and hopefully that does happen. cnn's original series "chicagoland" is proudly presented by alstate. are you in good hands? >> chicago is a quintessential american city at the crossroads of change. it's a story that could be told in many cities all across the country. welcome to the premiere episode of "chicagoland." you want to see america, you come to its heartland. and what is the capital of that heartland? chicago. >> everybody! >> they call it a blue collar town because you work hard had, you play hard, and you show up the next day. >> chicagoans do not put up with

the [ muted ]. >> there's no city like chicago. then you start coming out into the neighborhoods and it's a little different. >> hurry up. >> my world is all about people's worst nightmares. >> this is just like a third world country. >> i look at myself as a parent of hundreds of kids. >> get out of the street! >> why are you crying? >> there are no other options. >> what are you trying to achieve? >> right now i'm trying to save chicago. >> any particular part of chicago? >> all of it. >> people know that chicago is rising to the top. we don't get enough credit. >> today we send a message to the world! >> show them who we are. >> springtime in chicago is a celebration that doesn't last very long. the warm weather that pushes

tulips from their beds and invites kids back outside to play brings with it a warning. watch out, things are about to heat up. >> one term mayor! one term mayor! one term mayor! >> when is the first day? i'm going to be in town, right? >> chicago's famous for power politics. for generations, the mayor was better known as "boss" and his political operation was called the machine. >> ari, it's rahm. >> the daley family ran chicago for decades. now, for the first time in more than 20 years, there's a new boss in town. rahm emanuel.

>> because of the people of chicago, this is the warmest place in america. >> emanuel has come home to chicago with an impressive resume, senior aide to president clinton, six years in congress, and later served as chief of staff for president obama. emanuel got things done. tough. unrelenting. his enemies called him rahmbo. >> you're known as a volatile guy, a bit of a roman candle with a temper. what is the angriest you've gotten in the first 100 days? >> that i had to do this interview in the middle of everything else. swam this morning a mile. yesterday i swam a mile, biked four, weights,s then a yoga class. neurotic is a word. obsessive about it. >> obsessive. that about sums up all things rahm emanuel. especially his commitment to shake up chicago's failing schools. >> there's 400,000 kids that go

to all our schools. we have the capacity for 500,000. certain schools that were 200 kids when they were able to handle 600. >> the school system faces a $1 billion budget gap. the mayor's hand-hpicked school board is working on that. >> very difficult decision. nobody likes to do it, which is why people hadn't done it in the past. i am not an education reformer. i believe in educational excellence, and i will adopt any reform that gets me there. >> shame on the mayor! no school closings! >> the 64 schools on the chopping block is the largest consolidation in u.s. history. >> don't let these people take your schools! >> our school! our school! >> for mayor emanuel, the guy who helped president obama save the auto industry, bail out the banks and reform health care,

the chicago school crisis is right in his had wheelhouse. >> you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. what i mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. >> the mayor is taking a risk with his bold school plan. while it might make sense because of the budget crisis and declining enrollment, many parents fear it puts their kids at risk because they'll have to walk across dangerous gang lines to attend new schools. >> rahm emanuel thinks he can just come into our schools and move all our kids over the gang lines and just say, we can take this school out, we don't care about these kids. but these kids in there, they need safety! >> asean is speaking out for the 30,000 kids who would be affected by the closings. >> you should be supporting these schools, not closing them! you should be sue investing in these schools, not closing them! we are not toys. we are not going down without a

fight! >> this has to be done in a very thoughtful way. we have to make the changes that are necessary so our children don't continue to go to schools that are not achieving the goals that they need to achieve academically. so the immrelt -- implementation is going into effect right now. >> how would you respond to neighborhood residents who say if one kid gets hurt, the mayor has blood on his hands? >> my responsibility starts when doors to the future of a child are closed. 56% of african-american male adolescents are dropping out. and i'm accountable as every parent, every teacher, every principal is to turning that around. >> mayor, can i ask one more question? >> there's going to be a lot of death on his hands if these schools close. >> the truth is, going to school in certain parts of chicago is risky enough.

and in roseland, a tough neighborhood on the far south side where president obama was a community organizer, warring gang factions remain a constant threat to student safety. >> how's it going, commander? what time in the morning was this? at the school? who are the students? and the boys don't know what it's related to? i have good relationships with all those kids. all of them. i'm going to talk to them. somebody was shooting at the kids on the way to school this morning. >> fender high school principal liz dozier is on a mission to give her kids a shot at a better future. >> this is exactly why i hate the warm weather. it just begins to like slowly heat up. but there's a larger ongoing gang conflict within the community. and like the school, we sit in the middle of this. >> an important part of the principal's job is to keep tabs on gang conflicts and make sure her students are safe at school. >> i am looking for shelton. anybody have a 20 on shelton

wo woolrich? you don't know what happened? >> no. >> how many shots were fired? >> like three. >> and you don't know what direction they were shooting in? have you heard of any conflicts in the neighborhood? >> no. i'm not from around here. i don't know what be going on. >> he was like, no, i don't know what's going on. >> amnesia. >> right. were they from a car or just walking by? >> just people just like walking i believe. >> and started shooting? >> yeah. one person. >> crazy. it's hell. >> it's times like this when the fear is all too real for principal dozier. in 2009, the brutal murder of one of her students was caught on video and broadcast worldwide on the internet. >> simply sickening is about the only way to describe it. pictures taken on a cell phone of a kid pounding another kid with a wooden board. that teenager who just got hit is 16-year-old darrion albert, and he's dead now.

>> just weeks into the new school year, darrion albert got caught up in a brawl and was beaten to death on his walk home from school. >> someone said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. no, he wasn't! he was in the right place. he was coming from school! >> fear that the walk to school might be deadly for chicago kids isn't crazy paranoia. it's real. darrion albert will always be a reminder. >> the climate in the school was just absolutely abysmal. like massive gang fights in the hallways. 300 arrests that first year. we had to have literally two districts' worth of police in the building for us to be able to change classes one day. it was a scary time in terms of like what's happened to our children? >> four years later, significant progress has been made. >> we'll check you right in. hey, how is it going? >> going good.

>> hey, sweetheart, how are you? >> i don't have biological children, but i'm assuming it must be what a parent feels like when they have to send their kid out into the world. i feel like my children have better chances than they have. i just worry about them. gentlemen, gentlemen, not going to happen! not today! keep it moving! get out of the street! i'm not going to say it again! get out of the street! he's headed southbound on 112th and emerald. principal down, principal down, i broke my shoe. can you assist me? i'm at 112th and emerald. i broke my shoe. you have to see me. i'm walking down emerald, i don't have no damn shoes on, none. hey mom. yeah?

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two years into his first term as mayor, rahm emanuel has unveiled his boldest plan yet, the proposed closing of 54 public schools. the midterm brings a flurry of speculation from citizens and pundits alike. >> two-year anniversary of rahm. >> when you consider the year he had kind of getting waxed by the teacher's union in that strike and the number of murders shooting up the way they did, he had a pretty rough year. right now there's nobody on the horizon who is going to run against him. there never will be. that's the daley way. you call out people and destroy them. rahm emanuel is richard daley with a circumcision. i hate to put it like that, but he's a continuation of that kind of politician.

>> i will say, though, that these school closings coming up, they have 54 on the dock, people are predicting real chaos, real disturbance. >> this is our schools, our children, and our babies that you're hurting. rahm emanuel, take your ass off our school! >> just seven weeks before the final vote to close schools, there's one thing on everyone's mind -- how to keep kids safe as their walk to school takes them through hostile gang territory. >> it's going to be route specific. >> but there will be a presence. >> yes. >> alongside. all right, good. thank you, everybody. >> most of chicago's neighborhoods are safe. but parts of the city are plagued by gun violence. emanuel promised to take on chicago's shooting problem. and when it came time to pick a top cop, he chose an outsider, gary mccarthy from the bronx.

in new york city, he helped develop comparative statistics to combat crime. in newark, new jersey, where he was police director, mccarthy's strategy led to a drop in the murder rate. >> the county board of commissioners commending gary mccarthy for keeping the peace during the nato summit. >> a little more than a year, the local mess hailed him a hero. but by the end of 2012, the number of homicides in chicago had skyrocketed to more than 500 and some were calling his job. >> my biggest issue in chicago is dealing with gangs, guns, and the press. not cultural change in the department, not acceptance of an outsider. none of those things. they all pale in comparison to those challenges right there. and the media, they keep talking about the rising toll of gun violence in chicago while the numbers are going in the other direction. >> while the press continues to focus on chicago's violence, there's actually been a decline. in 2012, there were 161 murders

in the first quarter. in 2013, there were 93. that's more than a 40% reduction. >> we're taking a more holistic approach to crime reduction here in chicago than i think has been done in most places in the country. >> what are you trying to achieve? >> i'm trying to save the world. can't you tell? >> i say that, too. >> well, right now i'm trying to save chicago. >> you're trying to save chicago. any particular part of chicago? >> all of it. >> chicago has one of the worst, most difficult, most detractable gang violence problems in the country. >> maybe there's something in the water here. al capone's prohibition era put chicago on the map. in the '60s, the latin kings ruled. then came the leader of the gangster disciples. willie lloyd, king of the vice lords. that all fell apart in the '90s

when federal indictments sent top gang lieutenants to prison and most of chicago's public housing high-rises were torn to the ground. >> when they did that, they turned the street into chaos. so now it's every man for himself. >> in the '80s, there were five dominant gangs in chicago. now there are more than 70. and 600 gang factions. in all, 70,000 gang members. >> what the hell is going on? >> we have a gang problem. >> the gang situation is dead, man. this is about cliques. >> every two to three blocks is a different faction of a block. >> two or three blocks away from each other. >> znts doesn't matter what gang it is. >> this community against that community. >> people get mad over the littlest [ bleep ]. little -- looking at your girl, step on your shoe. you want to kill them. >> i done lost too many >> children start claiming gangs as young as kindergarten. >> by the time a kid gets to

high school, his gang affiliation can become his identity. and even a lunchroom fight can turn into a gang war. >> who was the other girl? i need you to go down there and get that. >> but four years after darrion albert's tragic murder, principal dozier and ohio officials have transformed the culture here. >> ladies, it's too loud. >> there are two kids arguing, figure out what the issue is. if we don't get to the root of it, it will continue to bubble up until it will explode. >> good afternoon, everyone. >> good afternoon. >> what i'm thankful for is the fact that we can sit in a peace circle and we can talk about what's going on. and then we can decide from this particular point how do we move forward from it? using tolerance is never going to work. i began to bring in the practices of restorative justice, which is justice that heals.

>> in the past, the girls would have been suspended. now they take part in the peace circle to settle scores. >> my friend got gunned down over some he said/she said stuff. so if y'all are through with the situation, just let it go. >> i am cool with each and every one of you guys because i love you. >> in 2009 fenger was identified as a failing school that needed to be saved. principal dozier was hired and given broad authority over an entirely new team. she received a four-year federal grant to help turn the school around. >> there was about $1.8 million of additional funding to give kids what they need in terms of program. the fact i'm able to provide mr. spicer's position, a couple of full-time reading teachers, home advocates who go into the home, knock on doors, bring parents in, all of those types of programs are tied to this money. but the grant is getting ready to run out.

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with citi popmoney it's easy to send money to just about anyone, anytime. visit your local branch or citi.com/easierbanking to learn more. come may, chicago's tech startups really start to bloom. the mayor has a lot of responsibilities but makes it a priority to visit chicago's new tech hub, 1871. it's part of emanuel's idea to revamp the city. >> we have an office and we have revenue. >> 1871 is this interesting sort of experiment. 50,000 square feet,

entrepreneurs, adventure capitalists have these working sessions to really change the status quo as well as hopefully make money. >> you come in here and you feel like you've basically gotten into harvard business school. >> the trick is, focus on the one and do it really well. i love this. this is great. >> the city now has a center of gravity to the digital economy. >> the mayor is energized by the new start-ups at 1871. and the young scholars back at city hall who hope to become part of the new digital economy. at a city council meeting, he sets aside a moment to honor chicago's gate scholars. >> chicago has 35 gates scholar winners, the most of any other public school in the country. >> there's only three weeks before the board of education votes on which schools to close, and some parents are growing desperate. >> we are putting our greatest

of hopes in you. but the test won't be today or your graduation. the test won't be when you got that letter. you will get knocked down. and it's in the valley that your character gets revealed, not at the peak. >> walk the walk, hands off our schools. walk the walk, hands off our schools. walk the walk, hands off our schools. >> parents continue to voice their objections to the mayor's plan, but the most vocal critic is the chicago teachers union. >> he is the murder mayor. look at the murder rate in this city. he's murdering schools, he's murdering good jobs, he's murdering housing. i don't know what else to call him. he's the murder mayor. >> chicago teachers union president karen lewis is mayor emanuel's most outspoken opponent. it's the largest teacher strike this country has seen in two decades. >> in 2012, she led teachers on a week-long strike and faced off with rahm emanuel. >> he's a liar.

and a bully. >> this is a strike of choice, and it's the wraong choice for our children. >> it was a bitter fight. and when it was over, both sides claimed victory. lewis and the teachers walked away with a better contract. and the mayor got his longer school day and longer school year. >> do you feel you have won this strike? >> oh, absolutely. >> you had a strike. i don't know, kids got a longer school day. >> hey, guys. how are you? >> hi, mayor! >> have you been quiet and patient? >> yes. >> better than the mayor because i'm not quiet or patient. in that order. this is how the finger happened. you know how any adult always says, be careful with sharp

objects? i was working somewhere and i was working with a sharp object, and i wasn't careful. i had a cut and i had to go to the doctor and i had to go to the hospital for a while. so when somebody says, don't play with sharp objects -- like doesn't your teacher always say no running with the scissors? they're all saying that to be kaifrm careful so that nothing happens. and i was careless and something happened. all right, guys, see you later. >> chicago public school students are mostly african-american and latino. only 9% are white. many fender students come from poor single parent families and need extra support at school. when federal money runs out, those kids might suffer the most. >> is he in anger management? i put him in anger management. did he start going to that? >> i don't know. >> right. because remember -- let me talk to him because he and i have a pretty good relationship. okay, now, we're going to back that up. >> she said i said some curse

words, talking about some -- >> tell the truth. some f-bombf-bombs. >> i never said the f-bomb. >> hopefully with anger management, you do have to check in with the social worker, you talk about it and the more you talk about it, the more it will help you feel better inside so you don't feel so stressed. school has become a dropout factory. it really has to do with issues that are happening at home that no one is really addressing at the school because this is really the last stop for 98% of the kids here. if we don't get them off into something else, like there are no other options. >> thousands of children in the city live in neighborhoods where a funeral for a teenager is considered unfortunate but not unusual. those are the odds that so many young people are facing in the city.

>> when first lady michelle obama returns home to chicago to raise money for at-risk kids, she reflects on the recent murder of a 15-year-old band majorette, shot in the back on her way home from school just weeks after performing at president obama's second inauguration. >> hidea pendleton was me, and i was her. but i got to grow up. see, at the end of the day, this is the point i want to make, that resources matter. today too many kids in the city are living just a few "l" stops from world class museums and universities, yet all of that might as well be in a different state, even in a different continent, because many of them don't even know that the university of chicago exists, let alone dream of attending that university or any university for that matter. because instead of spending

their days enjoying the abundance of riches this city has to offer, they are consumed with watching their backs. >> my name is dominique brooks. and i attend amaneer elementary school. i have been jumped on. i stayed in the hospital for a long time. i don't feel i'm safe. [ applause ] >> kids at maneer elementary, one of 54 schools slated to school, will have to walk across vision street to the academy. that might not sound like a big deal, but it is. >> we can't even walk that way. as soon as we cross, it's just crazy. >> no talking, no nothing. jokes aside. we just get jumped on.

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zenith. it's playoff time in chicago, and the mayor courtside at the united center, cheers on the scrappy bulls who refuse to go down without a fight. two weeks before the final vote to close schools, parents and teachers also refuse to go down without a fight. >> it's criminal to take these children out of the safety of this environment and this school. i know it's numbers. i get it. but we are their families. we are parenting these children. >> emanuel, well, he's been at the center of unpopular decisions like this before. he's never backed down. and nobody expects him to start now. >> i've been fortunate to work for two really, really good presidents. and i've learned a lot from both of them. when i was going through it, being chief of staff, every chief of staff hates it. it is the most difficult job in america. there's a target on your back.

nothing you do anybody likes. and you've got to make sure it works for the president. and then when you make your decision, you're not done because everybody else says you're an idiot. the first nine months to a year, i had this joke with the president. because we would go like from the auto meeting, the next would be the financial meeting. the next would come in, the economy is collapsing. the next would come in, afghanistan is unraveling, we have to get out of iraq. you would go meeting to meeting, 45 minutes, and you have to make all of these decisions, it's just pounding and pounding and pounding. i used to say to him, you know, mr. president, i really don't want to make any more decisions. so we joked when we got out of the white house, we were going to set up a little t-shirt shack in hawaii that looked right out to the beach. we were going to sell one color, white, one size, medium. we would have to make a decision because we were done. >> liz dozier knows a thing or two about having a stressful

job. >> fenger is always somewhere in my brain rumbling around. i think about like are the kids safe, i think about, what are they doing? >> back at fenger, liz and her team work on an anti-violence strategy to take to the streets. >> one of the things that mr. spicer brought to the table about two years ago was a peace walk. i didn't feel we were ready for that as a school. but i think this year we're actually ready for it. we can take the whole school out and do a walk. so i'm excited. it's good. i met with the police commander a couple weeks ago to talk about helping to kind of secure the route so we could be stationary along the route. the other thing we were thinking about is it being a silent walk, to have the kids walk through the community in absolute silence. >> we're silencing the violence. >> oh, that's actually -- >> that's it. that's it!

>> despite all the neighborhood violence, fenger students continue to push for their peace march. >> it's like people that are gang banging and stuff, so you figure why not walk through our neighborhoods and let them know we're trying to do something different. >> we done seen how the school done changed and how the community has bettered itself. just in our school. >> i'd say there's pros and cons to this walk. >> it wouldn't be a good idea without the police force. still at the same time there's still violence. >> more deadly violence breaks out on chicago's streets. at least eight people died and at least 46 were hurt from friday afternoon to early this morning. >> black teen dressed in a great shirt. >> with the warmer weather, shootings are escalating. even in broad daylight. >> kind of blew up in a couple different areas. let's talk about what's going on. >> eight murders in the 28-day time frame as opposed to three last year.

>> in tough times like this, superintendent mccarthy holds his district commanders accountable. >> i want a little bit of analysis on this. the way the system is designed, we gave you the cops, we want them on those beats doing police work. if that's not happening, that has to be addressed. >> as far as overall, it's a matter of us -- >> look, i'm the type of person that if i had their beat, i would know who every one of these guys were and be out hunting them every single day. i want to make sure that these guys feel the heat. those numbers are just through the roof. you've got to fix that right there, right now. so you could drive from los angeles all the way philadelphia with just three stops for fuel. that's just a hop, skip, and a jump. try that in another midsize sedan. it's more of a hop... a skip... a jump... a leap... maybe a schlep... probably a hurdle... a little bit of a trek... avo: during the tdi clean diesel event,

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♪ as the mayor commutes downtown, the city is buzzing. but for folks who send their kids to 54 schools on the chopping block, doomsday is coming. and it's just a week away. mayor emanuel remains committed to his plan. the mayor meets with barbara byrd-bennett, ceo of the chicago public schools, to review the list and move forward with the largest school consolidation in the country. >> rahm emanuel only cares about his kids, he only care about what he needs. he do not care about nobody else but himself.

>> people say asean has what it takes to be mayor of chicago some day. his school, marcus garvey, is on the closure list, but the 9-year-old believes there's a chance to keep it open if he can make enough noise. >> i respect the man. i'm not saying he's racist. i'm saying trying to close the schools, that's racist. because the majority of the schools are in black neighborhoods. >> asean hits the pavement with his mom, a public school clerk and a member of the mighty chicago teachers union. >> gotcha. okay. >> joey mcdermott is a teachers union field rep, organizing against the mayor's plan to close schools. joey is making a big push to mobilize teachers at manear elementary school. >> they've got to know that the teachers are very strong and want to save their school. >> and parents, like single mother shareece mcdaniel. >> we have a great school here. our kids have art, they have drama, they have dance p. and i mean, those are all the things that rahm emanuel's kids

have at his school. why can't we have that? >> this is about balancing the budget on the backs of poor people. and we know they're going to turn around and put the money in charter schools and open up more charter schools so that billionaires that are living loud can name schools after themselves. because of what he's doing to our schools, the people of chicago are going to stand up and so at that -- to rahm emanuel, see you later! >> the teachers union teamed up with parents and headed to court to fight the school consolidation plan. >> parents have filed two class action lawsuits today. >> one lawsuit seeks to protect special needs students who can be especially vulnerable. >> i don't think that people really understand how much harm is going to be done to these children. >> this woman knows how important students with special needs are.

her daughter aryan a is one of them. two years ago, aryana and her cousin were shot while jumping rope. aryana survived a gunshot wound to the head but still suffers physical and psychological trauma. her cousin didn't make it. >> you got kids that come up and tell us that's why your cousin dead, just cruel. the school that they're trying to sell to us, that's where they from. i can't send her up there. >> if aryana's school is closed, she could come face-to-face with the family who shot her and murdered her cousin. >> i got to walk past all this, and then go home and study? how many hours am i going to have to study and worry about my house getting shot up? where am i going to study at, on the floor with a flashlight? and i'm 8, 9 years old. you know, it's sad. >> three people got shot last night right up the hill. it's just crazy. the first hot day come, here comes the shooting.

>> even as shooting continues on the street just blocks away at fenger high, principal dozier moves forward with plans for the peace march. >> the objective is for students to understand the importance for the peace walk. >> how is it going to go? the kids are all leading this so they have to have a clear understanding of what they're supposed to do and where they're going to go. there's some serious safety concerns. i know parents have expressed and community members have expressed those kids coming down this way. there's neighborhood boundaries, whether or not people think they're real or not, they are real. so there's just tensions that flare from different neighborhoods. >> neighborhood tension erupted unexpectedly for aryana's mother alice and her boyfriend wild bill. they were approached by a gunman in front of their house. wild bill was shot dead right in front of alice.

>> it started in front of the house, talking about the kids' school, what school they was going to go to. some guys was walking across the street. i said, look up. and he pulled the gun out and started shooting. i just fell to the ground and balled up. and when i got up, i seen my daughter laying there gasping, trying to breathe. and i don't know how to deal with it right now. i feel like i'm losing it. >> the superintendent gets regular briefings on murder investigations citywide. >> there was a murder. victim was standing when the offender emerged on foot south of the building and opened fire. >> the victim's family is

cooperative and the witnesses have been cooperative. but they all agree the shooter had his face covered. >> eddie, let's get a plan, all right? >> how is it going, commander? what is going on? >> someone that was killed, somebody, wild bill, he was really high ranking in one of the gangs. so this now has tripped off all of this stuff. and the school, we fit like in the middle of this. somebody got killed, somebody named wild bill or something like that. did you hear about this? we should probably talk about if i should even still do the peace walk. you know, i can't just set them in harm's way to make a statement.

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in roseland, the murder of arianna's stepfather sparks fears of an all-out gang war. tensions are high, and principal dozier has a tough decision to make about the peace march. >> first of all, i just want to say thanks again for being willing to come out to our peace walk. we're going to have to cancel it unfortunately. there was some shooting that happened earlier in the week on the corner, just some brewing conflict in the neighborhood, and i just don't feel safe taking the kids outside. >> i need everybody to sit in

the first two rows, please. right here, first two rows. the peace walk has been postponed. i want you to understand it's not canceled, it's postponed. i don't want you to walk up out of here and think that what you did all week is in vain, it's not. we want to make sure everything is safe and we can be productive with this, okay? >> the mayor visits a water filtration plant where he's eager to announce one of the largest infrastructure investments in chicago history. >> charles, do you need a pen, man? gives a whole new meaning to helping a reporter out, working to build a new channel 7. >> with the school closing debate reaching climax, local reporters want answers. >> should the board members vote not to close some of those 54 schools -- >> it's going to be very challenging. so is knowing that kids are

going on in years without reading and not knowing math and dropping out. >> what do you say to parents and the teachers union who say no one was listening to them. >> 56% of african-american males are dropping out. i will not accept that when i it think i can do something about giving children a better future. and that's the responsibility of not just being a mayor but being an adult. >> it's d-day and the board meets to vote. but not before people gather outside to voice their objections. loudly. >> we are the people! we are united! >> i personally feel you're on the wrong side of history. and history will judge you. >> parents and students at lanier still hope their school will be spared. >> we're here now waiting for the governor's call for a stay of execution. >> mr. president, these items do require a vote. >> these schools will be -- >> shortly before the vote, barbara byrd-bennett makes an announcement. >> i recommend that the board

vote no on the recommendation to close manear. >> what happened? >> they voted to save your school. >> oh, yes, baby. >> are you all right? >> you just stand up for what you believe in, and anything is possible. >> they also spared three others, including asean's school, marcus garvey elementary. >> this is bittersweet because there are still so many other schools that won't have the joy that we have right now. >> then the chicago board of education makes history. they vote to close 50 schools, a decision that will affect 27,000 kids. >> you think about the children that are going to be killed because of these stupid-ass decisions you've made!

>> no justice, no peace! no justice, no peace! >> this is an unmitigated disaster. >> i was walking out of the house, and my wife amy says, i've never seen you calmer. and i said, i am comfortable with what i am doing to put our children first. >> mayor emanuel's decision to close schools is final, and now chicago's new boss has a whole city wondering one thing. what's next? >> i happen to think the city of chicago is the most american of american cities. >> there is something about this place that's magical. >> right here in chicago. >> that's not just food. that's not just dinner. >> you're expected to give back. it's the price of admission living in chicago. >> welcome to the age of possibilities.

>> every single student counts for $5,000. >> we don't get more kids in this building, we're going to lose positions. >> everybody in this room is lucky to be alive right now. >> there's too many guns in our community. unfortunately, we're going to have tragedies. >> we've got some people shot. >> retaliation can go back and forth. >> murder, murder, murder. >> we've seen some bad stuff here. >> it's like living in a battle zone. >> man down. man down! >> over a thousand people have been shot. >> am i having a stroke? >> get on the scale. >> the only thing you can't kill is an idea. >> we're all accountable to the children of the city of chicago. >> they found out we were calling the police on them, they lit our house on fire. >> i need you to call more police. please call. >> we're not doing this. let's go. >> i can't wait for this to be over. >> it's 24/7. it absolutely never ends.

>> you need to tell the mayor to just quit his job. >> how do we change our friend rather than our foe? for two years, the bodies of black children had been found in the woods, then the rivers of atlanta, georgia. in all, more than two dozen victims, most of them strangled. by may 1981, the police and fbi were hiding in the brush beside and below the river bridges. this was to be the last night, almost the last hour. >> i heard the splash. >> bob campbell, a police recruit, jumped to his feet down beside the chattahoochee river. >> i was really startled.