GREGORY: CBS has fired Don Imus one day after MSNBC has done the same. He is off the air.
Joining us now are two members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Maryland congressman Elijah Cummings and the caucuss chairwoman, Michigan congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. Congresswoman Kilpatrick, I heard you on Reverend Sharptons show earlier this week with Don Imus and your exchange. What is your reaction today? And Ill ask you pointedly, does the sentence fit the crime in this case?
REP. CAROLYN CHEEKS KILPATRICK (D-MI), CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS
CHAIR: You know, Im honored today to be in New York, and earlier this morning met with both the president and the senior staff at NBC and at CBS. Its an awesome responsibility. We had wonderful meetingsthe president of NOW, National Organization for Women, as well National Organization for Women (ph) organizations (ph), as well as Marc Morial from the Urban League. It was a cross-section. It was a good meeting.
And this is bigger than Imus. Im obviously delighted that hes been fired. I said early on he should be fired. Now we have to say the culture and talk about the culture of our communications media system in America. Do we want to build American strong families, or do we want to tear them apart? I think the acts and the stepsand I want to commend both presidents for taking that action. That was the right step to take. And...
GREGORY: But Congressman...
(CROSSTALK)
GREGORY: Can I just interject for a moment? I just want to hear on this specific caseI want to hear you articulate why you think this result is the just result.
KILPATRICK: This is the just result because this gentlemanand I have to call him a gentlemandid what was wrong. There are millions of young people, women particularly, African-Americans specifically, who marvel at who we are, who work hard every day, who sacrifice to go to Rutgers University and other universities around this country, who stay there, who achieve excellence in academics. And then to find a young man who just look out on the floor and call them somethingand again, it wasnt just those words. They had a conversation for three or four minutes with very derogatory images and messages about a particular group of people.
We also had in our group this morning one of the psychiatrists from Rutgers University, and she talked about the damaging effect it still does yet today. You saw the women. Theyre smart. Theyre intelligent. Theyre scholastic. Theyre prodigies. Theyre still damaged. And one said shell be damaged for the rest of her life.
I dont think you understand the far-reaching impact of the remarks. It wasnt just something from the hip. It was researched. Someone gave him that. And incidentally, it was absolutely the totally wrong thing to say for America at a time when were fragile, were at war, people are losing their jobs, children are worried about their financial aid, if they can go to school...
GREGORY: Right.
KILPATRICK: Wrong time, wrong message, and he got what he deserved.
GREGORY: OK, Congresswoman, I just want to be clear, Im not making a judgment about the remarks or their impact, but Im questioning you and others about just what you think about the outcome.
And let me turn now to Congressman Cummings. In this case, your reaction, and do you think this fit the crime?
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD), CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: No doubt about it, it fit the crime. You got to keep in mindand I agree with my chairlady, Ms. Kilpatrickwe had a situation here where African-American women and others were balancing a sports career at a college, and a very good one at that, very good college, with academics. I dont know how many people have ever tried to do it. Its very, very difficult. And these are young ladies that are probably going to go on to graduate from school and become professionals in our society.
And at a moment when they were in the process of celebrating, celebrating the fact that they had gotten to the Final Four, the Final Two, here comes an elderly gentleman, who comes along and ruins their moment. Anybody whos a parentIm a parent of two daughtersI can tell you, that is what hurts. I mean, Imus had made comments about other people who were adults that could fend for themselves. But the fact is that these were our children, who, as Ms. Kilpatrick said, were giving it their very, very best, and thats the last thing you want to see.
Now, let me tell you something. I reallyI agree that this is so much bigger than this. And Im sure that thewhen I hear about the presidents of CBS and NBC doing what they have done, I hope theyll go even further than that. I dont want it to end here. I want to make sure that people like Tim Russert has more African-Americans and minorities on his programs. I want to make sure that there are internships for folks who want to come into the studios because, let me tell you, I think that if Imus had wonderful young ladies like this around him in his studio, perhaps working with him, interning or whatever, I dont think he would have made those kind of statements because he would have been more sensitive.
And we do have to doas Ms. Kilpatrick said, weve got to find a way to bring our society together. And we cannot just let this just sort of go away, as Imus may go off into the sunset. I hope he doesnt go into the sunset. I hope he finds a way tojust as he has raised money and wonderfully for children with cancer, I hope that hell raise money for scholarships for young people because Ms. Kilpatrick will tell you that we have young brilliant kids in our communities that are sitting home or doing some job because they dont have the money to go to college.
GREGORY: Congresswoman...
CUMMINGS: I say to Imus, Help them.
GREGORY: Let me ask you, Congresswoman, you appeared, as I mentioned, on Reverend Sharptons program earlier in the week with Don Imus. And there is no debate about the hideousness of his remark. How did you find him? Did you think his remorse was genuine, or did you find it forced?
KILPATRICK: Unfortunately, I believe the gentleman did not get the impact of what he said and how it related to the world, and particularly to America. After talking to himand Ive got friends who know him and say hes a nice gentleman, he donates, he gives his time, he and his wife. And we thank him for that. I dont think he gets it. He wont understand, for some reason, and I hope hell take this timeand Id be happy to work with him, and so will members of the Congressional Black Caucusto bring him around so that we talk about how we build a stronger family, how we make access to higher education more affordable, and those kinds of things.
So I dont think he was malicious at all. I think he said what he said, not thinking what he was thinking, or whatever he was thinking, and God only knows that. So you know, I dont think it was malicious. And I did talk to him for a few minutes on Reverend Sharptons show, and it was a good exchange, but I left there just knowing in my heart that he didnt understand the impact of what he had done.
I think after the team and the coaches and the presidentand by the way, we, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Speaker of the House, are having the president, the team, the coaches in to Washington, D.C., in the next 10 days. Were also going to have a hearing. This is the 35th year of Title 9, which is federal legislation that began the equal opportunity for women in sports. And were inviting the Rutgers psychiatrist, were inviting the president of NOW and a couple others to talk about this so that this is the beginning and not the end.
And when we met with the two presidents todayand I feel confident that as they told us, theyre going to work with us, that we are going to see a change in their culture. We told that they were the leaders, they were the leaders at this time of our lives, at this time in history, and they can move the country forward by using a multi-cultural staff both in front of the camera and beyond, that they would use us as a resource.
We in the caucus have five members who are chairpersons of major committees. We have 17 members who are subcommittee chairs in everything from finance to economics...
GREGORY: Right.
KILPATRICK: ... to alternative energy. And I believe, in talking to them this morning, and particularly after weve seen the second action taken, youre going to see a different movement. Again, I commend both CBS and NBC.
GREGORY: Congressman, just a final question here, and a quick comment. Don Imus has accused some in the African-American community, particularly Civil Rights leaders, yourselves included, who have spoken to the networks and spoken out on this issueaccused them of hypocrisy. And one of the things he cites, for instance, because its topical, is the outcome of the Duke lacrosse rape case. And is there condemnation for this young woman, this young African-American woman who made a case against these young white men that was unfounded, in the end? And thats what the courts ruled. Do you speak out in that case, as well?
CUMMINGS: I think thatI think that whenever there is injustice anywhere, it is horrible. As a lawyer, one who has gone into many, many courtrooms throughout the state of Maryland, I can tell you I think that what happened there was clearly unfair. And I think it came out and it came out in the wash.
Butand I dontbut understand, here we have a situation where, again, Mr. Imus has said a lot of things. But keep in mind, he has come forth and hes apologized. Again, Ms. Kilpatrick has heard the apology. She questions his sincerity. But the fact still remains that we have now got to take this situation and make something better of it. And one of the things that we spend a lot of time in the caucus doing is trying to take negative situations, look at them for what they are, and then make things better as a result of them. And I think thats exactly what is going to happen, particularly with the leadership of Ms. Kilpatrick and the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and many others.
GREGORY: We are going to leave it there for now, but I can tell you, on this network, this is a conversation that will continue. Thank you to Congressman Elijah Cummings and Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
KILPATRICK: Thank you.
CUMMINGS: Thank you.