this is "nightline." >> tonight, new protests erupting on the streets of chicago. angry demonstrators demanding the mayor's ouster after he apologizes for the city's response to a deadly police shooting. a city torn apart by charges of police misconduct and gang-related murders. tonight, one mother's painful journey to improve the place some refer to as chiraq. we're hearing from the new young stars of the hotly anticipated "star wars: the force awakens." about to bring you back to the galaxy far, far away. what the newbies told us about the legendary harrison ford.

and this year's favorite viral videos. the shake it off singing cop. the ball prank. guess who still holds the title for the most popular video of all-time? first the "nightline 5." >> what does it take to stay close to a dad who's oceans away? a box of crayons. a fleet of paper airplanes. and a delivery from overseas. that make the distance disappear. paper and packaging. how live unfield olds.

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good evening. thap are thanks for joining us. tonight many in chicago saying, enough is enough. protesters taking to the streets demanding action. it's the latest clash in an ongoing war against violence in a city that's lost so many sons and daughters. spike lee's latestilm "chiraq" takes a look at the violence that's plagued the city. the toll it's taking and one mother who's fighting for change. here's my "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> this is my son, my baby. >> reporter: pam bosley knows chicago's pain like few others. a doting wife and mother. that's terrell, her oldest boy, raised in the church beside her. the last time they talked that's where he was. >> he was at church. i was like, baby, be careful. he's like, ma, you're always worrying. i'm good, i don't know why you're tripping, ain't nothing going to happen to me. my next call was, my baby been shot. >> reporter: he was 18, a

trouble, gunned down on his way into choir practice on chicago's south side. terrell collapsed at the pastor's feet. >> i need you now. i need you now >> reporter: the suspected motive, a gang initiation, a wannabe hoodlum ordered to gun down a stranger. terrell bosley happened to be that stranger. songs that once soothed pam's soul now only add to her suffering. >> i can't watch no more. that's my baby. so i really don't watch the videos. because he's supposed to be still here singing. >> reporter: pam's son just one of the thousands who have died here in the past ten years. chicago has one of the nation's highest murder rates. and in the past month, news of the deaths of two young african-americans -- 9-year-old day shon lee, a target in a gang war. >> this is my only baby. >> reporter: and 17-year-old laquan mcdonald, shot 16 types by a chicago police officer --

making. >> we as a city must and can do better. >> reporter: today protests erupted all over the city. demonstrators stormed the resignation. >> racist police! >> reporter: after the release of multiple ved yoes showing violence. it wasn't the police who killed pam bosley's son. nearly a decade later she still trigger. >> 70% of the cases are not solved in chicago. 70% of the cases in chicago are unsolved. the community i live in is not valued. >> reporter: pam bosley is not a statistic, she's a commentator. she did what good parents are supposed to do, yet her boy still died. >> you hear people talk about all the time what parents don't do, that their kids get in trouble because they didn't have this. you have a beautiful home, loving husband, believing in the importance of education,

>> yes. the perception of our black men is that they're all in gangs and sell drugs. that's the perception we have to get away from. a lot of them are good kids that are being killed. >> reporter: so afraid of the danger outside their front door, pam and her husband built this backyard patio. >> this is the safe haven spot that i put together for terrell. >> reporter: it didn't protect terrell. now she keeps an even tighter grip on their two remaining sons. >> lovely as your home is, it seems like a prison. >> it is. my middle son told me, mom, you've got me living inside this box, can you let me outside? i try to let him out a little bit. but it is a prison. >> reporter: it's the senseless violence in chicago that inspired spike lee's newest satire "chiraq." the title, where did the word come from, why'd you use it? >> local chicago rappers made it up, not me. i used it for the same reason they thought it up.

1st, ended on july 9th. during that time, 331 people wounded and shot, 65 gun murdered. >> land of pain, misery, strife. >> reporter: the real meets the surreal. two rival gang leaders engage in a bitter battle over control of the city's south side. why do this movie? what do you want the audience to take away from it? >> usually when i get asked that question i say, i don't want to dictate the audience, tell them what i think. i make an exception in this case. we have to talk about guns. guns affect every american citizen in this country. >> reporter: in a departure from his lighter roles nick cannon plays a ruthless gang leader. >> we force our men to negotiate peace. >> reporter: chiraq is based on the ancient greek play where a group of women wage a sex strike to persuade their men to drop their guns. >> we know the power we have over them withholding just a day.

stars as leader of the strike. >> all you care about is this tired gangster game. it's lame. >> what drew me is i remember getting the script from spike. the first thing he said to both of us is, we have to save lives. that's what this is about. >> time-out. save lives? >> yes, absolutely. >> that's a high bar. >> it is. >> how does this movie save lives? >> when you look at these communities, it's drugs, women, and guns. those are the pillars. and in order to break that system you have to come in and knock one of those pillars down. >> it's a powerful thing to see a powerful black woman. it only takes one person to start a movement. this is my version of a superhero. outstanding. >> saving lives. that's our job. >> reporter: the premise of "chiraq" may seem outlandish, the characters more like cairk ra tours of black america. credit ins say lee's choices trivialize harsh reality.

movie and say, the serious issues going on in chicago, how dare you do a movie with satire? >> "chiraq" is not the first film in the history of cinema that has used satire in a subject matter. jennifer hudson. she's in the film. her mother, brother, nephew were murdered in chicago. if this film is not righteous, she would not be part of it. >> when a murderer walks free, we are all in danger. >> reporter: john cusack's character in the film is a loose portrayal of real-life chicago priest father michael flagger. >> taid we stop a shooting, i'm the happiest man in the world. >> reporter: he's led a congregation in chicago's south side for the last 30 years. for those who would be offended by the title, "chiraq"? >> i say, you ought to be

great city that i love has 2,350 shot, primarily black and brown. if those were primarily white kids? america would have dealt with it. when i have a sixth grader who says to me, when i ask her what do you want to be when you grow up? she says, alive. no child should have to wrestle with that kind of thinking at sixth grade. >> reporter: the father counseled the bosleys after the death of their son. >> i don't come by here at all. >> reporter: we were with pam outside the church where her world was shattered, when she got unsuspected news about her son's suspected killer. >> the pastor's wife was telling me somebody came to the church and said the person who shot terrell got shot and killed. they just told me. >> what does it do to your spirit to hear that? >> even though that person got shot and killed, i wanted that person to go to jail. >> cycle just continuing? >> yeah, it is. >> reporter: tonight or whatever night the demonstrators go quiet, the politicians move on,

from within will keep dying inside just a little bit more. >> you going to be okay? >> you know what, i'm going to be okay when i die and go to heaven with my son terrell and with god. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm byron pitts on the south side of chicago. >> our thanks to byron pitts. "chiraq" is in theaters now. the fresh new faces of "star wars: the force awakens" dishing about what happened on set. the top ten trending global videos of 2015. did the cops shaking it off come out on top? it's gonna be all right

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cc1 test is it me or does it seem the world is waiting on the edge of its seat for the return of "star wars"? they first took the galaxy by storm 38 years ago. vengeance. and while much of the excitement is for the return of some of our favorite characters, there are some charismatic young stars who got to tango with the legendary space cowboy harrison ford. here's abc's chris connelly. >> reporter: breath-taking battles. >> give it everything you got! >> reporter: bone-chilling bad guys. dogfights. and droids. plot details of "star wars: the force awakens" remain under wrap. yet while the seventh film in the "star wars" series will bring back to the big screen such beloved figures as luke, princess leia, han solo,

the movie features two newcomers facing off against the dark side. >> i don't know your name. >> finn. what's yours? >> i'm rey. >> reporter: an ex-storm trooper named finn and rey. >> she's really cool. fy had a little sister i would be so pleased for her to see the character. >> are we really doing this? heroes for this new generation, played by two fresh-faced 23-year-olds from the uk. john boyega and dazely ridley. >> i'm shaking, this is insane. >> reporter: boyega looked at original "star wars" auditions. >> you're on your own, i'll let your own, i'll let you off on the nearest system. >> you can't. we've come this far, we must find them. >> you talk about "star wars" acting. >> in a normal movie if you were am a ship, it was about to crash, the characters would call

love them and cry. in star wars it's like, whoo-hoo! we've done a lot of that. >> reporter: taking her own approach, ridley, for her first major film role made the choice not to pore over the earlier films at the outset. >> i'm really glad that i didn't know it that well because i didn't feel like i was trying to fit into anything. job. >> reporter: joined by adam driver playing dark side demon kylo ren with the much buzzed about light saber. >> the first time they've been able to actually put light in it where it reflects two people's faces and do special effects and 3d print, the whole thing armed with lights and special effects, it's pretty heavy. >> reporter: a whiz bang pilot, accomplished actors, with memories of "star wars" from childhood. >> this is crazy, look around. >> what was your first experience of a "star wars" film? >> "return of the jedi." really the moment when darth

i remember. it stuck with me very much. it was such a weird, sad man underneath that. >> you were right about me. >> it will be like when his helmet will come off. >> my dad had a storm trooper helmet he's helmet he'd chase us around the house with. >> terrifying. >> that's great. that's great. >> trying to make us cry. i punched him in the nose one time, he was very proud of me. so that's how i was exposed to it, through pain and misery. >> reporter: "the force awakens" begins 30 years after "return of the jedi" with rey compelled to caf vage on an arid planet. >> she has no family, she has no friends. for someone to maintain a hope within that is a wonderful then. >> camera, action! >> reporter: guidance occasionally from j.j. abrams,

shoes, but from the on the set presence and involvement from the original cast. >> this is the real thing. we're actually doing it. that's chewbacca, that's peter mayhew, that's anthony daniels, that's harrison, carrie, mark -- i think that for me made it feel -- that's what made it feel very real. >> you might need this. >> i think i can handle myself. >> did you sit in harrison ford's seat? >> i did. i piloted "the falcon." i went to step into it and he's like," that's mine." it wasn't funny, it was really embarrassing. j.j. is like, oh my god. but he was gracious. >> he offered to teach me a little bit. he did say, remember, it's in space. like i didn't know what i was doing, just flipping switching and pretending. >> reporter: less pretending called for on "the force awakens" with abrahams emphasizing so-called practical effects over computer-generated imagery, the real thing. such as the film's new droid bb8.

>> bb8, hold on. >> yeah, whatever, mate. shut up. >> i can say that bb8 is the first kind of real relationship that rey has had in a long time. and it's so pure. it's wonderful. when it came to humans i was probably intimidated. like oh my gosh, can i go back to the droid? >> reporter: for its two young leads the chance to see the finished film well before it's december 18th american release date was huge. >> we sat around together for an hour. on the car on the way to the airport i cried a lot. i didn't know why i was crying. it was a very odd out of body kind of experience. >> it was fantastic. i think i'm great in it. >> oh, gosh. >> i think i head somewhere you've been cuddling your dog and baking cakes to keep from going out and having to say what happens in "star wars"? >> that's my life. i don't do that to stop the rest

much longer. stardom may beckon after the world gets to see these two in action wearing their "force awakens" wardrobe. >> you'll never see this costume clean because of the stuff that happens when i'm wearing it. were going to wear that beautiful number? >> we tried a couple combinations. when we got to the desert, obviously it's designed for the desert, it just felt perfect. it fits to the atmosphere so well. >> reporter: the atmosphere had temperatures that soared to 120 degrees, leaving these two grateful for the physical training they endured. >> we were both so relieved. when we got to abu dhabi we had to run so much. without the preparation, we would have -- >> john, daisy, again, faster? >> faster, mere intense? more ence intense? >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm

>> "star wars: the force awakens" is produced by a division of abc's parent company, disney. was it the officer shaking it off in his cop car? president obama reading mean tweets for jimmy kimmel? who bested youtube's top

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so. if you're like most people you can sometimes end up spending an embarrassing chuck of time falling into a youtube rabbit hole. catchy tunes, comic pratfalls, emic pranks.

who's the winner? 2015, a year of prolific prank and sensational spoofs. youtube releasing its top ten trending global videos of 2015. at nine, the dover police officer who couldn't help but shake it off. players gonna play to play play >> reporter: 37 million dancing with him. roman atwood with this crazy plastic ball prank at number three. a whopping 56 million views and counting. number two is the clash of chance revenge super bowl commercial. liam neeson battling it out for more than 83 million views. >> you will regret the day you crossed angry neeson 52. >> reporter: and at number one, if you have an 8-year-old in your life, you have it on repeat. heaven king with this rendition of "watch me." as in whip and nene. taking the crown for 116 million views.

the most viewed youtube video of all-time. "gangnam style." nearly 2.5 billion views. and no end in sight. got to love the koreans. thanks for watching. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow first thing. as always we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com. good night, america. heather: a woman killed by a red line train. john: how the attempt to save her sent two firefighters to the

mary: the safety change here at