>> that is a nice way to conclude your invited to the book signing downstairs after words. [applause] [inaudible conversations] if bp be because stock

to. >> host: thanks for urban for coming today. i am really excited to talk to some alaska lady question you have been in the u.s. you could have written so many books why this one? >> i did this as an exercise for the paper that workforce in 2007 and at the time i thought this could be a book every day eight children and

will show up dead and i was charged with finding the children of the day progressed was blown away by some many of the stories from the local news and i felt when i have the opportunity. it is i am not sure i ever fully understood but by the time i finish the book covers in the country 12 years ahead to american children, and american wife and, i thought i would disappear.

so to get to so the initial speech that you did that was not from american pop culture. >> day think i have not quite understood, those mass shootings that damage how much people died. the really have not given enough thought to those that would be killed if. >> am giving the rich

friends through our fight any so over as the time death feature one but with the understanding of where you are. >> host: but you said you were creating context because redo have artificial reports on crime through the fbi, doj, but i was trying to figure out what is it

correct so talk about the content that you found. >> 10 children were shot dead that day in 2013. and with each one, what i tried to do a was not trying to litigate their deaths. >> and who else plaques a. >> where the that was

drug-related and if that and those housing projects paid little his mother lived in the desert he was shot. this is where she grew up in and next door is a factory in did you start looking at the statistics in europe and uc the painful fact and in that context selling drugs and hell with the american

endeavor can corporation but i knew as going on around the time but there are things that one can say and some times that will display the just to finish tied. generally not a fallout with those set and then to make them profitable. >> right. with those in nurseries you have found some of the

circumstances in suburbia. >> right. i am trying to but there were couples with m -- those who were killed. it basically nobody is immune but if a young person is in one of those areas does not challenge me. >> then you speak to the journalist. nt be so surprising somebody

would be shot in the area. as that is not news. or when dog bites man and then say who else and what can we do about it? so one reporter said you become desensitized because said difference of williams and to discuss my product it has a conscious emission with power and privilege one that makes the dark in america is a visible.

>> that is pretty bold. >> is. if it fits, wear it diane leslie talking about the of the aegean. >> does a case to say at don't care but then are happening over there and it isn't dead weight or a privilege to have that u.s. education and all those things that counteract.

then she is thinking this is from something bad happens to people like that. >> is this not her and mentioned did and to see the granddaughter will be back and we will have a reputation. >> i know where my children are but if of parents are doing that but they don't know where.

and not taking control and to find out the situation they threatened cocoa that night the worst thing they can do is cheat. what is we years is the miller. >> but the first part pet somebody gets through. >> but that brings us to when the questions that i noticed that you do

challenge the respectability conflict that things should not have been better course we expect them to happen. but so many are urged dismissed. so when another piece of this that i thought that we captured that chapter that this should not happen to people like this and then you say that began to each and some some nate align

themselves with the gun-control. so when i saw that? >> yes. in indianapolis they're the only person to be sold by days they had to be sold by the 40th birthday. and a full five months later there for the protest since and for this to be a project about gun-control. so half in indianapolis star plant in dallas of speak.

>> nobody has asked. just like joe white lady to a wealthy suburb and she talked about mama bear am protecting her babies who are you protecting them from sanders and people but from that movement it went to have a sense of urgency and where they're more like the teetoo beat criminalize any more then white all-american as. so the fact that somebody has a criminal record is

that neutral statistic and that indicator of how the system works. but if you are looking for innocence then you will not find them in those communities because you have to move from a narrative that this should not have been to this should not happen to kids period. and to have an understanding of why some kid is ended up in the places that they do. schools, infrastructure, lack of daycare which is why it it. >> ben its dehumanizes them.

>> it think there was a real problem once you stop yourself thin and end the suggestion that you could be worthy. >> somebody treated the a day from the spring term and said she was out at 3:00 in the morning. and a when is that appropriate? what is the curfew after which it is just a shooting gallery. >> added the great way to segue into a question that have for you. the promise no hard policy

questions but especially academia there is the process that we should declare a gun violence a national health crisis. we have an then to results that is the epidemic but that is say exactly the same type of imf.

and. >> it is like a city disappearing everytime. >> yes. the question is what should we do about that? was says misha and do nothing because it is in the second amendment and that is sent but government

subscribes collaborative view to do something about this then you have to do the research as to why this happens this few will be an abuse and aged by uc it the -- it was treating dozens as hopeless but now they don't. >> my wish for those who don't want to do it, then tell me another way hopper, a meaningful way if you stop these children from dying. i don't argue about the second amendment but my kids

are american. i don't want them taking these risks. and even if they want it is unacceptable. this is what you don't want to do? what do you quite. >> that brings me to us the enthusiastic need day better story that these arguments of my second amendment right there are so many that are not relevant so basically it comes down to marketing. you are a professional storyteller so if you are consulting with them? >> the government can say here is what they said.

i don't understand. explain. i you very? to have children? what are you going to do? and then they have the appeal to masculinity. and which actually has found a home in american mythology and most people who were killed by guns actually shoot themselves. after that you are most likely to be killed by somebody that you know, / soleil they should say are you married? watch out for your wife. she may kill you. [laughter]

so they have that narrative that is embedded in american culture which we can talk combative will like that narrative for not but gun-control people have of bigger problem because they talk about background checks that is sensible even if you abide by the second amendment with religious freedom in this so well regulated background checks were popular and the waiting period. but that does not add up in and they have to imagine themselves differently and

really one what they might do to say we are a modern country with the medieval problem. this does not have been anywhere else. i think that might be a powerful message. but i also think it is one that takes seriously as the collective endeavor to raise children they need space coming decent education, and they need these things.

>> and maybe they drive them to school and turn them home >> with their retaking children's use away from them in order to keep them alive. so i do go into some detail with george bush campaign when i was young and irresponsible that this uh good line. david cameron but one was

called the burlington pub with kotite and tail and they would get very drunk. >> when you are rich you can do that maybe one will spend the night. did these kids don't have that luxury. if you want back inside that could be you dead. decide to lockyer friend home late-night? that could be you. no question if there is a background or if you start to take marijuana or maybe you have a bad relationship.

you could die. that is the margins that are narrow and the risks are great. these are american children. somebody said if you took four or five cities out of america you could take four or five stains -- locations? okay what are you left with? and i love the rest of america is not important with the introduction that lets just imagine america.

>> so let's talk about the geography of this book because as a journalist there is a thousand choices you have to make with your preparation so how did your geography location comeback and play into it? >> they chose the kid so my challenge but also when may are asked to reduce that in some way with a statistical

definition and the range was quite substantial. so to have a sleepover of the dirt brought, you can see the stars it is dark. that is the only place people know it is hunting season. is an of bacteria the church , and. >> but he is a little peculiar but then very well liked and and they have

discos like dishabille crushing people it would not be a brand-new vcr. and then the oil crash comes and they say okay. . . find the history, mapping and in

different places but in this area even though the working-class latino folks at houses with six times. it's a big country. it's very, very diverse and

hopefully that comes through in the book. but in this landscape. >> host: i grew up in new york city in the late '80s and the neighborhood we moved in at that point was mostly latinos but later it was a lot of mexicans and now it's being gentrified and remained in pockets so do you think geography plays such a role that it can ignore the population and remain some of

these violent identifiers or is this something that gets passed down in places like chicago and new york but you are essentially sometimes born into a gang. >> guest: writing this book completely transformed because that is the desire one could argue on the one level that maybe seven or related insofar

as one or both of those involved and you could say that is a gang related shooting but if one of the people is in a gang and the other isn't, they are in the same.

they say that he was wearing black, his friend was wearing red, someone shoots at him is that gang related? it seems they shot at someone who looked like they were from another gang. he was wearing red so is that gang related or a stray bullet? it's a way of just not really thinking about it. a lot of them grow up in gangs in the same way that if you are in the sovie soviet union wouldn

the communist party or iraq you would be in the backlist party. everybody has some kind of relationship. it could be that you have a completely minimal relationship and where blue socks or whatever it is. it could be that you say i'm never going to have anything to do but then you still have to live there. it's not like they hand out membership cards and people pay their dues.

to me when i see the term now i understand it differently. i want to say to people what is the relationship between the murder and between the victim because let's say that i'm walking down a road that don't belong a gang and i'm wearing red and somebody shoots me and says that's gang related, how does that relate to me, and this is how an awful lot of them are not. they are more likely to be dismissed by the general public as something that happens.

these kids are not that different and the kids you know buying kraft, experimentation, not mowing the lawn when their dad asked them to come in depth dynasty, twitter, facebook, these are america's children and if you can dismiss them -- it's

a convenient term so for example in california they have these things called gang enhancements. you might have been as a misdemeanor this comes from the six months of probation and the minute that they are able to target the related activity there is a minimum two or three years and it has no ability. what did you find in terms of the abyss in the way that is

utilized? >> guest: you can do anything with that title. it's not like a pretend thing. they are watching to see how much they are wearing and for the kid's it' it's like i'm goio have to wear some red to get through the day.

if you are going to track you codify it, things are going to fall apart. are we in the place where it is illegal or rewardin holding hers an assertion way -- in a certain way is proof to put someone away and then comes the second thing. it's not like if you put them in

prison you keep them away from gangs. there is a gang culture oh one exoall onits own and that is a o cement the relationship so things like criminal enhancements kind using the second amendment as a crutch. where they join things linked to criminal activity. why are they doing it and what can we do to stop this from

happening. >> host: i want to talk a bout the methodology. there was a family clear they didn't want to talk to you or contacting them and you chronicled that well so i was able to follow you through the constant rejection but ultimately you decided to write about him and i thought what i have made the same choice. >> i wrote about him from public record. they never said why. i found his grandparents by

matching names in the white pages but america was segregated and they were up for the initial conversation that i made the mistake of calling the father. she never called me back. at the grandparents when we came for the convention they called

me and said don't call again. they didn't say don't do it if they had, all the things from the public record, twitter, facebook, arrest warrant and newspaper clippings. i think the issue for me is to you treat these people with respect. another child on. does talk to me, they give me

the number of the other parent who leaves a message on the phone saying i'm going to get my lawyer and you are writing this book to make money off my child, how dare you. and i am not even filling in the more colorful language. first, it's public record and second, one of the parents spoke to me. i did the same thing for every parent. i was present them with a request and say i know your child died. i would like to know how they lived. everything you want to tell me about them. them. it gives them a copy of the piece i did in 2007 and where

possible a copy of my last book about martin luther king's dream speech and i would say this is twho i am, would you like to talk. that's what i did with one of the child's parents and they said yes and gave me the other parents number and they were like hell no. i don't feel entitled to the testimony of appearance but i think things in the public domain already exist and the question is whether you treat them respectfully. >> host: demystified boxes of documents and all kinds of things so what was the process of sifting through and making the choices for the story?

>> guest: that was difficult because there are things that you read that might be embarrassing for the family. you hav have to way out is weigs important to the story, is it hurtful to the family and for fr every one i would send them a quote of what was said and in a couple cases i saw it as something they might be happy about and i would say i'm going to use this is that okay with

you otherwise you have to trust that you understand people's dignity. these are vulnerable people. they lost their child and they are not used to being in the limelight so you have to proceed with caution. i don't think i wa that i was cavalier with their stories and they were happy with the treatment. some of it is difficult to get a hold of but i sent them all books and i haven't heard from any yet.

it's the difference between being inaccurate or unfair. my mother died quite young and she wouldn't like to describe people as having a messy house and that wouldn't have been an inaccurate description of the there are tricky winds to walk and i hope it doesn't sensibly. probably the ways i have found

that there haven't been any complaints yet. >> did you fear in the process of publishing this you might accidentally incriminate anyone? >> it might be put together in the way that you put it together. >> guest: a couple instances people say they know who did it but they are not identified, brought to justice and to someone and they have to be very careful about that.

there is one i can think of. i think also when people say they know who did it but one in particular a small town to father says they've seen medicaid and wal-mart and they know who he is but they won't do anything about it. >> host: you talked to a lot of people who were not there when it happened but who somehow were in trickle to the process and the high school counselor. the people that were best

friends, can you talk about that extended network of grief that happens? >> guest: it comes to trying to find the families. going straight to their house or a counselor or somebody that knew them on facebook do you know how i can get in touch with so and so. the kids are not just raised by their parents, there's kind of a support network for those that want to sustain them and know them in different ways and hear

hiherei'm thinking of andersen n chicago. they come from hard to reach communities and groups where people are not just going to open up to foreign journalists and i'm looking for anybody to come chat. but his godmother wanted to delay story. i could tell there was a connection and it doesn't always work out like that but i think that kind of extended network is

important and i know from growing up my mother knew me longest. there were some elements when you were 15 you don't tell your parents everything. i don't think i would want to know everything my kid is doing so you have to look elsewhere. >> did anyone give you conflict in stories you had to find a middle ground for?

one of them i spoke to a the mom and others that they say he was in jail for a little bit. [inaudible] in that moment i have to decide do i want to pursue this. i didn't have the strength. there were other things.

so it could have been for threer three months, could have been first to see >> i spoke to a few people that knew him. i am the same way a parent wouldn't want to share that with me. there were a few of those and it kind of quick weight becomes fuzzy and you get the sense that

after a few conversations with people i decided it was something stupid, it wasn't terrible and i can find a way to get to the bottom of it and pursue it and that's my call. i need to know what happened here. when the same answer comes back i'm just going to move on. [laughter]

>> host: final question but do you know having written this now what do you know that you didn't know before? >> guest: in particular african american parents. the fear that their children might be shocked at, particularly in low income communities. when you ask them do you think this could happen and they say you're not doing your job. every single bad parent factored that in and then you think i

guess i considered this. the second one is the degree it touches their lives so when i asked the question what is this about it seems to me like traffic this is a terrible thing that's happened but are you going to do. then the final thing