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CNN NEWSROOM

Wildfire Scorches Southern California; Protests Spread In Turkey; Changing A Family Of Gang Members; Chilling Images Of Hostage Bunker; Attack On The "Vampire Fish"

Aired June 3, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of families were told get out, get out before the flames close in on you. Take a look at this black smoke pouring from a 25,000-acre wildfire in Southern California. The powerhouse fire, so it is called has destroyed six homes and is threatening many, many more.

Stephanie Elam joins us now from Lake Hughes. And, Stephanie, I hear where you're standing there was once a home.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly, Brooke. We are here on Lake Hughes. We do know now this powerhouse fire has burned about 29,000 acres, but they're saying they got 40 percent containment. That is not necessarily the news that makes you feel much better when you look at this house and this is where you lived.

You can see that right now they're out here cordoning it off because it is completely destroyed. Only the chimney is still standing. And this area wasn't even supposed to be burned, but Saturday afternoon, the fire just took off in three different directions and raced through the canyon.

And, in fact, if we just went down the street, just a little bit from here, we came across a family that was picking through what was left of their parents' home, which was a different position than what they're used to since they're used to being on the fire line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: So your family is made up of firefighters.

PATRICK STILSON, MOTHER'S HOME BURNED: Right, correct.

ELAM: Doesn't it feel a little ironic that your parents' house has burned down like this?

STILSON: It does. It does. It is surreal I would say is a good word for it. I spent so much -- after I retired, my last four years, I helped my dad clean up this place and a lot of cleanup. We had hundreds of trees down in there that we cleaned up. So it is -- it hurts a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ELAM: And he was a firefighter. Father was a firefighter. Brother was a firefighter. Nephews, the entire family, sister was married to a firefighter. The entire family all involved in fighting fires and protecting other people's homes, now sifting through what is left of their parent's house, the parents have been in this place since the '70s. A lot of memories destroyed and they're going through it and happy that they were able to get their elderly mother out of the house in time -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness. Stephanie, I'm seeing these two people walking out of your shot behind you. Are those the family members and what, if anything, were they able to salvage from the charred remains that we're looking at?

ELAM: No, these people just showed up. They're from Public Works. They're here cordoning off any place that could be dangerous they don't want people going into. Obviously, these are people's personal artifacts. If there is anything in there, they want to go through this. This is one house here.

The other house where you saw that gentleman I was speaking to, Patrick, it is a little bit down the road from here and his brother lives about 300 yards away from the parents' home. He lost his garage, but he's fine so the whole family just dealing with a lot.

And even though they know how to deal with it, they know what to do, they're still looking at something that they have known all their lives just about completely changed. This used to be all lush with flowers, everywhere and now it doesn't look like there is anything there, just completely decimated.

BALDWIN: Just so much loss. Tornados in the middle of the country, fire where you are in California. Stephanie Elam, thank you very much.

Coming up next, what started as a sit-in to protect a park in Istanbul, Turkey, has turned into a countrywide protest against the government. Could this be the beginning of a Turkish spring?

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BALDWIN: Even more anger is erupting on the streets of Turkey today as protesters demand change. Look at that. What began as a peaceful sit-in over government plans to demolish a park in Istanbul has snowballed into a nationwide protest against Turkey's prime minister. In the capital Ankara, police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters while demonstrators threw rocks.

CNN's Ivan Watson is in Istanbul for us, another city here just gripped by protests. Ivan, just beginning with the fact that, you know, Turkey, it's an important U.S. ally in the Muslim world, has Turkey ever seen anything like this?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, let me interrupt -- no, it hasn't. This is -- this is another one of those days where we have never seen anything like this before in the city. And right now there is a police helicopter circling over this square where the demonstrators have gathered. We'll try to show you, it is shining a spotlight on the park where the protests first began.

And the crowd of thousands, if not tens of thousands, has erupted into a giant boo and jeer, hissing, the police helicopter that is circling and shining the spotlight on the crowd. It goes almost without saying that so much of the anger has been generated here in Turkey, against the riot police, who have been firing tear gas and water cannons and pepper spray at unarmed demonstrators for a week now.

Within the last hour, there was a cloud of tear gas that actually came over this crowd of people out here, sending thousands of people running. I saw parents dragging their children, running very afraid. We're trying to show you right now, that police helicopter that is shining its spotlight into this park that had, I would estimate, more than 10,000 people in it when we were there about two hours ago in daylight.

That's the park where this protest first erupted. About 40, 50 people, last Monday, seven days ago, and the police brutality and the rhetoric of the Turkish prime minister is what triggered unprecedented street protests and violence in this country, a NATO ally of the U.S. and NATO military alliance and one of the U.S.' closest allies in the Middle East -- Carol.

BALDWIN: Ivan, it is Brooke. Let me though ask you this as we're looking at pictures and this is reminiscent as we --

WATSON: Sorry.

BALDWIN: -- no worries. As we covered, you know, what happened in Egypt, but you know, Erdogan is in such a different category than the Moahmar Gadhafis of the world, so is it even a fair assessment to call this a possible Turkish spring?

WATSON: Some people are calling it that and some people very much bristle at that. They don't want to be compared to the dictatorships and the despots in the Arab world. Turkey is not an Arab country. It speaks a different language, an entirely different ethnic group. And, yes, Erdogan has won elections. He is democratically elected.

The frustrations that we're hearing from the crowd is that he seems to be taking away some democratic freedoms that Turks have enjoyed, freedoms in some cases that he opened up during his 10 years in power. And one of the complaints here is that these people, many of them say we didn't vote for Erdogan, and he seems to be persecuting us because we didn't vote for him.

He should represent not only his base, which largely consists of conservative, more pious Muslims, but also urban cosmopolitan more secular Turks like the crowds we see here in Istanbul. I have to say, the police helicopter is still circling overhead and now we see a cloud of smoke over the park.

I'm sorry we can't show it to you with our camera right now, but again within the last two hours there was tear gas over this crowd and the only people who have had tear gas are the Turkish security forces themselves who used it so much, Brooke, that I've had to on multiple occasions wear my gas mask indoors in this very office with the windows closed, if that can give you some context.

BALDWIN: I can see. We were pushing into the crowds over your shoulder, it is 20 minutes until 10:00 your time, Ivan. How large are those crowds behind you? Are we talking hundreds?

WATSON: It is difficult for me to estimate from a distance like this, but certainly the main part of this square that hasn't become part of a construction site is packed full and the park that triggered this is also packed full. It is important to note this is not justice just Istanbul and it's not just the square.

When you walk through neighborhoods outside of here, at 2:00 in the morning, I've never seen this before living in the city, there will be housewives out banging pots and pans in protest against the government. The protests have erupted in more than 30 other provinces of Turkey's 81 provinces within the last four days -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Ivan Watson, we'll keep watching this with you as it is a huge, huge story that we're covering in Istanbul as you point out and the surrounding neighborhoods. Ivan, thank you.

In Chicago, it is a way of life for some families. We're talking about generation after generation of gangs, the effort to change that culture next.

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BALDWIN: Imagine being from a family of gang members. Your father, uncles, brothers, everyone is part of a violent gang. That's the situation for some families in Chicago, and CNN's George Howell sat down with one family whose gang activity has been part of the family business for generations.

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the home of this west side Chicago family, you find a common thread. A way of life, started by this father, passed on to his nephews and now his sons.

(on camera): A show of hands, how many generations have been in a gang? What was the first generation, the second generation, and then the next? So it is just gone through the family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HOWELL: What do you think about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am not proud of that.

HOWELL (voice-over): Jetty Williams is a little hard to understand now since his stroke, but at one time no voice carried more weight in Chicago's gang world, a former leader of the notorious vice lords gang. Williams spent most of his life awaiting trial on probation or in prison. He's since given up gang life --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like my kids being about that, but I can't tell them you don't do this when your daddy done it. I'm not going to be no hypocrite.

HOWELL: But his legacy continued.

FREDRICK WALLACE, FORMER GANG MEMBERM: I did robberies. That was my specialty. We didn't go around hurting innocent people like the kids do these days. It was more about money, power and respect and who could get to the top of the hill first. But doing that, we still had loyalty to who started this.

CALVIN TAYLOR, FORMER GANG MEMBER: Through this generation, it bled down to them. When it got to them, the blood was running in the streets and they had no guidance. A lot of us were locked up. So they had no guidance so they just became like renegades.

HOWELL: That's one of the problems plaguing Chicago's streets today.

JETTIE FOUNTAIN, FORMER GANG MEMBER: It is just everybody out there for themselves. Just like whatever happens just happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired.

HOWELL: Chicago police spent years cracking down on gang leaders who operated in large parts of the city, but according to the Cook County state attorney, the gang lifestyle has become entrenched.

ANITA ALVAREZ, COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: What we have seen now is these gangs are generational. So you have, you know, grandpa, father, son, all part of the gang. So it is just kind of been the culture that kids are being brought up into.

HOWELL: And Anita Alvarez says gangs have also fractured into many different factions, the result, young, rival gang members fighting each other, block by block, with deadly consequences. It is a problem these former gang members are trying to turn around, starting with their own family.

WALLACE: Now I'm out there trying to teach the young people to look at me. I'm 46. I've been to the penitentiary ten times, but now I'm -- I have got married and I see a different way in life.

HOWELL: And their influence seems to be paying off.

FOUNTAIN: It made me look up to them now, you know, like I'm changing. I don't need none of that old violence, none of that stuff.

HOWELL: Fountain's namesake says he recently dropped out of the gang, a small sign of hope in a city struggling with a big problem trying to make the streets safe again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: You heard there Jettie Williams, his voice, hard to understand. Well, we learned from his family that he recently passed away due to some health issues, but before his death, Brooke, fair to say he took great satisfaction in knowing that his own sons decided to make different choices.

And, you know, Brooke, this really was an opportunity for us to look past the headlines to look at the actual problem to see how it continues. And what people continue to say is that it will take new programs for people to get involved in other things aside from the gang lifestyle.

BALDWIN: George Howell, thanks for the interviews. Appreciate it.

HOWELL: Of course.

BALDWIN: Coming up, an update on a story we told you about in February. A little bit kidnapped and held captive in the underground bunker. Remember that? He was rescued. His abductor was killed. Now we're getting a first look inside the secret bunker. The chilling photos are next.

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BALDWIN: CNN has received chilling images from inside a kidnapper's bunker. The story absolutely horrified the country earlier this year when a 5-year-old boy was snatched off his school bus in Alabama and held captive in this underground bunker for nearly a week. CNN's Alina Machado gives us an inside look at the bunker plus some disturbing recordings of the kidnapping itself.

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ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is an inside look at the underground bunker where Jimmy Lee Dikes held a 5-year-old boy hostage for six days, just released photos show Alabama and federal investigators processing the scene. Here is a picture showing one of two beds. Small flashlights hang on the wall. Water bottles are within reach. A notebook and an animal calendar sit on the bed. The FBI released the photos along with audio of a profanity-laced phone call between hostage negotiators and Dikes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just go ahead and send somebody down that -- funnel up there to their death.

MACHADO: The chilling audio gives us a better sense of Dikes' state of mind as the days wore on and negotiations deteriorated.

UNIDENTIIFIED MALE: If that sorry -- above you doesn't respond to me by 5:30 this afternoon, or whatever time it is, by God I will not be talking to --

MACHADO: Authorities say Dikes stormed a school bus in Midland City, Alabama, on January 29th. A 15-year-old boy on the bus told dispatchers how a man had shot the driver and snatched one of the children.

911: OK, is he on the bus? Did he take the kid off the bus? UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He took the kid off the bus.

911: He took the kid off the bus.

MACHADO: The bus about driver, Charles Poland, was later hailed a hero, for trying to protect his young passengers.

911: Was the bus driver the only person shot?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes, ma'am.

911: Hang in there, honey. You're doing so good. I'm so proud of you, OK?

MACHADO: Neighbors told CNN Dikes was a paranoid anti-government loner. Here's what the 65-year-old told negotiators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are going to be standing up to this -- incompetent, self-righteous, bunch of sorry -- in government that tell nothing but -- lies.

MACHADO: Law enforcement sources told CNN authorities used a camera to monitor what was going on inside the bunker while FBI hostage rescue teams trained on a model of the structure nearby. Agents reportedly saw dikes holding a gun, prompting the rescue operation. Dikes, they say, was armed and managed to fire at agents before he was killed. Authorities found two explosive devices.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: The boy named Ethan was alive and returned to his family. He celebrated his 6th birthday after his rescue. Alina Machado, CNN, Atlanta.

BALDWIN: Coming up, they are sucking the life out of other fish. They are known as -- gives me the creeps. They're known as vampire fish. Now wildlife officials are taking extreme measures to get rid of them.

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BALDWIN: It is that time of year, the attack on the vampire fish. Not talking about some horror flick sequel here, I'm talking about this guy, with these predatory teeth. This is the Great Lakes area. So as Alexandra is about to explain. As early as tomorrow, a team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will begin this attack. They're called lamprey. Tell me --

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sea lamprey or "vampire fish" and their mouth essentially -- you're looking at them, but I'm going to suck your blood right now, Brooke, and what it is, its mouth is this disc-like object with teeth. It gets into a local fish, sucks all their insides out, essentially killing them or certainly maiming them.

So what they want to do is save the local fish and they have been doing this here in the Great Lakes for a long time. You're looking at it. It is just a sucker of a fish. It is killing all the locals and it has been doing it since the '40s.

BALDWIN: So what they're going to this creek near the big lake, you can't kill the actual thing --

STEELE: Right. Look at this thing. They're going to Mitchell Creek, which feeds Lake Michigan, and that's where the larva are. Every three to five years they go in. They have been doing it, spends about $400 million killing the larva. You can't kill the adult ones. Every three to five years and essentially it is working, getting rid of 90 percent of them. It got -- it is from the Atlantic Ocean, but it got here from shipping canals. That's how it got to the Great Lakes, but they're going to get rid of them.

BALDWIN: You're an encyclopedia of vampire fish.

STEELE: This is its little mouth, big mouth.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Now this.