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 mem

that's within the control of the cambridge police department and the city of cambridge.welcome their release. and we believe they will be released when it's appropriate to do so. yes, sir? >> sergeant o'connor said the words were misdirected by the president. who did he mean it should have been directed to? >> well, i -- >> he's right there. >> i think that's open for interpretation. >> that's why i'm asking. >> and perhaps it would be best to let sergeant o'connor handle that. however, i won't put him in that position. my belief is that he intended that remark to refer to professor gates. >> what do you know about the previous break-in? >> we only know from the reports and from a comment made by professor gates at the scene that there was a prior break-in in that building within the recent past. >> looking over this -- looking over this in behind sight behin do you think it would have been better to walk away? >> you're asking us to second-guess a different scene, whether it's a home invasion, whether it's a serious domestic violence situation, whether it's a burglary.

he could have clearly said, that's for the mayor of cambridge to deal with or if police chief of cambridge to deal with. there was no reason for him to step into this. this has nothing to do with the president of the united states. for him to admit he doesn't know and then lay guilt at the feet of a police officer, to me, seems ridiculous for a constitutional law professor. >> then neither should accept an invitation to the white house. >> i don't understand how that follow, joe. >> what i'm trying to say, if andrew is saying, he shouldn't get in it, maybe the president should come back on and say, i saw andrew on lou dobbs' show, and he's right, i should stay out of it. i'm sorry i invited them to the white house. he's trying to defuse a debate -- and quite honestly we know in part for political purpose sos we can start talking about health care. >> i'm not sure he wants us talking about health care either. >> i'll talk about health care. >> let's stick with this, if we may. he talked about a teachable experience, which to me, frankly, sounds like an arrogant piece of condesensational. it

cambridge is a wonderful place. and when i was called racist, and i was a target, scorned and ridiculed because of the things i never said. the criticism hurt me as a person. but it also hurt the community of cambridge. now that the tapes are out, i hope people can see that i tried to be careful and honest with my words. it never occurred to me that the way i reported what i saw be analyzed by an entire nation. but so many people have responded with words of support. i now -- i hope now that the truth of the tapes will help heal the cambridge community as much as it has helped to restore my reputation and integrity. i also want to say that i respect the cambridge police as well as professor gates. and i hope my decision to speak out does not add any controversy to what has been a difficult situation. a special thanks to my entire family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers for their support. it really helped me a lot. >> reporter: did you ever talk to the -- did you ever talk to sergeant crowley? >> as i said, the onl

with all parts of the cambridge community.clude identifying learning points about the interaction between residents and the police by examining departmental policies and training. approaches to conflict resolution and strategies to diffuse difficult situations, gauging the spectrum of views and concerns held by the public, as well as officers through focus group meetings, and a first segment of the larger cambridge community and officers representing a wide range of ranks and assignments. identifying areas where the department can enhance its operations to handle simple -- similar incidents in the future in the best possible way. assessing how issues of race and perceptions can impact on daily encounters between police and community members. produce findings and best practices to the cambridge police department and the entire law enforcement community of this nation. we worked extensively. on issues of strategy, diversity, and management. i have known bob for some years. he has assisted many government executives to address co

nbc's ron allen is in cambridge. ron, good eqól)j >> reporter: good evening, amy, before the president spoke out all eyes were here on cambridge where the incident did happen. as you said the arresting officer is now telling his side of the story, and his fellow cops are offering their support. >> we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine men and women of the cambridge police department. >> reporter: the police uni unirepresenting james crowley rallied in his support. crowley did not speak but has told tv about his arrest of dr. henry louis gates. >> i asked can he step outside and speak with me. no i will not. words to the effect, what is this all about. i am sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. >> reporter: he insists, gates provoked the confrontation when he explained he was responding to a 911 call about the possible barack in. >> why because i am a black man in america, in a very agitated tone. i thought that was a littlepÑ'! strange. >> reporter: crowley said he has spoken out he was

i'm a third generation cambridge police officer. my family. and i'm very proud to be a police officer and i think if you ask any of the officers in cambridge, they'll tell you they're proud to be here. as far as the president's comments, i think the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel throughout the entire country took offense to this. >> one reporter asked why if sergeant crowley did nothing wrong they dropped the charges against professor gates. >> that was a decision that was made without our input. we think in retrospect, given the publicity that has transpired it would have been better to let the matter go forward to a trial of fact. so that the truth could have been disclosed by means other than debates and media that we have expressed or that we have seen over the last few days. >> sergeant crowley did not speak at today's news conference but in a conversation with our nbc affiliate in boston, sergeant crowley defended his actions and said he was just doing his job investigating a report of a robbery in the

how can we be the cambridge we all want and expect cambridge today. the work that we have started to do -- we have started to talk about who should be in the room on those early conversations. >> i know you've defended the police force in this case. have you spoken to the president, the white house, or do you have any response to the way the president handled this at the news conference? >> you know, the president of the united states, the governor is the head of the commonwealth, but i am the mayor of the city. and when it comes to -- and i can tell you what we're doing in the city. i'll go back to an earlier question that you raised, which is talking about what we can be doing. not that long ago, i had a forum on race and class. it wasn't out of what had happened, but it was about having a discussion around how we treat and live with one another. and so for me, it's how do we go forward and talk about the key issues that are effecting the residents of cambridge and how do we make sure that our family, our children, and all our citizens can live -- a

in cambridge, molly line, fox news. bret: president obama's approval rating has fallen below the 50% mark in the rasmussen reports daily tracking poll. 49% of likely voters surveyed happy with the job he is doing. 51% disapprove. among independents, the approval rate something only 37%. the in-fighting among democrats over healthcare is intensifying. one blue dog democrat said he had been lied to while a committee chairman threatened to cut out the blue dogs from the debate equal together. carl cameron has more from capitol hill. >> over the last two days -- >> the president's top legislative priority was an afterthought at his news conference aimed at diffusing the cambridge cop controversy. >> i will not use this time to spend more words on healthcare, although i can't guarantee that that won't be true next week. >> earlier he summoned harry reid and senate finance committee chairman max baucus to a closed door oval office meeting to have them explain why they can't beat the deadline for a senate healthcare bill befor

it has happened here in cambridge. and i can't say it will not ever happen again in cambridge. this situation right here was not a racial motivated situation. >> and you know people obvious lib are going to play closer attention to you because you're an african-american man. you're supporting this white officer that has been put out there by some that he was racially profiling dr. gates. they're going to pay attention to you. >> i hope they would. they called him -- i heard one of the comments a rogue cop. there's nothing rogue about him. he was doing his job. >> not only sergeant crowley, but the men and the women, the officers of the cambridge police department who are good, upstanding officers, did not deserve this. did not deserve this negative attention. didn't deserve it at all. >> when you heard about what happened with this sergeant, what did you think? >> i was appalled. i know jimmy. i have known him for more than 11 years with the cambridge police. i knew him when he worked for harvard. i know him to be a good police officer and a good man with dhashger. i knew these

cambridge officials applaud the move.ittee will not specifically investigate the incident involving gates and crowley. the panel will be led by nationally recognized experts to offer ways the police department can apply lessons learned. >>> sarah palin has officially stepped down as governor of alaska. yesterday she talked about how much she loves her state and looked back at her accomplishments in office. she also lashed out at her critics and the media. >> you represent what could and should be a respected, honest, profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy. democracy depends on you. and that is why our troops are willing to die for you. so how about in honor of the american soldier? you quit making things up? >> lieutenant governor sean parnell is now the governor of alaska. she left 17 months before the end of her first term. we have a story just in. michael vick, the former atlanta falcons quarterback has been conditionally reinstated to the nfl. that means he can participate without delay in

i was in cambridge. the kraekz was very positive from the police department, positive from the people on the ground there and even from the people who were, who sided with gates. so they're going to have this beer. this meeting in the white house. ask this the end of that? does this, the president in law enforcement or maybe people who base votes or race? >> i think the president acted quickly to quiet the controversy acknowledging that he overreacted, justifies as he believes professor gates over reacted. and he believes the police may have overreacted. everybody overreacted. i i've heard people say the spres overreacting. here we are talking about it. basically every overraeted and the president reacted wuzly saying association did i i. was on an airplane come back. every person on the airplane had the paper, and it was open to the page that gates-gate. and may have been because i was coming from boston, too. the paper was filled with it. listen, let's talk about sarah palin now's. saying her final goo

he changed engines and cambridge and boston as well? >> i think so. on everybody's time heard it's utterly talked about for days if this error to have an opinion. it touched a lot of people who had feelings and everybody took it personally, it wouldn't matter what side they were on. >> alysin: we look forward to the tapes being released and hopefully shedding light on what happened. eric goodman and, reporter for the boston globe, thank you for joining us tonight thanks much. have a good morning. >> dave: the cbo deals a second blow to the obama helpline in a month. explain what the problem is not estimate the davis is here with a quick check of the letter. >> we're looking at clouds and showers along the east coast, and a lot of heat coming into the west. we'll tell you more about that and also some red flag warnings coming up. b b3 welcome back to "fox & friends" in the sunday morning. all eyes on healthcare. i put her people are waiting in on healthcare and whether they want this move toward it and this debate will unfold as from the manual is hint

he said that the cambridge police acted stupidly.y will cooperate with the investigation, and sgt crowley could have cleared the matter and removed himself to his office, where he wanted to be, doing his regular work. in our view, there was nothing stupid about what happened. what happens to produce a different outcome was directly under the control of professor gates, and that is something i think the president does not fully appreciate. second, the president suggested, at least implied a history of problems between a person of color and law enforcement. it is true in some localities. whether you can debate the propriety of the arrest based upon the disorderly person statute, there is no evidence whatsoever that the rest was unwarranted. >> [inaudible] >> you have a long list of things for us to do, and i'm sure we will get to them. >> [inaudible] >> [inaudible] >> is open to interpretation. i believe that that mark refers to press the gates -- professor gates. we believe that there was a prior break and within the recent past. >> [

. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> then steps back from those words. where does the controversy stand now? we'll ask our sunday regulars to weigh in on the week's most talked about story. all right now on "fox news sunday." and hello again from fox news in washington. with us now to discuss a range of issues, robert gibbs, assistant to the president and white house press secretary. robert, welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> thanks for having me. >> presidents before prime-time news conferences usually have detailed preparation sessions. and president obama has already had four prime-time news conferences. before wednesday's news conference, did you prepare him for a question about henry gates' arrest in cambridge? >> look, safe to say we went over a whole lot of topics we thought might come up. certainly this was a topic that was and has been in the news. i think the president on friday spoke about the fact that he hadn't calibrated his words well. probably unnecessarily added to the media frenzy around what was going on in cambridge, so much so tha

the cambridge police officer and professor gates. the next thing you know, they're in open conflict again. >> right. the next thing you know, the president makes it a national story. and at that point he really couldn't extricate himself. otherwise this would played itself out. there is agonizing court hearings and administrative exchanges in cambridge. >> this is about the issue of racial profiling and police profiling which is -- which runs throughout this country. >> excuse me. excuse me. does anybody here believe besides robert this was an instance of -- what? >> either racial profiling or police profiling. >> well, there's -- i thought -- harold? >> i think -- >> i think we kind of established that what -- that there was an overreaction. i think there is a lot of sentiment to that. but lou, to your point if, you think about the fact this is race. 80% of the public commented on this. a lot of the president's political capital is being spent on this issue. a lot of times it looked like he was creating policy as he was in front of

, massachusetts, and how are the president's remarks going over in cambridge? what's been the reaction? >> reporter: well, the president is right in this respect, it certainly is the topic of conversation in the newspapers and the talk shows and wbur. i was listening to a while back. passions really ignited about this. we're waiting right now for another comment by police commissioner paul hsass of the cambridge police department. the president's remarks today seemed to be an attempt to lower the temperature. of course sergeant krcrowley's colleagues standing up for him, including one african-american cop who was on the scene. basically the president lowering the temperature and saying both men, professor gates and sergeant crowley shared responsibility for turning a tense situation toxic. >> 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. >> nothing new from professor gate

ron allen joins me live from cambridge with the latest.d saturday morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. yes, the reaction from the cambridge police community has been positive, since the president has changed his position what on all of this. they are especially gratified that he took his comment about the camp ridge police department performing stupidly. sergeant crowley i understand took the phone call from the president at a pub surrounded by other officers and there was banter about having a beer, so forth. the dynamic changed as soon as crowley opened up and started telling his side of the story. >> we completely support sergeant crowley and the fine men and women of the cambridge police department. >> reporter: the police union representing sergeant james crowley rallied to his defense. crowley himself did not speak, but told whgh-tv about the arrest. >> i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. >> reporter: he insists professor gates provoked the confrontation, the moment the officer explained he was resp

. >>> it was ten days ago a call to police in cambridge, massachusetts, about a suspected burglary in progress led to the arrest of a harvard professor in his own home. triggering a national dialogue on race and what the president himself called a teachable moment. with the heat of the moment now past and talk of all parties meade meeting for a beer at the white house, we asked nbc's ron allen to take a look at where things stand in the community tonight. >> reporter: cambridge is known as one of the country's most liberal and progressive communities. home of harvard and mit. a city that embraces diversity. now trying to learn w a dispute between professor henry lewis gates and sergeant james crowley escalated into a national argument about race relations. >> it's again with policemen being rude. >> reporter: harvard sociologist orlando poot patterson says he feels tension with working class whites not used to dealing with accomplished african-americans. in a so-called teachable moment, he suggests everyone learn better racial etiquette. >> the golden rule. relate to other people as y

the mayor of cambridge, massachusetts, did apologize.american morning," john talked to her about what happened. >> do you believe he should apologize? >> well, i believe that we should continue finding out the facts, what actually happened so we can take the appropriate action. >> does it suggest to you at this point there may need to be some changes to these procedures? >> what i suggest is that something happened that should not have happened. that is very clear to me. the next steps are how to -- first we have to sit down and i'm certainly going to do is sit down with the parties involved and have a discussion about how did this -- how did we get this outcome? and from there to look at -- to talk with the police commission in particular and the city manager and say this can't happen again in cambridge and how we're going to prevent it from happening. >> in the meantime, professor gates speaking exclusively to cnn saying he is considering legal action, and apology or not, he is planning to keep the issue of racial profiling alive. >> i

>> all right, dan harris in cambridge, thank you. and george stephanopoulos, host of "this week" is joining us. george, take me through what brought the president into the press room today. >> reporter: well, the white house did not want to do this. they were frustrated by the amount of attention this was getting on talk radio, on the news, in boston. when they met this morning, when the president met this morning with his advisers, they realized this was out of their control and only the president could get that control back. and the only way to do it was to call up sergeant crowley and go to the room and basically take his words back and come as close to an apology as he could in public, and they believe tonight that they have diffused the situation as well as they can. >> yes, the president didn't get quite to the point of apology, but he did certainly say my words should have been recalibrated. >> reporter: that's exactly right. and it's a nice touch to have all three of them come together in the white house. i found out the beer

i'm curious to say what the cambridge police says today at 5:00. think they have had a bit of a tin ear on this. they dropped the charges, which is mighty big of them, but i haven't seen them say anything more than that and issue an apology. i would get right behind that if i were them and do it quickly. >> is there an element of race in the reaction, the political reaction we've seen? normally if you say to conservatives here is a set of circumstances, a police officer goes into somebody's home who did not commit a crime, asks them for that i.d. and that person gets pulled out and arrest, conservatives would more outrages than anybody. when you look at the conservative blogs and twittering, people say obama was wrong. it's the president who was wrong to make an issue out of this. aren't conservatives playing politics with race here? >> i'm not going to ascribe any motivation to all conservatives. i actually had the opportunity to meet with professor gates last night. he's a prince of a man. he described the incident that had taken place. the only

. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> metrorail is confessing to new problems. and a shocking intruder. >> i did not recognize him. >> what happened next after the police arrived. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >>> we start tonight with the president's plea to the nation on health care and the bold comment he made on a different subject. the president took his health- care plan directly to the country tonight and he said health care legislation is critical for economic recovery. it was his response to the f re ostan african-american scholar that has people talking tonight. rebecca cooper was at the news conference and joins us live from the white house. >> tonight, the president said he thought it was reasonable when the police responded to the home of the african-american scholar when neighbors said somebody was trying to break in, not realizing it was the homeowner. it is what happened next that is disputed in cambridge, and now here in the white house when the president asked -- was asked if there was evidence of racism. >>

fredericka. >> thank you so much from cambridge. appreciate that. so four days now, you haven't been able to turn on the television without hearing about the arrest of this harvard professor and what took place involving the sergeant as well. so, here now is a sampling of the week. >> i would be prepared as a human being to forgive him. that would not deter me from using this as an educational opportunity for america. if this can happen to me in harvard square this can happen to anybody in the united states. i am determined it never happen to anybody again. >> i didn't want to have to take a drastic action i knight was going to bring a certain amount of unwanted attention on me. nonetheless that's how far professor gates pushed it. >> he says why are you doing this is it because i am a black man and you are a white police officer? >> as calmly as you are saying it? >> recordings will show. you can imagine that he is feeling this sense of indignity that people feel every day. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when they, the

know, i wasn't there and i don't know the exactly language but he had been someone teaching the cambridge police five years how to be concerned and deal with racial profiling. he had a thorough record in that regard. the one whom i think overstepped his role in this thing was the president. he didn't have all of the facts and i don't know why he had to stir this up. >> oh, mort this is good! we're going to have a debate on this. hang on a second. in fact, an hour from now, the cambridge police sergeant, jim crowley, who arrested skip gates, the prominent african-american solar at harvard, is going to speak to the media in massachusetts. stay tuned and we will go from that. in afln view with our affiliate whdh, jim crowley tells kim casey that he had no choice but to arrest henry louis gates jr. in gates's own home. >> i really didn't want to have to take such a drastic action because i knew it was going to bring a certain amount of unwanted attention on me. nonetheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it and provoked and just wouldn't stop. >> nbc's ron allen is in cambridge, massac

and you were tough on the cambridge police department. do you regret saying that the cambridge police acted stupidly? >> you know, i have to say 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's in his own home. now, what i do know is as i said last night, i don't know all the details to the case. i think that i had extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the jobs that police officers do. as i say, they're -- them responding was the exactly right thing to do, and my suspicion is is that words were exchanged between the police officer and mr. gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. that's my suspicion. but i was asked, you know, did it make sense for it to escalate to the level that it did. and i said probably not and t t that, you know, it would have been more sensible for everybody just to -- once they established mr. gate

gwen: the cambridge police were insulted, the blogs exploded. so today the president stepped in again with a surprise visit to the white house pressroom. >> 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, and 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. gwen: the president usually avoids, sidesteps race-related questions, issues. what was different this time, peter? >> a couple things were different. first of all, he was asked direct questions at a press conference, and it's harder to avoid that. and i think what you would be told is he was personally offended, to watch this controversy play out in which a person he knew, person of some eminence, as he put it, a middle-aged man with a cane was hauled off with handcuffs on his own front porch struck something inside of him in a personal way. >> i think both statements ar

at his home in cambridge, massachusetts. the cambridge police department is supporting the sergeant who made the arrest. hari sreenivasan reports. >> reporter: the cambridge, massachusetts police commissioner is standing by the sergeant who arrested a respected harvard professor. >> i believe that sergeant crowley acted in a way that is consistent with his training in the department and consistent with national standards of law enforcement protocol. i do not believe his actions in any way were racially motivated. >> reporter: cambridge police showed up at professor henry louis gates jr.'s home last week, responding to a report of two african-american men trying to force open the front door. according to the police report, gates was already inside and angry at officers after he identified himself. >> what it made me realize was how vulnerable all black men are, how vulnerable all people of color are and all poor people to capricious forces like a rogue policeman. and this man clearly was a rogue policeman. >> the apology won'

the story of the woman in cambridge that made the 911 call. people are twittering on what she said on what she said today. mom says, she was being a good american citizen when she called 911 for possible break-in. what if it was a robbery? professor gates, you should be thankful. mike in san diego, thanking luci whalen, you are a model citizen. >> here is what she said, two larger men, one looked kind of hispanic. that was the quote. words from that woman in a 911 call about an incident at a cambridge home on july 16th. you know the rest. the police, the arrest of professor gates, president obama's involvement and the renewed racial conversation in this country. >> a couple of hours ago, lucia whalen described the tidal wave of strut acrutiny the she has b reported. >> it never occurred to me that the way i reported what i saw would be analyzed by an entire nation. but so many people have responded with words of support, i hope now that the truth of the tapes will help heal the cambridge community as much as it has helped to restore my reputat

i see this as an opportunity for cambridge to be america's classroom. what we will do is we will unpack, if you will, the incidents of july 16, and we will use that to work on how we can make our city an affirming city for all people. you're right, the issuance of race and class, the president said that, professor ovaltree. we realize that, and we're not afraid to look at that issue, take it up and say, what can we do to make sure all citizens in our city, regardless of their race, their gender, their social class feel like they're a valued member of our city? >> you have a lot on your hands, madam mayor. we wish you the best of luck, and maybe when the sergeant and the professor come to the white house for that meeting, maybe you can accompany them. >> perhaps so. >>> up next, the health care debate from the eyes of one young man facing a life and death challenge. he better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe be

. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> that statement has president obama caught in the middle of a race relations firestorm. what they are now saying. another salmonella scare involving allegis. >> the line of thunderstorms is moving in. the forecast is just ahead. >> she thought her travel insurance would cover her when her father became seriously ill. we reveal an exclusive you we reveal an exclusive you should know >> 22,000 cartons of romaine lettuce are being recalled out of concern that product might be tainted with salmonella. they issued a voluntary recall. allegis was sold in stores in pennsylvania but not too many stores in maryland. -- the salad was sold in stores in pennsylvania but not many stores in maryland. tonight michael jackson's personal doctor is the target of a manslaughter investigation into the singer's death. a search warrant filed in a houston court today allows authorities to seek evidence to determine if dr. conrad murray committed manslaughter. murray was a doctor with michael jackson on the day he died. tonight, nearly four dozen people are behind

gates says he no longer plans to sue the cambridge police department, and president obama says he has personally telephoned both gates and the officer, officer crowley, and invited them to join him at the white house for beer. >>> new at 11:00, federal charms may be brought against the man accused of selling the gun used to kill former ravens star steve mcnair. a federal grand jury is beg assembled. police say that gilliam sold a gun to mcnair's girlfriend two days before she shot mcnair, then herself. gilliam is a convicted murder. >>> the swine flu has claimed another life in maryland. today the state health department announced a fourth person has died from the virus. that person's identity is not being released, but we do know the person lived on the eastern shore. and for the first time, the person had had no underlying medical condition. the state health department says that means even healthy adults can fall victim to the flu. they also say it's a reminder to take the swine flu seriously while a vaccine is beg developed. >>> people eager to take advantage of the program cash fo

was arrested at his home in cambridge. does it say about race relations in america? >> well, i should say at the outset that skip gates is a friend, so i may be a little biased here. i don't know all the facts. what's been reported, though, is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. there was a report called in to the police station that there might be a burglarly taking place. so far so good. right? i mean, if i was trying to jigger -- well, i guess this is my house now, but it probably wouldn't happen. but let's say my old house in chicago. here i'd get shot. but so far so good. they're reporting. the police are doing what they should. there's a call. they go investigate what happened. my understanding is at that point professor gates is already in his house. the police officer comes in. i'm sure there's some exchange of words. but my understanding is, is that professor gates then shows his i.d. to show that this is his house, and at that point he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges

shepard: it began with a woman reporting a possible burglary at a house in cambridge, mass. >> i don't know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key, but i did notice that they kind of used their shoulder to try to barge in, and they got. in. shepard: what she is actually seeing is professor gates trying to get into his own home with the help of his driver. when the police show up, tensions rise. >> i'm up with an elderly gentleman who session he resides here. uncooperative. >> copy. shepard: cops take professor gates away in handcuffs. accusing him of disorderly conduct. the professor accuses police of racial profiling. and publishes comments on his web site, the root. they read, in part, i am astonished that this happened to me. and more importantly, i'm astonished that it could happen to any citizen of the united states, no matter what their race. the president makes his first comment on the case during a prime time news conference on health care. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their

and you were tough on the cambridge police department.you regret saying the cambridge police acted stupidly? >> you know, i have to say i am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement because i think it was pretty straight forward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who use a cane who is in his own home. now, what i do know is, as i said last night, i don't know all the details to the case, i think that i have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job police officers do. as i said, them responding was exactly the right thing to do. and my suspicion is is that words were exchanged between the police officer and mr. gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. that's my suspicion. but i was asked did it make sense for it to escalate to the level that it did and i said probably not and that it would have been more sensible for everybody to just -- once it was established that mr. gates was in his own home that we should just sett

one is the issue with cambridge, whether or not there was any racism involved. why on earth with the president jump in the middle of this and take the bait from a reporter at a press conference that was supposed to be about health care? >> well, i think the president did a great job in dealing with the issue in a straightforward way. we don't get too much kickback from political leaders when it comes to police officers. because there was a personal situation where he knows the professor, you have a situation. if a police officer, the sergeant says that he is taught about sensitivity and racial a@profiling. if he does not understand why professor gates is up said, he needs to do some retraining before teaching else. mike: i have set the alarm off at my own home and the police come out, when they do i am glad to see them. i apologize to them for getting them there unnecessarily. if someone is seen pushing the door to my home, i don't care what color they are, i am glad the police are going to show up and maybe stop a burglary in process. can you not see that maybe

president obama and the cambridge police.y have had a lot to say about the rest of henry gates after he broke into his own home. you will hear more from both sides. the comment that unleashed what the president is calling a media frenzy -- >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proved that they were in their own home. what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of african- americans and latinos being stopped by law-enforcement disproportionately. that is just a fact. jon: cambridge police called on the president to apologize and he made a surprise appearance in the white house briefing room to respond. here is more of what both sides had to say. >> in our view, there was nothing stupid about what happened. >> i think i, unfortunately, gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. i could have calibrated those words differently. >> i think the president should a

cambridge police versus a black harvard professor. well, everybody's got him backing down, the president trying to calm everybody down, but charles ogletree the attorney for the professor involved spoke to me yesterday and again trying to tell everybody, calm down. this isn't really all about race. >> he's feeling this sense of indignity that people feel every day and if has nothing to do with race. there are people who feel powerless when they've done everything they can legally to protect themselves. >> not all about race. we'll get into that a little more a little later. >>> also, if you didn't get a chance to see "black america 2" this week, shame on you. you missed a lot. also missed a very emotional moment between ka median d.l. hughley and his teacher. got choked up talking about the teacher that made a big difference in his life. >> why is what he's saying upsetting you so much? >> because i was this close to never making it. never being nothing. >> amazing tears. talking about this guy 38 years ago. talk about that, and our q

the cambridge police in union announced -- to cambridge police union announced that it is standing firmlyind the arresting officer. >> we expressed our support for sergeant crowley, clearing him of any wrongdoing. on behalf of the unions and the members, let me assure everyone that the officers of the cambridge police department are committed to the professional and non discriminatory enforcement of the law. 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. >> president obama said that the actions of the cpd were stupid. the fact of this case suggest that the president used the right adjective but directed it to the wrong body. >> i think that the president should make an apology to all law enforcement personnel. >> our opinion is that we want all of the facts to be presented. the present and not have all of them. -- the president did not have all of them. greta: president obama tried to put out the fire. >> i

please, bear in mind from, his perspective and from the cambridge police department's perspective, there has not been a mistake made. the mistake that was made was made by professor gates who became belligerent and abusive. you say professor gates is intelligent. i don't know what kind of scholar he is i'm not real sure the words "i'll talk to your momma out on the porch comes to the category of much intellect. >> i think that some of the things that sergeant crowley has said has been very intelligent. he has been councilled very well. i don't believe that he has been any way maligned. again, i think this brings up a huge issue that we never want to talk about. and that's police, police brutality. the black and law enforcement relationship. this provides a great opportunity for us to do this. common sense. mike: sergeant crowley, in fact, talked the whole issue of race relations. i think he has been touted. he has been a person who has a long history. no problems whatsoever. nobody has ever, ever accused him of having any racist attitudes. in fact, many of the officers who have stood wit

good, clean water. >> president barack obama: the cambridge police acted stupidly.have to say i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement. >> president barack obama: i unfortunately gave an impression that i was maligning the cambridge police department, or sergeant crowley specific specifically. >> bret: that was the evolution of president obama's comments on the arrest of a black harvard professor. now, it is time for our sunday panel. brit hume, fox news senior political analyst. and contributors mara liasson of national public radio, bill kristol of the weekly standard, and juan williams, also from national public radio. brit you heard robert gibbs' explanation of the president's evolution. your thoughts on all of this. >> well, i think robert gibbs didn't add a lot, probably trying not to add a lot to the record of this issue, but, you know, what is striking about this is the president was clearly trying to get it over with. and put the firestorm out and, yet, in the end, he couldn't bring himself to actually apologize for himself. this president,

he tried walking back his comments when he said cambridge police "acted stupidly." how is that being received? pretty well, it seems. it wasn't a full-out presidential apology. >> in my choice of words i think i unfortunately gave an impression that i was ma liebing the cambridge police department or sergeant crowley specifically. i could have calibrated those words differently. >> for police officers in cambridge, massachusetts, united in their outrage, the president's expression of regret appears to be enough. >> we were happy. it was a good thing. we said, yeah. give him the high-fives. >> reporter: the sergeant of the cambridge police department was on the scene the day his colleague, sergeant james crowley arrested prominent african-american professor on his property. >> had it been differently if i would have shown up first? probably. >> reporter: he says he supports the actions crowley took that day. >> i too probably would have placed him under arrest if it would have gotten further out of control. >> reporter: at this national conference of black law enforc

number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly. and number three, what i think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of african americans and latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. >> i acted appropriately. mr. gates was given plenty of opportunity to stop what he was doing. he acted very irrational and he controlled the ultimate events. i support the president of the united states 110%. i think he is way off base wading into a local issue not knowing the facts that he himself stated before he made the comments. i guess a friend of mine would support my position, too. >> geraldo: no one can dispute the fact that black and latino men have experiences more extreme than others in this country. many saw the arrest of henry louis gates in the melancholy light, especially after the cambridge cops dropped the bogus disorderly conduct charge that they lodged against a clearly intemperate people. still, since he wasn't there, should the president of all people hav