so tonight a q&a with jay-z from the audience at the brooklyn museum. all right, who's got the first question? right there, yes, sir. >> jay, what's up? i'm glad you mentioned how dismissive people are towards rap music and how charlie touched upon the growth in your music because one of the things people dent get regretted for is the progression in music. for example, volume one, which is my favorite album, is very dark. then you go into "kingdom come" and there seems to be almost spiritual progression there. can you talk about was there, like, an awakening where you were making songs like "you must love me" to "beach chair" there was almost like a huge spiritual growth. is that what happened after you went away? >> yes, it was more obvious on the black album because the black album i wanted to make my most personal album. so it was more obvious there. but during my whole career i was evolving as a human being and, you know, as i was evolving on a... on a human level it was making its way into the music. because for me music was some sort of therapy. it

i spoke with jay-z last month at the brooklyn museum for a live audience. interview took place just a few miles from the bedford stuyvesant neighborhood where he was born and raised. we had done an interview a few years ago where he talked about himself but this is a moment when, after the publication of this book he was coming to the brooklyn museum, this giant and historic building that houses art in its grandeur, a place that seems far different from his life and his music, but it is a place that welcomed this hometown hero, that night, and as we walked through this building you got a sense of who he is. here is part of our conversation. i have in my hand jay-z "decoded." decoded because it's about decoding rap and it's about decoding what else? >> the central theme is about decoding these rap lyrics. but in order to really decode them, i had to tell the story of the generation and everybody that grew up around that time. i had to tell that story. so it's based on the lyrics but it's a lot more -- it's a very difficult book to explain in that way, but it'

ringing in the holidays with the world-famous brooklyn tabernacle choir. wing problem... acidic foods can cause a softening of the enamel. once you lose enamel, 's gone for good. for those who want white teeth pronamel gentle whiteng, helps protect against acid erosion but also helps bring ba your teeth to their natural whiteness. yeah, right now during sign then drive, you can take home a volkswagen for just your signature. really? that's great. yeah. plus, it includes scheduled carefree maintenance. huh. light's green. there you go. oh, you need a pen. i had one here just a second ago. who would take my pen?? [ male announcer ] it's amazing what you can do with a pen. sign then drive is back. for a limited time get any 2011 volkswagen for practically just your signature. >>> state lawmakers will tour napa state hospital following attacks by patients on staff members. one was strangle letter in october. another patient is suspected of assaulting two employees earlier this month. they will be visited by an a senator and also an assemblyman and they hope it

of people turned out for this event, joining together and forming a human bridge of recovery on the brooklyn bridge, to draw national media attention to the fact that addiction is a treatable disease and recovery is possible. to commemorate recovery month, the substance treatment and recidivism reduction program hosted an art display in the lobby of the durham county detention facility in north carolina. incarcerated inmates who are part of this chemical dependency treatment program participated in making the celebrate recovery collage posters that are featured in the exhibit. (music) my life was like- before entering treatment, nothing less than a mess. i was in the grasp of an addiction to crack cocaine that really caused things to spiral out of control. after becoming incarcerated, and looking at a lengthy jail sentence, and wanting to avoid another lengthy jail sentence, i requested to go into treatment, understanding fully that if i did do another lengthy jail sentence, i would only come out to continue doing the same things that i did prior to my arrest. there is life after active drug

which brings to mind a more recent controversy in new york: the brooklyn museum of art in the sensations exhibit, where the depiction of the virgin mary particularly angered the mayor of new york, rudy giuliani, and he threatened to cut off funding. you had to watch that with interest. what was your take on that controversy? well, it was very clear that the mayor was in violation. he can say whatever he wants to say; that's fine. but he cannot withhold money from the people's museum. and, you know, that's in violation of what the supreme court's decision was. he can say whatever he want-- what bothers me a little bit is, i think people need more education-- and the mayor certainly did-- about where the artist came from: nigeria; what his parents thought about the virgin mary and how she was deified in that country before he started to make a decision about it being sacriligious or something. you tell a number of very interesting stories in the book about specific battles over specific art. and one is a about a film called watermelon woman and that your description is that it has a lovema

tavis: take me back to brooklyn and tell me how, when, why, where you figured out this was your destiny? >> my story is, i went to -- it was 1986, i think i went to see one of the "rocky" films. it was sold out. there was a poster next to it with a goofy looking guy with a word "brooklyn" on his hat and i walked in and it was spike's "she's gotta have it" and i walked part of the way in and it was that montage where all the different guys are doing their pick-up lines, norah darling, and my jaw dropped. i was, like, what the -- i didn't know cinema existed like that. so after that, i found the foreign section in the video store and keira sowa and that's when the doors opened up. >> i didn't know spike lee was part of that answer. >> he is the brooklyn filmmaker of my generation. tavis: everybody is talking about "black swan," starring natalie portman. a lot of buzz on this thing already. darren, good to have you on. that's our show for tonight. catch me on the weekend on p.r.i., public radio international. access our radio podcast through our web site. good night, from l.a., thanks for watching and keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit

you don't ski. >> but -- back to the bagels. >> jimmy: bagels yeah. >> new york city water, brooklyn s is the best water in the country because -- because when they built the water system in new york, they used copper. copper doesn't rust. so, the water purifies itself. >> jimmy: oh really? i didn't know any of that. >> and that's why. you're a food expert. you know -- >> jimmy: i know bagels. >> the bagel tastes better in new york. >> they are. the pizza tastes better. you may be the greatest cook in the world. but what water are you using? >> jimmy: you know that drug tunnel anderson cooper found? i've been water in from mexico. >> that is a great idea. >> jimmy: you have obviously done tens of thousands of interviews over the course of your career. you've gotten to know -- well you know all the presidents. how far back to you go with the presidents? >> nixon. >> jimmy: nixon. and kennedy is a guy that you interviewed -- >> i never interviewed kennedy. i interviewed bobby. but i had an unusual experience with john kennedy. >> jimmy: what was it? >> okay. he was -- sunday morning in

and you were there on the steps of the brooklyn museum of art. when the sensation exhibit was under attack by mayor rudy giuliani. what is it that americans fear about art that leads to the kind of backlash that you had to speak out about? well, they should fear art. they should fear film. they should fear theater. i mean, this is where ideas happen. this is where you-- somebody goes into a dark room and starts to watch something, and their perspective can be completely questioned, and they can look at something and identify, and the very seeds of activism, i think, are empathy and imagination. once you can imagine yourself as a mother that loses a child-- even she is a palestinian, whatever, you know-- it just opens up a whole new thing. so governments have always been afraid of art, and they should be, and i think it's an artist's job and expertise-- and i use the word artist with myself in a very humble way-- to--we're outsiders by definition, and you know, it's our job to kind of aerate things and punch holes in things so that people can squir

there was one survivor of the crash in brooklyn, an 11-year-old boy, stephen baltz, somehow crawled frome wreckage. >> he fell out of the sky. >> reporter: eileen bonner was a nurse supervisor at the hospital where he was taken. >> he was an absolutely charming child. >> reporter: he was talking? >> yes, he was. >> that was the miracle of this morning. >> reporter: and everyone thought it was a miracle, especially his father. >> we're grateful to the almighty for this miraculous thing that has happened. >> reporter: we now know, through the horror of hindsight, that gratitude was premature. stephen baltz, who was found here, died the next day. his lungs had been ruined by smoke and fire. there's a plaque in the hospital where he died with some coins, still scorched, that stephen had in his pocket, one of the few remaining memories of a christmas season a half century ago when death and fire poured from the sky. richard schlessinger, cbs news, brooklyn, new york. >> couric: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. i'm katie couric. thank you for watching. i'll see you tomorrow. in the

a few years ago, i had been attacked on the streets of brooklyn. i am deaf in my left ear. >> sitting on the l, i was made a wear, my voice of louder. he didn't know about the hearing loss in one here. i remained silent. i didn't turn around to expose the scar on the back of my

the title? >> yes. >> larry: you grew up in a tough neighborhood in brooklyn. >> you did, too. >> larry: same neighborhood, saratoga park, did you used to go there? >> all the time. >> larry: you had to bust out of that neighborhood? >> yes, probably toughest city in america, poorest city in america. and it's just a world of dog eat dog. of course, it's where murder incorporated originated from. >> larry: you know your history. >> yeah. >> larry: you have brooklyn still in you, though? >> still the dye day i die. it's just who you are. >> larry: me, too. >> there's something about brooklyn people and it's interesting, because every one of us always feel different for some reason if we feel like we're from brooklyn we're the best. don't you feel that way, too? >> not the best. certainly we're apart. >> yeah. people are going to know our name and know where we came from. >> larry: yeah. lots of success stories out of brooklyn. maybe it's because we're like an island. manhattan was out there, right? >> i would say so, yeah. >> larry: still have friends from brooklyn? >> yeah, i do. and it's going to be inter

a few years ago, i had been attacked on the streets of brooklyn. i am deaf in my left ear. >> sitting on the l, i was made a wear, my voice of louder. he didn't know about the hearing loss in one here. i remained silent. i didn't turn around to expose the scar on the back of my head. so that i wouldn't have to explain the origination. instead of business cards, i should explain, it would read as follows. my name is emaniel. i became a prostitute. i found my salvation? writing. i pushlished a book. i was recently attacked on the streets where i lived. >> the surgery left me deaf. i do not have aids. men are not allowed to be a soldier. i am not asking for your money. please get home safe and keep this pen to share your story too. may be some day, i will get to hear your voice. this next poem is from my first poetry. this is for latinos in the house. can i get a woo. >> i want to break tradition about latino macheese mow. >> forget. i want to break tradition. because blood is supposed to be thicker. but you see, my friends and family, because they lov

it wasn't until i found myself having climbed over the brooklyn bridge that i'm on the other side ofalize, you know, derek had brainwashed me. i was looking down at my death. >> rose: you have a natural fear of falling? >> what's that? >> rose: do you have a natural fear of falling? >> i do have a fear of heights and somehow i found myself in this place and i'm on the edge of the bridge and michelle tells me her secret. but that's what those conditions can create. are you going to talk to me or what? >> what? >> are you going to tell me what's going on? you're not gonna tell me? >> i don't know what you want me to say. >> i want you to tell me what's going on. i want to know. you've got me feeling sick, you know? i'm very intuitive. i know there's something up. can you tell me? stop! stop! no! stop! stop! >> you gonna tell me? >> stop! come down. >> you gonna tell me? >> come down! i'm not kidding you. >> you gone from tell me what it is? >> please, come down. please stop. >> you want know go over the edge? >> no! i want you to come down! come on, it's dangerous! >> are you going to

the title? >> yes. >> larry: you grew up in a tough neighborhood in brooklyn. >> you did, too. >> larry: same neighborhood, brownsville. >> yeah. isn't that an awesome place? >> larry: saratoga park. do you go there? >> all the time. >> larry: my dad used to take me there for good humor ice cream. >> all the time. >> larry: you had to bust out of that neighborhood, though. >> yeah. it was the tough inner city. probably the toughest in america. the poorest city in america. and it's just -- it's a world of dog-eat-dog. it's where murder incorporated originated. >> larry: you know your history, right? >> yeah. >> larry: brooklyn is still in you though? >> till the day i die, yeah. >> larry: me, too. >> it's just who you are. there's something about brooklyn people that -- it's interesting, because every one of us always feels different. we don't feel -- we feel that for some reason we feel we're from brooklyn, that we're the best. don't you feel the same way, too? >> larry: not the best. certainly we're a part -- >> people know our name and where we come from. you feel the same way, too. >> larry: a lot of s

inviting you to join us on wednesday december 8 right here for a conversation with jay-z recorded at the brooklyn museum in new york on november 18.

the brooklyn borough president labeled the city's response a colossal failure. >> move out equipment rom manhattan, move it out of manhattan into brooklyn. every available vehicle you got. >> reporter: in parts of neighboring new jersey, things aren't much better. all the while, governor chris christie, a rising star in the republican party, is vacationing at disney world with his family. maybe the only politician to come out on top after this storm is newark mayor corey booker. who spent the day responding to tweets from stranded residents and personally helping shovel sidewalks and digging out cars. it appears the unplowed streets have some tragic consequences. in one instance, a baby delivered in a brooklyn apartment building on monday morning died after emts could not reach that building for nine hours. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >>> thousands of airline passengers are still caught up in a travel nightmare days after the blizzard. airlines canceled about 10,000 flights since saturday. passengers are warned it could be saturday before things return to normal. one group of pas