crowley did not speak but has told tv about his arrest of dr.enry louis gates. >> i asked can he step outside and speak with me. he said, no, i will not. and again, 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. the moment the officer explained we was respond ing to a 911 call about the possible barack in. >> he responded why, because i am a black man in america, in a very agitated tone. i thought that was a little strange. >> reporter: crowley said he has spoken out he was tired of being called a racist. he is an 11-year veteran, father of three, for several years trained officers how to avoid racial profiling exactly what gates accused him of doing. >> he was the one that was being provocative, this wasn't a back and forth exchange of bantor or arguing. this was one sided. >> reporter: today an african-american sergeant seen in the foreground of the photo of the arrest, defended crowley saying he never heard the professor call a

, crowley and gates to get together for a beer. professor gates' attorney says his client doesn't drink beer, but he's willing to attend. charlie? >> 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 re

even though crowley has been cleared of wrongdoing.e police are going to ask for an independent investigation of what happened as they try to maintain the community any trust. amy. >>> ron allen in cambridge, massachusetts, thank you. >>> david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." david, was the president successful in diffusing the situation as he hoped to do or end up throwing more fuel on the fire? >> well, look he had a big role in escalating this which now he acknowledges. remember he is coming full circle on this. i think, by all accounts, talking to those who are close to him, this was a heartfelt response that he had during the press conference the other night based on what he knew and as an african-american man. he then was agitated yesterday that it got the media aten, it got. by today there was a recognition when the president weighs in, it is going to carry some weight. and i think the white house wants to extricate him from this but now he is talking about having a beer at the white house with gates and the arresting

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 ob

sergeant crowley blue moon. we are told professor gates had sam adams light as befits his boston heritage and the vice president a nonalcoholic butlers. shepard? shepard: wendell goler at the white house. we are expected to hear from sergeant crowley himself in a little while. the sergeant is planning a news conference to begin in a few minutes to tell us about his meeting with the president and the professor and v.p. we will bring that you live as it happens. a different police officer has apologized for using a racial slur to describe professor gates. we told you last night how a boston cop was put on leave after he isn't out a mass email with the slur. now justin barrett is telling a local boston television station and i quote, "it was a poor choice of words. did i not mean to offend anyone," and he added that he is not a racist. now to president obama's health care plan and new opposition tonight. it comes from his own former doctor. his name is david slidener. he was the president's personal physician for m

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've 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 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. to the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate but rather contributed to more media frenzy, i think that was unfortunate. what i would like to do then 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 from the press conference, be behind full of the fact that because of our history, b

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. so to the extent my choice of words didn't illuminate was rather contributed to more media frenzy, i think that was unfortunate. what i would like to do then 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 r

and crowley? >> reporter: what do you hope to accomplish today through with ur meeting with the white house and the professor? >> hoping i can move on and get back to work. >> reporter: crowley's arrest of gates for disorderly conduct in his own home drew some headlines, but the story became a media frenzy eight days ago after the president was asked about gates' arrest and he raise the issue of racial profiling and said this -- >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> reporter: an adverb he soon came to regret. >> i could have calibrated those words differently. my hope is that a consequence of this event ends up being what's called a teachable moment. >> reporter: ezabeth, we'll find out if that teachable moment actually happens. we're expected to hear from both gates and crowley. >> jake tapper at the white house. as the president mentioned he hopes gates arrest and reaction to it can be a teachable moment a chance of all americans of all races to listen more an learn more about one another.

then, professor gates said sergeant crowley profiled him. and crowley says he did nothing wrong. after their meeting, sergeant crowley said no one had apologized. but called it a frank and private conversation, that was cordial and had no tension. >> this is a positive step forward, as opposed to reliving the events of the past couple of weeks. in an effort to move not just the city of cambridge or two individuals past this event. but the whole country. to move beyond this and have meaningful discussions in the future. >> reporter: president obama said he was, quote, fascinated about the fascination about his drinks with gates and crowley. the president said instead of anger and hyperbole, he hoped tonight would bring self-reflection. a fact lost amidst the hype. >> you lose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself. all of whom are imperfect. >> reporter: with their families, gates and crowley flew from massachusetts to washington, d.c. gates has said he wants an apology. and crowley? >> what do you hope to accomplish today at your meeting at the wh

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crowley himself did not speak, but told whgh-tv about the arrest. >> i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridgeice department. >> reporter: he insists professor gates provoked the confrontation, the moment the officer explained he was responding to a 911 call to a possible break in. >> he said, why, because i'm a black man? >> reporter: crowley spoke out because he was tired of being called a racist. he is an 11-year veteran, father of three, and has trained officers on how to avoid racial profiling. >> this wasn't a back and forth exchange of banter or arguing. this was one-sided. >> reporter: an african-american sergeant seen in the foreground, defended crowley saying he never heard the professor call anyone a racist. >> i support what he did 100%. >> it's over. >> reporter: professor gates remains on his vacation home on martha's vineyard. speaking out. >> just because a black man answers the door and you're responding to a 911 charge, treat him or in the case of an african-american woman with respect. don't go presuming, don't do anything else. protect me. >> reporter: gates has threatened

sergeant leon lashley says he fully supports sergeant crowley's actions. when he spoke with our don lemon in an exclusive interview -- >> every time we get into a situation, we are subject to being second-guessed as to why we did something, should we have done something differently? coming after the scene, you can always say, we could have done something better. we could have done it this way. but right there on the spot, that's what happened and from what i've seen and i was there, he did nothing wrong. >> sergeant lashley said he supports sergeant ycrowley 100%. don lemon will join us later with the broadcast with a lot more on this controversy. >>> the white house declared president obama will continue to promote his health care plan despite the decision to delay a vote until at the errol lest this fall. meanwhile, there are new indications the house of representatives is struggling to pass any kind of health care legislation. white house chief of staff, rahm emanuel, however, says he's confident the house will pass legislation before august 1st. he tol

, sergeant crowley, has already left the white house. so that teachable moment turning out to be, well, far more constrained and limited than anyone, except perhaps the white house, had expected. dan lothian, as always, appreciate it. reporting from the white house. >>> a new opinion poll showing more americans disapprove of the what i president obama has handled the gates controversy than approve. the pew research center poll showing 41% of americans disapprove, 29% approve. meanwhile, the president's overall approval ratings have plunged. the pew research center saying the president's approval rating is now 54%, seven percentage points lower than just one month ago. and meanwhile, the latest "wall street journal"/nbc news poll says only 53% of american s approve of the way the president is handling his job. both polls in line with other surveys and representing rapid deterioration in his public standing. >>> more evidence tonight that the president's health care plan will be delayed until the fall. two leading republican senators say t

there was a misunderstanding between professor gates and sergeant crowley. this misunderstanding morphed into a major racial kind of a fight nationally. it was getting away from us, and the president to his credit brilliantly regrouped. he understood he had stepped in a cow pie. he got out of the cow pie and said, look, we have to back away from this, we're going to stand down. he brilliantly called the sergeant, extended the olive branch so there was peace in the valley. the professor and sergeant crowley will get together, they'll have a beer, and that will be the end of the story. brilliant. >> your take on this as a journalist? what's your view of what we've watched here in america? >> that won't be anywhere near the end of this story. i think it's a -- i think you're right, reverend, it's a brilliant move on the part of the president to call and to extend -- and to say basically, i'm sorry, although he didn't use those words. but this issue doesn't go away. the issue of racial profiling in america in general and very specific to this case, the sergeant

she gestured to sergeant crowley, i'm the one who called 911. he said stay right there and he walked into the house. that was the entirety of the conversation. so i think you have a ask the cambridge police where they came up with that quote. i think they basically agreed at this point she never uttered those words. she never said black men. she never said the word black. she never mentioned backpacks. that's good. her name has been cleared. the police have helped with that to some extent. professor gates said he thinks she acted responsibly and did nothing wrong. she is feeling good people now know she wasn't the racist spark that fueled this fire. >> professor watkins, is there anything you take away from these tapes? >> well, i didn't get the sense that she was trying to do anything other than help out a neighbor and be a good citizen. she sounds about as innocent as you can sound on this tape. the issue with the police report is a serious issue. if the police report mentions black men and she says she didn't mention black men. then you have

both crowley and gates to the white house. now, the professor and the cop are working out details of their next meeting. >> i think meeting at a bar for a beer on a second occasion may send the wrong message. maybe kool-aid or iced tea or something like that. >> i would be surprised if you guys all make this the lead as opposed to a very important meeting we had with one of our most important partners in the world. >> candy, professor gates issued a statement tonight. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: he did, just a couple of hours ago. he put it on root.com. he's the editor in chief. professor gates wrote, it is incumbent upon sergeant crowley and me to utilize the great opportunity that fate has given us to foster greater sympathy more than the american public for the daily perils of policing on the one hand and for the genuine fears of racial profiling on the other hand, which is, anderson, remarkably, like what sergeant crowley said. so they did actually come away with what looks like, at least a preliminary me

cambridge police dug in their heels today in support of sergeant crowley. correspondent molly line has that part of the story from boston. >> hours before president obama's comments today, the cambridge police union stepped up presenting a united front, throwing support behind the police sergeant who arrested henry louis gates. >> we here 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 in progress call. >> gates had just returned from an overseas trip and tried to force his way into his house with the help of a driver a passer-by, concerned he was trying to break into the home alerted police. when officers arrived, they say gates became belligerent, at one point telling officers "this is what happens to a black man in america." the situation escalated where gates was arrested for disorderly conduct. sergeant james crowley, the officer at the center of what has been called a racially charged incident didn't speak attitu

he said he supported crowley 100. when he was on this show, he said if he arrived on the scene first things would have turned out differently. he has gotten push back on that. he says i have become known at least to some as an uncle tom. i'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that i have somehow betrayed my heritage. are you surprised he's facing that kind of criticism? >> no, i'm not surprised. i've gotten hundreds of e-mails to the same effect. >> about him? >> no, not about him but the accusation of being an uncle tom. people are used to me fighting for race. they've seen me do that. one thing i absolutely refuse to do was to take sides without knowing all the facts. >> people say that about you because of the positions you've been taking? >> yes. absolutely. but you know what, for every person that has something negative to say, there are other people who have something positive to say. one thing i believe i

he spoke first with officer crowley whom he called a good man. later he called professor gates who said he was glad to hear from the president. in an e-mail gates said to me yes, i was very pleased that the president called me and he was pleased that i meet the sergeant, sergeant crowley at the white house since i had offered to meet him since last monday. last night i spoke with gates' attorney and i asked him if he was amazed the president would call both men directly. >> if you know, president barack obama like i do, it's not amazing at all. he wrote in his book about the very same thing, the indignities he experienced, he worried about how his children might be affected by that. so it's a conversation that we all tip around but now we have an opportunity and indeed an obligation to have a conversation about race in america in a way that might move us all forward. the election of president obama was the spark that generated this conversation, but trying to govern all of us, taking personal responsibility all of us, understanding our brother's

both gates and sergeant crowley have two different stories. >> first off, what went down when crowleyst encountered gates. take a listen to both sides. >> i'm in my kitchen, a look up and there's policemen on the porch. he says, step outside. all of a sudden, i know i'm in danger. i said, may i help you. he said we're investigating a 911 breaking and entering charge. i said, don't worry, i'm professor gates, i live here. >> i said, please step out, he said, i will not. i said i'm investigating a break in progress. he responded why, i'm a black man, in a very ago revated tone. >> then after gates turned over identification, gates said that he demanded the sergeant's name and badge number and that's where the stories differ again. >> he turned his back, walked out of the house. i followed him and said, are you not answering me because i'm a black man. >> he was following me because he was still yelling about racism and black men in america and he wasn't somebody to be messing with and you picked the wrong guy to mess with. >> turns out that crowley has been teaching a racial profiling c

>> go ahead, crowley. >> first of all, i think it's about time crowley was invited to the white houseor beers. no relation. but i've been trying to get my own invite to the white house for beers. i think the argument we're seeing and the emotions it is raising is why obama thought he had to take control because it was spiraling out and becoming a whole bunch of things that the white house doesn't want the national conversation to be about right now. i think he's played it really well. he's essentially saying i went a little too far. i admitted i didn't know all the facts. i judged the guy harshly and it's not a total apology. because i think it's clear the officer overreacted at the end of the day. >> we're still stuck with a president of the united states it seems or maybe even admittedly prejudged a case without the facts. >> he didn't prejudge. he offered an opinion. >> no, listen to this. this is one -- >> but that's the officer. >> this is one of the officers in cambridge. let's see what he has to say, roland, and you can perhaps dispute him. >> as far as the president's comments

gates, crowley, or the woman who called 911?ael jackson's three children, appears to be over a breakdown of the deal and was it done in the children's interest? do we make decisions that are in the interest of the children or not? we'll have that conversation coming up. at 155 miles per hour, andy roddick has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy rodck. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". doors for yourndoorer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" cat. specially formulated to promote hairball control and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. but now they have new areas where i can find the brands i use every day-- and save even more. so that's what they mean by unbea

here comes sergeant crowley.-cio for hosting our meeting today. we're going to do a very brief statement by sergeant jim crowley, and we will open it up to just a few questions. if people could raise their hands or something so everyone's not screaming them all at witness, that would be greatly appreciated. >> good evening. first, i'd like to thank the police officers from cambridge, from my hometown, and from massachusetts and across the country for your overwhelming support to me and my family during this difficult time. during this ordeal, one of the challenges was to make clear across america what a difficult job. we had a cordial and productive discussion today with the president, vice president and professor gates. we have all agreed that it is important to look forward rather than backward. issues important to all of us will form the basis of discussions between professor gates and me in the days and weeks to come. professor gates and i bring different perspectives to these issues and very agreed that both

he spoke first to officer crowley, whom he called a good man. later he called professor gates, who said he was glad to hear from the president. in an e-mail he said -- and last night i spoke with gates' attorney, charles ogletree, and i asked him if he was amazed that the president would call both men directly. >> well, if you know president barack obama like i do, it's not amazing at all. he wrote in his book "destiny and hope" the very same thing, indignities he experienced, things he couldn't quite understand. he worried about his children might be affected by that. it's a conversation we all tip around but now we have an opportunity, and indeed an obligation to have a conversation about race in america in a way that might move us all forward. the election of president obama was the spark that generated this conversation but trying to govern, all of us taking personal responsibility, all of us, understanding our brothers' keeper, all of this will make an enormous amount of difference. >> is professor gates going to sue? >> don't know. >> why

i think that's the way we ought to be handling this henry lewis gates/officer crowley, sergeant crowleyind of conversation. what troubles me about it is it's become such a huge deal. and when you think about it for a moment it really -- neither guy is accused of touching the other guy. the mistake that officer crowley made -- and it was a terrible mistake, terrible thing to do, he should not have arrested him. as a cop, no matter how excited professor gates might have gotten, sergeant crowley should have taken it. for professor gates, for him to have apparently reacted the way he did, what i think a lot of people are ignoring is that sergeant crowley came there because a neighbor reported a break-in. and what is a police officer supposed to do? if the neighbor's reporting a break-in, he's going to look at it. >> our experts said last night that is where the sort of unknown racism comes from or -- was from the neighbor who possibly saw -- not that the neighbor's racist, but who saw two black men breaking into a home. might not have had the same reaction if it was two white men -- that wa

crowley spoke to the president yesterday at a pub, surrounded by officers. statement from his commissioner said city officials now or on the miss stick that we are moving forward towards our resolution. white gates and crowley turn toned down their angry feud, the ugly incident remains unresolved. >> there is no evidence whatsoever that the arrest was race based. >> reporter: police have cleared crowley, pointing out that years ago he was even selected to train officers about how to avoid racial profiling. however, critics feel crowley should have backed off once he knew it was gates' home and in break-in had occurred. >> in this particular situation he did not understand the spirits of the concern around racial profiling. >> reporter: there is so much disagreement, officers say, because police, like everyone else, off and see matters of race based on who they are. >> i'm an african-american man, 65 years old, vietnam veteran, spent 24 years as a police officer. so if you ask me about it, i'm going to have a different response than a 65-year-old white man. >

and there is crowley in the middle of the screen right there. present but didn't offer any comments. at one point allen mcdonald suggesting that the president sort of shot from the hip with his remarks. yeah, without having all of the facts moving forward. i don't know why i was under the impression that this news conference, by the end of it, we would be closer to resolving this. i don't know why i thought that, but clearly, it looks like we may be more entrenched at this point with cambridge police unions, the legal counsel for cambridge police saying very clearly that they support the actions of the officer in this case and want an apology from the president. >>> don lemon was in the room for this. i thought this was pretty extraordinary, don. i was just saying a moment ago, i don't know why, for whatever reason, i was in our meeting this morning and i thought by the end of this news conference that we would be working closer to that moment when perhaps sergeant crowley and professor gates would be patching this thing up together, but i tell

let's listen to what he had to say. >> i support what sergeant crowley did. that's as simple as i can say. i can what happened. speculation is a whole different thing. i know what he did. i support what he did 100%. >> how are his comments being received today? >> i'm not quite sure. i know the police union really stands by his remarks. >> what's the fur yor about this been like? >> i know in the beginning, i think the feelings were divided along racial lines. in general, they were. i think right now, people are hoping that lessons can be learned. conversations will be scheduled about policing and racial profiling. >> i know that professor gates remains in his vacation home on martha's vineyard. he was rumored he might plan to sue. >> yesterday, he was flying to l.a. when he e-mailed me. his comment about the lawsuit was from a couple of days ago. i think with the president's call, both are trying to put this behind him. i believe he's returning to the vineyard on monday. >> so l.a. is a business trip? >> he's working on a documentary on immigration. >> thank

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 and 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 a way it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved. >> all right. i want to turn now to elaine quijano, in cambridge right now and elaine, we just heard the president. heard him yesterday, just heard him again, trying to explain himself and trying to back away from some of the comments he made. he stop short of saying he made an apology to sergeant crowley. but still, how does the cambridge police department and the community there respond to what they heard the president say? is that good enough? >> reporter: well, you know, t.j., it certainly would seem so. the president's comments were reall

gates says crowley ignored him, walking out of the house. when gates followed him, he says to demand that information, he was arrested for disorderly conduct. >> what it made me realize was how vulnerable all black member 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 placeman. >> reporter: an 11-year veteran of the force, crowley is an expert on racial profiling, teaching a police academy course on how to avoid it for five years. he says he asked gates to step outside for his own safety, standard practice since crowley didn't know if there was a suspect inside. in his police report, he said gates replied "yeah, i'll speak with your mama outside." >> a lot of yelling, there was references to my mother, something you wouldn't expect to from anybody that should be grateful that you're there investigating the report of a crime in progress let alone a harvard university professor. >> reporter: as for the president, his press secretary is trying to walk

if i were crowley, i would go. i will tell you why. because then crowley can come out and report on exactly what the discussion was and say this is what i said, respectfully, to the president and to the professor. i made my points. i think crowley, bernie, is representing the police officers of america. i think it's much bigger than one man now. i think he's representing the cops. i think the cops want him to go and give these guys a little what for. respectfully. >> well, i will tell you what. if crowley came out of that happy hour, the beer summit, and stood on that driveway in front of the white house and said let me make a couple of point. bill: we're going to try to get him on tomorrow. >> but if he went on and said yeah, there was stereotyping. bill: that's what i'm talking about. >> there was stereotyping and i will tell you who did the stereotyping. not me. professor gates did the stereotyping. bill: we will try to get crowley on tomorrow. i don't know how successful we will be. and bernie, if he has three beers, he may well do

but it going to be -- >> he probably has more -- >> is it crowley? -- >> than a high school -- >> not going to sit around. this is a fortune cookie for some lawyer, false arrest. right? >> well -- >> he won't take that. be above the fray. >> he's written about this. these racial situations. >> do a documentary. >> no. could do a documentary but i think it's going to be in the spirit of fellow shand not -- >> thank you. all learning, all teaching. well -- mark whitaker, thank you, roger simon. join us again tomorrow at 5:00 and 7:00 for more "hardball." "countdown with keith olbermann" starts right now. >>> which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the white house, two weeks after the racially charnged arrest of a harvard professors president holds peace talks between the two men in the middle of a culture war. >> this is three folks having a drink at the end of the day, and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. >> and he buried the distraction once and for all. not if the race and right wingers get their way

7% say gates. 25% crowley. that's about even. see, taps low -- americans don't know what happened there. and then most people disapprove of the way president obama handled it which is why having the beer fest today. 29% saying he handled it well. now, what is it in america that we still have every two seconds a racial controversy? remember when i went up to sylvias and had dinner with al sharpton and said on my radio show, sylvias is just like any other restaurant in america. a nice place with nice people. i got served great. then the left wing turned it into i was denigrating saying oh, he didn't think sylvias was going to be nice. >> or that those people have barbecue friday. bill: context piece of garbage. why is this continued to be used as a sledge hammer against people in ideological battles? >> you worked in boston in the 80's. long history of race problems, particularly in the -- in many, many communities boston has a sorry mel alan can any legacy. common ground during the 80's. talking about it here you had the boston co

i think frankly i wish that sergeant crowley would apologize.ou know what -- >> exactly. >> -- it's also appropriate for professor gates to apoll skriz. >> a very respected scholar says, since when has talking you know what been a cause for arrest? a basis for arrest? in your own home? >> it was a trumped-up charge and that's why it was dropped so quickly. >> i think it's constructive to get it out, but i want to talk some of the deadlines the administration has to reach pretty soon. we're talking about health care. and then we've got guantanamo bay, which is a year, michael. and that part is something that's on your radar. >> well, think that what's striking here is president obama did something no other president has done before. he said, i'm going to get this done. i'm going to close guantanamo bay. now it looks like that deadline is no longer applicable. the same thing with health care. a vote at the end of august. now they've moved it. i think probably should pull back on the deadlines. >> i'm going to give warren the last word. he'll be ou

7% say gates. 25% crowley. that's about even. see, taps low -- americans don't know what happened there. and then most people disapprove of the way president obama handled it which is why having the beer fest today. 29% saying he handled it well. now, what is it in america that we still have every two seconds a racial controversy? remember when i went up to sylvias and had dinner with al sharpton and said on my radio show, sylvias is just like any other restaurant in america. a nice place with nice people. i got served great. then the left wing turned it into i was denigrating saying oh, he didn't think sylvias was going to be nice. >> or that those people have barbecue friday. bill: context piece of garbage. why is this continued to be used as a sledge hammer against people in ideological battles? >> you worked in boston in the 80's. long history of race problems, particularly in the -- in many, many communities boston has a sorry mel alan can any legacy. common ground during the 80's. talking about it here you had the boston co

home for disorderly conduct and gates accused crowley of racial profiling. but it reached a whole new level when president obama during a press conference on health care was asked for his thoughts on the matter and well, through out an adverb he soon regretted. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> after police groups began protesting, the president's choosing sides, mr. obama backed off. saying both sides had overreacted. >> i could have calibrated those words differently. my hope is as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what's called a teachable moment. >> but the news of the men having a beer together tonight did not calm things down in this wild media world. >> tonight is the beer summit. >> 6:00 p.m. eastern time is show time, you might say. >> just three guys going to have some cold beer. >> this bud's for you. >> i have to say, i'm fascinated with the fascination about this evening. as you know, this idea was prompted when i was talking to sergeant crowley and he said, well, maybe i'll have a beer in the white house some day. i said,

so what we know about cambridge police sergeant james crowley?oining us is a reporter from the "boston herald." the second police officer says he will not apologize, because he has nothing to apologize for, he is not a racist. what are you finding out about him. -- what are you finding out about him? >> [inaudible] he was in the news back then, trying to give reggie lewis mouth to mouth resuscitation. but at the time, he told the paper that people were saying about him, "there is the guy who killed reggie lewis." he said that left him broken hearted and he cried out for several nights. he also teaches racial profiling courses, instructing police recruits in avoiding the very practice he is accused of the engaging in by the harvard professor, henry louis gates, jr.. juliet: what are people at brandeis saying about him? >> everybody we talked to so far says he is a by-the-book officer, very even keel, and even the police commissioner said he stood firmly behind him, saying that he acted according to protocol. good things are being said about this o

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, massachusetts. ron, i know we're only moments away from the sergeant speaking publicly again. he has done a radio and tv interview and maybe a couple. is there more we're learning right now, either from the sergeant or from others involved? >> well, i think the other thing that is going to happen at that press conference, the union is really going to step forward and defend sergeant crowley in a very strong way. there are also reports the union is going to demand an apology from president obama and massachusetts governor patrick to sergeant crowley for taking sides in this essentially and supporting professor gates m -- in this altercation and back and forth. we'll see if tha

does that make sergeant crowley a racist? i don't know. but it does make him a bad cop and a liability to his police department. mike: yet, there were other officers on the scene who agreed that there was disorderly conduct and the citizen who made the complaint felt that things were getting out of hand. and that it was alarming and that it was tumultuous to use some of the legal words. it's not indisputable. there is clear lay question as to whether there was disorderly conduct. but there was basis for the officer to believe that the behavior of professor gates went beyond simply being upset and continuing to berate the officer and bebelligerent to the point that the officer felt disorderly conduct. how can you be so sure? >> what was the intent of professor gates? not to create the public outcry. he was angry. he was furious. that is different than intending to create a public riot or alarm. something very different is the legal issue, of course. and i do think it gives rise. i sue cops for a living so obviously i think it gives rise to

crowley suggested it to the president when mr. obama called to clarify his own remarks over the arrest of professor gates. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> reporter: gates was arrested on a disorderly perns c pharge after police responded to a break-in report at his home. gates claimed racial profiling which crowley denied although the charges dropped. crowley said later the meeting was polite but no apologies were offered. >> i think what you had today is two gentlemen agreed to disagree on a particular issue. i don't think we spent too much time dwelling on the past. we spent a lot of time discussing the future. >> reporter: outside the white house folks seemed split over whether the meeting would make a difference in race relations. >> you know, in the big scheme of things, i think there's more important things than having a beer on the white house lawn good i don't think it would solve anything. i just think they gotogether for a beer. >> it probably solved ns problems. they probably worked some things out. people ne

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 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. my hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what is 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 fleeing accusations we can all be a little more reflective