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CNN Live Sunday
Man Arrested for Breaching Security at White House; Young Boy at Center of Emergency Call Debate; New Generation of Lifestyles; Remembering Rwanda
Aired April 09, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY (sic). I'm Fredricka Whitfield. As members of Congress begin their two-week recess, immigrants and their supporters begin a new week of rallies across the country. Will demonstrations like this one in Dallas make a difference on future legislation?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's a Gruppy?
JENNY D'ATTOMA, CNN PRODUCER: It's a new term.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well what does it mean?
D'ATTOMA: It means someone who doesn't act their age.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that, no, no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Are you a Gruppy? From yuppies to Gruppies and what it says about a new generation of lifestyles.
And when was the last time you heard a group of high school girls get so excited? These girls, their prom wishes are granted thanks to someone who can relate all the way from Maryland. We'll talk to her a little later in the show.
Hello and welcome, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Scorched parts of south Florida are hoping for rain today as hundreds of acres burn around metro Miami. In some areas of the Sunshine State, there has been no measurable rainfall since late February.
Southerners are digging in and cleaning up from Friday's powerful storms that left 12 people dead in Tennessee. In Georgia, they are putting things back into place after trees and power lines were toppled.
Canadian investigators are saying little about the discovery of eight bodies found on a rural Ontario farm. Police do say all eight victims were men who knew each other and had been murdered. The bodies were found inside four vehicles. If a writer for "The New Yorker" magazine is right, the Bush administration may be planning for a possible military strike on Iran. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh quotes unidentified sources as saying President Bush views Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a quote, "potential Adolf Hitler." And that Mr. Bush sees regime change in Tehran as the ultimate goal. Hersh cites his sources as current and former U.S. military and intelligence officials. The author elaborated on his report today on CNN's "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEYMOUR HERSH, NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The word I hear is messianic. He thinks, as I wrote, that he's the only one now who will have the courage to do it. He's politically free. I don't think he's overwhelmingly concerned about the '06 elections, congressional elections. I think he really thinks he has a chance, and this is going to be his mission.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So your sources have concluded basically that the diplomatic option as it's going forward is not necessarily going to work?
HERSH: That's the fear. The fear is that we're back to the pre- Iraqi invasion game when we went through the U.N. exercise. The fear is that the White House, there's some people in the White House who aren't really, no matter what happens diplomatically, they don't believe Iran's going to give up its ambitions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Hersh says the Bush administration would consider using quote, "bunker buster" tactical nuclear weapons to help ensure the destruction of Tehran's nuclear facilities. Reacting to Hersh's reporting, a senior aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, quote, "Seymour Hersh has a single anonymous source who is not in government and both Hersh and the source have made fantastic, unverified, and wrong allegations before."
Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman said, quote, "The president and the State Department are working diligently with the international community to address diplomatically the troublesome activities of the Iranian government," end quote.
Meantime, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Iran today to check out its uranium conversion facility. Such visits now have to be arranged in advance since Iran stopped cooperating with the agency's snap inspections back in February. Iran hopes these inspection will support its assertion that its nuclear program is for peaceful uses, not to develop weapons. Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the United Nations Nuclear Watchdog Agency will visit the facility later on this week. He is expected to arrive Tuesday or possibly Wednesday.
And now to the battle over immigration. Sporadic demonstrations throughout the country today, ahead of rallies scheduled for tomorrow in all 50 states. In Dallas, tens of thousands of people are marching right now in support of immigrants rights and against recent immigration reform proposals.
Many marches are wearing white and waving American flags. Tomorrow a group called the National Capital Immigrant Coalition is backing events across the country. Its demands include a pass to U.S. citizenship for people who have come here illegally, plus workplace protections for the millions of undocumented laborers. And next hour we'll talk to one of the organizers of a demonstration plan for tomorrow in Washington D.C.
You'll want to join us tonight for a special "CNN PRESENTS: Immigrant Nation: Divided Country." That's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
A border state senator says illegal immigrants should not be granted citizenship. Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona spoke today with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: My view is that people who have broken our law, come into the country illegally, have every right to participate in a temporary-worker program, but that there is no need to say to them, "We're going to make you citizens of the United States of America."
And that for the future, a temporary-worker program that might be useful to supply labor needs in our country, when they exist, should be exactly that, temporary, so that when the work is not available for them, you haven't turned them into permanent legal residents and thereby created a situation where you have foreign workers here but no job for them.
REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: These undocumented immigrants are our neighbors, our co-workers, their children go to school with our children. They drive on the same expressways, they play in the same play yards as our children do. They are part of the fabric of our society. And they are necessary to the economic well-being of our country. So let's include them. I agree enforcement is key and security is key. But let's do it comprehensively. Let's have a holistic approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Senate Republican Arlen Specter says he'll have a proposal ready when Congress reconvenes from its Easter recess. A highly-touted compromise fell apart on Friday, just a day after members announced it.
The violent weather that hit the southeast has run its course. The National Weather Service now says four tornadoes swept through northern Georgia over the weekend, causing damage north of Atlanta. In Tennessee, the storm left 12 people dead. In the Weather Center, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider joins us now. Bonnie?
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well this little boy is at the center of a big debate. Were his 911 calls about his mother mishandled? His sister says yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DELAINE PATTERSON, ROBERT'S SISTER: The dispatcher assumed that this was a prank call and maybe they do get prank calls, I don't know. However this was a child calling. There was no laughter and he repeated what he was saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A detailed report on his calls. What did and didn't happen, when we come right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. And if you happen to be, let's just say breathing easy, you normally suffer from allergies, chances are you happen to be living on the Northern Plains. Conditions aren't that bad for you in terms of those allergies. But if you're really allergic to pollen and dust well, conditions aren't so great along the Gulf Coast, especially in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf and that's a look at your allergy report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We've got new video we want to share with you. This demonstrates a breach of security taking place at the White House. Allegedly this man who is in a T-shirt there and now kneeling, apparently according to witnesses and Secret Service accounts, jumped over one of the fences at the White House.
The president is at the White House. They were able to -- they meaning the Secret Service, detain the gentlemen and then arrest him. We don't know anything more about his identity, what he was up to or why. Just that those are the new pictures coming in about that breach of security at the White House. But we're hearing from the Secret Service, all is OK.
Meantime on to other news. A little boy in Detroit did what he was taught to do when he saw his mother was in trouble. He called 911 for help. Instead the dispatcher on the other end gave him a scolding. And by the time emergency crews arrive, a tragic outcome. Why the case is now headed to court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): One afternoon in February, 5-year-old Robert Turner found his mother unconscious in their Detroit apartment. ROBERT TURNER, CALLED 911: I had felt her tummy, she wasn't breathing. And I had called 911. Tell them that send an emergency truck right now.
WHITFIELD: But the 911 dispatcher didn't take Robert seriously.
DISPATCHER: Emergency 911, what is the problem?
TURNER: My mom has passed out.
DISPATCHER: Where's the grownups at?
TURNER: (inaudible)
DISPATCHER: Let me speak to her. Let me speak to her before I send the police over there.
WHITFIELD: The police were not sent. Some three hours later, Robert called again, with the same result.
TURNER: (inaudible)
DISPATCHER: I don't care. You shouldn't be playing on the phone. Now put her on the phone, before I send the police out there to knock on the door and you're going to be in trouble.
TURNER: Ugh.
WHITFIELD: When police finally arrived at 9:22 p.m., they found 46-year-old Sherrill Turner dead. The family is now planning a wrongful death lawsuit against Detroit Police.
PATTERSON: This was a child calling. There was no laughter and he repeated what he was saying.
TYRONE PATTERSON, VICTIM'S SON-IN-LAW: Everyone should be trained to treat every situation as an emergency. People do not just call 911 as a joke. My mom is passed out. The message was clear.
WHITFIELD: The union that represents dispatchers says about a quarter of all 911 calls are pranks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That operator could have had five prank calls, kids calling prior to that call and please don't -- think that I'm trying to make an excuse, you know, that was a tragedy.
WHITFIELD: The dispatcher who took the second call, an 18-year veteran remains on the job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that operator. I know she is a very good operator. She is very thorough.
WHITFIELD: Detroit Police say the department is investigating the handling of the calls. For Robert, now six, the rights and wrongs of the case are less important than the sadness he feels.
TURNER: Every time somebody talk about her, I just bust out and start crying.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Detroit's police chief has issued this statement saying, quote, "The citizens of Detroit can be assured that our department is meticulously examining every aspect of what occurred, and if disciplinary action is recommended following the completion of the investigation, then that is the course that we will take." That from the chief out of Detroit police.
Remembering Rwanda. Friday people in central African nation -- in that central African nation, rather, observe add moment of silence. They were commemorating one of the worst waves of genocide of the last century. Twelve years ago, almost a million people were slaughtered in ethnic violence. CNN's Richard Roth recently talked to a Rwandan filmmaker who's trying to help his compatriots move past their common nightmare by helping them remember it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The film, "Keepers of Memory," did not garner the attention the movie "Hotel Rwanda" received. But this raw documentary lets the people of Rwanda, instead of actors, speak for themselves about the horrors endured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My family and my in- laws are all here, but it is a place that awakens sadness in all of us.
ROTH: The director, Eric Kabera, is a Rwandan, a Tutsi who was just across the border in Congo when the killings began.
ERIC KABERA, RWANDAN FILMMAKER: I had to do the films, with the survivors themselves. I talked to the survivors for the last 12 years or so.
ROTH: The film shows how a decade later more victims keep turning up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): But we continue to find the places where the bodies were thrown. We are still digging up the bodies of our people who died in the genocide. There is an open grave for the bodies of those people still being found because the search has not ended.
KABERA: The reason behind this film, it sort of comes to you, it speaks to you, rather than you watching a film for exploration or from the timing of the magnitude of the genocide.
ROTH: The murders are heard from, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And those who were not killed by the bullets were clobbered to death. Anybody who was still alive, we went back and killed them. I personally killed three people.
ROTH: The filmmaker, now a father of three, lost family in the genocide.
KABERA: I'm literally making it for the people and for myself. It was, you know, one of the ways to exercise my frustration and my anger and my bitterness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was lying in a pool of blood. Because of my thirst I started licking the pool of blood around me. So I drank the blood. That is why I will never forget my loved ones. That memory is heavy in my heart. Whenever I'm thirsty, I always reflect on that moment.
ROTH: I showed Kabera the security council, the U.N. peace and security wing, which withdrew peace keepers from Rwanda when the violence started, despite pleas to come to the rescue.
KABERA: The world failed Rwanda big time, that's the truth of it.
ROTH: But the director says Rwanda now needs help more than ever.
KABERA: Rwanda is gradually recovering but of course the physical and scars are there to stay for a while. And at the end, the country needs to move on. But how much reparation, how much responsibility, the world outside there, is sort of giving to Rwanda? Especially to the survivors literally. Most of these guys can hardly afford the daily meal, can hardly afford medicine.
ROTH: Harder to capture on film, a legacy of one of the last century's worst genocides. Richard Roth, CNN, the United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Helping people understand and find forgiveness following the genocide is the focus of a Rwandan woman that I spoke to earlier this week. Immaculee Ilibagiza is a survivor and now also the author of a book on "The New York Times" best sellers list. It's called "Left to Tell." She and seven other women survived crouched in a bathroom for 91 days protected by a pastor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IMMACULEE ILIBAGIZA, AUTHOR: It was actually in the morning when he came to get me and we were eight people. We sat there, he told us not to make any noise, not to talk to each other, not even to flush the water, until somebody was flushing the water, in the next bathroom. So we couldn't talk and it was small bathroom, three feet by four feet. He couldn't tell his children or people in his home.
WHITFIELD: And I just wanted to explain, Immaculee, that we're also seeing the photographs that are included in your book, photographs of you going back to show that very tiny bathroom. And we are also looking at what appeared to be you pulling a chest that would end up covering the front door that the pastor would put into place so that nobody would even see that door to the bathroom was there, right?
ILIBAGIZA: That's right, yes. I remember asking him, you know -- again it was something like a light into my heart, like God telling me, please tell him. I told him that if he can push it in front of the door. And then the next day, when they came to search, they even searched right inside that cupboard.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
ILIBAGIZA: So they couldn't see, you know, the door behind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Immaculee was one of a sole survivor of her family. Nearly her entire family was massacred. I asked her how she and the other women were able to fit inside that very bathroom, how they comforted each other and how they managed to keep quiet and how they grieved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ILIBAGIZA: It was just a matter of surviving, you know. The first week, we were complaining, how can we be here? For what reason? But when they started to search, we knew how lucky we were to be able to fit in that hidden place.
WHITFIELD: And you could hear their voices when they were searching. You knew when they were nearby, right?
ILIBAGIZA: Oh, yes. We heard their voices. They were calling my name. It was people I knew, you know, who were my neighbors who went to school with me. We knew, of course. We heard them singing outside, you know, saying that we are cockroaches. We are the enemy of the country. Yes, it was horrible. It was right there -- I mean, five inches away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Ilibagiza says faith helped her get through the ordeal and ultimately forgive the killers. And we'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The eyes of the golf world are fixed like lasers on the Masters in Augusta. The final round has begun with the world's top golfers locked in a serious battle. Sorry about that, Larry, standing by live, there you are, in Augusta. What's going on?
LARRY SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: That's easy for you to say, huh?
WHITFIELD: No kidding.
SMITH: The drama is really getting thick here. The 70th Masters, the final round. That four-hour rain delay yesterday all but forgotten at this point. A four-way tie at the top. Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Rocco Mediate and the Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, all at four under par. Let's start though with Phil Mickelson. He entered the round as the leader with a one-shot lead over Couples. But he is reeled off on his five holes, five parts. Trying to get his second green jacket in three years, and his third major overall. Mickelson has been very steady, making some very nice shots.
Now Fred Couples, his playing partner, keep in mind, the last 15 Masters champions have come out of the final pairing. So history would favor Mickelson or Couples. Fred Couples, 46-year-old. With the win would win his second green jacket. He won here in 1992 and would become the oldest master champion ever. He's just a few months older when Jack Nicklaus was when he won his record sixth green jacket here at Augusta 20 years ago.
How about Tiger Woods? Well he is right now at two under par. He birdied early, just gave a stroke back with a bogey a couple of holes ago. Saved a par here at the last hole on 7th. Tiger Woods, very much in the hunt, trying to defend his title, and win a fifth green jacket. Now he is 11th major overall and again, as you may know, Jack Nicklaus was his boyhood idol. Nicklaus with 18 majors, that's the record. Tiger's always wanted to catch him with that. He would have 11 if he can get there.
Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, among those also at two under par. We talked about Chad Campbell as well, the second round leader. He right now is at three under par. So despite his up and down play in the third round, he still is just one shot off the pace. You can feel the excitement here among the azaleas here at Augusta Nationals.
WHITFIELD: Always exciting final day at the Masters, never to disappoint. All right, thanks so much, Larry.
Well here is a thought.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D'ATTOMA: What kind of Gruppy tendencies do you already see that you have?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what official...
D'ATTOMA: What kind of music, what kind of music do you like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm an indie rock kind of person.
D'ATTOMA: There you go, you are on your way to being a Gruppy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A what? A Gruppy? Are you one of those? Well the man who knows all about what a Gruppy is and whether you fall into that category will be joining us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: More on this story we're following. Not only is the Secret Service looking into the background of this man on the ground, arrested for breaching security there at the White House, jumping over the fence. But now firefighters are involved as well, investigating a suspicious package left behind. In a moment, we'll talk to the man behind the camera taking all of these pictures, a CNN White House photographer, in a moment.
Meantime, Judaism with a pop culture twist. American Jews are celebrating their faith and culture in a number of new ways. One new style has been dubbed hipster Judaism. It is inspiring a whole new generation that it's cool to be Jewish right now. Our Chris King has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER KING, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It looks and sounds more like cocktail hour at the opening of a trendy art gallery. But don't let the festive surroundings fool you. It is actually a torah cocktail party at a synagogue nestled in a fashionable New York City neighborhood.
RABBI DOVI SCHNEINER, THE SOHO SYNAGOGUE FOUNDER: The people that we're serving have very frenetic lifestyle, a lot of distractions, to get their attention a program has to be very high quality.
KING: Dovi Schneiner a 29-year-old rabbi is the founder of the Soho Synagogue. He and like so many other Jewish religious leaders across the nation is reaching out to younger less observant Jews mixing the fun of socializing with the joy of spiritual worship. The goal to revamp synagogues making Judaism more accessible and lively at a time when the market place compete with religion for the attention of would of be worshipers.
SCHNEINER: The challenge is to be able to reach that person who claims to be unreachable.
KING: Outreach is not new to the Jewish community. What is new is that the number of Jewish organizations around the country is turning to more aggressive and creative ways to market their religion so like Christian evangelical mega churches a number of Jewish synagogues are turning to the spiritual market place of ideas.
PROF. JACK WERTHEIMER, JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: The response here again to the market and to the consumerism of this society and the need, therefore, to sell the product and the product in this case is Judaism.
KING: For example, Matisyahu, a Hasitic reggae artist raps and rhymes about his faith. New York's Manhattan Jewish experience offers a Monday night lounge featuring lectures and one on one Hebrew tutoring for young adults.
SAMANTHA RIFKIN, MANHATTAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE: I fell in love with the learning and rabbis. KING: But the hip synagogue movement has its critics.
RABBI EPHRAIM BUCHWALD, NATL. JEWISH OUTREACH PGM. DIR: To turn Judaism into something -- I don't think that's the proper way. So you have to really, really be very carefully.
KING: Rabbi Schneiner says his synagogue is careful and true to orthodox teachings.
SCHNEINER: When people find a way to feed their souls and find good restaurant, where they can devour authentic spirituality they just keep coming back.
KING: Coming back and reconnecting with their faith.
Christopher King, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A very different group of folks out there. Their motto might be I don't want to grow up. Who are they? "New York" Magazine calls them Grups a generation of 30 and 40 something that listen to music that a lot of young people usually listen to lets put it that way. They possess the attitude, wardrobe and most importantly the high tech gear of their younger counterparts. Some say Grups bridge the generation gap. While others say they should act their age. Our A. J. Hammer examines the group that is redefining what it means to be a grownup.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
A. J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Ipod, check, canvas nap sack, check. Trendy clothes, check. Lots of free time on their hands, checks.
We're not talking about college kids, we're talking about whole generation of people that are taking the country by storm. It's a generation of 30-somethings who won't grow up. They are living life as if they are still in their 20s. "New York" Magazine has defined them as Gruppies so "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" producer Jenny D'Attoma hit the streets today to see if she could find any of them. Our first potential Gruppy wasn't too sure if she was indeed a Gruppy, but we asked her some important questions. What kind of Gruppy tendencies do you have?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what an official Gruppy.
D'ATTOMA: What kind of music?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rock.
D'ATTOMA: There you go, you are on your way to being a Gruppy. Great one happy Gruppy in progress. So we moved on to someone else we thought was a real life Gruppy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go to the gym every day. And do you put moisturizers and, you know, you buy good jeans, do all the things to stay young.
D'ATTOMA: Has anyone said you act too immature, don't act your age?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, I always act mature.
HAMMER: He might not be a Gruppy but we pressed on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is a Gruppy?
D'ATTOMA: It's a new term.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it mean?
D'ATTOMA: It means someone that doesn't act your age.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh that, no.
HAMMER: Well maybe he's just pretending he's not a Gruppy. We asked him some more pointed questions.
D'ATTOMA: Do you work full time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
D'ATTOMA: You do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
D'ATTOMA: I don't know if you're a Gruppy then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I work full time, I have my own business, and I have people tell what to do.
HAMMER: OK, so he's not a Gruppy. But we did find someone, a 20- something in fact who was familiar with this new generation and he freely admitted that he is right on target.
D'ATTOMA: Do you see yourself being a Gruppy at some point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Totally, I'm on track. I'm a beginner Grup.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well are Grups strictly an urban phenomenon? Is it another form of yuppster or simply a resurgent of the Peter Pan syndrome? The man with all the insight is it the Grup generation? The whole Grup factor all of that stuff, he wrote the article for the "New York" Magazine. Senior editor Adam Sternbergh and he joins us now from New York. Good to see you.
ADAM STERNBERGH, SENIOR EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: Are you proud to call yourself a Gruppy? STERNBERGH: I might not have been at the beginning of all this. I think when we started to explore it. We thought it was something that maybe might be avoided. But at the end of it I would call myself a Grup and I would be proud.
WHITFIELD: So what happened? What started all of this? Was it an issue of you're walking around, you are noticing there's this common denominator with people who are in the 30s or 40s but somehow they look like they could be in their 20s, is that what inspired this whole thing?
STERNBERGH: My editor came to me and said you know we're interested in doing this particular kind of person and my first thought I know was I know exactly what you're talking about and my second thought was is I'm kind of that person, too. Certainly in New York and I think a lot of big cities across the country if you walk around you will notice a change that all of a sudden it's a lot harder to tell a 35-year-old from a 25-year-old or even a 45-year-old from a 25-year-old.
WHITFIELD: So are people proud to be called Gruppies or a Grup?
STERNBERGH: I think for the most part I have been surprised since the article has come out a lot of the reaction especially on the Internet people have read the article and said hey that's me. Finally someone has defined me and my generation. You know, that's -- I'm the person you're describing. People don't -- it doesn't seem to be one of those terms like yuppie that people feel is derogatory. They actually seem to embrace it.
WHITFIELD: Except in some ways as I read your article it doesn't always seem like it's a compliment. You write in particular this cascade of pioneering immaturity is no longer a case of a generation being stuck in its own youth. This generation if you happen to be under 25 more interested in being stuck in your youth?
STERNBERGH: I think.
WHITFIELD: Hold on one second Adam. I'm sorry to interrupt you but we do have some other breaking news at the White House. I need to bring in Elaine Quijano real quick on the update of this security breach. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you Fredricka. Well, just a few minutes ago we learned from the U.S. Secret Service spokesman Eric Darren a little bit more about the incident that you've been showing earlier about the man who jumped the fence apparently here at the White House. As you know it happened just before 4:00, about 3:52 this afternoon a man jumping over the north fence line. What we understand from the Secret Service is that this is a person who is in fact known to the Secret Service. He's believed to be known to the Secret Service as a fence jumper and a "nuance" type.
On the tape, this person can be heard saying I'm a victim of terrorism. Saying something about having intelligence information for the president. Beyond that, though, Fredricka still awaiting more details on exactly who this person is, and some of the other circumstances surrounding what happens here, but that is the latest that we have.
WHITFIELD: So Elaine it doesn't appear that he was armed but what is this about this suspicious package that reportedly firefighters were looking into.
QUIJANO: Right, well we're obviously waiting to hear about that as well. At this point we don't have any details. Secret Service not releasing any details about that, but certainly this is not an uncommon thing. We want to point out that in the past there certainly have been instances where people have jumped the fence. There have been instances where packages have been left and packages are other items even have been left around the White House. They take every precaution necessary in order to insure, obviously there, is no danger. We just don't have any details that we can report right now.
WHITFIELD: Now what about any restrictions that might be in place, security wise all across the board at the White House? Particularly there in the press room?
QUIJANO: Right, well right now obviously I'm coming to you from inside the briefing room here as opposed to outside. Because that's about the area where in fact this man was apprehended. About the area where in fact just outside the fence where in fact this package is believed to be. So we're at this point having to hold inside the briefing room but, again, an abundance of caution is always taken in the situations, Fredricka. This situation certainly no different.
WHITFIELD: Now, you mention this is somebody who has become a familiar face. He jumps the fence or has other security breaches of other kinds often or at least one other time before. Might this happen to be the same person just a month ago, something very similar happened and they said at the time that it was a familiar face, someone who does it often?
QUIJANO: Well you know we're going to have to wait and see, obviously, until he is identified by the Secret Service. But, again, this is not first time. As, you know, that person has jumped the fence certainly here at the White House. And we're just going to have to wait and see once he's identified.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano, thanks so much for that update from the White House.
All right, now I think we have time to resume our conversation with Adam Sternbergh. You still there in New York?
STERNBERGH: Yes, hi.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry about that. On to other matters, certainly not very serious but some people are very -- taking it rather seriously because it is a lifestyle. Earlier I talked about one of the quotes from your paper, your magazine, doesn't necessarily sound like a compliment all the time that people are trying not to act their age.
STERNBERGH: Well, I think the people that we're talking about in the article, the Grups, they have a very ambivalent relationship with this. Because on the one hand they don't want to pass into the next phase and become grown-ups in the traditional sense wearing suits and kind of listening to grown-up music. They same time they understand that can seem kind of immature, like they don't want to grow up. I think they feel a little conflicted about it. But so far they are enjoying this lifestyle.
WHITFIELD: A temporary thing for some of these folks or do they see this as something they want to hold on to for the long haul?
STERNBERGH: A lot of the people I talked to seem to feel like they are kind of reinventing adult hood. I think as long as it continues to work for them they will continue to do it. There's no deadline for them to have to one day wake up and grow up.
WHITFIELD: Where did you get the name Grup?
STERNBERGH: Grups is actually from an episode of the old "Star Trek" show where the crew lands on the planet and all the adults have died and so kids are running the whole planet. We thought that people are in some way kids but also have the responsibilities of adult.
WHITFIELD: So no longer just a yuppie or part of the Peter Pan syndrome now it's about being a Grup.
STERNBERGH: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And proudly you are one, Adam.
STERNBERGH: I think I am, yes.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Adam Sternbergh thanks so much. The senior editor of "New York" Magazine and that is the cover story of this months "New York." Thanks so much.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Leaks such as the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame have long been part of the political landscape around Washington. CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley takes a closer look at the art of the leak in this report, which first aired on the "Situation Room."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The White House spokesman parsed his way through most of the daily briefing.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Leaking classified information that could compromise our national security is something that is very serious. CROWLEY: In the world of spin, this a question, what is a leak?
MCCLELLAN: If it's in the public interest, it's another matter.
CROWLEY: The question comes up because of a court filing in the ongoing case of former White House aide Scooter Libby who says the president authorized the disclosure of intelligence information used as a basis for going to war. Nothing ties the president to the outing of a CIA agent, nothing illegal about the president declassifying information or the White House giving it to the press. Notable that the White House didn't deny that's what happened. The problem is --
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.
CROWLEY: Which keeps Scott McClellan dancing on the head of a pin.
MCCLELLAN: If it's in the public interest, it's important to be able -- I didn't say that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something he has no problems as long as it's not classified?
MCCLELLAN: That's not what said, Martha. What I said is what I said. You ought to listen to what I said.
CROWLEY: No dancing among Democrats just straight to the blunt instrument.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MINORITY LEADER: So he, the president of the United States, must tell the American people whether the Bushes -- President Bush's oval office is a place where the buck stops or the leaks start.
CROWLEY: Leaking is an art form along the halls of power in your nations capital. Alexander Hamilton leaked treaty information to the British during 1794 negotiations, more recently the Pentagon papers, Watergate, Iran-contra, Monica Lewinsky. Trivial leaks are usually inspired by ego or grudges. Serious leaks are usually about trying to drive the agenda.
David Ensor get his fair share covering intelligence matters for CNN.
DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The most common leaks are leaks that are officially sanctioned from higher ups and are leaks to reporters who can be trusted not to say who they got it from, and are designed to affect the policy wars that go on in this town.
CROWLEY: Leaks fuel the sometimes-symbiotic relationship between the people who want the news and people who want to shape the news. Paul Begala worked for President Clinton.
PAUL BEGALA, FORMER CLINTON AIDE: Hypothetically speaking he would call me in and say go tell Candy Crowley at CNN that if that bill comes I'm going to veto it and we are going to have to start all over again. You want that out in the bloodstream but it's a little less ominous and less of a commitment than if the president says it himself.
CROWLEY: President Bush declassified the material in the summer after the invasion of Iraq at a time when debate was raging about whether he misused intelligence to go to war. If the idea was the material would bolster his case. Now it deepens his trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President what is your reaction to Scooter Libby's testimony?
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A pretty beautiful site from New Orleans. These girls got their prom dresses courtesy of a young woman from Maryland. We'll talk with her coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All dressed up and somewhere to go. New Orleans, a shipment of relief supplies unlike any before it. The cargo sequins chiffon and a bit of teenage normalcy. CNN's Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen has more on the prom dress express.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In all the truckloads of relief supplies shipped down to the Gulf Coast after the hurricane, the cargo in this truck is not the first thing you might think a hurricane victim would need unless you're a teenage girl. This is the prom dress express.
MARISA WEST, PROM DRESS DONOR: Every girl deserves a prom and I can't imagine not having a prom myself. So I figured out, you know, we're all the same. No matter where we live we're all 17, 18-year-old girls who are going through similar things and I wanted to help.
ROESGEN: In Beltsville, Maryland, Marisa West got her friends and family together and started collecting dresses, shoes, handbags, you name it. When word got out shipments came in from all across the country. Their goal was 100 dresses; they wound up with ten times that many. So many the girls from New Orleans formed a human chain to get them all inside Cabrini High School. The school has 400 students most lost something and some lost everything in the hurricane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look how pretty.
ROESGEN: For Shannon Salmon a pretty pink prom dress seems almost too frivolous to wish for but sometimes wishes come through.
SHANNON SALMON, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: It's so touching just because it's going to be so remember able at prom and just unbelievable. Words can't describe. ROESGEN: The prom is May 12 and Marisa West plans to come down from Maryland to meet the girls who will glow in her generosity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the one I wanted.
ROESGEN: Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Oh, so sweet. You saw the smiles and you heard the squeals of delight. Let's meet the person responsible for the prom dress expression. Marisa West joins us live from our Washington Bureau. Good to see you Marisa.
WEST: Thank you for having me.
WHITFIELD: You have to feel so great knowing how you have changed the lives of these young girls in New Orleans.
WEST: Well, I was just so glad to be able to help. Because like I said, I really can't imagine not having a prom. So to be able to give that opportunity to the girls in the Gulf Coast is really wonderful and I'm so glad I was an instrument for so many people across the country to give to these girls.
WHITFIELD: Where did the idea come from? I mean how did you get started, how did you go from, light bulb goes off to I'm going to make this happen?
WEST: Well it all started when I was shopping for my prom dress and thinking back to my junior prom and how much fun it was to find the perfect dress and matching earrings then on prom night to line up with my friends and feel gorgeous. Then I realized that there are so many girls in New Orleans and Mississippi who won't be able to do that this year because they simply have nothing to wear.
WHITFIELD: So you mentioned Mississippi. It's not Cabrini High School in New Orleans that gets to benefit from this but your truck is moving on to other places as well to share the wealth.
WEST: Yes, the dresses will be shared with seven and possibly eight schools. Only five public schools opened in New Orleans, so they will all have dresses as well and a Mississippi school will also be receiving dresses.
WHITFIELD: All right. So talk to me about the real logistical nightmare that it meant confronting. Getting all these dresses and then somehow getting them to the destinations?
WEST: Well, we ran into a problem once we hit a thousand dresses, but we had a shipping company come forward, EU Services in Rockwell Maryland, generously wanted to take everything down there on a big 18 wheeler. They are very socially active. They get involved in the community in various ways, so they were really wanting to help out.
WHITFIELD: The neat thing is these dresses are not just coming from folks in Maryland or the D.C. area but all over.
WEST: We have gotten dresses from Washington State, from Florida, from New York, Maine, all over the place.
WHITFIELD: So now what? You get a chance to meet some of these young ladies because they talk about it in the peace how they cannot wait to meet you because you have made their day.
WEST: I'm so excited to go down there and meet the women who I saw on TV yesterday and who are so excited to be able to go to prom. They really are going through similar things that I am. They are applying to college as well. I can't wait to meet them and talk to them about what they have been going through and how lucky they have been to survive and to be able to go back to school.
WHITFIELD: Have you ever been to that region before?
WEST: No, I haven't.
WHITFIELD: This will be a first. This will be a really lasting impression.
WEST: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Huge experience for you all the way around.
WEST: It sure will.
WHITFIELD: All right. Marisa West. Thanks so much, prom dress express. Congratulations on what seems to be an already successful project.
WEST: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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