amy: i want to put this question to wendell pierce. was a piece that appeared in chicago by an editorial board member of the chicago tribune. christa was or is mccrery. she wrote a piece about chicago plus financial crisis titled "in chicago, wishing for hurricane katrina." she wrote -- she later apologized for offending the city of new orleans. wendell pierce, you are a new orleans native. your parents are from new orleans. your grandparents are from new orleans. can you respond to this? and also talk about the struggle for who has made it in the last 10 years in new orleans and who hasn't. what communities have thrived and the fact that 100,000 african-american nor lenny and's are no longer -- new orleaneans are no longer in new orleans. >> first of all, i found that editorial so offeive. i called it blasphemous to evil for someone to wish for a disaster that killed over 1800 cleanse theiry to city of some sort of political policies that she disagreed with. not only was the writer offensive and owed the city and all of those who lost

even as he's risen from the ranks in hollywood, wendell pierce never forge forgot wheree came from. pieces and hadn't stopped since. special correspondent sloa soled o'brien chronicles his journey. >> for actor wendell pierce this was a devastating and defining moment. >> it was as if someone had poured black detergent in the house and lifted it and shook it around. and it was like a death of a family member. >> it look like armageddon. >> nearly wiped out the home where pierce gratitude up in ponchartrain neighborhood. >> where you could get a house you lived around a golf course. >> pierce was one of three sons, born and raised in one of new orleans african american post war neighborhoods. worked at a neighborhood university. >> people tell you you're rich when you live in ponchartrain park, we spent 30 years to pay it off. part of an american dream. >> reporter: skiing that dream destroyed by the storm shattered his parents and led pierce on a journey to rebuild his neighborhood. >> we owed it to my parent's generation to make sure it came back. >> it started with a promise to hi

yes, says actor wendell pierce. that and much more. >> this is our anchor. this was the only place that black golfers could play. this was the epitome of what the civil rights movement was all about. this is hallowed ground. >> brown: the golf course is in the heart of ponchartrain park. in an enclave built in the 1950s as a "separate but equal", suburban-style development for middle class blacks. pierce, who trained at juilliard, is best known as detective bunk moreland from the hbo series "the wire". and then as a down-and-out musician in post-katrina new orleans in the tv series "treme". >> these are our first 2 model homes. >> brown: but perhaps the role he relishes the most these days is that of a community builder, or re-builder, trying to bring back the neighborhood where he got his start. pierce's parents -- amos, a janitor and althea, a school teacher -- moved here in 1955 to provide a better life for their three sons. >> listen, that is the heart and soul of the american dream. home ownership, the idea of being able to buy a house and start to buil

mayor mitch landriew, actor wendell pierce and others will be joining us. there are reports out of houston at this hour of a sheriff's deputy who was gunned down from behind while refueling his patrol car at a gas station. we'll bring you the latest on the search for the suspect. >>> plus the latest from the campaign trail. bernie sanders, hillary clinton, donald trump and a whole lot more. but we turn now to new orleans where ten years ago this morning, hurricane katrina made landfall. the times picayune editorial board writing, our submerged city has risen. let's reach hire. in new orleans a full day of commemoration is under way. >> reporter: good morning, jonathan. it's hard to imagine that ten years this morning the levees broke across the city, swallowing 80% of the city. in the ten years, there's been great progress made, but burden and trauma of that day still lingers. when you talk to folks who live in certain parts of the city, especially lower ninth ward and other communities devastated by the floodwaters. talk about while there is healing and th

actor wendell pierce on his role in rebuilding his community, and turning the devastated streets of new orleans into a stage. >> what was great about this neighborhood is back. which is families, churches, homes filled with homeowners. schools. all the stuff that makes for a wonderful life. >> ifill: plus, from field to market, a new generation of entrepreneurs in rwanda bring tech solutions to agriculture.

mayor mitch landriew, actor wendell pierce and others will be joining us.re are reports out of houston at this hour of a sheriff's deputy who was gunned down from behind while refueling his patrol car at a gas station. we'll bring you the latest on the search for the suspect. >>> plus the latest from the campaign trail. bernie sanders, hillary clinton, donald trump and a whole lot more.