Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Chicago's Deadly Streets; A Mother's Grief; Tackling Chicago's Youth Violence; Blackmailing David Letterman; Program Seeks to End Violence in Chicago;11-Year-Old Crusades Against "N" Word; "Good Hair" Premiere; Neighborhood Stabilization Program Off to Slow Start
Aired October 03, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight - tough questions. Chicago's mayor returns from a failed Olympic bid, what he promises to do to keep young people from falling victim to his city's deadly streets.
David Letterman on having sex with women in his office. He admits to it, but what prompted the revelations? The man who taped an ESPN reporter naked in her hotel room faces a judge and jail time. New information on the investigation. And a woman claiming to be an immigration agent runs off with a baby. Sounds like a conjured up story, right? Turns out to be true. What you need to know.
And word - one word that enrages many, demeans some, and empowers other - others, but one little boy just wants it banned. His story tonight. And I go one on one with comedian Chris Rock about what good hair is, and how we're paying billions of dollars to get it.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in Chicago tonight for our special coverage of Chicago's deadly streets.
It's been a whirlwind of a week for Chicago's mayor, agonizing and spending millions on an Olympic bid that got deflated in the first round of voting. Tonight, Chicago mayor Richard Daley is back in town and facing tough questions about the videotape that followed him all the way to Copenhagen, the beating death of 16-year-old high school honor student Derrion Albert.
What are his administration and him - what is he doing to stop the violence? Well, he spoke tonight about the epidemic claiming dozens of young lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: First, I want to again express my condolence to Derrion Albert's family. They're having the services today. And I'll be meeting with representatives of the community, high schools and as well as the police department and the family and others to really get down to the bottom of the code of silence.
The code of silence is unacceptable in this day in age where we have young children being killed. It is something that very every family, every community should stand up, shoulder to shoulder, and not allow teenagers to run their family, run their block or their community. This is truly unacceptable, and that is a very, very strong... (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What is a heartbreaking funeral for 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert, who was savagely beaten to death last week in a street brawl in Chicago's South Side. Evelyn Holmes of Chicago affiliate WLS reports tonight from Chicago's South Side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVELYN HOLMES, WLS CORRESPONDENT: They quietly filed into the funeral of Derrion Albert to honor his life and call for the violence that abruptly claimed him to stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is to remind people that he's dead, other people that he's young, that he's dead (ph)
HOLMES: It was standing room only at his burial service inside the Greater Mount Hebron church, which not only drew civil rights leader, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan but others who called for an end to youth violence. Pamela Bosley lost her son to gun violence last year.
PAMELA BOSLEY, LOST SON TO VIOLENCE: I have not been to a - a child's funeral since my baby, and this was the hardest thing to see, another baby lying in a casket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get in here and do something. I don't want to hear another thing about the Olympics. I don't care about the Olympics anymore. I mean, we lost it anyway. Get in here and change the city. Make it safe for us to walk down the street every day.
HOLMES: Other public figures and Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis were also among the mourners inside the church where video screens scrolled through pictures of Derrion as a baby and with his family, and also showed photos of his academic awards. Some paid tribute to the teen by wearing t-shirts with his picture and read "We will always remember you," while others wondered when the violence would end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With faith in God, things can get better, but you've got to go for what is right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Evelyn Holmes from our Chicago affiliate, WLS. You know, the other day Derrion Albert's mother invited me into her home to talk about her son's tragic death. It was one of the hardest interviews I've ever conducted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: 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.
ANJANETTE ALBERT, DERRION'S MOTHER: They're afraid. I believe...
LEMON: That what?
ALBERT: They're afraid. If these kids are beaten, 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: You just - you don't know. I stand outside on the porch and if somebody's 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. I don't want my baby to go anywhere. I wish I could have -
LEMON: You're OK. You wish you - you wish you could have what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
ALBERT: I wish I could have helped (ph). If that was anybody's child, when - where I couldn't just stood there and watched that happen to somebody - anybody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The whole reason she wanted to do that is because she said she did not want one other parent, another parent, to feel her grief, so she suffered through that interview so that won't happen again.
So how do you tackle the violence that's claiming young lives like Derrion's? I'm joined tonight by two men who know about Chicago's mean streets. Asa Powell is a former gang member who's turned his life around, and Victor Woods spent time in prison but is now an author and a motivational speaker.
Thank you both - to both of you for joining us. You joined us early and gave us a very interesting, I guess, your analysis or perception of what's happening here in the city. She says she doesn't want it to happen to anyone else. Can we stop - can we stop that? Is she going to be the last one, we hope?
VICTOR WOODS, AUTHOR AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER: Unfortunately, Don, we had 37 young people die last year, and this is not on the job training. This city is not prepared to stop this problem. I have been doing work at the juvenile detention center downtown where there's 500 black boys and girls locked up that need help, and they told me this year that they don't have funding for me to go in there and work with these kids who are exactly like the boy that got out and killed that boy. We're not ready for this problem yet.
LEMON: OK. Yes. And again, allegedly. Even though it's on videotape, but still allegedly killed because he's not been... WOODS: Well, allegedly - allegedly. But what we do know, Don, that 37 kids didn't allegedly die last year. They were killed and murdered.
LEMON: And you heard that - some of the people who were in Evelyn Holmes' story here, from WLS, you know, "I don't care about the Olympics. I don't care about 2016. We didn't get it anyway. Our priority's in..."
WOODS: We didn't deserve - we didn't deserve the Olympics. This city - you know, you had thousands of people downtown at Daley Plaza that were crying because we didn't get the Olympic Games. It's a game. That's why we call it the Olympic Games. These are dead children that died.
LEMON: It's not a game.
WOODS: If we had a thousand - if we had a thousand cats that died in Chicago, or 37 cats that died in Chicago last year, there would be more outrage than the outrage we showed for the 37 dead black children. This is intolerable, or at least it should be.
LEMON: And Asa, you know firsthand about Fenger High School and about what these kids are going through. Tell us why you know that?
ASA POWELL, FORMER GANG MEMBER: I went to Fenger High School. The location of Fenger High School is in the hundreds - it's called "The Wild Hundreds" and it's kind of called that because there's so many different street gangs in such a close proximity of that area.
And I believe that me and Vic were, you know, supposed to go in that school, and, for whatever reason - and we were excited to go in that school, because it was my school and because he mentored me and it was canceled about three months ago. And, you know, I went in Harper and Robeson with Vic and we had great results in that school, and they were more violent than Fenger.
LEMON: Would you guys know what's going on in the school? Again, you were at the school. You were a member of a gang. You served time. And so you know exactly what's going on. We're going to talk to you a little more about that, to gain some insight from you about what can possibly be done, a solution to this problem of youth violence here, and then you and all schools around the city here.
WOODS: And can I say something, Don?
LEMON: Real quickly. We would come back.
WOODS: You're to be - you're to be commended, as a reporter and journalist, for being on the - on the forefront of this. It didn't take Fenger for this to happen. You were trying to address this problem months ago, and this is the type of responsible journalists we need.
LEMON: Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, you don't have to say that... WOODS: No, no - But I mean that. I mean that.
LEMON: All right. Thank you. I appreciate that.
WOODS: We need more of that in Chicago.
LEMON: I appreciate that. And we're all going to try to get to - to the bottom of this. And I really appreciate this.
We're going to continue to talk about this story throughout this broadcast, and also we want to tell you there are new details in the David Letterman extortion case. How did a CBS producer pull it off?
And my favorite guest of the week, maybe, really, of the year, an 11-year-old with a very simple plan. Trust me, you will be impressed by him. And we want you to weigh in. We want your questions and we want your comments. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace on iReport.com. We're back in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're back tonight from Chicago, reporting on Chicago's deadly streets. 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 is like many others in Chicago and any city around the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: 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 could 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: All right. "Is my neighborhood next?" a lot of folks have been asking. So we want to get back now to Asa Powell and Victor Woods, two men who both served time in prison but are now working to keep other young men in Chicago from going down the same path that they went down.
Listen, I have to put on my glasses here because, you know, I'm getting old. But the... WOODS: How old are you, Don?
LEMON: This is from the Chicago - I'm not answering that question. This is from the Chicago Police Department, because the numbers really don't lie here. It says as of January 15th - January through the 15th of September 2009, victims aged 20 and other, 84, victims aged 18 and other, 54, victims aged 16 and under, 29, victims aged 10 and under, 9. Number of murders in the week of the 23rd and 29th of September, 14.
Fourteen - the numbers don't lie.
WOODS: No, they don't. No, they don't, and one of the problems that I have with this is we talk about outrage in this city. Where's the outrage from affluent black people? When you look at that funeral, most of those people live in that neighborhood. Most of those people don't have jobs or not well-paying jobs. Where's the outrage from black bourgeoisie America - our accountants, our lawyers, our doctors, our entertainers?
Kanye West is from this town, and here is a man who took time out on MTV to do a despicable act, but he didn't have time to come to this funeral. Where is the outrage from upper mobile blacks about this young, black boy that was killed? There was a time when black people in this country, regardless of economic status, all came together through civil rights. Where is that outrage? We have black people that have the resources to pour into these neighborhoods and do some real work, and we're not doing that.
That funeral doesn't lie. You look at the faces, those are not affluent, black people. Where are our affluent black people in Chicago?
LEMON: There are - there are ministers who were out...
WOODS: Well, there were ministers out...
LEMON: Louis Farrakhan...
WOODS: With all due respect - with all due respect, those ministers are not in the juvenile detention center, are not in the prisons, and are not in the street, dealing with this problem. Some of those people you mentioned are 70 years old. They cannot even relate with the kids and the kids can't relate with them.
LEMON: Well, that's a good segue to talk to Asa. Asa, if you would - again, went to Fenger High School. You were someone who - someone who got involved, and went to prison, came out and is doing very well now, a big promoter here in - in the city of Chicago. So then if - how would someone get to you if - when you were there, how does someone then get to those kids who are that age?
POWELL: It's very simple. I met Victor Woods in maximum federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin. If you haven't had a gun in your hand, if you haven't sold drugs, if you haven't lived the life that I lived, even though you might be telling me the right thing is better for me, just like my mother and my grandmother did, who loved me dearly, I just wasn't receptive to it because I'm from the streets. I'm from 79th and Carpenter. The guys that I grew up with are from 79th and 69th Street. I still love them now. I want to pull them out of the street and do the legitimate business that I have.
But - but what happened is me and Victor had a similar background, so he reached me.
LEMON: You related to him.
POWELL: Yes. And he - and he cared enough about me in maximum federal prison to say, hey, listen, you can do great things if you turn your life around. No one ever said that to me before.
LEMON: You were in high school - when? In the '80s, '90s?
POWELL: I got out of high school in '88.
LEMON: In '88. So then, you would think by 1988, between 1988 and now, that something would have changed, someone would have gotten through to someone in order for this to stop happening. Was it as bad when you were in school in 1988?
POWELL: Pretty much. Pretty much. And - and it took me to go to prison. My mother, you know, told me not to do this. My grandmother told me - and I loved them dearly. But I would not listen to them because I just didn't connect with them in the same way. And when he - I've seen an example of Victor. He didn't just tell me in prison but, when he got out, I seen him walk the walk, and he was an example for me.
LEMON: OK. So - this is in the Rose (ph) neighborhood and people may say, you know what? It's not in my neighborhood, these kids - I mean, quite honestly, you know, these young black kids are killing each other. Why should I care about - why should I care about that? It's not happening in my neighborhood, and it's never going to happen.
POWELL: Well, you know what?
WOODS: You should care for the same reason those young white kids in Columbine went to school and killed all of those white kids. See, back in the day, it was crack and marijuana in our neighborhood, and now it's crystal meth in their neighborhood. We're all in this together. If you put a bunch of liquid in a cup, eventually it's going to spill over, and this is destined to spill over into white America. This problem is 10 minutes west of Chicago, downtown, magnificent mile (ph), and 10 minutes south.
Chicago is just not Saks Fifth Avenue, water tower and Daley Plaza. All of these people are citizens of Chicago.
LEMON: We've got - we've got 30 seconds. The mayor got off the airplane, immediately said we've got to stop this code of silence. Is the code of silence - is that the problem? Is that part of the problem? WOODS: No, that's not part of the problem. The problem is dealing with the issue. The issue isn't the code of silence. The issue is the circumstances that create - that have been created in our neighborhoods, that create these children or have these children doing these things. That's the problem.
LEMON: Code of silence?
POWELL: I think there's a code of silence amongst some people. I went to a federal prison, and I did not snitch on anyone.
LEMON: Right.
POWELL: Because that's just how I was raised. I believe Mayor Daley loves this city. I just believe people like Victor and myself need to get more involved with Mayor Daley to give a different face on this problem.
WOODS: Why do I have to beg Chicago to help save children in this city?
LEMON: Asa and - Asa and Victor, thank you very much. I really appreciate you guys...
POWELL: Thank you for having us.
LEMON: ... joining us tonight and sitting out here in the cold weather. It got cold...
WOODS: Thanks for having us, Don. Thanks for having us.
LEMON: Got cold really quickly here in Chicago. Yes.
WOODS: We enjoyed it.
LEMON: I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
We're going to be talking with another group who's trying to help out in the streets as well - a group called Cease Fire who we have going around the City of Chicago with, and also spoke to gang members, given us some great access.
Also, we'll break down the David Letterman extortion case with an entertainment insider. Why are celebrities such easy targets? And arrest in the case of a peeping tom, the nude taping of ESPN's Erin Andrews. You won't believe all the creepy details on this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A federal magistrate today ordered an Illinois man returned to California to face charges for recording nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews. Forty-eight-year-old Michael David Barrett faces interstate stalking charges for taking the videos, trying to sell them to a celebrity website and posting them online.
He was arrested Friday night at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, and he will return to court Monday to determine if he will be freed on bond or returned to California in custody. Barrett faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.
David Letterman's accused blackmailer has bailed out of jail after pleading not guilty. Robert Halderman, a CBS news producer, is charged with attempted grand larceny in an alleged $2 million extortion plot. He's reportedly deep in debt and he's been ordered by a judge to keep his distance from Letterman, who shocked the world when he used his show to confess to having sex with female staffers. He told his audience a blackmailer threatened to write a screenplay about his sex life unless he got paid.
There's a lot to talk about in this late-night stunner. From New York, I'm joined by Tom O'Neil. He's a Senior Editor of In Touch Weekly. And then also, Bruce Weinstein, otherwise known as The Ethics Guy - oh - you guys are in the same room! Good to see you. You wrote a book that is called, "Is It Still Cheating If I Don't Get Caught?"
All right. Is it still cheating? It's kind of like if a tree falls in the woods, does anybody hear? All right, so Tom, let's start with you. What do you know about this accused blackmailer? How did he dig up this dirt?
TOM O'NEIL, SENIOR EDITOR, IN TOUCH WEEKLY: Well, apparently, he was involved with the same gal that Letterman was believed to be involved with, this Samantha - what's her last name?
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THE ETHICS GUY: Birkitt.
O'NEIL: Birkitt. Thank you. And she apparently just recently busted up with Halderman. He apparently got wind of some of the things in her diary and her personal papers, and after the split used that as leverage against Letterman.
LEMON: So you - now, listen - but here's what I want to - and either one of you guys can answer. As I'm sitting there watching the David Letterman Show last night - or the night when it aired - I think it was - was it last night or the night before? Thursday night. I said, I wonder if the audience is really getting this, if they think this is, during the taping, they thought it was just a joke because they were laughing at everything. And even he said, I'm not sure why that's funny.
WEINSTEIN: I know. There's a scene from Martin Scorsese's "King of Comedy" that reminds me of. But - but let's not forget that David Letterman is a manager, and it's wrong for a manager to have sex with an employee, whether you're the most powerful celebrity in the world or whether you own a small business. There's an imbalance of power between an employer and employee, especially someone of Letterman's stature, and that's why good managers simply don't get romantically or sexually involved with employees, as tempting as it might be to do so.
LEMON: But, Bruce - Bruce or Tom - Bruce let me - I'm going to take you to task in this. It happens everywhere. I mean, come on...
WEINSTEIN: Well, it happens but ... LEMON: ... one office in America where this probably hasn't happened.
WEINSTEIN: It happens, but the question is, is it right for it to happen? And, you know, good managers simply recognize that if you really care for someone, if you really care about the person you're attracted to, you don't get involved with them because it can harm the relationship, it can harm the employee, it could hurt morale, and how do you know that favoritism isn't going to result from such treatment? So even though, yes, it happens and even though the forces are powerful, good managers simply restrain themselves and just don't do it, as difficult as that is.
LEMON: So then what should - what should happen here? Should he - should he be fired? Should he...?
WEINSTEIN: That's a great question. Well, what - letterman did the right thing by apologizing. He did he it early. He did he it sincerely, and he's to be commended for that. So, ethically, it's a mixed bag. He shouldn't have had the affair, but he did own up to it. He took responsibility, and ethically that was the right thing to do.
LEMON: And this a - this the - the quietest I've ever seen Tom. So, Tom, go ahead.
O'NEIL: Well, let me tell you, I absolutely disagree here. I think there is something wrong, yes, when a manager gets involved with an employee, but there's nothing illegal - and I think Letterman is a very special case. He's a rascal, and he's not been married for 30 years. So these alleged dalliances with girls that he worked with, come on, took place when he did not have a legally committed relationship with someone else.
WEINSTEIN: But just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical. And ethics holds us to a higher standard, and this applies to all managers. And Letterman is, yes, he's a celebrity, he's a great talk show, but with respect to Worldwide Pants, he's a manager, and managers simply should not be sexually or romantically involved with employees, however much - even if it's consensual, even if she initiated it, it's still not the right thing to do.
LEMONS: Hey, Tom - Tom, I've got to ask you this, are we sure that this wasn't happening when he was married or when he was seeing the person who eventually had his child?
O'NEIL: Right. The evidence that we have so far suggested they broke up before 2003, which was the year that his son was born. Now, he just married his son's mother this last March.
LEMON: OK. OK. So then, what is this going to do for viewership?
O'NEIL: Viewership is already up 20 percent. America confuses fame with infamy. Think of Jon and Kate Gosselin. Think of...
LEMON: Yes. O'NEIL: You know...
WEINSTEIN: But, you know what, Don? There's some really powerful lessons here that everyone in workplaces across the country can take home with them. This is why this case really is important ethically, and that is if you're tempted to be involved with your boss romantically or you're a boss and you're tempted to be involved sexually or romantically with and employee, it's just not a good idea. In the long run, nothing good comes from it. So the right thing to do is simply restrain those impulses. And I know it's hard to do but that is the right thing to do.
LEMON: I hope America is listening, because, I got to tell you, I know this goes on in every single office, and I know each one of us has had an experience with that. I got to tell you, really quickly - we've got to run here. What do you think is going to happen with this guy, Mr. Halderman, here?
O'NEIL: Well, I think the most intriguing development in this case came Friday when his attorney stood up and said there's a whole other story to this. Don't buy, you know, Letterman's side to this. Wait until you hear what's yet to come.
LEMON: Yes. OK. Bruce Weinstein...
WEINSTEIN: This is a story (INAUDIBLE) and we can all learn from it, Don. We can all learn from this - this unfortunate story.
LEMON: A story with legs. OK. That's going to be one of the punch lines on the late shows, I'm sure.
WEINSTEIN: We may be back here talking about it in a few more days.
LEMON: Bruce and Tom, have a great Saturday night. Thank you.
All right. Again, it is Saturday night. You need a laugh? Well, I'll take you to the premiere of Chris Rock's new movie, "Good Hair." Promise me - I promise you, I should say, you will laugh. I'm going to laugh as well.
But first, we'll go back to Chicago streets here. What are some of the solutions? We'll talk with a woman with some answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, some big names in the African-American community turned out, really mostly ministers in the community, for the funeral of 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and others all pleading for an end to the culture of violence that is killing Chicago's children. Derrion was beaten to death in a street brawl on his way home from school, an ominous beginning to the new school year. Last year, 37 Chicago schoolchildren were killed in random violence.
The other day I sat down for an exclusive interview with his mother as she struggled to make sense of losing her child to Chicago's deadly streets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: People see that videotape and they have this reaction, Oh, my gosh! Have you seen that tape?
AN-JANETTE ALBERT, 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 VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: One group that is working to curb the violence in Chicago is CeaseFire, and I'm joined now by mediator Ameena Matthews. Thank you for joining us. You know, we have been speaking with you and Teo (ph), as well, and going out on the streets, talking to gang members about the violence that's happening in Chicago and in and around the schools. We have been asking for solutions. As someone who's out there, give me a solution.
AMEENA MATTHEWS, CEASEFIRE MEDIATOR: I'm a solution. CeaseFire is a solution. You know, Don, in areas that we're in, 43 percent to 83 percent of violent homicides are reduced in areas that were saturated and not fully working in capacity of outreach workers, violence interrupters in the communities that we're in.
LEMON: But you can't do that -- you cannot do that, and let's be honest, without the help of the police department. You need the police there, as well.
MATTHEWS: You know what, Don? No, I can do that. The police do what they -- my job is to prevent and -- for an intervention. I don't want my brothers and sisters and my Latino brothers and sisters and white brothers and sisters to get locked up and away from their families. We're giving them an opportunity to change their mindset on a moment of rage that won't lead them to a homicide or a lifelong in the penitentiary.
LEMON: So make the people who are watching, if there's something you can get them to understand about what the issue is, what the problem is, as you go into those communities. There may be an environment or the way it operates that's different than many people would even guess or people have never seen before.
MATTHEWS: Right.
LEMON: What are you dealing with?
MATTHEWS: Well, in Chicago, we're dealing with -- our community has lost hope. One of the reasons that areas that people were -- that were historically raised in, five, six, ten generation long, they're torn down and they're asked to be moved into another territory that they know nothing about. And our school system, Don, it's -- and our school system, it's horrible. There's five to six different schools in one school that's held capacity of 1,500 students, and it's 3,000 students (INAUDIBLE)
LEMON: It's not a matter of, Oh, I want a bigger home, or we're running out of room, so we have to move to this neighborhood, or I want my kid to go to a private school or a charter school. These are issues that are much bigger and much different.
MATTHEWS: Absolutely.
LEMON: So listen, I know that you were with Mrs. Albert today and with...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
LEMON: ... and with Rayia (ph)...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
LEMON: ... the little sister of Derrion. How are they?
MATTHEWS: In spite of -- it's going to take a lot of healing. We're asking for the community, you know, to continue supporting them, you know, in their prayers. And the family is also asking for the community to come together and support one another. It's time to bring neighbor back into neighborhoods, speaking and caring about. It's not that it's not my business. It is. It's all of our business.
LEMON: Yes.
MATTHEWS: And it's sad to say that a person would get involved only when it happens to them.
LEMON: Yes.
MATTHEWS: Then we have something in common. That's not true.
LEMON: You were shocked, though, during the interview. You walked in while we were doing the interview the other day, and you said, I couldn't believe when the mom said, Use me. It's time. I want to be used to help stop this violence. Those are pretty powerful words and that's pretty brave of her to say that (INAUDIBLE)
MATTHEWS: Absolutely. We talked about that today. And she has to get through, you know, just the concept...
LEMON: The shock of it.
MATTHEWS: ... in her mind that her son is not here anymore.
LEMON: Yes.
MATTHEWS: But she's ready to go.
LEMON: All right, thank you so much. Ameena Matthews of CeaseFire.
MATTHEWS: Thank you very so much, Don.
LEMON: Continue to do the work that you're doing. And we appreciate it. Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Go warm up.
LEMON: Yes, I will! Our Jacqui Jeras tells us the wind chill is 46 degrees here, and it dropped very quickly.
MATTHEWS: Yes. Quick.
LEMON: We appreciate it.
All right, so Jacqui Jeras is standing by in the Weather Center, and I know it is cold here in Chicago, and we'll check out what's going on around the country and around the world, as well.
And my favorite person of the week, Jonathan McCoy, 11 years old, and he's got a big challenge for all of us. We're live in Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: 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 they say some 4,000 more could be trapped beneath the debris. In the city of Padang, crews are using hammers, chisels, even their bare hands as hope fades that they'll uncover any survivors.
In the Philippines, tens of thousands of people fled their homes today as the second major storm hit that country in just days. Typhoon Parma dumped heavy rain, killing at least four people. But it could have been much, much worse. The main part of the storm missed the country's heavily populated areas, including Manila.
Thirty people are still unaccounted for in Sicily two days after a deluge of heavy rains caused massive mudslides. The Italian Civil Protection Authority says the official death toll stands at 21. One of the worst-hit areas is Messina in eastern Sicily. The Italian government has declared a state of emergency as search and rescue efforts continue.
Our Jacqui Jeras joins us now in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Jacqui, man, oh, man, those -- they are having problems. This little bit of cold that I'm having here in Chicago is nothing to complain about.
JERAS: It's not, but 46 degrees wind chill -- that's what you're dealing with there, Don, so it is a bit on the cool side. In fact, much of the lower 48 dealing with temperatures cooler than average. Our big weather story across the continental U.S. is that we've had some extremely heavy rain across the Lone Star state. In fact, just to the south and to the east of San Antonio area, Doppler radar indicating as much as three to six inches of rain has fallen today, and there's been some flash flooding in Dewitt County and even a high- water rescue.
Now, we've got a very active weather pattern which is setting up here across the southern tier of the U.S. with our jet stream, and we're going to continue to see disturbances flow within this jet. So expect more wet weather for Texas.
In addition to that, we have what was a tropical storm named Olaf, which is going to get caught up in that subtropical jet and bring all that tropical moisture, unfortunately, into Texas and the lower Mississippi River valley. So this is the forecast for additional rainfall totals through the weekend and into early next week. Doesn't look like you're going to dry out until maybe Wednesday.
Here's your big picture for tomorrow, then. The heavy rain continues across parts of the South. Storm system into the West is going to bring snow into the higher elevations. Should stay under a foot, but some blustery conditions. The Northeast will see some lingering rain showers, but overall, a pleasant weekend.
And let's talk about some of those temperatures, Don. There you can see your high in Chicago only 58 degrees tomorrow, 58 in Minneapolis. Even Dallas cool, with 69 degrees. We'll still see some 80s and 90s, though, along the Gulf Coast -- Don.
LEMON: Man, your blood thins really quickly! I lived here for three years, and I can't believe I'm freezing. But look, you know, it's -- it's cold. It looks a little ominous, but to me, it's beautiful. Take a look at the Hancock building and you can see the clouds kind of rolling through.
JERAS: Yes.
LEMON: Isn't that great?
JERAS: When it's damp, it makes it feel a little worse.
LEMON: See the Hancock building there that -- that little pink or lavender or whatever it is. And then right to the left, before it pushes in, that's the top of the Intercontinental Hotel. You see that? Can you go left even further? This is -- right there. That is atop of the Tribune Tower, that little crown. Very beautiful. I wish you can see the other side because the Wrigley building is there, and it's all lighted up. And to my right, you can't see, the beautiful Chicago River, and then the bridge over the river, all the flags from around the world there, as well. I miss my old home.
JERAS: I can tell!
LEMON: I wonder if they'll let me back after all this reporting.
JERAS: It's a great city.
LEMON: Yes. It's a fantastic, wonderful city, and we want to clean up the violence to make it an even better city, right, Jacqui?
JERAS: Absolutely.
Thank you very much. All right. Appreciate it, Jacqui.
Well, a very special 11-year-old who's doing more than most adults, frankly, to make a difference in the world.
And a federal program debuted just a few months ago, designed to help the housing market. Our Ed Lavandera checks in on whether it's providing the need relief. We're back live from Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to talk now about what matters. Some of you may remember this. A lot of you may remember this funeral. It was in Detroit. It was 19 -- excuse me, it was 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 the word -- well, it didn't die.
Now a few leaders -- a new leader, I should say, has stepped forward, hoping to put the final nail in the coffin. He's 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've said it. Get out of my face, "N" word! So why are we taking this word to use it in our everyday language to communicate to or about ourselves?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, so not only did Jonathan deliver that speech, he wrote it himself and he joins us from the newsroom. He's back again by popular demand. Hey, it's 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've 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's horrific. And nobody deserves that. And there is this thing going on on Morehouse campus called the Free Zone Initiative -- no "N" word, no cursing and no sagging. And I think that that would help out in the African-American community.
LEMON: And so much -- probably a lot of it -- here's what I think you're saying. A lot of it is about respecting other people, respecting each other and having some values, and that, you know, young people should be taught that. It appears that you are, and that goes along with this, you know, 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's taken back everything that Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and other various Civil Rights leaders have done.
LEMON: Jonathan -- I see that his earpiece has popped out. So I'm going to let you put your earpiece back in, Jonathan. So since you've been doing this, what's the response? I mean, you've gotten 800,000 hits on the Internet. But what do you think -- how do you think that you're making a difference in all of this?
MCCOY: I think that once people see this 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's abolished.
LEMON: Now, what about people who say, Hey, you know what, let's take back that word, use it, take the stigma off. We should be using it in music, using it in poetry, using it in songs. It's OK. You know, there's a different way of saying it, the "ER" and the "A" -- you know, the "N" word "A" and the "N" word "ER." It's a difference. We should take back that word. What do you say to them?
MCCOY: If you were going to call somebody dumb and then were, like, Oh, we're going to turn "dumb" into a good word, would you call it "Dumb-a"? Would that make any sense? No. So I don't see why people are using this word this way.
LEMON: All right. Jonathan McCoy wants 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: You know, and if you want to find out more about Jonathan's petition against the "N" word, you can go to CNN.com/don. And we want to hear from you, as well. You can also reach out to me at Donlemoncnn on Twitter, on Facebook, iReport.com and also MySpace.
Chris Rock is making a movie about hair. You heard me right, a movie about hair. It is hilarious, and I'll take you inside the premiere next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, so we're out here talking with my crew about good hair, no hair. People call me, e-mail me, You need a haircut, Don. Your hair's looking nappy, all kinds of stuff, right? All right.
Kinky, curly, straight, short, long, a weave -- well, these are all descriptions of African-American hair. Really, they talk about good hair, bad hair. Comedian Chris Rock gets to the root of the hair phenomenon in the black community in his new documentary called "Good Hair." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN/FILMMAKER: Black hair! Black hair! Would you like to buy some black hair?
LEMON (voice-over): Twice a year in Atlanta the Bronner Brothers hair show is the center of the hair universe.
BERNARD BRONNER, BRONNER BROS. CO. INC.: The number one purpose of the hair show -- to come, learn how to use new products. Certain products (INAUDIBLE) triple what the white market does. We're 12 percent of the population, but we buy 80 percent of the hair.
ROCK: Wow! I got in the wrong business!
LEMON: A $9 billion-a-year business, to be exact.
BRONNER: All I know is we spend a ton of money on our hair. No matter what, we're going to look good.
LEMON: According to Rock and the women he interviews, nothing is too much and no treatment is too painful.
ROCK: Relaxer's the chemical that will take a black woman's hair from this and change it into this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of like a torture session.
ROCK: Could you tell us how dangerous relaxer is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sodium hydroxide will burn through your skin.
ROCK: So that can's got a good perm.
LEMON: And no price is too high, either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It starts at $1,000.
ROCK: It starts? So what -- I mean, how high...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It can go as far as $3,500.
ROCK: Thirty-five hundred dollars?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
ROCK: And who's paying for this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies, working people.
ROCK: Black women?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black women, everyday people that are working and want to look good and look as natural as possible.
LEMON: So at the Atlanta premiere of Rock's new film, we asked, What is good hair?
TAHIRA WRIGHT: What's good hair? I don't think there's good or bad hair. Hair is just a form of self-expression, a fashion statement.
LEMON (on camera): Do you think this is good hair?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is definitely good hair. Good hair is when you keep it up.
ROCK: Women spend a lot of money on it, and men spend a lot of money on women's hair, too. I know I have. I have the receipts to prove it.
LEMON: Is there a statement? Why'd you -- why "Good Hair"?
ROCK: Why "Good Hair"? I just wanted to make a good movie. I hope people go. "Good Hair," good movie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, that was me hanging out with Chris Rock. Give me a long. You were jealous about that. OK, so look, these are what -- these are the guys that are with me. All right, so this -- Leon (ph) has good hair, right? That's what we say. You don't have any hair, Michael (ph)!
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And this is sort of OK, medium hair. So there you go. We got it all covered for you here. Thank you, guys. Go back to the cameras. We need it.
Chris Rock's new movie, "Good Hair," opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, October 23rd. We've lost it here in Chicago tonight, guys!
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA LOCASCIO, NEW HOME OWNER: Super-duper. Thank you.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Finally, Lisa Locascio has the key to a new home, the first she's ever owned.
(on camera): When's the house-warming party?
LOCASCIO: 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, and how it's 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.
(on camera): So what's it been like?
LOCASCIO: It's been rough. It's been a long process.
LAVANDERA: Tired?
LOCASCIO: No, I was more annoyed.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Since June, we tracked Lisa's progress through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. One of the NSP programs offers perspective home buyers up to $15,000 to cover down payment and closing costs. The idea was also to help 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. 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, said people like Lisa Locascio are competing with real estate investors. They offer the banks cash, usually at a lower price. Locascio bid on nearly 30 homes before striking a deal.
(on camera): Do you still think this is money well spent?
MARIA BEARS, PHOENIX DEPUTY HOUSING DIRECTOR: I do. Any time you stabilize a neighborhood, that's the fabrics of our community, so -- ghost towns don't do anybody any good at all.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Maria Bears is trying to build momentum. She's helped organize this Spanish language telethon to get the word out. City housing officials say there's 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's set to expire towards the end of next year.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
