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A Discussion About Chicago's Deadly Streets
Aired October 03, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here live in Chicago for our special coverage of "Chicago's Deadly Streets."
Chicago is called, you know, the City of Big Shoulders. And it needs them right now -- more than ever.
Yesterday, you know, got the wind knocked out of it, the whole city, when there was a high-profile loss. They lost the bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro. Well, today a heartbreaking farewell to one of its shining young hopes. Sixteen-year-old honors student Derrion Albert was savagely beaten to death last week in a street brawl on Chicago's South Side.
Now, he was on his way home from school when violence exploded among dozens of young men outside of a community center. And Derrion was hit in the head with a board, then fatally beaten and then stomped. Four teenagers have now been charged with first-degree murder.
This graphic video made headlines around the world. And it seems everyone -- everyone -- saw it, except for one person. And that is Derrion's grieving mother.
Well, just the other day, she invited me into her home so we could talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: People see that videotape, and they have this reaction, "Oh my gosh!" Have you seen that tape?
ANJANETTE ALBERT, DERRION'S MOTHER: No.
LEMON: Why not?
ALBERT: I don't want to look at it. I know the extent of the damage they did to my baby. I had to identify him at the morgue. I don't need to see what they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Also, with me now, trying to figure this whole thing out in Chicago, how Chicago and other cities can halt the senseless killing, "Chicago Sun-Times" columnist Mary Mitchell is here and Father Michael Pfleger of Saint Sabina Church.
Thank you both so much for joining us. Mary, it's good to see you. We know that you have been dealing some things, so it's very good to see that you are well and thriving.
So, Father, I'll turn to you first, because I was at the funeral today, the memorial service, and I saw you speak. I heard you speak. You got a standing ovation when you said, "We are our brother's keeper." A lot of people have been talking, though, about change and about doing things. And so far people say not much has happened.
Do you think that this is finally the time this video, Derrion's death, that's going to turn the tide here?
FATHER MICHAEL PFLEGER, SAINT SABINA CHURCH: Well, I hope it is because this video brought it to a new core. It touched people's lives all around this world. Everybody in the world is talking about this video and this boy being beaten to death.
So, let's take this moment and something that's touched us all deeply and say, let's do something now. Let's not let get beyond just 10 days and then go on business as usual. Something struck a chord in Chicago, in America, in the world. Now it's up to us, do we grab hold of this moment, or do we put the blood on our hands of any other child that's hurt?
LEMON: It's a very weird mood in the city right now, you know, because there was this big anticipation -- big anticipation. And now, you know, it's raining today. It's sad.
PFLEGER: Yes.
LEMON: The funeral was very solemn and just watching that mother today and the little sister Rhea today. I mean, who could not react to that?
I want to turn now to our Mary Mitchell.
Mary, and let you get in on this, because through your reporting that I have been reading, Mary, and not just this week, not just this -- you know, last week, but for months and for years, you have been saying that these problems with the youth and the violence here, it goes -- it's very complex. It goes back to the housing facilities here that they have been destroying for years, the history of the city, community involvement, the involvement of the leaders of the city. It's a very complex problem.
Should this have been anticipated at the schools?
MARY MITCHELL, COLUMNIST, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, of course. It should have been anticipated because unfortunately a high school in the neighborhood where the boys who have been accused of this crime come from, Altgeld Garden housing project, that high school was made into a military school which means it has selective enrollment. And children who did not, who weren't interested in a military school were then sent to Fenger.
When you have kids who come from a different background, different neighborhood and you have them cross, for lack of a better word, gang lines, then you're going to have a problem because these kids who have not been -- they didn't -- they didn't come from feeder schools with each other. They don't -- they don't have the same kind of background. And you put them together, it's a volatile mix.
So, the school, I'm sure, recognized that. And from what I understand, the principal tried to get the police to beef up their patrols. I also understand that there was a police officer out there that day. Two -- at least two police officers out there that day. And they did not intervene in the fighting.
So, there are a lot of questions being answered about this case.
LEMON: And we're going to talk a little bit about that later, because -- Father, you know, let's talk about it now, as a matter of fact, since Mary brought it up, about the school and about it being anticipated.
There was -- was there a gunshot earlier? Was there some warning or some tension at the school earlier in the day that sort of foreshadowed this?
PFLEGER: Well, the principal and the students have been saying that there has been tension going on all week in the school. They've been saying that there's been arguments in the school between the students. And then, in fact, they said there was a gunshot that day outside the school area.
My question is, you have two full-time police officers assigned to the school. How come in all these weeks, seeing this tension, hearing the tension, the students know it, the teachers know it, the principal knows it, and you're head of security, should you not have known it, and what did you do to say we need some extra reinforcement out here when school gets out?
LEMON: Well, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I'm just a reporter here. So, why is the -- then, why didn't all of that happen? What went wrong there?
And we know that the police department now is investigating to see if the officers on the scene did everything properly. And also, we're hearing as well, Father, that the officers who were assigned to Fenger have been reassigned, and they're also being checked out as well?
PFLEGER: Well, yes. I think -- now, they have been reassigned. I'm glad to hear that. But we have to understand, if security and if police are in the school, their job is not just to keep people moving through the corridors and stop all the people coming to school. They need to have a pulse and relationship with the students so that if there's something going on, they're abreast of it, and they can take the precautions and be aware of it so they can stop it -- not come afterwards to do something about it.
LEMON: And, Mary, you know, as I said, you have been reporting on this for years. In your estimation, is there one thing or something that could happen? I don't know if it's more community involvement, if it's more parental involvement, if it's more involvement from city leaders from the police or what have you. What is the solution here, Mary?
MITCHELL: Well, you know, as far as one solution, I can't give you that. But I can say that this issue is as important as the Olympics 2016 issue was. And you've got to have leadership, the same quality of leadership at the top that -- and make a commitment to these schools and to these neighborhoods to look for answers.
And those answers may come in the form of better policing. It may come in the form of helping parents do a better job parenting. It may come in the form of helping students find jobs and find positive activities. I mean, these kids, they think about all that pent-up energy that these kids have at 3:00 or 2:00 coming out of school. So, a fight that would -- you know, in my day, would have sent me home with a black eye actually would end up with somebody getting killed.
LEMON: Yes. And here's the interesting thing. You brought that up, 2016, and you saw the people's faces yesterday, just -- you know, the oxygen was taken out. They were aghast.
And a lot of people, Mary and Father, have been saying, where are those faces when it comes to this video? When it comes to these kids who were dying on the street? Where is the outrage? Where are the sad faces? Where's the sad exasperation of responses there?
Stick around. Father Pfleger, Mary Mitchell, much more to come. We still have a lot to talk about here. We're going to get to the bottom of this problem and try to come up with some solutions.
But, first, I want to add someone very special to this conversation. I have been covering violence in Chicago for years -- and so has Mary Mitchell you've been hearing from. I've gotten the same frustrating excuses about why things haven't improved over and over again. I finally met someone who has some interesting ideas on what is going on here and how to fix it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR WOODS, AUTHOR, "A BREED APART": Y'all like guns, black boys like guns. You all like guns. At the juvenile detention center in Chicago which is the biggest in the world, I've been working in there with young brothers for 10 years. So when y'all catch somebody and shoot them in the head, I see them the next day in the detention center. Y'all like guns. Man, join the army or the marines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: His name is Victor Woods. He is standing by right now. And he's going to join us live with some solutions.
And we have a lot more coming up tonight. I'll take you to the place where Derrion was killed. It was broad daylight. Where was everyone? Why didn't anyone step in? We're digging deeper this whole hour. Plus, much more of my emotional interview with Derrion's grieving mother. But it's not all sad news. At the end of this hour, we'll be joined live by a very special 11-year-old boy who is doing more than most adults frankly to make a difference in this world. His plan is a pretty simple plan. He wants to ban one word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN MCCOY, 11-YEAR-OLD: Rather than obliterate this disrespectful term, we have adopted it as a culture phrase. You've heard it. "What's up, my "N" word." Or maybe you said it, "Get out of my face, "N" word." So why have we taken this word to use it in our everyday language to communicate to or about ourselves?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You're also a part of this conversation. How can you do it? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Send us your comments or questions and we'll put them to our panel of experts here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're live now in Chicago to talk about what's happening on Chicago's deadly streets. And joining me to discuss this troubling issue, teen violence and the Derrion Albert beating death, is author and motivational speaker, his name is Victor Woods. He grew up in Chicago. He spent time in prison and then wrote a book about his life. And the book is titled "A Breed Apart."
Victor, thank you very much for joining us. You know, you have been there. You're in the schools every week, almost really every day. And I have been asking this question. For, I don't know, a year or maybe more. What is different about Chicago than other big cities that we seem to have this problem when it comes to gun violence and young people? What's different about this city?
WOODS: Well, first of all, Don, I'm delighted to be here. Thanks for having me. And, you know, Chicago is one of the places where the original gangsters came out of.
LEMON: Right.
WOODS: You know, this is a different kind of more complex problem. And one of the things that we have to do here in Chicago is you've got to put people who understand these young people. This is -- you don't go -- if someone has cancer and you have a brain tumor, you go to a person who is a specialist at that.
If you haven't been to prison, if you haven't carried a gun, if you have not been in a gang, you cannot tell anybody how to get out of a gang. I was in a gang. I used to be a G.D., Gangster Disciple. I got out of that. I'm successful now.
Had I not been in a gang, I can't talk to these young people. LEMON: But there are gangs in L.A., there are gangs in New York, there are gangs in Detroit, there are gangs all over. So, what's the difference?
WOODS: Well, the difference is -- is that these young people here are just a little more dangerous and a little bit more violent than they are on those other schools.
You know, one of the things, Don, these young people -- because someone was talking about why these kids don't snitch. Black boys and girls on the South Side of Chicago don't live in a decent home. Black boys and girls on the South Side of Chicago don't have health insurance, don't have any dental insurance. They don't have any money in their pocket. The only thing they have is respect.
And when you disrespect a young black boy in Chicago, they are shooting other kids in the face because that's all they have. And it's not all about gun control because that young man, that young man died because of the rage those young men felt. It wasn't that they wanted to kill them. They were enraged and beat them with a board.
LEMON: There are kids who are on the South Side of Chicago who come from two-family homes who don't necessarily do that, but the people who do it get on the news and end up taking someone's life.
But here's the thing -- what about personal responsibility? What about parents who should be in the home and should be teaching? What about taking back your own community?
WOODS: That's a very good question. Let's talk about the community, Don, the community, the schools in the community. This community is fed by the county jail, the state prison system that's in Chicago is now releasing -- the governor is releasing 1,000 inmates that are going back on the South and West Side of Chicago, and it also involves the juvenile detention center in Chicago.
You can't begin to deal with the community until you begin to deal with the inmates that are coming out of prison without proper reentry skills. And the children, the young man that killed that boy, was in the juvenile detention center for nine months...
LEMON: Accused of killing.
WOODS: Accused, accused. We have him on tape, but accused. He hasn't been adjudicated yet.
LEMON: Right.
WOODS: Nine months he was in the juvenile detention center. I met him there. I met him there. And he was released without any infrastructure, without money, with no place to go to rehabilitate him. And he turns up three months later at Fenger, and in the first month of school, murders a child.
These things can be stopped, but they have to be addressed. And we haven't addressed them at all. LEMON: OK. So listen -- what about at the top? When you talk about city officials, leaders have been saying we've been doing this. We have gun giveback programs. You can come...
WOODS: Everybody is giving guns back, Don, but the criminals -- criminals don't give guns back. Somebody finds an old rusty gun in the house and brings it back. Criminals will always have guns. All we are good at in Chicago is mopping up the mess. We got to turn off the faucet.
LEMON: Police can't do it alone though. They say it's not enough. We don't have enough police on the street.
WOODS: So, it's not about -- it's not about the police. It's about the mentality of these young people. These -- see, there are professionals -- I have Chicago police officers that are friends of mine that are good people. But we have some Chicago police officers that are taking drugs and sticking them in these kids' pockets. They're in the detention center, and arresting them falsely. That's why the community does not trust the police.
The police have a code of silence, Don, just like the people on the South Side of Chicago do.
LEMON: But those are accusations. I mean, you're making...
(CROSSTALK)
WOODS: Well, I've been in the detention center for 13 years, and I've seen -- I've seen thousands of kids come in there and tell me that the police put drugs on them and they're not all lying.
LEMON: What do you say to the police department? I know that we invited the police superintendent on.
WOODS: I'm saying to the police department to be as professional with those black and Hispanic people in poor neighborhoods as you are on the Magnificent Mile. Do your job. And have a sense of responsibility and professionalism just like you do for the people who live downtown Chicago.
LEMON: OK. I know Mary Mitchell is chomping at the bit to get in. Father Pfleger is sitting here as well.
But we'll go -- let's go to Mary first, and then get her response, and then Father. Mary, what do you say to what Victor is saying here?
MITCHELL: Well, of course, some of -- I agree with some of what he said. Most importantly, I think that we have to recognize that these children belong to someone. They're not orphans on the street. They have mothers. They have fathers. They have grandmothers.
And in order to save these kids, in order to help them, rehabilitate them, you have to listen to them. You've got to find out why they're angry. You've got to get them some social services. There are not enough counselors in the school, not enough psychologists in the schools.
And when you have a situation like this, you can't just assume that, you know, it's the community's job to do it. It's not just the community's job to do it. We've got to get to those parents of those children.
LEMON: Father?
PFLEGER: Absolutely right, Mary. And we need to get to the parents, and we need to get the community to engage again. We need teachers to engage again. We need police, as Victor says, professional again.
Everybody has a piece in it, and we need the city as a whole to say, "Stop denying this. Stop acquitting (ph). This is an issue we must address in our neighborhoods."
LEMON: You have all those people out on Daley Plaza yesterday, ready for it, standing by, sticking behind the city, why -- where is the crowd when it comes to that?
WOODS: First of all, we're a city divided. That's why you had thousands of people who were white downtown waiting for the Olympics, and you didn't have 99 percent of the people that were at that funeral were black. We're a city divided, yet the South Side of Chicago is not Beirut. It's 10 minutes away from the Magnificent Mile. It is 10 minutes away from the Magnificent Mile.
And the international community -- see, one of the things letting you know how bad this problem is, no official in Chicago, not -- nobody has said that perhaps it's not anti-American sentiment that caused the Olympics not to come to Chicago. Perhaps it's the fact that there are dead black children popping up all over Chicago, one that came over that happened while the mayor was in Copenhagen, perhaps people outside of the United States said, "Clean your house."
That's the truth of the matter. I would have loved for the Olympics to come here if it would have meant there would have been prosperity on the South Side of Chicago. But the bottom line: this is a 10-year problem that has been ignored.
PFLEGER: But we have to get outraged as a community, too. When the Bulls win a game, win the championship at U.S. Cellular, guess what? The whole city is beeping horns out on the street screaming and yelling.
Why are we not out of our houses screaming and yelling in the streets when a child gets killed? Every time a child gets killed in this city, everybody from the North Side to the South Side should be out in the street.
WOODS: Because the people on the North Side of Chicago don't care about it.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODS: If this was a white child...
PFLEGER: It's the same on the South Side.
LEMON: Mary, go ahead.
MITCHELL: I don't know -- I wouldn't say that the people of the North Side don't care. I think they do care. But what are they going to do? They're struggling -- they're struggling to figure what to do just like we are struggling in the south end trying to figure out what to do.
And you're right, Chicago there's two Chicagos. There's a Chicago that's affluent, the Chicago that is safe, and there's Chicago that is impoverished and a Chicago that is crime-ridden. I think it's really up to the taxpayers. It's really up to the mayor of Chicago to take leadership on this and make it a priority. It should be just as much a priority as 2016.
And we definitely need to do something about our education system because we are educating -- people are coming out of our schools without an education, dropping out, and then what can they do? They get out on the street and cause havoc for the community.
LEMON: And it was today at the services, the new CEO of Chicago public schools said, you know, stressed safety. He's going to keep the kids as safe as possible.
A couple of weeks ago when I did this, actually this summer, I spoke to the former CEO, which is now the secretary of education, Arne Duncan. He said, that was his one failure he believes as a CEO of public schools here, is not stopping the violence, that the numbers went up.
So, finally, the administration is talking about this. We have the attorney general coming here next week.
PFLEGER: Right.
LEMON: Right? We've got Arne Duncan, the former CEO and now the secretary of education coming here next week. So stick around, guys.
We want to know, what do they expect to accomplish when they get to Chicago? Two members of President Obama's cabinet coming to Chicago next week. What are they expecting?
Also, it is a race against time and other news we want to tell you about. In Indonesia, authorities fear 4,000 people could be buried under the rubble from an earthquake.
An arrest in the case of a peeping tom, the new taping of ESPN's reporter Erin Andrews. We're going to tell you about that. You won't believe -- just some horrible, creepy details here.
And a little later, one of the most emotional interviews I have ever done, one of the toughest to conduct -- a mourning mother.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERT: I'd tell him good night every night before I'd go to bed. I tell him I love him. I've always talked to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're back now live in Chicago. But first, let's go to Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta for a check of the day's top stories.
Hello, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you, Don. Hello, everyone.
An enemy lurking in Afghanistan's security ranks. An Afghan policeman opened fire on American troops, killing two and injuring two others. Officials say the uniformed officer fled after the shooting in the Wardak province, and now, two people who recommended the policeman to the job are being questioned as troops try to figure out how he got away. Three other U.S. soldiers have been killed by roadside bombs in just the last two days alone. And all of this comes as President Obama considers a possible shift in war strategy.
And the clock is ticking in Indonesia. There is a frantic search for thousands of people who may have been buried alive under all that rubble. Disaster management officials say Wednesday's earthquake killed at least 540 people but that some 4,000 more could be trapped in the debris. In the city of Padang, crews are using hammers, chisels, even their bare hands as they hope to find any potential survivors.
And the FBI says it's nabbed the man behind a peephole videotape of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. Forty-seven-year-old Michael David Barrett is in an -- is rather in an Illinois insurance -- is rather an Illinois insurance man. Someone his lawyer calls just a regular guy. But officers say he stalked Andrews to her hotel room, then recorded her nude through the peephole. He was nabbed at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on Friday and is facing charges of interstate stalking. Andrews says she is deeply grateful for the arrest.
And only one week old, and already a kidnapping survivor. This baby boy was found safe in Alabama last night, four days after he was snatched from his mom's Nashville home. Under arrest and charged with the kidnapping, a 39-year-old Alabama woman. Police say she made her way into the home posing as an immigration agent. She reportedly stabbed the mother, then took off with the newborn.
And a not guilty plea from David Letterman's accused blackmailer. Robert Halderman, an Emmy Award-winning producer for "48 Hours" is charged with attempted grand larceny in a $2 million extortion plot against Letterman.
Letterman shocked the world on Thursday when he sat behind the "Late Night" desk and confessed to having sex with female staffers. He told his audience the blackmailer threatened to write a screenplay about Letterman's sex life unless he was paid that $2 million.
Let's go back to Don Lemon in Chicago.
LEMON: Fred, I know that you covered this story earlier on your broadcast. And it's just unbelievable when you think about what's happening here in Chicago. And why not more outrage, really, around the country when you see this?
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's unbelievable. It's heartbreaking. I think everyone feels the pain for Chicago and especially for the family of Derrion who -- just so sadly, his life was just snatched away this week.
LEMON: Yes. Really terrible. Fred, thank you very much. Fredericka Whitfield joining us from Atlanta with today's top stories.
And straight ahead: the heartbreaking reality of life on Chicago's deadly streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Outside the community center is the makeshift memorial for Derrion Albert. We have seen way too many of these lately in the city of Chicago. This one will be gone soon, but the family of Derrion Albert is vowing to keep his memory alive.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: The people who did this to him, they shouldn't have did it because he has a lot of people that miss him. And everyone says that he's gone, but he's never going to be forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Gone but not forgotten. That is a message from Derrion Albert's family. My interview with his mother -- straight ahead. We're live from Chicago tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back live from Chicago. Really the numbers tell the tragic story here. So far this year, 84 murders have been recorded, victims age 20 or younger. 29 of those victims had not yet reached their 17th birthday. One of them was high school honors student Derrion Albert. And as we have told you, he died from injuries received in a horrifying street brawl while walking home from school on the city's south side. I spoke with Derrion's mother about the fear that has engulfed her since her son's death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): What about community responsibility, parental responsibility, personal responsibility? It's not just the police officers and the people who are in power in the city. People have to step forward and take back their own communities, their own families.
AN-JANETTE ALBERT, SON FATALLY BEATEN: They're afraid. I believe.
LEMON: About what?
ALBERT: They're afraid. If these kids are beating kids in school with sticks, what do you think they're going to do to a woman trying to take her bags and stuff out of her car? To go in the house? I'm afraid. I'm scared.
LEMON: Of?
ALBERT: Just you don't know. Standing outside on the porch and somebody walking up. I come back inside. I'm just terrified. I don't know. I can't believe somebody did this to my son and to know that there's somebody out there doing this that is capable of doing this, anybody can do this. I don't want to go anywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Derrion Albert's mother. Derrion's funeral was today. And Father Michael Pfleger of the St. Sabina's Church spoke at the service. Also with us tonight is "Chicago Sun Times" columnist Mary Mitchell and Victor Woods is author of "A Breed Apart." Thank you so much for joining us.
Mary, as you sit there and watch this lady, I'm sure, you know, it goes through your head, and I asked her this, there is really no pain for the loss of a child. And she talked about that as well and said no, I never thought that I would be saying that. But you have spoken to the mother. You sat down with her and also with his little sister as well.
MARY MITCHELL, "CHICAGO SUN TIMES" COLUMNIST: Right. You know, when I talked to the mother, it just reminded me of the case of Emmett Till and how his mother had to look upon his battered body. And she made the decision that she would let the whole world see his body in the hope that it would change the hearts of people who had hardened hearts against black people.
And in this case, the videotaped beating of Derrion Albert which people have seen around the world hopefully that it would cause them to stop for a minute and think about what's going on in these communities and vow that they would do their part. Whatever their little part to change this situation.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. She mentioned Emmett Till, Father. You said it struck you.
FATHER MICHAEL PFLEGER, SAINT SABINA CHURCH: I said that the other day. I said, this is an Emmett Till moment for us. And as a result of Emmett Till's death and murder, a whole nation was challenged. And there was a reaction and there was a response, and things took place after that. I hope to god that Chicago and Illinois and the nation has that Emmett Till moment now and that we react and respond.
And let's make a decision, enough of this. Do what we've got to do. Help our children. Put our arms around our children. Get to this rage in the schools and the parents and the communities. Help the reentry to kids.
LEMON: You said Chicago and the nation, right?
PFLEGER: Yes.
LEMON: And I've been hearing this, just to be very honest with you, from everyone. Huge supporters of President Barack Obama when I was here during the run-up to the election and on the election saying, why hasn't he said anything? He finally said something last week through the press secretary, Robert Gibbs.
But there are people in the city saying he knows the south side of Chicago. He was a community organizer here. His wife is from the south side of Chicago. Why hasn't he said anything? Why isn't he here? We know members of his cabinet are coming next week. What do you want to say about that?
VICTOR WOODS, VICTORWOODS.COM: Barack Obama is busy in Afghanistan and he is busy dealing with health care. So you know, he has to have people in place that understand that. The problem here - and I don't think, Don, that people don't care. I just think that people are afraid to admit, when you're getting $100,000 or $200,000 a year for a specific problem and you don't know what to do, you're afraid to say I don't know what to do.
LEMON: What do you mean by that? What are you talking about?
WOODS: What I'm saying is there's people in place in this city who are in charge of this problem who do not know what to do at all. This is not a time for on-the-job training. They are doing a disservice. Children are dying in Chicago. You see the faces of these parents and these children. This is an outrage. It's intolerable, at least it should be, Don. It's outrageous.
LEMON: People who are in charge of this problem -
WOODS: Let me be specific. Last year I went to the Board of Education. I was frustrated because I was going school to school with great results. Roberson High School, one of the worst schools here, Principal Monroe had me there while I spoke to 600 kids who listened to me at Englewood. They had me.
But I went down to the Board of Education with my daughter, stood before Arne Duncan and said, "this is my beautiful daughter that goes to school as a college student. I don't want her to die. I will work in your schools for free. I'm an expert on this. A nine-time felon, turned my life around. I understand these people because I was that person."
And they turned me down. Now I'm extending another olive branch to Arne Duncan. Arne Duncan admittedly, on your show, said, "I am a failure at this." Now we're bringing him back. That's one part.
LEMON: Except one part - he said. He said (INAUDIBLE) (CROSSTALK)
WOODS: Yes, that's one part.
LEMON: You have to give someone credit for saying that they're wrong.
WOODS: And I do give him credit, Don. But what I'm saying is this is a unique, specialized problem that Chicago educators did not go to school and do not have the training to deal with young children who are enraged and committing murder. They don't know what to do.
LEMON: Mary, go ahead.
MITCHELL: Can I just jump in here and say one thing? This problem is bigger than one person. That includes national education secretary Arne Duncan. It's bigger than one person.
WOODS: Absolutely.
MITCHELL: And the first step, I think, that we really have to look at is the education system itself. We've got to figure out why kids have so uneducated in this city, and not just this city, in urban areas - in other urban areas where they're coming out unable to read, unable to find a job, unable to qualify for a job.
And full of rage and anger because if you can't read and you cannot write and you cannot support yourself, what else is there but rage and anger? We've got to get these kids before they get to high school. We've got to make education a priority.
LEMON: And Mary -
MITCHELL: That's what we have to do.
LEMON: We have to run. We have five seconds, Father. I mean, really, we're heavy here. What do you think that is going to be accomplished with the administration coming in that's finally great that they're doing?
PFLEGER: I think it's great they're coming in. What has to happen is a decision and a commitment, and they say we're going to call the experts together from all these different sources.
WOODS: Absolutely.
PFLEGER: Put them together and put a short range and a long- range plan. Coming here is great. Now let's put together a plan to deal with it not just in Chicago, across this country.
LEMON: Very good. Let's hope that happens. We have much more to come. Thank you so much, guys. An emotional week here in Chicago. We'll have more of my interview with the mother of Derrion Albert.
And a little bit later on, a message of hope. An 11-year-old boy with the simple idea that you're going to want to hear. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, we went to the scene of the crime where 16- year-old Derrion Albert was beaten to death by a teen mob and found the neighborhood like many others in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): We've seen the grainy cell phone video of the fight that ultimately led to 16-year-old Derrion Albert's death. But you don't get to see much of the neighborhood. What is it like? Well, here it is. South 111th street on Chicago's south side. Very typical neighborhood. A busy street here. There's a house of worship across the street. This is the Agape Community Center where they took him into before the ambulance came. The parking lot adjacent to the community center.
On the other side of these railroad tracks here, business after business after business, homes, other houses of worship. You can see people walking down the sidewalk here. So it's a pretty busy area. Pretty busy street. This happened in broad daylight. So some people in Chicago are starting to wonder if it can happen in this neighborhood, is my neighborhood next?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And that's a question from people here in Chicago. It has been, you know, heartbreaking for Derrion's mother to lose her son at the young age of 16. And I spoke with An-Janette Albert exclusively about her loss and what she hopes will become of this tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): People see that videotape, and they have this reaction, "oh, my gosh." Have you seen that tape?
ALBERT: No.
LEMON: Why not?
ALBERT: I don't want to. I know the extent of the damage they did to my baby. I had to identify him at the morgue. I don't need to see what they did.
LEMON: Do you talk to him as if he's -
ALBERT: Mm-hmm.
LEMON: What did he say?
ALBERT: I tell him good night every night before I go to bed. I tell him I love him. I talk to him. The other day I was just thinking that he's OK.
LEMON: Right now it is - kids are just starting - just started to go back to school, right? Halloween, the holidays and whatever. Tell people what you're doing. What's your day like? You have to go and do what today?
ALBERT: I have to go to the funeral and bury him.
LEMON: What do you say to parents who are watching who have kids, who have teenagers?
ALBERT: You need to stop this. We've got to do something. We need to unite and come together and rally or walk our kids to school or get together, do something. Something has got to be done that these children can - that we can start feeling safe. So they can feel safe. Because if I'm afraid, she's afraid. You're afraid. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't just affect -- it's not just - we're hurting, but this is - it's hurting everybody. Everybody's affected by this. We've got to get together. I'm ready.
I'm really sad that it took this tragedy. But you never think that it's going to happen to you. Never in my life did I imagine. This has got to stop. It's been going on for too long. Nobody's doing anything about it. Our babies are still dying. Every day. And nobody cares.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Federal program debuted a few months ago designed to help the housing market. And our Ed Lavandera checks in on whether it is providing the needed relief. And my favorite person of the week is Jonathan McCoy. He's 11 years old. And he's got a big challenge for all of us. He joins us next here on CNN. We're live from Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So remember this funeral? It was in Detroit in 2007. Members of the NAACP gathered to symbolically bury the "N" word. They called on people to stop using it in everyday speech and entertainment, but you know, the word did not die. And now a new leader has stepped forward, hoping to put the final nail in the coffin.
He is 11-year-old Jonathan McCoy. More than 800,000 people have watched the video of his impassioned speech before his church congregation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN MCCOY, ADVOCATE AGAINST THE "N" WORD: Rather than obliterate this disrespectful term we have adopted it as a culture phrase. You've heard it. What's up, my "n" word. Or maybe you said it. Get out of my face, "n" word. So why are we taking this word to use it in our every day language communicate to or about ourselves?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So not only did Jonathan deliver that speech, he wrote it himself. He joins us from the NEWSROOM. He is back again by popular demand. Hey, it is good to see you. I saw you earlier in the week. I got to ask your opinion on this before we talk about, you know, the "n" word. You have been watching the video. You heard some of the people talking about the students, young people involved in violence in schools. What do you think about that, Jonathan?
MCCOY: I think that it is horrific and nobody deserves that. And there is a thing going on Morris (ph) campus called the free-zone initiative, no "n" word, no cursing and no (INAUDIBLE) and I think that would help in the African-American community.
LEMON: And so probably a lot of it - here is what I think you are saying. A lot of it is about respecting other people, respect each other and having some values. And that young people should be taught that. It appears that you are . And that goes along with this whole abolishing the "n" word thing. Is it about self-respect and about respecting other people, Jonathan?
MCCOY: Yes. Because that was used as an antagonizing word. It was used negatively and that should not be going on. We should not be calling ourselves that because it is disrespectful and it has taken back everything Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and other various civil rights leaders have done.
LEMON: And Jonathan, I see that. His ear piece has popped out. I'm going to let you put your earpiece back in Jonathan. So since you've been doing this, what is the response? I mean, you've gotten 800,000 hits on the internet. But what do you think, how do you think that you are making a difference in all of this?
MCCOY: I think that once people see the speech that they will be encouraged to stop using this word. And I think that after that they will pass it on to person to person to person to person until it is abolished.
LEMON: Now what about people who say, you know what, hey, let's take back that word. Use it, take the stigma off. We should be using it in music, poetry, in songs. It's OK. There is a different way of saying it, the e.r. and the "a," you know the "n" word a and the "N" word e.r. is the difference. We should take back that word. What do you say to them?
MCCOY: If you're going to call somebody dumb and then we're like, oh we're going to turn dumb into a good word. Would you call it dumb-a? Would that make any sense. No. I don't see why people are using this word this way.
LEMON: All right. Jonathan McCoy wanted to abolish the "n" word. And Jonathan, we appreciate you joining us. A very smart young man. He is in Atlanta tonight. Thank you, Jonathan. Best of luck to you, OK?
MCCOY: OK.
LEMON: If you want to find out more about Jonathan's petition against the "n" word, you can go to cnn.com/don. It's on our blog. And we want to hear from you, of course. You can reach out to us on our blog at CNN. And you can also reach out to us on the social networking sites right there. We are back in a moment live from Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you know, four months ago we profiled a federal plan to help ease the housing crisis in this country. But since then it has come under heavy criticism. Hundreds of families are still waiting for help. Our Ed Lavandera has today's "Money and Main Street" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVENDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finally, Lisa Lacasio has the key to a new home. The first she ever owned.
(on camera): When is the house warming party?
LISA LACASIO, HOMEOWNER: Right now.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): But reaching this moment has been a test of endurance. She bought the house with the help of the federal government's Neighborhood Stabilization Program or NSP, which has $6 billion to help people buy foreclosed or abandoned homes in 250 cities nationwide.
But most of the money hasn't been spent yet. How it is distributed varies from state to state. But in Phoenix, Arizona, the goal is to help 900 home buyers. But six months into the program Lisa is just the third person to close on a home.
LAVANDERA: So what has it been like?
LACASIO: It's been rough. It is a long process.
LAVANDERA: Tired?
LACASIO: No. It's more annoyed.
LAVANDERA: Since June, we have tracked Lisa's progress through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. One of the NSP programs offers prospective home buyers up to $15,500 to cover down payment and closing costs. The idea was also to help get banks get foreclosed homes off their books and keep neighborhoods from deteriorating in value.
But Lisa's real estate agent, Lance Connolly, doesn't think banks got the memo.
(on camera): Did you find that banks were willing or eager to deal with you?
LANCE CONNOLLY, REAL ESTATE AGENT: No. Pretty much every bank except for Fannie Mae was pretty much unreceptive to the program whatsoever. LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Housing Department official in charge of dishing out the money here in Phoenix, Maria Bears says people like Lisa Lacasio (ph) are competing with real estate investors. They offer the banks cash usually at a lower price. Lacasio (ph) bid on nearly 30 homes before striking a deal.
(on camera): Do you still think this is money well spent?
MARIA BEARS, PHOENIX DEPUTY HOUSEING DIRECTOR: I do. Any time you stabilize a neighborhood that fabrics of our community so ghost town don't do anybody any good at all.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Maria Bears is trying to build momentum. She has helped organized this Spanish language telethon to get the word out. City housing officials say there is reason to be optimistic about the plan, another 72 families have been approved and are ready to start home shopping.
(on camera): Everyone here agrees this program is off to a slow start but the Neighborhood Stabilization Program won't last forever. The clock is ticking. It is set to expire toward the end of next year.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Thanks. Ed Lavandera.
A lot of you have been responding to the stories that we have been putting on the air, have been reading a lot on twitter and Facebook, checking in now.
Artfanatic411 says I have asked Russell Simmons on twitter to stop using the "n" word. I also asked Rasheed, his assistant. And showed him the video. No luck.
Localmusicscene says thank you for doing everything you are doing to keep people educated about the violence in Chicago and putting an end to it. Again, a lot of folks are writing in saying hey listen, we are glad that you are doing this. I think Chicago John says it's going to be tough to try and end in Chicago in one newscast what's been happening there but thanks for trying, at least.
We appreciate you, guys, who are responding here on CNN. We'll see you back here tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
I'm Don Lemon, live in Chicago.
