MSNBC Takes Imus Off the Air
KING: We now welcome in New York, Bruce Gordon, CBS board member. CBS Radio -- formally Westwood One Radio, by the way -- owns WFAN, the Imus flagship station. He's a former president of the NAACP. And also in New York is Bo Dietl, chairman of Bo Dietl and Associates, a major security firm, a frequent guest on the Imus show. CBS Radio released this statement today, Bruce -- "Don Imus has been suspended without pay for two weeks beginning on Monday, April 16th. During that time, CBS Radio will continue to speak with all concerned parties and monitor the situation closely." Do you think they will follow suit with MSNBC, Bruce?</s>BRUCE GORDON, CBS BOARD MEMBER: Larry, I don't know whether they will follow suit. I hope that that will be the decision of management, because I think that it would be the right decision. I must admit that I think that management has a responsibility to think through all the issues, to cover all the facts, and to make an informed, well-rationalized decision. But as you listen to the three people who came in to your program at the beginning of the segment, you had a diverse group there who, across the board, reached the conclusion that Don Imus did the wrong thing and his behavior deserved the consequence that MSNBC has chosen to establish.</s>KING: Bruce...</s>GORDON: And I think that CBS will probably go in the same direction, but I don't know that. That's up to Les.</s>KING: You're a -- Les Moonves, you mean. You're a board member. Do you have input?</s>GORDON: I certainly have input. The decisions that are made about content, about programming, about talent are decisions that are made by management. But as a director of CBS, I have an obligation to make very clear to management my perspective on any issue, not just this issue, but any issue. And on this particular one, the Imus behavior was so across the line, that I had to raise my voice both with management and publicly.</s>KING: Yes. Bo Dietl, you've been a friend of his for years, on the program a lot. I know you spent some time with Don yesterday a couple of hours at his apartment. What do you make of all of this?</s>BO DIETL, FREQUENT IMUS GUEST: Well, first of all, I don't sit here tonight and condone anything that was said with those two horrible words. I have a 17-year-old daughter, and believe me, I don't think Imus knew what he was saying when those words came out of his mouth. But saying that, he said it. But all I bring out is that I thought that NBC could give him the opportunity to meet with the victims, these young ladies who reached the epitome of the national championship. Why can't we have these ladies talk with him and their parents, and talk. And when they finish talking to him, if they decide they want them out, let them make that decision. Or why can't we make them inspiration for other youths, other children that go to children and do sports and become really great at these sports and activities? Why can't Imus talking to them? Maybe it's possible something that Imus wants to do, like possibly setting up a scholarship and let this terrible thing that was said become something good. I'm about building, I'm not about ripping apart. He had a lot of influence building that hospital in San Antonio. Autism -- bringing up from $15,000 a year to $500,000 for our soldiers coming back who were killed, for their families. He's done a lot of good things.</s>KING: Yes.</s>DIETL: I don't sit here, Mr. Gordon, and condone. All I ask you to do is give him an opportunity on CBS. And Mr. Moonves, give him an opportunity to talk to the victims. The victims are these beautiful young ladies that reached their epitome. And you know what? Them words didn't come out of Don Imus's mouth. They're heard all over, in every school yard in America, in elementary schools, in high schools. These kids talk like this regular, and they think it's acceptable. All this nonsense music that my daughter listens to, I have to listen to these words.</s>KING: All right. Bruce...</s>DIETL: We should ban together, Mr. Gordon. And what we should do is build on this...</s>KING: Let him respond, Bo. All right. Bruce, does he have a good point?</s>GORDON: I understand his point, but don't accept it. I don't know Don Imus, but from I understand, he's done some good things in his life and I appreciate that.</s>KING: He sure has.</s>GORDON: But, having said that, I think that cooperations have to have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to racial discrimination. When an employee, particularly one of Don Imus's stature, who has the power of the media behind him, abuses that power -- and he abused his power and directed it at young women who didn't deserve it. And when that kind of abuse takes place, I believe there has to be a consequence. It may be painful to him, I'm sorry about that. But CBS and MSNBC have an obligation to carry out their policies and to have a zero tolerance approach to such.</s>DIETL: Well, in our society, Mr. Gordon, people say -- he said two words. Should two words be the ruination of this man's whole life of doing good things? I do agree they were horrible words. But why can't we try to build on this and make relationships between everybody become better, instead of pulling apart? And I think that's exactly what we do. Let's see what Don Imus has to stay to the families. Let's get -- make these young ladies the inspiration for other children going into college, that they now are recognized as fighting for the national champion, Rutgers College. Let's make a scholarship fund for inner city ladies to go to that school. Let's build it up. And I'll be part of that.</s>KING: Bo...</s>DIETL: And I know Imus would be there for that.</s>KING: Bo, how badly is he taking all of this, Bo?</s>DIETL: Well, I want to say it right to Mr. Gordon. You know, everybody can think that he's a callous person. Mr. Imus I have been around. When he came from his ranch a week and a half ago, when he was there for the children with cancer, he was supposed to go directly back to New York. But you know what he did? He made the plane go to Atlanta and pick up a 6-year-old child, a 6-year-old child with cancer in his eye, which they call him the fallen angels when they fly them. And this 6-year-old child with cancer in his eye, you know what he was? He was African-American. That's Don Imus. And before you start condemning my friend and a friend of a lot of people, we should let him have an opportunity. This is America. Give him an opportunity. If you want to slice him up after that, you do what you want to do, but give him the opportunity, Mr. Gordon.</s>KING: Bruce, maybe should they have waited until he spoke with the team, Bruce?</s>GORDON: I don't think so. I think that NBC had to do what NBC did. CBS has chosen to take a slower course, a more methodical course to gather all the facts, to consider all of the issues. And I applaud management for doing that. But I need to say two things. One, this particular outburst by Don Imus is not his first. His radio personality has been established over the years, and his insulting approach to many segments of our society is not new, one. Secondly, we need to keep in mind that the media has been disrespectful of the African-American community for years. And we've tolerated that. We have allowed those kinds of disrespects to occur over and over again. And finally, this really dramatic incident has put a spotlight on bad behavior on the part of the media, and it's unfortunate that it ends up on the lap of one guy. But he brought it on himself and he has got to accept that accountability.</s>KING: We'll be doing a lot more on this. Thanks, Bruce Gordon and Bo Dietl. By the way, tomorrow night, Elizabeth Edwards, the vice president's -- the former vice presidential candidate's wife, and the subject of breast cancer. Up next, outspoken liberal comedian and now Senate candidate Al Franken. What does this former talk radio host make of the Imus story? Find out when LARRY KING LIVE returns.</s>FRANKEN: But I think I can do more, and so I'm going to run for the United States Senate.