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Eight U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; Obama's Weighing Options For Afghanistan; Full Throttle Terror Investigation; California Wildfire Destroys Homes; Chicago Gun Ban Goes to Supreme Court; Derrion Albert's Mother Talks about Her Son's Death; Capital Punishment Case Could Cost Gov. Rick Perry's Re-election Bid; E.R. Doctor Becomes 1st Latino Harvard Graduate; Bodies Stack up in Detroit Morgue
Aired October 04, 2009 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly weekend in Afghanistan where eight U.S. troops are killed. The debate over how to win the war grows louder and louder.
Does Iran have a capable to build the bomb? A classified U.N. report says they certainly might.
Chicago's mayor returns from a failed Olympic bid and finally speaks out about the violence in his city. What is he saying now?
A shocking sign of the times: people in Detroit who are too poor to bury their dead.
And exactly what is good hair? 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 the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
We're keeping an eye on a developing for you, it's out of California. Parts of that state, the southern part, under a state of emergency right now. Fires are racing across the bone-dry mountains of San Bernardino County. Thousands of people have been told they must leave their homes immediately.
Do we have some pictures from there? Can we show some of the pictures from there and then we will get it. OK.
I want to show the pictures. I'm going to pause right here because it's important that you see this. There they are. That fire is raging across the southern part of the state there, and they have been asking people to get out of their homes and leave their homes.
We're working on getting a story out of that part of the country for you. As soon as we get it, we're going to bring it to you in moments.
But we also have some developing news because it just keeps escalating: the brutal attack on American troops in Afghanistan, the deadliest in over a year. Hundreds of rebel troops bombarded two U.S. base camps, killing eight American soldiers and two Afghan security officers. The U.S. military says insurgents armed with rockets, mortars and machine guns stormed the outpost in the rugged Nuristan province. It happened yesterday. The marathon siege lasted for over 12 hours, and violent flare-ups are still being reported today.
CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson visited the same region back in 2007 describing it as a sort of no-man's-land between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the terrain here is really tough. Nuristan is so remote, it doesn't have any paved roads, doesn't have any hospitals, doesn't even have a proper center of government here. It doesn't even have a provincial capital. Not a real one. And as the commanders here like to say, "where the roads end, that's where the bad guys begin."
(voice-over): If the rugged terrain looks familiar here, that's because the last time Osama bin Laden and his deputy was seen together on video, U.S. officials believe it was somewhere near here. That was 2002. The worry is: they could still be hiding here.
DAVID KATZ, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: It is an area little understood and little visited by outsiders. So it would very possible they could be living in some valley with -- in total security without outsiders being aware of their presence there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Right. That was our Nic Robertson. So, now, you know the background on this.
We want to give you some more information. The news of the eight U.S. soldiers killed comes as President Barack Obama considers a new strategy in Afghanistan, but he is getting conflicting opinions from his top commander in the war zone and his national security adviser as well.
Our Elaine Quijano live at the White House for us.
Elaine, you know, what is the president hearing from these men? Conflicting reports I'm hearing.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, today, the president's national security adviser Jim Jones offered condolences, first of all, to the families of the American troops killed in Afghanistan this weekend, but he maintained that the president should take his time grappling with these tough decisions ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(GUNFIRE)
QUIJANO (voice-over): More U.S. troop deaths this weekend underscored the high stakes, as President Obama gets ready to meet with his national security team to figure out how to move forward in Afghanistan.
But on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING," national security adviser Jim Jones said the president does have some time to weigh his options.
GEN. JIM JONES, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I don't foresee the return of the Taliban, and I want to be very clear that Afghanistan is not in danger -- imminent danger of falling.
QUIJANO: Republican Senator Jon Kyl disagrees, arguing time is running out.
SEN. JOHN KYL (R), MINORITY WHIP: Time is of the essence, and I don't think we have a great deal of time to sit around and have a big debate about this.
QUIJANO: He sides with the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, who reportedly wants thousands of additional U.S. troops.
JONES: Troops are a portion of the answer but not the total answer.
QUIJANO: Jim Jones says the picture is more complex. He questions whether al Qaeda could once again find safe haven in Afghanistan, and he takes issue with General McChrystal's public push for more troops.
JONES: Ideally, it's better for military advice to come up through the chain of command, and I think that General McChrystal and the others in the chain of command will present the president with not just one option.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: And, Don, the president is set to meet with his national security team on Wednesday and Friday. Senior aides say there's going to be at least one more consultation with that same group of people, and the president at least once more beyond that before the strategy is drafted, Don.
LEMON: So, next weekend, what do we expect to hear from, I guess, the -- possibly two opposing positions or maybe, I don't know, a compromise in all of this the way forward when it goes -- when it concerns Afghanistan?
QUIJANO: Yes. I mean, I think certainly, that is very much a possibility, some sort of compromise. Will it be perhaps the number of troops that General McChrystal is requesting? We're not even sure what that number -- exact figure is right now, but, certainly, the president could decide to grant whatever General McChrystal ultimately requests and he could also decide not to go forward with that.
But, you know, it's interesting to note the political atmosphere that this decision-making process is taking place in, Don. As you know, polls are showing that a majority of the American people really do not support the war in Afghanistan. So, certainly, some difficult decisions ahead for the administration.
LEMON: Yes. Tough place to be in.
OK, Elaine. Thank you very much, Elaine, getting us some information there. And we want to get more some information, we're going to continue now in Washington. Thank you very much, Elaine.
Some perspective now from Retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. He's joining us tonight, again, as I said, from Washington. He served as at assistant secretary of state for military-political affairs and is now an executive vice president for Advanced Technology Systems, a defense contracting firm.
Thank you, sir. Glad you're here to give us some perspective. So, you know, two men, two different -- very different assessments on here, how to win this war. What do you make of this?
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS: Well, first, I don't see that these are different assessments. What General McChrystal has done is offered his military advice. What General Jones is saying as the national security adviser is, along with the military advice, we need to hear and see other elements. This can't simply be a military solution. There has to be issues brought in, such as diplomacy, governance, Pakistan -- so that the entire strategy will have to be simply more than just Stan McChrystal's request for more troops.
LEMON: All right.
KIMMITT: It's going to have to be far more comprehensive.
LEMON: I understand what you're saying, it's not just troops here. He said that in the story that Elaine Quijano had. So, this is a more comprehensive approach that what both men are saying. Besides this, we're going to need this.
OK. So, if the president doesn't send troops in, some will say, you know, he's going to be responsible for more violence. If he does, some will say he might be overreaching. Is this a catch-22 for the president?
KIMMITT: Well, it isn't. In fact, that's exactly why they're going through a comprehensive strategy review, to find out what the appropriate mix of troops, more civilians, more resources, more assistance from other countries is going to be needed. The troops are only one component of this. I would suspect that at the end of the day more troops will be needed. I personally feel that more troops are needed, and I suspect that the strategy review will endorse that view as well.
But it's also got, just as we did with the Iraq strategy review, it has to focus on more than simply troop numbers.
LEMON: OK.
KIMMITT: The entire issue of American public support needs to be addressed, and personally, I believe that's the true center of gravity.
LEMON: All right. So, General, time is of the essence here, is that correct? If it is, how soon does the president need to make some sort of decision?
KIMMITT: Well, in the military, we used to say let's not rush to failure. I would suspect that it is more important to do a good strategic review over the next few weeks to get it right because that strategic review will have consequences for years to come. We need to do it quickly but we do need to do it right. We shouldn't rush to a solution simply because we think that time is working completely against it.
As General Jones said this morning, there is no imminent danger in Afghanistan, but nonetheless this is not something that can wait for months before decisions are made.
LEMON: Very good information. Retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, we appreciate it.
KIMMITT: Thank you.
LEMON: We're learning some important details now on the terror investigation surrounding an Afghan national from Colorado. Sources told CNN that people who traveled to Pakistan with Najibullah Zazi are now back in the U.S. and they're now under surveillance.
CNN national correspondent Sudan Candiotti has exclusive information on the investigation described as full throttle, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, so far, we know the main thrust of this investigation has centered on airport shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi. He's pleaded not guilty to a bomb plot. Well, now, CNN has learned that several people who traveled with Zazi to Pakistan last year are back in the U.S.
Prosecutors have said Zazi and others went to Peshawar, Pakistan, in August 2008. They say Zazi admitted he got explosive trainings at an al Qaeda training camp there. Ever since Zazi was picked up a few weeks ago, a number of people, the exact number is unknown, have been under round-the-clock surveillance.
One source familiar with the investigation says some of those people being watched include those who traveled with Zazi overseas. The identities of those people and locations are being kept under wraps.
Now, one man who is being watched is Naiz Khan in New York. He says he also flew from Pakistan to New York on the same day that Zazi did last January. But Khan says it's pure coincidence. Khan also says he did not fly to Pakistan with Zazi and showed us his passport to prove it. He's a childhood friend of Zazi and let him stay at his New York apartment just before he was arrested. Khan says he is not a terrorist and has not been charged in the case.
Agents searched the apartment and say they seized a scale with Zazi's fingerprints on it. They also found several backpacks. In the past, backpacks were used in subway and train bombings overseas. Now, Khan says those backpacks were children's gifts that belonged to an uncle -- Don?
LEMON: All right. So, a lot of moving parts here, Susan. So, what do we know? Do we know about agents? Are they questioning anybody else besides the men that you're talking about?
CANDIOTTI: We do know that, Don. Among those giving testimony before a grand jury is Najibullah Zazi's uncle. Now, he personally tells CNN he was flown from Denver to New York just last week to testify. Zazi lived with his uncle for a bit this past year.
And we also know that a terror task force is still canvassing beauty supply stores and landscaping companies. The FBI says Zazi and others bought large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and acetone last summer, materials that can be used to make powerful explosives, the same kind used in subway and train attacks overseas.
So, landscaping companies are being asked whether they sold acid or fertilizer to Zazi and others both in Colorado and New York. As you know, Don, fertilizer was one of the key ingredients used to make the truck bomb that blew up the Oklahoma City federal building.
LEMON: Our Susan Candiotti on this story since the very beginning. And she will continue on with good information. Susan, we appreciate it.
A date is now been set for U.N. inspectors to visit a nuclear enrichment facility just disclosed by Iran. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said today the inspection will begin on October 25th. The announcement came after a meeting with the Iranian president in Tehran. The IAEA head said U.N. inspectors will do a comprehensive check of the plant to make sure the facility is for peaceful purposes. "The New York Times" reported today that the IAEA experts have concluded Iran has sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable atomic bomb.
A fast-moving brush fire near Los Angeles. It was our top story here tonight. It threatens homes and forces evacuations. We're going to take you there. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is also in the severe weather center. She's tracking it right now for you.
Concerns growing in Texas that an innocent man was executed. It is a shocking story. What did the governor have to do with it? Our Randi Kaye has the details on this.
And three degrees from Harvard. Meet a man who went door-to-door to achieve his dreams.
Also, it's time for you to weigh in. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Your comments get on the air here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to get you back now to our developing story. And there's some concern here that this could get much worse. Let's hope it doesn't.
Show the pictures now because it's fast-moving flames. They're fueling high winds -- fueled by high winds. They're sending thousands from their homes. This is in San Bernardino County. Look at that video.
Wind gusts for up to 45 miles an hour are making it difficult for more than 1,000 firefighters to battle this blaze. The U.S. Forest Service says the fire has destroyed three homes and scorched about 3,500 acres. Again, we're keeping a close eye on this. But this started in the San Bernardino National Forest yesterday and it's only 10 percent contained so far.
Firefighters are going door-to-door notifying people of a mandatory evacuation for the towns of Wrightwood and Little Creek. People packed their cars as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County. Again, keeping a close eye on this for you.
So, we want to understand just how fast a wildfire can grow overnight. Chip Yost, he's of our affiliate KTLA. He spent last night and early this morning as a matter of fact on the front line of the so-called sheep fire. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIP YOST, KTLA REPORTER (voice-over): The fire was loud. The fire was angry. It was around midnight, and the sheep fire was in a hurry. We tried our best to keep up with it.
(on camera): Some of these pictures will give you an idea about how a fire like this can grow so fast overnight. If you look over here, we are right off Lone Pine Canyon Road, and we had to move our location about four or five times in the last hour and a half, because the fire keeps moving closer and closer to us. We're now at this moment about three miles from Wrightwood.
And one of the times we had to switch our locations, we were right in the middle of an interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can get a clear picture of how difficult it is for the firefighters to try to get a handle on these fires. In fact, I think it's time for us to be considering moving our position. I think we ought to just move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Chip Yost from our affiliate KTLA. I think we also just moved.
Jacqui Jeras, probably some good advice out there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes.
LEMON: And it's being fueled by winds, right?
JERAS: Yes, it really is. Yes, when those officials tell you to go, you better go, because sometimes there's not a whole heck of a lot of time to get out unfortunately.
We have a very strong storm system out west, not just at the surface but also in the upper levels was atmosphere. The winds are just driving in this area. Sustained winds between 20 and 30 miles per hour, but we're going to see gusts between 40 and 60.
You know, here we are 3:00 in the afternoon and we're really approaching hours when the winds get the strongest and they just really channel through those canyons in those passes. Looks like the high wind warnings. We just had this in place, the maps automatically update and that just dropped out. So, I'm not sure. I'll double check on this for you.
But we did have some high wind warnings in effect across the area where we've been seeing some of those wind gusts. We wanted to put a couple of true viewers on here for you and give you an idea. There you can see San Bernardino, 13 miles per hour, that's sustained not to mention some of these gusts. So, you can see lots of teens for your sustained winds, which happen to be across the area.
Now, another big weather story that we're following here for today is heavy rain across the state of Texas. These pictures from San Antonio, record rain fell there today, almost five and a half inches and more than six now in the last 24 hours. Remember, much of central and southern Texas in a drought-ridden state, and now we're getting too much rain at one period of time. Flood issues not just into Texas but also in Mississippi and Atlanta. A very active southern jet stream is bringing in storm after storm -- Don?
LEMON: If we can give a little water to San Antonio to San Bernardino, that would certainly help out.
JERAS: That'd help out.
LEMON: Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Thank you, Jacqui.
Again, we're going to continue to follow the story in California. The fires that are being fueled by flames and our Jacqui Jeras is on top of it as well. Thank you.
You know, pressure is mounting on the governor of Texas because investigators are looking into claims that an innocent man was executed and they're saying the governor may have had something to do with it. Our Randi Kaye is reporting on that for you.
Plus, the heart-breaking reality of life on Chicago's deadly streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Outside of the community center is the makeshift memorial for Derrion Albert. We have seen 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's -- that miss him. And everyone says that he's gone, but he's never going to be forgotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: His funeral was just yesterday. I attended. Gone but not forgotten -- you heard his little sister. That's a message from Derrion Albert's family. My interview with his mother -- straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to a story we have been following here on CNN on this broadcast, my colleague, Fredricka Whitfield, has been following it, so is Anderson Cooper. We're keeping on top of this story, trying to get to the bottom of it.
You know, Chicago police are looking for at least three more potential suspects in the beating death of an honor student, 16-year- old Derrion, Albert killed on his way home from school on September 24th when he got caught up in a street brawl with dozens of teenagers on the city's south side. The fatal fight was videotaped, and police have used the tape to charge four people with murder already.
The graphic video followed Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley all the way to Copenhagen, where the city lost a bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Now, upon returning to Chicago yesterday, Daley got right off the plane, he was questioned about Derrion Albert's killing.
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: I'll be meeting with representatives at 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 and age where we have young children being killed. It is something that 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 -- that will be very, very strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, the president himself who is from the South Side of Chicago hasn't commented on Derrion's murder but he is sending Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to the city this week. Arne Duncan is the former Chicago CEO of schools there.
Holder plans to meet with school officials, students and community members. Duncan is expected to add his concerns over school violence while speaking at an education grant conference.
You know, it would be easy to think that Derrion Albert died because he was in a bad neighborhood. Well, he wasn't. Roseland is a typical working class neighborhood, just like countless other neighborhoods around America. Not without its problems though, but not a particularly horrible neighborhood.
I went there it to see it for myself. I quickly realized what happened to Derrion could happen anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 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 in to before the ambulance came, the parking lot adjacent to the community center.
On the other side of 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 VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, a lot of you have been writing to me on Twitter, on Facebook and also sending e-mails saying, you know, that was a very tough interview with Derrion Albert's mom.
And, you know, she wanted to talk about it, because she says she does not want this to happen to anyone. She invited me in. She said, "I don't want this just to go out in Chicago, I want it to go out around the world, Don, and that's why I'm talking to you." So, Derrion Albert's mom talked to me about being afraid in her own neighborhood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DALEY: I'll be meeting with representatives at 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Apparently that -- we just ran that. That's the mayor. As soon as we find Derrion Albert's mom, can we get it together and find the right tape?
But I'll just kind of talk to you about it a little bit. Derrion's mom had been speaking. A lot of people have been talking to her and going up and interviewing her just on, you know, the slide, trying to get comments from her. She said she was tired of doing that, because she didn't feel like her message was getting out.
Also, people thought that, you know, there was concern about her not being able to afford the funeral. She said that's not true, but there is fund set up to help the family and to also help what's going on.
I really want to get that Derrion -- OK. All right. We're going to get that in just a minute. In the meantime, we're going to move on.
A story that is not really related to what's going on here but can help. And again, I want to get that interview for you. Sorry for the technical problem there.
The funeral wasn't -- the funeral wasn't just a time of mourning, it was also a call to action to make the streets a little bit safer, but getting a gun legally could soon be easier for anyone living in the city of Chicago.
The U.S. Supreme Court is back in session tomorrow, and the justices will be taking up Chicago's 27-year gun ban. Gun owners say the Second Amendment protects their rights to bear arms, trumping all local laws, but supporters of the ban say it combats urban violence. The justices overturned a similar gun ban in D.C. just last year. That was big news.
I' want to bring in Tanya Acker now because she knows all about this. She is from Los Angeles, and she knows about taking on the Second Amendment issue. She's an attorney.
Hey, Tanya, thank you so much. So, listen, excuse me...
TANYA ACKER, ATTORNEY: Hi, Don.
LEMON: This doesn't really have to do with the gun violence, this particular case in Chicago, but it can certainly have an effect on what's going there. Walk our viewers through that for us, will you?
ACKER: That's absolutely right. What happened and what the Supreme Court now is confronting is the issue of whether or not the right of an individual to bear arms can be limited by the state.
Now, last year, the Supreme Court ruled on this question with respect to the federal government. That was the case that arose out of Washington, D.C., which is as we all know is a federal enclave. And in that case, last year, the court held that the rights to bear arms is an individual right and it's not simply limited to state-run and state-regulated militias. Now, what's at issue in this case that the court has now agreed to hear is whether or not that right to bear arms can be limited by a state government. And given the composition of the court and given its tendency really to side with Second Amendment advocates and to loosen gun restrictions, I think we're going to see some changes in Chicago gun ownership rules.
LEMON: So, what's at stake here is whether this gun ownership is an individual right, is a collective one, you know, such as the National Guard and that sort of thing.
ACKER: Well, that's right. And last year, in the case that came out of Washington, D.C., the Supreme Court held that it was an individual right. But again, in that case, the Supreme Court said that it's holding only applies to federal enclaves, the federal territories of the federal government. The court last year did not consider the question of whether or not the state could regulate gun ownership, and whether or not that individual right could be held up as against a state as opposed to federal regulations.
LEMON: OK. You would think that with all the debate about, you know, gun control, gun issues, and all the, you know, political discourse that's going on, that this would have been handled by the Supreme Court a while ago and decided in similar cases. It hasn't been?
ACKER: It has not been. It has not been. And, in fact, you know, what's interesting is what happened when the Supreme Court took the -- took the Heller case last year, there really had been a lot of controversy over whether or not the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms was something that you and I could avail ourselves of as individuals or whether or not it was as the text of the amendment suggests, limited to militias. When the court decided that question, now it's really got the very brand new and much broader question before it about the state rights.
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Real quickly, what's your prediction? Do you have one?
ACKER: I think that the Chicago ban is out the window. My prediction is that the court is going to side in favor of gun ownership and strike down this event.
LEMON: Even with all that's going on with the violence there, they're going to decide again it, right?
ACKER: I think so. I think so. One thing you really have is gun advocates, Second Amendment advocates, often make the argument that guns help make it safer. I suppose the safety argument might play on both sides.
LEMON: There are people who said that if there was someone there that was armed, a bystander, then maybe they could have helped this kid and many more kids.
Tonya, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Now back to the story that I want you to see, Darrion Albert's mom talking to me about being afraid in her own home, outside her own home, in her own neighborhood.
(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.
ANJANET (ph) ALBERT, MOTHER OF DERRION ALBERT: 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'll 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: I don't know. Standing outside on the porch and somebody walking up, I come back inside. I just am 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 babies to go anywhere. I wish I could have...
LEMON: You're OK. You wish you what? You wish you could have what? I'm sorry.
ALBERT: I wish I could have helped him. I would help anybody's child. How could you just watch that happen to somebody, anybody?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: One of the hardest interviews I've ever done. And our hearts and our prayers and thoughts go out to Anjanet (ph) Albert and her little girl, Darrion's little sister, Rhea (ph), as well.
I want to show you this. Grammy-nominated rapper, Noz, has taken notice of what is going on in Chicago and he wrote what he calls an open letter to young warriors. Coming up in the next hour on CNN, a live interview with the entertainer. We'll read some of his letters when he joins us live in about an hour right here on CNN. You don't want to miss that.
A community comes together to send one of their own to Harvard. Our Soledad O'Brien has this inspirational story for you.
And Chris Rock's new movie is all about hair. You heard me, hair. Chris Rock, it's a movie about hair. We'll take you inside the premiere. You will not want to miss this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, ENTERTAINER: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Politics and capital punishment collide in a scandal that could cost Texas Governor Rick Perry in his re-election bid. Here's what's at issue. The execution of a father convicted in the fiery deaths of his three daughters, a crime, he says, said he never admitted it, the father says, in a case the governor's critics claim the governor is trying to bury for his own political livelihood.
Our Randi Kaye has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the question, is Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican in a tough re- election fight, trying to cover up the execution of an innocent man on his watch?
SCOTT COBB, TEXAS MORATORIUM NETWORK: This is a clear case of the governor sabotaging a public agency in order to cover up the findings for his own political advantage.
KAYE: Here's what happened Friday morning.
(on camera): The Texas Forensic Science Commission was to suppose to hear the latest finds on what really happened in this small town of Coachella, Texas, nearly 18 years ago in 1991. Still a question, because the original investigator said an arson fire killed three baby girls. It took a jury less than an hour to convict their father of arson homicide.
But since then three forensic investigations found there was no evidence of arson, none.
(voice-over): One of those reports even came before Cameron Todd Willingham was executed. Still, the governor stands by his decision.
Friday, for the first time, the state's own hand-picked expert was to present a scathing report that showed, once again, no evidence of arson.
But 48 hours before the scheduled meeting, Governor Perry stopped the entire process, removing three of the commission members.
RICK PERRY, (R), GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: Those individuals' terms were up, so we replaced them. That's not nothing out of the ordinary there.
KAYE: Governor Perry's critics suggest he's trying to delay and maybe even derail the state's own investigation.
Willingham died by lethal injection after Governor Perry refused to grant him a stay, even though he was presented new evidence the fire was not arson.
Scott Cobb heads a group pushing for a moratorium on executions. Cobb says Perry's move was politically motivated.
COBB: Governor Perry saw the writing on the wall. He moved to cover that up.
KAYE: If the commission had proceeded, the state's final report may have been released just weeks before the governor's primary election. And if it found it was not arson, critics say that would prove Perry is the first governor in history to preside over the death of an innocent man.
COBB: And I think that's what he's afraid of.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There really is no excuse for a delay. Here finally, is a case with overwhelming evidence that an innocent man was executed by the state of Texas.
KAYE (on camera): Keeping them honest, we tried to interview governor Perry, but his office said they couldn't make it work. He has said there was overwhelming evidence Willingham was guilty. But one of the investigators, who reviewed the case over the years, called it B.S., bad science.
(voice-over): As for the state's expert, who was supposed to formally deliver findings on Friday, he said the fire marshal, who testified at Willingham's trial, had an attitude characteristic of mystics and psychics.
So will the commission hear this report? Maybe not. Governor Perry's new commission chairman, a political ally, is the man who postponed Friday's hearing indefinitely and told CNN he couldn't begin to guess when it might be rescheduled.
Five years ago, when Cameron Todd Willingham was executed, he said, "I am an innocent man convicted of a crime I did not commit." Governor Rick Perry's future may depend on a dying man's last words.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Randi.
Straight ahead, our Soledad O'Brien takes us to a small town in Texas and shares an unlikely success story there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. This is what we told you about at the beginning of this newscast and what firefighters were afraid of, is that that fire in San Bernardino County might get worse. They were going door to door asking people to get out of their homes. This is pictures, live pictures now from KABC. You can see it there. I'm just going to linger on these a little bit. There was other pictures earlier. If you guys want to roll those, we can, and then we'll get back to the live pictures. Here they are. Look at the fire lines, the firefighters there, look at that. Unbelievable stuff.
As we've been telling you here, and our Jacqui Jeras has been telling you that parts of the state are under a state of emergency. The fires are racing across the bone-dry mountains of San Bernardino County. Thousands of people have been asked to leave their homes. And this is all being fueled by heavy winds. We'll check in with Jacqui Jeras in just a little bit. Meantime, live pictures coming out of KABC in Los Angeles. We're on top of it. So stay here on CNN. Hope it doesn't get worse.
Your parents are immigrants -- imagine that -- farm workers in California. You have no money for college. Yet, you become the first Latino to earn three degrees from Harvard University. That's no small task. In our special series "Latino in America," Soledad O'Brien has the inspiring story of an E.R. doctor who never forgot where he came from.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Raul Ruiz is a busy E.R. doctor.
DR. RAUL RUIZ, E.R. DOCTOR: Did you have that pain up here?
O'BRIEN: He's a physician on staff at Eisenhower Medical Center, the Coachella Valley's only nonprofit hospital.
(voice-over): How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a doctor?
RUIZ: Four years old.
O'BRIEN: Four?
RUIZ: Uh-huh.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Not an easy feat for the son of migrant farm workers.
RUIZ: I used to type it as my practice typing, "All things are possible, all things are possible."
O'BRIEN: He was a good student but a terrible test taker. English wasn't his first language.
RUIZ: According to my SAT scores, I should have not gone to college.
O'BRIEN (on camera): What were your scores?
RUIZ: I'd rather not say.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): The biggest obstacle wasn't grades, but money. A family friend paid for him to apply to UCLA, but it was the community of Coachella that helped put Dr. Ruiz through school.
Coachella is a small farming town with mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants. The average family income is less than $25,000 a year.
RUIZ: I'd start knocking on doors and saying, I'm from this community. I want to become a physician and I'm going to come back. I want to offer you the opportunity to invest in your community."
O'BRIEN: He handed out homemade contracts to sponsors like Juan Torres, owner of the local hardware store.
RUIZ: I was able to raise about $2,000.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Wow. That's a lot of dough.
RUIZ: It was $20, $50, $100 at a time.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): He was 17 years old. With the money and, more importantly, the community backing, Raul Ruiz went off to UCLA. After graduation, he went to Harvard Medical School to become a doctor. And that's not all.
RUIZ: I have a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, the school of government. And I have a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.
O'BRIEN: Three degrees from Harvard, the first Mexican-American ever to achieve that.
RUIZ: My efforts are not just mine alone. It's my family's and my community's. So we worked hard.
O'BRIEN: He could have practiced anywhere, but he came back.
RUIZ: A promise is a promise.
O'BRIEN: And he continues to give back, mentoring eight Coachella teenagers.
RUIZ: There's only two obligations. One is that they show up and, two, that they participate with me in community service. Then we'll see if we can make a difference.
O'BRIEN: to ensure there will be a next generation in Coachella who will also give back.
Soledad O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I know Soledad is working hard on this, and it's going to be great. We're 17 days away from "Latino in America." It's a comprehensive look at how Latinos are chancing America, reshaping politics and schools and neighborhoods. "Latino in America," it's coming October 21st and 22nd right here on CNN, the worldwide leader in news.
And next hour, the son of Mexican parents. He began his education in a two-room schoolhouse and rose to become secretary of education in the Reagan administration, also in the first Bush administration. Next hour, we'll meet the first Latino to serve in the cabinet of a U.S. president.
If you are a Chris Rock fan, you probably want to stick around here. We want to the premiere of his new movie. And I'm going to take you inside.
But next, an unbelievable sign of the times in Detroit. Our Poppy Harlow takes us to, of all places, the morgue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Unbelievable sign of the times, these tough economic times, bodies stacking up in the Detroit morgue. Our Poppy Harlow investigates.
We want to warn you, though, that some of the images in this report are really graphic.
Here's Poppy's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): 67 bodies and counting, at freezing temperature, they wait, unclaimed, some for up to five years.
ALBERT SAMUELS, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: This is our freezer.
HARLOW: Chief Investigator Albert Samuels is in his 13th year at Detroit's Wayne County morgue and says he's never seen anything like it, a record number of unclaimed corpses filling the freezer at 1300 East Warren Street.
SAMUELS: And I have to believe that it's because of the economic problems that we're having, with a lot of -- some people don't come forward even though they may know the people here. They don't have the money.
HARLOW: Darryl and Cheryl Vickers did come forward. And when we met them at the morgue, they had just identified their late aunt, Nancy Graham. But like more and more people in Detroit, they left their loved one behind.
CHERYL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: And we try to do everything we can but money is just not there.
HARLOW: The money would usually be there, but with Detroit's economic struggles, Wayne County's budget for burying the unclaimed dead ran out in June. People can apply to the state for funds, but it can take weeks, sometimes months for an application to be processed.
DARRELL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: To be pushed to the side and say that, you know, there's no financing or no help available, you know, it breaks your heart to know that you have a loved one sitting there in cold storage and there's nothing you can do for them.
HARLOW: Dr. Carl Schmidt, the morgue's chief medical examiner, says, although, such destitution has become a daily reality, its ramifications speak volumes.
DR. CARL SCHMIDT, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: One of the ways that we look back historically and look at a culture's evolution, is how they dispose of their dead. We see people here that society was not taking care of before they died, and society is having difficulty taking care of them even after they're dead.
DARRELL VICKERS: What kind of peace is the body getting sitting in a morgue in cold storage?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was our Poppy Harlow. Thanks, Poppy, for that report.
I'll take you to the premier of Chris Rock's new movie, "Good Hair." I promise you that you will laugh.
(EDGE OF DISCOVERY)
LEMON: What kind of hair day are you having, good hair day, bad hair day? What do you think you have, kinky, curly, straight, short, long, a weave? Does it matter? These are all descriptions of African-American hair. A lot of people get weaves. I think it's called extensions. Comedian Chris Rock gets to the root of the hair phenomenon in the black community specifically in his new documentary "Good Hair." Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black hair? Black hair? Would you like to buy some black hair?
LEMON (voice-over): Twice a year, in Atlanta, the Branna (ph) Brother's Hair Show is the center of the air universe.
BERNARD, PRESIDENT & CEO (ph): The number-one purpose of the hair show to come, learn how to use new products. Certain products we index 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.
BERNARD: 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 is 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.
ROCK: It starts at $1,000. So, how high can it go?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as $3,500.
ROCK: $3,500? And who's paying for this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) people.
ROCK: Black women?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black woman, 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?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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?
MICHAEL LEWIS, CELEBRITY: This is definitely good hair. Good hair is when you keep it up.
ROCK (on camera): 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 good hair?
ROCK: Why good hair? I'm just wanted to make a good movie. I hope people go, "Good Hair," good movie.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
