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Racial Segregation Still Existing on the 60 Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education; Firefighters' Training for Saving Miners; Apple Getting Its Supposedly Biggest Deal with Beats; Barbara Walters Retiring from "The View"

Aired May 18, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Sexism fueled the firing of his executive editor. Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said Jill Abramson's shortcomings included "arbitrary decision-making, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues." And CNN has just confirmed that Abramson will deliver the commencement speech tomorrow at Wake Forest as was scheduled.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Although will not speak at Brandeis today.

Number five, new president of the NAACP. Well, he says he's deeply humbled and honor to lead the nation's oldest, largest civil rights organization. Cornell William Brooks is a lawyer, minister, civil rights activist. As President of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Brooks has tackled issues from job access to foreclosures.

PAUL: So, as you know, this weekend marks the 60th anniversary of the historic Brown versus Board of Education ruling that groundbreaking decision desegregated schools and really forever changed the makeup of American classrooms, but a lot of people including Attorney General Eric Holder say that racism is still very much alive and well.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, and he talked about it yesterday. He was the commencement speaker at Morgan State University, which is an HBCU, historically black college university in Baltimore. Referencing recent comments by L.A. Clippers coach Donald Sterling, rancher Cliven Bundy, Holder said this, "These outbursts of bigotry while deplorable are not the true markers of the struggle that still must be waged or the work that still needs to be done. Because the greatest threats do not announce themselves in screaming headlines. They are more subtle. They cut deeper." He also said this, "Proposals that feed uncertainty, question the desire for people to work and relegate particular Americans to economic despair are more malignant than intolerant public statements no matter how many eyebrows the outbursts might raise."

PAUL: So, let's bring in HLN contributor Jason Johnson, he's also a political science professor at Hiram College and Sheneka Williams, she's an associate professor of educational administration and policy at the University of Georgia. We're so grateful to have both of you here. Thank you. Jason, I want to start with you first because we've seen the first lady talk about this. Now we've heard it from Eric Holder and you can't help but wonder what these similar statements, are they making a specific political move here, you know about subtle racism and modern day segregation? Is this the new legacy? Let's say, that they want to leave behind.

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, HIRAM COLLEGE: I think this is the new old legacy. I think what they're talking about the fact there's only so many things you can actually legislate. You can't legislate people to be nice to each other. If it's over discrimination, if it's Cliven Bundy, if it's Donald Sterling, there's something you can do. But what Michelle Obama talked about a lot in her commencement speeches, how you treat each other, being nice to other people, stopping your uncle from making that racist joke at Thanksgiving that's sort of the modern day subtle racism that we still deal with above and beyond the policy issues that still exist when it comes to anything from voter I.D. to housing.

BLACKWELL: And I think a lot of people were surprised, Sheneka, that the segregation that was supposed to be wiped away 60 years ago in schools continues, and this is what you study. Has it gotten worse? Are we slipping back into a pre-Brown versus Board era?

SHENEKA WILLIAMS, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Absolutely. In a lot of ways we are slipping back to a pre-Brown versus Board era. And I would argue that a lot of that is due to racism and what is happening in neighborhoods. We have to understand that residential segregation begets school segregation, and until there's something that can be done with housing, in conjunction with education, I think we'll continue to have this conversation.

PAUL: Well, I mean, I want to read something here, contributor and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, she said the integration is falling apart all together. And I want to read something to you that she wrote on cnn.com here. Real quickly. She said, "60 years later separate and unequal is still alive. Privatizing our school system results in increased segregation, not improved opportunities, whether in New Orleans or Philadelphia or Detroit or New York, legislative schemes perpetuate separate and unequal by privatizing large swaths of public school districts and in some cases entire districts." You just talked about residential segregation.

WILLIAMS: Right.

PAUL: Get that. Is what she's saying inherently true here as well?

WILLIAMS: In some ways. I just think there is a policy disconnect, right? But also the ownership has to be on individuals to continue to want this. I am not certain that the public, A, is aware of what is happening in our schools, and B, if they are, that where is the grassroots, if you will? Where are the individuals that will step up for this?

PAUL: Where is the change? Because this is my question. I mean I've got three girls in school, and we are, and we're in public school, we are in a particular district, and we can't change that district. So what do we do to better integrate? WILLIAMS: I think the change happens with districts looking at how they design and implement their student assignment policies. Actually, district leadership has more control in this area than they think they do. I think there could be a way to get districts such that students of color, low income, are merged in schools with students that are of higher income, not students of color, and there could be a balance both in terms of race and socioeconomic status that could push us down the road a little bit further than where we are.

BLACKWELL: So, we talked about the grassroots (INAUDIBLE) needs to happen. Jason, my question is from the top, are we now excited again because we have a person who is in the president's cabinet who is a person of color speaking at a university that's majority of color. The president spoke at Hampton University in HPCU in 2010, look at the first lady at Spellman in 2011. We've got the president at Morehouse in 2013, he's spoken at other schools. But if there is no policy connected to it, is it all just a bunch of words?

JOHNSON: It is beautiful window dressing, but it accomplishes little or nothing. Look, Barack Obama spoke in front of Morehouse a year and a half ago. I was here talking about it. And yet at the same time he's been gutting plus-one loans, which have been absolutely essential for many low income students of all colors, with associate minority students to actually go to college. He's had his sort of my brother's keeper program, but there's already been problems with that, because the claim right now to get some of the grant money is you have to be in 35 of 40 states, which not many African American organizations are necessarily that big. So, Barack and Michelle Obama and Eric Holder, they've been very good at talking integration, very good at talking racial progress, but the actual policies he's put forth have been very neutral and in many ways have been gutted by his own ineptitude, not just the GOP.

BLACKWELL: So, I wonder if this is equivalent to having maybe a Republican who's running for the nomination speak at Liberty University. Is this just politics, is it legacy time? Is it I was at the right place at the right time saying the right thing?

JOHNSON: I think it's a mixture of both. I think the president actually cares. I just don't think he has the right policies from time to time. I mean not just from the plus one loans, but if you look at residential segregation, if you look at what's been happening in our public schools, some of it is a funding issue, some of it is a simple matter of reminding people that the way that we create our districts, that we sort of exclude some neighborhoods here, giving local school boards that much power, that's where a lot of this new segregation is coming from, and it's both class based, race based and sometimes even language based.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jason Johnson, Sheneka Williams, I'm glad we've had this conversation, but at the center of it, I hope it becomes more than a conversation.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. That's the point.

BLACKWELL: Thank you both. PAUL: Thank you so much for being here.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

PAUL: All righty, let's talk about some rescue operations here, too, in Turkey for the mine fire victims. Apparently they've come to an end, but the job of mine rescue crews is so difficult. We're going to show you how they're trained to deal with what's happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: So, record flooding across the Balkans has killed at least 20 people we've learned and forced more than 16,000 to evacuate and more rain is expected today. Look at these pictures we're getting in. This just adds to what meteorologists are calling the worst flooding to hit that area in more than 120 years. More than 10,000 troops are involved in active rescue operations now.

BLACKWELL: You have likely never seen a picture like this one. A North Korean officer here is publicly apologizing for what officials call there an unimaginable accident at an apartment building in the capital city of Pyongyang. State-run media says the building collapsed while it was under construction, but apparently people were already living there and some were killed.

PAUL: As the search for victims at the coal mine fire in Turkey, and Turkish police have really clammed down on the mining town of Soma. Authorities say the final death toll is at 301 right now and all of the victims' bodies have been recovered. In the meantime, riot police are patrolling the streets and authorities banned protests after police clashed with demonstrators who were furious over the government's handling of the disaster.

BLACKWELL: You know, that mine disaster is raising questions about mine safety around the world, of course, and the challenges of rescue operations.

PAUL: CNN's Ana Cabrera finds out firsthand how rescue crews train for a mine disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Battling darkness and smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out there, get out there!

CABRERA: Tough to see, tough to breathe. Rescuers race into risky conditions, quickly moving toward trapped miners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's danger in what we do, by all means, but we train for this.

CABRERA: This is mine rescue training, inside the Edgar experimental mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado. (on camera): In the case of a fire, how complicated is a rescue like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very complicated.

CABRERA (voice over): Bob Ferriter has studied mine safety for more than four decades. He says potentially deadly hazards, fire, gas pockets, water, weak walls can lie just beyond each patch of light. The team went ahead and put these poles up here because as they test the roof they realized it just wasn't stable. So this ensures that they stay safe as they move into the mine.

Crews work methodically, making sure not to leave any tunnel or cave unexplored. Even in a maze of tight spaces, they bring along crucial, but cumbersome equipment, a stretcher, blankets, and a special breathing apparatus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It provides us with oxygen for about four hours.

CABRERA (on camera): Is it sort of like scuba diving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very similar.

CABRERA (voice over): Lack of oxygen is perhaps the biggest danger, that's why crews constantly measure air flow and air quality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That right now is showing me concentration of methane, concentration of o2.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a man down!

CABRERA: For emergency responders it's a test of Braun and Bravery (ph), a race against time. Each passing hour makes finding survivors less likely. The best and perhaps last chance?

Miners make their way into a mine refuge chamber like this, a small compartment that can pack up to ten people, it's sealed off, and can provide fresh air for up to 100 hours.

Safety requirements in the United States mandate mines come equipped with these chambers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not exactly some place you'd want to take a vacation but it will save your life.

CABRERA: There are reports that the Turkish mine had some sort of safety chamber, but tragically 14 miners were found dead inside. For them, there was simply no escape. Ana Cabrera, CNN, Idaho Springs, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, thank you so much, Ana. The ambitious 9/11 Memorial and museum finally opened the doors this week to the public, coming up. We'll have details on that.

Plus, another major first for Pope Francis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: All righty, and we know that you want to take a look at what's coming up in your week ahead. With you Monday in the wake of a controversial firing from the newspaper, former "New York Times" executive editor Jill Abramson confirms that she will give the commencement speech to Wake Forest graduates. She hasn't yet spoken publicly, though, about her departure. And it's not clear whether she's going to break her silence address - and address it, you know, during the speech, but we're going to have more on that story for you a little bit later this morning with our own Brian Stelter.

And let's move ahead to Wednesday because the 9/11 Museum opens to the rest of us to the public here. Built in the bed rock of tragedy the museum is dedicated to the nearly 3,000 people who perished in the September 11th terrorist attacks and the 1993 bombings. Exhibit halls are filled, we know, with oral histories and photos as well as some very personal items from those victims. And also on Wednesday in Washington, there are going to be - there's going to be a House foreign affairs committee hearing on Boko Haram and the threat to school girls in Nigeria and beyond.

Saturday Pope Francis is leaving for a trip to the holy land saying his three days in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Amman are aiming to boost relations with Orthodox Christians and also expected underscore at the Vatican's longstanding call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And then on Sunday, oh, big days for Ukraine. The survival may be at stake here. Next Sunday, with a bloody insurgency that's raging in the East, a presidential vote could certainly help for the country at a crisis or it could plunge it into a full-fledged civil war. CNN is going to be there live and covering the story like only we can on Sunday. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right. Christi, thanks. You know what else is coming up this week, a big deal, it could really be the biggest deal Apple has ever pulled off. Our business correspondent Alison Kosik has that look ahead.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week in business news, we're keeping a close eye this week on the Apple and Beats deal. There were reports earlier this month that Apple was in talks to buy the high-end headphone company for $3 billion. Now, there is talk it could be finalized this coming week. If it goes through it would be Apple's biggest acquisition ever and a departure for a company that's known for creating its own products, not buying them from others. It's also a big week for housing. We get reports on new and existing home sales. Investors will be looking closely to see if the spring selling season is getting off to a good start. Housing had been leading the economic recovery, but lately other reports have shown a bit of a slowdown.

And finally it's that time of year, when business leaders from all across the country descend on college campuses to share words of wisdom with graduates. This week, Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen will deliver the commencement speech to New York University graduates. Even though Yellen likely won't be giving any insights on monetary policy, the business world will be watching to see what advice or inspiration she has to share. I'm Alison Kosik in New York.

BLACKWELL: All right, Alison, thank you so much.

PAUL: So Barbara Walters, she is not just a television personality, people. She is a broadcast news pioneer and stepped down this past week as co-host of "The View." The daytime talk show, of course, that she created, we're going to take a look at more of Barbara in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: TV news icon, legend, pioneer, she's all of that. Barbara Walters signed off from "The View" on ABC for the final time last week. Walters was the first woman to co-anchor network morning and evening broadcasts.

PAUL: And think about it, she's interviewed every president and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon. CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner kind of walks us through what happened. Good morning, Nischelle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christi and Victor. You know, the end of "The View" on Friday really marked the end of a legendary and when I say legendary, I mean legendary broadcast career. Barbara Walters got this high profile sendoff, and with Hillary Clinton, Michael Douglas and Oprah Winfrey there on set and, you know, as a crowd of successful women in this industry, including broadcasters like Connie Chung, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Robin Roberts, that's "The View" too, right? But they were all there for her to wish her well. Take a look at --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(APPLAUSE)

BARBARA WALTERS: Wow! I just want to say this is my legacy. These are my legacy, and I thank you all.

(APPLAUSE)

TURNER: After a career that has spanned six decades, six decades, Barbara says yeah, she knew it was time. She says she wanted to walk away while she was still doing good work and good work, actually, is probably an understatement. I mean she was still landing those huge interviews. Last week she sat down with Shelly Sterling and while she's walking away, you know, from that every day "View" job on television I think we'll be seeing her again on our television screens doing projects that are important to her. I don't think she can just sit and not do anything.

You know, looking back on her career, her list of interview subjects include some of the most important figures of the last half century, and she says she would have loved to have interviewed the queen and the pope. That's probably the only two people that she hasn't interviewed. But when it comes to her legacy, you know, she has been telling everyone, it's not the people that she spoke with. She wants it to be that she helped pave the way for all of the women in this industry who are succeeding and to that, I say you did, Barbara Walters, because definitely you inspired me. Christi, I'm sure she inspired you and Victor as well. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, me too.

PAUL: Amen to that.

BLACKWELL: Me, too.

PAUL: True.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Nischelle Turner.

PAUL: OK, have a massy moment for you here. A massive discovery in Argentina. Do you know what that is? That is the thigh bone of a newly discovered dinosaur, possibly the biggest that ever roamed the earth 95 million years ago.

BLACKWELL: Just the thigh, that bone. The as yet unnamed titan - come on now --

PAUL: Titanosaur.

BLACKWELL: Titanosaur was a sauropod, thanks for throwing these words at me at 6:58 this morning. Like a brachiosaurus. It was much, much bigger, so how big are we talking about here? OK. 130 feet long. It's like two 18 wheelers just back-to-back, front-to-front, there, as tall as a seven-story building and weighed about 14 African elephants, the same way - or maybe even, you know, the bigger ones.

PAUL: Scientists say they found seven of these giants at their dig site, seven! I want to see that thing put together, like soon.

BLACKWELL: I hope it gets to the Smithsonian. You know they have those displays in the lobby there, where you see the bones put together. Man, just the thigh bone.

PAUL: I can't even imagine. Look at how he was laying on top of that thing. All righty, that's something to think about this morning. But we have got much more ahead.

BLACKWELL: We certainly do. Thanks for starting your morning with us. The next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts now.

PAUL: Well, we're calling your name. We want you to get up and get at it. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you. 7:00 here on the East Coast, 4 out West. This is "NEW DAY SUNDAY." And we're starting this morning with MERS now on the move. The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has now spread person to person inside the United States. So far the U.S. Health Officials, they are telling us that it's the first they know of as fact right now.

PAUL: Right. Right. The good news is that the new patient, a, was barely sick and b, is already well. But we have CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with us here to explain. Hi, Elizabeth.

ELZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Christi, this is now the third person in the United States who has been found to have MERS or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. This third person it's a little bit different than the first two, and I'll tell you why.