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Earl Downgraded to Tropical Storm; Economy Still Difficult For Many; New Ad Campaign Points Out Most Muslims Are Moderates, Many Are Americans; Gang Leaders in Chicago Claim Corruption; Injured Soldiers Recovering From Tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Aired September 04, 2010 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. Earl seems to be in a hurry to get on out of here. The storm is getting weaker. It's moving out, but it could still cause some problems for your Labor Day weekend. We'll explain.

Also, a state of emergency in New Zealand today after a 7.0 earthquake, major damage reported, major damage we can see in the video, but no reports of deaths.

Good morning to you all. 10:00 a.m. where I sit here in Atlanta, Georgia. From the CNN center, this is your CNN Saturday morning. I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be here with us.

Also coming up over the next 60 minutes here, Muslims are getting the word out trying to sway public opinion with a new ad campaign. We'll talk to the man behind the message.

Also, this is something you don't see every day -- current and former gang members holding their own news conference to criticize the police. Are the gang members now the victims? We'll be talking to a former gang member this morning.

Also, the disappointing unemployment numbers no doubt bringing some handwringing at the White House, but the president has a message of hope. You will hear that ahead.

But first, let's talk about it storm. Earl was a hurricane, it's tropical storm now. It's weakened, it's wobbly. Still there's a severe weather threat. Canada's Atlantic provinces are now dealing with the remnants of this storm.

It's downgraded, like I said, to a tropical storm status, but delivering still heavy rain, driving winds in Nova Scotia. At one point it was a category four, went to a three, then a two, and it's pretty much broken up now, lost a lot of the steam as it was spinning northward, relatively cool waters in the Atlantic Ocean, but the storm still could make landfall this Nova Scotia where people are watching and waiting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER COX, NOVA SCOTIA TOURIST: We're beginning to get some rain, but before that, there was to rain at all. I just watches a little -- so the winds certainly getting stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Back here in the U.S. at least, people up and down the east coast dodged a bullet a lot would say, but now they're wondering what about my weekend? It's the holiday weekend, three day weekend. Reynolds, how is this going to affect people not necessarily weather- wise, but there's something else they need to be watching out for?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kind of indirectly. When you see these big storms approach, the wind picks up the waves, the rain really comes in, in this situation, the storm is moving out, but it is going to be leaving a little bit of a calling card behind which could cause some problems for your holiday weekend.

Let's tackle first what we have with Earl. Earl is moving up, getting very close to Nova Scotia. The eye still just hovering off the center of circulation. The latest path we have from the National Hurricane Center is right here before your eyes. Expected to make its way to the north crossing right over into bat ton bay and dying off Sunday into Monday and then it will vanish into history.

What it will sleeve behind is a threat with swimming. It could leave pretty rough surf conditions along the eastern seaboard. We might be having some issues in this area in terms of rip currents, certainly a possibility.

But I'll tell you although that's going to be a threat from, say, Maine south to Florida, conditions are look pretty good especially in parts of Florida. We have a live image. Let's show you what we've got. This is Daytona Beach, looks pretty good there.

Now let's go on the other side, the Gulf side, and in Clearwater things look picture perfect. We've had so many issues in the Gulf of Mexico, but beaches are looking fantastic. The weather should be OK. Maybe a few stray showers in parts of Florida, but for the most part beautiful weather across the nation.

HOLMES: That's a lot different from what we've been talking about for the past several days. Great news. Reynolds, we appreciate you buddy. And he showed you a couple of beautiful beaches.

Let's go to Susan Candiotti now at Cape Cod, a place that thought it could get a direct hit form that storm, but a place that looks lovely at least for right now.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Thankfully tropical storm Earl stayed out at sea. T.J., good morning. It is sunny, but it is, as you can see, very, very windy. Going up to 80 degrees here.

Take a look at the beach out here. This is Chatham on Cape Cod, gorgeous, barely a ripple in the water. They have combed the beaches, and all of the public beaches are reopening throughout Cap Cod and New England as long as they have lifeguards available and back on duty. But they did clock the highest tropical storm-force gusts here in Chatham, 58 miles per hour last night. Beautiful now, gorgeous now, but it was a mess last night. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: What happened to your car here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just driving down and it stalled out.

CANDIOTTI: I'll say. Did you not see the high water here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't see nothing.

CANDIOTTI: Now what are you going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait until the morning. It's trying to start, but it just won't. I usually drive a truck, you know what I mean?

CANDIOTTI: You can see it's halfway up the wheel base here, and I see you have your companion over here. Is that your dog?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Lilly.

CANDIOTTI: All right. Well, good luck.

CANDIOTTI: Not a great night to be out by any measure. Look at the wake caused by that pickup truck going by. I mean, it's a mess out here. Very few cars out on the road. They should not be out on the road. But it's a bad rainstorm.

Here at one of the marinas, you can see that most of the boats here have been tied down and secured so that they wouldn't be bouncing around during high waves. Here it doesn't seem to bad right now, so there doesn't appear to be any damage at all due to the tropical storm.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Hey, T.J., for the proud residents of Yarmouth, they're the ones that clocked the highest gusts of 58 miles per hour. Not Chatham. I don't want to get anyone mad at me.

Anyway, the state of emergency is being lifted here in the state of Massachusetts. Everything seems to be getting back to normal, and hotels especially, the tourism industry happy about that as they try salvage what they can out of this Labor Day weekend. Back to you.

HOLMES: Probably a good sign if they can make light and compete over who got the highest wind gusts. So that's probably a good thing. Susan Candiotti, we appreciate you as always.

We're going to turn to New Zealand new. A state of emergency has been declared there after a major earthquake, this strong quake hit around Christchurch, it was centered near that town, the second most populated town in New Zealand.

There is major damage to report. You can see in some of this video just how much damage is there. We also have power outages and trouble with the water mains, as well.

But, amazingly, despite the pictures you're seeing and a magnitude of that quake, no deaths to report, and also not a lot of injuries to report either. Just a couple of serious injuries, but the rest just a few bumps and bruises. So despite the pictures and how many damage and the strength of that earthquake, it looks like they escaped unscathed at least as far as the human toll goes.

Coming up here, there's a group that wants to introduce to you a Muslim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a New York City firefighter and I responded to 9/11. And I am Muslim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is just part of a new ad campaign from an Islamic group trying to get its message out. We'll talk to one of the directors next to hear about exactly what they are trying to do with this ad campaign. It's eight past the hour here on this CNN Saturday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, next week we want to you climb aboard the CNN Election Express bus. I'll be heading out next week as we kick off our special coverage here, our political coverage of the midterms. Next week we are hitting the road with CNN Election Express covering the important races, and hitting a lot of the battleground states next week.

You can see me along with Gloria Borger and John King and also Jessica Yellin. We're going to start with our live reports on Monday from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, moving on Tuesday to Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday coming to Kentucky, and then Thursday wrapping up in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Ten minutes past the hour. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The ninth anniversary of 9/11 is a week away, and the anger and mistrust over a proposed Islamic center and mosque near ground zero getting personal for many Muslim Americans. They're afraid some people are getting the wrong idea about the Muslim faith.

So the Council on American Muslim Relations, known as CARE, launched a national ad campaign this week to challenge that. The message is that Muslims are Americans, too, and 9/11 happened to us all. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shalom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the Torah teaches. The prophet Mohammed said --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesus said do unto others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As one loves oneself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love your neighbor as yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One's faith is not complete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wishes for his brother what he wishes for

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One's self.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ability to practice our religion --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't have our rights --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is at the heart of American freedom --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- you don't have your rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shalom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Joining us now, the legislative director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Corey Saylor. Sir, thank you for being here with us this morning. Like I mentioned at the top, we're a week away from the 9/11 anniversary. Do you feel that when we get to that moment, people will come together next week and we'll see cooler heads prevail? Are you a trade that possibly with the anniversary emotions will be inflamed even more?

COREY SAYLOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: I think there's two competing narratives, and it's our great hope that we will see the narrative that talks about coming together and interfaith understanding and that projects the best ideals of America forward to the world is going to be the one that prevails.

So far we have seen a lot of hate, but frequently when we see a demonstration against a mosque, we'll see a counter-demonstration that involves many more people. So that gives us a lot of confidence and hope.

HOLMES: And I want to roll another ad now and we can watch and I'll continue talking to it, but let's roll that and I want our viewers to see this. And I want our viewers to see this. And I'm putting it up because it's an illustration of what you guys were going for here in these ads.

There were so many of the people that you did choose to focus on, that they can don't look Muslim, if you will, compared to what you think -- or some people might think a Muslim should look like. Now, was that kind of the idea in some of these ads?

SAYLOR: Well, I think it's really important that we go beyond stereotypes. The message here that you see the ads conveying is that Muslims look just like every else. They're going about their lives just like everyone else.

And the key thing there is that 9/11 happened to us all. Al Qaeda attacked the United States. Muslim were there responding to the attack. We know of at least 32 American Muslims that were among those murdered by Al Qaeda on 9/11. And it's important in this emotional moment that everyone remember those simple facts. We are all in this together.

HOLMES: I know that message there, that line, 9/11 happened to us all. But again, just how important is that visual?

SAYLOR: Remember that most Americans were introduced to Islam watching an airplane hit a building, which is a tragedy and a visual that will take many years to overcome because it is not the Islam that I was taught, it is not the Islam practiced by the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world.

So it's time for our fellow citizens in the United States to see some of the counter-narrative to that which is being broadcast by extremists. And that counter-narrative is we're just like everyone else, 9/11 happened to us all.

HOLMES: As you said, it would take years to combat the narrative. So many people introduced to Islam on 9/11 seeing the planes go into a building, given, like you say, it's going to take some time. Do you now feel -- and I've talked to members of CARE before and know your stance on that Islamic center close to ground zero, but given it will take so much time, do you feel that maybe now is not the right time for that particular center so close?

I don't imagine you all will change your stance, but just playing off exactly what you said.

SAYLOR: Well, I think right now it's gone beyond that center and into the broader issue of what is the role of religion in the United States. First of all, the constitution guarantees religious freedom and the constitution is never going to be subject to opinion polling.

I don't think the American Muslim community wants to be the community that leads the way this allowing the constitution to be subject to that.

And I also think that we're very understanding of the family members of the victims of 9/11 and our hearts go out to them, but we have to remember that Al Qaeda attacked the United States on 9/11. Islam and Muslims were not a part of that. We never will be. We reject Al Qaeda's ideology. And we just recognize that it will take time for that message to sink in.

HOLMES: Cory Saylor, we appreciate you. Again, the ads are out there now. People can certainly see them. We'll be seeing them in several places. But we appreciate you coming on. Always good to talk to you guys. Talk to you again soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

SAYLOR: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: Well, 17 minutes past the hour here now. As we saw now with the numbers yesterday, unemployment is on the rise. Bad news out there, certainly, for a lot of people looking for work. It's also bad news politically at least for the White House, maybe a lot of Democrats who are heading towards the midterms.

The president says, however, that more help could be on the way. We'll explain. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 21 past the hour here now. We got the unemployment numbers yesterday, and then we saw a jump in the rate in August from the previous month. It's up to 9.6 percent now. But there was good news in the report. Private sector added jobs. President Obama had this message on the numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As I've said from the start, there's no quick fix to the worst recession we've experienced since the Great Depression. The hard truth is that it took years to create our current economic problems and it will it will take more time than any of us would like to repair the damage.

Millions of our neighbors are living with that painfully every day. But I want all Americans to remind themselves there are better days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That new jobs report says 14.9 million people are unemployed. The number doesn't take into account, though, people who have given up looking or as CNN's Mary Snow reports, people who are underemployed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD CRANE, UNDEREMPLOYED: I knew things were going to get tough.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But Richard Crane didn't know it would be this tough. Yes, he's found a full-time job after getting laid off, but he's underemployed. He now earns $16 an hour at Lowe's. He couldn't find work that used the skills at the job he had at a unit at General Motors operating heavy machines. There he earned as much as $130,000 a year. CRANE: Over time people used to make, you know -- it's not there. It's not there. It's not. I see it every day. I see it every day. What are we going to do? It's America. Where are our jobs?

SNOW: In his new job, Crane has taken a pay cut of almost $100,000. He's struggling to keep his house and provide for his son, now 14, and his wife, who is battling cancer. He's given up second jobs to spend more time at home. His story of taking a job below his skill level is all too familiar, but it's largely untold.

HEIDI SHIERHOLZ, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: I can't hazard a guess on what percentage of the labor force is facing that right now, but we do know that it's sizable and it's really impacting families.

SNOW: Heidi Shierholz is a labor economist with the Economic Policy Institute who says what is measured are discouraged workers who have given up actively seeking appointment and part-time workers looking for full-time jobs. And that amounts to an underemployment rate that stands at 16.7 percent.

While she expects the labor force to recover to pre-recession levels, she says the effects of losing a job have a lasting impact.

SHIERHOLZ: So people like Richard are in the situation where they're likely to face that earning hit that can last for decades.

SNOW: And for Richard Crane, his goals are forever changed.

CARNE: When I was working for GM, I was looking forward to turning 56 and retiring and, you know, maybe try doing something else, or even going until I'm 62. Now we're just -- there's no real plan. Our plan is to get from month to month.

SNOW: Mary snow, CNN, Hazlet, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We can pass along some upbeat news, now, on the job front, at least for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Josh Levs here with that for us.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was really surprised by some of the numbers that we saw yesterday. We've been talking a lot about veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars having a lot of trouble getting jobs, even more than the national average, which is why I was stunned by this yesterday.

I think we have a chart that lays it out for you, but the basic idea is that unemployment among people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been up near 15 percent earlier this year. It's been in the 12s and 13s.

And then this comes out yesterday, and it's a little over nine percent now. That is a big drop in unemployment for our nation's veterans, those who are the most recent veteran, those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. A little bit of good news right there.

That said, unemployment is still way too high for everyone, including for veterans. It's a sign of the times that I'm seeing 9.4 percent as being a good thing, but the trend is there.

I will also tell you that we can't read too much in to those latest numbers. We would like it believe that more members of our military are managing to get jobs, it could mean that, but because of the way they calculate these thing, it could also mean that more people have given up looking for work or it could be a statistical anomaly.

What we need to do is watch in the coming months and see if indeed more are manage to go get jobs, and that would be very good news.

Now, there's a few things you should know about that I've got on my screen behind me and that's what's going on in Congress to try to help people who have been serving who are home now looking for jobs. There's three things going on right now. One is a work opportunity tax credit. Business folks out there, pay attention to this. You get $2,400 for hiring veterans, $4,800 for hiring disabled veterans.

And two things that have not passed yet, one, a Veterans Employment Act to provide job training and placement services, and another is an Educational Assistance Act that would help members of military who are now serving, who are now home, trying to take the skills they have, translate skills into practicable skills that will work for all sorts of jobs. And that act could potentially help, so we'll see how well that does in Congress.

Last thing to tell you, if you are one of he's people and you are a member of the military who is home now, a veteran looking for work, there's a handful of websites that can help you a lot and I've posted them at Facebook and Twitter. I'm at Josh Levs CNN. I have the links all set up for you. If you have a loved one home who is a veteran looks for work, a series of websites designed especially for this that group.

So T.J., short version here, it's really good news in these numbers about if they continue to pan out, and obviously we all hope that they will.

HOLMES: Josh Levs for us, some good news to report there. We appreciate you coming up here.

A lot of people have the attitude, a lot of young people -- I ain't got time for school. Work needs to be done on the farm. It's a problem for kids across the globe. But one CNN hero maybe found a solution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Poverty can be one of the most powerful obstacles to getting a good education. That's true even if you have a place where school is free. But for one CNN hero, it's not a hardship. It's an opportunity to change lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PONHEARY LY, CNN HERO: In Cambodia, some children come to school, but not very regular because the family needs to have them in the farm. The school is free, but they don't have any money. How can they have the money for uniforms and supplies?

My Name is Ponheary Ly. I have the children to go to school. The education is important for me because my father was a teacher. My father was killed. It if we tried to study, we could be killed. My soul always goes to school.

At the beginning I got only one girl, after that, 40 children, and now 2,000. After several years, I see the change because they know how to read and write and they borrow the book from our library to read for their parents.

I need them to have a good education to build their own family, to build their own country. My father, he has to be proud of me here in heaven and in my heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: To learn more about how you can help out, be sure to logon to CNN.com/heroes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, things are starting to return to normal in beautiful Cape Cod. These pictures, though, this is a little something different they saw yesterday. Tropical storm Earl was a hurricane yesterday, a tropical storm now, but it had an impact in this area, but particularly in Cape Cod. Some roads had to be closed, some power outages to report, as well.

But it looks like more so today when they do have beautiful weather, a lot of people want to get out and enjoy the beach for this holiday weekend, but, Reynolds, they need to be warned.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They really should. How amazing is it, moments ago we had that live shot with Susan Candiotti. It looks like a beautiful weekend -- unbelievable.

Let me show you what the storm is doing in Nova Scotia. We have video that just came in. The wind is really picking up, the rain still continues to follow on those places in the ocean, very choppy. That's pretty close to harbor there, but farther out to sea, I can guarantee you the waves are a lot bigger, especially on much of the eastern seaboard.

But as the storm surges northward, it is going to be again better conditions in some places, but what T.J. was talking about, rip currents, that can be a big problem up and down the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. Here is the latest from the storm -- sustained winds 70 miles per hour gusts to 85, moves northeast at 30 miles per hour. The center of the storm located near Cape Say below Nova Scotia. But the center of circulation just there, you've got many showers, a few storms popping up right off this thing, the heaviest rainfall moving well to the north. That's the good news.

Bad news again as we were talking about, you've got the residual effect of what can happen when these systems tend to move out, you can have some really rough surf from up and in much of the eastern sea boards. Rip currents are going to be a big issue.

And the way the rip current occurs is when you have a great deal of water being forced toward the shore, the water has to go someplace. It comes back rather quickly, it forms channels right along parts of the beach. Those are your rip currents. If you get pulled into it, it can be a scary mess.

I can tell you conditions farther south in Florida, you might see a few stray showers here and there, but this morning in Daytona, it is just beautiful. Let's take a shot. You see the white caps off the islands, the beautiful horizon. A couple of hotels here and there, people going out to make the most of this holiday weekend.

On the other side of the sunshine state, we take you over to Clearwater, Florida, where the conditions are beautiful there, too. You see a few clouds popping up across the landscape there. Now, if you happen to be on the beach this morning in a place like Clearwater or Daytona, maybe Gainesville for a football game, conditions there for the Florida Gators playing Miami of Ohio, it's going to be 90 degrees by late afternoon, maybe a few showers.

(WEATHER BREAK)

HOLMES: Reynolds that's why we love him. Appreciate you. Thank you, kind sir.

Coming up, a news conference had a lot of people scratching their heads. It was a news conference we saw in Chicago, and it kind of put crime and violence in one of the nation's most violent cities back in the spot light.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the mayor going to be held accountable for all the corruption that happened under his watch? Is the police superintendent going to be held accountable for all the corrupt cops that go out and kill young black men?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, it's it actually the gang members who set up this press conference. They're pointing the fingers back at the police and city officials.

It's 37 minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 40 minutes past the hour.

No doubt there have been far too many dying violent deaths in the city of Chicago. The problem has been well documented over the years. Listen to this -- nearly half of the city's homicides this year have been victims between the ages of 17 and 25.

The city earmarked $30 million in stimulus funding last year to help 1,200 at risk students in its schools. And listen to this, as well. There have been more than 250 murders in Chicago this year, of that number at least 57 of the victims were teenagers.

Chicago police held what they called a gang summit earlier just a few weeks ago. They told gang leaders do something or else. They told them they're going to end up with a full-court press, a crackdown on gang leaders.

But in an unusual response, gang leaders held their own press conference, a press conference from the gangsters, if you will. They say they're being unfairly blamed for the violence in the city. Listen to Ben Bradley from our Chicago affiliate, WLS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't control what's going on out there. People are killing for any silly thing.

BRADLEY: This man admits to being an influential member of the unknown Vice Lords, and he was one of the men ordered to attend a meeting at Garfield Park of alleged gang leaders and law enforcement.

MARK CARTER, VOICES OF EX-OFFENDER: People get in their way, they handle what they got take handle.

BRADLEY: A group of self-described current and former gang members summoned the media to fire back at what they see as hypocrisy.

CARTER: Is the mayor going to be held accountable for all the corruption under his watch? Is the police superintendent going to be held accountable for all the corrupt copses that kill young black men?

BRADLEY: The group includes some who claim they've turned their force into a force for good. Now they want city money to pay for their violence prevention plans.

REGINALD AKKEEM BERRY SR., FORMER GANG MEMBER: They've given us an ultimatum -- quit it -- instead of an alternative.

ALDERMAN ANTHONY BEALE, CHICAGO POLICE AND FIRE COMMITTEE: While you're sitting back and say we have the solution while innocent people are still being killed and shot every single day. If you have the solution, there shouldn't be any dollar amount attached to it.

REV. MICHAEL PHLEGER, ST. SABINA PARISH: If you have people calling press conferences and being angry and being mad and being worried about it, that says sounds like it's working.

BRADLEY: As for this gang member, he left the meeting with police mad but also having heard the message loud and clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say I'm going to be blamed for it I got to tell them no shoe, no killing, none of that, because I'm going to be blamed for something they're doing. So I got to get the word out that we can't have this in my area. They're saying I'm a gang leader, so I can't be held accountable for someone else doing it. So I got to at that time message out there and let them know because I'm going to be blamed for it if they do it. That's what they said.

BRADLEY: So I guess the meeting worked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it worked, for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: You heard it from that gang member. He says the meeting with the cops worked at least for him. In fact, 60 other cities have held similar talks between cops and gangs. Most showed some success. Will it cork in Chicago, though? Keep in mind, the windy city has been plagued with violence.

As we said, there have been more than 250 murders so far this year. We've got more than four and a half months to go. According to police data, more than 60 percent of those 250 plus murders are gang related.

Here with us now, a former gang member, Wallace Gator Bradley. He joins us. Mr. Bradley, we appreciate you being here. What is the definition, in your eyes at least, of a gang?

WALLACE BRADLEY, FORMER GANG MEMBER: A gang is a group of people that meet sociably and regularly. That's why it's not a crime to be a member of any gang, whether it's congress, fraternities, 100 black men. You name it.

HOLMES: Now, would you --

BRADLEY: But what -- go ahead, I'm sorry.

HOLMES: I was going to ask, a lot of people have in their minds, when you hear about gangs, street gangs in particular, are you telling me you don't believe that criminal activity is associated with gangs, at least the kind that we're talking about on the streets of Chicago?

BRADLEY: No, that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is this bare fact. There is anti-sociable behavior and criminal activity in everything, from the police department to Congress to street organizations to fraternities and sororities.

HOLMES: Surely, Mr. Bradley, you're not trying to equate a street gang with a fraternity. Yes, you've got knuckleheads in every little group you might have. But surely you're not equating a street gang to it a group of kids in a fraternity or a police department or anything else. Is that what you're doing?

BRADLEY: What I'm doing, T.J., so that we don't get cloud and confused, is saying that anyone that does not stand up as universal body to help stop the violence in the streets of Chicago is divisive.

When the reason that we called the recent conference on that date is because our president was meeting with people in the Middle East, and depending on who is calling who, they both are known or have been called careless. And innocent people have been getting killed in the Middle East.

So if the president and the secretary of state wanted to sit down with them to stop the violence, it is wrong for anyone to say that the mayor and the superintendent of police doesn't have a right to talk with gang leaders and former gang leaders and members to stop senseless shootings in the city of Chicago.

HOLMES: I don't think anyone is opposed to that. We've seen other programs like this work with other police departments in cities across the country. What people were shaking their heads with, why would the gang members be claiming that they are being treated unfairly by police?

BRADLEY: Because, first of all, the Superintendant Weiss didn't have to trick those individuals into a room. They would have came if they felt there was a meeting for them to come and say we don't have nothing to do with that violence.

First of all, when Larry Hoover and Jeff Ford has sent message it is to the streets, it's been all in the media that they said since this shooting hinge must stop, the regular women and children must stop, and the disrespect and robbing of seniors must stop, all he had to do was say I welcome what Larry Hoover and Jeff Ford are saying and everyone else, they're saying that violence has to stop and all the people who don't listen to the leaders of the city, whether the mayor, the governor, the police --

HOLMES: Mr. Bradley, before --

BRADLEY: Wait a minute, T.J. Those people who are saying stop the violence, we need to know who these individuals are that's saying can't nobody tell them to stop the violence.

HOLMES: Mr. Bradley, so much of the violence according to the police are because of the gangs themselves. How much do you believe the gangs are responsible for?

BRADLEY: First of all, that's why we called the press conference, OK? The police department is known for sweeping anything -- anytime a child, a black child, or Hispanic child has been killed, they sweep it up under guns, drugs, and gangs and they don't investigate --

HOLMES: Mr. Bradley, you are telling me gangs are not responsible for a lot of the problems on the streets of Chicago?

BRADLEY: I'll tell you criminals commit crimes. Gangs do not commit crimes.

HOLMES: Are criminals in the gangs?

BRADLEY: And I'm telling you -- criminals are in congress, too.

HOLMES: Are they in the gangs? OK. We documented Congress long ago. We're talking about gangs right now. Criminals are not in gangs?

BRADLEY: Criminals are in gangs. Gangs are a part of congress. So you can't --

HOLMES: Oh, Mr. Bradley --

BRADLEY: You've got criminals that may be a part of your organization.

HOLMES: Mr. Bradley, OK, I was trying to discuss gangs there. Mr. Brad, I have to let you go here. I got to let you know.

BRADLEY: Of course you do --

HOLMES: Mr. Bradley, I got to let you go here. But you brought up the superintendent there, the police chief there. We need to let you know that the superintendant there of the Chicago police, we did ask for a statement from the members of the Chicago police. We did not get one. We asked them to come on here, as well, with us. If we get a statement, we'll certainly pass that along to you.

But, again, according to police there in Chicago, in fact 60 percent of the homicides have been committed by gang members.

A quick break. We're right back.

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HOLMES: America's combat mission in Iraq may be done, but the pain of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq is far from over. For thousands of injured American troops, CNN's Brooke Baldwin spoke with one soldier about this life-changing injuries and recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arkantah (ph) Valley, Afghanistan, Taliban stronghold, one of the most dangerous assignments for U.S. troops and Dan's new home one month into his deployment.

CAPT. DAN BERSCHINSKI, U.S. ARMY: People were ambivalent at best and outwardly hostile most commonly. Rocks and thumbs down, middle fingers up.

BALDWIN: From his first mission outside the wire, this West Point graduate realized every day had the potential to be deadly.

BERSCHINSKI: My very first mission, I watched three IEDs go off in succession on a group. So it was like, hey, game on. This place is not friendly. Let's try to keep ourselves off the road as much as possible.

BALDWIN: To keep off the road, soldiers would stick to dirt trails, even orchards. That's where his platoon was patrolling on August 18th of last year.

BERSCHINSKI: We heard an explosion. You could see the dust rise up over the trees.

BALDWIN: An IED had been triggered and soon after, another explosion. Two men were killed. Bershinski, unscathed, had to hold the area so they could search for the bodies come daylight. And as he was walking down a trail, steps from his compound, another blast.

BERSCHINSKI: I don't really remember a sound or a flash. I just remember a pressure. But immediately I knew what had happened. And the next thing I know, I'm opening my eyes in a bright room in the ICU here at Walter Reed. I didn't even understand the gravity of my injuries.

BALDWIN (on camera): Who told you, the doctor?

BERSCHINSKI: They tell you, but it doesn't sink in until you have the strength and the mental clarity to lift your sheets and look.

I'm kind of at the point I can walk with one hand, so that's the first sign of being able to walk with one cane.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Dan's left leg amputated above the knee, his right at the hip. A year after the attack --

BERSCHINSKI: It's a bit frustrating. I wake up every morning and I go, maybe it was all a dream, and I think about just swinging my legs over the edge of the bet and hop manage to the shower, but so far it hasn't come true. So then I just go, oh, crap, back to that.

BALDWIN: Here at Walter Reed Dan, now a captain, knows pain is the price of progress. Ask his physical therapist, his recovery is faster than anyone predicted.

BO BERGEROAN, WALTER REED CLINICAL SUPERVISOR: Time-wise, I think it's remarkable. From the very beginning, he's been one of those guys that he gets frustrated and he's determined to make it work.

BALDWIN: Dan is taking his rehab step by step. And as he remembers that day in Afghanistan, this Georgia native says he wouldn't have wished it any other way.

BERSCHINSKI: Quite honestly, if it hadn't been me walking through those orchards in Afghanistan, it would have been some other 25-year-old. Really I have no regrets. I think it was worthwhile.

BALDWIN (on camera): No regrets? BERSCHINSKI: Yes, no regrets. And I pause because it's kind of -- I have to double check in my head. But, yes, I've thought about it quite a bit and I really don't think I have any regrets.

BALDWIN: So what's next for Dan? What's in his future? He told me he really has to take his recovery there at Walter Reed day to day. He does hope to get on grad school, possibly get his MBA.

And if you want to learn more about Dan, his brothers maintain this pretty thorough blog with all kinds of pictures from Christmas, from when he's met the president at Walter Reed, even to meeting Jon Stewart. But he would tell you that he realizes he is lucky to be alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Coming up here, a major earthquake in New Zealand. The country's second largest city is hit and now they are cleaning up today. But the amazing part, we don't have deaths to tell you about in this rubble. We'll detail it all for you. It's coming up close to the top of the hour. Stay with us.

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