to beg, borrow and steal for an internship with a green company. they do that. other thing they need to join the professional associations. because that is a good way. you can get on boards, meet people, and really start to build your network. >> reporter: altogether the obama administration says it plans to spend $150 billion over the next decade on greening america. and with unemployment hovering at 10%, it's one industry that seems destined for growth. all right. well hopefully if you are looking for a job maybe that is the field you need to pursue. a quick look at the rundown for the next hour here in the "newsroom." the growing use of restraints for special education students. it is getting intense federal scrutiny amid reports of serious injury. even death of some special ed students. and cnns special investigation unit profiles one shocking story. breaking barriers for african-americans in the work place. how one management training

initiative is proving to be a step up for advancing more minorities up the corporate ladder to success. the stories and much more next. the fight for afghanistan heats up taliban fighters attack a capital and storm a police station. gun battles last for hours. it is election day in northern iraq in the semiautonomous kurdish region. we will tell you why it is important. and a black mar vard professor says he is willing to talk with the white police officer who arrested him in his home. can a get-together with president obama cool the heated controversy. hello, again, i'm fredericka whitfield. you are in the cnn "newsroom." we begin with health care and the end of a frustrating week for the obama administration. the president appears to be giving up hope that congress

will pass legislation before it adjourns in august. he is now calling for action by the end of the year. but republicans are stepping up their attack. they say the obama health care plan is badly flawed. the democrats' health care plan crafted largely behind closed doors isn't the right thing. it is a prescription for disaster. one that will put washington bureaucrats in charge of your family's personal medical decisions. medical decisions that are some of the most personal decisions you will ever make. >> president obama defended his plan again today during his weekly media address. he says health care reform will help small businesses. >> because they like the bargaining power that large businesses have, and faced higher administrative costs per person, small businesses pay up to 18% more for the very same health insurance plans. costs that eat into their profits and get passed on to their employees. as a result, small businesses

are much less like low to offer health insurance. those that do tend to have less generous plans. in a recent survey, one third of small businesses reported cutting benefits. many have dropped coverage altogether. many have shed jobs or shut their doors entirely. this is unsustainable. it is unacceptable. and it is going to change when i sign health insurance reform into law. >> so is the president right? will health care reform really help small businesses? we asked our kate bouldin to look into that. >> reporter: president obama in his weekly address is pitching to small businesses across the country saying they will only benefit from health care reform. >> these are the mom-and-pop stores, restaurants. beauty shops, construction companies that support families and sustain communities. right now, they are getting crushed by skyrocketing health care costs. >> we talked to two small business owners who face similar challenges every day. >> good afternoon.

>> reporter: david employs 170 people at guernsey office products in virginia. brian england has 18 employees at his maryland auto repair shop. both small businesses that provide health insurance to their workers but both admit it is getting harder and harder to keep up. >> top line not going up. gross profit is not going up. expenses in terms of health care will go up. and that affects the bottom line. >> the pay is the number one expense to running a business. next is rent. and then next is health care. third in line. a very large third. >> these men and their employees are keeping close watch on washington and the health care debate. one idea england supports, requiring employers to provide coverage, he says it would help level the playing field for him against competitors. >> think every year it gets worse, the rates go up. more employers stop providing complete coverage and makes a big problem for the ones left. >> guernsey fears expanded

coverage could come with an expanded price small businesses simply can't afford. >> if the requirement were such that the kind of coverage we offered were dramatically different, dramatically more comprehensive and the cost accordingly would go up significantly that would then be a problem. >> reporter: instead, guernsey hopes small businesses will be able to pool their coverage to help drive down prices. kate, joining us live now from the white house. kate, what is the president's plan for small businesses? >> fredericka, the president supports allowing small businesses to buy coverage through what they call insurance exchange. the president says that allows them to shop around for different cheaper plans for their employees and the president heads to north carolina and virginia next week to continue selling the white house reform efforts. fredericka. >> thank you, kate bolduan from the white house. appreciate that.

let's talk about afghanistan and what is taking place. a dangerous situation for the international and afghan troops. more than a half dozen taliban insurgents attacked government targets in khost in eastern afghanistan. attackers carrying machine guns and wearing suicide vests were killed in a battle with afghan security forces. at least 14 civilians, three military service members and police officer were wounded in the attack. everything you want to know about afghanistan, conflict, history, the people. it is all just a click away at cnn.com. giving us a tour, cnns josh levs. >> all right. i want to show you this. cnn.com/afghanistan. like a one-stop shop to see latest reporting from afghanistan including our latest videos and photos. the stories. let's zoom right in. i'll take you through it. i'll scroll down. take a look at this. every time you see a new loon one of the latest stories we have added.

life in afghanistan or the state of the war. let's go over here. something you don't see often. shots of what afghanistan looks like. large parts taken by photo-journalists traveling through. these are some from cnn's photo-journalist. he shows you areas in kabul and elsewhere, some places ravaged by war, areas emptied out. some areas you can see bits of life and what life is like. now let's piece through some of the major events in the war. all right here. look at this. year by year. click on any year dating back to 2001. gives you a summary of that year and photos to go along with it. up to 2006, 2007. basic summary next to it that helps you show the trajectory. what has happened so far. also, this, a look at key players in afghanistan. when you hear names in the news you may want to know who they are and what their background is. who they may represent within afghanistan. here you have got it right here. key players. click along. trace you through. one more thing on the front. take a look here. let's go back farther in history. afghanistan, crossroads of

history. this right here takes you back to aleck ander the great. through various empires. brings you up to the soviet invasion. the taliban and new rule. some of the basic history. now, let's do this. video. you can see all sorts of video. what i found here again all on the same web page. 2001. there you go. archive video going back to 2001. continues to trace you through loads of video, cnn has talken from the war, showing you major events there. let's end on this. casualties. u.s. and coalition casualties over the year. as you scroll down you can learn who the individuals are that have given their lives in this war. how they were killed, how old they were. and a little bit of information about them. while you are doing that we give you chance to post ireports or comments. thanks to the troops. back to you. >> thank you, josh. all next hour we are taking an indepth look at the u.s.-led offensive in afghanistan, faces of the conflict. the drug trade fueling it. and u.s. strategy and what is being dubbed now obama's war.

what are your observations and concerns and the questions. call us, the number is -- you have been weighing in on face book as well as on my blog. here is some of what you are saying on my blog. william grandine says we should have concentrated our efforts on the taliban from the outset rather than gone into iraq. with an all-volunteer army we do not have the resources to take on the whole muslim world. as i am afraid we will have as the war spreads through iraq, pakistan and eventually iran with the exception of the british, so-called western allies, have basically ran and hid. >> then angeline says america is losing the war in afghanistan. everyone around the world can see it. i would hope that america's leaders learn their history. this land that people do not tolerate foreign presence, no one has been able to occupy that land since alexander the great.

some of your comments you are sending to us by way of the blog. we want to hear more from you. post your comments on our blog -- of course, we will use your comment, most likely in the next hour. iraqis, in a self-ruled kurdish region, are heading to the polls today. they're voting to elect the region's president and parliament. the kurdish north has had a lot of tension with baghdad over oil and land disputes that threaten the country's stability. meanwhile, u.s. general david petraeus, who served as commander in iraq is talking about the battle against global terror. he says, force alone is not the solution. >> this is not the kind of struggle where you kill or capture the bad guys, take the hill, plant the flag and go home stew a victory parade. at the end of the day it is about education, it is about in a sense accepting modernity.

pragmatic progressive leadership of countries. that's the ultimate solution. that's why again i mentioned this takes a whole of government approach. you can't just kill or capture everybody. you have to kill or capture the condition. even though the u.s. is reducing its combat role in iraq, general petraeus says iraq is still the center of the fight against international terrorism. moving ahead, but only so far. encountering roadblocks on the highway of success because of the color of the skin. what you can do about it.

many middle-class african-americans can find themselves stagnant and frustrated when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder. soledad o'brien reports on a program that helps america's brightest black professionals shatter glass ceilings. >> reporter: by any measure, mia jackson is a success. at 26 she owns a home, a car and earns $77,000 a year as an engineer. >> an engineering degree was going to be financially stable when i got out of college. >> chemical engineering most versatile. >> reporter: project manager at zep, a chemical manufacturing company with half a million dollars in revenue. >> step back. >> working at zep i had a lot of

great opportunities. >> reporter: but she also experienced roadblocks and frustration. >> i couldn't see what my next step was. i had no one to help me see it. i didn't want to get pigeon hold as that engineer. >> reporter: in taking charge of her own career, she is about to walk away from everything she has for an 18-month program created by this man, john rice. >> we have underrepresentation of minorities in corporate america in the nonprofit world and entrepreneurial ventures. rice was an executive with the nba, but left to serve others in his innovative organization, management leadership for tomorrow. mlt teaches a series of prescribed steps. step one, know your story. introduce yourself. talk to us. who are you. convince this group that you have the juice. step two, articulate your goals.

and passion. >> i am most passionate about empowering others. >> networking opportunity. >> reporter: step three, build important relationships. >> we want to get to know you. you want to be an entrepreneur. >> reporter: that's what m icht a jackson has been doing for the past 18 months in mlts, mba prep program. >> i didn't know the assignments were going to be grueling and repetitive. definitely another full time job. >> reporter: one final challenge before mia's mlt journey ends. four rigorous days in the rain of 'round-the-clock training, crash courses in consulting, entrepreneurship, and investment banking. where mia must quickly digest information she has never studied. >> equity capital market. >> price volume. >> reporter: can mia prove she has got the right stuff for corporate leadership?

>> that's the cliffhanger. you have to watch the rest this evening in "black in america 2" encore presentation. john rice with mlt, management leadership for tomorrow, joining us, the founder of this organization. all right, good to see you. >> thank you, how are you? >> i'm doing good. so what if i am just like mia and i want to climb the corporate ladder, a, i don't have 18 months to take off from my current job in order to invest in your program. i don't have the means of even going to seek an mba, what do i do, what's the advice you can give me? >> i think, you got to find an opportunity to -- to enhance your skill set in this economy. you have got to find an opportunity to be that much more competitive. you have to dig a little deeper and begin to build the relationships that are going to give you a broader set of opportunities in your career. secondly, thirdly, you have to understand what the game you are playing really is. instead of -- establish a sense of long-term goals.

and then understand what are the skills, experiences and relationships that you are going to need to achieve those. and develop a road map from there starting today. >> you talk about the game playing and technique for game playing you really are talking to people to say it is something about how you present yourself, how you are presenting your full package, and you have got few exude the confidence. we heard y'all talking about that in the piece with mia as you are asking people. how are you going to introduce yourself? >> yeah, it is really about a comprehensive set of key in greed yets. you have to understand first when we talk about what game you are playing. understand what road map is to the long term goals, bar for excellence at each stage, you have to understand have a sense of what the hard and soft skills are from presentation skills to, to relationship manment skills, analytical skills, have to have an understanding of what those, those door opening relationships may be as wells, you have to have a sense of, you know, who are those individuals, who can be mentors who can help you

guide you through and help you avoid career limiting mistakes and open up doors for you. >> where did mlt come from? what were you observing that made you say, you know what, i need to craft this place some where between corporate america and pursuing an mba, something to help better prepare young people because were you not seeing something? were there some missing links in some of the young people you were seeing? what happened? >> it starts. interestingly from some of the, the great initiatives that black in america 2 highlighted. wuk like steve perry, jeff canada, and others to break the cycle of poverty and help folks get to college. and help improve their communities long term. what we find is that, if you got to college you haven't won the war. there is a ton more work we need to do to enable the folks who come from struggle, who overcome through talent and scrappiness and effort to get to college, we need to get them to the finish

line. we try to understand what were the challenges. it really is that we need to embolden young people, young african-americans, with key ingredients they need to realize their potential. we feel that is one, to address the underrepresentation of minorities in leadership positions, probably most importantly if we don't do that, that young people aren't going to realize their potential and we lose out on the opportunity for those folks who have the capital and the skills and relationships to go back in their communities and really have impact and tackle the problems. >> everyone knows by now it is much more come president tiff in just about any field that you want to pursue. is the take-away here for a lot of young people trying to get started they may have felt like getting my bachelor's that's good enough. is the take away you have got to have an mba to really scale, climb the corporate ladder? >> mba helps. the take away is that you have to be playing the game to win. and that calls for a comprehensive approach to developing everyone towards their potential toward a career

that they are doing what they're passionate about and to enabling those folks to get to the leadership positions where they can have impact. >> have you been flooded with resumes, since the airing of black in america, and people know who you are and helping young people get there. >> the response has been tremendous. but i must say, i think what has been most inspirational is the dialogue that we have been having around this issue which is, that there, within the context of the black community, we need to be focusing on breaking the circle of poverty and emboldening a since of, group of young people, to go out and realize their potential and then be in the position to give back. that's what's most inspiring. i think black in america has done a really good job of articulating and illustrating that more comprehensive story that our communities are facing. >> john rice of management leadership tomorrow, joining us from washington though we know your business is in manhattan. this means you are visiting family there while in d.c. right? >> you know that, fredericka. >> good job. hello to the family. >> thank you, appreciate it.

>> thank you so much. appreciate that. of course you want to see the encore presentation of black in america 2 and learn more about mlt and other efforts under way. so you can seep it again tonight. black in america 2. tonight and tomorrow. 8:00 eastern time. 5:00 pacific. let's check in with jacqui jeras, what is going on? >> pictures from a tornado that tore through a mobile home park in florida. severe weather in the forecast today. watch out for the ohio valley. we'll show you where. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways.

pretty nasty weather in some parts. let's check in with jacqui jeras. >> hey, fredericka. storms to talk about. scattered, west to east coast. we have been dealing with it. i want to start out by showing you some pictures. this is from last evening. happened at 6:30. from florida. an ef-0 tornado, yeah, lowest on the scale with estimated wind between 65 to 85 miles per hour, can cause damage like this. look how extensive this is. there were seven mobile homes that were destroyed. and more than 100 of them were

significantly damaged. even a weak tornado can do stuff like this. so just to put it in perspective. you always need to be on guard whenever the sirens go off. you do want to seek shelter. one minor injury, somebody got cut by flying glass. usually debris, things flying in the air. that's why we tell you to get to the lowest level of the building away from doors and windows because that's where you are going to be closest to some of the glass. there are some storms here going on across parts of florida right now. in the big bend area up towards tallahassee, we have stronger thunderstorms. southern parts of florida. and not really anticipating severe weather here today. but you can't rule out maybe a water spout or something like that developing. now we do have severe thunderstorms here in parts of the ohio river valley, severe thunderstorm watch has just been issued louisville to the lexington area. large hail and damaging wind will be our primary concern. while this storm is not severe right now, it is awfully intense. moving on the north side of the

louisville area. i also just want to mention, just to the north and east of here, parts of pennsylvania, down into west virginia, storm prediction centers monitoring that area for potentially, ewing a watch. we'll keep on top of that. fred. >> thank you, jacqui, appreciate that. taking on iran in the streets of new york and cities around the world. the universal demand, free those arrested for protesting the outcome of the iran's presidential election. not a ste. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long.

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and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. 30 minutes after the hour. president obama tried out a new argument for health care reform today. he says it will help small businesses. which currently pay more than bigger come pans to panies. republicans call the plan a prescription for disaster. heavy last minute voter turnout was reported today in iraq's kurdish north. the semiautonomous region, electing a president and 111-seat parliament. the look toelectoral commissiond

polls to stay open to accommodate last minute voters. around the world, voice of protest. the target iran. united for iran and several rights groups organized ralliesen washington and 100 cities on six continents. demanding the release of hundreds arrested in iran for protesting that country's disputed presidential elections. protestors also gathering this hour for a protest in san francisco. california has a substantial population of iranian americans and iranian whose have fled their homelands. another big rally is taking place in new york. that's where we find reza saaya. looks like a big turnout behind you, actually. >> yeah, the big apple seeing a lot of green today in the rally, march, for the opposition movement in iran. the official color of the movement has become green. seeing a lot of it today. let's take a look at the crowd in front of the u.n. an hour ago this crowd was at times square.

a rally there. then they started a march. wining their way through the streets of new york. arriving here at the u.n. a few minutes ago. this rally part of what is called a global day for action. rallies all across the world. in places like san francisco, los angeles, berlin, and also, amsterdam. that's where one of our ireporters shot video of human rights activists and nobel peace laureate, one of the sponsors of the rally, everybody here, and through out these rallies, she is condemning what she is calling flagrant violations of human rights in iran and calling for release of hundreds of detainees taken into custody after the disputed vote on june 10th. why does all this matter? why should america care about an election and unrest in iran. here is pre-eminent historian, expert on iran, professor hami deboshi. >> particularly in the united states, this is a civil rights

movement. and look at what happened to skip gates in, in cambridge, massachusetts. the question of civil liberties, continues to be relevant throughout, and what iranians are doing in 2009 is what americans did in the 50s and 60s which resulted in obama in 2009. so in my judgment when americans feel affection for the civil rights movements, ideological, and is opening up the region, i think it is something to do. >> iran crucial when it comes to u.s. foreign policy. the all-important nuclear issue. also if the u.s. wants to see stability in iraq, afghanistan, and some sort of resolution in the palestinian/israeli conflict. iran plays a key role. iranian government launched a very fierce crackdown on the protest in iran. it hasn't stopped iranians from

rallying outside of that country. we are seeing another one today, fredericka here in new york city. >> reza sayah, thank you. appreciate that. brazen suicide attack in eastern afghanistan. officials say taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and armed with ak-47 and rocket-propelled grenades, attacked government buildings in khost. a police station and government-run bank they battled the militants for hours. at least seven militants were killed. 18 other people were wounded. most of them being civilians. all next hour we are actually taking an indepth look at the u.s.-led offensive in afghanistan. the faces of the conflict, the drug trade that is fueling it and of course u.s. strategy. what are your observations? your concerns? your questions? post your comments on our blog -- we just might use your comments

in the next hour. all right, she is a soldier in the war against breast cancer. and this week's cnn "hero" we will tell you how she is helping women improve their chances against this deadly disease. we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates, apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price. how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

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time to reveal our hero of the week. the nation debates health care reform. we focus on the uninsured and horrific killer, breast cancer. uninsured women are less like low to get annual mammograms and are at greater risk. it is us aone of the reasons women are 37% more likely than whites to die from the disease. this week's hero fighting to better the odd for all women and doing it by hitting the streets. >> this is cnn "heroes." >> in 2004, i was diagnosed with

breast cancer. initially there is shock. i realize how blessed i was to have health insurance. it made me think about all the women who didn't have health insurance. i wanted to make a difference in their lives. i am andrea ivory, i am fighting breast cancer in south florida, one household at a time. the florida breast initiative is an outreach organization, targeting working class people, we are going to make a difference and save some lives. we have a take it to the streets approach. we feel like little pixies spreading breast cancer awareness. >> can i ask you a few questions? >> we target women 35 years or older and make appointments on the spot for a free mammogram. i look forward to seeing you. i will be there. bringing the mobile mammography van into the neighborhoods is one of the most important facets of the work that we do. we provide a service that is so needed. i know i am saving lives. >> you said it was free. come right over and get it.

>> is the lady of the house at home? >> we are giving free mammograms on the 25th. >> okay. thank you so much. >> take care. >> i was saved from breast cancer to serve other women. every time i knock on the door, it is another opportunity to save a life. well you can find out more about andrea's work and nominate a cnn "hero" of your own at cnn.com/heroes. next week is your last chance to tell us about your hero. nominations close august 1. so if you know a hero, go to cnn.com/heroes right now. all right, children with disabilities, physically restrained at school. the consequences often tragic. some times deadly. we'll take a look at one controversial case. better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

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news across america now -- for some hawaiians this

27-foot-long hot dog is hard to swallow. a group opposed to outdoor advertising, wants oscar meyer to keep its weiner mobile out of hawaii. the rolling hot dog completed a three-week visit there. critics say it is a billboard on wheels and violates the bans. the 72nd, all-american soapbox derby in akron, ohio today. what some fear could be the last. the race lost its last major corporate sponsor two years ago. and could lose 200,000 this year. the competition features kids, raging in age from 8 to 17, racing downhill in motorless vehicles built from kits. earlier this year, a scathing government report detailed shocking cases of children getting hurt, even killed, while being physically restrained at school. almost all of the cases involve children with disabilities. cnns special investigation unit

correspondent reports on an autistic boy in florida who was repeatedly restrained at school. now his parents are alleging abu abuse. >> reporter: christopher, out for a walk. the spin, a sign of autism. no one argues this teenager has been a very difficult child to manage. here he is last october. the abrasions his parents say they're signs of abuse. >> look at this. injured at school. and this ended up being his very last day of school. >> reporter: the school said the injury happened during a brief assisted relaxation restraint. and this is how that relaxation technique looks on school security video. what you are seeing is footage from the princeton house charter school for children with autism in orlando, florida. notes sent home in 2008 by princeton house show a disturbing escalation of christopher's disruptive

behavior. >> he slowly started to become a loner, he started to become really quiet. >> his mother says he was becoming increasingly violent so destructive his parents had to call the police for help. as things got worse they started asking questions. which brings us to this tape. when they got it, they could barely watch. >> every day he would say, mama, no class, no school. i said you have to go to school. you have to. and i'm going to have to live with this guilt. i know everybody says it is not, you should not feel guilty. but this is my boy. >> reporter: the video chronicles two days last october. it was given to christopher's parents who showed it to us. october 2nd. christopher flips his desk. not uncommon for children with autism. and then he gets dragged from class repeatedly. at lunch he is put in a face down prone restraint for seven minutes. a short time later he is restrained another ten minutes. finally, this scene in the

library. with a staff member next to him, christopher, up ends a table and is once again restrained. teachers struggle to pin him down. >> this is what disturbs me. these staff members are not in physical control of him. >> for a top expert on special needs children these are precisely the kind of situations where children have been seriously injured, sometimes fatally. >> it is one of those things there, but for the grace of god go i. this is why we stress that these are interventions or procedures of very last resort because they are deadly. >> florida regulations only allow restraints to "prevent injury to self and/or others. "for example in cases of hitting, kicking, head butting another person. none of that happened prior to the restraints we saw on the tape. and while common sense dictates there should be consequences for bad behavior, according to experts, that approach doesn't

work well with autism. princeton house corps staff were trained by professional crisis management organization in sunrise, florida, the director said while he has not seen christopher in person and doesn't know a lot about the teenager's background. the behavior on tape did not seem to merit the staff's reaction. >> several things in my opinion were not done correctly. in several of the instances it didn't look like crisis to me. looked look a single episode of table flipping. >> should he have been put in prone restraint? >> from what i see i would have to say no. >> we asked princeton house, orange county public schools and state department of education to spook with us on camera about the video. but they all declined because the incidents are now under investigation. christopher is now at a new school and is doing much better. his parents say they're wiser for what they want through and so far with us, christopher has not needed to be restrained even once.

if you want to hear more about this case, just log on to the blog at cnn.com. new moves are under way to calm the uproar over the arrest of an african-american professor at harvard by a white police officer. why did so many americans see what happened this week so differently. an author who wrote about this kind of disparity joins me. we will have the latest. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid.

an update on a story that stir a lot of debate in america. the arrest of a harvard professor by a white police officer. gates is now responding to president obama's effort to calm the uproar. gates tells cnn "yes, i was very pleased that the president called me today, and i'm pleased that he proposed that i meet with sergeant crowley at the white house, since i had offered to meet with him last monday. i am eager for this to be used as a teaching moment to improve racial relations in america. 234is is certainly not about me." and police responded to reports of a possible burgliry. sergeant crowley was the arresting officer. they call it racial profiling, president obama stirred the debate saying police acted stupidly. yesterday he spoke out saying his comments were ill-sensitive. >> i want to make clear that in

my choice of words i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department, sergeant crowley specifically, and i could have calibrated those words differently. >> all right. that was the president yesterday. well, author nathan mccaul has writ tleen books on racial issues in america. he sat down to talk about all that transpired over the week punctuated by the president's comments yesterday. >> all right, nathan. we heard the president say -- >> racist filled, troubling aspect of our society. >> it's something you have written about extensively in your three books. particularly "it makes me want to holler" do you see it as teaching moment as the president does? >> absolutely.

especially since there's been so much talk since the president's election about us now being in a postracial society, and a lot of people have been troubled by that in the first place, and so the incident with mr. gates underscored the fact that we still have issues to deal with. >> i continue to believe based and what i have heard that there was an overreaction in pulling professor gates out of his home to the station. i also continue to believe based on what i heard that professor gates probably overreacted as well. >> so without being in the room, without being in that cambridge house, do you suppose that an inkling of that happened, that when professor gates saw this officer, instead of feeling comforted, perhaps, he was agitated? >> yes.

and i think because of the cultural issue. >> it's part of the agitation, is it something that i remember reading in your book "makes me want to holler" no matter how high you reach, no matter the equivalency of your success, what it is, for so many black men they end up being reduced to a perception that someone decides to attach to them. >> that's what makes this such a fascinating story and issue, because there's the assumption that people such as professor gates might be above those experiences, but what we saw is that professor gates' experienced what many of us regular folk experience every day, and that is that many whites have difficulty individualizing african-americans. they -- one white person can look at another white person and they can look at that person's address and demeanor and make

distinction about who that person might be. quite often with african-americans you can have on ap suit, tie, especially in you're a black male. suit, tie, whatever. people don't put together the fact s and then make distinctions about you as an individual. you are a black male and black male is equivalent of threat. >> so what do we do with this? how do we all take away from, here's the latest example. it's high profile. what do we do with this? the president said -- >> take a little more time listening to one another. >> do you ay sgroo e with the president? >> i agree. i'm actually happy that he got involved in this discussion. he's the person to lead this discussion. >> do you see this in any way as a punctuation ending or this entire incident as really a beginning? >> oh, it's absolutely a beginning. it has taken 400 years to construct racism in this

country. we are not going to get rid of it in a few conversations, in a few weeks or a few months. >> you wrote your book, "1994," "make me want to holler" it is 2009. talking about the very topic that got people talking about that time when you published that book? >> that's right. >> nathan, thanks so much. appreciate it t. thank you. >> good to see you, too. the gates story has really gotten attention of a lot of you. here what some of you have been saying on our phone lines. >> caller: yeah. i'm calling in regards to professor gates being harassed by the police. there's definitely an air of bullying and mistrust in this country. >> caller: hi. this is wilma from cambridge, mass it should have never happened. if he identified himself that should have been the end of it, and that's all i have to say. gates shouldn't have said anything but thank you, and not

resisted arrest. thank you. >> caller: hi. my name is susan from new york and i want to say i'm horrified and ashamed that in 2009 in boston, massachusetts, we still have to deal with these issues. everybody indignant and as white american i'm ashamed that this is still going on, and if it can nap boston it can happen anywhere. i agree with him, and there's a lot of white americans that feel the same. >> all right. send in your comments, also getting comments from you by way of a blog and even facebook. on my blog, this is a golden opportunity for americans to come together and make our country a stronger, more free and better place for all after the incident resulting in professor gates' arrest. and we can make this a better, friendlier place and wonderful country to live in, respecting each other's cultures. bill issing, what is the

learning to take away from this? first, focus on what the officer was originally called in for. an ongoing break-in witnessed by a citizen who called in to 911. that person reported two black males with backpacks trying to force open the front door. since all the racism started, everyone forgot and eve an professor that a good citizen called in the situation to protect the homeowner as well as the home. thanks so much for your comments coming in to us on our blog there. much more straight ahead. the beginning of our 4:00 hour now. violence is ratcheting up against in afghanistan today. the taliban has launched multiple suits attacks on government buildings, and this hung on top of the record death toll for u.s. forces in a tall ban holding a u.s. soldier hostage. this hour, we take a closer look at u.s. forces taking on the taliban. first, before we get to that we want to give you -- all the top stories happening right now.