rarely before. >> what do you make of the president there? >> you have to agree with what he said about energy. there is a lot of energy in a burning building or nuclear meltdown. this white house is in a freefall. we have never seen anything like this chaos. is they model he knows 26th floor of trump tower. way -- theun the white house the way you run a manhattan real estate firm. nobody empowered, no chain of command. with --is littered

>> three minutes of quick context for the work we are doing and why. we are going to have a conversation. we are always very real sometimes raw. it is important we be honest and authentic on what is working, what is not, and why. . context for chicago and why i do this work. i led chicago public schools for seven years, the hardest part of my job was the number of kids who were shot and killed. we averaged one child being killed every two weeks. going to those funerals, to their homes, to schools with an empty chair and try to make sense of censuses was by far --

senselessness, was by far the hardest part of my job. i thought it couldn't get worse. my family and i hear in d.c., things got worse. schools, they had 59 kids killed. last year, there were 650 homicides. almost 3000 people shot. the clear rate is the percent of crimes that get solved. in chicago, if you kill someone that has a 26% clear rate. there is a 74% chance you get away with murder. if you shoot someone and don't kill them, you have a 3% clear rate. chicago has very strict gun laws, but chicago is not an island, and we live next to indiana. a lot of guns coming to our

community from different places. going home this was a crisis facing the city. the toughest thing for me is how we have robbed kids of their childhood. the level of fear they live with every day is extraordinary. they struggle to make it back and forth from school. all my life i have tried to think long-term think about college,. if you survive each day, that is like a foreign language. inrew up playing basketball the south and west side, you can't do that anymore. most of the parks are empty. this is not fair to me. in every crisis there is an opportunity. for me i started thinking about what to do. there are two parts of opportunity that attracted me. things were so bad, that many of our guys were looking to do different things. two, there is a myth that people selling drugs are making money.

some are making some, but some are risking their lives and making next to nothing. ago, weed a few years found guys who were most at risk hiredng shot, and we them. them,ked in a cohort with building a brotherhood, a camaraderie. some of our guys were shooting at each other prior to that. we had to work that through early on. we do hard skills, soft skills, trauma care, substance abuse, all of them have high school diplomas, two of them are in college. our goal is to keep them for a year, and them spin them off to legal the economy. take them off of the streets and into the legal economy. we started working with mr. and

mrs. jones in march of 17. they have been working with a group of guys from us one year. it is a good time, to reflect stop there and jump in the conversation. i don't say the slightly, they are walking saints. we have six cohorts, three south side, three west side. every other cohort has been led by community partners. our goal is to build capacity in communities to take on this work. mrs. jones, a quick background and why you do this work. jones, i ams wendy the founder and executive director of the youth peace center of roseland. it is a nonprofit organization on the far south side of chicago. building, former chicago public school teacher

who wanted to do something different in my community but continued to help young people. i have been there 22 years. my husband and i have worked with a number of young people in the community from elementary school to about 26 years old. the last 12 years we have worked , ages 16 anduth 26. we were so excited about helping them because usually, the funding we get is like a drop in. four months, some programs the funding is gone and the kids are back on the street doing what they were doing before. it has been amazing because now we can offer young people a more rapid around service -- wraparound service, the type of services we know they need. it has been really amazing. i am sure you will get a chance to hear more from me.

am mr. jones, my job is director of operations. i am also with these guys, i am the dean. young men come into the program, they want to know who you are, what you are about. one of the things we give them, the question is are you here to change the direction of your life? if they say they are, but they act like -- they are in. if they act like they don't, we say stick around. we use a model. get inspired, make a change, change your attitudes, and you're thinking, and you will change her life -- your life. we try not to take all of the mother, father feel to them, but we listen.

i want to hear your story, what got you into it, or do you want to go. this has helped us and we are continuing this work. this is not new to us. we like all type of people. we don't discriminate against anyone. we want them to do better. we want them to work hard to reach that goal. >> extraordinarily hard. one thing -- we have tried a lot of different things. there is no one simple answer. one of the most important pieces is we have a life coach for every one of our young men. mr. hicks is one of our life coaches. life coaches have interesting backgrounds. these are the guys are always thinking about how guys move from point a to point b and take a next step transformation. it is not easy, it is not overnight, it is not linear.

before we talk about the work, talk about your background and what you used to do, what you are doing now, why, what changed. >> good evening, everybody. a rogue area, same place i am working now. i went through the penal system, came up through the gang life, thought it was the best in the world at the time. i made a lot of mistakes. i talked to myself when i came home that before i was in the grave, or someone killed me, i would change on my own, start doing the right thing. , rannto mr. and mrs. jones into a program that aims to stop the violence. they gave me an opportunity interview for this life coaching job, which is a different world.

it's all the same, to stop violence. i want to give back so they don't go through the things i went through. a lot of times you hear chicago this, chicago that, it is bigger than that. , it'sr it's gun violence a must like the music videos that -- it's almost like the muted -- music videos a minute. we want to help the kids. we are striving and struggling with them so they get to the point where they can make things happen. >> you grew up around guns, using guns, loving guns. >> i wanted to shoot everything up. if you want throwing up the pitchforks, weren't from my hood, it was going to happen for you. i didn't care who you were with, i don't care who you can get, or what you can go get. it was a sense of invincibility.

i came around guns at around 11 years old. i am doing shootings, my mother doesn't know what's going on. the police running behind me between this. it is an addiction. guns are actually an addiction out there. just by hearing the shots alone, he will get enthused. it is hard once they get enthused by shooting. it is almost like new year's, you hear it every day. addicted, youme have to get them away from it. that is what we are doing. job awareness, teaching them competency. i am happy to be a part of it. up four times.ed what was different the fourth time, from the rest? what made you decide it was time

to do something different? -- i have two class sectors in my background. if i was to get into another problem, i have 25 years minimum to start with. i don't want to go that route. enough.0 was that deterred me. your friends are not your friends at the end of the day when you are in trouble. it is rough. cook county jail is rough. we are dealing with an actual gang that has no laws to it anymore. , we had laws, there were saying things i couldn't do.

i couldn't be outside on election day selling drugs. i couldn't not be in school. i couldn't even sell drugs without somebody letting me know it was ok. right now, there is no law, no structure, but they are still representing something -- going to war for something that was going on before they were born. most of these guys are 20 years old, they are battling stuff that happened 30 years ago, they are carrying on. talk about what you were doing one year ago, and what you are doing now. i'm damien. doingone year ago, i was a little bit of everything. drugs, policeling kicking in my door, going back

and forth to jail. it was stuff over nothing. it was just stuff from a long time ago that we were carrying along. at some point you have to realize that you are getting older and it is time to grow up, especially when you have kids. i have been shot up, stabbed, in jail. one .5 years. sometimes you have to grow up and mature yourself. i met mr. jones through malik. gang,ed me if i was in a i wanted to lie and say no. he asked if i had been shot before, i said i had been shot before. i don't know if i should tell you if i shot somebody. he told me to come down the next day. i met him, i stuck with him. he was a real cheerful guy.

he is somebody that i can be around comfortably. i stay with it -- i stayed with it every meeting. i started getting my high school diploma. i didn't think i could get my high school diploma. i would've dropped out of school sophomore year. was the last thing on my mind. they helped me get my high school diploma. i really got motivated and dedicated. he could ask me to do anything, i will do it. i am a really reliable guy. card,elped me get my osha my food sanitation license, my drivers license, i never thought i would get that, either. i just had an interview

yesterday, but i got a job. [applause] >> our goal is to send guys out when they are ready. they already have guys -- working construction, a law firm, cold stone creamery came in with an offer to start their. different,past is some may be a are nine months, some may be 16 months. malik, what were you doing before, what happened now, what happened before may of last year? doing one year before the program, i was basically out-of-control. in and out of jail, selling it wascatching cases,

completely out of control. and i got into the program began to start making a change, things began to come easier to me. before the program -- mr. and mrs. jones, that is my godfather, my godmother. in 2015, six times. i got shot in the back of my head, my hand, three times in my back. then i was incarcerated after that for a gun charge. i really didn't have any direction, and i wasn't looking for any. now since i have been in the program, they have showed me my self-worth and that there is a easier way than picking up a gun, selling drugs.

black,- these are successful men that are not ducking from the police or enemies. weightowed me a brighter and a brighter future -- writer future.a brighter i ended up getting my food sanitation license, armed security license, and a lot of other security -- accomplishments that i got during the program. done -- i havead done a 360. >> most folks in here haven't been shot. what is it like to be shot? what is it like to lie in your own blood? >> completely unexplainable. when you are questioning and asking yourself if you're going to live, am i going to see my mom tonight?

am i going to make it? no mother wants to bury their child. i don't want my mother to bury me either. it was completely life-changing. sitting in your blood, laying there not knowing what's next. >> how many of your guys have been shot, killed? months, we just lost two friends back to back. of my otherne friends got killed. cycle thatgoing won't stop unless we break it. unless we change and make a difference in our community. >> what made you decide to change? doingelt like if i keep

in the direction i was going, i knew that i was insane. is definition of insanity doing the same thing expecting a different outcome. jail, if i'm going to incidents happen, it is not the law, it is not the police, it is me. me.s nobody's fault, it is brandon, talk about what you were doing before, how things are going now. ago i was struggling to survive in the streets. i had no income, nobody to help me out. i was leaning towards selling drugs and robbing to get my money and the things i wanted. mom thought she

was going to have to bury me or i was going to be in a cell. school's, i out of had to go to alternative schools, and it up getting kicked out. it was rough. then, i have been on the righteous path, trying to do the right thing and make the right moves and choices. mr. and mrs. jones have been a big help, mr. hicks has kept me motivated, not wanting to retaliate when things happen to people close to my family. that was the hardest thing to do. a few months ago, my brother was shot. we grew up together. it was hard to not retaliate and not go back in the street and jeopardize myself. everybody was in my head, stay focused, stay on the right path

and everything will be ok. >> walk people through. violence inntage of chicago is retaliation. this goes back 15-20 years. the thing that is crazy is the kids fighting the battles and dying don't even know why the battles started. it is just what they are doing. walk through how hard it is not to retaliate when that is how you have been trained and raised all of your life. how you struggle with that, what decided -- what you decided not to. >> when you sit down and think about everything going on, thoughts be racing to see somebody you love and they are close to dying. it is hard to stay focused and not make somebody feel the same way they made your lover feel. the thing that kept me calm was

my daughter. me not wanting to lose her, miss out on her life, was the main thing that kept me focused. audience the hardest thing about this year, what has been the toughest thing? >> the toughest thing this year was staying focused and keeping up the good work we have been keeping up. us get handlers certificates, get our resume background, food sanitation. my most recent certificate is asbestos removal, these construction -- deconstruction, and lane pavement. >> hardest part of transformation?

>> hardest thing is staying focused. change, you have people trying to stray you from the direction you want to go. the biggest thing is mind over matter. what's a priority to you? what are your dreams and goals? you have to put yourself first. that is pretty much the hardest thing, staying on track and focused. keeping my head right and not letting anybody else straight me from the direction i want to go. -- straight me from the direction i want to go. >> what we are trying to do is create a safe environment within the group. there hasn't been one fight all year. we had one crazy girlfriend a couple of weeks ago, but it was one of our guys. they are all going to their homes every day. we are not to the point of

reducing neighborhood violence, that's what we are trying to do starting now. this year, you got stabbed. what is that like when you are trying to change, and that is the reality of where you live. hardest thing about that was retaliation. i was in the store, i didn't know what was going to happen. i turned around and a fight started. we just got into a fight. my side felt numb, i didn't know what was going on. when i came out my hoodie was full of blood.

i was trying to get to my grandma's house. i said she was going to patch me up and i'm going to kill him. when i got there, she said i need to go to the ambulance -- to the hospital. i didn't get an ambulance, i drove myself to the hospital. they transferred me because my lung was punctured. the hardest thing was retaliation. for something to happen to me, that was crazy. it was staying focused. my grandma called mr. jones to try to keep me on the right track. you are the only person in his head, the one he is close to. mr. jones really has -- i thank him for everything. >> to questions -- two

questions. what is the best thing about being a life coach, the hardest thing. i go back to cook county jail and bring guys into the program to try to stop the cycle. hicks came back with me, talk about life coaching, and what it was like to go back to that place you had spent too much time. >> life coaching is not the easiest job in the world. almost unexplainable. you heard the guys talking about retaliation. i talked to them about everything. i am a facebook detective, all of that, i need to know what is going on. when they speak of retaliation, here is what you don't understand. when they don't retaliate, they become more of a coward than before when happened to them. now they try to keep them off of the streets.

if he doesn't do anything back, they make him want to do something else to them. life coaching is fun. it is a struggle. i strive through because i didn't have it easy. one of my worst fears is not seeing them one day. waking up, not getting a phone call. we have been blessed, no fights. a few incidents, but for the most part it is a brotherhood. to jump to the county jail thing, it was an honest i am in jailat with my street close on -- clothes on. i am with individuals, it is something else. it is almost like being a basketball player, you never

practiced, and you are finally on the court like why i am here. i figured out that i had to deliver. in the groupguys we were talking to were from the neighborhood i was born and raised in. guys of times see these with their pants sagging, it doesn't mean they are a thug, some of them are more educated than you could imagine. you have to take away what you think about them. they are looking at ua certainly, -- that you a certain way, too. you never get a chance at first -- second chance at a first impression. you are life coaches and probably don't know it. it is a gift. you have to figure out what it is. three grants -- our three

guys ask a question, coming into the program, pay cut or increase? >> it was a pay cut. it was the smartest thing to do. risk, youve any more don't have to look over my shoulder, i don't have to get raw, i am not on corners, i have legal income that can be explained. you canow check stubs, do that selling drugs -- you can't do that selling drugs. was a me, i feel like it pay cut. i also feel like it was worth it. the stuff i had to do before the i don'td other things, have to look out for that anymore. i don't have to worry about

police, anybody robbing me, nobody rating my house -- raiding my house. the smartest thing i could've done with take the pay cut. i would say it was a pay increase for me. i have kids, i have to get my grandma's doors fixed, i didn't know how i was going to get the money. it was a pay increase, because now i know the money is coming. up.e is more than i woke 50-50, about about half are a pay cut, about half is a pay increase. line.l go down the

step back and give a bigger picture. i would love to see chicago have no homicides, that is probably unrealistic. i just want chicago to be more normal, not such an anomaly. to give you a sense of how insane it is right now, chicago is the third largest city in the country. andave more homicides shootings than new york and l.a. combined. number three is more than one and two added together. have 600 homicides last your, we have to go to 92. we have a body count close -- reduction close to 100. normal, let me go down the line. richer -- the big picture for chicago to get in a

place where it is not so crazy, what is it going to take? i am thinking about my own son. we are the parents of four sons, two youngest ones have never walked to a corner store. they didn't know friends on their block because it was dangerous. a predominantly african-american community that i moved into years ago. my family was the first black family on the block. i watched it change, went to high school, went to college, open my business there. i am committed to the community. it is so easy to move away.

i committed, just wanted to stay there and see this turnaround. when i think about what is hard, reaching thean young men, it is like we have to do a holistic approach. what makes young men do this? they are not just waking up in the morning and saying i want to shoot somebody, or sell drugs, there is a lot of dysfunction. at the end of the day, these young men want the same thing your sons and daughters want, they want a healthy life, they want to feel safe, and they want to be successful. i think these guys are showing that. if given opportunity, they can turn their lives around. a lot of african american communities across chicago, there is a huge deficit.

we are trying to fill some of that with great programming, people that care, and opportunity. i think it is going to take more opportunity from organizations like chicago create, and them having the resources to change more lives, to touch more young men. i think that is the way we could have more success. >> mr. jones, how do we take this down in scale across the city? >> one of the things i try to do do encourage other people to . , you have to take a look at them and start listening to them. all the time,ch don't do this, don't do that. listen to their stories. i know who they were when they

came into the program. i did some of the things they did, that did not scare me. i thought they came in because they wanted help. it is a great honor for them to come into the program and get a high school diploma, they accomplished something. a lot of young people in our community don't finish. because they lack intelligence, they lack someone pushing them. and we look at ourselves think we come from nice homes, our children did not go to jail, it is up to us to say let's help somebody else like somebody helped us. somebody helped me go to school. somebody helped me get a job. menn't look at these young

and turned my back on them, that is not fair. some of the circumstances are not the same. when i see them sitting here on this panel, the brookings institute, talking to you, expressing themselves. are are not scared, -- they not scary, they are telling real-life stories. these things are things that happen in their life. certificates, they feel good about themselves. they have a haircut, they look smart, they have a little money in their pocket. i think we have to look at ourselves and say let's help organizations. what can i do to help other young people? i hope you will take this and help us. >> how do we take it down? focusing ono start

some of these at risk young women. everywhere you go it is at a lot of them, are at risk because they feared over the same woman -- feud over the same woman. unplanned parenting, we focus a lot on the young men. the system really has a chokehold on them. they are already walking in fear, scared of the police, whether you have a check stub or not. some guys don't care if they .ave a job

we could be anywhere in the world, but we are here with you. we came here to see you to deliver. start focusing on some of these young women, now. how do we take it down at , and what do you want the audience to know or think about walking out of your -- out of here? programs like chicago cred. nowadays is only joining for protection, a sense , and a lack of role models. modelsin and got role from my life coach, and mr. and

mrs. jones. i would say more programs like chicago cred. more programs like chicago cred. i feel like it is the only program that offered us what we got so far. guaranteeingram they will make sure we get jobs, our high school diploma. the only program that gave us life coaches. m.e only program i feel like we need this program to say around to keep us alive. want busy, that is an idl

e mind. then you have one million things to think about. i feel it chicago cred offered us so much to the point where we need to keep these programs. we got mr. hicks ray here, on amazing life coach. i can call this man at 1:00 in the morning, and he is up. i can call him at any time, he is picking up. i tell him i am in a predicament for me. i feel it this is all we have. they're probably going to be more youth dead, in the county, thisin the penitentiary,

was our hope. we definitely should have more programs. younger.t should start we should reach out to them before they get at risk for start in elementary schools. chaos what leads to the and out of control. if we reach the youth and raise our kids the right way, the next generation will be better than ours. >> let's open it up to the audience. i want to thank you for showing -- sharing these stories. the question is for hicks. you mentioned you have been in prison. what is it like when you come out of prison? how do people treat you?

is there any support provided? is it impossible to get a job when you have a prison record? how can we do a better job helping people coming out of prison? >> nothing is impossible, otherwise we wouldn't be here. you have to have confidence in yourself. coming home from the penitentiary, or the county jail, you already missed out on something. most guys come home low self-esteem, no money, pretty much no family to go to. you are bitter, the blame game is there, you always blame it on everybody but yourself. you have to come home focused. you have to be ready to let go of the streets. the streets have the strongest handgrip on life. you can walk to church on sunday and come home a gang member. the lifestyle is so enticing.

then you have to think when you come home from prison, what is it to have a probation officer, what is offered to them? what is offered in washington? these guys are coming up to this program because this is all they have. for the most part they have been loyal. you are all from something you never had, like me. i never had a job, i never geared to have one -- i never care to have one, i had a gun. when your mindset changes, you have to serve living. -- you have to start living. criminals are the worst in the world. there are people in here that have gotten away with stuff. be honest, you just to get

caught. time are people doing that because they didn't do anything. coming home and they get nothing. you pick your poison. individual that can be brought out. >> you made a statement talking about the streets not wanting to let go. the experiences all of you have get under the skin. my question to you running the program, what are we doing to not provide the help from education, and also the healing that has to come with the traumas that has been experienced? fortunate to have ourmazing psychologist on

team. cbt,uys also have cognitive haverhill therapy -- cognitive behavioral therapy. we have a team of qualified people that are addressing the trauma with all of our young men. it is just part of the program, a very important piece. >> we are doing a lot, and i promise you we are not doing enough. this is current, this is present, this is every single day. writee guys autobiographies, which is tough and extraordinarily powerful. we are doing as much as we can to know we are not doing as much as we should. had a wonderful program where the guys wrote memoirs.

it was an amazing way for them to unload the trauma. they were able to read their stories, and they were so powerful. it was healing. i wish we had brought a sample to read. it is definitely a great part of our program. >> i can't really explain it to you. , i got shotix times in the back of my head, my hand, my back, my arm. to top it off, it took me one year to get back to what i was. trauma, i still don't sleep well all the time.

i can't really tell you how it feels. you just have to be in my shoes to experience it. i wouldn't want anybody to experience it. if you experienced the pain i felt, wondering if i was going to come home. what made it so bad, my son was four months old. i had a girl six months pregnant with my daughter. my kids wouldn't even have known me. i would have been nothing but a figure of their imagination. they would have had nothing but stories., the trauma, you can't sleep, not eating. i can't really explain it to you. say, they gave me an outlet. we have therapists, life coaches, people trying to help

us heal. i basically have to heal at my own pace. >> good afternoon. i am sure you have seen the coverage in the news about ,arkland and the mass shootings the conversation about gun violence centering on that specific type of school violence. how do we open up the conversation? we talk about violence for all kids in all communities. kids thata lot of look like me in places here that face a lot of trauma and violence daily, but are not part of the conversation. what will help open people's eyes to see that all kids should

be safe? >> we sent down six of our high school teams to sit down with the parkland kids, it was transformational on both sides. ch.re went to visit us in mar those -- weilding are building those bridges. the diversity of the movement is more hopeful. the parkland kids got the need to have our kids health with the movement -- help with the movement. like you said earlier, it takes a lot of courage to not retaliate and also be able to walk in your neighborhood, where your peers and neighbors know that you have not retaliated. i salute you for having the courage to just walk down the

street with your heads up. to our you pertains all aware of any analysis between how much a murder costs? in the district, before the investigation of a murder, it is over $600,000, the cost of the city overall, her murder -- per murder. have you seen any programs able to measure the cost of anyone being murdered. before they even start the prosecution and jailing,, maybe say one person dies, 500,000 can be put into a program. are you aware of any analysis in that direction? >> we did all that analysis before we started. every homicide in chicago costs the city between $1.3 million and $1.4 million.

our cost per head is lower than that. our time is for around one year. ongoingnot an investment from the public sector. we are doing it from the private side. case, forget the hard piece of it. the financial savings to society is staggering. >> thank you. on the list for a lot of meetings that take place here. this is the first one i made sure i can come to so i can greet you all. people are thinking about you here.

it used to be the city with that high number. i am a washingtonian, i know about the numbers, i know about the crack numbers, i know all of that. all, how doto you you feel when you see the outpouring of support when 50 people are killed, and 600 are not spoken about in chicago? everyone changes their facebook profile when there is a mass shooting. i keep thinking chicago, what about the 550, the 600. it was a mass shooting, for the white people were killed at a concert, god bless all of them. what about the 600 poor black people killed in chicago year after year. how do you feel about that?

being from chicago, it is normal to us. i think it is normal for you, too. it is chicago, turn the tv, another shooting. we need to pay more attention to social media. if you look at these mass shootings, there was a possibility for it to be stopped. look into his social media, into his texts, we overlook the smallest things and it becomes huge. as far as chicago, we are sick of it. you do not have to get out of your car, we have a drive-through. if you want to see your partner, look, roll your window down, and keep going. people selling it don't have a problem. it is just us.

i want to hear about a school shooting. it is all set because there is -- sad because they are innocent. we never think it could happen to us. that is why it the program is -- that is why the program is so good. we don't have guys taken their invincible anymore. everybody has to do something better sometimes. the mirror means a lot. don't wash your face only, talk -- talk to you yourself. >> you mentioned working with community organizations. i am curious about the strength the community organizations bring and the building to do

this kind of work. one of the things i realize in doing this work is there are resources in our community. one of the biggest challenges has been connecting the youth to these resources. i remember going to my local park and participating in a number of different things through the course of my career. everything i did, from volleyball, all of the great services i got as a kid carried me in life. at that time they were calling -- they were not calling the instructor a mentor, it was just a volleyball coach. i think it is so important we figure out ways to connect our kids to all of these resources. a child that is connected is

less likely to be involved in incidents of violence. my agency is a very small agency. have networked with larger agencies in the community that would get funding. the biggest challenge has been ,hat the funding was so small only the tip of an issue with a kid. kid -- west giving have to think about ways to build capacity with smaller agencies. a lot of times it is smaller agencies doing big work. been a huge part of helping us build capacity. once this is over, we will be

able to sustain ourselves longer and continue to help the young people in the community. -- it didn't matter the size of funding we got. we would bring as many as 8 to 10 partners in. we cannot serve all the children, but does it partners are serving 100 kids one way or another. now we are serving 800 kids as opposed to us doing 50 kids in our agency. building fast he is huge. working together is huge. thank you for your question. >> if it happens and they do not give us the money, sometimes away we are making it happen. it is the work. we are dedicated to this work.

>> whether you are dealing with or without the money. >> i know we need to close. first programs do not change lives. it is relationships. it is not just these three relationships toward the other three. what our young men do to support each other and move in other ways. remarkable. another guy who was not here, i met him his summer -- this summer at a family picnic, terrific, and it kept him from italian. it is relationships, not programs, that change lives. thanks for getting guys a second guys, itr many of our is their first chance. they are making a rational choice because they never had better choices. no one is assigned by probation officers. have massive, you waiting lists. .> 75 people

>> looking to get in. we are trying to reach more guys. theseel this today said guys are not the problem in chicago. they are solution. i am optimistic about where we we hears a city, and are going to do our part to help. it will be these guys putting down their guns, talking to their friends, bringing in the next group that will lead to the city -- lead the city to a wanted different place. for five years from now, i'm convinced that we will be better. please give them a round of applause. [applause]

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president trump says he will meet with that north korean leader. the two plan to meet in may. rex tillerson is on his first official trip to africa meeting with leaders from six countries. he responded to questions about president trump's announcement. secretary tillerson: with respect to talks with north this versus negotiations, seems to be something that people continue to struggle with the difference. my comments have been the

conditions are not right for negotiations. we have been saying for some time we are open for talks. president trump has sent for some time that he is opened to talks, and he will willingly eat un when the time is right, and the president's judgment has arrived now. there is no -- in my comments indicatingi was comments about negotiations, but we have an open for talks for some time. in terms of the decision to engage between president trump is aim jong un, that decision the president took himself. i spoke to him this morning about the decision, and we had a good conversation. this is something he has had on his mind for quite some time, so it was not a surprise because this has long been something.

he has expressed it openly before about his willingness to meet with kim. so now i think it is a question of agreeing on the timing of that first meeting between the two of them at a location -- and a location, and that will take weeks before that is worked out. knows a prize. we know there has been a luck of discussion, and you have been reading about that through the intra-korean dialogue. we have been having context back and forth with them, as you are well well, through channels we have had opened for some time, and this was the most forward-leaning report we have had in terms of kim's not just willingness, but his strong desire for talks. i think it was -- what changed was his posture in a very dramatic way that in all honesty us,is a little surprised that he was so forward leaning

in his conversations with the delegation from south korea. ," this weekend on "book tv live coverage from the tucson festival of books, from the university of arizona, starting saturday at noon, with columnist edward luce who talks about politics. then a discussion about the trump administration with david .ohnston, astronaut scott kelly talks about space exploration with his book "endurance: a year in space, a lifetime of discovery." sunday live coverage continues at 1:00 with a talk with women and the bookry "code girls."

dinner discussion on the republican party with craig shirley and his book " newt."n e book,er talks about his "go back to where you came from." watch our live coverage of the tucson festival of books on c-span2's "book tv." >> during a senate hearing on opioid addiction, oregon governor kate brown and maryland governor larry hogan testified under states' responses to the epidemic for a committee. this is about an hour and 40 minutes.