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Fraternity Shut Down Over Racist Chant; Milestone for Stocks; Previewing HLN's "The Social Life"

Aired March 09, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A national fraternity, SAE, or Sigma Alpha Epsilon, shutting down its chapter at the University of Oklahoma after an online video showing fraternity members singing a racist chant. CNN's George Howell has the details for you.

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The audio on this clip is disturbing. A group of young men and women on a bus who don't seem to know they're being recorded chanting this.

CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).

HOWELL: The clip purportedly shows students from the University of Oklahoma using a racial slur, the "n" word, singing about their fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon. It was allegedly filmed Saturday as the group headed off to a date party for the fraternity's founder's day.

Within several hours of the clip being posted and shared online, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon national headquarters announced it was closing its OU chapter and suspending its members. In a statement, the fraternity's leadership says, quote, "we apologize for the unacceptable and racist behavior of the individuals in the video and we are disgusted that any member would act in such a way." It goes on to say, quote, "we are hopeful that we can re-establish the Oklahoma Kappa chapter at some point in the future with a group of men who exemplify our beliefs and who serve as leaders on campus and in the community."

The university president, David Boren, also promising an investigation, saying, quote, "this behavior will not be tolerated and will be addressed very quickly." The response online to this clip has been sharp. One group called "Unheard" on Twitter planning a rally Monday. Others changing their profile pictures. Some students on the OU campus came together for a prayer circle Sunday night denouncing a chant that had some in this video laughing. Fair to say, no one's laughing now.

George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to bring in Meagan Johnson right now. She's an Oklahoma University student and co-director of that group called "Unheard," the alliance of African-American students, and she is standing in front of a rally right now where I believe the university president just spoke.

Meagan, thanks so much for being with us. What did the president say?

MEAGAN JOHNSON, UNIV. OF OKLAHOMA STUDENT: Our president basically said that he will not stand for this. This situation will be taken care of. The chapter and the boys that were involved in this situation will be reprimanded.

CAMEROTA: Meagan, what did you think when you -- I understand that that video, the racist rant video, circulated around campus and it landed in your hands. What did you think when you saw it?

JOHNSON: Personally, I was outraged. I was upset. But shock was not an emotion that I had. These racist situations happen every day and we encountered them. So, within the black community, we were upset, we were angry but we were not shocked because these are things that happen every day that it took this group of students to be on camera and caught for it to get national attention

CAMEROTA: Meagan, we are shocked to hear that you were not shocked when you saw this. What do you mean this happens every day on campus?

JOHNSON: Not necessarily being called the "n" word, but there are different events that happen. Whether it's asked to leave a party or we're in class -- or as small as we're in class and you pair up and you're the last student always to be chosen for a group. But there are just small things that happen around campus that we don't necessarily agree with.

CAMEROTA: And that's why you formed this group "Unheard" of African- American students because you have experienced this on campus. Have you tried to go to the president or campus officials and tell them what your personal experience is?

JOHNSON: Yes, ma'am. That is exactly what we have done. At the beginning of this semester, we wrote a 11 page letter to President Boren, to administrators, and we sent it to every single dean of every single college voicing grievances and our concerns with things that we see going on around our campus. And that includes this student experience, which directly touches sorority life and fraternity life and situations exactly like this.

CAMEROTA: When you say that you're not chosen to be part of participation and that you're sort of ostracized in class, do you ever speak to the white students about how you're feeling?

JOHNSON: I think that as a community we're very welcoming because we know how it feels to not be welcomed and so when we're met with that type of reaction, then it's very hard to continue to reach out.

CAMEROTA: Did you know about any of this before you arrived at OU? JOHNSON: No, ma'am. From brochures, to tours, to speaking to people on

campus, you would never get this atmosphere or this culture. You would never see it at OU unless you're on this campus. And that's something we're pushing for, for OU to better portray itself for the university it is and not push diversity, which is not necessarily one of the biggest things on campus here.

CAMEROTA: I can only imagine how many black students want to transfer, once you get there and have that experience, but you're sticking it out. Why are you staying at OU given your experience?

JOHNSON: I'm staying here because I truly love this university. It has amazing and great things to offer to students, not only students of color, but students across the nation. And I want to make this place better for students who come after me because things need to change and leaving will not be the answer to the solution -- to the problem.

CAMEROTA: So, Meagan, the fraternity now has been -- has been thrown off campus, or that chapter on campus has been shut down. And as you heard the president say that they're going to launch a full investigation. What more do you want to see done?

JOHNSON: These repercussions have not come from the university, they have come from the national organization for the fraternity. We want the university to take action. We want there to be a thorough investigation of not only the fraternity members, but the sorority members and the ladies that were on the bus. We want there to be university action, whether that's expulsion, suspension, suspension from student life, whatever that may be. But it's -- what has happened is not enough. The university needs to take action.

CAMEROTA: Meagan, we know that you're getting ready to go to a rally right now.

JOHNSON: Yes, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: We can see people obviously amassing behind you. Best of luck. Please keep in touch with us and let us know what changes happen at Oklahoma University as a result of all of this.

JOHNSON: For sure. We will definitely do that.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

And we want to know what you think about all of this. You can tweet us at NEW DAY or go to facebook.com/newday. Share your thoughts.

Michaela.

PEREIRA: Ahead, we've got the story of a little baby. A miracle rescue. Eighteen months old, stuck in a river in her car seat suspended for hours. How did she make it out alive?

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PEREIRA: All right, here we go with the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, the leader of Boko Haram pledging loyalty to ISIS. The alliance could help Boko Haram with logistic and as it attempts to expand its reach into French speaking West Africa.

Five suspects have been arrested, two of them formally charged in last month's killing of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. And sixth suspect reportedly blew himself up as Russian police tried to take him into custody.

Independent investigators at Madison, Wisconsin, now taking on the police shooting of an unarmed teenager, Tony Robinson. Emotions are raw there following a weekend of protests and vigils.

A new report revealing the batteries on MH-370's black box beacon expired a year before the jetliner vanished. It also shows a recent investigation of all passengers and crew found nothing unusual.

A baby girl in Utah defied the odds, surviving a crash that took her mother's life. After some 14 hours, the 18-month old baby was found alive by a fisherman still strapped into her car seat, upside down, and luckily not submerged in the freezing river. My goodness.

We're always updating those five things to know, so be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CUOMO: All right, it is time for CNN Money now, your money. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.

A big milestone for stocks.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It is. This is not just a regular Monday, folks, this is a birthday. Wall Street has one thing to celebrate today, it's the bull market turns six today. The S&P 500 has climbed 206 percent since that terrible March 9, 2009, low. If you invested in the market back then, you made a killing, you tripled your money. A grand six years ago is more than $3,000 today. That climb huge for your retirement savings. Fidelity says the average 401(k) balance topped $91,000 last year. That's a record thanks largely to that soaring stock market. The average balance is up 2 percent since 2013. That's up more than 30 percent since 2011.

Now what if you haven't invested yet? A lot of experts telling me they think there's at least another year to go in this bull run but maybe not as big as gains as we've seen. If you're very close to retirement though, you really need to look at where your balance sheet. You don't want to be fully exposed to the stock market if you're very close to retirement and have to live on that savings the next couple of years.

CAMEROTA: More bull to do around.

ROMANS: More bull to go around. No, I mean, do you remember how horrible it was that day in 2009? And the President of the United States, interesting enough, just on March 3rd, 2009, he sort of went out there -- presidents never talk about whether you should buy stocks -- and he said people should buy stocks. Almost like the trader-in- chief. It was such a dark, dark day, it was hard for people to think that it could turn around. But it did. And look at what a great run it's been.

CUOMO: It's still a gamble.

ROMANS: Half of Americans are not in the stock market because they feel like you do, or they don't have any money to invest. So one of the things about this recovery, it's been felt by people who have skin the game, not by people who are making their money by working.

CAMEROTA: Christine, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: All right, exploring the country digital style. A new HLN show revealing the best way to discover a city using social media. It's called "THE SOCIAL LIFE" and it's coming up.

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ALI NEJAD, HLN HOST, "THE SOCIAL LIFE": And so I'm here inside the Mattress Factory and, no, they're not pushing Servas and Seelys out of here, at least not anymore. Now it's a museum and apparently it's one of the coolest in town.

So you must be Michael.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it.

NEJAD: Hey, what's going on? How are you? Nice to meet you. I'm excited, I've heard some really good stuff about this place and I'm eager to get going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we got to look?

NEJAD: Yes, yes, that's what you do at a museum, right? That's what you do. You look.

Remember when you were a kid and museums were boring? Not this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a new building that we have and the project is by an artist named Shaharo Johoda (ph). It's all this kind of threads and yarns, but it still feels like it's dense within something else.

NEJAD: And Pittsburgh's got you covered when it comes to any and all types of art. Who would've known?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Who would've known indeed? That is a clip from HLN's new show, "THE SOCIAL LIFE", hosted by Ali Nazad. Ali travels from city to city across the U.S., armed with his smartphone and this Twitter followers to find the best things to do in a new place.

Ali joins us this morning. Good morning to you, Ali, and welcome to the family.

NEJAD: Thanks so much, Michaela. I appreciate it. Good morning to you.

PEREIRA: OK, I'm a little green with envy, you got some of the toughest, awesomest, most amazing assignments, which I understand are completely suggested by your Twitter followers. That is a brave move, my friend.

NEJAD: Yes, you know, I'll tell you what, I had these feelings about social media has kind of turned into this voyeuristic, one-directional thing, that causes people to feel isolated and inadequate. And I felt like let's turn it on its ear. Let's utilize social media to connect people with one another, genuinely; get back to the real life, the original social media, the face to face interactions.

And there's a whole world of wonder out there. Travel's such a wonderful thing, but a lot of times it's great to have an insider who can point you in the right direction. And I knew nothing about Pittsburgh, which is our first episode. I'd never been there before. And I was very pleasantly surprised.

PEREIRA: OK, I'm going to get to Pitt in a second, because I'm so curious about all the things you found out there. But I can imagine that it was probably, in a way, freeing. We TV types like to produce and plan everything. It must have been kind of invigorating to sort of give that up, if you will, and be at the whim of the people that are following you on Twitter.

NEJAD: Yes, and having real time interaction as well. Obviously it was a little frustrating for the producer for me to say, hey, I need a few hours in the middle of the day where I can just tweet and then we go where the wind takes us.

But there's an authenticity to that.

PEREIRA: All right, so Pittsburgh, were you surprised by the things that you learned?

NEJAD: Oh my god, I thought Pittsburgh, you know, it's the Steel City, right? I thought it was going to be this really salty old dog of a city, is what I called it on the show. Just worn down, run down, black, covered in soot and steel and just all the hallmarks of a really old East Coast city. But it is a huge hub for medicine; there is a great little food culture that's popping up. I went to this amazing restaurant called Butcher & The Rye. Big shoutout to them; they had a fantastic rub there.

And I got the opportunity to take this food tour in an area called the Strip District, and they've got all types of ethnic cuisines. Obviously there's some deep cultural roots in Pittsburgh. And the biggest thing, Michaela, folks don't get out of Pittsburgh because they're like, why would I? They love it. It's a hardworking, honest, blue collar town, and it was very refreshing.

PEREIRA: I love that. You know, in a time when we're trying to find commonalities to bring us together, when we need it more, this is the kind of show I think that we need, instead of being divisive and showing how we're different, I think it's nice to see how we are very much alike.

Well, all right, so what else is coming up for us? Where else -- or can you tease a little bit of where you're going next or some of the other episodes that are on the way?

NEJAD: We've got four episodes in the can for our first season. I went to Charleston, South Carolina. I also went -- oh it was amazing, and I'd never been there before. I went to Boulder, Colorado, and I went to Seattle, Washington. Now, while I'd been to Seattle before, obviously, there's something exciting about reaching out and just going where the wind takes you and allowing people to guide your trip.

And in Charleston, Michaela, there was this amazing moment where, after the camera shut down, somebody who I had connected with very serendipitously while walking through the Charleston city market, opened up to me about something that happened to him a month ago. And his daughter and son and wife were also at dinner with me; we were breaking bread. And at one point, the son turned to me and had a conversation about this event, this really traumatic event for the family. And his mother turns to me and says, you know, he's never talked about that with anybody since it happened. And it was just this really flattering moment to realize, like, I'm connecting with folks.

PEREIRA: It's this beauty of travel. It's one of the reasons I like to do it. Find out from insiders what they think makes their city tick. You're doing it for us. We appreciate it, Ali. Really a pleasure to meet you.

I want to point you to Tuesdays. Watch "THE SOCIAL LIFE" on HLN, 10:00 p.m. Eastern. You're going to enjoy it. I promise. Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick. So how about this one? An inspirational young man who needs help most finds a way to help others more than most. On a dark day of news, here comes the Good Stuff.

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CUOMO: I love this story. It's time for the Good Stuff. Today's edition, 13-year-old Luke Weber battling against a rare cancer. He's been fighting this really aggressive and rare cancer. He's 3 years old. He beat it, relapsed, beat it again, relapsed again. Thank god, right now, cancer free. But what makes him the Good Stuff is how he has spent his time during all this pain and fear. He has found the time to help others fight their cancers. He rides and even leads teams in Cycle for Survival; it's a charity devoted to ending rare cancers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKE WEBER, CANCER SURVIVOR: I'm really just lucky to be alive. I know that we're all here and alive and that doesn't seem like such a big accomplishment, but it has been 10 years since I started and now I am here, at Cycle for Survival, raising money for rare cancer research.

(END VIEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Wow!

CAMEROTA: Amazing.

CUOMO: Just an inspiration to everyone he comes in contact with. And those rare cancers, they're not so rare. According to Memorial Sloan- Kettering, taken together, rare cancers account for about 50 percent of all cases. So he's really trying to help and Cycle for Survival is a great organization. If you want to help them, you can visit cycleforsurvival.org.

CAMEROTA: Great public speaker. Has a future in politics or whatever he wants to do. That was great, how he commanded a microphone.

CUOMO: Kids are often precocious when they go through a lot like that. But he's channeling it all toward the good, and that is why he is the Good Stuff. Good man.

Lot of news this morning, let's get you to the "NEWSROOM" and Ms. Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": All right. Thanks. Happy Monday, if that's possible. Have a great day.

"NEWSROOM" starts now.