join us weekdays in "the situation room" from 4 to 7 p.m. eastern and every saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and at this time every weekend on cnn international. the news continues next on cnn. tonight murder mystery. six people dead. multiple screcrime scenes. getting at the truth. investigators in florida growing frustrated with all the rumors surrounding the double murder of a couple. their top brass clears it up for us. happy birthday, mr. president. nelson mandela celebrates his 91st with a message live to the world right here on cnn. i'm don lemon. breaking news. police are investigating a multiple murder along the tennessee/alabama state line and have a suspect in cuss i di. police held a news conference. they say five bodies were found in two homes in lincoln county, tennessee. some of the victims are related. police also found another crime scene linked to those deaths on the same street. a sixth victim was found across the state line in huntsville, alabama. police identified the suspect as jacob lee schafer, murder charges are pending. >> this is one of the worst crimes in lincoln county. it is a tremendous crime scene. we've never had a situation like this, but in a serious situation, once we determine exactly what it is, we back out and then start processing the scene from the outside in and that's what's taking place. >> well, so far we don't know the identity of the victims and don't know the cause of death or a motive. it is supposed to be a place for kidding to find a safe haven, in a industry grappling with a wave of violence but last night in chicago, a frightening reminder that no place is truly safe. two teens shot and wounded outside a church. aaron mendez of wgn joins me now from chicago with an update on that. >> reporter: good evening, don. interesting because the priest of this church st. sabina has been a longtime gun control advocate so this became a personal one for him last night when these two were shot on the front steps of st. sabina. >> so father michael pfleger was at a press conference. he has been extremely touched by this not in a good way. it has affected him coming out actually crying on camera. have you been able to talk to him about what his next move is? is he challenging police or investigators to try to do more when it comes to these types of crimes. >> reporter: they feeled calls last night and received ray number of tip, some they believe to be solid and had a message for the shooter. he was very furious and he pointed directly at these cameras and said you guys came to the wrong door and this is a personal fight for father pfleger because he lost his own adoptive son back in 1998 to stray gunfire so there's that personal thread too. >> talk to us about the other -- cnn has been investigating. i would imagine there are other news organizations in the area investigating all of these shootings and especially young people, teens being killed in chicago. i know the mayor addressed it recently. so did the police commissioner jody weist. what is going on there on the ground when it comes to investigating these shootings? >> reporter: you know, it's a huge problem. you know, they had 36 school-age children in chicago and this is just a tote aal up to june that were killed this year alone and they can't seem to get it under control and father pfleger is really taking the battle to the front lines and flying the american flag upside down like you do when there is a crisis outside the church to make a statement and say, hey, this is a major crisis in the city of chicago. we need to draw attention to it and it's beyond just, you know, enforcing it out on the streets. we need stronger gun control and pointing a finger at springfield and at washington right now. >> thanks, erin mendez of wgn in chicago with an update for us on the shooting from last night. we appreciate it, erin. getting word that father michael pfleger will join us at 10:00 p.m. eastern to talk about what happened right at his church. meantime, to pensacola, florida, a small safe haven from the deadly home invasion of byrd and melanie billings recovered buried in the backyard of pamela long wiggins, just one of the strange twists and turns in a baffling double killing. i should say a safe was found. susan candiotti takes a look at the lone woman suspect in the case. >> reporter: charged as an accessory after the fact to murder, pamela long wiggins smiles as the camera catches her under police escort. she's the only woman among seven men accused in connection with the shooting deaths of byrd and melinda billings. police say cameras that captured the suspects were also rolling inside the home. >> it's an incredible odd mix of people and an incredibly interesting and sad story. >> reporter: wiggins wasn't there but her minivan was, used as a getaway car. important evidence was found on her property. a safe allegedly stolen from the billings' home containing jewelry, passports and children's medication was buried in wiggins' back yard. a pile of bricks covering the spot. police say her husband was the one who tipped them off to the safe. a source involved in the investigation says wiggins kept it to himself until police found the couple on a 47-foot boat called "the classy lady." police say her husband cooperated. he is not charged. she is. she's a woman with at least six aliases including pamela link and pamela coco all of them apparently from former marriages. she's a real estate agent who also owns this waterfront home currently under foreclosure and well-known antique mall in the area. wiggins has ties to the suspected ringleader in the billings case, leonard patrick gonzalez jr. investigators say she rents a home to him. records show he witnessed one of her marriage certificates. how does a businesswoman wind up allegedly linked to the brutal murder of a couple that adopted and cared for more than a dozen special needs children at their spacious home? it's a crime that has pensacola's gulf coast reeling. >> all of us in this community are giving that second look now over the shoulder because here's a family that opened their home to children with special needs and because they had this casual relationship with the wrong people sadly they were targeted. >> reporter: wiggins remains free after posting a $10,000 bond. she is scheduled for a court date in a few weeks. in the thick of a still mysterious home invasion robbery investigation. susan candiotti, cnn, pensacola, florida. >> all right. the investigation into this crime has revealed some very unsavory characters with strange connections. escambia county sheriff david morgan joins us with the latest. they came out and said there are so many rumors about this they felt they had to say something. the sheriff will clear up all those rumors. we'll get to the bottom of the truth coming up in just a little bit. also, we want to let you know we're keeping an eye on san francisco. this is discuss in. two light railcars have collided. police officer says there are lots of injuries, but none appears life-threatening. we'll bring you pictures as soon as we get them out of san francisco. an american fighter jet crashed in afghanistan. the f-15 eagle was apparently not hit by enemy fire and investigators are looking at the crash site in the ghazni province to determine if mechanical problems doomed the flight. 50 coalition troops have been killed in afghanistan so far in july. already the deadliest month of the war. government agents in iran used tear gas to break up a demonstration allegedly beating and arresting at least 40 people. witnesses say the demonstrators were hauled away in unmarked cars including a human rights lawyer. the crackdown came as ralliers and a powerful cleric called for the release of prisoners arrested last month during the fallout. they believe more than 2,000 people are still behind bars after the highly contested vote that gave mahmoud ahmadinejad a landslide victory. searchers in jakarta discovered a ninth body while sifting through the damage at two bombed hotels. here's what we know, surveillance video from the marriott shows a man culling a suitcase before a blinding blast you see right there. moments later another bomb rips through part of the ritz carlton. there's no claim of responsibility but suspicions are rising that the blasts were masterminded by a militant malaysian fugitive. he was a consummate journalist. veteran newsman walter cronkite died last night after a long illness. he was 92 years old. for decades he was the face of cbs news. he wasn't an old-school newsman, he was the cool and tonight former colleagues are remembering him. >> good evening, from the cbs news control center in new york, this is walter cronkite reporting. >> in the day when we were kids and starting under walter, walter embodied kind of the best of everything and the best you would aspire to. there were three networks at that point and walter was the most important man. you lived and died by what he said, how he wanted pieces to be told. you were answerable to walter when walter picked up the phone. you were scared to death. but on the other hand, there was a core value in what we did and, you know, it was a time when one voice mattered. >> from dallas, texas, the flash apparently official, president kennedy died at 1 p.m. central standard time. :00 eastern standard time. some 38 minutes ago. >> i remember that moment where he took off his glasses and he looked at the clock and he said that president kennedy has died, and i -- you know, that was one of earliest moments that you i can remember that i wanted to pursue a career in news and watched walter all through the days of the apollo space program and i remember him saying on july 20th, 1969 that man has landed on the moon. >> the eagle has landed. >> oh, boy. >> thank you. >> whew. oh, boy. >> we're going to be busy for a minute. >> i'm speechless. >> to say he was the most trusted man in america is an understatement. at that time anything that bad happened the world turned to him not only for the news but reassurance and he was -- he was not just an icon but he was, you know, almost like a member of your family. and to think that he is gone now is just such a sad occasion. >> he was the consummate television newsman. he had all the credentials to be a writer, an editor, a broadcast er. there was only one walter cronkite and there may never be another one. being friends with walter cronkite was about as high as you could rise in our business. to be his colleague and his friend was a double blessing. >> we'll have more reaction to the death of walter cronkite throughout the evening coming up in the next half hour. gordon joseloff will join us to remember the anchor. intriguing details keep coming to life from the double murder in pensacola. take a look at this. we're taking you live to the red carpet at the celebration of nelson mandela's 91st birthday. oscar winning actor forest whitaker joins, also will.i.am, live pictures from the red carpet. wyclef john on the red carpet. tell us what you want to talk about. tell us what you're thinking about the stories we're reporting. what's on your mind. twitter, facebook, myspace, you can always send us an i-report at ireport.com. ♪ (speaking in french) chef, come look, it's incredible. ♪ (speaking in french) how is this possible? did you do this? you did this? when you take a bigger, thicker slice of the best potatoes, people notice. introducing alexia crunchy snacks. a giant leap for snack kind. with special savings on select fabrics on all frames you choose the fabric we custom make it always with free design service. hand-made for you at ethan allen it's more affordable than you think. ethan allen with special savings on select fabrics on all frames. offer ends july 31st. including who i trust to look after my money. ♪ (woman) the dust might be settling... that's great, but i'm not. ♪ (second man) i guess i'm just done with doing nothing, you know? ♪ (third man) oh, i'm not thinking about moving my money. i am moving it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 all right. it is a story we're all talking about. the horrific double killing of byrd and melanie billings, well-known couple with a large family near pensacola, florida. police made eight arrests within days. now they are moving slowly and deliberately to ensure they don't jeopardize the prosecution of this case. escambia county sheriff david morgan has been the most visible voice of this investigation. he joins us tonight from pensacola, florida. thank you, sir, for joining us tonight. real quickly, i have to ask you, you know, there are so many -- you guys came out. there were so many rumors floating around about this case. why did you feel the need to hold a press conference to talk point rumors? >> well, because twopole, number one, to ex-pain a little bit about the procedure that we go through because we're trying to be as transparent and open as possible with the public and to be very frank with you, we did this for you, for the media. your assistant in this case has been pivotal and invaluable and i -- i as a sheriff and also the state attorney was very concerned that we come with a full disclosure to the press because you folks have just been there at a moment's notice when we needed you and so we wanted to confirm from again a state authority and not a civilian or excuse me a civil lawyer that, yes, in fact, this is what we have found in the safe. these are the documents recovered and those sorts of things. >> can you -- what did you find in the safe? you said it was prescription medication for the kids. >> for the children. we have some documents. there are some adoption papers and passports and there were heirloom jewelry in the safe. as we stated at that press conference, we knew from early on actually from the inception of this case after getting with the family and doing our first inventory of this house, we knew the contents of the safe but that's information you withhole as you bring people in for questioning. that's some of the things you use in leverage in the interviews to identify persons of interest versus suspects. >> real quickly because i want to get to a lot of things. nothing in that safe would lead most people to think why these people would be murdered. i mean there was nothing that valuable in the safe. there wasn't tons of cash or anything like that. >> that is correct. that is correct, sir. >> tell us about this woman. less a woman that has some involvement recently arrested. she was one of the owners of a van and that -- was this the red van we saw first or a second van we're talking about? >> there is a small maroon minivan that we have taken again as evidence. it's still currently being processed. her van was used for the transport of the safe and we believe the weapons. so, again, her involvement continues to come to the forefront on this and the public has sent us some e-mails and phone calls about the concern of her involvement and the charges that she had. i want to let everyone know that at no point in time do we stop this investigation and at no point in time will we continue to add charges to those when the evidence develops. >> sheriff, what about this unnamed teenager? >> no, sir, we don't -- we have not identified any ages of any individuals. i'm sorry. do you peen one of the seven? >> was there an unnamed teenager in all of this and what's the role that she has? >> no, sir. there's -- i'm unaware of that. >> i'm sorry. someone was talking to me. say again. i could not hear you. >> yes, sir, i'm unaware of that. we have some persons of interest we're still looking at but we have not released nor identified any teenagers in that mix. now we have a teenager in custody. >> go ahead. >> one of the original seven. >> one of the original seven. i just want to clear that up. i thought that was someone new -- we've been talking about a lot of rumors and wanted to get that cleared up, as well. let's talk about motive. everyone is trying to figure out motive. you guys know the motive, i'm sure. >> we do, sir. and, again, there is more than one motive. and, again, because we're in the game of high stakes poker at this point, the defense attorneys are coming on and interviewing their clients. we're being very, very careful in every move that we make to coordinate this with the state attorney's office to ensure that information that is released is released at the earliest opportunity but don't step forward and do a full disclosure which -- understand something, this is both for protection of the family for an embarrassment factor but the protection of the people under arrest and their rights. there are rules to the criminal justice system that we must all follow and i'm going to ensure that folks that are currently under arrest that we don't violate their civil rights. >> hey, listen, i'm up against -- i have a time issue here. when can we expect to hear something about motive? when might you say something? >> again, sir, we'll have to consult with the state attorney's office. i wouldn't expect anything until next week. >> escambia county sheriff david morgan, mr. morgan, i've seen you around the clock so i know you have been very busy. thanks for taking time for us on cnn. let's talk about nelson mandela. when mandela has a birthday party, everybody that's anybody shows up. we're taking you live to the red carpet in new york where the party is about to start. will.i.am is our special guest coming up. you don't want to miss this. aflac! aflac! find out more at aflacforbusiness.com combines two powerful medicines for fast relief of your diarrhea symptoms, so you can get back out there. imodium. get back out there. i think i'll go with the basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose the brake service that's right for you. and save 50% on pads and shoes. meineke. test. hey, we're doing great. this wonderful pmandela day. what's going on? who can on the red carpet. what we can expect tonight? >> wyclef, cyndi lauper is on the red carpet. you got a whole bunch of paparazzi taking pictures. what you'll see tonight is just a lot of energy and love and great musicians paying homage honoring all the inspiration that nelson mandela has brought to our lives. spread around the world. still have them around and inspire us to continue to do good and support the less fortunate and the youth. >> you met him back in 2004. did you play for him in a concert? did you meet him then? >> we met -- i met nelson mandela in 2005 in south africa. went to his home and we did a concert, 40,000 people for the people in soweto. a free concert we did there. it was beautiful and he is just a great inspiration. >> tell us, did he inspire in my name by you and fergie? >> fergie wasn't on in my fame but it was me and apple and nelson mandela inspired it and mary ma keechlt iba, both in south africa and he's inspired a lot of our songs, union we did with sting was inspired by nelson mandela. filmed it in south africa and the new song on the end, called one tribe was inspired by nelson pan della, as well. >> i like that song. tell me about the pea pod foundation which again i'm sure was inspired in part by nelson mandela, as well. >> the pea pod foundation was started by the black-eyed peas back in 1998. one of our members, apple, was born and raised in the philippines and he was adopted and brought to america at 14. he met me and we started the black-eyed peas. when we became successful, we felt the strong urge to give back to kids orphans and foster kids and kids in inner cities and provide them the same tools that excelled our dreams, music, journalism, acting, dancing, editing, producing, directing and writing. so we built our first peapod academy in watts and equipped them with tools, high-definition camera. >> i can tell you, it's exactly part of the message of what president mandela wants people to give back, you know, at least for one day. so, hey, listen, we don't want to hold you up. go inside. say hello to your buddies on the red carpet. have a great time and happy birthday, mr. president. i'm sure you agree with that. will.i.am on the red carpet. we're talking about one president of color. there's another president of color now. latina supreme court nominee, things are getting better for minorities, right? well, not fast enough, says the president. our panel on race in america next. k. when at last we're alone. when we both decide. announcer: today, guys with erectile dysfunction can be ready with another dosing option from cialis. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. so relax and take your time. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for 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same street linked to those five deaths. now, the sixth victim was found across the border in huntsville, alabama. police identified the suspect as jacob lee schafer and say murder charges are pending. we don't know the victims' identities and no word on the cause of death. a close eye on that story for you all night on cnn. do you think the state of education is a problem for african-americans? president barack obama says think again. he spoke at the naacp's centennial celebration in new york this week. i want you to take a good listen to this. >> the state of our schools is not an african-american problem. it is an american problem. because if black and brown children cannot compete, then america cannot compete. and let me say this. if al sharpton, mike bloomberg and newt gingrich can agree that we need to solve the education problem, then that's something all of america can agree we can solve. >> okay. newt gingrich, al sharpton -- i'm kidding. that would be a great conversation but tonight my guests speak to these concerns because one of the people he mentioned there the reverend al sharpton and steve perry, founder of a magnet school in new york city. he joins us from new york, as well. thank you, sir. we're so glad, sirs, we're so glad you're joining us. we'll kick off black in america next week, a perfect time, president of the naacp to have an open talk about race, so let's, you know, let's just do it. you heard him talking about education, mr. perry. is that the magic bullet to level the playing field as much as a playing field can be leveled? >> it is, education is central to the improvement of anyone's life and the naacp in a precarious situation because it's in bed with the teachers' union. the achievement gap is really an educational gap in terms of performance of our educators themselves. we need to look honestly at vouchers and hope up the discussion. the problem we face is that those people are supposed to represent us in organizations such as the naacp is on the verge of becoming a civil rights relic. >> you said the naacp is in bed with the teacher's union. you don't mean that in a good way. i'm assuming. >> they have produced the off spring an achievement gap that can cocolossal. it's not working for black children. place where it works is where they have access to choice in cities such at new york choice is becoming the order of the day. that needs to be the choice, the order of the day throughout the country. at some point or another the naacp has to remember that its mission is to give voice to the voiceless, the most voiceless are the children. >> reverend, i'm going to bring you in here. don't worry. to respond to this next question. i want to ask. what do you mean becoming a relic? we talked about the relevance of the map naproxen and put that question out there last weekend and someone said how can you say the naacp might not be relevant. there is a difference between relevance and still needed. saw it's becoming a relic, why. it's not reaching the right people or what? >> michael jordan is relevant to the history of basketball but lebron james is the chosen one. what we need to look at is what is relevant now? when we talk to our children, the kids in my school in hartford, connecticut. in hartford talk about, they see the naacp as the image awards and see the naacp as the freedom fund dinners which are corporate sponsored. >> so it's just sort of the headline or marquee and nothing behind it -- >> from the niagara movement to hollywood. >> reverend sharpton, go for it. >> well, i think that, first of all, i would agree that the civil rights issue of today is education. if you don't have equal access to the same education, you cannot produce the equality that is the goal in society and i think the president is right in identifying that and that's why some across party lines and racial lines as he has said in that speech have come together. i think though that the naacp and other civil rights groups cannot be aligned with those that would make them not address that. but at the same time there are social issues that have to be addressed around the educational experience. those same young people still have the right to employment in a fair way. they have the right not to be harassed by police and i think groups like the naacp and others still have to fight those fights. >> you think the naacp is still relevant. >> absolutely. i think they're relevant and i think the fact is that we can hold organizations accountable without saying they're irrelevant. if you think of the issues that has occurred in the last decade if it has been police brutality -- >> reverend -- >> jena, naacp was there with us. >> hold that thought when you're talking about police brutality. i want to play what the president said about the criminal justice system and get your response. >> we know that even as we imprison more people of all races than any nation in the world an african-american child is roughly five times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a prison. >> reverend, how do we address that? >> we must address that by dealing with the inequality in the criminal justice system. how are judges that look at the same people accused of a crime, same criminal background but they are apt according to data, what the president was addressing to send blacks to jail five times more likely to do than a white charged with the same crime for the same criminal background no matter what the education where i'm the first to say i agree with steve and the work he's doing around education, i say even educated blacks still face a different level in the criminal justice system, in the economic system, blacks on wall street ha can't get jobs, their problems is not the education, their problem is an institutional inequality in the finance industry and the criminal justice industry. so we must use education as a way to go in but we can't act like it just ends there. >> hey, you know, i want to talk to my producers. i really want you guys to weigh in on this. can we stretch this a little bit, guys? is that okay? i wanted you guys to weigh in. we had walter cronkite talking about martin luther king jr. which i thought was very appropriate and i wanted to -- okay. let's play it. we'll make room for it. >> he spoke so well, so beautifully so almost poetry came from him making clear the fact that the blacks were not getting their freedoms in what should be a free nation and with his magnificent speeches almost prayers, he awakened so many of the whites as well as the blacks always who already understood the fact that they were not being treated fairly. and with his leadership in that regard he brought us all to the understanding that we needed a change in this nation to assure freedom for all of our citizens, black and white. >> one legend talking about another there, talking about dr. martin luther king jr. jr. mr. perry, still a long way to go. obviously progress but still a long way to go. i don't want to put words in your mouth. maybe you don't feel that way. >> i know there is a tremendous amount of progress. let's be honest. if white folks didn't want a black president there wouldn't be a black president. it was the butt of every joke up till now and we have to understand and give credit where credit is due. there is still racism and the biggest racism they're challenged with is the internal racism we have towards one another. the circumstances that exist where in many cases where there are quite a number of black people where the majority of the community is black, we run those communities. we are the borough principals. >> i wrote about that last time, black in america on ac 360 about racism in our own community. reverend, just five seconds. i'll give you the last word here. >> i mean all of us know dr. king helped to change the country. but the question is now we have to continue that change and if what king did is to be validated in our time we have to close the achievement gap in education and in the criminal justice system. we can't just end with king. we must continue with what king fought for. >> steve perry and reverend al sharpton. thank you. you look much more rested than when i saw you last week. >> thank you. >> congratulations. i'm glad you got some sleep finally. cnn wednesday night, 7:00 eastern, the moment of truth with steve harvey and tom joiner live from times square. 8:00 p.m., the premiere of "black in america," part two. "black in america." part 1, i should say. part one followed by president obama's news conference. then "black in america" continues wednesday night right here on cnn. tonight a look at the first african-american president's visit to africa. anderson cooper takes the historic journey tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. live from the red carpet. radio city music hall at a star-studded event for nelson mandela. oscar-winning actor forest whitaker will join us. that help protect the health of your heart, eyes and bones. age-adjusted centrum silver. and now get centrum silver in a new smaller tablet formula. whento compliment theirflac benefits package aflac! it made a big splash with the employees yeaaaahhhh! find out more at aflac!... ...forbusiness.com (laughter) hey, this guy's got real onions onin his onion strips!p. (voices) real onions? (guy on phone) that's right, real onions in his onion strips. real onions? (screams) real onions in his onion strips! 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(man) can you keep it down? this is the guy with the real onion strips moment. when a brand new way to snack comes along, people notice. alexia crunchy snacks. a giant leap for snack kind. unemployment is high and the money tight as the recession drags on. many financial experts say it is a great time to start a business. we pete an out of work veteran getting a clean start by becoming her own boss. cnn's susan candiotti our national correspondent has her story. >> reporter: in the eight years since she retired from the air force, lori lawrence has had three different jobs, she quit one and was laid off twice. after the last layoff in february, she started rethinking her options. >> i started thinking i'm tired of going through this. what would i really enjoy? >> reporter: though her aging husky is too old to need much grooming anymore, cody inspired her to set her sights on opening a dog grooming business in the upscale suburb of peachtree city but money was tight and swallowed her pride and opened a fruit stand. >> it is not doing anything like what i had hoped that it would do, but it's more money than i had last week. >> reporter: fruit is only bringing in a few hundred dollars a week. compared to that, dog grooming looks like a gold mine. >> people spent 4 billion last year on their pets alone. you know, it's there. how do i get in? i want in. you know. >> reporter: lori attended a number of sba seminars and googled business plans of other start-ups then drafted her own. small business experts dani bab and john rutledge offered to take a look. >> she has a specific idea in your head about what this is going to look like and what the consumer will walk away with. >> reporter: they helped her reduce her start-up costs from $147,000 to just 35,000. they showed her how to save money on labor and equipment. they suggested she look for free advice online instead of hiring an attorney and cpa. and they're helping her negotiate a better lease in the down and out commercial real estate market. >> in your plan you have also things like pet sitting, dog taxi. retail bakery, all those things, ways of adding more revenues on just the basic wash your dog. >> for the time being, dog washing is all lori offers but she hopes to be providing the pampered pooches in her area a full range of services by the end of next month. susan candiotti, cnn. >> i, they are very cute. all right. from there to the red carpet. radio city music hall, star-studded tribute to nelson mandela. 91st birthday. we'll talk to oscar winning actor forest whitaker. i think right now it's a phenomenal time for somebody to buy a home. the first step in the process is to educate them. bank of america is highly committed. we do have a vast array of programs that will enable buyers to purchase a home and feel comfortable. for credit qualified buyers, the government will give you a tax credit up to 10% of the purchase price or $8000, and as long as they live in that home for 3 years or longer, they don't have to pay it back. due to the market guideline changes, fha has had a resurgence in the market place. va is also one of the things that's coming into vogue again. there's more veterans out there that qualify for these programs, and they'll come back and they'll utilize these. everything starts with the first time home buyer and moves up from there. sometimes these are the first people in their family to own a home and it's hugely rewarding. we are doing everything that we can to take the opportunities that are available and help the people. be there for them, and allay some of their fears and concerns. we're in that process every step of the way. that creates a customer for life and that's what we're looking for. that's what we do here at bank of america. okay. you know what, we're trying to -- i'm looking at the camera live at the red carpet there at nelson mandela's 91st birthday. this is what happens in news. some of the producers are trying to get forest whitaker and some of the other tars 0 come over. it's his 91st birthday. there is a star-studded celebration, concert at radio city music hall in new york city. the former south african president won't be there but he had a party earlier today that he celebrated inspiring others. and so as i said we're trying s get forest whitaker to come up and speak. you're looking at the feet. so, in the meantime, why don't we talk, why don't we go to robin ker gnaw, a report that he did on the celebration that took place in south africa today, how he's inspiring others on his birthday. let's not do that. let's go to forest whitaker live on the red carpet. hello, mr. whitaker. how are you? >> yeah, i can hear. >> you you can hear me? how you doing sir, you're live on cnn right now. >> great. this is a great night. >> you're there with your wife and daughters, right? they're all there and you had the opportunity to meet mr. mandela back in 2007? >> yeah, we did. in south africa, we got the opportunity to sit down and spend some beautiful time, which is amazing video man who's spread so much light to the world. so it was a beautiful time for them. i think my littlest was shaking, she could barely speak she was so impressed with the exchange. >> you it too, to meet nelson mandela, i would probably feel the same way. i get to meet a lot of dignitaries, but man, that is certainly an honor. what did you take away, anything personally from his life or from meeting him? >> oh, the meaning of his life, i think what's most important that i really learned in a deep way was about reconciliation and people being able to come together. no matter what the circumstances were before that, if we go with a common goal and the common goal good and for us to exist together in a great way, that it can happen, and that an individual can like -- can impress the world, touch the world in such a powerful way. and each one of us can add our little bit to that. he's someone that i've admired for so long. to sit in his presence is almost like in the presence of a saint because what he did was so powerful for us as human beings on the planet. >> i can't imagine being in prison all that time and not being bitter about it. it's just amazing to me. >> yeah, i visited katswata was talking to me about it. and when you meet him, there's such a generosity of spirit, such a happiness and joy, that it's hard to imagine he had to spend so many years in such a small cell for this cause. then you realize how powerful, how giving a thing occurred during that period in time. you know, he was explaining to me one of the things they always looked forward to and nelson mandela expressed it to me with my daughters was the ability to hear the laughter of children. that was the one thing they could see. they would step on the stoop and look out when the guards were playing with their children. that was the one thing they missed the most. that was about the hope i think, the hope of tomorrow. >> forest whitaker, go inside and enjoy yourself. happy birthday, mr. president. you know what? we're talking about another icon here, walter cronkite, sadly passed away yesterday. 92 years old. one of a former cbs news correspondent who worked with him, gordon joslof will join us with some inside stories in just a moment. 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[ bump ] [ male announcer ] preparation h cream. burning, itching, plus maximum strength pain relief, on contact. the most complete relief, from preparation h. pain relief on contact. because certified professionals matter. because rapid response matters. brink's home security is now broadview security - for home or business. and now you can get the standard system installed for just $99. broadview security - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. want to keep tabs on a developing story for you out of san francisco. we're getting our first pictures of the aftermath of a rail crash in which two light rail cars collided. multiple injuries are reported. none appears to be life-threateni life-threatening. one car hit another at low speed. the crash is under investigation, but a police source tells cnn it appears one of the conductors mishandled a turn. walter cronkite will be buried next to his late wife in missouri. gordon joseloff joins us from westport, connecticut. as a correspondent, what was it like working with mr. cronkite? because for me, i'd be nervous doing a life shot out in the field and walter cronkite tosses to you. my heart would beat out of my chest. >> i think you quickly got over your nervousness and the fact it could be walter cronkite, dan rather, it was cbs news. and if you made the jump to cbs news, hopefully you got over your nervousness and really were concerned about what you had to say. >> i never worked for cbs news or nbc news. same thing for tom brokaw. when he threw it to me for the first time, i wasn't sure i would be able to talk or katie couric. but he made a mark on -- you see now on television not that he wasn't a dashingly handsome man but you see journalists, you know, everyone who is cute and pretty and you have to look a concern way, walter cronkite did not believe in that type of journalism, did he? >> he certainly did not. one of the reasons that i was concerned when they asked me to go to moscow as an on-air correspondent is i didn't look pretty and i wasn't an on-air personality. had i not been trained in television. at that time, he said we'll train you. that doesn't matter. wa we're concerned about are your journalistic skills. as you know, the industry has changed in that regard. have you more people hired for their looks than their brains. >> that would be -- it's interesting that he felt that way. he didn't feel that he made a mark? explain that. >> actually, he wrote a biography in 1996, a bestseller. i was just skimming it today and came across a chapter which i had forgotten. he said a career can be called a success if one can look back and say i made a difference. i don't feel i can do that. then he goes on to explain that all the early days of television and the fundamentals of journalism that he established and worked so hard to maintain he felt were in effect going out the window as he saw it in the early 1980s. so he at that time or 1996, years later, amazingly said he did not think that he made a difference. and that's certainly not the impression the american people have. >> yeah, for the reasons that we talked about, he liked good old-fashioned shoe leather reporting and getting out there and doing a story. it doesn't matter what you looked like. >> personality journalism was not his thing. he used to say, people criticized him he did not come out except for the famous vietnam time that he didn't take a stand and he did take a stand. i wrote commentaries for him. he liked to say that his kind of news was on the front page and what eric