[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.
[Heidi Collins, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM for Thursday, April 12th. Here's what's on the rundown. He lost his TV gig. Now civil rights leaders press CBS to yank Don Imus off the radio for a racial remark. In this hour, we talk live with SCLC founder, the Reverend Joseph Lowery.
[Harris:] An explosion ripping a cafeteria inside Iraq's parliament building. Several casualties, including Iraqi lawmakers. Live to Baghdad shortly on this bold security breach.
[Collins:] A preacher's wife on trial today. Mary Winkler accused of shooting her husband in the church parsonage. Bible Belt justice, in the
[Newsroom. Harris:] First up this hour, she was a teacher, a minister's wife, mother of three. Now Mary Winkler is on trial for first-degree murder. Lawyers making their opening statements this morning. Our Thomas Roberts is following courtroom developments in the small town of Selmer, Tennessee. Thomas, good morning to you. Where do the proceedings stand?
[Thomas Roberts, Cnn Correspondent:] Tony, good morning to you. Everybody is highly anticipating these opening statements. I just rushed out from the courtroom moments ago where the judge, J. Weber McCraw, was instructing the jury that was just brought in and seated, and instructing them on exactly what they are expected of throughout this course. And also explaining what he will be doing as the judge overseeing this case. So we're still waiting for those opening statements to begin. And we expect that to be coming up here, I think, in a couple of minutes. But as I said, I just ran out of the courtroom right now when the judge was instructing the jury on what is expected of them.
[Harris:] And Thomas, if we could, just give us a bit of a scene setter in that community. I'm just wondering if people are where the sympathies lie. Are people taking sides?
[Roberts:] You know, Tony, it's amazing, Tony. I mean, and I know and the tease where Heidi was reading, the Bible Belt justice...
[Harris:] Yes. Yes.
[Roberts:] ... so many people have explained their forgiveness in this situation. And I was just talking with, you know, other reporters in the jury or in the courtroom, rather, when the jury was getting their instructions, and hearing from them that they've heard from so many different people that there has been an outpouring of support, there's been an outpouring of compassion. And there also has been that outpouring of forgiveness here. So we'll see how this jury actually rules after they hear all the facts of the case.
[Harris:] All right. CNN's Thomas Roberts following developments in Selmer, Tennessee, for us. Thomas, thanks.
[Collins:] The hits keep coming for radio shock-jock Don Imus. The latest, MSNBC pulling the plug on its simultaneous of his morning radio show.
[Steve Capus, President, Nbc News:] Within this organization this touched a nerve. And the comment that came through to us time and time again was, when is enough going to be enough? And this was the only action we could take.
[Collins:] Imus responded just this morning during his annual on- air charity fund-raiser.
[Don Imus, Radio:] As you all know, MSNBC, yielding to enormous pressure, which I do understand, canceled the simulcast of this program. And so we move on. Somebody was talking to me about the outrageous level of hypocrisy on everybody who knows better and I said, "Well, you know, I shouldn't have said it." And then somebody else said, "Well, you got caught in a slow news cycle." And I said, "Sometimes it doesn't snow on Christmas."
[Collins:] CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is at CBS headquarters in New York. And that is where Reverend Al Sharpton is scheduled to hold a protest rally this hour. So, Allan, the protest was supposed to be starting right about now. Where are all the people?
[Allan Chernoff, Cnn Sr. Correspondent:] That's right, Heidi. The emphasis on "scheduled". His communications director told us earlier today, "We're going to protest come hell or high water." Well, we certainly do have the high water. In fact, the water is getting so high, that Reverend Sharpton's advance man has just asked CBS if they can move the protest inside, into the lobby of the corporate headquarters right behind me, the building known as Black Rock. So, they are still waiting to find out about that. The protest not beginning obviously just yet. Now, in terms of what they're demanding, they want Don Imus to be fired from CBS, in addition to MSNBC, already having dropped the simulcast of that radio broadcast. CBS, so far, is suspending Don Imus, beginning on Monday, for two weeks. A two-week unpaid suspension. And the company isn't exactly giving him a vote of confidence. The public relations people for CBS Radio are not saying whether or not Don Imus will actually come back on the air after that two-week suspension, only that they'll be monitoring the situation closely. One board member at CBS is calling for Don Imus to be fired. So, certainly a lot of pressure on the company to fire Don Imus Heidi.
[Collins:] Well, any indication at this point, Allan I'm not sure if you can hear me, because I hear all those sirens behind you but that CBS may plan on taking Imus off the air?
[Chernoff:] No. They're not going beyond their statement, and their statement has been that Mr. Imus has the two-week suspension, and that they're going to keep monitoring the situation. But they're not saying anything at all beyond that.
[Collins:] All right, Allan. We know you're watching this story closely. Thank you.
[Harris:] And as Allan mentioned, a CBS board member, Bruce Gordon, says Imus crossed the line and should be fired. Gordon, a former president of the NAACP, he shared his views about Imus on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".
[Bruce Gordon, Cbs Board Member:] Clearly, I have a reaction and a responsibility as the director of CBS. And I'm carrying that through. And I think I've been fairly clear. As an African-American man in this country, Don Imus violated our community. He attacked beautiful, talented, classy women. And when those women showed themselves to the country a couple of days ago, I think that his words, matched with their images, made it clear to America that Don Imus was wrong.
[Harris:] Gordon says he is confident CBS management is taking the Imus matter very seriously. Civil rights leaders looking to pull the plug on Don Imus. We will talk with the Reverend Joseph Lowery, straight ahead here in the
[Newsroom. Collins:] A suicide bomber infiltrates Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, detonating in Iraq's parliament building. Lawmakers are among the casualties. Live now to CNN's Kyra Phillips, in the capital. Kyra, it's hard not to ask the question, what it says about Baghdad's security situation when a bombing can happen in a place like the Green Zone.
[Kyra Phillips, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, it says a lot, Heidi. That is for sure. This is unprecedented. This is the first time a suicide bomber has been able to make his way through all those checkpoints into the fortified Green Zone, into the convention center, into where the Iraqi parliament meets and has session. He blew himself up in the cafeteria, which is right next to where they meet for session. He knew when they were going to be there, he knew about timing. He worked this out in absolute detail. Now, I had a chance to talk with Major General William Caldwell just a few minutes ago. And I asked him that. I said, "How can you explain how this could happen, especially in an area this tight with so much security?" And this is what he told me.
[Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, Spokesman, Multinational Force, Iraq:] I mean, this attack against the parliament building today was not an attack against members of parliament. That was an attack against the Iraqi people. I mean that's and so they will continue to strike and try to do these type of things.
[Phillips:] And he said to me he said, "Kyra, this is what we're up against. We are up against murderers that will take their life for the sake of others." This is against the Iraqi people. This is against a government trying to make life better in this country, and they'll do whatever it takes. He said, "While we're rebuilding schools, they are making vest bombs." Two vest bombs found in the Green Zone just a couple of weeks ago. Now, an actual suicide bomber blowing himself up right there inside the Green Zone. Obviously a lot of investigations going on as to how this could have happened, how he got through. Major General Caldwell actually telling me that they can't quite confirm which checkpoint that he got through. That's under investigation. We're still trying to find that out. But he does believe that this may be backed by al Qaeda, that this was a member of al Qaeda that worked himself into the fortified Green Zone. Right now, all members of the parliament have been detained for questioning, trying to find out if indeed anybody within the government might have been working with this individual. We'll bring you that information as soon as we get it.
[Collins:] All right. Quickly, Kyra we have about 45 seconds or so before are expecting President Bush in a photo-op to make some comments about this bombing I just want to ask you about other explosives that may have been found in the building. Do you know about that?
[Phillips:] There were extra explosives that were found, not only the suicide bomber, but there were two bags, briefcases possibly that were found with additional explosives. And that's basically how these bombers operate. If you remember the suicide bomber that blew himself up at the deputy prime minister's home, al Qaeda infiltrator, the same type of thing. He had he a car bomb on standby as well. They always have a backup plan if case something goes wrong and they are not able to blow themselves up.
[Collins:] All right. CNN's Kyra Phillips live from Baghdad this morning, where we still hear the sirens behind you. Want to go ahead and get now to this tape that we have coming in from President Bush making some comments while a photo-op was taking place at the White House regarding this bombing in the Green Zone in Baghdad. Let's listen in for just a moment.
[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] I also want to comment on today's bombing of the Iraqi parliament. First of all, I strongly condemn the action. It reminds us, though, that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy. The assembly is a place where people have come to represent the 12 million people who voted. And there's a type of person that will walk in that building and kill innocent life. And that is the same type of person that is willing to come and kill innocent Americans. And it's in our interest to help this young democracy be in a position so it can sustain itself and govern itself and defend itself against these extremists and radicals. Our hearts go out to those who suffered as a result of this bombing. My message to the Iraqi government, as we stand with you as you take the steps necessary to not only reconcile politically, but also put a security force in place that is able to deal with these kind of people. I thank you all for coming.
[Collins:] President Bush speaking there at a photo-op at a No Child Left Behind event that was happening in the Oval Office. And just quickly, to update you here, that suicide attack that he was talking about at Iraq's parliament building today has killed eight and wounded 20 people. This all according to Major General William Caldwell, who our Kyra Phillips just spoke with a little bit earlier today. We'll continue to follow the story for you coming out of Baghdad this morning.
[Harris:] In the meantime, more than 100,000 U.S. soldiers will spend more time in Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN's Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre has details.
[Jamie Mcintyre, Cnn Sr. Pentagon Correspondent:] The enduring wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now requiring even more sacrifice by active duty American soldiers. The Pentagon has approved a plan to increase the standard tour of duty for the active Army in both combat zones from 12 months to 15. Without that plan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would be forced to deploy five brigades to Iraq early and extend other brigades on short notice in the coming months.
[Robert Gates, Defense Secretary:] I strongly believe that we owe our troops as much advanced notice as possible and clarity on what they and their families can expect. In other words, predictability.
[Mcintyre:] The three-month extension applies to all active duty Army soldiers deployed in the U.S. Central Command area. That includes over 100,000 Army soldiers of the 145,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq, and about 20,000 soldiers of the 47,000 NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan. While the active duty troops will deploy for 15 months, they would get 12 months at home. Guard and Reserve troops would still serve a year on and get five years at home, as Secretary Robert Gates promised back in January. And most Marines whose deployments are tied to Navy ship movements will still serve seven-month tours with a six- month break. The Army says the extensions were the best way to provide the 20 combat brigades U.S. commanders say are needed to maintain the Baghdad security plan known as the surge for at least a year.
[Gen. Peter Pace, Joint Chiefs Chairman:] This decision today does not predict when this surge will end. What it does is it allows us to provide to the nation, if needed, the amount of force that's currently deployed for a sustained period of time.
[Harris:] And Jamie McIntyre joins us now from the Pentagon. Jamie, how is this news being received not just by military families, but how about opponents in Congress?
[Mcintyre:] Well, of course no sooner had the announcement been made that there was a blizzard of statements from Democrats on Capitol Hill condemning it. Mostly characterizing this as a result of a flawed strategy and criticizing the burden on military families. Statements coming from the Democratic leader, Harry Reid, from the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Carl Levin, the House Armed Services Committee chairman, Ike Skelton, as well as other members of those committees. But and obviously members of military families are also disappointed that it's going to be another three months before they are reunited with their loved ones. And the soldiers are in very dangerous duty in some of the most dangerous parts of Iraq. And that's why this extension is needed.
[Harris:] Yes.
[Mcintyre:] But had they not done this, there was no way they could sustain the number of troops that they had there without these sort of piecemeal extensions where that was even more disheartening. When you're coming to the end of your tour in Iraq as a soldier, and then you're sort of fearing the worst, and then you're told just a couple of weeks before you're supposed to go home that, oh, by the way, you have to stay another three or four months, that can be demoralizing as well.
[Harris:] Yes.
[Mcintyre:] Now, the Pentagon points to the fact that the re- enlistment, the retention, the recruiting rates, despite all of this, are still much higher than you might expect. In fact, the Army has exceeded its goal for the active duty force for the month of March. The big question is, as this continues, will that trend continue as well?
[Harris:] Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, with us. Jamie, thank you.
[Collins:] It looks like we are hearing that Reverend Sharpton is at microphones at CBS headquarters. Let's listen to what he has to say.
[Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Activist:] ... and be the dam holding back the waters of insensitivity. I have standing with me the father of the 20-year-old young lady who was the center of the team. In a few minutes, I will be meeting, along with some other leaders that have come in to support, with the head of CBS. I want to take this father with me, because this is not about civil rights leaders or women leaders or Al Sharpton. This is about the fact that ordinary people should not have the public airwaves be the basis of the denigration of women and the denigration of race. Ordinary people were assaulted verbally on federally-regulated radio by Mr. Imus. If NBC could see the light, CBS should see the light. If all of those advertisers could see the light, CBS should see the light. We wanted to rally here today. I got on radio to postpone it with the storm. But we will be out here by the scores on Saturday at 12:00 noon. Jeff Fox, who stands with me, we will co-host this rally this Saturday that we wanted to have today. One, because of the storm. Second, because there's been an agreement to meet at 12:00 noon and some of the other leaders will join us. But the most important thing is this man who represents millions of fathers and mothers, white, black, Latino, Asian and others, who are saying beyond the politics, we cannot have the airwaves used to call our children "hard-core hos," "nappy-headed hos," "jigaboos" and "wannabes". This is absurd. Yes, many of us in private and in public may have said things that we wish we hadn't. But none of us has the right to use the public airwaves as employees and hosts to express our bigotry. Secondly, Saturday's rally will be the beginning. We will go to those advertisers that don't join the advertising list and we will march on them as we mobilize thousands. Just a couple months ago
[Unidentified Male:] Please identify yourself. My name is Lindsel Vaughn. I'm the father of Kia Vaughn, the center at Rutgers University. I'm very proud of them, and I'm very proud to stand right here next to Mr. Al Sharpton. He's given me an opportunity and a chance to relay a message to all those fathers out there. Stand for your daughters. Do not let no man, nobody anywhere hurt your child. Stand for them. They're doing fine by themselves right now, but they still need to see the strength outside. So other men can respect that. Do not disrespect our children. Reverend, didn't you attack some gentlemen at this university, yourself, personally? And how do you feel now?
[Sharpton:] Did I attack them or did I...
[Unidentified Male:] You said some very nasty things.
[Sharpton:] What did I say?
[Unidentified Male:] I don't know.
[Sharpton:] Well, then don't ask a question.
[Unidentified Male:] But I'm saying Reverend, I'm saying, you haven't spoken out about that?
[Sharpton:] First of all, you told one distortion. You said I said some nasty things. When I challenged you this is the kind of stuff we're talking about. You guys go unaddressed. That's got to stop. What did I say? I said we need to investigate. We need to see that's nasty?
[Unidentified Male:] But you haven't told...
[Sharpton:] You said that about Michael Jackson. Did you speak of nasty things about Michael? Did you speak nasty things about O.J. Simpson? This is the kind of distortion you guys have to stop.
[Unidentified Male:] How do you feel about what happened yesterday?
[Sharpton:] Next question.
[Unidentified Female:] Who are you meeting with at CBS?
[Sharpton:] Yes, I think this is sexist first.
[Collins:] We've been listening in to the Reverend Al Sharpton, who is holding a protest right out in front of CBS headquarters in New York. As you can see, a serious weather situation there. Not as many people I think showed up as they would have planned on would have liked to see. But you heard what he had to say. And calling for the firing of the radio program as well of Don Imus.
[Harris:] And quickly, we want to take to you Selmer, Tennessee, right now. The murder trial of Mary winkler is under way. Opening statements being heard right now. Let's listen in.
[Walt Freeland, Prosecutor:] "No comment," or "I don't want to talk about that yet." But the conversation progresses, and she concedes and this is the Thursday evening after the Wednesday morning shooting she concedes that she had a good marriage, that there were no major, major problems. And she uses words that indicate that she was in control of the situation. She says words basically, "There's no poor me. I'm in control." And you will hear those words, I think, verbatim on the audio. You will hear her say in response to some questions from Corporal Stabler about Matthew, "He's a mighty fine person." You will hear her say that she has her nerves now. She has her self-esteem. And she guessed that her ugly just came out. You will hear those words almost verbatim. And when asked about her plans about what she planned to have done after this, she said, "I didn't have money to go to Mexico, of course. I was coming back to west Tennessee. And I was going to bring the children back to stay with the family." And when she was asked, "Well, your parents?" She said, "No, the family. They're good people." And she was talking about Matthew Winkler's family. She was talking about papa and nana. And she was talking about not her family, but Matthew's family. That was her plans she announced to Stan Stabler after all this, coming back home, and the children would go with papa and nana, the Winklers. She told Stan Stabler and you will get to hear it on the audio he was asking about how this happened, was there any thinking about it, that she will you will hear her say, "I've been battling not to do that forever." You will hear her on the tape when asked she states that it was not planned, but when asked if she had thought about doing it, she indicated to Stan Stabler
[Collins:] We've been listening live to some of the proceedings, the opening statements in the Mary Winkler trial. That was from the D.A.'s office, prosecutor Walt Freeland. Of course this case, where Mary Winkler on her own admission says that she killed her husband with the family shotgun. We are just now in the opening statement phase, and we will continue to follow this story. If you'd like to watch more of it as it goes on, you can always go to CNN.com, and also important to mention that we will have some of the defense opening statements as well coming up just a little bit later in the show.
[Harris:] And good morning again, everyone. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris with Heidi Collins. Let's talk to the Reverend Joseph Lowery. Many of the nation's civil rights leaders have made it clear, they say Don Imus should be fired for his racially charged comments. The Reverend Lowery joins me. Good to see you, doc.
[Rev. Joseph Lowery, Civil Rights Activist:] Good to see you.
[Harris:] I want to play the sound chunk in question here, and then let's just sort of kick it around a little bit, get your response.
[Don Imus, Msnbc:] So I watched the basketball game last night between a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, Tennessee won last night, seventh championship for Pat Summitt. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
[Imus:] That was some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and...
[Unidentified Male:] Some hardcore hos.
[Imus:] Those are some nappy-headed hos there I'm going to tell you that now. Man, that's some...
[Harris:] All right, and there you have it. I don't have to tee it up any more than that. What are your thoughts?
[Lowery:] Well, brutal and obscene language. It would have been that coming from anybody. But coming from a white male about black females, the historicity of relationships between white males in this country and how they have seen black women as sex objects, and vehicles and tools to be used to provide labor, free labor, for the system that brutalized and dehumanized both black and white, but coming from him, it took on a special significance. But I think we've scored a first down.
[Harris:] Really?
[Lowery:] Yes, in the firing by NBC. But it's not a touchdown. We still have many yards to go. Imus doesn't carry the whole blame. He didn't invent the inheritance part of it. He didn't invent the term. And we've got to score some more first downs before we get a touchdown. CBS must follow NBC. But then they must look at their production process. They must look at the fact that they are guilty of projecting this kind of image and this kind of language in producing CDs, and DVDs and films and videos that include that kind of language.
[Harris:] That's great that you turned that corner for me. Talk about that for a moment. You know, there seems to be you talk about the fact that these big companies, media companies are distributing this material. But most of this material, as you know, we're talking about music lyrics, we're talking about music videos and some of the images that are certainly denigrating to women. Those images are created, those lyrics are created by black artists. Is there an aspect of having to clean up our own house that has to take place?
[Lowery:] There's enough blame to go around, and black artists carry a part of that blame, part of that burden. They have a responsibility to not only protest the denigration of black women by others, but to themselves engage in respect for black women, because we black men owe black women so much we could never measure it. But they carry the burden that we weren't permitted to carry as men weapon, so we owe them, as mothers and sisters, and as progenitors of our history and our future.
[Harris:] I've got to let me pick up on that. Let me pick up on a moment. I want you to see this. I want to take to you Spellman College, a traditional African-American women's college here in Atlanta. And I want you to take a look at this moment for a piece that we aired yesterday from CNN's David Mattingly. Take a look at this.
[David Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] How many of you have actually used that word, called someone a ho? All of you?
[Harris:] Every hand went up, women who have had that word used against them also admitting they have used that word against other women. Square the circle for me.
[Lowery:] Bill Cosby asked a group of high school kids, including women, how many of you consider yourself hos. Not a hand went up. Then he said, why do you dance to and buy the music that refers to you as hos? There's an inconsistency. But when the entertainment industry uses black artists, and black artists permit themselves to be used to introduce that into the culture, it becomes acceptable.
[Harris:] Hey, help us here. I mean, I think this is a moment where maybe we can open up a dialogue, and we say this all the time, and it almost feels a bit cliche. But is there a moment. You mentioned we scored a first down but not a touchdown. How do we score the touchdown? That's the opportunity here.
[Lowery:] We've got to get all the people involved. I think that we can seize upon this moment. When nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, just as there is nothing more frustrating than an idea's whose time has not come. But the time has come, I think, thanks to this incident, God forbid. But it's time to call in all the players, and each of us has to assume responsibility to clean up the mess.
[Harris:] Broadcasters, advertisers?
[Lowery:] Advertisers, individuals, artists, people who buy, people who clap their hands and the girls who shake their booties. And thank God for the Spellman kids, even though they admitted they used the term, they did protest that kind of entertainment a few months ago. We've got to have more of that.
[Harris:] And one final thought. What did you think of the Rutgers women the other day in the news conference?
[Lowery:] Well, I watched them beat Duke.
[Harris:] Yes, yes.
[Lowery:] I watched them beat Duke.
[Harris:] And then to play Tennessee.
[Lowery:] I didn't think they could beat Tennessee, but they put up a good fight. I was impressed by the coaches, what's her name, stringer?
[Harris:] Yes, Vivian Stringer.
[Lowery:] The Rutgers coach's remarks. And these young women have come up, you know, the rough side of the mountain, and yet they reached the peak of their hopes and dreams, and made it to college, they've made the honor roll, they got sufficient grades to be permitted to play athletics, they are proud of themselves, and they fought mightily in a championship game. And then to be denigrated, and as one of them said, to have this moment stolen from us that we worked so hard for. I was impressed by the coach's remarks. I was impressed by the players' dignity, and I think from here, we can score a touchdown, and I hope that I'm glad they're going to meet with Imus, and I hope they will follow the Spellman girls in joining protests around the country against that kind of music, against that kind of entertainment. And we don't need it in our living room. We don't need it in our dens, we don't need it in our hearts, we don't need it on our radios, our DVDs, our ABCs. We don't need it, and this moment can help us go to touchdown, to clean up the whole mess.
[Harris:] Reverend Lowery, always great to see you. Thank you, doc. Good to see you.
[Lowery:] Thank you. Thank you.
[Collins:] The Duke lacrosse scandal, the charges ignited anger around the country and a different outrage in the hometowns of the men accused. What neighbors are saying today. You'll hear them in the CNN NEWSROOM. And planes told to wait while the air-traffic controller takes a bathroom break? Guess when you've got go, you've got to go. But who's watching the shop, ahead in the NEWSROOM.