Ludacris Advocates for Community Involvement
ROBERTS: There's a lot of excitement in our NEWSROOM this morning over our next guest. At just 32 years old, he's got quite a resume: Grammy Award winning rapper, producer, and actor.</s>CHETRY: Yes and we're talking about Ludacris but he's also the founder, chairman and CEO of the Ludacris Foundation. Today's he's going to be in the nation's capital. He's talking to the National Press Club and he wants people just like you to get more involved in your community. So joining us from our D.C. Bureau, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.</s>CHRIS "LUDACRIS" BRIDGES, GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER AND ACTOR: Thanks for having me and great to be here.</s>CHETRY: So you're giving this address to the National Press Club today. Very exciting. Tell us what you're going to be talking about.</s>BRIDGES: Really, just about the call to leadership that President Obama has asked everyone about. And just being, you know, a part of the community and being very much well involved in the community, just calling people to bridge this generation gap and come up with new ideas so that we can solve some of these issues that are going on all across the United States of America and abroad.</s>CHETRY: You know, a lot of kids really idolize you, listen to your music, watch you in movies. If they're watching today and they're thinking, what is it that I can do, you know just little old me and maybe I'm 10 years old, maybe I'm 15, what can I do in my community to make a difference. What are some of the things that you might tell them?</s>BRIDGES: No matter how much power or influence that you have, no matter what level, I felt like everybody can do something. I feel like I'm leading by example right now and I just feel like you can give back in any way. Some people don't have the money to necessarily give back, but sometimes you can dedicate your time, there's so many different things that you can do. For more information, you can go to my Web site the Ludacris Foundation.org and check out some of the things. But I feel like that's something that we all have to - we have to take responsibility for what's going on and that's why I'm here to talk to you today.</s>ROBERTS: You know Luda, you've really got your finger on the pulse of the youth of America. And there are so many kids who really are doing a lot of good, but then you see what happened in Chicago with this beating death of this teenager. There was this teen in Florida who was set on fire. There are these young people out in Palo Alto, California, four of whom have jumped in front of trains to commit suicide. And you sit back and you wonder, what is going on with some of the youth in America these days.</s>BRIDGES: That is exactly why I'm sitting in front of you today, man. We can talk about the problems all day, but it's time to sit here and talk about some of the solutions and how we can come together to talk about these things and at least open up some discussions on how we can solve some of these problems. So I agree with you 100 percent.</s>ROBERTS: You supported the president. You supported President Obama in his campaign to become the President of the United States. Do you think that he is doing enough on this front?</s>BRIDGES: I think that he is doing his job and that's why he is calling for everyone to do something, because he can't do it all by himself.</s>CHETRY: That's right. And he really has opened up the White House to a whole new generation when you see who he decides to bring in for musical guests and to hold some of these barbecues, picnics, luaus outside. It's great to see more young people getting engaged. And that's really what we saw with this 2008 election. Also the First Lady, she's really trying to put a good message out there as well for the kids when it comes to healthy lifestyles. You probably saw the pictures of her out there hula-hooping on the lawn with some of the young kids. When it comes to obesity, we do have a big problem. And you know, in some communities, particularly, a big issue in African- American communities. Some 35 percent of the kids under the age of 19 are considered overweight or obese. And I know you've been working with kids about healthy lifestyle choices. Are we making progress on that front?</s>BRIDGES: I think we are making progress. Just like you said, what she's doing, I support her initiative. The Ludacris Foundation, my organization, has the same kind of initiative for healthy lifestyles and trying to get kids to eat healthier, to learn how to cook for themselves, all these different things. So like I said, it's just about us coming together and trying to make a difference.</s>ROBERTS: So as we said, Luda, you've supported the president, you did whatever you could to help his campaign, the president says he's got you on his iPod, but there's one rap that you did "Politics," that the president said you should be ashamed of those lyrics. He said that, he worries that his daughters are listening to your music and what kind of image of themselves that they might get from listening to your lyrics. And I'm wondering, how do you reconcile what you're doing with the youth of America to try to encourage them to be better citizens and yet at the same time, you've got the president saying, well, I'm worried about my daughters listening to your raps.</s>BRIDGES: I've since spoke to the president's campaign and everyone involved and unfortunately, I can't -- it's confidential what we spoke about, but I wouldn't be here in front of you today unless I felt like I was trying to take responsibility for everything that I've done, sir.</s>ROBERTS: All right. Ludacris, good to talk to you this morning and good luck this afternoon and really good luck with this program of yours and the Ludacris Foundation, some really good work that you're doing.</s>BRIDGES: Thank you.</s>CHETRY: Thanks for being here. Still ahead, we're going to be talking with Rick Sanchez, "LATINO IN AMERICA" reaction. He shared his personal story yesterday about what it was like being first generation, coming to this country from Cuba. And we're going to talk a little bit more about some of the big issues involving Latinos that are taking shape right now in our country. It's 49 minutes past the hour.