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CHICAGOLAND

Chicagoland: Fireworks

Aired March 20, 2014 - 22:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: Previously on Chicagoland:

RAHM EMANUEL (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO: The miracle on ice.

JOSEPH MCDERMOTT, CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION: Mayor Emanuel loves to create a crisis and he loves to exploit a crisis.

ASEAN JOHNSON, STUDENT: He's tearing down our education.

ELIZABETH DOZIER, PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: I think everything that we have built for the last four years are at stake. So we're looking at like zero dollars and zero cents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violence ain't going to be over until everybody is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We at Fenger represent...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a new Fenger because there's a new principal.

DOZIER: Summer is around the corner, and every year, something happens to one of the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murder, murder, murder, I don't want any of that.

NARRATOR: You can't beat summer in the city by the lake. And with Fourth of July just around the corner, Chicago kicks off its unofficial start to America's birthday with the annual Gay Pride Parade in Boystown.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is an advocate for gay rights and same-sex marriage and he takes pride in his role as cheerleader in chief on parade day. Chicago has a long history of being at the center for the struggle for equality and the quest for the American dream. Not all of it has been pleasant.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: I have never seen even in Mississippi and Alabama the mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I have seen in Chicago.

NARRATOR: In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. took a rock to the head while leading a protest at Marquette Park. Rahm was there when he was 7 years old with his two brothers and mother, Marsha.

Twelve years later, the Neo-Nazi Party returned to Marquette Park for a white power rally. And that's Rahm Emanuel, young, shirtless, and not afraid to confront neo-Nazis and skinheads.

EMANUEL: Can you please get out of here?

NARRATOR: Now, as mayor, he's turned his attention to what some people call the new civil rights movement, the fight to reform public education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's is a huge day for us because 100 percent of our seniors have been admitted to college.

EMANUEL: When you graduate, move back here, because I want you back in the city, OK? I'm very proud of you.

NARRATOR: There's an intense debate over the best way to improve inner-city schools. And Mayor Emanuel makes it a point to shine a light on success stories like this charter school in Englewood, Urban Prep Academy.

EMANUEL: I want everybody in this city, I want everybody in this country, I want everybody around the world to look right up here. I want them to look up here. And I want them and all the cynics that have told these young men, their parents, their teachers, their principals, not you, not your zip code, not who you are.

What this 100 percent proves, beyond a doubt, is that it need not be the exception, but it should be the expectation for every child in the city of Chicago.

(APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: Over at Fenger, Principal Dozier also is committed to giving her kids a chance at a better future.

DOZIER: You guys look so cute. Oh, my God. One, two, three. Take like three or four.

NARRATOR: Unlike charter schools, Fenger High accepts all students.

DOZIER: So at this time, I would like our 100th graduating class to turn your tassels from left to right. You have officially graduated from high school.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: Fenger's graduation rate is 50 percent, which is an improvement over 2012. In 2013, more students also are going to college, but Liz knows there's much more work to be done.

DOZIER: My brain is already in next year. I'm not even like thinking about it. I wrapped this up three months ago. Now I'm thinking about like, where are we headed to and how are we going to make sure we get there?

TOSHA JACKSON, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: A lot of what we're going to into next year is wanting to set these high expectations for kids, because we got this little budget, so we're going to have to put more expectations on the kids. Right? If you set high expectations with no support, you're just setting people up for failure. Like, jump up and reach them. People can't do that. They need support.

DOZIER: It's going to be a hard year next year. It's going to be hard.

NARRATOR: Before she even thinks about the budget crisis, Liz worries about the summer. It's the most dangerous time of the year for her students.

DOZIER: I used to love the summer. Like, I'm a beach bum. I love like the hot, the sun, just the whole idea of summer. Then, once I became the principal of the school, I just started to hate summer. I have lost kids over the summer. I have had kids hurt and shot over the summer. I hate the summer. I can't wait for the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) to be over.

NARRATOR: In certain parts of Chicago, it's not just summer. It's shooting season.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Long, hot, and very violent weekend here in Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More deadly violence breaks out on Chicago's streets. At least eight people died and at least 46 were hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Person shot.

NARRATOR: Inside the police department's crime fighting nerve center, everyone is on high alert.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's an eighth victim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you do for the summer months? Do you send police to hot spots?

GARRY MCCARTHY, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: There's a lot of work that needs to be done.

NARRATOR: There's enormous pressure on Superintendent McCarthy to make sure there isn't a repeat of 2012's Fourth of July holiday that left eight people dead and 48 wounded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

MCCARTHY: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had 20 total murders, compared to 15 in 2012, up five for a 33 percent increase. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three weeks ago, we were having the same issue.

MCCARTHY: All right, let's move on.

NARRATOR: McCarthy focuses on gathering street-level intel and analyzing crime data to better target warring gang factions responsible for most of the city's violence.

MCCARTHY: You have got to jack it up. You got to get these guys motivated, get them out of their cars, have them putting their hands on people, and destroy that gang. It's not just to be satisfied that they're not involved in any shootings.

NARRATOR: McCarthy never stops crunching the numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're down in all indexed crimes. The only thing they're up in is the murders, obviously 20, vs. 15 last year, up 33 percent. Then getting into 6, it's 15 shootings. We have got to take a look at that and what we're doing to stay on top of it.

MCCARTHY: Is the A.C. working in this place or am I having a stroke?

NARRATOR: Here's the tragic reality of Chicago's murder statistics. More than three-quarters of the victims are black, in a city where African-Americans make up a third of the population.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going to be truly missed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he, is lord Jesus.

ERICA DEMAREST, REPORTER, DNAINFO: So, this is the street where the kid was shot at. So we might just go house to house.

NARRATOR: Reporter Erica Demarest's job is to put a human face on murder victims, who otherwise might just be a statistics in Chicago's running tally of homicides.

DEMAREST: Are you in one of these houses? Or you're right there. So, you could see down into the street from the second floor.

Sometimes, as a journalist, going into bad neighborhoods, is you text like where you are to other so they know if you go missing or something. My mom has actually asked me to do that for her sometimes. I think she has this stress because she's far away and I'm her only child.

But one of the main things I do is this project called "The Human Toll," where we profile every single murder victim in the city. Usually, when a little girl gets killed, or like a straight-A student, that gets a lot of coverage and everyone else gets ignored. And at DNA, we cover everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got off the phone (INAUDIBLE) right before they killed him. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just asked me for $5 and just told me that he wasn't coming home tonight.

DEMAREST: They're people who get ignored a lot, but when they do have media come, they're usually actually after a while pretty happy to have us there, because they feel like no one else pays attention to them.

Those are all my questions. Was there anything else you wanted to add?

I interviewed a 6-year-old boy because he really wanted to be interviewed, and that was the saddest thing today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy knew Wesley (ph)?

DEMAREST: He said he was his best big cousin, and they used to play basketball and do flips together and now he's really sad.

So, you just finished first grade? Congratulations. That's a big deal. OK. Well, thank you.

NARRATOR: As night falls, violence spikes and some victims get rushed to the Cook County Trauma Unit, where they do work that saves lives.

DR. ANDREW DENNIS, COOK COUNTY TRAUMA UNIT: So, it's Friday night in Cook County Trauma Unit. So far tonight, we have had three shootings, a bunch of motor vehicle crashes. This place can go from zero to 60 very quickly.

NARRATOR: Dr. Dennis runs Cook County's Trauma Unit, where treating multiple gunshot victims is just another night on the job.

A. DENNIS: July 1 is the day new residents start.

Look at the way that needle is loaded, George. Why are you making life so hard on yourself?

Some people call it the most dangerous time in the hospital. It quite possibly is.

George, I'm not kidding, actually. Watch that needle. You have almost harpooned your fellow like three times.

Sometimes, when you're cooped up in the hospital all day, you have got to get a little breath of diesel-soaked fresh air.

Chicago is going through a tough time right now. We're violence- rich, for whatever the reasons. And we have a lot of repeat customers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shot in the back. Looks like it went in through his back and out through his upper right shoulder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks to us like he has got three wounds and a retained bullet. And he's very lucky, because it looks like the bullet stayed outside his school.

A. DENNIS: Where is this guy?

Does this hurt back here? Right here? Here?

A bullet is like a splinter. It will work its way out eventually. If not, he lives with it for life as a constant reminder that he got shot in the head and walked away.

I have lost many, many nights of sleep. Even if you're not here, you take it off with you. You learn to compartmentalize very quickly, because that's the only way you can survive in this environment. My world is all about living in people's worst nightmares.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: It's festival season and Chi-town is pulsing with energy.

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Just For Laughs brings top talent to town to show off their funny business.

TIM MEADOWS, COMEDIAN: I wanted to do like just a short, but then I thought maybe that was too...

SCOTT ADSIT, COMEDIAN: Because I wasn't doing anything funny. I was just talking in the program.

SUSAN MESSING, COMEDIAN: I just -- can't fart and run, fart and run, fart and run. I have got to slow down and taste my food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show some love for your partner. Don't just stand there.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

KELLY LEONARD, PRODUCER, SECOND CITY: Chicago is the place to be if you want to get started in comedy, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Martin Short. And that legacy lives on today with people like Tina Fey and Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. Chicago is funny.

NARRATOR: Back at City Hall, the mayor has got jokes of his own.

EMANUEL: I walk in every day. You're getting everything done. You feel pretty good. You look on your desk, and there's just a plate of dog (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and everyone around here will try to convince me it's a chocolate ice cream. (LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Before the holiday, Mayor Manuel goes to one of his favorite events.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Present arms!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please raise your right hand.

NARRATOR: The mayor presides over a naturalization ceremony, where immigrants from 32 countries take the oath of allegiance to become American citizens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me be the first to congratulate you as our newest U.S. citizens.

(APPLAUSE)

EMANUEL: I happen to think the city of Chicago is the most American of American cities, because it is a city of immigrants.

I would love for everybody in the United States Congress that is thinking today about immigration reform to look out and see what I see from this vantage point, the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the sacrifice, the struggle to embrace what we who have been born here take for granted.

You, your families are our future.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: Rahm Emanuel is Chicago's first Jewish mayor. His family's immigration story is a classic American tale.

EMANUEL: My grandfather on my mother's side came to America in 1917 to Chicago, 13 years old, by himself, leaving the pogroms of Eastern Europe. His parents put him on a boat never to see him again. That was the journey of my family to this city and this country. It is the story of every immigration background and culture.

My grandfather, ultimately, he rents his first real apartment in Albany Park, which I years later represented in Congress.

NARRATOR: Albany Park is one of Chicago's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods, more than 40 languages spoken here. Most neighbors hail from Mexico or Guatemala. There's also a significant population from Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they're not going to see their dad. If you would try to come back to...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will come back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're not trying to come back to us.

NARRATOR: The Albany Park Theater performs plays based on the true stories of neighborhood folks. Many of the young actors are from families of recent immigrants, like Lilia and J.P.

J.P. MARQUEZ, ACTIVIST, ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT: Being undocumented, I would love to say that it didn't hold me back, but there would be times that you're looking where the hell you're going to be in the future and if you will be successful for your children, you know?

LILIA ESCOBAR, ACTIVIST, ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT: My mom is from Mexico and my dad is from Colombia. I became an activist. I learned what it was to be undocumented and what was against you when you were undocumented. There are families everywhere that risk their lives just to see their children.

NARRATOR: This summer, their new play, "Homeland," hits the big time with a run at the historic Goodman Theatre.

DAVID FEINER, DIRECTOR, ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT: The most profound changes to the fabric of this country is not going to come from Congress. It's not going to come from City Hall. It's going to come from you.

DOZIER: Hey, Mr. Peters, how are you?

NARRATOR: Principal Liz Dozier doesn't take summers off.

DOZIER: So it's not a good time. That's why these summer jobs that we're doing and these mentors and these programs that are coming to school, I'm trying to doggedly get kids connected to them so they have something to do over the summer, so they're not victims of crime.

NARRATOR: Liz keeps Fenger open, so her kids always have a safe place to go during Roseland's violent summers.

DONALD GORDON, DEAN, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: OK, security, just a reminder, there's going to be 50 to 60 students who are coming to the culinary arts (INAUDIBLE) kickoff.

DOZIER: How is it going? Can I get a hug? What is going on?

Derious Smith just graduated from Fenger, where he took advantage of the high school's culinary arts program.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you, sir?

NARRATOR: Liz introduces him to a restauranteur, who offers him a summer job at the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all set?

DERIOUS SMITH, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Yes.

NARRATOR: It's 4:00 in the morning in Englewood as Derious starts his long commute to O'Hare Airport.

SMITH: I get up extra early, 4:00 in the morning, two-hour ride. Got on the red line to Jackson, and Jackson all the way to O'Hare. I live in the Englewood area. And it's not safe. I'm in and out. I don't hang out on the streets. And there's nobody that I know out there in the community. I have no friends.

I was like about 4 or 5 years old, and I would see my auntie in the kitchen. And I would just be like, man, it smells so nice in here. I would just always run in the kitchen and find out what's going on in it.

One day, I asked, I was like, can I help out with this? And she was like, yes, sure.

I knew that was the career I wanted to go to. Actually, my goal right now that I have set for myself is opening my own restaurant by age 25 somewhere downtown, call it the Pleasure Palate.

NARRATOR: Over in Little Italy, Dr. Dennis gets ready for another long night in Cook County's Trauma Unit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just helping out some guy who was getting beat up. Like, I have never been stabbed, you know? Just felt pain when he just like hit me. Other than that, I don't feel no more pain anymore.

A. DENNIS: He got you pretty good, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

A. DENNIS: We're going to get this sewn up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I make one call?

A. DENNIS: Oh, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would just like to make one call. That's about it.

A. DENNIS: It ain't jail. You get more than one phone call.

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Dr. Dennis heads home to Roscoe Village on the North Side, to spend time with his two kids and wife, who also is a doctor.

A. DENNIS: I was able to put my head down for like an hour-and- a-half.

DR. MELISSA DENNIS, WIFE OF ANDREW: Andrew has the skill of falling asleep anywhere, any time. I get, at some point, the sleep deprivation catches up to you and you just can sleep anywhere.

A. DENNIS: Oh, God. You guys are killing me.

This is every day, plus -- they don't stop. And I desperately want the world to stop. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weekend has been violent right here in Chicago. There have been dozens of shootings.

MCCARTHY: Adam, did you check with Tony about the 4-year-old?

EMANUEL: Hey, it's Rahm. Give me a call back.

NARRATOR: Most mornings, the mayor calls Superintendent McCarthy to get an update on the overnight crime stats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three overall people of interest in the incidents.

MCCARTHY: And nobody in custody?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody in custody, right, Tony? Correct.

MCCARTHY: Mayor Manuel, he has demanded performance. He wants to know everything. And it's his right. He's my boss, and I give it to him.

This is not even a job. It's a lifestyle. It's literally 24/7. It absolutely never ends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole country is watching Chicago at the tipping point. It's bad enough to hear the constant news of violence in Chicago's neighborhoods. Imagine living there, or dying there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NARRATOR: Every Fourth of July, folks from all over Chicago pack the lakefront to celebrate.

DOZIER: How cool is this?

BILLY DEC, BUSINESS OWNER: Fishing poles, and I got my 15 on.

(LAUGHTER)

NARRATOR: Still apprehensive about the summer, Liz tries to relax out on a boat with her friends and big Fenger supporter Billy Dec.

DEC: Look at these guys just on their phone. This dude is like buy, sell, buy, sell. Have the helicopter drop lunch.

(LAUGHTER)

DEC: Someone was telling me how many of the kids that have actually not made it to the lake, to downtown.

DOZIER: Yes. That was probably me. Yes.

DEC: Yes. That blows my mind, that there's actually kids that haven't been to Lincoln Park Zoo or been to Wrigley Field or haven't been to the North Avenue Beach.

DOZIER: There's so much that's so possible for our kids. It's just giving them the resources they need to help them realize those things.

NARRATOR: While Liz and Billy enjoy the lake, over in Albany Park, kids celebrate the Fourth with a picnic at J.P.'s house.

MARQUEZ: We came here like every other family comes here. We want a better life for ourselves. We figure that it's here, you know?

ESCOBAR: There is just something about this place that I believe is magical. My mom, everything that she did was so that I could be going to school and be doing everything that she couldn't do.

NARRATOR: Lilia is an American-born citizen. J.P. was is a dream child, born in the Philippines and raised in the U.S. But he's not legally an American citizen.

MARQUEZ: Our status kind of toughened me up, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: You kind of learn from it, you know what I mean? It's like it makes you a better person, yet it holds you back, you know what I mean?

NARRATOR: At any time, J.P. could be deported.

It's going to be a long weekend, and Chicago's first-responders are on high alert.

JOEL BURNS, CAPTAIN CFD TRUCK 41: Historically, Fourth of July, as soon as the sun goes down, it should be pretty busy. You never know what's going to happen.

NARRATOR: Amid all the fireworks, four people got killed. Police are on the move looking for the triggermen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's hiding in there somewhere. Go in the basement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where did you see the gun at? What kind of gun is it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a black gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A black gun. Where was the last place you saw him with the gun?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last words I heard him say, man, I will take your life and mine. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many shots did we hear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many shots?

NARRATOR: Late Friday night, a young man on his front porch has to run for his life when men spill out of a car and start shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 24-year-old male, one gunshot wound.

NARRATOR: Jermia Millsap is shot and badly wounded. Paramedics rush him to the Cook County Trauma Unit, where Dr. Dennis is on duty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ticking away at about 114.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Listen, we're going to help you out, all right? Tell us what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he have another hole?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a hole in the -- he's got two holes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we're here for you, buddy. Keep talking to us, OK?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open your eyes. Talk to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: O-positive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel a pulse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have it. I don't have it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel a pulse. No pulse.

A. DENNIS; OK. We're closing out. We're getting the hell out of here.

We actually -- so far, we saved him. Oh, my God, that case hurt. We will see what happens.

In the summer, this is the norm. This is not the exception. This is the rule.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A violent holiday across Chicago, more than 20 shot, including 5- and 7-year-old boys.

ERICA DEMAREST, REPORTER: How are you? Good. I just wondered if I could get information on two overnight incidents, one shooting and one stabbing. Oh. All right, do you have ages on them? OK, but you do know that the one male who (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is in critical?

DENNIS: What's the matter? What's going on? Did he have R.P. (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several hours later, Jeremiah has taken a turn for the worse. He's now in critical condition.

DENNIS: Charging.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Step back. Clear.

DENNIS: Clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On July 6, Jeremiah Millsap died at 7:31 a.m.

DENNIS: I actually thought this kid might live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tourists from around the world flock to Chicago in the summer. They come for the music, art, architecture, and with top chefs like Grant Achatz opening world-class restaurants, they come for the food.

GRANT ACHATZ, CHEF: In my office, I have a letter from the mayor congratulating me on our ability to bring tourism into the city of Chicago, because people are flying here from everywhere. People are recognizing that's not just food; that's not just dinner. That's art.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An experience like this is typically beyond the means of Liz Dozier and her students. But a benefactor gives them a graduation present: dinner at one of Chicago's top restaurants, Millennium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?

DERIOUS SMITH, GRADUATE, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: Derious.

DOZIER: For Derious this could open up his entire world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So in my hand, I'm holding a single bite of Osetra caviar, capsulated (ph) butter, and egg pudding. Brioche crumbs are on the bottom, and the spoon has been dipped in creme fraiche.

SMITH: I love caviar. That's my first time tasting it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me, too. DOZIER: The courses were just mind-boggling, just amazing, just to have that experience with the students. I think almost every course, like it was something new that none of us had tried.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never actually had pumpernickel. Never, ever.

SMITH: I don't think I have either.

DOZIER: Well, even small things maybe some people take for granted, like James had never had asparagus before. And things that might seem really small to most people were really huge for the kids tonight.

SMITH: Oh, wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you guys think?

DOZIER: It was amazing. So great.

Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So who is the culinary person in the group?

SMITH: Right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you should come and hang out with us sometime.

SMITH: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple days, a day, whatever.

SMITH: You sure you wouldn't mind?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here.

SMITH: Hopefully, one day I'll have my open restaurant. The area I'm in right now is not the best area. We don't have a restaurant like this out there. Every other night, hearing gunshots. I'm like man, Lord be with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chicago's bloody holiday weekend made national news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violent Fourth of July holiday weekend. Since Wednesday afternoon, more than 70 wounded by gunfire. A dozen dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's also topic No. 1 on local talk radio.

ROE CONN, CO-HOST, "THE ROE & ROEPER SHOW": Over 1,000 people have been shot in Chicago this year. Over a thousand people. Do you think that many people have been shot in Afghanistan?

RON MAGERS, NEWS ANCHOR, ABC-7, CHICAGO: Well, you've got a culture of shooting and guns all over the streets in Chicago.

CONN: Representative Davis, you have come out and said that the National Guard needs to have a presence on the streets on the South and the West Sides of Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I consider Chicago being a state of civil unrest creating a crisis for all of us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahm Emanuel ran for mayor on a pledge to make Chicago's streets safer. After the holiday, reporters grill him about all the homicides that plagued the city over the weekend.

EMANUEL: Gun control, when you look to public safety, is the weak link in the chain of public safety for the city of Chicago. And we had a stark reminder of that this weekend. Our police are doing an effective job but need to do better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weekend body count puts a lot of heat on Superintendent McCarthy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In regards to the shootings and murders that happened this weekend, are you certain you still enjoy the mayor's confidence in your effort to combat violence?

MCCARTHY: I'm absolutely positive that I enjoy the mayor's confidence. Our strategies are clearly working. We're enjoying about a 25 percent reduction in shootings. But unfortunately, and as sure as we're standing here, we're going to have tragedies. Right? I just don't even know what to say about it anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear where he got shot? USC?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still on call, Dr. Dennis learns about where Jeremiah Millsap was murdered.

DENNIS: So he got shot on USC campus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. So like this is where we are. This is USC campus. He's like a little block south of Roosevelt, like just off campus. That's where they live, I guess. Kids go to camp around...

DENNIS: All right. Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeremiah Millsap was Chicago's 205th homicide victim in 2013.

Following up on the murder, reporter Erica Demarest visits Millsap's wife.

DEMAREST: My name is Erica. I'm here for DNAInfo. I'm so sorry for your loss.

But I understand that now's a bad time, but I just want to say what we do is we write profiles of people who are murdered in the city so people can know who they are, so it's not just like another number, another shooting. So if you'd be interested. We can do it at a later time. I understand. I would just like to talk to you, like, more about Jeremiah. There is all my contact info and there is the Web site if you want to check it out and see what it was.

TARA MILLSAP, WIDOW: OK, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good person. He was a real good person. He was just out with his kids on the Fourth of July. They was out. He was out with his kids, and they were doing their thing. He -- you know, he loved his kids.

DEMAREST: So just like a group out here, like Friday night, like right after Fourth of July, hanging out. And some people come up and start shooting for no reason.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No reason.

DEMAREST: And you didn't know him? They didn't know him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a family man, with a great heart, with a great heart.

DEMAREST: I noticed that he's got the fatigues on there. Was he in the military? Or...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was in the Navy.

DEMAREST: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a boatswain's mate seaman. He was stationed on the USS Ronald Reagan.

DEMAREST: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got a National Defense Service Medal...

DEMAREST: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Global War on Terrorism Service Medal...

DEMAREST: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal...

DEMAREST: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. The Navy Bead (ph) ribbon. The Pistol Marksmanship ribbon.

DEMAREST: Do you know when he left the Navy?

GRAPHIC: Jeremiah Millsap was honorably discharged in 2012. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In stark contrast to the violent holiday weekend, thousands dance peacefully to Chicago's own creation, house music. House music got its name from Frankie Knuckle's club, the Warehouse.

ALAN KING, CHOSEN FEW DJ: It's a phenomenon that's happening here in Chicago.

MIKE DUNN, CHOSEN FEW DJ: We were taking the old disco songs and putting our open beats behind it.

TERRY HUNTER: House music is full of love. It's this positive energy. I've seen rappers that was just, "Tough, like, it's our stuff now."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you listen to the news all the time, that's all you have to judge anything about, right? Media putting out one certain message about the South Side, and that's all people judging. So if all you heart about is Chiraq, that's all you know about is Chiraq.

Ain't nothing but love out here. Love, baby, love.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the holiday, it's back to business. And Liz has an appointment to see the mayor.

DOZIER: How are you?

EMANUEL: How are the kids? Are they good?

DOZIER: Oh, great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor Emanuel says one of the keys to making schools better is giving principals like Liz more power and responsibility.

EMANUEL: Graduation look good? Rates? What percentage?

DOZIER: Graduation was fantastic. We're looking at close to 90 percent.

EMANUEL: No! Are you serious?

DOZIER: Yes. We have been really grinding away. We have 17 programs this summer, so we're, like, a full...

EMANUEL: That's -- oh, my God.

DOZIER: We're a full house.

EMANUEL: Anything else that we need to do besides more money, which I know is in the...?

DOZIER: You already know. EMANUEL: I know this is a cash-and-carry business. I'm well aware.

DOZIER: No, I think we're good. Yes. We're going to do, I think, well regardless next year. I think we've got some stuff in the hopper. We're raising money, really ratcheting down with the staff in terms of everybody's going to have to carry a little bit more. We have to -- the kids are counting on us. We're going to have to make it. It's going to have to work.

EMANUEL: We'll get through this pension issue. That might...

DOZIER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despite the mayor's support, Liz knows Fenger's future remains uncertain.

It's show time for the Albany Park Theater kids. Premieres for a downtown crowd at the Goodman Theater. Today is especially emotional for Lilia. After the show, she's off to college.

LILIA ESCOBAR, MEMBER OF THEATER GROUP: I don't consider myself an actress, because it is really personal. Something I just want to do for the rest of my life is teach and create communities like this everywhere I go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wants to be an American, another undocumented immigrant, competing to become a real, naturalized citizen?

ESCOBAR: We're kind of striving to reach people and give faces to an issue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am undocumented.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the things I hope they can see is what we are capable of as youth, as kids from Chicago, from the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the Albany Park kids chase the American dream, kids growing up in violent neighborhoods have to dodge bullets. In certain parts of Chicago, the reality is, life on the streets can be deadlier than a war zone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've went to so many funerals in the '90s, it's ridiculous. I could guarantee that everybody was mad; everyone was going out (ph). But it's just the life we live. We can get out now.

They call it Chiraq. Since 2003, more people were murdered in Chicago than G.I.s were killed in the Gulf War.

GREGORY MILLSAP, JEREMIAH'S FATHER: They've been in Iraq and Afghanistan and fought over them for them to be killed in the street like an animal, and it ain't right. It ain't right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family and friends gather for Jeremiah Millsap's funeral.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't rest. His life, not his death. But we can't let his life be in vain, because he left to serve his country and his country may have betrayed him.

CHARLENE CRUZ, PETTY OFFICER, U.S. NAVY: He motivated a lot of the sailors around the ship. I will always thank him for that. Even though he's not with the service anymore, he will always be our shipmate.

T. MILLSAP: I never thought it would hit this close to home. Never thought I would be burying my husband at the age of 25. We was all just out there as a family, talking, having fun. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) And then shots was fired everywhere. Everybody was screaming and running for their life. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Jeremiah. I saw his feet and pants laying on the ground. I was just hugging him saying it's going to be OK. You're going to make it.

(MUSIC: "TAPS")

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the cook County trauma unit, Dr. Dennis learns more about the patient he couldn't save, Jeremiah Millsap.

I had never seen this article before. I didn't know the whole story. I wish I'd never seen it. It's hard enough to separate all the tragedy and the humanity that goes along with this place.

It just kind of gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Kids growing up without their dad. It's just -- it's nauseating.

It was one of those cases where I thought we were going to win the battle and we ended up losing it. You know, I think for me, I have my ghosts. There are patients that I can, you know, flashback to the moments of seeing someone's life snap away. And yes, every single one is in the cemetery, and he or she, I'm sure, visits them regularly. I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the heart of posh Lincoln Park, Derious takes Grant Achatz up on his offer and drops by the Millennium.

SMITH: I told my mother, the place is so high class, they don't even got their name in front of it. This is one of the top ten restaurants in the world and it's great to be able to work within a restaurant like this.

ACHATZ: For you today, I just want you to see what we're doing and make sure the precision is there. Get comfortable with the knife.

My mother and father owned a diner in a very small town in Michigan. At one point my sole job in the restaurant was to butter toast. That's all I did.

SMITH: Is this all right? ACHATZ: It's really rewarding as a chef to start from nothing and just work really hard and become successful.

SMITH: Seeing where I'm at and where I need to be, it's like I need to work a little bit harder. And that's what I plan to do, work harder.

Chef Kevin, is this better?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much better.

EMANUEL: In front of you is your future. Different journeys. One future. America, the land of opportunity, and yet kids are growing up in parts of the city, there's no sense of life. They can see downtown and yet for them it's miles and miles away. And I don't ever want a city that, for some of our children, they don't think they're part of that.

One, two, three.

You like that? That's exactly what I was looking for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you do, sir.

EMANUEL: Nice to meet you. I just wanted to take a picture of you, but he wanted to introduce me.

(MUSIC)

ESPINOZA: I'm going to college.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): People get ready, there's a train coming don't leave your baggage, get on board all you need is faith. All you need is a moment. Don't need a ticket to get on board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next on "Chicagoland"...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very chill right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Especially in comparison to the way Chicago is.

MCCARTHY: You haven't had the same success recently that you had earlier in the year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you all doing to stop the violence? I would suggest programs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go out here and try to be special.

EMANUEL: Do you think you can teach a Jewish mayor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My homie (ph).

DOZIER: I wish someone would have given my dad the same support that we're trying to give students at Fenger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to have a really solid plan for all the patients that someone will be there.