American Morning
Commentary: 'The police did not cause this situation. They did their job.'
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/28/am.intv.gates.police.911.tapes.art.jpg
caption="Det. Lt. Rogers said the Cambridge police officers did not profile"]
On Thursday, the president will meet with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Cambridge police officer, Sergeant James Crowley who arrested him. But the newly released 911 tapes and recordings of Crowley’s communication with his fellow officers are raising some new questions.
Police detective lieutenant Steven Rogers, 30-year veteran of the Nutley, New Jersey police department and the author of "Proven Strategies for Effective Community Oriented Policing" spoke with CNN’s John Roberts Tuesday.
John Roberts: Lucia Whalen was the woman who called in after talking with a neighbor who said that she saw a couple of people allegedly trying to break in to the home of Henry Louis Gates Jr. Whalen said two men were breaking into a home and when was asked if they were black, white or Hispanic she said she wasn’t sure but one of them looked ‘kind of Hispanic.’ The official police report said the 911 call described two African Americans who were trying to break into the house. Whalen's attorney disputed that whole notion saying that she never said that two black men were trying to break into the house and the 911 tapes seemed to back her up on that. So a couple of questions arise out of this. What would lead to this discrepancy and based on that 911 call, what would Sergeant Crowley have expected he was coming up upon when he went to Henry Louis Gates’ home?
Det. Lt. Steve Rogers: Obviously there is a discrepancy. That's something that the police department is going to have to work through. However, I’m troubled, John, over the fact this has become a discussion about racial profiling. That was never the case. These police officers responded to a scene that was burglarized once before. And they never brought up race. What’s troubling about this is that the president of the United States made this into an issue of stereotyping the color blue. This is a problem police officers have nationally. We can't look at every police officer as being prejudice and profiling as a result of responding to any crime scene that involves a person of color. So what I’m saying is that these officers acted properly. They did what they had to do according to law and unfortunately, race has come into this picture.
Roberts: So do you think that the president overstepped when he responded to the Lynn Sweet "Chicago Sun-times" question at that press conference about this case?
Armstrong has his sights set on a 2010 Tour de France win
Lance Armstrong already has his sights set on the 2010 Tour de France. The seven-time tour champ came up short this year, finishing third, more than five-minutes behind the winner, Alberto Contador of Spain. After the finish, Armstrong sat down with our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Commentary: Maine's lobstermen are not making enough money to survive
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/27/maine.lobster.art.jpg
caption="Some of the 32,000 lbs of Maine lobster served during the Port Of Los Angeles Lobster Festival sits October 05, 2001 in San Pedro, CA."]
After spending three days in Maine with lobster fishermen Mike Davis, Ryan Sheehan and Chris Andrews one thing is clear; these guys love their job. Awaking at 4:00am to meet them down on the docks in torrential rain, we pulled up and were greeted with smiling faces excited to get on the water. We all boarded the boat and huddled in the main cabin trying desperately to stay dry in the horrible conditions. As we motored our way out of Portland harbor, Mike was telling us about how he can’t imagine doing anything else, “Today might be a little different story, but when you wake up and it’s a beautiful, calm, sunny morning I can’t imagine not going out and hauling traps.”
As we approached the first buoys I ventured out onto the back deck where Ryan was prepping to haul up the traps. Standing next to the bait, which were huge drums of dead fish, Ryan could not tell me enough about how much he loved hauling traps. This is his first season back fishing; he was a plumber for 3 years until he got laid off last fall. He now views losing his plumbing job as a blessing in disguise as he told me he was miserable as a plumber.
Despite passion for their work, the lobstermen say they are just not making enough money to survive. Chris Andrews told me they need to be getting about 3 dollars a pound for their catch in order to turn a profit. The day we were on the boat, the price was approximately $2.60 a pound for lobster. When I asked Chris how they pay their bills he told me they either have to dip into their savings or use credit cards. As a result, some lobstermen have resorted to selling lobsters directly to customers on the side of the road or out of their houses in order to make ends meet. Lobster fishermen traditionally have sold to lobster dealers for a boat price who then distribute the lobsters for a higher price to consumers. When lobstermen sell directly to customers they are able to get more for their lobsters than if they sold to dealers.
Palin steps down as Alaska governor
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/27/palin.stuff.jpg caption="Sarah Palin told a crowd in Fairbanks that she accomplished what she had promised as governor."]
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (CNN) - Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave her final speech as Alaska's governor Sunday before stepping down from her post, telling a Fairbanks crowd that she is resigning "to chart a new course to advance the state."
"Now people who know me, they know how much I love this state ... I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics-as-usual, lame-duck session in one's last year in office," Palin said, just moments before Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell was sworn in as governor.
"With this decision, now I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right and for the truth," Palin continued. "And I have never felt you need a title to do that."
Palin - interrupted briefly by a heckler - devoted much of her last address to a rundown of her accomplishments as governor, including winning legislative approval for a massive natural gas pipeline and governing "with fiscal restraint."
"What I promised, we accomplished," she told the mostly supportive crowd.
Palin has been a polarizing figure in the Republican Party since August, when then-presidential candidate John McCain made her his pick for vice president. At the time, little was known about the first-term governor. Within days, Palin's face and strong personality was splashed across newspapers, magazines and tabloids.
The NAACP at 100: Much more work to do
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/10/benjamin.jealous.art.jpg caption="Closing gaps in access to education is one of the goals the NAACP will continue to pursue in its next 100 years."]
By Benjamin Todd Jealous
Special to CNN
Editor's note: Benjamin Todd Jealous is president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which holds its 100th annual convention in New York from July 11-16.
(CNN) - As the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People prepares to celebrate its Centennial in New York, the city of its birth, I'm confident that we as a nation have turned an important corner on the long road toward racial and economic equality for all Americans.
Established in 1909 by a core group of black and white Americans, the NAACP's mission has been clarified and sharpened during our first 100 years. We have covered a lot of ground in the march to improve the lives of millions of Americans, but there remains much more work to be done.
The NAACP's legacy of accomplishment is rich, and cannot be dismissed or subjected to gainsaying in the wake of the election of President Obama.
Yes, we are energized and emboldened by the historic election of America's first black president. We were not surprised that Americans, at long last, voted to choose high-quality ideas, soaring spirit and bright vision over the racial, cultural and class distinctions that have so long divided us. The multi-ethnic coalition that coalesced around Obama is familiar to us, indeed.
Our members always have included whites, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans. Right now, our 1,200 branches span the breadth of this continent, and our members include white folks in southern Maine, Native Americans in Alabama, Americans of East Asian descent in the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, and of course, black Americans throughout the country with ancestral links to the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Africa.
We are a civil and human rights organization, by our founders' design. In our next century, our efforts will make the second part of that equation more evident.
Now, insistent questions have arisen about the relevancy of our mission: Haven't we entered a "post-racial" era in America, with the election of President Obama?
Swim club accused of racial discrimination against kids
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caption="Some kids from the Creative Steps Day Care center say club members made racial remarks."]
(CNN) - A Philadelphia-area day care center said Thursday that members of a private swim club made racist comments about the center's children, and the club then canceled their swimming privileges.
The Creative Steps Day Care children - ages kindergarten through seventh grade - went to the Valley Swim Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, on June 29.
The day center's director, Alethea Wright, had contracted to use the club once a week. During their first visit, some children said they heard club members asking why African-American children were there.
One of the boys told the Philadelphia Inquirer that a woman at the club said she feared the children "might do something" to her child.
Days later, the day care center's $1,950 check was returned without explanation, Wright said.
The stepfather of one of the children was filing a complaint against the club with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the panel's chairman, Stephen Glassman, said Thursday.
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