human beings. in the end, all we really have is each other. this is cnn tonight, i'm don lemon. to night america battles ebola. here's what we know right now. nina pham, the nurse that helped take care of thomas eric duncan is in good condition. she put out a statement today thanking the doctors and nurses caring for her. some nurses in dallas are making claims about how the hospital handled ebola. we're going to have the latest on that for you. meanwhile, the city of zlas taking care of nina pham's dog bentley. as the cdc rethinks the response, they're forming an ebola response team that can travel anywhere in the country within hours. they say it might have prefented pham from contracting ebola. but it has become more dangerous. could ebola become airborne? i'm going to ask the experts.

plus, the man who changed american television forever. he is a genius behind all in the family, the jeffersons, and mars. so what does norman leer think about tv today? we're going ask him if we got too safe. and the story of my life, like a lot of african-americans, i knew very little if anything about my ancestors until now. so roots our journey home was a life changing experience for me. and tonight you can see it all from louisiana to west africa. we have a lot of business to get to tonight. we're going to begin with breaking news. the president of the national nurses united talks about lapses in the protocols in the hospital why thomas eric duncan died and nina pham is being treated. the new developme in. ts just in. a conference call tonight from the president of the national nurses united who says whether he was at the texas health hospital the guidelines were constantly changing and there

were no protocols. i understand that you have some more information on these claims. >> yeah. coming from the same organization quoting annonymous nurses, don, this is pretty remarkable things plchlt duncan was not in isolation. he was not in isolation for several hours despite the fact that a nursing supervisors ask he go into isolation and he may have come into contact with seven patients at that time. they also point out that blood, the laboratory blood taken from mr. duncan was sent through the hospital tube system. it's a stub systtube system. and the concern is that tube system could potentially be become contaminated as a result of the fact that this blood with ebola was circulating through it. one of the most remarkable ones, don, we talked about this last night, the fact that the nurses garb did not fully cover all the skin. some of the nurses pointed that

out, complained about it. they were told at least according to this union to wrap medical tape around their neck four or five times to try to prevent any of that bodily fluid from touching their exposed skin. that is just remarkable. they also commented on the fact that waste, they didn't know what to do with the waste. it would pile up nearly to the ceiling in some of the patients' rooms because they didn't know what to do with it. i want to read the kmecomment. >> what does all this mean? how do these nurses have proof? because these -- i said in the beginning, these are explosive allegations f you're saying they're saying put medical tape and that the waste was piling up, what does that mean? >> well, it doesn't sound like there was specific protocols on how to deal with. this it sounds like whether concerns were raised by these nurses they didn't have a specific plan. one of the basic things that is

outlined, the idea that bodily fluid on any exposed skin could potentially be a route of infection. so people raising the concern. i had exposed skin. what am toy do about it? it doesn't sound like there was a good plan. >> it seems like things may be much worse than we're being led to believe. if this is indeed true. that's what i'm asking. >> yeah. i don't think that there was a plan in place. i wouldn't suggest, i think it would be very irresponsible to suggest this was a hospital sort of protocol to tell nurses to wrap tape around their neck. i think probably this was somebody who said, you know what? i don't know what to do. i'm not sure what the right answer is here. but we need to take care of this patient. so here is a solution as outrageous a solution as it may be, that is one that some of the nurses say was offered up. and i think what it speaks to is as much as we've been pounding the drum on this for some time and saying this is going to happen, we're going to have a patient with ebola at some point in this country that despite all that and despite the preparations, these are the

lapse that's we're hearing about. let me read you what the hospital said. it wasn't particularly -- there was no particularly big headline here. they say that patient and employee safety continues to be our greatest priority. we take compliance very seriously. we do have numerous measures in place to provide a safe working environment including mandatory training and a 24/7 hotline and other mechanism that's allow for anonymous reporting. we'll continue to review and respond to any concerns raised by our nurses and all employees. one thing i'll just point out, anonymous reporting they put in that statement, these were anonymous nurses talking to this nurse's union. there is some fear about all this as well retribution. they say that they want to remain anonymous because they were fearful of what might happen to them if they spoke out openly. that is fueling this as well. >> okay. so sanjay, stand by. i'll need your help throughout this broadcast. i want to get someone else in here. at least 76 health care workers who may have come into contact with thomas eric duncan after he was hospitalized are now being

monitored for symptoms of ebola. joining me now to discuss that and more is it mayor of dallas michael rawlings. what is the attitude there and what do you make of the allegations from the nurses if this is indeed true? what do you think about that? >> i personally don't know and i personally don't comment on anonymous comments. when people stand up and bring facts forward, then that's something we need to deal with. i know that nina has been upgraded to good. her spirits are high. and she's very complimentary of the hospital right now. >> with 76 people being monitored, how concerned are you about this spreading beyond just nurse nina pham? >> i'm concerned. look, this is a series of ups and downs. today was a good day. she got upgraded. she's in good spirits. you know, the progress we're

making, we've got the 76. out of that 76, the odds are that possibly we may have somebody else. and that concerns me. we've got our contingency plans in place. and we are ready to jump into action if that's the case. god willing it's not. but if it is, we'll deal with it. >> i think everyone is hoping it is not. the cdc director said he regrets not sending a team of cdc experts to dallas first and it could have prevented her from being infected. do you believe dallas was properly prepared for this? >> well, we are working very good as a team, the individuals that he sent in the last couple of days of really helped us out a lot. we got ahold of all 76 of those people. and i think we've got the data that we need to do -- to deal with this issue. and i'm looking forward. there will be plenty of time to look back. >> some are suggesting that

perhaps all ebola patients in the u.s. should be moved to one of a few hospital that's are specifically equipped to handle these cases f more cases show up in dallas, you would like to see those patients moved? >> well, i'm sure the cdc is discussing that. and i believe we have to look at our health care system not only in dallas but throughout the nation to know what's the right thing to do. if we have two, three, four patients, how do you allocate those individuals and the great news is we've got that. we've got good hk system here in dallas and we've got other places that these folks can be sent to. i know that discussions are taking place. >> dallas animal services has taken nina pham's dog bentley from her home and caring for her. you say you promise that to the family. what can you tell us about the dog bentley and whether the dog poses any danger of transmitting

the virus? >> first of all, i think the most -- the feeling i get more than anything is this is the cutest dog in the world. it kind of, you're kind of heart goes out to the thing just because it looks so cute. but from a safety standpoint, the dog is safe. it's in an band oabandoned area we're looking at this thing very closely to make sure that we feed and water and really care for the dog in a safe manner. hopefully the dog is not ill either. but we did this because nina wanted it. she is such a hero. these nurses are heroes. i mean i just can't believe these folks suit up every day and are helping people and it's just an inspiring story for me and her positive attitude, you

know, i'll go buy her another dog if necessary and keep this one so she can have two. because you want to help someone like this. >> well put, mayor. we agree. they're on the front lines and heroes. thank you, mayor mike rawlings of dallas. much more on america's battle against ooen. i'll ask our experts could the virus mutate and go airborne? plus, the man who proved that you can say that on television, norman leer on his greatest hits and what he thinks of tv today. also at signment that changed my life. emotional journey from louisiana to west african. discover my roots the you'll see it all tonight with a surprise guest. for retirement. but when we start worrying about tomorrow, we miss out on what matters today. ♪ at axa, we offer advice and help you break down your retirement goals into small, manageable steps. because when you plan for tomorrow,

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by the trial lawyers to make them millions... while, for the rest of us, health care costs go up. no wonder every major newspaper in the state opposes prop 46. they say 46 "overreached in a decidedly cynical way." it's a ploy "for trial lawyers to enrich themselves." and prop 46 has "too many potential drawbacks to be worth the risk." time to vote no on prop 46. trying to mislead you about the effects of proposition 46.

well here's the truth: 46 will save lives. it will save money too. i'm bob pack, and i'm fighting for prop 46 because i lost my two children to preventable medical errors and i don't want anyone else to lose theirs. the three provisions in 46 will reduce medical errors and protect patients. save money and save lives. yes on 46. health officials say that ebola is transmitted when someone comes in contacts with body fluids of a person that has symptoms. but it is possible that ebola will mutate and eventually spread through the air? joining me now is david sanders, a professor at purdue university. assistant professor the anew

york university school of medicine and our dr. sanjay gupta is back us with. could it become airborne? david, you've been studying ebola since 2003. you say ebola is prime to go airborne. why do you believe that? >> so we know from our own studies and those of our collaborators that ebola is capable of entering human airway tissue from the airway size. so lung tissue can be entered from the airway side. this is exact lit mode of entry that influenza takes to get into the lungs. i'm not saying -- and i reiterate, we have no evidence that in the current epidemic there has been airborne trans mission. however, when this issue is discussed, people frequently said there are no receptors on the lung, this can't happen and viruses don't change their mode of transmission.

none those statements are in fact true. and that's why i have been trying to speak out on this. there are a few others that i was trying to make this point as well. >> in theory, it's possible. this happens with bacteria and other infectious diseases. we come up with andy buy ottics and other treatments to fight bacteria and then we face drug resistance. they figure out what our immune systems, what our drugs are doing and figure out ways to fight. that but at the same time, you know, i don't think that's happened so far. i mean we have isolated cases in the u.s. we have isolated cases in places outside of west africa. but if this fires had figured out how to go airborne, we do see that spread much, much faster. >> dr. sanjay gupta, i want to hear what you have to say about this. it is scary if it's a possibility. but there's no evidence that it happened. >> no evidence that it's happened. and some people have said there's zero percent chance it will happen. i no dr. sanders takes issue with that.

saying it's not zero percent, it is slightly higher. i think we're dabbling around the edges here quite a bit. hiv is an example of a virus trans transmitted through bodily fluids for decades. plenty of chances for mutations. it has mutated. it mutate sod it is less susceptible to the medications out there. things like. that but never changed the mode of transmission. if i can say dr. sandsanders, y stla are evidence of viruses changing mode of transmission, what viruss are you talking about? >> influenza a. influenza a in the natural host, at quautic birds is a gastrointestinal virus. and when it hops over to mammals, very few mutations necessarily for the adaptation it is now a respiratory virus. >> within humans though, right now in the situation like this where it's already trans

transmitting via bodily fluids in humans and mutating to go airborne, is there a case like that within humans within a particular species already? >> within a particular species, yes, there are changes within species, not four humans. the example of hiv is not a very fair one. we know where the receptors are for hiv. they're only present on cells of the immune system. there are no receptors in the lungs. there is zero possibility for hiv to go into the lung. we even know if we introduce hiv artificially into the lung, it doesn't even go out into the airway. it goes towards the bloodstream as it should. that's where the targets are. hiv is not a good comparison. the receptors are not there. we know that ebola's receptors are on the airway tissue. and therefore, that's one of the requirements necessary for ebola to be transmitted by respiratory route. so there are other requirements may have to do with how well it surviv

survives, can it be transmitted on particles of certain size? we know those things can be affected by mutation as well. i don't know how many mutations. i don't know how likely it s i'm not trying to scare anybody. i certainly am insisting we have no evidence for the transmission that way. but as the number of cases accumulate, a small probability becomes a larger probability. >> my problem with this a little bit is, okay, everything you said is likely true, but the idea that it has happened before within humans already in mode of transmission has changed as a result of mutations, again, i'm not sure if that's true. i feel like we're dabbling around the edges here. you say you don't want to scare anybody, that's what it does is scare people. the chance of this happening is so remote. we can bring up millions of things that have a remote chance of happening. i'm not sure the value of that other than to create fear. >> okay. hang on. i want dr. debbie to sit in the middle and being very patient.

go ahead, dr. debbie. >> well, i think one thing we should also look at is the dog. there is evidence that dogs can actually care i didn't think ebola virus. there is no evidence that it spreads to humans or that it infects dogs. but, you know, if we're looking at ways to fight the virus, one thing to consider is how is the dog actually able to carry ebola virus and not get infected? that might be an area for research to really look at how it's able to do that and whether there is something about a dog's immune system that would protect it. dogs are man's best friend. let's see if they can help us here. >> thank you, sanjay. did you say everything you want. again, we don't want to scare people. >> the point is -- >> he's a purdue guy, i'm a michigan guy. >> i have to go to a break. sorry about that. >> the important thing is what if it does go airborne and everybody is told there is no possibility of that for the wrong reasons? right? if we're insisting on reasons that are in fact incorrect that, would be a disaster.

so the other thing is we might have to be prepared for that possibility. >> the chances of that are very, very remote. >> we have other bigger problems we should be focusing our attention on right now i think. >> thank you, david. thank you dr. debbie and sanjay gupta. >> norman leer broke barriers with television shows. he's out with a new memoir of his amazing career and norman leer joins me next. also ahead, the story of my family in america. my mother and i traveled to west africa to decide where many of our ancestors were taken away as slaves. it's parts of our series, "roots: our journeyses home." gt breathe through your nose... suddenly you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! how do you sleep like that? you dry up, your cold feels even worse. well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time,

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♪ movin' on up to the east side ♪ >> just the theme song. norman leer is one of the most influential producers. he created sitcoms like "all in the family," "maude" and "the

jeffersons." his shows were not afraid to tackle serious issues like race. here is a clip from "all in the family" that features archie and edith and their neighbors. it includes a woman you don't hear on tv. >> can't you tell when you've been insulted? >> i'm not excited. >> i'm not getting excited. i'm getting mad. >> that's what happens when you mix black and white. ten more seconds he's going to call him a nigger. >> i haven't used that word in three years. >> hilarious. also known for his politics and fierce defense of civil liberti liberties. he has a new memoir, even this i get to experience an he joins me now in the first prime time ibt view for his book. i'm so honored. >> i am as honored. thank you so much. >> so i was -- you came out,

just the theme songs to those shows. i have to tell you, you shaped who i am today. the television was my babysitter a lot. i had a -- i grew up with sang will mother. and so thank you for that. >> you're welcome for that. would you believe i was shaped by it, too. i grew up with it, too? >> yeah? >> you know, you never stop growing. i'm growing up meeting you. >> you know, people -- we don't hear that those kinds of conversations in my estimation on television anymore. you were way ahead of your time. why doesn't that happen anymore? why are we so, shall we say, politically correct if that is the right phrase? >> i don't know. the fear existed then, too and we fought against the fear because it was, i thought it largely silly. we couldn't win an argument without, you know, it going up a hierarchy of people on the other

side of the country. and i guess the same thing is happening today. i know a lot of show runners tell me "all in the family" could not succeed. i couldn't get on to start with. >> you don't think it could get on today? >> that's what i'm -- i love "modern family." that's what i'm told. that's what i'm told by the guys trying to do it. i am trying to get a show on the air for the last three, four years dealing with -- well not quite your generation but your dad's generation up through my generation. >> it's harder to sell a show now than it was in the '7 o's? >> it's harder to sell a show about a aging demographic. it's the largest growing demographic in the -- among the dem graphics. >> and they spend a lot of money. >> and the most expendable income. but it's still 18 to 39. >> you stood your ground. was it tough? did you have to say no? we actually talked about the n

word before the show. i was selling you we have censored. but it standards and practice. i said don't sanitize this. that's the whole point of it is to hear the word. you could hear it in the '70s. did you have to go through the bat sfllz. >> i didn't go through any battle for the n word. but i went through battles for silly things. a lot sillier than that. you know, the very first episode of "all in the family," archie says 11:00 on a sunday morning because he thinks the kids are going up, mike and gloria, to make love. and they have to have that line out because it was an illusion that something that was taking place upstairs. >> before that i remember that lucy and ricky would have to sleep in separate beds. finally got to the point where they could -- let's watch one more clip of "all in the family". >> his pal roger is as queer as aed 4dz a e$4 and he knows it.

>> that is an outlie. >> just because a guy is sensitive and wears glasses, you make him out a queer. >> i never said a guy that wears glasses is queer. a guy that wears glasses is a four eyes. a guy who is a fag is a queer. >> that is amazing! that's how i would -- and i do conduct myself like that ninlt views i'm told. i think you should be able to say those things. that's the only way you get anything resolved. obviously, i was difficult to do that. did you have a problem with queer? you didn't have a problem with the understood word, did you have a problem with queer? >> it's a little different, you're a big pro poen enlt of civil liberties, what do you think what happened since did you the show? >> i think the rest of the culture and every other culture needs to take a lesson. look at how much has been achieved in the last few years. >> do you feel in part responsible for the -- >> i can't take responsibility for it. i'm happy i was part of the every group that enlisted me or

i could think of to be a part of it. and i helped where i could. but, you know, i think as a culture we should take a big deep bow. >> we see the guys like carol o'connor and i just kind of bow because they're so great. it's been said that carol o'connor was pretty difficult. >> well, carol was carrying a lot of responsibility. he was a white man playing a bigot in a time where it didn't happen before. >> and he wasn't a bigot? >> he wasn't. he worried a lot what was written for him. he was right some of the time and wrong a lot of the time. and those were the battles. but they were honest battles. and he was a glorious actor. >> i loved "all in the family." but you know what? you know what i really loved "maude," maybe it's because i'm a gay man. but i just loved "maude." >> i say in the book, i don't

know if you finished it, "maude" represented a lot of me. that progressive, that liberal who wasn't altogether on up on everything she should. >> she had a good heart. >> she did. >> she didn't mean any harm. she may not have known. she said her piece and didn't mean no harm. >> she meant no harm. >> so what is your favorite part of this book? i lot of book. i also love that you're such a family man. i see lots of pictures of you in here and your family. >> i have six glorious kids. >> yeah. >> and they run from daughters, five daughters from 18 to 68 -- from 19 to 68. >> how young you are snou. >> i'm 92 years young. >> my gosh. >> that's still young. you have accomplished so much. is there anything else that you would like to do? it seems you have done everything. you even bought a copy of the declaration of independence. >> what is that all about? >> it was all about traveling.

it was all about standing in different cities across the country and watching people who run around the block coming closer and closer and closer to that document and crying so many of them when they got there. the document that guaranteed everything that meant america to them. >> yeah. >> buy his showst put it on television. i would love to see it. >> and the book. bite book too. >> absolutely buy the book. i do have to tell you, that you made me who i -- you helped to shape me and a lot of my generation. >> there is nothing i could loehr that touches me more. nothing. >> i mean really. just the boldness of the subject that's you tackled. it was very important to civil rights and for gay rights and for women's rights and so i thank you. i thank you for coming on tonight. good luck with the book. >> thank you very much. very much. >> thank you. >> all right. up next here on cnn, our series "roots" our journey's home.

tonight, my mother and i explore our family history and travel to west africa where our forebearers were taken to america in bondage as slaves and my mother catherine joins me on the set. i'll be right back. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ sweered lobster'sory! endless shrimp ends soon! the year's largest variety. like new spicy siriacha shrimp, or parmesan shrimp scampi. as much as you like, any way you like. but it won't last long, so hurry in today. and sea food differently. when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states,

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i've never been this nervous about anything i ever said or shown on television n a series called "roots our journeys home," we're telling stories of our lives and how we came to be. my personal and motional journey took me from louisiana to west africa. i could'do it without the person that is closest to me and that is my mother. take a look. ♪ >> growing up in part allen. here it is. i grew up on court street and on

one side of court street the black people lived. on the other side of court street, the white people lived. this is how i looked growing up as a kid. this little brown curly haired kid with big teeth and big ears. i lived through desegregation in the 1906's and experienced racism growing up in the south. but i know it was nothing compared to what my ancestors endured. i just never got to learn their histories. i don't know where this journey is going to take me. what am i doing? you are rolling? i couldn't do this without my mother. and i can't tell you how excited i am that she is going to be with me. >> hi, mother. >> hi. >> i had no idea at all where my ancestors were from. i did have an idea that i did have ancestors in africa. but i never, ever thought about pursuing it. >> she was riding along in the little car. >> my mom is my best friend now. my grandmother was my best

friend then. she was just this beautiful, regal woman who we all loved. she was the may tree ark of the family. >> my mother, she had problems with people. she was shunned because of her color. and her father was white. >> michelle irkenbrack has been researching my roots. >> one thing we found in don's tree, his great grandparents were a white man and a black woman who worked at st. clair teaching in bruly, louisiana. >> sinclair blantation, built in 1855, where my great grandmother catherine jackson worked at the sugar cane mill and where my great grandfather harry revo was the plantation overseer or manager. was it this hot when i was a kid here? >> yeah. >> hotter? >> yes. >> we are walking along what is known as manager's row. so anyone that worked at the

plantation had housing provided to them and these are those houses. >> i remember the smells of burnt sugar cane in the hot summer air. but i didn't know i had a connection this place. so who lived on this row? >> harry. >> wasn't there a story about harry and mary henrietta? >> it was the story my mom told me that her mother died in talbury. and harry revo wanted to take her and raise her but her grandparents chose not to do that. so they came and got her and raised her. >> makes you wonder how that could have changed an affected her life? it would have been the difference between having been raised in a white family or in a black family. ♪

>> harry this is him in 1910. he's also living in west baton rouge and odell is his wichlt him and odell never had any children. >> really? >> they never had children. >> he died at 56? >> yes. cause of death is right here. >> gunshot wound to the head. >> his suicide was in the papers. >> he had been in ill health killed himself saturday by placing a 12 gauge pump gun to his head and pulling the trigger. the coroner brought in a verdict of suicide. why would he kill himself? what was going on in his life? >> maybe not having a relationship with his child and he never had children. that was the only child and she was black. >> i wish i had asked my grandmother what she knew about her father or how much he tried to be a part of her life. >> who bought the house?

>> he did. >> he bought it and gave it to her, right? >> this is someone that he's -- he cares for and is trying to provide for in his own way. you didn't know he had done that. >> no. no, i never knew that. my mom said she saved the money to buy it. and she never worked. so we wondered how she saved the money. >> she had her ways, right? >> ways. >> that's a family thing. ways. >> turns out that my family has lived and labored in this area since before the civil war. our roots date back to when louisiana first became part of america in 1803. >> for the next part of your story, we are coming here to the west baton rouge museum. ♪ this cabin was taken from the allendale plantation and was

built by slaves. so we're in a building that was -- that's very contemporary to the time of when your ancestors lived here as well. i want to shift back over to catherine woods, your third great grandmother. and we don't know who her father was, but there's a candidate. his name was klem ens woods. >> black male, 68. >> he was born in louisiana and his father was born -- >> in africa. >> so that represent that's first generation born in the states. and his father represents one of the last generations to come directly from africa. the next question is where in africa do you think he might have been from?

>> i'm confronted with a question, who do i think i am? it's something only my ancestor dna could show. >> so these are your results. 76% african and 22% european. and then you got 25% nigeria and 22% kongo. 50% of your genetic makeup come from that specific region in africa. >> wow. >> my an sest i have deeply rooted in what is now known as the slave place. my mom and i traveled to the castle, the main exit point for slaves coming to the united states. >> nice to meet you. >> nice meeting you. >> this is my mother catherine. >> hello, mom. >> why are we here? >> to take a tour and take you back in time. this was constructed in 1792. it was designed for 1,000

people. >> can you imagine being here? >> i stayed here for three months on average. in this darkness. >> it felt like a dissent into hell. i felt like this must be what it's like to enter hell. i couldn't believe that people walked down that path and then walked through here and then spent months in here and survived. this was a dungeon for the case and the burials. >> but it was dark in here. >> it was dark in here. >> people were down near chains. you see the hole in the wall? holes in the wall. they were held in chains. and this channel was for the feces and urine.

this was covered with feces, blood, decomposed bodies, clothes, food, vomit, sweat. i kept looking for places to escape and there was no escape. the only escape was either become a slave, go to a new world or you escape through death. >> what you are standing before now is a shrine. and behind this wall there was a tunnel. it led to the exits. >> is that where the ships left? >> yes. now the walls are dedicated to the souls of our ancestors. >> i don't know how many thousands or millions of people ended up in places like this. >> i request a candle for you to light in memory of ancestors who passed through this facility. >> that one little candle was a fire of inspiration.

>> the survivors. >> yes. >> survivor spirit. >> survivors. >> through this door, they left behind security for security. they went through this door. >> you want to go? and you walk through not the passage you came in but through another passage and then on to a ship away from your family and then who knows what happened to you after that. >> i went to the ship.

>> in 1998, two bodies of ex-xlafz were exhumed in america and jamaica. they were brought back through this door to reverse the trend of no return. >> i was thinking i just can't hold it in anymore. i wake up every day and my life is like a dream. every day i feel like i'm dreaming. i have such a wonderful life. i'm so blessed and so fortunate. i want all those people who think that they can't survive and all those people who say i can't do this i can't do that, i want to show people that that isn't true. you can do whatever you want. so on behalf of the government of the people of this country, it's my pleasure to welcome you back. >> who do i think i am? i know that i'm a survivor. and i came from a group of people who are survivors. why wouldn't i want to do the best that i could to honor those

people? >> so you saw my journey. here's my mom catherine. hi, mom. >> hi. >> what do you think? >> it was a great experience. i'll never forget it. and it was very hard going into those areas and experiencing where our ancestors were held in captive and then brought across the ocean in ships. but the best thing about it is i thought about it later is we as part of those people in africa and our ancestors, we flew there. it was awesome. and we flew first class. we did not have to cross in a

ship. and i love the part when they turned around and said i want you to look at the sign that's above this door. we changed it. it says door of return. and we were there to return as part of our ancestors. we made that journey there. and they came back. us being a part of the african culture and ancestors. it was an amazing trip that i will never, ever forget. and i want to thank everyone for allowing us to go there. >> i could not have played this trip without you. and i'm so glad that i got to share this with you. and people ask me what do i do with this? right? what are you going to do? i don't look back. i'm very proud of where i came from and who my people are.

but i'm not a person, you know that, i don't look back at things. i keep moving forward. >> yes, you do. >> that's where i get it from, you. >> going there, it was troublesome but it made me feel like that's where i get the strength to be a strong woman. >> every day. >> every day. >> i said that you to sometime i'm so tired i don't get any sleep and i just go one foot in front of the other and i think about where i came from. >> right. >> and the struggle they went through. and what you're doing is minor. >> amen, sister. mom, we're going to talk much more about my grandparent, great grandparents. you know my grand moernl was the love of my life. i want to talk about that when we come right back. i'm going to talk more about the journey and moving forward. we'll be right back. ♪

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my trip with my mom to find our roots started in louisiana but it took us across the atlantic to the west coast of africa where our family's journey began. i'm back now with my mom catherine clark. we're supposed to reveal stuff you to, right? so we never compared our -- you see mine. so that is yours in comparison to mine.

so it says mine is 76% african, you, mother, are 56% african. and 39% european. so it's'quite but almost half. we were talking about it with my producers. i was wondering why i was 9% irish and 6% finnish. that's because of you andy like vodka so much. i'm part finnish and irish. and so i mean what do you think? did you realize, obviously you knew your mother was mixed and half. but i never thought that you would have that much european. >> no, i didn't either. >> less than 1%. >> and they're saying here i'm 3% middle east. >> 3% middle east. >> and native-american. >> yeah. >> what does this matter to you in the scheme of things? what does this do? does this change anything about

you? >> not really. doesn't mother me. i already knew i was mixed. i knew my mom was and the percentages for her would be greater. >> right. >> i want to talk more about harry. your side -- your generation of the family, i should say, you and my aunt and my aunt lacy and my grandmother, you didn't talk much about really before and about her parents. her mother died during childbirth. and harry killed himself. and it is believed that he did not have a happy life because his only child he could not really have a relationship with and the love of his life which we believe was my grandmother, my great grandmother, he didn't have a relationship with her at all or couldn't in that time. >> no. during the time, no. that was not allowed. to actually own up to having a

black child. my mother would tell us about it and she didn't know very much about her own mom because she died bringing her in the world. but a lot of that was blocked, her having closer relationship with her dad because of my dad. because he felt that if you had to hide it, then you don't need a relationship with it. and on his deathbed or just before he died or killed himself, she -- he sent for her and my dad would not allow her to go. >> my grandmother was the love of my life. and you are the next love of my life. she died when, you know, back in 1997. >> '98. >> and i used to read to her.

she had a fourth grade education. as a kid, i used to read to her. that's how our relationship began. teaching her how to reead. i love you, mom. >> i love you, too. >> give me a kiss. >> thanks everyone for watching. watch my colleagues roots. their journey is going to air all this week on cnn. i'm don lemon. i'll see you back here tomorrow night. thanks for watching. good night. >> and good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin live in dallas with breaking news on several frontsst growing ebola crisis and the plan for how it's going it deal with new cases from now on. as i said, we are in dallas with the nurse that contracted the disease. she doing well. we'll have the latest on her condition in just a moment. i'll also be speaking to one of her childhood friends who knows her very well, find out more about her and her life. but first, breaking news. sobering new numbers from the world health organization. shocking numbers