[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/30/am.intv.sweet.gates.art.jpg caption="Sweet says a teachable moment of the beer summit would be one doesn't 'have to be trapped in an endless soundbite.'"]
Thursday President Obama will have Professor Gates and the man who arrested him Police Sergeant James Crowley, over to the white house for beers. He hopes the meeting will be a national "teachable moment.” The racially-charged debate's been a learning experience for the president, who helped create the rift with his response to this question at last week's news conference.
The reporter who asked the question, Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times spoke with CNN’s Carol Costello about the controversy.
