department official shirley sherrod just might get her job back. just 24 hours ago when she was first given the chance to defend herself on this show, many were branding her a racist after a conservative website released an edited tapes of comments that she made back in march. but now the whole tape is out, so is the whole truth. cnn s joe johns has the whole story for us. he s live in washington this morning. joe, context is such an important thing particularly in a story like this. that s for sure. now a lot of people in washington wonder whether the government may have jumped the gun. we ll see what they say, john. this is a story about race and politics and america s history in the south. the story of the personal journey of shirley sherrod, a top-ranking agriculture department official in the state of georgia, worked for the federal government, who gave a speech at the naacp a few months ago, made some personal disclosures about whether she was going to help a white farmer who c
more for us at this point. i hadn t looked at it in that light. naacp, is it still relevant? they were the first ones not to have your back. this is the organization that is supposed to have your back. you would think they would have looked at the whole tape. yes. you know, and maybe for those at the national level, it doesn t mean to them what it does for those at the local level. i know for some of them it means so much to have the naacp as an organization in their community. well, it has been a pleasure talking with you this morning. by the way with i want to mention this is now giving you a platform to write about your father. i know a lot of people are going to be eager. have you gotten a publisher yet? no, i don t. i would love to be able to people have been asking me for years, knowing my story, when are you going to write your book? i have always said i don t have time. i tell what you, we have a blog, cnn.com/kyra. we have all kinds of fascinating people that write
vilsack made his decision monday president obama was briefed on it and fully supported. the secretary s demand for sherrod s resignation. early this morning secretary vilsack released a statement indicating that he may reconsider sherrod s resignation. so we will look to see how that develops. joe johns, cnn, washington. who was among the first and fastest to throw shirley sherrod under the bus? the naacp. the group that you would think would have at least wanted her side of the story first. funny how context can change everything. here is what the group s president said last night. we saw the statement we believed was a condensed version of the truth. shorter than the actual statement. but true. we responded quickly because as we do, in this line of work, we are called to respond to video evidence all the time, that very quick judgments, we quick set of calls. it was late at night.
yesterday. i had at least three calls telling me the white house may cause low blood sugar. wanted knee resign. some symptoms of low blood sugar are shaking, reporter: the secretary of sweating and rapid heartbeat. agriculture, tom vilsack, however told us that just wasn t call your doctor if you have an allergic reaction like rash, the case, that it didn t matter hives or swelling of the face, mouth or throat. ask your doctor if you also take a tzd whether shirley sherrod felt she was taken out of context, what as swelling in the hands, feet or ankles may worsen. mattered is what she was blood tests will check for kidney problems. captured on videotape saying. i didn t speak to anybody in the white house. when i saw the context of the you may need a lower dose of onglyza if your kidneys are not working well statements i determined that it would make it difficult for her or if you take certain medicines. to do her job as a real [ male announcer ] ask your doctor development directo
what are you feeling today knowing what a firestorm all of this has caused? yeah. you know, when i look back over the last couple of days, it just seems so unreal. you know, had the department taken the time at the very beginning, we wouldn t be doing this today. for them to now say, after so much attention to it and, you know, having the tape out there even before and not being willing to actually look at it, to have them come forth now to say they re willing to do that, i guess is sort of bittersweet for me. you know, i was wondering about that. we interviewed the agriculture secretary yesterday. cnn did. and he seemed to stand by his guns saying, no, i fired her because the type of language that she used in that speech might jeopardize her impartiality in the future, people might question her decisions.