advertisement

Crackdown or Compassion?

It's hard not to feel sympathy for a sobbing young woman, explaining she only came to this country to work -- for a better life. She believes in her heart, despite what the law says, she has not committed a crime.

On the other hand, it's also difficult not to empathize with an elderly retiree, standing on a street corner with a picket sign, trying to rally support for laws that will remove thousands of day laborers waiting for work on the corners of a suburb that could be anywhere in America.

"We are not bad people," says Teresa Biarra in New Haven, Conn. "We are people dedicated to working." Biarra is here illegally. She's free on bail after federal immigration officers arrested her and 30 others recently.

"The whole thing is the law," says Sue Grant in Farmingville, New York. "I want our politicians to enforce the law, that's all I'm asking." Grant and a few others are picketing at a busy intersection, with signs demanding deportation for anyone here illegally.

The stories of these two women illustrate the nation's sharp divide on illegal immigration. Should we crack down or show compassion? Can we get rid of them, or are they here to stay?

CONTINUED »

Discuss (196 comments)  Email this | Link to this

Keeping the Faith

I had not been to Salt Lake City in many years. The last visit I recall took me right through town on the way to the ski resorts. So I was quite eager to head out there for a story about the Mormon faith and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's run for the white house. And, the fact that polls show a significant number of people say they wouldn't vote for him because of his religion. To be honest, I really didn't know what Mormonism is all about. I'm no theologian, nor expert now. But accept it or reject it, I've come to believe in my travels around the world that it's important and fascinating to learn what people of other cultures and faiths think.

Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints invited us to meet Jorge Becerra and his family who live in Sandy, Utah. It's a pristine looking, suburban place, with clean streets, shiny cars, framed as you would a scene on a postcard by Utah's still slightly snow-capped mountains. Everything seemed so nice, orderly, spartan. I was envious of the lush lawns and well manicured gardens. We're having trouble getting our grass to grow.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (25 comments)  Email this | Link to this

a bit of decency, please

"What do we want? Decency! When do we want it? Now!" 

That was the chant by a small but determined group of women outside the offices of Viacom in midtown Manhattan. They're targeting the media giant because it owns BET, MTV and VH-1, and the hip hop and rap music they play.

"What specifically do you want off the air?" I asked. The terse response: music about bitches, hos and nig%$#'s. You know it when you hear it. "Prurient, debased and racist depictions of women in particular in the media," is how Janice Mathis of Rainbow Push describes it.

I honestly believe we would not have been out there were it not for Don Imus. The women agree.  Numerous groups came together to form something called "Women's Voices," during the Imus controversy. Now, they're trying to ride the public interest generated back then, to try and clean up the airwaves. Some of Imus' defenders said he was just repeating what's so often heard in rap music. "Women's Voices" is trying to take that defense away.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (6 comments)  Email this | Link to this

It's a 'beautiful day' in N.H.

It's a crisp afernoon in Prescott Park in Portsmouth, N.H. There's a small crowd waiting for Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., to make his "official" announcement that he's running for president. I thought the crowd would be bigger -- it's a few hundred I would guess. The folks running the show are filling time until the senator arrives. The chants of "McCain! McCain!" are echoing out as far as you can see. I have to believe the staff hopes for more energy when their candidate arrives.

A lot of people in the crowd are comparing the McCain of 2008 to the one of 2000, who burst on the scene as the maverick outsider and won the primary here in decisive fashion. New Hampshire likes candidates with attitude and independence. Some are wondering if McCain still fits that billing. It's important to say he leads in many of the polls here. He has a big, experienced staff. His supporters dismiss the national story, saying he needs a fresh start. The Straight Talk Express just pulled up -- they've cranked up the music -- U2's 'Beautiful Day.' That means it's showtime. Gotta go!

Discuss (2 comments)  Email this | Link to this

A window into his mind

To show or not to show Cho Seung-Hui's "manifesto?" That was the question faced by NBC News. We did what I would think every responsible news organization would do.

I've seen and read through some of the documents that have never aired, because I've been reporting on it all day on MSNBC. It's unbelievable, just like the massacre. We're in the business of providing the public with information and letting you decide how to process it.

Given the enormity of what happened at Virginia Tech, given our failure to comprehend in any way, how someone could become so whatever it was that fueled Cho's rampage, his final words and pictures offer a window into his mind. Admittedly, so much of it in just an angry rant or diatribe, but it says something that perhaps helps us understand. Or at least helps us try to.

Perhaps there's something there that might set off alarms about the next Cho?

CONTINUED »

Discuss (10 comments)  Email this | Link to this

Imus' comments hit close to home

For the record, I've appeared on the Imus Show as a reporter here at NBC News. I have relatives who graduated from Rutgers University. And, before it started disappearing, I had short, and rather tightly curled, hair -- so all of this is hitting very close to home.

I've heard Imus apologize, a few times. He sounds sincere. I understand he wants to meet the Rutgers team. He'll be on Al Sharpton's radio show.

But I still can't forget those words: "nappy headed hos," and then more banter about "jigaboos and wannabes." Where did that come from? How could Imus -- and don't forget his producer -- feel comfortable enough to think that's funny? How could they not anticipate a firestorm? When people speak that way publicly, it makes you wonder what's said, and felt, in private?

CONTINUED »

Discuss (494 comments)  Email this | Link to this

Another new normal at airports?

Many passengers arriving at JFK airport in New York this morning were bewildered by the new security procedures... alarmed by word of a plot to blow up several airplanes over the Atlantic... and determined to get on with their travel plans. A lot of travelers hadn't heard about the ban on liquids and gels until they arrived. Then the scramble began to salvage toilet items like toothpaste, suntan oil and even water. It all sounded a bit surreal... until they were told liquid explosives were suspected of being the weapon of choice by the arrested British homegrown terrorists. The line stretched through the terminal. Even the baggage screeners were new to all of this. So as they sorted through personal belongings, the questions were relentless: "What about this medication?" I saw a prescription permitted on board, after careful documentation.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (44 comments)  Email this | Link to this

Israel's future

TEL AVIV -- It's an old saying, but today really is the first day of the rest of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's life. He walked out of a Jerusalem hospital, smiling, joking to reporters, "apparently you missed me?" Suddenly he's a world leader who has survived a health scare. Doctors gave him a clean bill of health, pronouncing him fully recovered from a "mild stroke" that caused Israel to hold its collective breath Sunday night. Aides play the entire episode down as nothing that serious. But this country was stunned, while probably not surprised their 77-year-old leader, 10 years beyond retirement age here, visibly overweight and carrying the considerable weight of this part of the world on his shoulders, faced a medical emergency. It's really a wonder nothing like this has ever happened before.

The fact is, if it has happened before, few here know, certainly not the general public and certainly not Sharon's enemies and rivals. His medical records are private, sealed. And calls to change that in recent years have been dismissed. Now that may change.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (4 comments)  Email this | Link to this

More about Sister Mary

Every once in a while, we meet someone who really has made a difference. Sister Mary Scullion, of the Sisters of Mercy, has been called Philadelphia's Mother Theresa. In the course of reporting tonight's profile of her, she tried to introduce us to, and have us interview, everyone but herself about the homeless problem.

She began her efforts about 20 years ago, when homelessness became a problem that really riveted the nation's attention. She started an organization called Project H.O.M.E. Just doing that was a huge problem because she wanted to open a shelter in an abandoned casket factory close to Center City. No one wanted any homeless people anywhere downtown, and certainly not a shelter where homeless people would live.

CONTINUED »

Discuss (10 comments)  Email this | Link to this