddie Louis Rayes is one of them. He came to United States from Iraq in the early 1980s and became a U.S. citizen in 1988.
KAGAN: And I think I'll pick it up from there. My guest, Eddie Lewis Rayes, is one of the Iraqis joining us now from Madison Heights, Michigan.
Good morning.
EDDIE LEWIS RAYES, IRAQI-AMERICAN VOTER: Good morning. How're you doing, Daryn?
KAGAN: I'm doing great.
I imagine this is a huge week for you.
RAYES: Yes, it is.
KAGAN: How important was it for you to participate in this election?
RAYES: It is very important for all of us. As a (INAUDIBLE) and Michigan, we have to go out there and vote, and this is our opportunity, lifetime opportunity, for all Iraqis all over the world to go and vote for their freedom and democracy, and a free Iraq.
KAGAN: So just people understand your story here. You're born in Iraq, you came here in the '80s, you're an American citizen and yet you're going to vote. What did have you to go through in order to be able to go through this process?
RAYES: We had to go register last week, last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we had to go out there and register our names and show our proof of Iraqi citizen, and register our name and go start on Friday, Saturday, and next Sunday to go and vote for who do we want to vote for out of 300 and some ballots -- group.
KAGAN: So a bit of a procedure to go through, but I would imagine nothing compared to what people in Iraq will have to go through, and actually risk their lives to get to a polling place.
RAYES: Not at all. Not at all. And we hope by next four or five years in Iraq itself will be easy as it is here to vote and express your votes to who you want to vote for, and that's what we hope for in the future.
KAGAN: So you look at this long list of names. You're so far removed from your home country, how do you know how to vote for?
RAYES: How do I know who to vote for? We've got a group (INAUDIBLE) in Iraq that was established in 2003, after the collapse of Saddam Hussein, and we had a group present all of the (INAUDIBLE) around the world, and we hope that we select some of those candidates to go up there and have our rights as a minority in Iraq, to provide us with all our rights to live free and in a democratic atmosphere.
KAGAN: Eddie, I got to tell you, I can hear the excitement in your voice, just thinking about this and talking about this. You've had, I imagine, some very big moments in your life, coming to this country, becoming a U.S. citizen, voting here. How does this rank in those experiences, and what do you say to the people that are concerned about all of the violence?
RAYES: Well, I am very concerned. As a matter of fact, this morning I talked to some of my relatives back in Iraq. They were a little bit concerned. But we kind of encouraged them they have to go out there and vote. They have to express their votes to vote for who they want and what -- for the free and democratic Iraq. That's -- we made several calls this morning to my relatives personally, and we encouraged them to go out there and vote. We have to vote, and we will prevail.
KAGAN: What long term do you hope for your country? Your other country, because this is also your country.
RAYES: Yes, it is. Well, my dream is coming true. My dream is coming true to vote, so I can go visit back home. I haven't been in Iraq since 1980. My dream is by next year or year after I can go visit and see my old childhood friends and my family and relatives, to see them without worrying about all of those violence and government coming in and asking you all of those questions, and dictatorships running the country. I don't have to worry about that. I'll be so happy and so proud. And I go see the place where I was born at. I was willing to go see the house that I lived in for 14 years before I left Iraq, and that's going to be my dream.
KAGAN: Well that sounds like a wonderful dream, indeed. We hope it comes true for you. Eddie Lewis Rayes, thanks for talking about the elections, and congratulations on getting to vote.
RAYES: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, you can join Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad, Paula Zahn's back in New York for "IRAQ VOTES." CNN's team of journalists brings you personal stories of struggle and sacrifice at the heart of Iraq's quest for democracy. It Is a two-hour prime time special.
SANCHEZ: Here's another story we're following on this day. Margaret Spellings became education secretary on Monday. Immediately she took aim at PBS children's program called "Postcards From Buster" because of an episode featuring a lesbian couple.
Lindsey Arent is joining us now from Washington with the federal fuss over the kiddie show.
Fill us in, Lindsey.
LINDSEY ARENT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Rick. Good morning to you.
Now this is a controversy that has some very unlikely characters involved. No. 1, it's an animated rabbit named buster. No. 2, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, as you said, and then finally the top brass at PBS, and it involved a PBC children's show called "Postcards From Buster," which is a spinoff of the wildly popular kid show "Arthur" that you just saw right there, and it's funded, in part, by the education department, and what it does basically is it's a show that goes around the country exposing kids to what regular Americans are doing in their daily lives.
The episode that caused so much trouble, though, is called "Sugartime," and it in, Buster the rabbit goes to Vermont, and he meets a couple of families with some kids who show him how to make maple sugar and cheese on their Vermont farm.
Now it just so happens, though, that these two families are headed by lesbian couples, and therein the trouble begins.
I spoke with some PBS officials today. They said on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., they became concerned about the show and the possibility for controversy, so they voluntarily decided to not distribute the show to 349 of their affiliates across the country. Five hours later PBS received a letter from education secretary Margaret Spellings, essentially talking about her opposition to the program's content.
And the letter says, quote: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode." The letter goes on to say, quote, "We believe you should strongly consider refunding to the department, the federal education funds that were used for the episode."
Now gay activists were upset about this. Members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation put a statement of their own on their Web site, saying, "For the Department of Education to try to prevent television programs from depicting gays and lesbians should raise serious concerns for all Americans. Secretary Spellings attempt to create and enforce a policy of invisibility for gay and lesbian families is a profoundly offensive display of intolerance."
Now even though PBS decided on its own to pull out of the show and to not distribute it to all of its affiliates, the show's producers, WGBH in Boston, decided to go ahead. They're going to air the show on their own, and they offer it to any of the affiliates across the country.
Now you might notice this is not the first time a children's cartoon character has caused some controversy. Spongebob Squarepants, everybody's favorite undersea sponge, was the focus of some attacks by some Christian groups most recently when they attacked the character for being what they say pro-homosexual. Of course you might also Tinky Winky, a teletubby, was attacked for some similar reasons, as well. So clearly, it's an interesting controversy that's going to get very animated. No pun intended -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: How can we forget? Lindsay Arent, we thank you for bringing us that story, or shall we say controversy. Keep an eye on it for us.
KAGAN: We're also keeping an eye on Cleveland. President Bush is at there at the Cleveland Clinic talking today about health care and computerizing medical records. We're keeping an eye on that, listening in and we'll be back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: This one just sounds like bad dream horror movie. A North Carolina man declared dead and taken to the morgue turned out to be alive. How did this happen and what does it take to actually really be dead? Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here live with those answers.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And that's not a matter of dispute. I'm definitely alive.
KAGAN: No, I will vouch for you, you are alive.
COHEN: OK, thank you. Glad -- good -- glad to hear that. Well, this is definitely a very strange and very unusual story. On Monday in North Carolina, Larry Green was crossing the street, he was in the middle of an intersection when a car hit him. A team of first responders came to the scene and one of those first responders declared him dead.
He was then brought to the morgue, where the medical examiner or the coroner, rather, felt for the pulse in three different places, in his neck, his arm and his thigh and felt nothing, felt no pulse. But what he did see was an almost imperceptible tiny movement in his abdominal muscle. And in fact, he said that he hadn't -- if Larry Green had not been stripped of his clothing, if there hadn't been good light, he might have missed it. Two hours after the accident, Larry Green was sent to Duke Medical Center, where he's in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Of course, the first question that comes up here is how could this happen? Well, again, very, very unusual. One (UNINTELLIGIBLE) said in ten years, he's only seen something like this happen twice. But he said there are two circumstances that can make this happen. One, very cold temperatures can make the pulse very, very weak. And indeed, it was cold., it was about 30, 32 degrees. And secondly, if someone is overweight or obese, it can be hard to feel that pulse. Larry Green was neither. Now, most states commonly use -- EKGs are commonly used to see if the person is alive or not.
KAGAN: So this man hopefully on the road to recovery? COHEN: Yes. Well, we hope so. He's again, in intensive care at Duke.
KAGAN: Still has a long road ahead of him. Elizabeth, thank you for that. To get your "Daily Dose" of some less disturbing health news, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is cnn.com/health.
COHEN: A controversial story out of Florida is coming up next. Take a look at these drawings. The school-aged artists are in big trouble. Do you know why? We're going to tell you what happened to them when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A hearing will determine if the young boys behind cheese stick drawings can return to school on Monday. School officials in Ocala, Florida believe the drawings were meant as a threat against the classmate, so they had the boys arrested and hauled out of class in handcuffs. The boys are nine and 10 years old, are in special ed. Their parents say they should be punished, but having them arrested was simply over the top.
SANCHEZ: A lot of people might listen to that story that Daryn was just reading and think, well, that could be a harmless act. Not so with this next story. Our CNN investigative unit reveals that 60 years after the fall of the Third Reich, the Nazi ideology has a new generation of possible devotees in schools all over our country. So we set out to track down the purveyors of this hate message.
Here now my special report, which you'll see only on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): This is Minnesota 2005, not Munich in the 1930s. It's a new generation, an American generation, worshipping the ideals of the Nazis to a heavy metal beat. It's hate, Hitler and heavy metal, as the man behind the music proudly looks on.
BRYON CALVERT, PANZERFAUST RECORDS: Do you know how many labels I could start with a quarter of a million?
SANCHEZ: From his home in South St. Paul, Minnesota, ex-con Bryon Calvert, really name Brian Cheeny (ph), has made it his mission and business to market hate rock. He calls it white power music.
CALVERT: What we sell is survival, dude, survival, and that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sells itself.
SANCHEZ: And what Calvert sells he seems to believe. It's in his music, in his books, and on his body.
(on camera): Are you a devotee of Adolph Hitler?
CALVERT: There's a lot of things that he did that were spot on. SANCHEZ (voice-over): The label is called Panzerfaust, in tribute to the Nazis. The lyrics glorify violence, against blacks, against Hispanics, but with a special emphasis on Jews.
(on camera): Let me read to you from some of songs -- "Now the Jew must pay the bill. Now it's crystal night once more. Your race once again burns."
It sounds pretty violent. It sounds pretty hateful.
CALVERT: Hey, hey, hey, Nobody ever said that -- I'm not trying to convince anybody that I'm a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We are not a bunch of pacifists. There are angry white kids writing this music. There are angry white kids listening to it, no doubt about that.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Kids that Calvert wants to convert with his music, and his Web site.
(on camera): Let me read something from your Web site. "We don't entertain racist kids," you write. "We create them."
CALVERT: You asked me that, but aren't you concerned that you're going to make these kids -- I am a racist. I obviously think that the world would be a lot better place if there was a lot more racist people.
SANCHEZ: This is where the movement goes from someone's belief, no matter how hateful, to something that most would consider much worse. In fact, they call it "Project Schoolyard." They are targeting kids, maybe your kids, by trying to get them hooked on their music.
(voice-over): Students across the country. Calvert say tens of thousands of them are receiving this CD, with music from bands like Hate Machine and The Bully Boys.
CALVERT: It's an outreach effort, and it's not really any different than any other company that gives samples of its product to people. For example, if I have a coffee company and I want to give people samples of my coffee, I'm not going to give it to my own customers.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Coffee doesn't come with a message of hate.
CALVERT: Who gives a damn. The purpose of that example is a marketing example.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): The principal of this West Virginia town gave a damn when two people tried to distribute the CDs to his students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We certainly don't appreciate unwanted people coming and trying to take advantage of 10 to 14-year-olds with hateful propaganda.
SANCHEZ: But that's exactly what Calvert and Panzerfaust are trying to do. And when the principal tried to stop it, he got this phone call from Calvert, who then recorded it and put it on his Web site.
CALVERT: I suggest you mind your own (EXPLETIVE DELETED) business and stop stealing CDs from your students before you get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sued out of you.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Bryon, they're children. Would you like it if your kid went to a school and someone came and gave him this message?
CALVERT: If I have to make room for homosexuals and hot-and-tots and you name it, you're going to make room for white kids with rebel flags and white power CDs, and if you don't like it, tough (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
SANCHEZ (voice-over): For all of the music CDs that Project Schoolyard have distributed, it's not clear how many new Nazis Panzerfaust has created.
Meantime, Calvert is now in a business dispute with his partner.
(on camera): You're having problems with Panzerfaust in particular? Will that mean the demise of the movement?
CALVERT: Of course not. One monkey don't stop no show.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): The "monkey" slur is aimed at Calvert's partner. Calvert now wants to cut ties with him because he's part Hispanic, not pure enough, nor white enough for him and the other angry young men who gather in basements like this one, surrounded by the sounds and the images of a hateful time, a time they want to bring back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And there's really no question that they don't discriminate in how they discriminate. Daryn, I've been going over some of the notes as we were putting this piece together. These are some of the lyrics from some of the other songs -- quoting -- "Destroy all your enemies. The best thing comes to those who hate." And as far as immigrants and Hispanics in this country, "Time to close the flood gates, repatriate them,ship them out, send the expletive out. If they don't expletive like it, it will be in body bags." This is what kids are hearing.
KAGAN: I'm interested in your personal experience. You go and you sit down with the guy. You say hi, I'm Rick Sanchez. He knows your Hispanic. What was that interaction like?
SANCHEZ: We had an interaction as a matter of fact at one point, and I said to him, I have a wife who is not Hispanic. I have four beautiful children. We have dinner every night. We pray. I'm as good an American as you are, aren't you? He says, well, let me tell you something about your wife, she's a race mixer.
KAGAN: Nice. And then you slapped him.
SANCHEZ: I did my job.
KAGAN: Well thank you for that story, incredible, chilling, yet important to see.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
KAGAN: That's going wrap it up for us. I am Daryn Kagan for Rick Sanchez. Wolf Blitzer will be you after a quick break, and we will see you tomorrow morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired January 27, 2005 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Eleven counts of murder. Prosecutors charged the man they say caused the deadly train crash in Southern California.
CNN's correspondent Ted Rowlands is in Glendale this morning, just outside of Los Angeles.
Good morning.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Juan Alvarez is also facing the possibility of the death penalty as special circumstances has also been added to the charges against him, making him eligible for the death penalty in California, because he was involved in a train derailment. He's automatically eligible for that, and that has been filed along with murder charges. And as Rick mentioned that could go up in terms of 11 counts if more victims are found. There's still another missing person. Alvarez is cooperative, according to investigators. He is hospitalized because of self-inflicted wounds that are being characterized as nonlife threatening. He may make a court appearance today if he's physically able to do so. If not, he will most likely be arraigned tomorrow.
He was suicidal when he parked his car on the tracks in Glendale, which of course led to the derailment and death of at least 11 people here. The fact that he may have been suicidal does not exclude him from murder charges. In fact they say just the fact that he didn't try to kill 11 people really in this case doesn't really matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COOLEY, L.A. CO. D.A.: All of the facts relate to state of mind will be brought out in a court of law, and sometimes someone's being despondent, or suicidal or upset, or whatever the problem is nothing more than a motive that can suggest an attempt to commit a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Now, meanwhile here in Glendale the search continues for victims. There is one woman passenger who has been identified by friends and family as missing. They are looking for her remains if indeed she was on one of these commuter trains and was killed. They hope they don't find her, but they continue to look through the wreckage and will continue through the day looking for her and other possible victims -- Daryn. KAGAN: Ted Rowlands, live from Glendale, California, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Here are some of the logistics of the elections, their goals, a 275-member national assembly and 18 provisional councils. That's what they hope to choose. Also a president and two vice presidents that will then be selected by the national assembly in Iraq, a new Iraqi president, also going to select a prime minister. A new constitution will be written by the national assembly, and will have to approved by voters in yet another referendum.
Also Iraqis living in the United States can vote starting tomorrow. That's an estimated 25,000 registered voters. Eddie Louis Rayes is one of them. He came to United States from Iraq in the early 1980s and became a U.S. citizen in 1988.
KAGAN: And I think I'll pick it up from there. My guest, Eddie Lewis Rayes, is one of the Iraqis joining us now from Madison Heights, Michigan.
Good morning.
EDDIE LEWIS RAYES, IRAQI-AMERICAN VOTER: Good morning. How're you doing, Daryn?
KAGAN: I'm doing great.
I imagine this is a huge week for you.
RAYES: Yes, it is.
KAGAN: How important was it for you to participate in this election?
RAYES: It is very important for all of us. As a (INAUDIBLE) and Michigan, we have to go out there and vote, and this is our opportunity, lifetime opportunity, for all Iraqis all over the world to go and vote for their freedom and democracy, and a free Iraq.
KAGAN: So just people understand your story here. You're born in Iraq, you came here in the '80s, you're an American citizen and yet you're going to vote. What did have you to go through in order to be able to go through this process?
RAYES: We had to go register last week, last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we had to go out there and register our names and show our proof of Iraqi citizen, and register our name and go start on Friday, Saturday, and next Sunday to go and vote for who do we want to vote for out of 300 and some ballots -- group.
KAGAN: So a bit of a procedure to go through, but I would imagine nothing compared to what people in Iraq will have to go through, and actually risk their lives to get to a polling place.
RAYES: Not at all. Not at all. And we hope by next four or five years in Iraq itself will be easy as it is here to vote and express your votes to who you want to vote for, and that's what we hope for in the future.
KAGAN: So you look at this long list of names. You're so far removed from your home country, how do you know how to vote for?
RAYES: How do I know who to vote for? We've got a group (INAUDIBLE) in Iraq that was established in 2003, after the collapse of Saddam Hussein, and we had a group present all of the (INAUDIBLE) around the world, and we hope that we select some of those candidates to go up there and have our rights as a minority in Iraq, to provide us with all our rights to live free and in a democratic atmosphere.
KAGAN: Eddie, I got to tell you, I can hear the excitement in your voice, just thinking about this and talking about this. You've had, I imagine, some very big moments in your life, coming to this country, becoming a U.S. citizen, voting here. How does this rank in those experiences, and what do you say to the people that are concerned about all of the violence?
RAYES: Well, I am very concerned. As a matter of fact, this morning I talked to some of my relatives back in Iraq. They were a little bit concerned. But we kind of encouraged them they have to go out there and vote. They have to express their votes to vote for who they want and what -- for the free and democratic Iraq. That's -- we made several calls this morning to my relatives personally, and we encouraged them to go out there and vote. We have to vote, and we will prevail.
KAGAN: What long term do you hope for your country? Your other country, because this is also your country.
RAYES: Yes, it is. Well, my dream is coming true. My dream is coming true to vote, so I can go visit back home. I haven't been in Iraq since 1980. My dream is by next year or year after I can go visit and see my old childhood friends and my family and relatives, to see them without worrying about all of those violence and government coming in and asking you all of those questions, and dictatorships running the country. I don't have to worry about that. I'll be so happy and so proud. And I go see the place where I was born at. I was willing to go see the house that I lived in for 14 years before I left Iraq, and that's going to be my dream.
KAGAN: Well that sounds like a wonderful dream, indeed. We hope it comes true for you. Eddie Lewis Rayes, thanks for talking about the elections, and congratulations on getting to vote.
RAYES: Thank you very much.
KAGAN: Tonight at 7:00 Eastern, you can join Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad, Paula Zahn's back in New York for "IRAQ VOTES." CNN's team of journalists brings you personal stories of struggle and sacrifice at the heart of Iraq's quest for democracy. It Is a two-hour prime time special.
SANCHEZ: Here's another story we're following on this day. Margaret Spellings became education secretary on Monday. Immediately she took aim at PBS children's program called "Postcards From Buster" because of an episode featuring a lesbian couple.
Lindsey Arent is joining us now from Washington with the federal fuss over the kiddie show.
Fill us in, Lindsey.
LINDSEY ARENT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Rick. Good morning to you.
Now this is a controversy that has some very unlikely characters involved. No. 1, it's an animated rabbit named buster. No. 2, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, as you said, and then finally the top brass at PBS, and it involved a PBC children's show called "Postcards From Buster," which is a spinoff of the wildly popular kid show "Arthur" that you just saw right there, and it's funded, in part, by the education department, and what it does basically is it's a show that goes around the country exposing kids to what regular Americans are doing in their daily lives.
The episode that caused so much trouble, though, is called "Sugartime," and it in, Buster the rabbit goes to Vermont, and he meets a couple of families with some kids who show him how to make maple sugar and cheese on their Vermont farm.
Now it just so happens, though, that these two families are headed by lesbian couples, and therein the trouble begins.
I spoke with some PBS officials today. They said on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., they became concerned about the show and the possibility for controversy, so they voluntarily decided to not distribute the show to 349 of their affiliates across the country. Five hours later PBS received a letter from education secretary Margaret Spellings, essentially talking about her opposition to the program's content.
And the letter says, quote: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode." The letter goes on to say, quote, "We believe you should strongly consider refunding to the department, the federal education funds that were used for the episode."
Now gay activists were upset about this. Members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation put a statement of their own on their Web site, saying, "For the Department of Education to try to prevent television programs from depicting gays and lesbians should raise serious concerns for all Americans. Secretary Spellings attempt to create and enforce a policy of invisibility for gay and lesbian families is a profoundly offensive display of intolerance."
Now even though PBS decided on its own to pull out of the show and to not distribute it to all of its affiliates, the show's producers, WGBH in Boston, decided to go ahead. They're going to air the show on their own, and they offer it to any of the affiliates across the country.
Now you might notice this is not the first time a children's cartoon character has caused some controversy. Spongebob Squarepants, everybody's favorite undersea sponge, was the focus of some attacks by some Christian groups most recently when they attacked the character for being what they say pro-homosexual. Of course you might also Tinky Winky, a teletubby, was attacked for some similar reasons, as well. So clearly, it's an interesting controversy that's going to get very animated. No pun intended -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: How can we forget? Lindsay Arent, we thank you for bringing us that story, or shall we say controversy. Keep an eye on it for us.
KAGAN: We're also keeping an eye on Cleveland. President Bush is at there at the Cleveland Clinic talking today about health care and computerizing medical records. We're keeping an eye on that, listening in and we'll be back after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: This one just sounds like bad dream horror movie. A North Carolina man declared dead and taken to the morgue turned out to be alive. How did this happen and what does it take to actually really be dead? Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here live with those answers.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And that's not a matter of dispute. I'm definitely alive.
KAGAN: No, I will vouch for you, you are alive.
COHEN: OK, thank you. Glad -- good -- glad to hear that. Well, this is definitely a very strange and very unusual story. On Monday in North Carolina, Larry Green was crossing the street, he was in the middle of an intersection when a car hit him. A team of first responders came to the scene and one of those first responders declared him dead.
He was then brought to the morgue, where the medical examiner or the coroner, rather, felt for the pulse in three different places, in his neck, his arm and his thigh and felt nothing, felt no pulse. But what he did see was an almost imperceptible tiny movement in his abdominal muscle. And in fact, he said that he hadn't -- if Larry Green had not been stripped of his clothing, if there hadn't been good light, he might have missed it. Two hours after the accident, Larry Green was sent to Duke Medical Center, where he's in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Of course, the first question that comes up here is how could this happen? Well, again, very, very unusual. One (UNINTELLIGIBLE) said in ten years, he's only seen something like this happen twice. But he said there are two circumstances that can make this happen. One, very cold temperatures can make the pulse very, very weak. And indeed, it was cold., it was about 30, 32 degrees. And secondly, if someone is overweight or obese, it can be hard to feel that pulse. Larry Green was neither. Now, most states commonly use -- EKGs are commonly used to see if the person is alive or not.
KAGAN: So this man hopefully on the road to recovery? COHEN: Yes. Well, we hope so. He's again, in intensive care at Duke.
KAGAN: Still has a long road ahead of him. Elizabeth, thank you for that. To get your "Daily Dose" of some less disturbing health news, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is cnn.com/health.
COHEN: A controversial story out of Florida is coming up next. Take a look at these drawings. The school-aged artists are in big trouble. Do you know why? We're going to tell you what happened to them when we come back.
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KAGAN: A hearing will determine if the young boys behind cheese stick drawings can return to school on Monday. School officials in Ocala, Florida believe the drawings were meant as a threat against the classmate, so they had the boys arrested and hauled out of class in handcuffs. The boys are nine and 10 years old, are in special ed. Their parents say they should be punished, but having them arrested was simply over the top.
SANCHEZ: A lot of people might listen to that story that Daryn was just reading and think, well, that could be a harmless act. Not so with this next story. Our CNN investigative unit reveals that 60 years after the fall of the Third Reich, the Nazi ideology has a new generation of possible devotees in schools all over our country. So we set out to track down the purveyors of this hate message.
Here now my special report, which you'll see only on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): This is Minnesota 2005, not Munich in the 1930s. It's a new generation, an American generation, worshipping the ideals of the Nazis to a heavy metal beat. It's hate, Hitler and heavy metal, as the man behind the music proudly looks on.
BRYON CALVERT, PANZERFAUST RECORDS: Do you know how many labels I could start with a quarter of a million?
SANCHEZ: From his home in South St. Paul, Minnesota, ex-con Bryon Calvert, really name Brian Cheeny (ph), has made it his mission and business to market hate rock. He calls it white power music.
CALVERT: What we sell is survival, dude, survival, and that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sells itself.
SANCHEZ: And what Calvert sells he seems to believe. It's in his music, in his books, and on his body.
(on camera): Are you a devotee of Adolph Hitler?
CALVERT: There's a lot of things that he did that were spot on. SANCHEZ (voice-over): The label is called Panzerfaust, in tribute to the Nazis. The lyrics glorify violence, against blacks, against Hispanics, but with a special emphasis on Jews.
(on camera): Let me read to you from some of songs -- "Now the Jew must pay the bill. Now it's crystal night once more. Your race once again burns."
It sounds pretty violent. It sounds pretty hateful.
CALVERT: Hey, hey, hey, Nobody ever said that -- I'm not trying to convince anybody that I'm a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We are not a bunch of pacifists. There are angry white kids writing this music. There are angry white kids listening to it, no doubt about that.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Kids that Calvert wants to convert with his music, and his Web site.
(on camera): Let me read something from your Web site. "We don't entertain racist kids," you write. "We create them."
CALVERT: You asked me that, but aren't you concerned that you're going to make these kids -- I am a racist. I obviously think that the world would be a lot better place if there was a lot more racist people.
SANCHEZ: This is where the movement goes from someone's belief, no matter how hateful, to something that most would consider much worse. In fact, they call it "Project Schoolyard." They are targeting kids, maybe your kids, by trying to get them hooked on their music.
(voice-over): Students across the country. Calvert say tens of thousands of them are receiving this CD, with music from bands like Hate Machine and The Bully Boys.
CALVERT: It's an outreach effort, and it's not really any different than any other company that gives samples of its product to people. For example, if I have a coffee company and I want to give people samples of my coffee, I'm not going to give it to my own customers.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Coffee doesn't come with a message of hate.
CALVERT: Who gives a damn. The purpose of that example is a marketing example.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): The principal of this West Virginia town gave a damn when two people tried to distribute the CDs to his students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We certainly don't appreciate unwanted people coming and trying to take advantage of 10 to 14-year-olds with hateful propaganda.
SANCHEZ: But that's exactly what Calvert and Panzerfaust are trying to do. And when the principal tried to stop it, he got this phone call from Calvert, who then recorded it and put it on his Web site.
CALVERT: I suggest you mind your own (EXPLETIVE DELETED) business and stop stealing CDs from your students before you get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sued out of you.
SANCHEZ (on camera): Bryon, they're children. Would you like it if your kid went to a school and someone came and gave him this message?
CALVERT: If I have to make room for homosexuals and hot-and-tots and you name it, you're going to make room for white kids with rebel flags and white power CDs, and if you don't like it, tough (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
SANCHEZ (voice-over): For all of the music CDs that Project Schoolyard have distributed, it's not clear how many new Nazis Panzerfaust has created.
Meantime, Calvert is now in a business dispute with his partner.
(on camera): You're having problems with Panzerfaust in particular? Will that mean the demise of the movement?
CALVERT: Of course not. One monkey don't stop no show.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): The "monkey" slur is aimed at Calvert's partner. Calvert now wants to cut ties with him because he's part Hispanic, not pure enough, nor white enough for him and the other angry young men who gather in basements like this one, surrounded by the sounds and the images of a hateful time, a time they want to bring back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And there's really no question that they don't discriminate in how they discriminate. Daryn, I've been going over some of the notes as we were putting this piece together. These are some of the lyrics from some of the other songs -- quoting -- "Destroy all your enemies. The best thing comes to those who hate." And as far as immigrants and Hispanics in this country, "Time to close the flood gates, repatriate them,ship them out, send the expletive out. If they don't expletive like it, it will be in body bags." This is what kids are hearing.
KAGAN: I'm interested in your personal experience. You go and you sit down with the guy. You say hi, I'm Rick Sanchez. He knows your Hispanic. What was that interaction like?
SANCHEZ: We had an interaction as a matter of fact at one point, and I said to him, I have a wife who is not Hispanic. I have four beautiful children. We have dinner every night. We pray. I'm as good an American as you are, aren't you? He says, well, let me tell you something about your wife, she's a race mixer.
KAGAN: Nice. And then you slapped him.
SANCHEZ: I did my job.
KAGAN: Well thank you for that story, incredible, chilling, yet important to see.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
KAGAN: That's going wrap it up for us. I am Daryn Kagan for Rick Sanchez. Wolf Blitzer will be you after a quick break, and we will see you tomorrow morning.
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