tv CNN Presents CNN April 8, 2012 2:00am-3:00am EDT
2:00 am
>> there's plenty of blame to go around. at least in our basketball program. >> how some championship teams are failing their star players. the scary guy. >> i'm in charge of the brain. >> his mission, stop bullies. >> hate and anger. >> his methods, anything unusual. but does it work? >> has that really changed kids lives? my answer is no. basketball's next big thing. he's nicknamed the crime stopper. >> when i'm on the court, everybody is there and nobody is outside committing crime. >> at 5'7", he's selling out gyms from philly to d.c.
2:01 am
the high school player you'll soon be hearing about. revealing investigations. fascinating characters. stories with impact. this is cnn presents with tonight's hosts, randi kaye and drew griffin. >> march madness has grown into one of the most popular sporting events in the country, we begin tonight with some unpopular statistics off the court and in the classroom. >> orange men of syracuse began postseason lay without its top rebounder and scorer. fab melo was suspended for undisclosed reasons. he missed games in the past because of his academic struggles and syracuse is not alone. >> according to a new study, a total of 14 team that is made the tournament this year failed to graduate at least half their
2:02 am
players, including last year's national champion. >> it's been a problem for years, but now it appears the ncaa is putting pressure on teams to take the student part of the term student athlete seriously. we decided to investigate the real march madness. when it came down to the big dance last year, the university of connecticut men's basketball team was the big winner. national champs. >> welcome. >> nationally praised. >> congratulations to the huskies. >> standing behind president obama, alongside the team and the coach was the university of connecticut's new president, susan herbs. anid championship smiles were were hiding the huge failure. uconn may have been the best basketball team in the land but in the classroom, they were darn near the worst. just 25% of uconn's men's basketball players graduate within six years.
2:03 am
and if you break it down racially, a black player's chances of graduating from uconn is just 14%. and uconn isn't the only big name. big dollar program that can't graduate its student athletes. the university of florida graduates just 38% of its players. michigan's basketball team, 45%. indiana, 47%. and, yes, that figure excludes star players who leave school early for the nba. for uconn it's a pathetic record and jonathan is one of the statistics. you didn't make it all the way. >> i did not. grade troubles as far as, you know, myself and staying up with the studies and stuff like that. and staying up with the help that i was given. it just didn't work out for me.
2:04 am
>> mandeldove, a seven-foot center, has been a coveted basketball player since he was 14 years old. now 24, he helps coach his younger sister in skills drills but without a degree, his chances for actually being a coach are limited. >> i'm only short three classes. three classes. >> why can't you just get it done? >> you know what? i had to leave the school because my gpa wasn't where it needed to be in order to graduate. so, they told me i had to leave school, come back and finish up with the three classes. just take some time off. it was looking like classes right now is -- i was struggling. >> now he is struggling with his future. and uconn is struggling with his past. >> there's plenty of blame to go along.
2:05 am
at least in our men's basketball program. >> she came on board here as president about a year ago. she inherited uconn's basketball graduation rate. now she's dealing with a real uconn crisis. under new rules instituted by the ncaa, uconn, the 2011 men's basketball champs, will be banned from postseason play next year. banned because of its terrible record graduating basketball players. so, what did happen here at uconn for so long? and how was it allowed to last? >> it's very complicated. the story of sort of how you get there. i do think it takes a village, that it's not just a coach or it's not just a player. it's not even an athletic director or president. everybody together trying to support the team and in our case not supporting the team as well as we could. >> the past athletic director is
2:06 am
gone. the team and school are now making class work and education a huge priority and, according to herbst, the student athletes are doing much, much better. but one thing has not changed here. long-term heralded coach jim calhoun. he stays. don't you think if it was important for this coach to get these kids to graduate, he could have done it? >> i think you have to talk to the coach himself. i will say, again, it takes a lot of people to support a basketball team. it's not just a coach saying, you must do this. you must go to class. >> we did ask to talk to coach calhoun. instead, we were told that president herbst would speak for the school. jonathan mandledove doesn't blame the coach for anything. he says he went to uconn with one goal in mind. get to the nba. >> i fault myself for my
2:07 am
downfalls in class. i don't fault anyone else. i don't fault the institution. they offered the help. it's just there for us to take it. we have to take it. if we don't, then that's a problem for us. >> and coach calhoun? >> coach calhoun does -- i think he does everything he needs to do in order for guys to succeed. >> i think student athlete is taken kind of loosely. >> dr. richard lasiker tracked this problem for years. he says as a whole, basketball players graduate less than any other team in college sports. according to his research, there are 14 teams in the ncaa tournament that failed to graduate even half their players. >> it's great that we can afford athletic scholarships to gifted student athletes. if they come to our institution and just play basketball or whatever the sport is and don't get the education, i think
2:08 am
everybody is shortchanged in the bargain. >> susan herbst believes the focus is now where it belongs, squarely on education. >> matter of fact, when i came it was the first time we really had real communication in one room between the academic people, the president's people and the basketball coaches. and they were incredibly grateful. to me, that was very instructive. >> to me, it tells me it wasn't important before. >> i think it was important to individuals. the institution, apparently not. >> but what about the rest of the country? up next, pressure from the white house to raise performance in the classroom. the problem may be bigger than anyone thought. >> if he wants to fix it, fix it at the high school level, at the middle school level, at the elementary school level. his problems in this country in our educational system lie elsewhere.
2:09 am
if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything.
2:10 am
so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. see lioutdoors, or in.ight. that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe, even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. visit your local jcp optical today to learn more about authentic transitions brand lenses that fit your life and start seeing what you've been missing.
2:12 am
the coaches make millions. the athletes, rock stars. are big-time basketball schools failing their players off the court? the sek care of education is putting pressure on men's college basketball to bring up the grades. and the ncaa has responded in a way that could seriously hurt last year's national champions. my special investigation into the real march madness continues. the secretary of education was watching college basketball, as he loves to do, and was getting mad because he knew, on average, nearly 44% of the players he was watching would never graduate. so last year he decided to do something about it. he wrote editorials and held phone conferences with the
2:13 am
press. the ncaa had to do better. >> i want to reiterate my proposal to the ncaa. the teams that fail to graduate 40% of their players should be ineligible for postseason competition. >> thank you so much. >> somehow, some way, all schools, according to secretary of education arnee duncan, should be able to graduate at least 40% of their players. >> we have a few bad apples. that's what we're really trying to challenge is the status quo. players aren't going to class, not graduating. they're actually being used and that has to stop. >> to the president of butler university at the time, it sure seemed like a good idea. >> i did think the ncaa would go for it, but i would be in support of it. >> reporter: last year, butler, which graduated 83% of its basketball players, lost in the ncaa championship to the university of connecticut. a program that, at the time, was graduating just 30%. getting student athletes to
2:14 am
graduate seemed a no brainer but duncan's ideas were not being welcomed by big-time coaches like tennessee's bruce pearl who, like other coaches, said graduation problems weren't his problem. >> if he wants to fix it, fix it at the high school level, at the middle school level, at the elementary school level. his problems in this country, in our educational system lie elsewhere. >> even the ncaa at the time said a ban was probably not the best course of action. but in the fall of last year, something changed. >> kids ready? >> they better be. >> it's time. >> mark emmer is the president of the ncaa. >> did you need the white house to put pressure on everybody within college sports to get this going? >> it certainly doesn't hurt to have an advocate like secretary duncan is a good push. we have a society that teaches young men in particular that if you can play ball, dribble, focus on that. that will get you into college. that will get you into the nba.
2:15 am
we need to say that's important but it doesn't help unless you have school work alongside it and you're prepared to be a college student. >> the first to be hit was the school that won it all in 2011. uconn's men's basketball team will not play in the postseason tournaments no matter how well they play. husky basketball players right now are improving their grades, going to class and she says shouldn't be punished by statistics from the past. >> to see them get punished for something that students a few years ago failed to do is heartbreaking. >> the new ncaa rule is pretty simple. teams have to have a graduation rate of 50%. if the school fails to meet the mark four years in a row, the school is out of the tournament. that's tough news for uconn, but not so much for many others, like marquette. the perennial powerhouse has graduated all its players in some years.
2:16 am
this year it's at 91%. how do they do it? they put their money where they put their priorities. last year the school spent $10.3 million on men's basketball alone. that buys nice facilities and practice equipment. but also lots of educational support. larry williams is marquette university's athletic director. >> from the president's office to the field maintenance office, everybody in between has to embrace the culture that celebrates academic success and athletic success. >> players here start with academics before their freshman year even begins. incoming players go to summer school. it's where they get used to school to class and the one person who isn't about to give them any slack, adrian ridgeway. >> from that point we know how to approach the school year. >> ridgeway is assigned to coach basketball players in academics.
2:17 am
it comes from the president, who gets his orders from an even higher authority. >> we have an obligation from all of our students, including our student athletes, that we are going to offer them a powerfully transformational college experience. >> it's like having more coaches that don't yell. without whistles basically. >> jamal wilson says he's never had this much attention an and off the court. the school pays for chartered planes take them back to the class, and tutors fly with students to away games. >> they monitor when you check in for study hall, swipe in your i.d. card. it tells them how long you've been there. they monitor everything you do on the computers. your homework, papers, things like that. so you're never really behind, even if you are missing class. >> he hopes to graduate next year and then play ball while starting grad school.
2:18 am
and after that, with a degree, maybe basketball but prepared for a much bigger game. >> i would like to play basketball until my body says, hey, this isn't for you anymore. but, i mean, you never know. maybe my place in life is somewhere else. >> it's the kind of focus susan has tried to bring to the university of connecticut. every aspect of the school and the team needs to support education, she says. and, yes, that includes long-time basketball coach jim calhoun. >> i don't want you to get the impression that he doesn't care deeply about them as people and about their success. he really does. because he has that heartfelt interest in their success, he has bought into our academic plans. and he -- >> i must tell you i find that so hard to believe when so many kids have left here without a degree. >> all i can talk about is the future going forward. presidents inherit all kinds of challenges at universities with regard to student sugg cess and what a new leader does when they come in is they try to take
2:19 am
charge and move forward. >> former uconn center jonathan mandeldove says he wants to finish school, but right now he sees his future playing basketball. without a degree, it's really all he has. >> can you still get there? >> i think i can. i think i can. i'm still young. i'm only 24. sky's the limit. i don't think there's an age limit where they stop, you know, taking guys into nba. i'm going to continue to push forward and continue to work and do whatever i need to do to get there. coming up, the new face of bully prevention is a little scary. is his flashy performance what schools really need? him don lemon. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot
2:20 am
and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. no8% every 10 years.age 40,te. we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow.
2:21 am
but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking, wood splintering ] ha ha. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. ♪ what's in your wallet? ♪ what's in your...your...
2:23 am
him don lemon. in tulsa, oklahoma, people are living in fear. five people have been shot since friday morning. three have died. two others are in the hospital but expected to survive. a police task force is hunting for the killer. the shooter is believed to be a white man. the victims are all black. police say they are not currently call thing tragedy racially motivated. this was the scene moments
2:24 am
after a navy jet fighter crashed into an apartment complex. amazingly no one were killed. the investigation is now under way but it could be another couple of weeks before we know what happened. rick santorum will take a day off from campaigning monday to be with his daughter at the hospital. his campaign hasn't said why the 3-year-old was hospitalized. she suffers from a rare genetic disorder. it was moving day on saturday at the masters and the guys making the biggest moves were peter hanson of sweden and phil mickelson. hanson shot a 65. the lowest score of the tournament. he finished the third round one stroke ahead of mickelson, who had a 66. tiger woods with at even par 72 and 12 strokes back. those are your headlines at this hour. keeping your informed. cnn, the most trusted name in
2:25 am
news. what to do about bullying. it's the burning question facing school districts across the country. many of them are willing to fork over money to experts to help solve the problem. we caught up with one self styled expert called the scary guy, convincing schools he can help stop bullying, but does it really work? homecoming in austin, minnesota. some are here for the friday night lights. >> how are we doing on t-shirts? >> others are here to raise big money. >> thank you. >> the ultimate goal, 20 grand. the price tag for what they hope
2:26 am
will be a solution to school bullying. leading the charge, parents like danielle, who started a bullying committee. >> i opened my eyes and it's happening to my own child. >> on valentine's day last year, danielle's 11-year-old son, sam, was attacked walking home from school. >> out of nowhere, a boy grabs my arms and holds them behind my back. another bully is coming and he says that he was going to beat me up. >> sam's mom is banking on an unlikely solution, to make her community bully free. >> hey, buddy. >> we figure it's time for the scary guy. >> i'm in charge of the brain of zach. >> this is the scary guy, a former tattoo artist.
2:27 am
he entertains the students by playing the bully. >> check out that geek in the wheelchair, dude. >> this is supposed to be bullying prevention. he calls it edu-tainment. >> stop taking on other people's rotten horrific words as energy and put them back on this planet, thinking you're defending yourself. >> his message may sound good but his delivery is unconventional, to say the least. >> ooh. >> tattooed from head to toe, the scary guy commands as much as $6,500 a day for his performance. and a curriculum that goes with it. >> it's not your job to make it right. you let it go. >> for those looking to wake up a community with shock and awe, he delivers.
2:28 am
>> i just love his approach. >> austin minnesota principal, dewy shara. >> not perfect, some would say not beautiful, shocking to look at it. but it gets everyone's attention. >> i role play my behavior based on my young adult years where i would find fault with people no matter what. their height, short, tall, skinny, fat, blonds. and bald guys. >> scary, as he likes to be called, pushes the envelope. >> two guys hug in a hallway of a school, this could be dangerous. gay. >> to get people's attention and prove a point. >> what a lie.
2:29 am
>> what would be the strongest message you have to kids about bullying? >> if i can get a message to people, to empower the mind -- in other words show them they have the power to make a choice as to who they want to be and not become what they see and hear around them. >> sam if i call you a rotten word, who is that rotten word about? >> you. >> is your teaching research based? >> i think my teaching is research based on my personal experience and how i read people. no, it's not out of a book. >> no longer will another person's words define who you are. you create you. >> scary has no formal academic credentials, but he makes no apology for that, or his looks. instead, he touts his last 13 years speaking to tens of thousands of school children worldwide. he also has been booked by law enforcement, even the u.s. military.
2:30 am
never mind he never finished college. a fact that some school administrators are willing to look past. >> no matter what his training is, you do see him as an expert? >> he is. absolutely. in our world, in the academic world and schools you have to have a degree. the law says you have to have a degree. but that doesn't make you a good teacher. >> for anyone who says, look, this guy has a great program but what are his credentials -- >> i would say that my credentials are that i'm doing something to help people that's based on love and it's me on the street, learning it from my whole life and i don't know where else you could go to get this kind of information and training. >> is there proof that your methods work? >> yeah, letters. >> what do they say? >> tell me what it's like, to make a difference, to change. to wake up to the idea that they don't have to live with stress and negative behavior around
2:31 am
2:32 am
in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing new nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts... ♪ ...creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of great tasting protein in every bar. so it's energy straight from nature to you.
2:34 am
2:35 am
town for two weeks. but who really is the scary guy? and is it money well spent? the scary guy was born earl kenneth kaufman. >> scary is earl to me. earl grew up here. >> mike grew up two doors down on this quiet street in new hope, minnesota. he says earl was like a brother, but they couldn't be more different. >> he was always kind of wanting to be over the top. he was an agitator. >> even though scary's early childhood was happy, as the years past, a divorce and an absent father left scary emotionally scarred. >> i wanted my dad to give me approval. you know what i mean? say, hey, son, i really love you. he was really kind of a silent guy. my first tattoo was this little green dragon right here. >> he got his first tattoo at age 30 before becoming a tattoo artist himself.
2:36 am
in 1993 when his mother died, he turned to cocaine for several months. two years later, he started tattooing his face. >> is this part of getting the attention that you maybe missed? >> it could have something to do with the fact that i didn't get any attention from my father. however, i always felt fairly comfortable and confident in who i am. i didn't plan to tattoo my face really. i just decided that i wanted an accent bar. >> oh, you got it. >> eventually, a rival tattoo artist placed an ad referring to earl as a scary guy. the name stuck and earl legally changed his name to the scary guy. it became a marketing gimmick. he trademarked scary wear and sold scary bobbleheads. his wife at the same time says the name change was strictly a business decision that later became a hook in marketing
2:37 am
himself to schools as a bullying prevention guru. >> scary used to say if we marketed me as the love guy, no one would come. >> and schools do buy it. scary says schools in 19 states, some through taxpayer money, others through private donations, have paid him to come. kids love him. >> you mean i can't just grab on to jorge's shirt like this and pull him along like this? >> but we discovered some of his customers have begun to question whether he has any real lasting impact. once the flashy performance is over. >> there's a part of me that feels like scary's artificial. >> even his childhood friend, mike elsmore, now a retired principal, is a skeptic. >> his whole program of getting the attention is based on, hey, look at me. i'm this -- it's a shock value. if he did that same kind of
2:38 am
presentation without the tattoos, it wouldn't work. >> elsmore hired scary to come to his school. >> kids forgot for the most part. they say i remember scary but i don't remember what he said. >> can you have these kind of folks come in. they're, in a sense, a bit of a mercenary, one-time, one-shot deal. does that really change kids lives? my answer is no. >> middle school principal is another dissatisfied customer. he says the real answer is how he starts every day, rain or shine. >> good morning. how are you guys this morning? >> greeting kids before they enter the school doors. >> this is where we make that initial connection with kids. >> have a good day. >> this hermantown, minnesota principal encourages his staff from bus drivers to counselors to make that connection every day. because, he says, people like the scary guy come and go. >> it's important to create a culture. it's going to stay with kids forever. >> the scary guy came to the
2:39 am
school last spring. the cost covered by a federal grant. he says although parts of scary's presentation were positive, some parts were simply inappropriate. >> he's talking about the fact that shaking someone's hand is not sex. it's not an act of sex. he said here, shake my hand. he shakes his hand. he says, ooh, that's the best sex i've had all day. what got left with the kids? the kids got left with, ooh, that's the best sex i've had all day, not the fact that it's okay to shake someone's hand or hug them. >> you made a sexual contact after a hand shake after you shook a child's hand. >> every now and then i run into somebody that doesn't tell me i offend them. >> scary says it was just role playing and that most people find it funny. he also doesn't seem overly concerned about discrepancies in his professional claims. for instance, scary told us he was nominated for the nobel peace prize. turns out anyone can be nominated, if the nominator is deemed qualified. he says he was nominated by a professor he knows. and his citizen of the month
2:40 am
award on his online profile? >> do you recognize that guy? >> it's marty. >> it was made up on myspace and given to him by a friend. >> some in the community of austin has questioned the scary guy's $20,000 price tag. here, $20,000 is a lot of money. typical household income is $41,000. his invoice claims his corporation, kids vision heart, is nonprofit, as did his website before we sat down for an interview. the truth is, his charity is no longer registered with the irs. it lost tax exempt status nearly two years ago. why isn't it registered? >> because it probably fell out because i didn't report all my taxes and all that seven years. >> the money has been going to his bank account tax free. >> i just filed taxes. >> scary says he's trying to work out his taxes now. but his life on the road has made it difficult. and he says schools don't care if he's a charity or not.
2:41 am
>> you take one thing away from tonight -- >> he's right in the case of austin, minnesota. after two weeks of scary, those who booked him are still true believers. >> his image. he's using it to help others. >> so you think it's money well spent? >> beyond a shadow of a doubt. >> how will you keep this going? >> the same way we keep anything going that we teach in the schools. if we don't reinforce and implement with fidelity, it's gone. >> teachers, are thy going to be perfect? >> even scary guy admits he's not a long-term solution. >> the scary guy doesn't live here. >> good morning. >> i think a lot of people are asking for somebody else to do what we need to do ourselves. >> you get the message across. okay? because you know what? i'm leaving. >> randi, what a fascinating guy. given all you've learned about the scary guy, why do schools still hire him? >> schools and communities need help.
2:42 am
they really need a wake-up call. what i heard over and over again is that if they brought in someone wearing khakis and a button-down it's not going to work. kids aren't going to pay any attention. they're not going to get the message. that could also be the problem, drew, with the scary guy. they pay so much attention to his tattoos and piercings that they could miss the message there as well. >> we certainly paid attention. >> we did. >> thanks, randi. he stands 5'7", but there's no tape measure long enough to measure the size of his heart or his determination. coming up, a young man who is basketball's next big thing. coming up, in a tough gives. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? ha ha.
2:43 am
♪ this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. visit seemoresights.com for your chance to win the ultimate sightseeing dream vacation and more great prizes. brought to you by transitions lenses,
2:45 am
homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. i learned early on if you want to make a difference you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i'm committed to making a difference and i am a phoenix.
2:46 am
coming up, in a tough baltimore neighborhood, one kid is single handedly stopping crime and not in the courts but on one. carr calls it the show. his stature and swagger has earned him a big following on youtube. along with a killer nickname, the crime stopper. >> aka, the crime stopper. >> the theory is when carr's on the court, dealers and hustlers take time out to catch the show. hard to believe? yeah. but city crime statistics support it. overall, violent crime goes down about 40% on game days.
2:47 am
>> why did they start calling you the crime stopper? >> i guess when i'm on the court, everybody's there and nobody is like outside committing crime. >> you call it the show. >> yeah. the show. >> what's that mean? >> that mean when you come, you're going to get a great show. >> that story, just ahead on cnn presents. but first, a look at the top stories this hour. i'm don lemon. here are your headlines this hour. in tulsa, oklahoma, people are living in fear being gunned down by a man driving around killing innocent people. five people have been shot. three people have been killed and two others are in the hospital but are expected to survive. a police task force is hunting for the killer. the shooter is believed to be white and all the victims are black. the police are not ready to call this tragedy racially motivated. this was the scene after a navy jet fighter crashed into an
2:48 am
virginia beach apartment continue plex and burst into flames. amazingly, no one was killed and everyone has been accounted for. all seven people, including the two pilots, who were injured were released from the hospital. an investigation is now underway it may be a couple of weeks before we know what happened. this weekend is a holy time for much of the nation. the obama's hosted a seder last night at the house. passover recognizes the exodus of jews from egypt. and sunday marks easter for christians, cell brating when christ rose from the dead. the guys making the which issest moves at the masters was peter hanson and phil mickelson. hanson shot a 65, the lowest score of the tournament. he finished the third round one stroke ahead of mickelson. tiger woods is 12 strokes back.
2:49 am
those are your headlines this hour. i'm don lemon, keeping you informd. cnn, the most trusted name in news. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building
2:50 am
is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer. a lot of people may not realize that the power needed to keep their budweiser cold and even to make their beer comes from turbines made right here. wait, so you guys make the beer? no, we make the power that makes the beer. so without you there'd be no bud? that's right. well, we like you. [ laughter ] ♪ in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself and so, college was a dream, when i was a kid.
2:51 am
i didn't know how i was going to do it, but i knew i was going to get that opportunity one day. and that's what happened with the university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky is the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix.
2:53 am
if you were putting together a basketball team, it would probably make sense to choose the tallest players. while that may seem logical, you would be missing out on one of basketball's up and coming stars. >> he's been called the country's most electrifying high school basketball player, from baltimore who has more hurdles than most to reach his dream. >> just wait till you see him play. chris lawrence has his story. >> amen, amen. our house on three, one, two, three. >> our house! >> reporter: he's 5'7." by most standards, way too short to play elite basketball. especially here, in hoop-crazed baltimore. where they play high school games with an intensity that rivals most colleges. but he isn't just keeping up with his much taller opponents, he's passing them. >> people say baltimore basketball players, they talk
2:54 am
about selfless. small guys with big hearts. if he was 6'4", he would uponly be the number one player in the nation. >> the only one that can beat you in here is yourself. >> reporter: carr is ranked 55 on espn's supper 60 high school juniors in america. his team sells out gyms up and down the east coast. carr calls it "the show." his stature and swagger has earned him a big following on youtube. along with a killer nickname, "the crime stopper." the theory is, when carr is on the court, east baltimore's dealers and hustlers take time out to catch the show. hard to believe? yeah.
2:55 am
but city crime statistics support it. overall, violent crime goes down about 40% on game days. why did they start calling you crime stopper? >> i guess when i'm on the court, everybody is there and nobody is like outside committing crime. >> reporter: you called it "the show." >> yeah, the show. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> when you come, you're going to get a great show. >> reporter: the nickname, combined with his size and style, have captured the attention of the national press. the "gq" photo spread, that's the image. the kid himself is all east baltimore. it's a tough place to grow up. constant violence and the fifth highest murder rate in america. a lot of kids his age have already ended up in jail. his success is a credit to his teammates, coaches and above all, his family. every game, his dad prowls the sidelines and his mom anchors the clippers cheering section
2:56 am
from the bleachers. allen was a high school star himself. he and tammy have raised three kids. aquille, the youngest. was there a moment you were ever worried about him? not just on the court, but off the court things can happen. >> no, he's like a home body. he stays around the neighborhood. he didn't get in trouble. >> sometimes you don't have to go very far. trouble can come looking. >> i just thank god for that. >> reporter: in march, the clippers reached new heights. winning their first maryland state championship. but the very next day, the team headed back to east baltimore. and the court where aquille grew up playing. >> what's up, dion. >> reporter: you're like a
2:57 am
celebrity in the neighborhood. >> yeah, something like that. >> reporter: where do you want to end up? >> in the nba. nba, that's my goal. >> reporter: you know that's going to be tough. >> i know, i just got to work ten times harder than the next person. >> reporter: part of the reason he works so hard, this kid hates to lose. >> i love to win, but i can't take losing. failure is never an option. >> a lot of guys have had promise and talent, and they were never able to make it because everything going on. how do you avoid that? >> reporter: i just stay in the gym. you stay in the gym, ain't no drugs sold in the gym. you stay in the gym you stay out of everything. >> reporter: people say hey, you're a sport guy. this is a tall man's game. >> i just laugh at them. because once i'm on the court i'm going to prove them wrong. i'm going to show them up. >> reporter: it seems like you almost like that. >> i love it. i don't just like it, i love it.
2:58 am
i prove them wrong and make them a believer. >> reporter: after he scored 28 points in the state championship, he was congratulated by another baltimore star who played above his height, the legendary mugsy boges. and if that wasn't enough, his girlfriend gave birth to a daughter. more pressure meets more motivation. >> i'm playing for something now. i'm not just freelancing no more. i got a daughter to look after and a family to take care. so i know if i make it there, i'll be set for life. >> reporter: what does basketball mean to a town like baltimore, where every player dreams of stardom? just ask the mothers of his teammates. >> you never know. when you walk out on the street, anything can happen. a bullet doesn't have anybody's name on it. so we're worried every time they leave the house. basketball, it's a family. you see these kids out here
2:59 am
playing right now, it's no problem. >> reporter: the college scouts have taken note. but he's just a junior, and a year is a long time in east baltimore. is there a part of you that still worries about him every day? >> all the time, especially because that's my baby. he's the youngest of all of them. >> reporter: is there a part of him that wishes he was going off to college right now? >> yep, every day. >> i wish this could have been his last year. >> that's it for tonight's show. i'm drew griffin. >> and i'm randi kaye. thanks for joining us.
186 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CNN Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on