it is noon on friday. thank you so much for being with us. want to let you know a jury has just convicted evangelist tony a aylamo of taking underage girls across state lines for sex. he was convicted on all ten counts that he faced. prosecutors say he had sex with five underage girls as young as 9. defense attorneys say they were traveling on legitimate business for alamo's ministry. alamo, who says the charges were part of a conspiracy by the vatican, ace faiss up to ten years in prison for each of those charges. he's expected to be sentenced in six to eight weeks but again, a

jury has convicted him of taking underage girl across state lines for sex. we're expecting police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, to respond to criticism from president obama and governor deval patrick. the news conference, in fact, is set to begin any moment now. as soon as they step to the podium, we'll take you there live. wednesday night the president said, quote, police acted stupidly when they arrested harvard professor henry louis gates at his own home. the arresting office, sergeant james crowley, says he will not apologize for arresting the african-american professor. crowley says he did nothing wrong and was simply doing his job. up till now, the sergeant has been somewhat tight lipped with his side of the story, but he sat down with our affiliate whdh one-on-one. >> i was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn't have all the facts by a's own admission, then weighed in on the events of that night and made a comment that, you

know, really offended not just officers in the cambridge police department but officers around the country. >> reporter: sergeant james crowley reacting to president barack obama's comments about the day he arrested harvard professor henry gates and talking extensively for the first time what happened at the cambridge house. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me, and he said, no, i will not, and words to the effect what's this all about? i said i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. i'm investigating a break in progress. he said responded why, because i'm a black man in america? in an agitated tone. again, i thought that was a little strange. >> reporter: he said after getting a call from the break-in, he was trying to protect gates as well as himself. >> there was a report of two individuals. i see one. that could be him. where's the second person? or there are two people in the residence that he doesn't know

are there. either way, i wasn't expecting his response, which was, "that's none of your business." to me, is that's a strange response for somebody that has nothing to hide, is trying to cooperate with the police. >> reporter: so, did he come out and speak with you? >> i was leaving. as i reached the porch, i was aware that now he was following me because he was still yelling about racism and black men in america and that he wasn't somebody to be messing with. >> reporter: sergeant crowley said he warned gates he was acting disorderly and when he didn't calm down, he arrested gates. the sergeant wants an apology, he regrets the event, and wants to let his story be heard. >> the amount of negative things that weren't true that he was saying about me at least warranted a response and allow people to see that i'm not a monster or the bigot or racist that he has portrayed me to be. this is me. >> now we want to point out president obama is not budging here either. in an interview that aired on

abc's "nightline" last night, he said the response to his commentary that police acted stupidly caught him off guard. >> i am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because i think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to cuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane who's in his own home. i think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems that we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance. from what i can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is it probably would have been better if order had prevailed. >> when he initially commented, the president admitted he didn't, quote, know all the facts and may be a little biased because he does consider professor gates to be a friend. again, i want to point out that we're waiting on a news

conference from cambridge, massachuset massachusetts, and as soon as that starts -- it could start at any moment now, but as soon as it starts we will take you there live, that being from the cambridge police and union and other area law enforcement associations, as well. we're also taking your views on this story. let me ask you, what do you think should happen in this case? do you think race is a part of this incident? and in a broader scope, is race still an issue in the united states? give us a call right now, 1-877-tell-hln, or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln or text the word "views" plus your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates do apply. we're going to be airing your comments. thank you so much for participating. want to get you now to cambridge, massachusetts, as we understand some people are starting to walk up to the podium there. and we are going to be hearing from the police union. you can see all the people there. now, we do understand sergeant james crowley is in attendance, but we do not know whether he will speak to reporters. but it looks like somebody's

going to start, so let's listen in here. >> is everyone ready? great. i'd like to introduce alan mcdonald, who will start the press conference today. >> good afternoon. my name is alan mcdonald, counselor to the cambridge police patrol officers' association. with me here today, dennis o'connor, president of officers, the president of the patrol officers and the president of the medford police patrolmen association and also president of the massachusetts municipal police coalition of which both cambridge unions are members. earlier this week, the superior officers' association, after conducting its own review, issued a press release expressing its full and unqualified support for the actions of sergeant crowley in connection with his encount we are professor gates on july

16th, 2009. yesterday, we were pleased to learn that after its own intensive investigation, the cambridge police department also expressed its support for sergeant crowley, clearing him of any wrongdoing, and declaring him -- his actions consistent with local and national standards of police practice. the leadership groups of both associations are here today with their leadership officers to offer visual support for sergeant crowley as they carry with them the unequivocal and enthusiastic support of the rank-and-file police officers they represent in cambridge and surrounding communities. in addition, there are many of the members of the cambridge multicultural police association present today to support sergeant crowley, and i am authorized in his absence to express the support of that

organization's president, anthony santiago, who is not here only because of baby sitting issues. he wanted me to make sure that i conveyed his wishes, his statement of support for sergeant crowley and on behalf of himself and his membership. on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community and, indeed, within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week, thousands of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decisionmaking and played no role in the decisionmaking in this case.

on my advice and in the interest of his family, sergeant crowley is here today but will not be making any statement and will not be answering any questions. his comments about the event have been recorded and interviews conducted by weei radio and channel 7 news and are available for view in those facilities. if you're interested, you can see every word that he has spoken. for purposes of today, we are here simply to support him, to express to all of you that all of us collectively and individually believe that he acted appropriately as any police officer would in conducting a response to a break in progress call and processing

that call and in disposing of the case. at this time, i'll turn to other leadership members on the panel to make comments of their own. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is sergeant dennis o'connor. i'm the president of the cambridge police superior officers association. i'd like to start first by thanking our brothers and sisters fellow officers who have sent us thousands and thousands of e-mails of support, and i especially want to thank the citizens of cambridge who have come forward to support us. i'm going to read a prepared statement. i'd like to comment briefly on the statements made by governor patrick and president obama regarding this case. it's noteworthy that both qualified their statements by saying they did not have all the facts. usually, when one hears those words, one would expect the next words would be "so i cannot comment." instead, both officials, both admitted friends of professor gates, proceeded to insult the

handling of this case by the cambridge police department. president obama said that the actions of the cpd were stupid and linked the event to a history of racial profiling in america. the facts of this case suggested the president use the right adjective but directed it to the wrong party. his remarks were obviously misdirected but made worse yet by the suggestion that somehow this case reminds us of a history of racial abuse by law enforcement. whatever may be the history, the supervisors and the patrol officers of the cambridge police department deeply resent the implication and reject any suggestion that in this case or any other case they have allowed a person's race to direct their activities. however, we hope that they will reflect upon their past comments and apologize to the men and women of the cambridge police department. thank you.

>> steve capitol hill is president of the cambridge police patrol officers' association. >> good afternoon, folks. thank you all for coming. as president of the cambridge police patrol officers' associations, i am here to put full support behind sergeant crowley's actions. i've known sergeant crowley for 11 years in his career here. he's done a marvelous job. and for this to happen to him was wrong. cambridge police are not stupid. i am proud to represent the officers of the cambridge police department. it is a great department. i think everybody that knows us knows that. i'm a third-generation cambridge police officer by family, and i'm very proud to be a police officer, and i think if you ask any of the officers from cambridge, they'll tell you they're proud to be here. as far as the president's comments, the governor's comments and comments i did not hear that our mayor made, i think when the time is right they should make an apology to us. i think the president should

make an apology to all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country who took offense to this. with that, thank you very much, and let's get by this. >> harold mcgillfrey, president of the massachusetts municipal police coalition. >> thank you, and good afternoon. i'm here representing the 22 member unions of the massachusetts municipal police coalition. i'm speaking in one unified voice on behalf of the union presidents and their memberships. we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine men and women of the cambridge police department. we want the viewers to know that our website is being inundated wither, e-mails from law enforcement officers and ordinary citizens from across the united states expressing their support for sergeant crowley in the cambridge police department. and we'd like to thank everybody

for that support. on behalf of the entire membership of the mmpc, we'd just like to say that we have sergeant crowley and his family in our thoughts. thank you. this. >> we'll open the floor for questions. right here. >> if you say that you support officer crowley fully, does that mean you regret charges being brought? >> i think that was a decision made without our input. we think in retrospect, given the publicity that has transpired, it would have been better to let the matt gore forward to a trial of fact so that the truth could have been disclosed by means other than debates and media that we've seen over the last few days. we have no control over that.

it's done. and i think that's the best way i can answer your question. [ inaudible question ] there are a number of members here -- [ inaudible question ] no one is going to speak now. [ inaudible question ] >> as an organization, have they come here to support mr. crowley? >> i think the answer to your question is both. there are individuals here showing their support. i've also been authorized by the president of the organization to express support on behalf of the organization. >> all right. you're watching a live press conference here.

that's allen macdonald. and they're addressing the criticisms that have been made towards sergeant james crowley after arresting harvard professor african-american scholar henry louis gates jr. in his own home eight days ago. a couple of things that are interesting coming out of this. first of all, all the organizations that are speaking today are speaking to support sergeant crowley. steve kilian, who spoke, who is the president of the cambridge police patrol officers' association, said he's a third-generation cambridge police officer, that the cambridge police are not stupid, and he actually called on president barack obama and governor deval patrick to apologize for the criticisms they made about the department and about sergeant crowley in the last several days. and then another person who was speaking there, the president of the massachusetts police coalition, said their website has been inundated from people across the country expressing their support for sergeant

crowley and the cambridge police department. so, again, they are calling on the president and the governor to apologize to sergeant crowley. of course, you know that professor gates has called on sergeant crowley to apologize. sergeant crowley has said he will not do so. that news conference, by the way, is continuing, and you can see the press continuing to ask questions. it is streaming live on our website. if you'd like to watch it in its entirety, go to cnn.com/live. we have it there for you. meanwhile, controversy erupted after cambridge, massachusetts, police, as i told you, was making -- the police made that arrest, so we're going to continue to follow it. it is part of our question for you today. we hope you'll chime in with us. meanwhile, today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents was canceled shortly after their attorney handed over documents to the state attorney's office. george and cindy anthony claim

the delay was caused by computer problems. still unclear what's in those documents, specifically, and why the state wants them. but a source tells the "orlando sentinel" it's related to private detective who is worked for the anthony family. now, casey anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, caylee, and her trial may not start now before next summer, we understand it. it may seem impossible to afford a vacation right now, doesn't it? there are actually some great travel deals out there, and hln money expert clark howard has a tip on a vacation destination that is the cheapest it's been in years, folks. where he says you should go to save money.

an overseas vacation does not need to break your wallet. clark howard is going to tell you how to save and check out the sites. >> i'm with my family in london and we're here live because trips abroad are the cheapest they've been in eight years in a hard economy, which means you can travel really well. hotels extra cheap, air fares extra cheap, right in the heart of london, the london eye, and on this side of me is big ben, the most famous tourist attraction in london. well, now we're at the cheap way of seeing the bird's-eye view of

london. we are at monument tower. had to walk 311 steps up from the ground. we have a view of the complete panorama of london very much like the london eye, but it's one-seventh the cost. plus, behind me, you look over here, we have tower bridge, and the tower of london, a beautiful view from up here. and all you've got to do is be fit enough to balk twalk the st. >> got a little thing going on for you there. got to be fit enough. f more of clark's money-saving tips coming from london. get great consumer advice. tomorrow and sunday at noon and 4:00 p.m. on hln "news and views." clark always helps you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. the latest version of windows is finished, but most of us won't be able to get it until october. wednesday, microsoft ceo steve ballmer and windows president

told pc makers windows 7 will be rolled out for the general public october 22nd, specifically. a microsoft spokesman says windows 7 will be a lot smoother for viewers than windows vista, just so you know. was race an issue in the arrest of an african-american professor?

well, police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, respond today to criticism from president obama and a representative for cambridge police, even asked for an apology from the president for saying that police abouted stupidly when they arrested harvard professor henry louis gates at his own home. during a news conference just a short time ago here, all the police groups said they stand behind the arresting officer. that's sergeant james crowley, who you see there, and they say race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the

professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community, and, indeed, within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week, thousands of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decisionmaking and play nod role in the decisionmaking in this case. >> now, crowley said he will not apologize for arresting the african-american professor eight days ago saying he did nothing wrong, she was simply ding hoyas his job. president obama, it seems, is not going to budge either here. in an interview that aired on abc's "nightline" last night, he said the response to his commentary that police acted stupidly has really caught him off guard. >> i am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because i think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a

middle-aged man, who uses a cane who's in his own home. i think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems that we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home if he is not causing a serious disturbance. from what i can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is probably it would have been better if order had prevailed. >> when he initially commented, the president admitted that, quote, he didn't know all the facts and he is a little biased because he is a friend of professor gates. we want your comments on this. do you think race is a part of this incident? to take a broader scope, do you think race still is an issue in the united states? we'd love to hear from you. your opinion is important to us. call us at 1-877-tell-hln or our e-mail address is cnn.com/hln. you can text us, too.

text "views" plus your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates do apply, by the way. but thank you so much for being part of our conversation here. well, a jury, we're learning, as convicted evangelist tony alamo of taking underage girls across state lines for sex. he was convicted on all ten counts that he faced. prosecutors say he had sex with five underage girls as young as 9. defense attorneys say they were traveling on legitimate business for alamo's ministry. the 74-year-old said the charges were part of a conspiracy by the vatican and he faces up to ten years in prison for each charge when he's sentenced in six to eight weeks now. we also have this just in. reports we're getting from iran say at least 17 people were killed when a passenger plane skidded off a runway and caught fire. there it is. this is in the city of mashad. the associated press reports the plane's tires apparently caught fire as that plane was landing. remember, earlier this month,

another plane crashed on takeoff in iran, and that killed 168 people on board. today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents was canceled shortsly after their attorney handed other documents to the state attorney's office. george and cindy anthony claim the delay was caused by computer problems. it's still unclear what's in the documents or why the state wants to see them. a source tells the "orlando sentinel" it's related to private detectives who worked for anthony family. casey anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, caylee. her trial may not start until next summer. an arizona prosecutor vows to get justice for an 8-year-old girl allegedly gang-raped by four neighborhood boys. the oldest is 14 and has been charged with two counts of sexual assault. the other boys are 9, 10, and 13 and are charged as juveniles. now, police say they were caught running from a shed where the half-naked girl was screaming. all the kids' families are

liberian refugees. >> thank you. >> he does not speak english very well, and he does not understand english very well. he did not go to school. he started going to school when he came to the united states. and so, we say he cannot really understand what is going on. >> officials say the girl's family blamed her for being raped. they said father told officers to take her. he didn't want her back. she's in child protective services. new details regarding what detectives seize prd the office of michael jackson's doctor, who's the target of a manslaughter investigation, apparently. court documents show they took 27 tablets of the prescription-strength appetite suppressant, one tablet of the anti-anxiety pill clonazepam, rolodex cards and a computer.

from the storage unit belonging to him they took documents and hard drives. dr. murray was with jackson when he died last month. his attorney says the doctor should not be a target of any criminal charges. michael jackson's mother and three children, meanwhile, still don't have access to any money from the singer's estate. a judge denied a request yesterday to grant immediate allowances to the family, but he will consider the request at a hearing next month. court documents say jackson's attorney made the request because katherine and the children are almost solely dependent on the estate for support. the four are the main beneficiaries of jackson's estate, but they need a judge's approval before they can collect any payments from it. also, michael jackson's estate lawyers did note gete the okay to enter publishing deals that will rerelease the singer's 1988 auto guy biography. the l.a. superior court judge ruled "moonwalk" can be reprinted in five countries and could be in stores in france by

just next month. right now, the shuttle "endeavour's" astronauts are in the middle of a 7 1/2-hour space walk at the international space station. what a day they're having. here are live pictures for you. they're trying to install four fresh batteries here. two of the batteries should have been replaced two days ago but the space walk had to be cut short. chris cassidy was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. he plans to slow down today. best of luck to them. having fun on a beach could get you arrested in clearwater, florida. things you cannot do on the sand.

a helicopter crashed onto a highway and burst into flames last night in maryland is when this happen preponderance of the evidence three employees of a helicopter instruction company and a passenger were killed. now, emergency officials say that chopper was already fully engulfed when they got there. it didn't hit any cars on the ground, but power lines were knocked down and a witness says there was a flash of electricity before that chopper went down. there was some fog at the time of the accident, but it's not been ruled weather was a factor in the crash. well, the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when this suv flipped on its side, caught fire on interstate 10 in southern california, and she and two other people escaped, but that little girl we're talking about was trapped inside. look at this. what a scene. but then a man came running to help. >> what's going through your mind through this whole thing? >> i thought we were both going to die, to be honest. it was funny. when i pulled her out of the car, i dragged her into my car

and she said, oh, that was really scary. i was thinking, you have no idea. i was pretty shook up. >> rescuer john mcdonald is down playing what he did, but police say in their eyes he is a hero who was in the right place at the right time. a prisoner who lost control in a kentucky courtroom was stomed cold by a taser. the suspect actually jumped up in handcuffs, knocked over the table. here it comes. that table in front of him there. a deputy held him back. another one tasered the guy. he dropped to the floor. now, the man's okay. apparently he was in court, get this, for a violent outburst he had in a previous trial. singer amy wine house has had her share of troubles but things wentz away in a london court today. she was acquitted of assaulting a woman at a charity ballast year. prosecutors say she punched the woman in the eye when she asked to take a picture of winehouse. defense lawyers denied it saying the only injury the woman

suffereds was to her pride. is michael vick being allowed back into football, you might be wondering. final step for his reinstatement was to be a meeting with nfl commissioner roger goodell. numerous media outlets including the associated press reporting that meeting took place wednesday. goodell and vick reportedly met at a securities firm in new jersey. the thinking is goodell will allow vick a conditional re reinstatement, meaning he could be allowed to sign with a team, but the quarterback will still likely face a suspension to start the year. so far, no team has publicly stated any interest in signing the former quarterback, though. it's the performance everyone's talking about, including president obama. throwing a perfect game getting every single batter out here. yet, 30-year-old mark buehrle of the white sox, had gone all the way into the ninth when tampa bay's gabe kapler hit deep. dewayne wise makes the catch of his life! look at that. two outs later, buehrle gets a

strikeout. and then a big fan. >> one of the privileges of being president. you can call up a guy after he pitches a perfect game. i told him that he had to buy a big steak dinner for that center fielder, wise, because he saved that perfect game. >> now, last night buehrle said, you know, his feat hadn't really soaked in yet. he said it may take a little while. take a little time to fully absorb what's going on to him. playing catch on the beach is against the law in clear wather, florida. now one city councilman is trying to get the law changed. it started when the city tried to give cops the authority to stop games that hurt others in public places like parks, but people can't believe this one. >> i don't expect a cop to come

up and say i can't throw a ball around. i hope they wouldn't waste taxpayer money to throw me in jail for throwing a ball. >> i also feel it's important for a child to go out and toss a ball, throw a frisbee, without the fear of being cited for an ordinance violation. >> the city council will vote on change next month. a california man is so desperate to unload his home, he's giving away a car with it, and it isn't just any old car. it is a bentley. you're probably going, all right, how much does he want for the house?

well, you know, the minimum wage jumped seven cents today. great news for workers but here's the debate about how it will affect the economic recovery. some argue that minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economy. the economic policy institute says that would be about $5.5 billion being pump swood into the economy in the next year. the other side of the argument is businesses are already struggling and they'll have to fire people to survive, which would drive up unemployment. one analysis found states with

higher minimum wages also have higher unemployment. with health care reform a top priority, president barack obama is calling two key senate democrats to the white house today. he's meeting with harry reid and senate finance committee chairman max baucus. coming a day now after reid said a vote on president obama's health plan will have to wait until the fall. now, the president says he understands. he had set a deadline, of course, for voting before the august recess. i'm jane velez-mitchell, and here's my issue. the whole nation seems to be in an uproar about health care with president obama taking his sales pitch for an overhaul to the people. but everybody's missing the key word -- health. the government is talking out of both sides of its mouth, trying to improve health care while subsidizing our worst eating habits. ing a agra business gets hundreds of millions in money to flood the market with cheap foods and cheap calories.

it's one of the reasons obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death in america. michelle obama recently planted an organic garden at the white house. it's a wonderful symbol but we need action to solve this crisis because you cannot fix health care without fixing health. i'm jane velez-mitchell, and that's my issue. >> find out what else jane has on her mind. watch "issues with jane velez-mitchell" every night at 7:00 on hln. sarah palin stepping down as alaska governor on sunday. she shocked the country two weeks ago when she announced she's quitting with a year and a half left in her term. she says she will help other candidates campaign. that's all we know about her future plans at this point. there is a nationwide recall of one company's romaine lettuce. no illnesses have been linked to this, but check it. tanimura & antle fresh foods

romaine. the company says a voluntary recall affects single whole heads of romaine lettuce bought before yesterday. take a good look. don't want you to get sick there. an alligator that's been freaking people out at the beach has finally been caught. apparently it's been hanging out in the water at a north carolina beach. every time the alligator came ashore, it got away before anyone could get near it. >> this guy comes up to us and he was, like, do you know what you're looking at? we were like, no. he goes, there's an alligator out there. >> he's about four or five feet long, kind of brown. not very big. about the size of me. >> i'm scared because right now they're not sure where it is. it's scary. i don't want to go back in. >> might be a little unnerving for people. officials were finally able to catch the gator and plan to release it far from the beach. a woman walked away out a scratch after a bolt of lightning ripped through her car. can you imagine? reports out of new york say the bolt went through the car during

a storm and caused her car to shut down, even blew out the back window. >> instantly, there was just this huge blinding light, deafening explosion, and my car was just dead. i dead. i have like slow motion memories of just trying to pull my car off the expressway because everything went dead in my car. >> man. many experts say your car is one of the safest places you can be during a storm. a desperate homeowner is really sweetening the pot to try to sell his house. buy it and he's going to throw in a $200,000 bentley. the homeowner has dropped the price of his san diego house to $1.8 million. he had been asking more than $2 million. the homeowner hopes the car deal will move his house quickly. >> we're going to add a bones to the person who buys the house, we're going to throw in a dream car. look, if i am going to choose a house, i will choose the one

with the bentley. >> that house has more than 4,000 square feet and an ocean view. i know it's really been a struggle the last, what, six months probably, economically for all of us. hln money expert clark howard wants to help you out. you can be selected to and profiled on our network and get personal money advice. the latest version of windows is finished, most of us won't be able to get it until october but windows president told pc makers windows 7 will be rolled out for the general public on october 22nd. a microsoft user says it will be a lot smoother than windows vista. an oregonpen's mayor outfit turning heads making some people angry. why they say the mayor's lifestyle is okay, but wearing a mini skirt, not so much. xx

standing by some controversial comments he made of the arrest of an african-american harvard professor at his own home. the cambridge police department is standing by its fellow officer. plus, is michael jackson's mother really strapped for cash. why she says her and his three kids need access to his estate now. are they flustered because he likes to wear skirts and heels? that is an interesting ones. you're watching hln news and views, i'm susan hendricks. we're getting reports that a gunman has been sighted on the

campus of university of south florida in tampa. the school's website is advising students there to stay inside and lock their doors just to be safe as a precaution. the gunman was reportedly seen near the campus' bioscience building inside. no word yet on whether any shots have been fired or whether there are any injuries, but we do know that a gunman has been sighted on the campus of the university of south florida. police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, today are responding from criticism from president obama. a representative for cambridge police even asked for an apology from the president saying police acted stupidly when they arrested louis gates. a short time ago all the police group said they stand behind the arresting officer, that is sergeant james crowley and they insist that race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and

their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community and, indeed, within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week and thousands of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decisionmaking and played no role in the decisionmaking in this case. >> now, crowley was at that news conference, but he did not speak there. president obama, he isn't budging either. in an interview that aired on "nightline" last night he said the response to his commentary that police acted stupidly caught him off guard. >> i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because i think it was a pretty straight forward

commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane who is in his own home. i think it doesn't make sense with all the problems that we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home, if he's not causing a serious disturbance. from what i can tell the sergeant who is involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is is probably it would have been better if cooler heads would have prevailed. >> when he initially commented the president said "he didn't know all the facts and may be a little bias because he consider professor gates to be a friend." sergeant crowley said he will not apologize for arresting professor gates. he said he was simply doing his job and he did nothing wrong. law enforcement analyst mike brooks joins us by phone with his take on all of this. mike, i'm interested in getting your opinion here. based on everything you know about this case, what is your

opinion on both sides here? >> susan, let me start out by saying i am on hln and cnn on a regular basis and whether police acted properly or improperly and i call it like it is. in this particular case, number one, i think that sergeant crowley was doing his job and he does not own an apology to anyone. >> mike, what do you think about obama saying, look, you don't need to handcuff a middle-aged man who uses a cane at his own home. what do you say to that? >> well, let's look at the whole case. number one, sergeant crowley was responding to a call for police service that came over 911 for a burglary in progress and they gave a look out for two black males. he arrives on the scene. he talks to professor gates, first he asks him if there is anyone else in the home and professor gates gives him an answer basically like why are you asking me this, none of your business. he asked for i.d.

now, you don't know who this person, the sergeant did not know who this person is. so, did he act properly? absolutely. i had been in situations like this when i came come to a scene and i may draw my weapon because you don't know what the person is going to do to you for a crime. after he asked him for i.d., he refused, he gave him the i.d. and found out he was involved with harvard university and sergeant crowley then was trying to leave, going to leave and then he became the professor became boisterous. now, he was charged with disord erly conduct. that was after the fact that he determined it was his house. when you look at the picture we've seen all along of professor gates handcuffed in front of his front porch, now, disorderly arrest took place of public space. you see the one officer trying

tell him, be quiet. you see the one officer, look like he's trying to shush him and you see the office and you see professor gates still being disorderly. >> but, mike, professor gates, he's saying that, look, this is all because i'm a black man in america. tell us about the training and the experience you have in training of racial profiling. how do we know that didn't take place and professor gates isn't right that it had to do with the fact of the color of his skin, basically. >> racial profile. let's take a look at that. racial profiling is if an officer pulls someone over or targets someone because of their race. now, this had nothing to do with it. he was responding to a lookout that was given to him by the dispatcher for two black males. now, he got on the scene, what was he confronted with? at least one black male and trying to ascertain whether or not there was another black male inside that house. that is not racial profiling that is the investigation of a crime in progress. he teaches, sergeant crowley

teaches racial profiling at the lull police academy which is a suburb not too far from boston. he knows what rals profiling is. he was responding to a crime in progress. now, if he had been out patrolling and he was in a predominantly white neighborhood and he pulled over professor gates because of his color, could that be racial profiling? possibly. i lived in the inner city of atlanta and i know white people who have been pulled over in a neighborhood, a predominantly neighborhood by both black and white officers because they were perceived to be in the wrong neighborhood. is that racial profiling? possibly. or if this, do they concert suspicious activity. have to take it on a case-by-case basis. >> this case isn't going away any time soon. mike brooks, thanks for your input, we appreciate it. we want your views on this story. the viewers, what do you think should happen in this case? do you think that race is part of this incident or not?

is race still an issue in the u.s.? that's a bigger issue. give us a call right now. 877-tell-hln. e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. you can also texts your comments and name to hlntv and we'll put your comments on the air. former evangelist has been found guilty of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex. he is accused in a ten-count indictment that said the abuse dates back to 1994. women told the jury that the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies while they were minors. the women also detailed how he would take them across the state line for a sexual gratification. the fbi rated his compound in southern arkansas last september. he will be sentenced in six to eight weeks. we have some great shots we want to share with you here. the shuttle "endeavour" astronauts right now are in the middle of a 7 1/2 hour space

walk at the international space station. they're trying to install four fresh batteries. now, two of the batteries should have been replaced two days ago, but wednesday's spacewalk had to be cut short. chris cassidy was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. he plans to slow down during today's walk. do you feel like getting away from it all? who doesn't? there are actually some great travel deals out there for you. hln money expert clark howard has a tip on a vacation destination that is the cheapest it has been in years. where he says you should go to save some cash.

singer amy winehouse has certainly had her share of troubles but things went her way in a london court today. she was acquitting of assaulting a woman at a charity ball last year. she punched the woman in the eye when she asked to take a picture of winehouse.

defense attorneys denied it and said the only injury the woman suffered was to her pride. did you know that it's the 40th anniversary of the popular arts and comic convention. san diego is hosting the event this year that brings thousands of people for this annual festival and we have chris morrow, our i-reporter right at the scene today. tell us about it this year. you have been there, i understand, seven years in a row, how is it different this year? >> you know, hi, how are you guys doing? thanks for having me on. it's pretty different this year. it is packed and it is friday and the big day is saturday and sunday and it just started in the morning and it is packed. people are going, you know, from shoulder to shoulder in this area. there is 125,000 people that are descending on comic-con to look at toys from masters like -- look at this thing right here.

we have some really amazing things going on at comic-con. you're seeing some pretty amazing movie stars and you're seeing, you know, costumes and fun toys and everything that you want to see for popular culture is here at comic-con, this year. >> the shot of you is a little wide so it's hard to make out. what is it you're holding? >> this is from germane rogers. germanerogers.com. he is known for doing the posters and anyone that you can think of that he does posters for, he does all the different movie posters and he's here today signing all these for everyone. he also has something that is pretty cool and this is a sneak peek, this is a brand-new shoe that's coming out for school and designed by him. so, you can kind of like recognize that bunny from radio head. there you ge. >> certainly a lot of cool stuff

there, chris, but i have never heard of comic-con. is it like a star trek convention where people with similar interests gather. >> kind of like a star trek convention but this year it's zombies and vampires and harry potter. >> what famous faces have you seen? you said a couple celebrity there, as well. >> i saw all the cast from "twilight" yesterday and i saw rumor willis and there's going to be johnny dep was here yesterday. i mean, you name it. every scary movie star is here at comic-con. >> looks like a fun time, especially seeing those zombies that we're putting up on the screen right now. chris, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> all your video and coverage there. if you have cool pictures or coverage or breaking news just cool stories like chris does, go to ireport.com and click on the

upload now link. we always appreciate your stories.

an arizona prosecutor vows to get justice for an 8-year-old girl gang raped by four neighborhood boys. the oldest is 14 and has been charged as an adult with two counts of sexual assault. the other boys are 9, 10 and 13 and are charged as juveniles in this case. police say they were caught running from a shed where the

half-naked girl was screaming. all of the children's families are liberian refugees. >> i want to see my son. i want to see my son! my son! >> he does not speak english very well and he does not understand english very well. he did not go to school. he started going to school when he came to the united states, so, he cannot really understand what is going on. >> officials say the girl's family blamed her for being raped. they say her father told officers to take her. that he didn't want her back. she is now in child protective services. new details today on what detectives seized from the office of michael jackson's doctor who was the target of a manslaughter investigation. he still is, ralther. court documents show they took the appetite suppressant and

rolodex cards and a computer and from the storage unit belonging to dr. conrad murray they took documents and hard drives. murray was with jackson the day he died last month. murray's attorney said the doctor should not be a target of criminal charges. michael jackson's mother, meanwhile, and three children still don't have access to any money from the singer's estate. a judge denied the request to grant immediate allowances to the family, but he will consider the request at a hearing next month. court documents sajakson's attorneys made the request because katherine and the children are almost solely dependent on the estate for support. the four are the main beneficiaries of jackson's estate, but they need a judge's approval before they can collect any payments from it. the mayor of silverton, oregon, he is facing a complaint that he's showing too much skin. he said it was hot outside so he went it work dressed like this. in a short skirt, high heels and

revealing top. some people said he violated the city's dress code. >> i just think that in a business setting, that's inappropriate. period. with or without a dress code. i don't think that's an appropriate business attire. >> i was surprised, i was stunned and, honestly, the organization silverton together is supposed to be committed to diversity and, you know, this amounts, basically to bigotry. >> if we had a problem with his lifestyle, why would we have invited him in here? his lifestyle is no secret. we see him every day. as i said earlier, you know, it's not the lifestyle i would adopt for myself, but i support his right to that lifestyle. >> well, really upset some people is when the mayor showed up to a talk to a group of young students about his work in the community, he insists his attire was completely appropriate for the venue. we're talking about the economy now and the minimum wage jumped 70 cents today to $7.25. it sounds great, right?

well, it's great news for workers, but some debate about how it will affect the economy and the recovery. the economic recovery some argue that minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economy. the economic policy institute says that would be about $5.5 billion being pumped into the economy in the next year or so. well, others argue that businesses are already struggling and that they will have to fire people just to survive, which would drive up unemployment. states with higher minimum wages also have higher unemployment. an overseas vacation sounds great, doesn't it? it doesn't have to put you over your budget, believe it or not. hln money expert clark howard will prove it. he travelled to london and shares ways you can save cash and check out all the sites. >> i'm with my family in london and we're here why? well, because trips to europe are the cheapest they've been in eight years because of the

economy, which means you can travel really well. hotels extra cheap and airfares extra cheap right in the heart of london, london eye and on this side of me is big ben. the most famous tourist attraction in london. well, now we're at the cheap way of seeing the bird's eye view of london. we're at monument tower. had to walk 311 steps up from the ground but we have a view of the complete panorama of london, very much like the london eye, but it's one-seventh the cost. behind me, if you look over here, we have tower bridge and the tower of london. a booufl view from up here. and all you got to do is be fed enough to walk the stairs. >> really some great ideas. see more of clark's money-saving tips from london this weekend and get more great consumer advice tomorrow and sunday right

here on hln news and views. he will help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. was race an issue in the arrest of an african-american harvard professor. the officer who arrested him says, no, we want to know what you think about it, just ahead. naing onon ud r.

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n . we want to get you updated on this story. we are getting reports that a gunman has been sighted on the campus of university of osouth florida in tampa. they are advising students to stay inside and lock their doors, just as a precaution. the gunman was reportedly seen near the campus' bioscience building. we don't have any word yet on whether any shots have been fired or whether there are any injuries, but we do know that a gunman has been sighted on the campus of the university of south florida. also this, 300 employees at the johnsonville sausage plant in sheboygan, wisconsin, were evacuated a short time ago after

a fire broke out today. we're hearing that one worker there is being treated for second degree burns. we don't have any word of any other injuries right now. the information, of course, still coming into us. you see right there people gathered in the parking lot. that is part of the evacuation of workers, of course, getting out of the plant because of that fire. we'll keep you updated on that story, as well. police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, they are responding to criticism from president obama. today a representative for cambridge police even asked for an apology from the president for saying that police acted stupidly when they arrested harvard professor henry louis gates at his own home. >> first of all, he began his comments by saying he had a personal bias and that he didn't have all of the facts. so artfully indicated the next sentence was going to say, i am not going to say anything.

he did say some things. he said the cambridge police acted stupidly in taking the actions that they did. we think that conclusion was dead wrong and that if he knew all the facts, he would have concluded that had professor gates simply cooperated with the investigation that sergeant crowley was undertaking, he could have cleared the matter and returned to his office where he wanted to be doing his regular work. >> now, during that news conference, all of the police groups said they stand behind the arresting officer, sergeant james crowley and they insist that race was not a factor in this incident. crowley was there, he was at the news conference, he didn't speak but he did give his side of the story to tim casey. here's the interview. >> i was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn't have all the facts by his own admission, then weighed in on the events of that night

and made a comment that, you know, really offended not just officers in the cambridge police department, but officers around the country. >> reporter: sergeant james crowley sitting down with 7 news reacting to barack obama's comments about the day he arrested harvard professor henry gates and talking extensively for the first time what happened that cambridge house. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me and he said, no, i will not. he said, what is this all about? i said i am sergeant crowley and i'm investigating a break-in in progress. he responded why i'm a black man in america in a very aggravated tone and i thought that was strange. >> reporter: after getting a call about the break in, he was just trying to protect gates, as well as himself. >> there was a report that there were two individuals. i see one and it could be him. so, where's the second person or there's two people in the residence that he doesn't know

is there. either way, i wasn't expecting his response which was, that's none of your business. to me, that's a strange response to somebody who has nuthing to hide and is trying to cooperate with the police. >> so, did he come out and speak with you? >> i was leaving, as i reached the porch s i was aware he was still yelling about racism and black men in america and that he wasn't somebody to be messing with. >> reporter: sergeant crowley said he warned gates he was acting disorderly and when he didn't calm down, he arrested gates. the professor wants an apology but the professor says he will not set that precedent for it police officers he regrets the event and he wants to let his story be heard. >> amount of negative things that he was saying about me warranted a response and allowed people to see that i'm not a monster or bigot or racist that he betrayed me to be. this is me. well, president obama isn't budging either.

in an interview that aired on "nightline" last night he said the response to his commentary that police acted stupedly caught him off guard. >> i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding by statement because i think it was a pretty straight forward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane who is in his own home. i think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance. from what i can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but, my suspicion is probably would have been better if cooler heads would have prevailed. >> when he initially commented, the president admitted he didn't "know all the facts" and maybe a little bias because he considers professor gates to be a friend. we want your opinion on this story. we're taking your view today. what do you think should happen

in this case? do you think race is part of this incident? is race still an issue in the united states and a bigger issue? give us a call right now, 877-tell-hln and e-mail us cnn.com/hln. you can also text, text the word views plus your comments and name to hlntv. we have to let you know that standard text rates apply. we take you live to arizona there. look at that ariel live shot. a portion of interstate 10 has been shut down after a truck carrying hazardous material rolled over and caught fire. local media is reporting that one person is dead. it's unclear if it was the driver of that truck or not. the i-10 eastbound is closed affecting anyone driving from tucson to the valley. if you're familiar with that area, westbound lanes do remain open and no details yet on the cause of that accident or on any other victims that may have been in that accident, as well. we'll keep you updated on that. former evangelist tony alamo

has been found guilty of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex. alamo was accused in a ten-count indictment that says the abuse dates back to 1994. women told the jury that the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies when they were just minors. take them across the state line for their sexual gratification. raided his compound in southern arkansas last september and he will be sentenced in six to eight weeks. today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents was canceled. shortly after their attorney handed over documents to the state attorney's office, george and cindy anthony claim the delay was caused by computer problems. it's still unclear, though, what is in the documents and why the state wants them. a source tells the orlando sentinel it has revealed that it is related to private detectives who worked for the anthony family. now, casey anthony is charged with first degree murder, as you know, in the death of her daughter caylee.

her trial may not start now before next summer. new details on what detectives seized from the office of michael jackson's doctor, who is the target of a manslaughter investigation now. court documents show they took 27 tablets of the prescription strength appetite suppression and one tablet of an anti-anxiety pill and rolodex cards and from a storage unit belonging to the doctor they took documents and also hard drives from his office. murray was with jackson when he died last month. murray's attorney said the doctor should not be a target of criminal charges. meanwhile, michael jackson's mother and three children still don't have access to any money from the singer's estate. a judge denied a request to grant immediate allowances to the family, but he will consider the request at a hearing next month. court documents sajakson's attorneys made the request because cath rn and the children are almost solely dependent on the estate for their support.

the four are the main beneficiaries of jackson's estate but they need a judge's approval before they can collect any payments from if. we want to keep you updated on this story out of florida. we are getting reports that a gunman was sighted on the campus of university of florida in south tampa. live pictures there that is from bay news 9. the school's website is advising students there to stay inside and lock their doors as a precaution. right now the school is in summer session and the fall term will not start for about a month, so not as many students on campus. the gunman was reportedly seen near the campus' biosips building. we don't have any words yet on whether shots were fired or if there are any injuries. we do know that a gunman was sighted there on that campus and that students who are there are being told to stay inside. you may have heard about this story from us. a small town mayor is accused of showing too much skin when he met with a group of kids. he is the nation's first openly

transgender mayor. there he is. you'll hear his reaction to the fashion controversy.

there is no disputing that singer amy winehouse has had her share of troubles, but things went her way in a london court today. she was accused of assaulting a woman at a charity ball last year. prosecutors say she punched the woman in the eye when she asked to take a picture of winehouse. defense attorneys denied it and said the only injury the woman suffered was to her pride. we are talking about the mayor of silverton, oregon, today, he is facing a complaint that he showed too much skin. the first transgender mayor said it was hot and sticky so he went

to work dressed in short skirt and this revealing top. some people say he violated the city's dress code. >> i just think in a business setting, that's inappropriate, period. with or without a dress code, i don't think that's an appropriate business attire. i was surprised, i was stunned and, honestly, the organization silverton together is supposed to be committed to diversity and, you know, this amounts, basically, to bigotry. >> if we had a problem with his lifestyle, why would we have invited him in here? his lifestyle is no secret. we see him every day and, as i said earlier, you know, it's not the lifestyle i would adopt for myself, but i support his right to that lifestyle. >> apparently what really upset some people was when the mayor showed up to talk to a group of young students who gather there about his work in the community, he insists his attire was completely appropriate for that forum. this statistic may shock you. african-american women are 37% more likely than whites to die

from breast cancer. the cnn hero of the week is fighting to better those odds for all women and she's doing it by hitting the streets. >> in 2004 i was diagnosed with breast cancer. initially there's shock, but i realized 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'm andrea ivory and i'm fighting breast cancer in south florida one household at a time. the florida breast health initiative is an outreach organization and we're targ lting working class people and make a difference and save some live lives. we have a take it to the streets approach. spreading breast cancer awareness -- >> can i ask you a few questions? >> we target women who are 35

years old or older and i look forward to seeing you. i'll be there. bringing the mammography van to the neighborhood is one of the most important assets of the work we do. we provide a service that is so needed. i know i'm saving lives. >> they said it was free, so, come right over and get it. >> is the lady of the house at home? we're giving a free mammogram on the 25th. that's easy. thank you so much. i was saved from breast cancer to serve other women. every time i knock on the door, it's another opportunity to save a life. >> certainly heroic. if you know someone who deserves to be a cnn hero, time is running out. you have until august 1st to nominate them. a little girl with just months to live was treated like a princess for a day. what the girl got to do as some generous people helped make her

dream come true. you don't want to miss this one.

iumier jane velez-mitchell and here's nigh issue. the whole nation is in an uproir about health care. president obama taking his sales pitch to an overhaul for the people but everyone is missing the key word, help. the government is talking out of both sides of its mouth trying to improve health care while subsidizing our worse eating habits. hundreds of millions in government money to flood the market with cheap food and cheap calories. and it's why obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death in america. michelle obama recently planted an organic garden at the white house. it's a wonderful symbol, but we need more action if we want to solve this crisis because you cannot fix health care without fixing health.

i'm jane velez-mitchell and that's my issue. >> tune in to find out what else jane has on oher mind. watch "issues with jane velez-mitchell" at 7:00 right here on hln. a helicopter crashes on to a highway and burst into flames. it happened last night in maryland. here's a shot of the helicopter. the aftermath. three employees of the helicopter instruction company and a passenger were killed. emergency officials say the chopper was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. it didn't hit any cars, thankfully, on the ground, but power lines were knocked down. a witness says there was a flash of electricity before the chopper crashed. there was some fog at the time of the accident. it's not known right now whether that was a factor, though, in the crash. here's a story now of a true hero. a driver jumps into action to save a 3-year-old girl from that burning suv. the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when the suv flipped on its side and caught fire on a southern california freeway. well, the grandmother and two

other people escaped. the little girl was still inside and the man came running to help. >> what's going through your mind during this whole thing? >> i thought we were all going to die, to be honest with you. >> i pulled her out of the car i dragged her into my car and she said, that was really scary, and i was thinking you have no idea. i was pretty shook up. >> can you imagine that? rescuer john mcdonald who you just saw is downplaying what he did. police say he is a hero who was in the right place at the right time. two key senate democrats went to the white house to discuss one of president obama's top priorities, which is health care reform. the president met with majority leader harry reid and senate finance committee chairman max baucus. just yesterday reid said a vote on health care reform will have to wait until the fall. meanwhile, in the house the powerful committee chairman is threatening to force a floor vote to bring fiscally conservative democrats in line. representative henry waxman says

negotiations with them can't go on forever because it would empower republicans. we're talking about sarah palin now, and she steps down as alaska governor on sunday. palin shocked the country when she announced she is quitting with a year and a half in her term. she says she will help other candidates campaign. we're talking about the economy. the minimum wage jumped 70 cents today to $7.25. that is great news for workers, but there is some debate about how it will affect the economic recovery. some argue that minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economy. the economic policy institute says that would be about $5.5 billion being pumped into the economy in the next year, but others are saying that businesses are already struggling and they will have to fire people to survive, which would drive up unemployment. one analyst found states with higher minimum wages also have higher unemployment. they are swimming, playing, and doing all the things that kids do at camp.

>> like at school they don't really understand what you've gone through, and these kids kind of do, so it's really nice. >> how one nebraska camp brings special kids and counselors with the unique bond together. naing onon ud r.

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n . the cambridge police department is standing by its fellow officer following the arrest of an african-american harvard processor at his own home. plus, as she prepares to leave office, governor sarah palin suffers the biggest blow to her popularity since stepping onto the national stage. also -- >> he's just my daughter's angel. he came out of nowhere. everybody who saw that video knows that. >> a man is in the right place at the right time for a 3-year-old girl trapped in a burning suv. those are the pictures. we'll tell you more of the story, but it is so good to see you. i'm christi paul. thanks for being with us at hln "news and views" happy friday to

you. want to get you some breaking news. the university of south florida in tampa, here are some live pictures, is telling staff and students to stay indoors after reports that a gunman was seen on campus. the gunman was reportedly spotted by the bioscience area. tampa police are responding as well as campus officers. the school is still in summer session. in that regard there are fewer students there than normal, but we do not have any word yet on whether shots have been fired or whether any injuries have been obtained here. we're going to continue to keep our eyes on this and we'll let you know what we hear in this developing situation. also, more than 300 employees at the johnsonville sausage plant in sheboygan, wisconsin, were evacuated after a small fire broke out today. we're hearing one worker is being treated for second-degree burns. a company spokeswoman says the damage appears minimal, but it's

still being evaluated, and she says it's not clear whether employees will be allowed back into the plant at all today. so no word yet on how that fire broke out. you can see all the folks standing out in the parking lot who have been evacuated. officials say a portion of interstate 10, look at this, has been shut down. this is in ads. after this semi truck carrying hazardous material rolled over. as you can see, it caught fire. now, this is between phoenix and tucson, and local media say one person is dead. this is i-10 eastbound, and it's closed, which affects anyone driving to tucson from the phoenix area. westbound lanes are still open, but there's no details as of yet regarding the cause of the accident or any other possible victims. police groups in and around cambrid cambridge, massachusetts are responding to criticism from president obama and a representative from cambridge police asked for an apology from

the police sor sayifor saying p acted stupidly. during a news conference all the police groups say they stand behind the arresting officer, sergeant james crowley, and they insist race was not a factor here. >> on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diverti itit itity -- diversity their own community and within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week and thousands of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decisionmaking and played no role in the decisionmaking in this case. >> crowley was at the news conference but did not speak. there he is in the blue shirt. he has said that he will not apologize for arresting gates

because he did nothing wrong and was simply doing his job. as far as president obama is concerned, apparently he's not budging either. in an interview on "nightline" last night he said the response to his commentary that police acted stupidly really caught him off-guard. >> i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because i think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man, who uses a cane who is in his own home. i think that it doesn't make sense with all the problems that we have out there to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance. from what i can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is probably that it would have been better if cooler heads had prevailed. >> when he initially commented, the president admitted he didn't, quote, know all the

facts and may be a little biased because he considers professor gates to be a friend. we're taking your views on this story. first of all, what do you think should happen in this case? and from this angle do you think that race is a part of this incident or even on a broader scope here, a race still an issue in the united states? we would love to hear from you. give us a call at 1-877-tell-hln or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln or text us views, your comments, your name to hlntv. standard text rates apply. we're going to be airing your comments throughout the day and we're so grateful that you take part in our conversation because your opinion is important to us. former evangelist tony alamo has been found guilty of taking girls as young as 9 years old across state lines for sex. alamo was accused in a ten-count indictment that said the abuse dates back to 1994. women told the jury the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies while they were minors. the women also detailed how

alamo would take them across the state line for his sexual gratification. the 74-year-old will be sentenced in six to eight weeks and he faces up to ten years in prison for each charge. today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents, meanwhile, was canceled. shortly after their attorney handed over some documents to the state attorney's office. george and cindy anthony claim the delay was caused by computer problems. still unclear what is in those documents and why the state wanted them in the first place, but a source tells "the orlando sent tell" it's related to private detectives that worked for the anthony family. casey anthony's trial may not start now before next summer. two key senate democrats went to the white house to discuss one of president obama's top priorities, health care reform. well, the president met with majority leader harry reid and senate finance committee

chairman max baucus. in the meantime, in the house a powerful committee chairman is threatening to force a floor vote to bring fiscally conservative democrats in line. representative henry waxman says negotiations with them can't go on forever because it would empower republicans. all righty. the minimum wage jumped 70 cents today to $7.25. great news you think for workers, rights? here is the debate about how it's going to affect the economic recovery though. on one side of the fence, some argue minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economy. the economic policy institute says that would be about $5.5 billion being pumped into the economy in the next year. the other side of the fence has peopleaing that busine arguing are already struggling to survive and they will have to fire people. one analysis found states with higher wages also have higher

unemployment. the giddiness on wall street, it was great while it lasted. a day after breaking the 9,000 point barrier again, the dow is struggling to stay there. disappointing quarterly reports from microsoft, american expr s express, and amazon.com is weighing on it. up 21 points to 9090. sunday alaska governor sarah palin will step down from office, and as she moves on, boy, how is her resignation really affected what people think of her? cnn's political director -- deputy political director paul steinhauser with us now. paul, first of all, can you tell us what exactly is happening this weekend? >> yeah, you got it, christi. sunday in fairbanks, alaska, sarah palin will be at a picnic in fairbanks, alaska, and that's where she will official hand over power to the lieutenant governor. he's a fellow republican named

sean parnell. after that handover, sarah palin is a private citizen. her stepping down comes with a year and a half left in her first term as alaska governor. >> i think the reason everyone was so shocked is because she said she was leaving but nobody knows what she's doing next. >> that is a big question mark. she said she wants to come down to the lower 48 stantes to campaign for the candidates she likes. that's sparking publication maybe she wants to run for the republican presidential nomination in 2012. >> so when you think about her possibly being a candidate, what do we know about how people feel about her right now? >> two new polls this week have found that a majority of americans have an unfavorable view of her. take a look at one of those polls. it cage out today from abc news and "the washington post," and overall only 4 in 10 americans have a favorable impression of the alaska governor. among republicans though, and you know if she runs for the white house on the republican side that's what really counts, among republicans 7 in 10 have a

favorable view of her, christi. >> isn't that interesting. all righty. we'll watch those numbers because we know they're always changing with every poll. >> oh, yeah. >> never know. paul steinhauser, thank you for keeping us apprised of what's going on. we appreciate it. have a good weekend. >> thank you. we're about to show you what -- what we're about to show you is actually illegal. look at this. it's not me. i didn't do anything, i promise. there it is. a place where playing catch is against the law. did the city drop the ball on this one?

just want to let you know we're getting an update on one of the stories we've been following. hearing an all-clear has been issued at the university of south florida in tampa. that's what you're looking at there, after reports that a gunman was seen on campus. we don't know yet whether there actually was a gunman there or whether anybody has been taken into custody. campus police responded, but the all-clear has been given.

new details on what detectives seized from the office of michael jackson's doctor who is the target of a manslaughter investigation now. court documents show they took 27 tablets of the prescription strength appetite suppressant fed ra mean. one fab lick tablet of an anti- pill, a rolodex, and a computer. from a storage unit they took those that belonged to dr. conrad murray documents and hard drive. murray was with jackson when he died last month. michael jackson's mother and three children still do not have access to any money from the singer's estate. a judge denied a request yesterday to grant meet allowances to the family but he will consider the request at a hearing next month. say jackson attorneys made the request

yesterday. i don't know if you have seen this yet, a prisoner who lost control in a courtroom was stopped cold by a taser. i want to give you a warning. it's pretty graphic video you're going to see here in a minute. here we go. this man, here he is, jumping up in handcuffs, noinging over the table in front of him. a deputy held him back and then another one tasered the guy. you can see him there dropping to the floor. the man is okay, but get this, he was in court for a violent outburst he had in a previous trial. and, boy, a driver jumped into action to save a 3-year-old girl from this burning suv. look at that. the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when the suv flipped on its side and caught fire. this was on a southern california freeway. she and two other people escaped, but the little girl was trapped inside and then a man came running.

>> what's going through your mind through this whole thing. >> i thought we were both going to die, to be honest with you. it was funny when i pulled her out of the car, i dragged her into my car, and she said, oh, that was really scary. and i was thinking, you have no idea. i was pretty shook up. >> if you're john mcdonald, downplaying what he did, but in the police say he is a hero in the right place at the right time. an overseas vacation doesn't have to put you over your budget. hln money expert clark howard is going to prove it to you. he traveled to london and shares ways that you can save cash and check out all the sights. >> i'm with my family in london, and we're here why? well, because trips to europe are the cheapest they've been in eight years because of the economy, which means you can travel really well. hotels extra cheap, airfares extra cheap, right in the heart of london by the london eye, and on this side of me is big ben,

the most famous tourist attraction in london. well, now we're at the cheap way of seeing the bird's-eye view of london. we're at monument tower. had to walk 311 steps up from the ground, but we have a view of the complete panorama of london very much like the london eye but it's 1/7 the cost. behind me, if you look over here, we have tower bridge and the tower of london. a beautiful view from up here, and all you have to do is be fit enough to walk the stairs. >> yeah, that's all. see more of clark's money-saving tips from london this weekend, and get more great consumer advice tomorrow and sunday at noon and 4:00 p.m. eastern right here on hln "news and views." he will help you save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. playing catch on the beach is against the law in clearwater, florida. well, one city councilman is

trying to get the law changed. this started when the city tried to give police officers the authority to stop games that could hurt others in public places like parks, but people just can't believe this one. >> i don't expect a cop to come up to me and tell me i can't throw a ball around. i hope they wouldn't waste taxpayer money to put me in jail for throwing a ball. >> i also feel it's important for a child to be able to go out and toss a ball or throw a frisbee without the fear of being cited for an ordinance violation. >> the city council may vote on this change as early as next month. a small town mayor is accused of showing too much skin when he met with a group of kids. he's the nation's first openly transgender mayor. hear his reaction to the fashion controver controversy.

want to let you know, two u.s. military service members were killed this morning in an insurgent attack in afghanistan. it's not clear at this moment what happened exactly, but the ra means have been fighting the taliban in the southern part of the country. the u.s. has pushed thousands of additional troops in the area. the u.s. has 59,000 troops in afghanistan. that's nearly double the number from last year. if you're planning on having a salad today, you need to know about a nationwide recall. the test in wisconsin was positive for salmonella.

no illnesses have been linked to the produce but check check your foods for tanimura and ant le romaine lettuce. the mayor of silverton, oregon, is facing a complaint he showed too much skin. the nation's first transgender mayor said it was hot and sticky so he went to work dressed in a short skirt, high heels, and revealing top. some people say he violated the city dress code. >> i just think that in a business setting that's inappropriate, period. with or without a dress code, i don't think that's an appropriate business attire. >> i was surprised. i was stunned, and honestly the organization is supposed to be committed to diversity and, you know, this amounts basically to bigotry. >> if we had a problem with his lifestyle, why would we have invited him in here? his lifestyle is no secret.

with he see him every day, and as i said earlier, you know, it's not the lifestyle i would adopt for myself, but i support his right to that lifestyle. >> what really upset some people is when the mayor showed up to talk to a group of young students about his work in the community. right now the shuttle "endeavour's" astronauts are in the middle of a 7 1/2 hour space walk at the international space station. here are some live pictures as they try to install four fresh batteries. who of those batteries should have been replaced two days ago but wednesday's space walk had to be cut short. nasa says chris cassidy was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. he plans to slow down during today's walk. he's the world's number one tennis player. roger federer and his wife are the proud parents of healthy twin girls. they were born yesterday in a switzerland clinic.

here is the question, was race an issue in the arrest of an african-american harvard professor? the arresting officer says no. what you have to say about it.

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you're done? she pulled a fast one! ( laughs ) new windex outdoor all-in-one. a streak-free shine in half the time. s.c. johnson, a family company. so good to have you with us today. police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, are responding to criticism from president obama. today a representative for the cambridge police department even asked for an apology from the president for saying police acted stupidly when they arrested harvard professor henry louis gates at his own home. >> first of all, he began his comments by saying he had the personal bias and that he didn't have all of the facts. as dennis so artfully indicated, the next sentence should have been so i'm not going to say anything. unfortunately, he proceeded to say some things. he said that the cambridge police acted stupidly in taking

the actions they did. we think that that conclusion was dead wrong and that if he knew all of the facts he would have concluded that had professor gates simply cooperated with the investigation that sergeant crowley was undertaking, sergeant crowley could have cleared the matter and returned to his office where he wanted to be doing his regular work. >> during the news conference, all the police groups said they stand behind the arresting officer, sergeant james crowley, whom you see there in the blue, and they insist that race was not a factor here. sergeant crowley, he's been rather tight-lipped about his side of the story thus far, didn't speak during today's news conference, but he did sit down with whdh one-on-one. >> i was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn't have all the facts by his own admission, then weighed

in on the events of that night and made a comment that, you know, really offended not just officers in the cambridge police department, but officers around the country. >> sergeant james crowley, sitting down with 7 news reacting to president barack obama's comments about the day he arrested harvard professor henry gates and talking extensively for the first time what happened at the cambridge house. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me, and he said, no, i will not, and again words to the effect of what's this all about. i said i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. i'm investigating a break in progress, and he responded why, because i'm a black man in a very agitated tone. i thought that was a little strange. >> reporter: sergeant crowley is saying after getting a call about the break-in, he was just trying to protect gates as well as himself. >> there was a report there was two individuals. i see one and it could be him, so where is the second person or there's two people in the residence that he doesn't know

are there. either way i wasn't expecting his response, which was that's none of your business. to me that's a strange response for somebody that has nothing to hide, is trying to cooperate with the police. >> reporter: so did he come out and speak with you? >> i was leaving. as i reached the porch, i could -- i was aware that now he was following me because he was still yelling about racism and black men in america and that he wasn't somebody to be messing with. >> reporter: sergeant crowley said he warned gates he was acting disorderly. when he didn't calm down he arrested gates. the professor wants an apology but the sergeant says he will not set that precedent for police officers. he regrets the event and wants to let his story be heard. >> the amount of negative things that are untrue that are saying about me at least warranted a response and allow people to see that i'm not a monster or the big got or racist that he has portrayed me to be. this is me. >> let's go to president obama who is addressing this right

now. >> and because this has been ratcheting up and i obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, 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 or sergeant crowley specifically, and i could have calibrated those words differently and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe based on 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. my sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved. the fact that it has garnered so much attention i think is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in america, and, you know, so to the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate but rather contributed to more media frenzy, i that i that was unfortunate. what i'd like to do is make sure everybody steps back for a moment, recognizes that these are two decent people, not extrapolate too much from the facts, but as i said at the press conference, be mindful of

the fact that because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, you know, african-americans are sensitive to these issues, and even when you've got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the african-american community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding. my hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what's called a teachable moment where all of us instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities and that instead of

flinging accusations, we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity. lord knows we need it right now because over the last two days, as we've discussed this issue, i don't know if you've noticed but nobody has been paying much attention to health care. i will not use this time to spend more words on health care, although i can't guarantee that that will be true next week. >> obviously, this issue was pressing enough to the president. this is the normal briefing period for the white house with white house correspondents there, and rather than correspondent gibbs coming out, all of a sudden they realized that the president himself is coming out to talk about this incident with the cambridge police department and scholar henry louis gates, jr.

you heard the president there saying that he did contribute to ratcheting this up and that that's unfortunate, that he didn't mean to do so, but he did make mention, too, that he has spoken to sergeant crowley himself and described him as a good man. he says these are two decent people, and that we need to be mindful that because of the difficulties of the past, african-americans are sensitive to these issues and that he hopes this becomes a teachable moment for all of us and that we can take more time listening to each other from this point on. so, again, real surprise here as the press corps there was expecting to see the press secretary and the president walked out himself. obviously feeling that this whole situation warranted more of an explanation from him. we are taking your views on this story as well, and we'd love to hear from you. so won't you call us at 1-877-tell-hln or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. we're wondering what you think should happen in this case and

now that you've heard the president speak again, what are your feelings? text the word to us, "views" plus your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates apply. we thank you so much because your opinion matters to us and we're grateful that you take the time to share it with us. going to get to some other news for you right now. more than 300 employees at the johnsonville sausage plant in sheboygan, wisconsin, were evacuated after a small fire broke out today. we're hearing one worker is being treated for second degree burns. a company spokeswoman says the damage appears minimal, but it's still being evacuated. you can see all the folks there that obviously have been. she says it's not clear whether employees will be allowed back into the plant today. there's no word yet as to how that fire broke out. an arizona prosecutor vows to get justice for an 8-year-old girl allegedly gang raped by four neighborhood boys. the oldest boy is 14 and has been charged as an adult with

two counts of sexual assault. now, the other boys are 9, 10, and 13. they're charged as juveniles. police say they were caught running from a shed where the half naked girl was screaming. all of those kids' families are liberian refugees. >> i want to see my son. i want to see my son, my son. >> he does not speak english very well and he does not understand english very well. he did not go to school. he started going to school when he came to the united states, and so he can not really understand what is going on. >> officials say the girl's family even blamed her for being raped. they say her father told officers to take her, he didn't want her back, and she is now in child protective services. today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents was canceled shortly after their attorney handed over documents to the state attorney's office. george and cindy anthony claim the delay was caused by computer

problems. still unclear what's in the problems and why the state wants them, but a source tells the orlando sentinel it's related to private detectives that worked for the anthony family. casey anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her kaur, kdaughter caylee. her trial may not start now before next summer. a quick thinking driver jumps into action trying to save a little girl from a burning car. look at this. >> that guy is just my daughter's angel. he came out of nowhere and anybody that sees that video knows that. >> we'll show you more of this in a moment.

well, a driver jumped into

action to save a 3-year-old girl from this burning suv. the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when the suv flipped on its side and caught fire. this is on the southern california freeway. she and two other people escaped, but that little girl was trapped and he came running. >> what's going through your mind through this whole thing. >> i thought we were both going to die. when i pulled her out of the car, i dragged her into may car and she said, that was really scary. i was thinking you have no idea. i was pretty shook up. >> boy, that's rescuer john mcdonald there. obviously downplaying what he did, but police say in their eyes he is a hero who was in the right place at the right time. really stepped up there. if you're still in college and you don't know what to major in but you do know obviously like everybody else you want a good-paying job after grat waitiwai -- graduating, you better set up for a few more math classes. it's a good thing i'm not in

college any longer because math was never my strong suit. >> me either. at least i can count to five, so let's count to five. number one, petroleum engineering at $83,000. >> that's a starting salary? >> yes, ma'am. chemical engineering at $65,000 a year. mining engineering at $64,000 a year. computer engineering at $62,000 a year. computer science at $610,000 a ye year. do you get a trend? it's all engineering. it's all science. it's all math. engineering diplomas actually account for 12 of the 15 top paying majors, so it pays to do math well. there are fewer people graduating with math-based degrees right now. it's really a supply versus demand type of thing. they are basically paid a premium in this job market. so there you go, you go if you can do math. i am just not part of that

group. >> engineers, man, they obviously got it going on. >> yeah. they do. they make up about 4% of these college graduates, but they're the tiptop when it comes to the moola. >> i hope a lot of parents of students are paying attention, too. maybe making a call or two. another popular story from youtube that's getting a lot of hits. >> this is so great. is have you seen this? >> i haven't yet. >> let's do it because this got my attention this morning and everybody in the newsroom. jill and kevin got married last month. they posted -- it looks kind of normal in the beginning. seriously, this is how they got married. >> this is walking down the aisle? >> this is the groomsmen and the maids of honor. they danced down the aisle, in fact. >> they look like a fun group of people. >> this is so fun. this is in st. paul, minnesota. it was all very well choreographed.

that's the groom. >> right there? >> yeah. where he just did that somersault. >> i would have liked to have been invited to that wedding. >> me, too. >> if this is what they did down the aisle, can you imagine the reception? >> i know, right, because a lot of people are having these dancing receptions. why wait until the reception they say? they say just get right to it at the alter. this has been viewed 1.4 million times on youtube, christi. this is kind of the end. it's like the interpretative dance section. >> that's wild. good for them. i wish we could have seen the bride, you know. >> she came out -- she kind of did a more graceful move. you have to keep it together just a little bit when you're a bride. >> and you're dressed in a long gown. >> there she is. i love it. >> i think graceful but graceful compared to everybody else. >> hey, you know what? best of luck to them. many, many happy endings. >> yeah. can you imagine they're going to have a fun marriage. >> yeah, they are.

all righty. nicole, thanks for sharing. have a great weekend. >> you too. >> sure. deputies take down a prisoner in court by tasering him. what led up to this moment? we'll show you.

listen to how a desperate homeowner is really trying to sweeten the pot to sell his house. you buy his house, he's going to throw in a the san diego house you would have to buy is selling for $1.8 million. the homeowner hopes the deal is really going to move it. >> we're going to add a with bonus to the person who buys the house. we're going to throw in a dream car. if i'm going to choose a house i'm taking the one with the bentley. >> the house has more than 400,000 square feet and an ocean view. a prisoner who lost control in a courtroom -- there he is. knocking the table out from in front of him. a deputy held him back, and then another tasered the guy. you can see him dropping to the floor. the man is okay. but he was in court, get this,

for a violent outburst that he had in a previous trial. an alligator that had been freaking people out at the beach has finally been caught. it's apparently been hanging out in the water at a north carolina beach. every time it came ashore, it got away because no one could get near it. officials were finally able to catch it, though, and plan to release it far away from the beach. playing catch on the beach, meanwhile, is against the law in clear water, florida. one city councilman is trying to get the law changed. this started when the city tried to give cops the authority to stop games that could hurt people in public places, like parks. people couldn't believe this one. >> i don't expect a cop to come up to me and tell me i can't throw a ball around. i hope they don't waste taxpayer money to throw me in jail for throwing a ball. >> it's important for a child to be able to toss a ball without the fear of being cited for an

ordinance violence. >> the city council may vote on the change next month. a little girl with just months to live was treated like a princess for a day. what she got to do.

president obama is clarifying his comments about the officer who put an african-american harvard professor in handcuffs at his home own. is michael jackson's mother strapped for cash? she says she and his three kids need access to his estate now. >> he came out of nowhere. >> you don't want to miss this. a man is in the right place at the right time for a 3-year-old girl trap fld the that burning suv. good friday to you. you're watching hln.

i'm susan hendricks in for chuck roberts. first we want to get to this. the controversy over the arrest of a harvard professor is not going away. president obama just told reporters in the white house briefing room people should take a step back from the controversy and realize that henry lewis gates and james crowley are good people with different life experience experiences. >> because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, african-americans are sensitive to these issues. even when you've got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity. interactions between police officers and the african-american community can be misunderstood. >> at a news conference wednesday night president obama was asked about that arrest.

he said that cambridge police acted stupidly. at the time the president admitted he didn't know all the facts and may be biased because he considers professor gates to be a friend. earlier today police groups in and around cambridge, massachusetts, responded to obama's earlier comments. a representative for cambridge police asked the president to apologize for saying that crowley acted stupidly. the police groups stand behind the sergeant and insist that race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community and within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week. and thousands of decisions each

year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decision making, and played no role in the decision making in this case. crowley was at the news conference but didn't speak. there he is there in the tan pants and blue shirt. he's said he'll not apologize for arresting gates and he did nothing wrong, it was simply doing his job. lots of people have been talking about the arrest of the professor. here's what i-reporters are saying. >> it wasn't the most diplomatic decision. it wasn't the stupidest either. the officers didn't arrest gates for picking his own lock. he arrested gates for disorderly conduct. now if gates is concerned about racism in his situation, he needs to face the fact that it was his neighbor who racially profiled him. describing he ae ining him as a

with a backpack. if anyone who know should live in the house it should have been the neighbors, not the cops. >> our thanks to that i-reporter. if you have something to say, pictures, videos, breaking news to share from your part of the world, go to ireport.com. click on the upload now link. you can find complete instructions on how to submit your story to us. president obama acknowledged his comments on the case may have ignited the frenzy. maybe you think he should have said nothing in the first place. what do you think? you can e-mail us. cnn.com/hln. or you can send us a text. text the word views plus your comments and name to hln tv. standard text rates apply. the conversation continues here on hln prime news in our what matters segment. we're going to look at how much race played a part in the gates arrest controversy. that's tonight on hln. don't miss that.

former evangelist tony alamo has been found guilty of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for tex. he was accused in in a ten-count indictment that said the abuse went back to 1994. the women told police he married them as minors. alamo would take them across state lines for sexual gratification. he will be sentenced in six to eight weeks. he faces up to ten years in prison for each charge. an arizona prosecutor vowed to get justice for an 8-year-old girl allegedly gang raped by four neighborhood boys. young boys. the oldest one is 14 and has been charged as an adult with two counts of sexual assault. the other boys are 9, 10, and 13 and are charged as juveniles. police say they were caught rung from the shed where the half naked girl was screaming. all of the children families are

refugees. >> i want to see my son. i want to see my son. >> he does not speak english well. he does not understand english well. he did not go to school. he started going to school when he came to the united states. and so he cannot really understand what is going on. >> officials say the girl's family is blaming her for being raped. they say her father told officers to take her. that he didn't want her back. she is now in child protective services. sarah palin steps down as alaska governor on sunday. she shocked the country two weeks ago swhen she announced se was quitting. she says she will help other candidates campaign. we're talking about the economy today. the minimum wage jumped 70 cents today to $7.25. that may sound great.

it's great for workers. but there is debate about how that will affect the economic recovery overall. some argue they will spend the extra money to boost the economy. the economic policy institute says that would be $5.5 billion being pumped into the economy in the next year. others argue that businesses are already struggling and they will have to fire people just to survive, which would drive up unemployment. one analysis found states with higher minimum wages also have higher unemployment. it may impossible to afford a vacation right now. we know you want to get away. but there is great deals concerning travel. clark howard has a tip on a vacation destination that is the cheapest it's been in years. >> this could quite possiblily change your life. once you read it and read the special report that comes with it

let's take you live to space where the shuttle "endeavour's" astronauts are in the middle of a seven and a half hour space walk at the international space station. it startd this morning. it's not scheduled to end until

later today. the astronauts are apparently installing four fresh batteries. two of the batterying should have been we placed two days ago. wednesday's space walk had to be cut short. chris cassidy was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in the suit. today the astronauts are taking things slow and easy. great shots for you. we are hearing honduran soldiers have fired in support of the ousted president who gathered near the border. a correspondent says two people wb wounded. manuel zelaya is in nicaragua. today he moved just miles away from the border of his country. he isn't backing down from his promise to return there. >> we will promote dialogue and work to achieve a national agreement that we need so much.

>> in case honduran place have set up roadblocks between that area and the honduran capital. prince william set off on a hiking trip today with homeless teenagers to raise awareness for two charities he's involved in. the prince climbed a mountain in the region in north eastern england. each child was paired with volunteers from mountain rescue, another charity that the prince supports. he's bringing them together there. the trip was delayed for days because of weather and the location was kept a secret until the last minute. if you are looking for a cheap way to get away, an overseas vacation doesn't have to put you over your budget. hln money expert clark howard will prove it. he traveled to london and shares ways you can save cash. >> i'm with my family in london, and we're here why? well, because trips to europe

are the cheapest they've been in eight years because of the economy. which means you can travel really well. hotels extra cheap, airfares extra cheap. right in the heart of london, the london eye. on this side of me is big ben, the most famous tourist attraction in london. we are at monument tower. had to walk 311 steps up to the ground. but we have a view of the complete panorama. very much like the london eye, but it's 1/7 the cost. behind me if you look over here we have tower bridge. and the tower of london. all you have to do is be fed enough to walk the stairs. >> a good samaritan pulled off a

daring highway rescue. huh he saved a little girl from this burning car.

president obama is standing by his comments that arresting henry lewis gates was the wrong thing today. today at a surprise appearance before white house reporters a shor short time ago the president said he may have chosen the wrong words. >> i just had a conversation with sergeant jim crowley, the

officer involved. as i said yesterday, my impression of him was that he was an outstanding police officer and a good man. and that was confirmed in the phone conversation. and i told him that. because this has been rationing out, and i obviously helped to contribute rationing it out. i want to make clear in my choice of words i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley. i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe based on what i have heard that there was

an overreaction in pulling professor gates out. i also heard that professor gates overreal acted as well. at a news conference on wednesday when he initially commented the president admitted is that he didn't know all the facts and may have been a little biased because he considers professor gates to be a friend. well, last night the daily show's jon stewart also pointed out that the president may have may poor word choice at wednesday's news conference. >> one last. sure, why not? roll the dice one more time. >> thank you, mr. president. >> recently henry lewis gates jr. was arrested at his home in cambridge. what does that say to you and race relations in america?

>> i think it's fair to say -- >> that's it's a complicated issue! i know all the facts! i wasn't there! >> the cambridge police acted stupidly -- [ bleep ]. >> i couldn't save ham! i couldn't save him! >> we love him, don't we. this afternoon president obama says rejects the idea. he should not have gotten involved. he said the fact that it got so much attention shows race issues are still a big problem in america. new details on what detectives seize from the office of michael jackson's doctor who is the target of a manslaughter investigation. court documents show they took 27 tablets of the prescription drug strength appetite suppressant, one tablet of an

antianxiety pill and rolex cards as well. they took documents and hard drives from a computer. murray was with jackson when he died last month. murray's attorney says the doctor should not be a target of criminal charges. michael jackson's mother and three children zil don't have any access to his estate. a judge denied a request to allow immediate grant to the family. michael jackson's attorneys made the request because katherine and the children are almost solely dependent on the estate for support. a need a judge's approval before collecting payment. >> a store clerk should be okay after being gunned down in a robbery. police say this may be a case where it's not at all what it seems. take a look closely. the customer appears to be making a purchase when a man in

a motorcycle helmet bursts through the door and attacks the clerk. the customer turns to the robber. shoots the clerk a few times before taking off can cash and lottery tickets. police say the robber may be a man posing as a woman. the clerk should be okay. a helicopter crashed on the highway and burst into flames. three employees of a helicopter instruction company and the passenger were killed in the crash. emergency officials say the chopper was fully engulfed when they got there. it didn't hit any cars on the ground, though. power lines were knocked down. a witness says there was a flash of electricity before the chopper crashed. it's not known if weather was a factor in that crash. imagine this, you're driving to work and see a car engulfed in flames. do you stop to help?

one man's rescue saved a little girl. >> for renee this was the chance to say thank you to the man who saved the life of her 3-year-old daughter? >> i can't explain the words. you can't thank him enough. this guy is my daughter's angel. he came out of nowhere. everybody that saw the video knows that. it's unbelievable. really. >> she's talking about this amateur video from the crash. yesterday afternoon. after a tire blowout this red suv flipped over and burst into tlams. linda was the driver. >> what are you thinking as this was happening? >> oh, god. that's the first thing came to my mind. >> reporter: someone else was there, too. a man police are calling a hero. a man the family calls an angel. good samaritan john mcdonald. what's going through your mind?

>> i thought we were both going to die. >> while the driver and her daughter were able to escape, her 3-year-old granddaughter was trapped inside. mcdonald ran up to the scene, dove into the car, unbuckled her seat belt, and rescued the girl. >> she's a great kid. i dragged her into my car. she said, that was really scary. i was thinking, you have no idea. ifgs pretty shook up. >> the 3-year-old suffered bruised ribs and a bloody nose but survived, all thanks to a good samaritan someone in the right place at the right time. >> certainly was in the right place. our thanks to robin from l.a. affiliate kabc. a meeting was set up so the little girl could meet her real life angel. love that story. he is the world's number one tennis player. now roger federer and his wife are the proud parents of healthy twin girls. charlene and myla were born yesterday in a switzerland

clinic. and may be out on the tennis court soon. dad is a record holder with 15 grand slam titles. mom played on the tennis circuit for a few years as well. was race an issue in the arrest of a harvard professor? we want to know what you think about this. we know you have a view on this.

the controversy over the arrest of a harvard professor is not going away any time soon. president obama told reporter in the white house a short time ago that people should take a step back away from the controversy and realize that both professor henry lewis gates and sergeant james crowley are good people with different life experiences. >> be mindful of the fact that because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, you know, african-americans are sensitive to these issues. and even when you've got a police officer who has a fine

track record on racial sensitivity. interaction between police officers and the african-american community can be full of misunderstanding. >> wednesday night's news conference president obama was asked about the arrest. he said cambridge police acted stupidly. but he also admitted that he didn't know all the facts and maybe he was being biased because he considers professor gates to be a friend. today president obama told reporters i could have collaborated the words differently. earlier today police groups responded sharply to obama's criticism. a rep for cambridge police asked for an apology. the police groups voiced their support for crowley and insisted race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and their members let me assure everyone that the officers of

the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diverse within their own community and indeed within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week and thousands of decisions each year in the pr z preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any kind in that decision making and played no role in the decision making in this case. >> sergeant crowley was there at the news conference. the there he is in the blue shirt. he did not speak. he's said he will not apologize for arresting gates, that he did nothing wrong and was simply doing his job. sergeant crowley had been tight lipped about his side of the story. he sat down with an affiliate from boston one on one. here it is. >> i was a little surprised and d dispointed that the president who didn't have all the facts by

his own admission then weighed in on tooechbhe events of that and made a comment that really offended officers. >> reporter: sergeant james crowley sitting down with 7 news, reacting to president barack obama's comments about the day he arrested harvard professor henry gates. and talking extensively for the first time what happened at the cambridge house. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me. he said, no,ly not. what's this all about? i said i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. i'm investigating a break-in in progress. he said, why? because i'm a black man? i thought that was a little strange. >> sergeant crowley saying after getting a call about the break-in he was just trying to protect gates as well as himself. it was reported there were two individuals. i see one. it could be him. or there's two people in the

residence that he doesn't know are there. either way, i wasn't expecting his response, which was that's none of your business. to me that's a strange response for someone who has nothing to hide. >> did he speak with you? >> i was leaving. as i reached the porch i was aware he was following me because he was still yelling about racism and black men in america. >> reporter: sergeant crowley said he warned gates he was acting disorderly. when he didn't calm down he arrested gates. the professor said he wanted an apology. he said he regrets the event and wants to let the story be heard. >> the amount of negative u things that aren't true that he was saying about me at least warranted a response and allow people to see that i'm not a monster or racist that he's portrayed me to be. this is me. >> a lot of people have been

talking about the arrest of the professor. here is what our eye reporters are saying. take a look. >> he said i'm not going to take this from this black man. i'm going to place him under arrest. this is a classic example of black may be beautiful and tan may be grand, but white is still the color of the big boss man. he used that to place professor gates under arrest. to show him, i don't care how intelligent you are, i'm placing you under arrest for basically accusing me of being a racist. >> go to ireport.com and sclik click on the upload now link. we want your view on this as well. what do you think? president obama acknowledged his comments on the case may have helped ignite the frenzy.

he said it was unfortunate or maybe you think he should have said nothing about the incident in the first place? call. 877-tell-hln. e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. or text the word views plus your comments and name to hlntv. standard text rates apply. former evangelist tony alamo has been found guilty of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex. another story we've been following for you. alamo was accused in a ten-count indictment that said the abuse dated back to 1994. women told the jury the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies while they were minors. the women also detailed how he would take them across the state line for his sexual gratification. the 74-year-old will be sentenced in six to eight weeks. he faces up to ten years in prison for each charge. today's hearing involving casey anthony's parents was canceled shortly after their attorney handed over documents to the state's attorney office.

george and zin day claim the delay the claim was caused by computer problems. a source tells the orlando sental it's related to a private detective who worked for the family. casey anthony is charged with the first degree murder in the death of her daughter caylee. her trial may not start until next summer. an arizona prosecutor vows to get justice for an 8-year-old girl gang raped by four neighborhood boys. the oldest boy just 14. he has been charged as an adult with two counts of sexual assault. the other boys are 9, 10, and 13 and charged as juveniles. police say they were caught rung from the shed where the half naked girl was screaming. all of the families are liberian refugees. >> i want to see my son. i want to see my son. >> he does not speak english very well.

he does not understand english very well. he did not go to school. he started going to school when he came to the united states. and so we deduce that he cannot really understand what is going on. >> officials say the girl's family is blaming her for being raped. they say the father told the officers to take her, he didn't want her back. she's now in child protective services. we're switching gears now. we want to take you live to space where "endeavour's" astronauts are in the middle of a seven and a half hour space walk at the international space station. it's not scheduled to end until later this afternoon. the astronauts are installing four fresh batteries. twro of the batteries should have been replaced two days ago. wednesday's space walk had to be cut short. one was moving so he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. today the astronauts are taking it slow eneasy, we are happy to

hear. deputies take down a prisoner in court by tasering him. see what led up to that moment.

did you know minimum waged jumps 70 krcents today to $7.25. great news for workers. some debate about how it will affect the economic recovery overall. some argue that minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economic. the economic policy institute says that would be huge. that would be about $5.5 billion being pumped into the economy in the next year. others argue businesses are already struggling and they will have to fire people just to survive, which would drive up

employment. one analysis found states with higher money minimum wages have higher unemployment. the whole nation seems to be an an up roar about health care. with had the obama taking his sales pitch for an overhaul to the people. everybody is missing the keyword, health. the government is talking out of both sides of the mouth. trying to improve health care while subsidizing our worst eating habit. they flood the market with cheap nood and cheap calories. it's why obesity is one of the leading causes of preventible death in america. michelle obama recently planted an organic garden at the white house. it's a wonderful symbol. but we need more action if we want to solve this crisis because you cannot fix health care without fixing health. i'm jane velez-mitchell. that's my issue. >> find out what else jane has

on her mind. she's fired up. watch issues every night at 7:00 eastern here on hln. we told you about this one before the break. a prisoner who lost control in a kentucky courtroom. stopped cold by a taser. there it is. the suspect jumped up in handcuff, knocked over the table, the deputy held him back. another tasered the guy. he dropped right to the floor. the man is okay. the giddiness on wall street was fun while it lasted. the dow is struggling a bit to stay up. disappointing quarterly results from microsoft, american express and amazon.com. there's the big board looking good. the dow is down two points on. 15 minutes left in the session.

in southern afghanistan two more u.s. servicemen have been killed in a bombing there. that is where thousands of nato and u.s. troops have been

fighting the taliban. the u.s. has 59,000 troops there nearly double the number from one year ago. and july has been the deadliest month for u.s. troops since the afghan conflict began eight years ago. cnn's ivan watson reports on the death yesterday of a u.s. marine and combat in the country's province. >> reporter: it's a difficult day for the marines at the delta company after they lost one of their comrades yesterday. due to mortyer fire. sergeant ryan lang. 25 years old. mortally wounded. hit in this very area. this man, he was committed to afghanistan. he had done one tour here before. and chose to come back to be with his platoon. he studied the languages in his free time to better communicate with the local population and to

teach fellow marines how to win the hearts and minds of the people here. the marines have moved to the southernmost point of an offensive that began earlier this month toward the pakistani border into safe havens of the taliban. the castle where i'm standing now a couple weeks ago was trolled by the taliban. there was no afghan government presence here for more than four years until the marines arrived here with afghan national army soldiers coming in behind them. with afghan government officials coming behind them as well. they are now residing in this centuries ole structure here. it's like going back in time. >> we are learning meanwhile more about an american born man who admitted to helping al qaeda. invest gars to say bryant neal

was captured in pakistan last year. his testimony is being used by prosecutors in belgium, who have launched a case against the group in that country. >> indeed, much of what they have to say is new. we haven't had anything like this in several years. inside pakistan against a military base. he was in the second group. they carried rocket launchers to the top of the mountain. they tl were helicopters and planes overhead. it would have given away the position. went to the border on pakistan and afghanistan and fired rockets for pakistan at a u.s. military base inside afghanistan. >> venus grew up in long island new york. he pleaded guilty in january to

conspiracy to murder u.s. nationals giving material support to terrorists and receiving training from terrorists as well. a driver jumped into action to save a 3-year-old girl from a burning suv. the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when that suv flipped. it caught fire on the interstate ten in california. she and two other people got out. the little girl was trapped inside. then a man came running to help ou out. >> what's going through your mind? >> i thought we were going to die. it was funny. i dragged her into my car. she said that was really scary. i was thinking, you have no idea. i was pretty shook up. >> amazing thing he did. rescuer don mcdonald is down playing his heroic act. police say in their eyes he's a hero who was in the right place at the right time. yes, he was. a man who wears a toupee took on a south carolina roller coaster to prove that his wig

could stick. the owner of a hair restoration business got upset when the amusement park ran commercials showing people using their hairpieces on the coaster. he wanted to stand up for bald men everywhere. >> the only roller coaster. >> the only time you see someone wearing hearing something like that when it's in a disastrous situation. >> it worked. the man of able to make it through the ride without his hair piece flying off. michael jackson's fans in london were supposed to be lining up for his concert this week but the line this morning was for auditions for a stage show about his life. it's called "thriller," a hit in london and going on world tour. they are bringing the who to the u.s. sometime in the next year. >> what do you get when you cross a traditional wedding march with a wedding party dance, you get this. ♪

>> they got the moves. jemaah islamiyah and kevin got married last night and posted a video of how their wedding party did the walk. look at that. pretty creative. rather a dance you could take down the ooul at the st. paul, minnesota church. the dance moves were a complete surprise. most seemed to enjoy it. ♪ >> they are all pretty good. that's in the he had hearsal. it's become a youtube hit with more than a million and a half viewed in the short time it's been posted. the bride told abc good morning america said the dance was her idea and the wedding party was basically told to go for it. great sense of humor.

prince william is heading for the hills. he set off today on a hike for a great cause. who he will hit the trail with, that's next on hln news and views. i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows.

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call 1-800-552-7724 or go to our website. i'll see you at 3:00! announcer: captioned telephone - enjoy the phone again! . president obama jumps back into the controversy surrounding the arrest of harvard professor henry gates. what the president is saying now and how the police union feels about his involvement in this issue, that is. plus, is michael jackson's mom really strapped for cash? why she says she and his three kids need access to his estate now. a mayor is accused of showing too much skin but are folks flustered because she likes to wear skirts and heels. here's the latest from "news and views." thank you for your time. the controversy over the arrest of a harvard professor is not going away the.

this afternoon president obama told reporters in the white house briefing room people should take a step back from the controversy and realize both professor henry lewis gates and sergeant crowley are good people with different life experiences. >> be mindful of the fact because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, you know, african-americans are sensitive to these issues. and even when you got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the african-american community can sometimes be frought with misunderstanding. >> well, it was a news conference the president was asked about the arrest and he said that cambridge police acted stupidly but admitted he didn't know all fact and maybe a little

bias because he consider professor gates to be a friend. today the president told reporters i could have calibrated those words differently. earlier today police groups in and across cambridge, massachusetts responded sharply to the president's criticism. a representative from the cam bring police asked for aapology from the president for saying crowley acted stupidly. they said race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community and indeed within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week, and thousand of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any

kind in that decision making and played no role in the decision making in this case. >> crowley you can see right there, he was at the news conference, he didn't speak, he has said that he will not apologize for arresting gates, that he did nothing wrong, simply doing his job. this afternoon president obama didn't actually apologize for his comments, but he repeated he believes his choice of words was unfortunate. so we're asking for your views on this story. call us right now at 1-877-tell-hln or e-mail us at cnn.com/hln. standard text rates apply. we really want to hear what you think about this. today a hearing involving casey anthony's parents was cancelled shortly after their attorneys handed documents over to the state attorney's office. they claim the delay was caused by computer problems.

still unclear what's in the documents and why the state even wants them. sources tell the or"the orlando sentinel" related to the anthony family. her trial may not start before next summer mississippi. new details on what detectives took from the office of michael jackson's doctor, who is the target of a manslaughter investigation. court documents show they took 27 tablets of the prescription strength appetite superresant, one tablet of anti-anxiety pill and computers. they also took documents and hard drives from conrad murray's storage unit. murray was with jackson when he died last month. his attorney said the doctor should not be the target of criminal charges. michael jackson's mother and three chilled still don't have access to any money from the singer's estate. a judge denied a request yesterday to grant immediate allowances to the family but he will consider the request at a hearing next month.

court documents say jackson's attorneys made the request because catherine and the children are almost solely dependent on the estate for support. they are the main beneficiaries of jackson's estate but need the judge's approval before they can collect any payment from it. >> we have reports of clashes aland the honduras nicauragan border. these are supporters of zelaya to help him get back to power. honduras security forces crashed with this cloud. police fired tear gas at the crowd. zelaya was removed from power in a military coup last month. no word on whether there were any injuries in these clashes. also keeping an eye on this right now. the shuttle i "endeavour" is in the middle of a 7 1/2 hour spacewalk. that's scheduled to end in more

than an hour from now. the astronauts are installing four fresh batteries, two of them have been replaced -- should have been replaced two days ago on wednesday's spacewalk. we told you about that. nasa says chris cassidy was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. today the astronauts are taking it slow and easy. this is a story everyone is talking fwrks arrest of harvard professor henry gates, so we're going to hear your views, plus race. it can be pain. it's out there in a big way. a frank talk with the editor of the daily voice about where the national dialogue goes from here.

the president surprised everyone this afternoon when he stepped up to the mike who said

two good men overreacted. we're asking your views on this story. and desire uploaded her views through ireport.com. let's listen. >> it wasn't the most diplomatic decision, but it wasn't the stupidest either. the officer didn't arrest gates for picking his own lock, he arrested gates for disorderly conduct. now, if gates is concerned about racism in his situation, he needs to face the fact that it was his neighbor who racially profiled him. describing he and his chauffeur as two black men with backpacks. of comments on my facebook page. let's plow through them. this is what jason wrote. i appreciate his willingness to

mediate the situation, the president taking time to amend the situation. his word choice is poor but race is a continuing issue. michael wrote this. my opinion is that it was a mistake for president obama to get involved in this debate and race is a wide issue. with health care on the table right now that should be the president's focus not engaging in a race debate. and then this. america needs a slap in the face when it comes to race, because as long as people can get away with racial profiling they will continue to do it but now we have a leader that's is going to say it like it is. four stars obama. and this. yes, race is an issue. however, day not believe that police brought this on and made it a race issue. yet african-americans have seen and dealt with situations of racial profiling but that does not mean that every situation where two different races are in conflict immediately jump to the conclusion of racism. thank you so much for your

comments. lots of them today and yesterday as well. the national discussion about race is more heated and perhaps honest than it's ever been. chief editor of the daily voice joins us to talk about where we go from here. i know you have all the answer. thank you so much for your time. first of all to your reaction about the president jumping back in today. i know you listened. what did you think? >> i was surprise he spoke up again today for a second time but it was important for him to do this because the story has spun out of control. he needed to get a handle on it for the national discussion about race, to make sure that we have an intelligent dialogue if we're going to have that discussion. >> do you think, do you think race had anything to do with what happened with professor gates? >> i don't know. i don't really know that that's the issue. the issue is that professor goes perceived that race had an issue here and that's really why this is so important for people to

understand. i lived in cambridge, i understand what the cambridge police are like, i was there during law school with barack and have dealt with the police myself. on sunday i was stopped in new york city by a police officer who accused me of jumping a turnstile which i had not done. we're being charged for crime that we have not done. that's the sense of outrage that the professor had. the issue for me even if he was loud and tumultuous, who cares, he has a right to be in his own home. there's no reason for him to be arrested for behaving that way. >> what i picked up on what the president said these are two good men and perhaps both overreacted and maybe they can contribute to the dialogue that the country have about race. what does this take away for you? >> that is the takeaway.

the idea that american haven't dealt with this issue of race. there's people who want to believe we live in a color bind society. we still have racism. african-americans and particularly african-american men are subject to this. so america has to listen to people like president obama and don't assume they are playing the race card. let's think about why are these black men, these privileged black men feel that way. maybe that's something america needs to hear. >> do you see a down side at all to this discussion? >> i think -- >> there might be some hurt feelings. >> hurt feelings are sometimes a good thing. the only down side is for the president, his political agenda because he wanted to talk about health care and now the past two days he's been talking about this issue. it wasn't the smartest political move but from a moral point of view it was exactly the right thing for him to say. clornt he should have used the

word stupid that shocked me. but that wasn't inappropriate for him to say that based on his understanding of the situation. what was shocking to me most, though, is that the white americans in our country, and african-americans including the one we just saw before don't fully get why professor gates would be outraged by this. i would be outraged if somebody barged in my house and demanded i produce i.d. and didn't respect me that i had a right to be there. i don't understand why i would expect to be calm in that situation. >> do you see this almost like a rorschach test how people perceive this >> i think that's exactly right. some people will see this differently based on their own life experiences. one thing that sonia sotomayor said before the confirmation hearings that stirred up so much controversy was a wise latino judge might see thing dimply or do things differently from a wise white judge.

the reason why that's true is latinos and african-americans have different white experiences than white people do in our society. a black person or a latino is more likely to be suspicious of a law enforcement officer than a white person would. until white americans understand that they don't have a chance to bridge this gap. that's why this conversation is so important to have. it's great the president weighed in. it's great that we're having this dialogue at this time because america has not passed the racial threshold and it's time we acknowledge that and move on. >> keith boykin, editor "the daily voice." thank you for your voice. >> the conversation continues tonight in our what matters segment. we'll look how much race played in the gates arrest controversy. that's tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern time right here on hln.

>> this just in. we have confirmed a pioneering author has died. e. lynn harris has created the black chandra. he showed another side of black men's life. cause of death was not determine.

he was only 54. two more troops were killed in a bombing in afghanistan. thousands of additional u.s. troops have been fighting the taliban in the southern part of the country, tuesday has 59,000 troops in afghanistan, nearly double the number from a year ago. we're learning more about an american born man who admitted helping al qaeda. brian vinas has bristol-myers a valuable informant and giving them crucial information about day-to-day workings of al qaeda. testimony is being used by prosecutors in belgium who is laumpging an anti-terrorism case in that country. >> much of what vinas has had to say is new and provides a very new and detailed insight into modern al qaeda. we haven't had anything like this in several years. now vinas describes how he went on attacks inside pakistan against an afghan military base, described how he went in a group of about ten to 25 hikers, he was in the second group that

carried mortar rocket launchers on top of a mountain, he didn't use them because he said there were helicopters and planes overhead that would have given away their position. he describes in detail how he went to the border between pakistan and afghanistan and fired rockets from pakistan at a u.s. military base inside of afghanistan. >> vinas grew up in long island, new york. he pleaded guilty in january to giving support to terrorists and receiving training from terrorists. former evangelist has been found guilty of taking girls across state lines for sexual abuse. the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies while they were minors. the women also detailed how alamo took them across state line for his sexual gratification.

>> the minimum wage jumped 70 cents to 7.25, great news for workers but there's still some debate how it will affect the economic recovery. some argue minimum wage earners will spend the extra money and boost the economy, others argue businesses are struggling and have the fire people to survive which drives up unemployment. earnings may have pushed the market up yesterday but corporate report cards didn't have the same effect today. alison kosik is at the business desk with today's trading deal. happy friday to you. >> happy friday to you. stocks pulled back a bit at the entd of the week. a week filled with great rallies. tech stocks led the decline. software giant sales were down. amazon shares fell 8% after they reported disappointing sales

last quarter. let's go ahead and take a look at the numbers. the dow industrials ended at 9093. and the broader s&p 500 ticked up slightly. a report on consumer sentiment was out today. the university of michigan survey shows sentiment fell to 66, the lowest reading since april. the level is, however, slightly better than expected, economists estimated a reading of 65. low-income and slim job prospects are two key factors leading to consumers growing concerns about their financial health. people are still worried out there. >> that's the truth. thanks. enjoy your weekend. >> we're all feeling the pinch in this shaky economy. folks are worried. clark howard is here to help you. logon to cnn.com/clark. you could be selected to be profiled on our network and get valuable advice. it's a gathering of fans who dress up in costumes to be their

favorite cult movie. a bowling alley near seattle played host to a party. >> we had federal judges come out, white collar folks, blue collar folks.

cnn, headlines news, or msnbc are locked on your favorites? if they are i've got the gift for you. i'm gonna richardson and my next guest is ken pullson. a pleasure to have you here. >> good to be with you >> what is the museum. most people know. >> sometimes there you an a museum in articling ton, virginia called the museum. it was an effort to remind

americans of the value of news gathering in america and a nod to the first amendment. we did so well there so we decided to take it where the action is. we have a brand new museum called a the museum on pennsylvania avenue. it's a -- it's a 45 word sign out front with the words of the first amendment 'em blazed there. we think it's healthy for them to read that says congress shall make no law. we're attempting to put it in neon. >> it is flashing? >> it's not a tribute to journalists. we had a blogger say i'm not going to set foot in that museum until they do an extra special to copy editors. it is not about you. it is a museum of history but a

different kind that reports what happened over the last several centuries through the eyes of journalists. so you get contemporary coverage of the assassination of kennedy and arrival of the beatles and the civil war and fascinating >> exactly. what have the visitors reactions been for the first year? exciting. we see the full range of course. tremendous amount of school groups and a lot of tourists visiting washingt washingto was. we bill ourselves as the world's most interactive museum. young people can play the part of a reporter or an editor or a journalist. we can even stand up in front of what you and your business called blue screen, to tape a broadcast announcement for their friends and family and then send it out to friends at home. amazing exhibits there.

i well tell you, i can say this with some degree of humility. i just joined the museum in february, i've been the editor of u.s. a. today for the last five years. we have the largest piece of the berlin wall in north america. you can go there and see that and the guard tower in collaboration and partnership with the f.b. i.we celebrate their 100th anniversary and we have phenomenal artifacts. we have the unibomber's cabin believe it or not. and depending on your age, some of your viewers probably remember patty hurst and her tenure with the liberation army. we have the gun she used in the bank robbery and the leather jacket she wore. we have can coverage including

dillinger's death mask and the bullet pruf vest he zn wear on that night >> with you have so many different exhibits. what do you have planned for us your second year? >> one of the great things about working for a museum where news is in the title we're updating and reflect the headlines in the museum. not long ago when there was an uproar in iran we covered the social network and the twittering. when newspapers have collapsed and some markets we quickly reported that. upcoming exhibits include: throughout the next year you'll be able to see manhunt exhibit about the assassination of abraham lincoln and barack ob a obama. >> i'm so sorry. we've run out of time but

everyone has got and go and see the museum. >> thank you very much >> my guest has been ken pullson president of

controversy over the arrest of a harvard professor not going away. president obama called professor gates this afternoon. he said they had a positive discussion during which professor gates talked about his call with sergeant crowley. the president invited gates to join him with crowley at the white house in the near future. this the afternoon president told reporters in a white house briefing room people should take a step back from this controversy and realize both gates and crowley are good people with different life experiences. >> because this has been

ratcheting up and i, obviously, helped to contribute ratcheting it up, 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 or sergeant crowley specifically. and i could have calibrated those words differently and i told this to sergeant crowley. i continue to believe, based on 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. >> of course at that news conference on wednesday night the president was asked about the arrest and he said cambridge police acted stupidly.

his exact words. but also admitted he didn't know all facts and maybe was a little biassed because he considers professor gates to be a friend. today the president told reporters i could have calibrated those words differently. early today police groups in and around cambridge responded sharply to the president's criticism. a representative asked for an apology from the president. the police group supports crowley and insist race was not a factor. >> on behalf of the unions and their members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and nondiscriminatory enforcement of the law. they respect and embrace the diversity within their own community and, indeed, within their own ranks. they make hundreds of decisions each week and thousands of decisions each year in the preservation of the peace. race does not play a role of any

kind in that decision making. and played no role in the decision making in this case. >> you can see right there, crowley was at the news conference. he didn't speak. he has said he will not apologize for arresting gates, he did nothing wrong and was simply doing his job and we have been taking your views on this all day. let's share some of that with you. we got an e-mail from vivian who said obama did not go far enough. he should apologize to the sergeant. he escalated the whole issue with the statement that the cambridge police acted stupidly. he is trying to smooth it over. cameron, who likes to comment a lot. how many more times is the president going to stick his foot in his mouth? my opinion. i respect president obama, but his tongue is getting carried away.

martina wrote this. i agree wholeheartedly with president obama. and john wrote this. this matter has really divided us. we have all gone from blaming the cops to the professor and now the neighbor who was doing what he or she thought was right at the time. it was a mistake. please, people, let us learn from this and move on. we have more pressing matters to deal with than pointing fingers and placing blame. it's high time we all get along with one another. nice way to try to wrap this up. we appreciate that. we are going to continue this important conversation on hln "prime news" tonight on our what matters segment. we'll look at how much race has played in the arrest of professor gates and this controversy. that's tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern and maybe we'll be able to get along after this. former advantage gellist tony alamo has been found guilty

of taking downgirls across state lines for sex. he was accused in a ten count indictment. the abuse stems back to 1994. the ex-preacher married them in private ceremonies while they were minors. the women also detailed how alamo would take them across state lines for sexual gratification. the 74-year-old will be sentenced in six to eight weeks and faces up to ten years in prison for each charge. >> the minimum wage jumped 70 cents today. it's now $7.25. great news for workers but there's some debate how that's going to affect the economic recovery. some argue minimum wage workers will spend the extra money and boost the economy, the economic policy institute says that would be $5.5 billion pumped into the economy in the next year. others argue businesses are struggling and have to fire people to survive and that will drive up unemployment. one analysis found states with higher minimum wages also has

higher unemployment. wall street, the dow managed to get another gain after breaking the 9,000 point barrier again. in spite of disappointing quarterly reports from microsoft, american express and amazon.com. the dow closed 9093. up about 24 points. sunday, alaska governor sarah palin will be stepping down from office as she moves on. how is her resignation affected what people think of her? our political director joins us now with more on that. paul, first can you tell us what's happening this weekend on her farewell tour? >> can you believe it was three weeks ago today she gave us that shocking news she would not run for re-election but step down. it's going to happen in fairbanks, alaska at a picnic. this is when she hands over duties of the governorship and steps down and becomes a private

citizen, a fellow republican, lieutenant governor will take over. what's next, that's the big question mark. sarah palin does want to campaign across the country for candidates whose issues and ideas she agrees with and that is parking speculation that maybe she wants to run for the white house for the republican nomination. >> a lot of speculation. do we specifically know what's next for her? >> we have no real specifics. i think you'll expect to see her over the next year or two in the lower 48 states campaigning for other people who she agrees with. >> what do people think of her? i don't mean gossip. i mean really. do we have an idea of what people think? >> she's a very polarizing figure. a lot of people either love her or don't. we have two polls. a majority of americans have an unfavorable view of her. the abc "the washington post" poll came out today and 53% of americans polled an unfavorable view of sarah palin.

only for you in ten hold a favorable view. favorable view, sarah palin overall 40%, seven in ten republicans think highly of sarah palin, that number drops for independents and two in 10 democrats think highly of her. >> drastically different. unbelievable. paul, thank you for the numbers and have a great weekend. there are new details on what detectives took from the office of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, the target of a manslaughter investigation. they took 27 tablets of prescription strength appetite suppressant and one tablet of anti-anxiety pill. they took documents and hard drive from his storage unit. murray was with jackson when he died last month. his attorney says the doctor should not be a target of criminal charges. today's hearing involving casey

anthony's parents was cancelled shortly after their attorney handed over documents to the state attorney's office. the anthonys claim the delay was caused by computer problems. not clear what the documents are and why the state wants them. but it's related to private detectives who worked for the anthony family. casey an honey is charged with first degree murder in the death of her daughter. her trial may not start before next summer. what we're about to show you is actually legal. take a look. that's right. this is actually illegal, you can get that right. a place where playing catch is against the law. did the city drop the ball on this one?

the ousted president of honduras has crossed his border. jose manuel zelaya re-entered honduras. a correspondent with cnn says he wants to keep things peaceful but his return is nonnegotiable. >> translator: we will have dialogue at the border and work to achieve a national agreement to restore peace and liberty that we need so much. >> honduras police set up several road blocks between border and the capital. >> house democrats reached an impasse over health care reform legislation. doesn't mean it won't come up

for a vote. the vote could happen soon. talks with conservative democrats are worried about the scope and the cove of the reform legislation aren't making any headway at the committee level but lawmakers say house leaders may decide to bring the legislation before the full house, skipping the committees where opponents have enough leeway to keep it from passing. one conservative democrat say it's a mistake to ram the legislation through congress. he insists the conservatives are trying to keep the bill alive and give it a chance of passing by insisting on changes. harry reid said a senate vote on health care reform will have to wait until the fall. the mayor of silverton, oregon is facing a complaint he showed too much skin. take a look. the first transgender mayor said it was hot and sticky and went to work dressed in short skirt, high heels, revealing top.

some said he violated the city dress code. >> in a business setting that's inappropriate. with or without a dress code that's not proper business attire. >> i was stunned and surprised and honestly the organization, silverton together is supposed to be committed to diversity and this amounts, basically to bigotry. >> if we had a problem with his lifestyle, why would we have invited him in here? his lifestyle is no secret. we see him every day. as i said earlier, it's most the lifestyle i would adopt myself but i support his right to that lifestyle. >> what really upset some people when mayor showed up to talk to a group of young students about his work in the community. he insists his attire is completely appropriate. he's the world number one tennis player. roger federer and his wife are the proud parents of healthy twin girls. they were born yesterday at a

switzerland clinic. dad is a record holder with 15 grand slam titles and mom played on the tennis circuit for a few years. right now the shuttle "endeavour" astronauts are just about beginning to wrap up a 7 1/2 hour spacewalk at the international space station. this is what they are doing, trying to install four fresh batteries, two of the batteries should have been replaced a couple of days ago. wednesday's spacewalk had to be cut short. chris casscy die was moving so fast he was getting too much carbon dioxide in his suit. playing catch on the beach is against the law in clearwater, florida. really. now one city councilman is trying to get that law change. it all started when the city gave cops to stop games that could hurt other people in public parks. >> i don't expect a cop to come up to me, i can't throw a ball

around. i hope they wouldn't waste taxpayer's money to throw a ball. >> i feel it's important for a child to go out and throw a ball or toss a frisbee without the fear of being cited for an ordinance violation. the driver jumped into action to save a 3-year-old gurl from a burning suv. the girl's grandmother was behind the wheel when the suv flipped on its side and caught fire on a southern california freeway. she and two other people escaped. the little girl was trapped inside. then a guy just came running. what's going through your mind through this whole thing? >> i thought we were both going to be die. it was funny when i pulled her out of the car i dragged her into my car and she said that was really scary and i was thinking you have no idea. >> the rescuer is really, clearly, you can see down

playing what he did. the police said in their ice he's a hero in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. deputies take down a prisoner in court by tasering him. you'll see what led up to that moment. wow!

"prime news" is coming up in just a few minutes. we go to the experts now. >> the first one is a disturbing story. you talked about it. four boys ages 9 through 14 accused of brutally raping an 8-year-old girl. so many different angles to this. one is that they are from the country of liberia where trap wasn't a crime until 2006. what you have is a picture that we don't understand. an 8-year-old girl who comes running out of some shed half clothed, a victim of rape allegedly. you expect her family to come alongside. her family seems to be shunning her. her mother is denying anything is happening. her sister is blaming her. the father doesn't want anything to do with her.

she's in foster care. she's 8 years old. the accused attackers are 9 to 14. call in with your thoughts to with commissioner roger goodell. what we're learning, it looks like michael vick could be reinstated next week and serve a two to six-game suspension. the question to you, do you want michael vick on your team? what do you think of that? call in. is it time? who will take michael vick on and the baggage he brings. the pr nightmare he brings. one of a kind athlete. 1-877-tell-hln. >> he's a packer. >> i don't know. we'll see. every friday, the "what matters" segment. i turn to you for that. a very provocative bon, to steal your word. >> and talking about the arrest, eventually the charges were dropped of professor henry lewis gates. it's not as black and white, and i mean the pun exactly, as you think. it's got people talking about

race in a way we haven't in a long time. we're going to have some guests, including a police officer to talk about how this situation got so out of hand when you've got really two experts involved. the police officer who teaches how not to racially profile, and then a scholar like henry lewis gates, if these two people in this situation can't have handled it better, who can. >> gates is his friend and called the sergeant a good guy, right? after the fact. >> and it just got out of hand. we're going to take your calls on this and really try to figure out how it got so out of hand. we've got people talking, and that's a good thing. >> 1-877-tell-hln is the number. we come your way in less than ten minutes from now. prisoner, lost control in a courtroom was stopped cold by a taser. okay. the video is graphic. take a look. you can see the man jumped up in handcuffs and knocked over the table in front of him. a deputy held him back. another one tasered the guy, dropped to the floor. the man is okay. he was in court for a violent

outburst that he had in a previous trial. a little girl over a few months to live was treated like a princess for a day. what the girl got to do with generous people helping to make her dream come truf.

[ music ] >> welcome to comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson, and my guest this hour is christine bergmark who is the executive director of the southern maryland agricultural development commission. welcome, christine, it's good to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> that's a big mouthful, and i know that you're working on an extremely exciting program, bi-local challenge. >> it is an initial that we launched two years ago, and essentially what it is is the last full week of july we ask everyone across the state of maryland and beyond to take a pledge, and the pledge is eat

something or drink from a farm every day during that week. >> oh. so where do we get the information about where to find the farms or how do we sign up for this pledge? >> well, there's a website. it's www.by-local-challenge.com that website will give you all sorts of information why to buy local and where to buy local and it connects you to other statewide initiatives that are going on at the same time. if you go to the website, we've added a count. people used to say, where do i sign up? normally you have to go buy, eat something from a local farm. this year we decided to add a counter to the website. when you are' counted, you can receive a certificate with your name on it that you can put up in your office or your home or wherever. >> which is very, very

important. it's reduces your carbon foot print because you're driving hopefully a shorter distance, you have access to local products that are available, and also it helps the farmers. >> well, and in fact, our theme this year is healthy plate, healthy planet. all kinds of benefits to buying local, benefits for you, healthy, nutrition, it's fresh, and preserving our farms survive, we keep clean water, we keep clean air, we reduce the carbon footprints from things traveling 1500 miles, and it tastes good. >> exactly. now for those people who may not cook, how can they be a part of this? >> yeah, sometimes people say, well, i hate to cook. that's okay. you can go to a store or to a restaurant that features local farm products, and there are more and more restaurants every year, some of them are on our website, and you can click throughout to find out who they

are,. >> what kind of items can we acquire localfully. >> during the last week of july, there is so much product available. there's sweet corn, blackberries, all kinds of tomatoes and melons are in season, and of course, there's always wine, cheese, eggs, meatss. >> so we do have a wide variety of things we can get. say that i go and i go to a local farmer's market and purchase something, what is a vegetable that i'm not quite familiar with, how did i find a recipe. >> excellent question. there are recipes on our website. people can post their own recipes of their own events and own blogs by why they buy local. some of the things i wanted to mention is the economic benefits.

we talked about the planet, we talked about the fact that it tastes good, and it's fun, but there's also the benefit of supporting our farms, and if every household in the state mucofmaryland were to buy just 2 worth of products for 8 weeks, basically the summer season that, would put $200 million straight back into the pockets of our farmers. that would do a lot to keep our farmers thriving. >> which is so important. i know we have less than 30 seconds, but you have some partners that you wouldn't typically think of who have now joined in. >> yes. hospitals are joining in this year. fact, they're looking to do a competition to see how many people they can get involved. >> have you exciting. christine, thank you very much for coming in today. >> thank you. >> my guest today has been christine bergmark with the southern agricultural commission. if you're interested in what comcast is doing in your area, go to on demand and click get

local. for comcast local edition, i'm donna richardson. [ music ] i'll clean the pool if you clean the windows. pick the windows, pick the windows! anything but the windows. deal. oh! new windex outdoor all-in-one... cleans outdoor glass fast. just spray with water, wipe with a windex cleaning pad, and rinse for a streak-free shine in half the time.