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Fast-Moving Flames in California; In the Line of Fire; 8 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Attack; Weighing Option for Afghanistan; More Troops to Afghanistan?; How Real is the Al-Shabaab Threat?; Chicago's Deadly Streets; Fire Officials Tell Residents to Get Out Now; Where Derrion Died; Living in Fear; Rap Star Nas; Latino First

Aired October 04, 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 California's burning. A state of emergency as the wildfire grows. We're live there.

In Afghanistan, troop deaths increase as they face a growing, more savvy al Qaeda. Time for some tough decisions from the president.

And another growing al Qaeda training ground, Somalia. Tonight why the FBI says this puts the U.S. in deeper danger.

I go one-on-one live with rapper Nas about his plea to the young people of Chicago, stop killing each other.

And a pop diva catfight live on national television. Madonna versus Lady Gaga.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

We start with some developing news out of California. Thousands of people run for their lives. Their homes in the direct path of a fast-moving fire fueled by high winds. In San Bernardino County, California tonight, there are wind gusts of up to 45 miles an hour, making it difficult for more than 1,000 firefighters battling this blaze.

The U.S. Forest Service says the fire has destroyed three homes and scorched about 3,500 acres. It started in the San Bernardino National Forest yesterday and it is only about 10 percent contained.

Firefighters are going door to door notifying folks of the mandatory evacuation for the towns of Little Creek and Wrightwood, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles. People have packed their cars as the governor declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County.

And to understand just how fast a wildfire can grow overnight, Chip Yost of our affiliate KTLA spent last night and early this morning on the front lines of the so-called Sheep fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIP YOST, KTLA-TV CORRESPONDENT (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've 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 location. We were right in the middle of an (INAUDIBLE). 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we ought to just move.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That wildfire doubled in size overnight. The wildfires literally at the doors of homes in Wrightwood, California. But many residents have decided to ignore the mandatory evacuation there.

Want to go to Brandon Rudat of our affiliate KTLA. He joins us now live from the fire line, just 50 yards from the houses at risk.

What's the latest, Brandon?

BRANDON RUDAT, KTLA-TV CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. Right now we're reporting live on probably what is called the most important fire line of this entire wildfire because this fire line is protecting several hundred homes right now.

This fire, as you mentioned, the wind gusts out of control. This fire raging out of control. These hot spots spurring up at the last minute's notice. This fire behind us here was not here 10 minutes ago, and you can already see firefighters are watching on, making sure that it does not continue to grow up that hill.

If we come back here, this is a safety zone. Actually, we're reporting live right now, you can actually see it's a lot of dirt right now. This bulldozer over to my left here just got back from building this fire line. This bulldozer operator out here for a good 12 hours.

But this fire safety zone does for us and firefighters, basically, there's brush all around us here. These hot spots I just showed you, they come. And as long as we're standing right here in the center of this safety zone, we'll be able to sustain the heat. We'll be able to sustain the fire and come out of this thing alive.

We're going to pan our camera now over to the left. And you'll see that entire hillside is just a bunch of glowing hot spots.

Well, Don, you mentioned that neighborhood is right there about 50 yards away. The neighborhood is at the base, basically, of this hillside that's burning right now. At the base there are firefighters who are continuing to dig this fire line. They've been out here for the past 24 hours because last night it was very windy out here.

The conditions were perfect for a wildfire to rage out of control, and it did. But let me tell you, when the sun came up today, there was only about 3 to 5 percent containment. I just got an update from a PIO out here at San Bernardino County Fire Department. They told me in just an hour, hour and a half, it went from 10 percent containment to 20 percent containment.

The conditions tonight out here, not supposed to be windy at all. Very good. But the interesting part about this story, there were mandatory evacuations in these neighborhoods, this entire town under mandatory evacuation. A lot of people, as we came up here...

LEMON: Right.

RUDAT: ... were actually watching the local news. They saw that this fire line was standing strong and they're staying inside of their homes.

LEMON: All right. Brandon Rudat...

RUDAT: Don.

LEMON: ... from our affiliate KTLA. Brandon, thank you for your reporting.

Meantime, we want to tell you that CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center keeping a close eye on the situation, a live report, just straight ahead from her.

Let's move on now to international news. A brutal attack on American troops in Afghanistan, the deadliest in over a year. Eight American soldiers and two Afghan security officers are dead, killed in a day-long siege on two U.S. base camps. The Taliban says it's responsible for the marathon battle in the rugged Nuristan province.

The attacks started early Saturday and raged for hours with flare-ups still being reported today. Afghan military officials say there were hundreds of rebel troops armed with rockets, mortars and machine guns, staging their attack from steep mountainsides.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson visited the region back in 2007, describing it as sort of a no man's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this 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. 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 were 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: There's our Nic Robertson back in 2007. And the president has some big decisions to make when it comes to Afghanistan. Two of the best political team on television players are going to join us in just a bit. There's Mark Preston and April Ryan. But first, let's go to CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House with the president's options.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, the president's national security adviser today offered his condolences to the families of American troops killed this weekend in Afghanistan, but he insisted the president should take his time in grappling with the tough decisions ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 (RET.), 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 John Kyl disagrees, arguing time is running out.

SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: Time is of the essence, and I don't think we have a great deal of time to sit around and have a great 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 question 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: President Obama meets with his national security team Wednesday and Friday. Senior aides say the president will consult with that same group at least once more after that before a strategy is drafted. Don?

LEMON: Elaine, thank you very much. CNN political editor Mark Preston and April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks. Both are standing by to lay it all on the table for us.

Mark, we'll start with you. This is high on the agenda tomorrow for the president. He's meeting with the defense secretary. Afghanistan likely to be one of the main topics.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, Don. And I think you said it right at the top. Some very difficult decisions for the president to make in the next few weeks about what he's going to do in Afghanistan. Six months ago, Don, 53 percent of the Americans supported the U.S. war in Afghanistan. That has now dropped to 39 percent.

So there's a lot on the president's plate. And he really has a lot of decisions to make. He's hearing from a lot of different voices as well about what exactly to do.

LEMON: And one of those voices is General Stanley McChrystal, April. And the general is asking for as many as 40,000 additional troops than what's already been planned.

APRIL RYAN, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Right. And what's at issue is the fact that already the troops that the president originally wanted to come in to help push with this reinforcement are not there. And he wants to take a very strategic and deliberate approach to this to make sure that this is the right thing to do.

You have Democrats on the Hill saying, look, we need to see what the strategy is. And let's take our time and look at this. Then you have Republicans saying, look, we need to put the resources in. We need to help the troops. We need to win this war. So the president has some decisions to make.

LEMON: All right, Mark and April, I want you to take a look at something -- tongue in cheek here, but sometimes the truth is often spoken in jest. Take a look at this, and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED ARMISEN, ACTOR/COMEDIAN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE," AS BARACK OBAMA: Take a look at this checklist. Now, on my first day in office, on my first day in office, I said I'd close Guantanamo Bay. Is it closed yet? No. I said we'd be out of Iraq. Are we? Not the last time I checked. I said I'd make improvements in the war in Afghanistan. Is it better? No, I think it's actually worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, April, as we said, it was from "Saturday Night Live" last night. It is funny, but there are some people, critics who are questioning saying, what has the president accomplished?

RYAN: Well, Don, the list is long. I'm serious about that. And in the first six months, a lot of things happened. And I guess we have a short attention span. Sometimes. But let me give you the list.

First, there was the stimulus package. Remember that? Then we had credit card reform. SCHIP the president signed into law. Foreclosure mitigation. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Also the Kennedy Serve America Act. Tobacco regulation, food safety. Cash for Clunkers.

LEMON: And, April, listen, I understand these things, but these are not things that the president ran on. These are not part of his platform as he was running...

RYAN: No. These aren't things that he ran on.

LEMON: ... for office.

RYAN: These are not things he ran on, but I'm going to tell you this. The stimulus package is something that this administration is touting that's helping to turn around this economy, and that is something that he said he would do. He got in on the economy. He became president of the United States because the economy was in such a dire strait in this country.

So that is one major thing. And then also -- but there are some things that are related. Remember, executive compensation reform. When a lot of these CEOs were making exorbitant amounts of money, and then they came in asking the government to bail them out. So...

LEMON: So, April, yes, the economy in dire straits. No one is doubting that. And the president has even said, even his critics would agree that, you know, the economy hadn't been in this shape in a while, if ever before.

But, Mark, the president is meeting with doctors from across the country tomorrow in the Rose Garden. He's going to talk health care. So when, if at all, might Americans see a check in that column.

PRESTON: Boy, you know, Don, it's interesting. He is 0-- he continues to tie the issue of the economy rebound to passing health care reform. He did it in his weekly address on Saturday. He said it was critical to pass health care reform to really help boost the economy.

The fact is this week the Senate Finance Committee will be the final congressional committee to weigh in on the matter. And then really there's going to be a lot of back room deals going on both in the House and in the Senate. You know, probably by the end of the year we'll see some kind of health care package. We don't know what it's going to look like. We don't know if the public option will be part of it. But I think there is a -- betting odds that it will be, and we do know the administration will be very much involved in trying to shape this legislation.

LEMON: All right. Stick around both of you. We're not done yet because we're going to talk about the Olympics, the failed -- Chicago's failed Olympic bid. What the president had to do with that as well, coming up in just a little bit. Thank you both. See you then.

The FBI is watching a growing al Qaeda threat. What can be done about it? A former military intelligence officer is going to join us live to go over it.

Does Iran have the capability to build a bomb? Classified U.N. report says they just might.

Also we have been focusing on Chicago's deadly streets all weekend here. And tonight, a very special guest, Nas. If you haven't heard of him, your kids have. He's going to join us live. And of course, we want your feedback on these social networking sites.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A date has 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 the inspection will begin October 25th.

The announcement came after a meeting with the Iranian president in Tehran. The IAEA head of the U.N. inspectors said they'll do a comprehensive check of that plant and the facility to make sure that it 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.

The terror investigation involving an Afghan national from Colorado appears to be widening. Sources tell CNN that people who traveled with Najibullah Zazi to Pakistan back in August have now returned here to the U.S. Now the source says that they are under surveillance here.

One of them is Zazi's longtime friend Naiz Kahn, who lives in Queens. Zazi is alleged to have stayed with Kahn on September 10th. Zazi faces federal charges of plotting to blow up bombs in the U.S.

An urgent warning from the FBI chief. He says Somalian terrorists linked to al Qaeda are looking to strike outside of Africa, and they could be setting their sights right here on the U.S.

Just last week Robert Mueller expressed his concern over Al- Shabaab to the Senate Homeland Security Committee. He says American troops who travel to Somalia for terrorist training could come back to launch a U.S. attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I think at this juncture, I'd defer -- this would I think that we have seen information that the leaders would like to under take operations outside of Somalia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want to go now to Ken Robinson. He's a former military intelligence officer, a veteran of the Gulf War. He joins us live from Los Angeles tonight.

You know, Ken, this is very disturbing information because the FBI is saying that six radicalized U.S. youths have died after joining Al-Shabaab and how real of a threat is this? And this is a really concerning thing that I said before.

Robert Mueller says that American troops who traveled to Somalia for terrorist training could come back and launch a U.S. attack right here. That's very concerning.

KEN ROBINSON, FORMER MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I think what he was saying was American citizens. There's a lot of Somalia- American citizens who are radicalized, who travel over there. And it is a problem.

The challenge is, when someone who's documented as a United States citizen reenters this country and then has the ability to set up a support cell, it's very difficult to try to encumber that to stop it. That's what their concern is.

LEMON: This Al-Shabaab was thought to be sort of a localized group, and, you know, people here in America, security officers, our security forces should not be that concerned about it because it was thought initially that it wouldn't go beyond Somalia. Not so now with this new information.

ROBINSON: Well, they were to Somalia what the Taliban is to Afghanistan. The United States Army has been paying close attention to them for quite some time, and has even conducted interdiction operations with predator drones.

As well, there have been many training videos produced, which have been preparing soldiers to get their head back in that head space of dealing with that culture, those tribes, and the ethnicity issues that are so complex in Somalia, which are causing people to fight, causing people to go into piracy. And there's a big long list of them I can give you if you have time.

LEMON: So, then, Ken -- obviously, you know, we could probably talk all night about this. But so then with this on top of Afghanistan, what then does the U.S. military do? What do our intelligence organizations and officers do? ROBINSON: Well, the first thing they're doing is they're focusing on command and control, and they're looking for sanctuary. They're looking for those places in Putland which is north of Somalia where the pirates have sanctuary and where this specific sect of terrorists have sanctuary.

They are an Islamic fundamental group. They are solipsists. Their ideology is one of a caliphate. They want to see Islam spread all across Africa. And they believe that the best way to do that is to grab attention, to grab attention to their cause and capture the ideas of the youth who feel disenfranchised in the countries around them. And the way to do that is to make a big attack, a big bomb.

LEMON: All right.

ROBINSON: And that's what they're focusing on. The U.S. is focusing on the leadership there and is attacking them.

LEMON: Ken Robinson, thank you, sir.

Chicago's mayor returns from a failed Olympic bid, this as the White House prepares to send two top Cabinet officials to address the problem of teen violence in the city.

And later, a message to the youth of Illinois from one of their music idols. Rapper Nas will be live right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Have some breaking news to report tonight here on CNN. It's a fatal boating accident off Long Island, New York. The coast guard says seven people were aboard a 40-foot boat when it went aground near the town of Wantauk.

Now it happened just a couple of hours ago. One person is confirmed dead. The other six people seriously hurt.

We'll bring you details on this broadcast as they become available and then tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

Chicago police are looking for at least three more potential suspects in the beating death of an honor student. 16-year-old Derrion Albert was killed on his way home from school 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.

The graphic video followed Chicago mayor Richard Daley all the way to Copenhagen, where the city lost a bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Upon returning to Chicago yesterday, Mayor Daley spoke about Derrion Albert's killing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: I'll be meeting with representatives of the community, high schools, and as well 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 when 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 very, very strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right, so this story reached national and international ranks once that videotape came out. And of course, Mayor Daley and the president and first lady were over in Copenhagen when it happened.

So I want to bring back Mark and April right now.

So, Mark, there are some people who said that the president should not have gone over there, that he should have been focusing on things over here. Does it hurt him? Should he have gone?

PRESTON: You know, Don, I disagree with the naysayers who say the president put too much capital into this. The fact is, this is a personal blow, yes. He wasn't able to deliver the Olympics. Is it going to hurt him deliver -- or try to deliver on health care reform or try to revive the economy or try to deal with Afghanistan? No.

The fact is these are issues that are so much bigger than the Olympics, and these are issues that his presidency is going to be defined on.

LEMON: And, April, regardless, you know, if the president should have gone or not, no one wants to lose, especially on the world stage. Besides losing face, is there any loss of political capital here?

RYAN: Well, Democrats and Republicans both are saying, no, there's no political problems from this loss. But a president always wants to remain presidential. He wants to stand strong.

Look, this is a man who has been overseas and has garnered hundreds of thousands of people in the streets to hear him speak. And no president wants to stand there and lose. But at the same time, I talked moments ago with Michael Steele, and Michael Steele said, the head of the RNC -- he says to me, he said, look, he did not lose any political capital, but he said the president's staff ill served him, and he was left with egg on his face.

And he said also that he felt that the first lady should have been the one to go instead of the president.

LEMON: Yes.

RYAN: So it's a double-edged sword.

LEMON: Yes, let's move on a little bit and change the topic. Not really -- we're going to stay in Chicago here. Because I just left Chicago today, this afternoon, and there are people there who are saying, instead of being so focused on the Olympics, that the president and the mayor of Chicago, Mayor Daley, should have been paying more attention to the violence in that city.

Eighty-four people under the age of 20 have been killed this year so far in Chicago. In light of that videotape that surfaced of the beating death of that student -- but he is sending top Cabinet officials there, Mark, next week.

PRESTON: Yes, and you know something, Don, these top Cabinet officials should be going. You have kids dying in the street at an incredible number. And the fact of the matter is, you know, you have to go into these situations. You have to roll up your sleeves, and you have to hear what's going on for yourself.

You know, from the folks who are dealing with it day to day. Otherwise, you know, you're going to have people here trying, you know, to legislate or trying to fix problems from these ivy towers here in Washington, D.C., and that doesn't work.

LEMON: And you know what, April and Mark, that leads to, you know, this question then. What will Attorney General Holder and the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, what will they get accomplished, April, by going to the city? Any word on that from the administration? What they're trying to get accomplished at least besides -- we know that they want to stop it. How are they going to do it?

RYAN: Mark is right they need to go into the community and not legislate from the ivory tower. But at the same time, how do you legislate something like this? And that was the question I posed of Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, last week.

He said, look, you know, sometime you just can't legislate this. And it's not necessarily about policy. He says this really is an issue sometimes of a breakdown of community, breakdown of parenting, fatherhood, which the president has an initiative on.

And also the issue possibly could be playing into this, the economy. There is a direct link with crime when there is a bad economy.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. And whether or not it trickles down to these students yet to be seen.

RYAN: Yes. Yes.

LEMON: But, you know, the whole world will be watching next week when those two gentlemen go to Chicago to see what, in fact, does transpire. Thank you both.

RYAN: Thanks for having us. LEMON: Straight ahead, 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 way too many of these lately in the city of Chicago. This one will be gone soon, but the family of Derrion Albert is vowing to keep his memory alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people who did this to him, they should never have did it because he has a lot of people that miss him, and everyone says he's gone, but he's never going to be forgotten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Derrion Albert's 11-year-old sister, gone but not forgotten. That's a message from Derrion Albert's family. My interview with his mother straight ahead here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is our breaking news at the top of this broadcast. I want to show you some new pictures now from the wildfires ravaging San Bernardino County in California.

The county is under a state of emergency right now. Thousands of people are being told to leave and do so immediately. At least three homes have been destroyed. More than 3,500 acres burned there. The fire reportedly only 10 percent contained.

We want to go now to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.

Jacqui, as we look at that video, it's just amazing, and it continues to grow.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and you know, it's going to continue to be really critical through this evening then into the overnight hours because the winds are going to continue to be strong.

Take a look at some of the peak gusts that we've seen so far today across parts of Southern California. 54 miles per hour in Santa Maria, 41 in Oxnard, 36 in Los Angeles at the LAX, and then 35 miles per hour in Santa Barbara.

Now as we head into the evening, we're going to see those winds probably around the range of 15 to 20 miles per hour. Still some gusts around 30. And then it's going to weaken really significantly for tomorrow. And the reason why is the strong area of low pressure has been bringing those strong westerly winds throughout the day today.

It's going to start to pull eastward into the Rockies. So we'll watch for the winds to lighten. Maybe only 5 miles per hour tomorrow. Very cool temperatures here, and the humidity will be a little higher. So this will all be good news for tomorrow. They should be able to get a much better handle on the system.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: All right, Jacqui, thank you very much.

Rap star Nas is standing by to join us. He has a message that he hopes will stop the violence in Chicago.

And Madonna and Lady Gaga. They share the spotlight, but is any stage big enough for both of them? It's a catfight. What do you think?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It would be easy to think that Derrion Albert died because he was in a bad neighborhood, but he wasn't. Roseland is a typical working class neighborhood just like countless others around America.

I went there to see it for myself. I quickly realized what happened to Derrion could happen anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): We've seen the grainy cell phone video of the fight that ultimately led to 16-year-old Derrion Albert's death, but you don't get to see much of the neighborhood. What is it like?

Well, here it is, South 111th Street on Chicago's South Side, very typical neighborhood. A busy street here. There's a house of worship across the street. This is the Agape Community Center where they took him to -- 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, we can see people walking down the sidewalk here. So it's a pretty busy area, pretty busy street. This happened in broad daylight. So some people in Chicago are starting to wonder, if it can happen in this neighborhood, is my neighborhood next?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Derrion Albert's mom talked to me about being afraid 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, their own families.

AN-JANETTE ALBERT, DERRION ALBERT'S MOTHER: That's right. They're afraid. I believe.

LEMON: About what?

ALBERT: They're afraid. If these kids are beating kids in school with stakes, 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. I just don't know. I stand outside on the porch, and if somebody walking up, I come back inside. I'm just terrified. I don't know. I can't believe somebody did this to my son, and to know that there's somebody out there doing this, 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 what? You wish you could have what? I'm sorry.

ALBERT: I wish I could have helped him. That was anybody's child. That someone could have just stood up and watched that happen to somebody, anybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A mother's grief. Well, there's one rapper who wants to put an end to that, doesn't want another mother or parent to have to deal with that. There he is, Nas. He has a message to the young people of Chicago, of Illinois, and really the country.

An open letter to them. He's standing by live, we're going to talk to Nas moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So whatever you are doing right now, I need you to stop, and I want you to pay attention to this. This is important. First, I want you to listen to a clip from the 1999 rap album "Nostradamus." It's by the artist Nas. Take a listen.

(MUSIC)

GRAPHICS: Shoot 'em up, just shoot 'em up, what. Kill, kill, kill. Murder, murder, murder. One 44, two 45's, 3 loaded clips, four (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Five hundred (INAUDIBLE), six reasons why this kid should die. We shootin every mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) outside. Let the trigger blow, 7 shots now he lying on the ground. Blood on the floor then we shot some more...

LEMON: All right. So you got that. Now I want you to listen to what Nas had to say following the videotaped beating of Chicago honor student Derrion Albert. He says, in what's called on open letter to young warriors in Chicago.

Nas writes, "I remember feeling like I was the hardest n-word breathing, and I couldn't wait to prove it. But let's think. What are we really proving? And proving what to who? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the youngest of the strong but -- the strongest of the strong, but I just feel me, being your brother from another state, feels your pain. If I grew up with you in your very own household. You have the ability and mind power to change the way we are looked at."

Nas is with us tonight to talk about that. You know people talk about the lyrics, and you hear that and some of the -- you would think maybe some of the kids may think that that's glorified to do some of the things that you're doing in your songs.

Do you feel any responsibility in that way?

NAS, RAP ARTIST: I feel it's the obvious thing for the media to kind of point out one of the most violent lyrical records that I made. I made a lot of records about children, not a lot, but I made records about children, about struggle, and those are never the songs that are talked about.

There's no love for those songs. There's only love -- or there's only attention put on the songs where there's violence in it. But the reality is I'm only speaking about reality.

LEMON: OK. So I'll ask you again. In light of this, when you see this, do you think -- let me ask you this. Do you think in some way that you may change some of the lyrics that you write, or this is art, this is real? You don't think the kids are influenced by that?

NAS: Never, never. You know music comes from life. I write about what I see. I write about what I live. I write about what I see other people live, and I use a little bit of imagination to talk to them.

LEMON: Do you think it influences the violence at all?

NAS: No, not at all. Because violence is here. This is the law of the land. If you watch "Gangs of New York," if you look at history, violence and war has been the things that's even built this country. I mean, a rap song in the 21st century influencing violence is a joke.

LEMON: You know we spoke to the mom, Derrion Albert's mom, and she -- you know, she heard about what you did. We actually told her about what you did and what some other folks are doing. Do we have the sound bite where we talked to her?

She said she didn't think anybody cared. And so she was surprised that people really cared, especially people in the entertainment industry. But she did say she did believe that some of it -- some of the influence -- some of what influenced young people to act the way they did was popular culture, movies, rap, and what have you.

You don't think that she's right in that sense?

NAS: Absolutely. I mean, when you look at "Scarface" and you look at "Good Fellas" and "Godfather," even though they're telling you about the truth and talking about real situations, those movies are inspiring. But in this day and age and the 21st century, we know, we've seen (INAUDIBLE) magazine, we saw "American Gangster" on BET. We know the ending of the story. And I'm just like -- I'm bugging out that kids don't really realize it's a new day, it's a new time.

LEMON: So what then -- how do you get across to them? Is it -- do you compose new music in your next album or other artists to talk to those kids directly about that? What's your solution as an entertainer?

NAS: The good die young, man. And I'm always going to talk about that in my music. In my music I'm talking about kids, and I'm talking about what I've been through. And I'm not going to change my music to make it more positive because that's not real. I got to make what's real.

LEMON: Well, I don't mean positive. But to influence -- if you know these kids are listening to you.

NAS: I think I already have. I think I already personally have.

LEMON: What I'm asking you, is there something -- is this some sort of catalyst or inspiration to write about this in your music?

NAS: This specific incident with this brother, man, is definitely is a reason -- it definitely makes me want to record. But I don't want to jump all over the situation musically. You know I'm really here beyond music. I'm here because I always cared about people and love. Always cared about our plight and where we're going.

LEMON: I'm going to ask you this. I was there last night, and I was talking to people who are from Chicago who were asking for help. And they said, you know, where are the big entertainers and rap artists? Where's Kanye West who's from Chicago, Common who's from Chicago, all these other people who are from Chicago.

Why haven't we heard from those people, why aren't they here helping? What do you say to that?

NAS: I say they want to help, I say they're willing to help, I say they're ready to help. I think there's just -- there needs to be -- maybe I could call them out. We could go out. Or maybe they're already setting something up. I think they care about the people, and we are them. We relate to them, and we love them. And I think that there may be something brewing.

LEMON: Thank you, Nas. Appreciate your taking the time to come in here. Thank you very much.

All right, you know, the first Hispanic to serve as U.S. president in the cabinet, we'll meet him straight ahead.

And the number of premature births in the United States on the rise. We'll look at some of the reasons why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: You know today marks the official beginning of the flu season according to the Centers for Disease Control, and swine flu is a major concern here. 27 states are already reporting widespread swine flu outbreaks. The first shipments of H1N1 vaccine will be available this week. Health officials recommend people get a seasonal flu vaccine as well as a swine flu vaccine.

Some disturbing news from the March of Dimes tonight. The premature birth rate in the United States is rising. There has been a 36 percent increase in preterm births in the U.S. in the last 25 years. Much of the hike is linked to more pregnancies after the age of 35 and the use of fertility treatments.

Infants who survive premature birth face lifelong serious health risks, and that's according to that published report.

Assessing the damages and counting the casualties in the Philippines following a pair of typhoons in the span of eight days. There are 261 confirmed dead from both storms, and at least 38 people are still missing. The damage to homes, roads, and infrastructure is considerable, but it could have been much, much worse. A second typhoon missed the Filipino capital of Manila.

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers of hope and sympathy for Filipinos suffering from the back-to-back typhoons. He also asked the community not to forget the earthquake victims of Indonesia and the tsunami victims of American Samoa and Tonga.

To find out how you can help the earthquake victims, visit our Web site, CNN.com/impact. There you can find charities involved in emergency relief efforts.

A Latino first. We'll bring you the story of the first Latino member of a presidential Cabinet.

And in case you fell asleep before the fun last night, Madonna gets in a fight on "Saturday Night Live" with Lady Gaga. We'll show you the video.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here in this broadcast, we're profiling Latinos who shatter stereotypes and overcome obstacles to make history. It's part of our series "Pioneros, Latino Firsts."

Tonight the first Hispanic to hold a Cabinet level position in the U.S. government. Lauro Cavazos, secretary of education under President Reagan and now a professor at Tops University.

I visited him at his home in Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Cavazos is a six generation Texan, with deep connection to his Mexican roots. For him it's family first and education a close second. He learned that from his parents. To the young Cavazos, dad was larger than life, a World War I veteran, who ruled the roost as foreman of the 850,000 acre ranch near Kingsville, South Texas. Way back in the 1930s, the elder Cavazos insisted his children attend an integrated school and not the two-room ramshackle one his town reserved for Hispanics.

(on camera): How much of that did you carry into your grown-up life, into your profession, that fighting spirit?

LAURO CAVAZOS, FIRST HISPANIC TO SERVE IN A U.S. CABINET: Tell you what I did. You do -- and Dad used to say this to me, you do whatever I do. You stand for whatever I do. And don't let anyone run over you.

LEMON (voice-over): Those words fixed Cavazos compass on educating minorities and disenfranchised students, a commitment that was rewarded in 1988 when President Ronald Reagan named Cavazos education secretary. The first Hispanic ever appointed to the coveted position.

President George H.W. Bush kept Cavazos on, but his tenure lasted only two years. He resigned in 1990 amid a Justice Department investigation alleging misuse of government frequent flier miles. The case was dropped, and Cavazos denies he did anything wrong, saying he simply didn't play the political game well.

(on camera): Towards the end, you know, there was -- you know it's politics. They talk about flying and frequent flier miles and all of those things. Is there anything that you want to clear the air about that?

CAVAZOS: Nothing came of it. That's the other thing, they're constantly sniping, sniping, sniping. So you just have to let it roll off your back and keep going.

LEMON: So that didn't mean anything to you?

CAVAZOS: No, it didn't mean anything, and nothing came. Nothing came.

LEMON: Not a regret?

CAVAZOS: No.

LEMON (voice-over): And no question about the lessons learned from his father. His hero, his rock, a man who once unexpectedly at an airport some 30 years ago remind him of the importance of family.

CAVAZOS: We got there, and Dad kissed the children on the forehead, and then he turned to me. He said, son, you have a wonderful family here. And being the way we are, my father and I only expression of affection for each other was a handshake.

This time he gave me a handshake, then he reached over and hugged me. And he said, take care of your family. Last time I saw him. And every time I go down to National Airport, I still -- the old terminal is still there, and I can still see him walking out there tall and straight, his boots, beautiful white Stetson hat, tall and straight, every time I go there.

LEMON: There is nothing like a father's love, and Lauro Cavazos, a pioneer, a Latino first, knows this 10 times over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All right. Thank you very much, Lauro Cavazos.

We're just 17 days away from "LATINO IN AMERICA,' a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America, reshaping politics, businesses, schools, churches, neighborhoods. "LATINO IN AMERICA" coming up October 21st and 22nd on CNN, the worldwide leader in news.

Two divas, one stage. We'll show you the video everyone is talking about, Madonna and Lady Gaga on "Saturday Night Live."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Like most of you sitting there watching last night, is that really Madonna? Is that Lady Gaga? Are those people dressed up like them? But it was them. Madonna goes completely gaga on "SNL."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Singing) What's wrong, Madonna, can't get into a groove?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a knife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So I guess they were thinking that they were going to recreate the moment between Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears with the kiss, did it happen? I don't know if we'll show that much of it. Madonna and Lady Gaga, icon versus phenom, just for laughs. Of course. A very funny segment and quite a surprise on "Saturday Night Live."

Thanks for watching us. We really appreciate it. And we are glad so many of you commented on the work we're doing in Chicago and watched us last night. We appreciate your comments. Hopefully we'll get them on next week. We ran out of time. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here next weekend. Have a great evening, everyone.