Controversy Over Harvard Arrest Escalates
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. Tonight, breaking news: what police found when they raided Michael Jackson's doctor's office. Also, the continuing controversy tonight over the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. Today, the police sergeant who arrested the professor speaking out about what President Obama said last. And the president is speaking out again today. Later, Geoffrey Canada and Soledad O'Brien from "Black in America 2," along with NAACP president Ben Jealous on the state of black America. But we begin with the breaking news, Randi Kaye with new information about -- about -- about Dr. Conrad Murray. Randi, what have you learned?</s>RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I'm holding here in my hand the search warrants filed today at Houston district court. These show exactly what was taken from the clinic belonging to Dr. Conrad Murray. That, as you know, is Jackson's personal physician who was with him the day that he died at his house. We first reported last night that the clinic was searched. Well, now, tonight, we can tell you that wasn't the only place. We can tell you that a second search warrant was also served, not at the clinic, but at a private storage unit belonging to Dr. Conrad Murray. Both warrants say they are seeking information and evidence of the offense of manslaughter. There is a long list of items taken that we want to tell you about. All of it is inside here, including notices from the IRS, Rolodex cards and some drugs that may very well raise some eyebrows. And, Anderson, I will have much more on these warrants, what's in them, and how that might affect the investigation in just a few minutes.</s>COOPER: All right, Randi, we will come back to you. Now the policeman, the professor and the president of the United States and the continuing controversy, Cambridge Massachusetts Police Sergeant James Crowley arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. inside the professor's home. Was race a factor? Or did tempers simply flare? Did professor Gates provoke the sergeant? And, if he did, is that cause for arrest? All of it being hotly debated at this hour. Then, last night, President Obama saying the police acted stupidly, the blogs, talk radio erupting today. Now reaction from the sergeant, his boss, and even more from the president. Plenty to talk about. It's a nation divided. First, Joe Johns with the facts.</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everyone, it seems, is weighing in on the story of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates' arrest for disorderly conduct, everyone including the president.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.</s>JOHNS: That was last night. And the president had to reel that comment back in a bit today, with his press secretary saying, the president -- quote -- "was not calling the officer stupid. He was denoting that, at a certain point, the situation got far out of hand." But Mr. Obama talked about it again today in an interview on</s>ABC. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC NEWS) OBAMA: What I can tell -- from what I can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer. But my suspicion is, is probably that it would have been better if cooler heads had prevailed.</s>JOHNS: The president didn't comment about the racial overtones in the case, but professor Gates certainly is. Gates, who is a friend of the president, claims he was the target of racial profiling. He's demanding an apology.</s>HENRY LOUIS GATES, PROFESSOR, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: But 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.</s>JOHNS: But the guy who arrested Gates, Cambridge Police Sergeant John Crowley, is now speaking out, too, saying the arrest didn't have anything to do with race. And when asked last night by WFXT whether he would apologize to Gates, Crowley said, forget it.</s>QUESTION: Is this now and ever no apology?</s>SERGEANT JAMES CROWLEY, CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes.</s>QUESTION: What if it means discipline or your job?</s>CROWLEY: It won't. I have the support of my organization, which I'm very grateful for.</s>JOHNS: And, as far as the president goes, Crowley said, in a WEEI radio interview, that Mr. Obama didn't have all the facts.</s>CROWLEY: Of course, he is the president of the United States, and I support the president to a point, I guess. I think it's disappointing that he waded into what is -- should be a local issue.</s>JOHNS (on camera): It turns out Crowley's got a good resume. He was handpicked by a black police commissioner to teach classes on racial profiling at a police academy. And, as far as the Gates case goes, the disorderly conduct charge was dropped. But the mayor says he wants to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. (voice-over): And the Cambridge police commissioner, who expressed his firm support of how Crowley conducted himself, says, his department is launching an investigation and is clearly not happy about all the attention.</s>ROBERT HAAS, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, POLICE CHIEF: This department is deeply pained and take its -- its professional pride seriously.</s>JOHNS: The cost of a national debate over race and the police. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.</s>COOPER: A lot to talk about. Let's dig deeper with political analyst Roland Martin, and Boyce Watkins. Dr. Watkins is a finance professor at Syracuse University and author of "What If George Bush Were a Black Man?" Appreciate all of you being with us. Roland, what do you make of this?</s>ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, I mean, it is not surprising that what Skip Gates went through is un -- is -- is common for African-Americans.</s>COOPER: Do you believe this was a rogue police officer, like the professor says?</s>MARTIN: No. No, first off, I cannot make an -- I cannot say that he was a rogue police officer. I cannot say he was racist. I don't know anything about him or his background. But, also, I think what we have to recognize is, what does the individual who is going through it, what are they experiencing? Here you are, an African-American, homeowner, in your home, white cop looking for a suspect. You provide your evidence. This says, I'm the owner of the home. I'm still considered a suspect, if you will. And, so, you have that dynamic. And, so, you have to ask yourself, what was the position that he was in? What was he feeling? That's really what the issue in terms of what Gates. Like, wait a minute, here, I'm the homeowner, and I'm still feeling as if I'm still a suspect. That's probably what he was speaking to.</s>COOPER: Boyce, what do you think?</s>BOYCE WATKINS, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Well, I think what we have to do, which is what I have been saying from the beginning, is, we need to know all the facts before we go and accuse someone of doing something that might ultimately ruin their career. Imagine if you're a guy like Sergeant Crowley, who has had an exemplary career. You have even taught classes as an expert on racial profiling, and then you get accused of this. Now, I'm a friend of Skip Gates. I'm a friend of Roland. And I support President Obama. But I wanted to know the facts. I didn't say, oh, my gosh, what is going on? This guy did something outrageous. I said, well, what happened? And then I went and interviewed several police officers, and said, what's the standard procedure when you investigate a breaking and entering? And I found out a lot of things that the public doesn't know. For example, just because you show an I.D. showing that you belong in that house, that doesn't mean that you should actually be there, because one-third of all women that are murdered are actually killed by a former lover. And many of those men break into their own home to violate a restraining order to hurt their spouse. So, this doesn't mean professor Gates would do that himself, but it does mean that there's usually more to things that meet that -- than meet the eye. So, we have got to be smart about this.</s>MARTIN: Anderson, he said standard procedure. Well, Massachusetts law states that when a citizen requests the name and badge number of a cop, they are to give it. Gates has said he requested that. The sergeant said he would not give it to him.</s>COOPER: But that's not what the police report says.</s>MARTIN: Precisely.</s>COOPER: The police report actually says that the sergeant attempted several times to give him the information, but the professor spoke over him.</s>MARTIN: Right. And the police report is the perspective of the police officer. It is his perspective. It's not infallible. It's not the absolute truth. So, he has a perspective. Gates has one. And I think it's important to recognize that there are two views as to what happened in this case.</s>COOPER: It's one of those situations, Boyce, where there are two diametrically opposed perspectives.</s>COOPER: I mean, clearly, the professor believes he has been wronged and that he's in the right. And, clearly, the police officer believes what he did was standard procedure.</s>WATKINS: Well, I think that what we have to do as the American public is we have got to distinguish between the facts that are clear and the facts that are fuzzy. There are some things that are clear. We know that he was there. We know that there was a dialogue and a back and forth, and we know what happened on the front porch. But we don't know what happened inside that house. Now, I'm not accusing Skip Gates of being a liar or anything like that. But, when you make such a strong accusation to say that this guy was racially profiling, well, you know, the officer could also say, well, maybe you were racially profiling me by saying that, because I'm a white man arresting you, I must be doing it because you're a black man in America.</s>MARTIN: Hey, Boyce...</s>WATKINS: So, we have got to hold -- we have got to hold diametric accountability on this. We can't just say that every white officer who arrests a black man must be racist.</s>COOPER: I want to continue this discussion on the other side of this commercial break.</s>MARTIN: Sure.</s>COOPER: So, Roland, hold your thought for a moment. Boyce Watkins will be right back. Roland Martin will be right back as well. A lot more to cover ahead in the hour ahead. Let us know what you think. The live chat is under way right now at AC360.com. I just logged on, a lot of people logging on about this. Later, more breaking news -- the Jackson developments, and a chilling look at Michael Jackson's state of mind and body in his final days and hours. Also, that peephole video of ESPN's Erin Andrews -- new information about who might have taped it and the disturbing new world it reveals, where technology allows just about anyone to invade your privacy anywhere you go. We will be right back.