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Taking Aim: Chicago Violence

Aired October 03, 2009 - 15:58   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at our top stories right now. A second major storm slams into the Philippines. Thousands of people fled the coastline for higher ground. Officials say Typhoon Parma veered to the north and missed heavily populated areas. Just last week another typhoon dropped up to 20 inches of rain on the country.

Five more U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan. NATO says three died in roadside bombings, the other two in a hospital attack.

And police are making arrangements for a Tennessee woman to be reunited with her missing newborn son. Authorities say the baby was snatched three days ago and found alive and well in northern Alabama. Police have arrested the woman suspected of abducting the baby. His mother says the woman claimed to be an immigration agent. We'll get another check of the top stories in about 20 minutes from now.

Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and you're in the NEWSROOM. This hour we're going to talk about two big things involving Chicago, one, the horrible spate of violence that already in the past school year has claimed the lives of 37 public school students, and then No. 2 two a legal case going to the U.S. Supreme Court because at least one Chicagoan says he is so scared that he wants people to lawfully have handguns in their homes.

So first, on the heels of dashed high hopes to host the 2016 Olympic games, back to the painful present. Violence in the Windy City is swirling out of control. Today, the burial of a high school honor student, brutally beaten to death. Images of the unthinkable act taken by a cell phone, the act so shocking, the White House is sending the U.S. Attorney general and U.S. education secretary to Chi town next week. The spike in violence elicited these thoughts from you on CNN's iReport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALMA SOKOYA, CHICAGO TEACHER: We need to stop dehumanizing gang members, and we need to start humanizing them, and what I mean by that is, we need to start actually taking an active and proactive approach to these people, and that's who they are, they are our brothers, our sisters, our uncles, our aunts and we need to treat them as such and be able to go to them and say, you know what, what your doing is effecting all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's just some of what you're saying on iReports this hour. We're joined by a host of people. Take a look right here, Ron Hall, the Chicago Police officer whose 16-year-old son died in street violence, CNN's Don Lemon who returned to the city he once lived in to report on what has been going on; Attorney Alan Gura who is representing the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court handgun case and civil attorney rights attorney Avery Friedman also with us, our Josh Levs who is fielding comments via our blog and Facebook.

All right. We're going to here from all of them in the next hour.

First, let's begin with Don Lemon who is in Chicago. This is a very painful, sad day for many Chicagoans, particularly those who are mourning the loss of Derrion Albert today who was laid to rest. Don -

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it is very sad and painful and you can see that it's raining here in Chicago. We're along the river here and just across from the lakefront. I had to rush here, Fred, just came back from 16-year-old Derrion Albert's funeral and listening to a number of city officials, a number of ministers, a number of people speak, his mom, obviously distraught, and was tough sitting there watching her, watching his 11-year-old sister and all the family members here.

There's a real problem in the city and city officials say they are trying to tackle it. They're trying some new initiatives. Some of those people spoke about that today at the funeral, but Fred, I want to tell you that just the day before yesterday, I sat down with Derrion Albert's mother. Because she wanted to do it and she wanted the world to hear it. That's why she sat down with us. She wanted the world to hear it, not just here locally in Chicago.

She wanted the world to hear her grief, what she was going through and how to keep this from happening to other parents, other people around the world, around the country. It's not just a Chicago problem. She said it's a world problem and I want you to hear how she has been spending her last few days. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Right now, it is, kids are just starting to go back to school, right? Halloween, holidays or whatever, tell people what you're doing. What's your day like? You have to go and do what today?

AN-JANETTE ALBERT, MOTHER OF FATALLY BEATEN TEEN: I have to go find my son's suit to bury him in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So she had had to go pick out a suit. She said she has to get a haircut. She have to make arrangements for him and even in the midst of all that, Fred, she was still trying to keep, have some control over her family, over her son. She didn't want her 11-year- old daughter out of her sight. She didn't want people doing too many things for her even though they were trying to put her at ease and have her not deal with as many details as possible. She also wanted me to speak to her 11-year-old daughter and the daughter wanted me to speak to her as well. She wanted to talk about her brother. She said she's a good student, and she's a good girl. Her brother, she said, was a good guy, but she wants to do even better just because of what happened to her little brother. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHAEA ALBERT, FATALLY-BEATEN TEEN'S SISTER: I'm kind of nervous to go outside these days because of what happens to kids now. Kids around my age, kids that around other ages grown, they could still get hurt, no matter what.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: She said she wants to, she's already making As and Bs, she says, but she wants to be an honor student now. So that she can honor her brother. But again she's afraid to go outside. The mother said she's afraid as well obviously and they don't know what to do. But they're ready to step up and try to make things different not only for Chicago but for everyone, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, Don, this is so heartbreaking at the same time it makes you so angry that these young kids that anyone, Chicago or any city, has to deal with this problem that is right in everybody's face. So give me an idea, while you said there were new initiatives that were talked about. Even at Derrion Albert's funeral, the city is willing to take on, violence in Chicago is nothing new.

Well, why is it different now? Why has it reached this pitch that perhaps has gotten this city the most attention and now we know the White House, it's gotten their attention, too.

LEMON: Well, it's a culmination of things, if you look at. You gave the numbers right at the top of the show. You said, you know, 2008-2009 school year, 37 children died. The year before that, it was I believe it was 35 or 31, if I get my numbers correct, somewhere in the 30s which is just horrific. And then before that, the year before that and the years before that, less than 10.

So you have all of these kids who are dying not necessarily on school property, but these young kids who are dying. You have the president, who is from the south side of Chicago, where he was a community organizer, the first lady as well, and then you had that horrific video, which really brings home the point about what is happening here, and then all eyes on Chicago, because of the Olympics.

Many people walking on the streets today said hey, look at this picture, look at the people. They're so sad. They're so heart- broken. Why aren't people heartbroken, and sad and gathering about children dying on the streets of Chicago? It is a wake-up call not only to Chicago but to the country when it comes to youth violence.

WHITFIELD: We're going to delve into this much further within this hour. Don Lemon, thanks so much for your reporting. We know also that you're going to be delving it into further in the 5:00 Eastern hour.

For now, let's go with our Josh Levs who is hearing from you in so many different ways. But for those of you who are just now tuning in and want to know how to be a part of this conversation, we're trying to look for some solutions, we want to flush out this problem and how do we get beyond this. Josh, how do people do it?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I'll tell you something. it's not just the people in Chicago, Don was talking to, who are saying that kind of thing to him. We're hearing it from people all over the country, who are following the same story. They feel there should be an uproar. And some of them are feeling it themselves.

Let me just tell you all. Throughout this hour, one thing I love about this show is as the discussion goes on, on TV, there's simultaneously a discussion happening among you online. I want to show you all right now how to join that conversation throughout this hour.

As you see the guest list, take a look at the graphic. Weigh in at any time, you got my page there at cnn.com/josh. That's the blog, also Facebook and Twitter, joshlevscnn. Let's come back to the screen for a second. I'll show you, Fred, just a couple of examples of what people have been writing us at the NEWSROOM blog at cnn.com/newsroom. We're saying what's going on in Chicago, and that's what you click on.

This one's interesting. This comes to us from Larry, "What the kids know is that the bad guys are rarely arrested. If they are rested they will be back on the streets with little if any punishment. The bad guys will arrest and punish anyone who snitches on them." We're also seeing debates already, Fred, about gun ownership, and that's something we're looking at throughout this hour. We'll present your questions to our guests.

WHITFIELD: That's right. We're going to look into that and Josh even on my blog, we got one young man, Alex (INAUDIBLE), talking about what is at the root of the problem, the violence in Chicago, he said "it's called war, deadly video game images, gangster rap, daddy in jail, parents on crack and drugs, poverty, oppression," He goes through a whole litany of things.

And that's kind of where we are. Everyone agrees that this is a terrible problem but people feel rather conflicted about how to get to the root of the problem, how do you end this. We're also going to talk to a veteran Chicago police officer who is feeling conflicted in many ways.

He's on the streets all the time, trying to get to the bottom of crime and how to protect people. But at the same time he's mourning the loss of his 16-year-old son who, died in street violence. Much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Our focus this hour taking aim, Chicago violence. The White House also weighed in. In fact, it is sending the attorney general Eric Holder as well as the education secretary, Arne Duncan, to Chicago to get to the root of why violence is so out of control.

This on the heels of the beating death of a 16-year-old, Derrion Albert, who was laid to rest today. The beating taking place right in the view of everyone and a cell phone video captured the images. It was heart-wrenching to watch. It also caught the attention of the White House's Robert Gibbs. He agreed it's just too much to bear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, CNN WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can tell you obviously that the reports of and the video that we have seen on television is among the most shocking that you could ever see, the killing of an honor student by others, who was beaten to death, is chilling, chilling video, and I think this is something that the administration has been working on.

This is not just a Chicago-specific problem, obviously. Youth crime and gang violence or something that this administration takes seriously, and we'll have more on that soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Chicago Police superintendent, Jody Weiss, also weighed in and said, "This is a problem that the police department can't fix alone."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. JODY WEISS, CHICAGO POLICE: There's never going to be enough police officers to just randomly saturate a city. We do it based upon information that we receive, based upon intelligence that we derive and we try to put the officers in the key spots to make sure that these kids are safe.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Why are things seemingly worse in Chicago for young people going to school than in other cities with bigger populations? I mean, do you have a sense of what the problem is?

WEISS: Well, I think you have to look at this recent tragedy. Here a young boy, an honor student, a top notch kid, he's killed by a mob of his peers who were filled with such hatred and such violence that they're willing to just snuff out his life. That's so hard to understand.

Anyone watching that tape had to be horrified at the violence and just the anger in which he was struck down at the prime of his life, and I think we have to ask, how did it get like that? I think -

COOPER: Are you saying it's parents? It's families?

WEISS: No, what I'm saying is I think it's society. I think the White House hit it on the head when it's going to take community involvement. We have to attack this problem with every resource we have. I think Ron Huberman is right on target. The key to changing this attitude, keep the kids in school. They're safe in the schools. Teach them conflict resolution, you know, we've got kids getting spun up over minor, minor differences, and reaching out and engaging in violence right away. They have to learn conflict resolution. I think that's critical so that they can deal with life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Among the people that this hit very hard, news of the beating death of this child, was someone who lost his own child, a 16- year-old child, to violence in the streets. He also happens to be a veteran Chicago Police officer of 18 years. Ron Holt joining us now. Mr. Holt, good to see you.

OFC. RON HOLT, CHICAGO POLICE: Hi, Fredricka. How are you?

WHITFIELD: When the news of this young boy happened this week, did you kind of feel you were reliving all over again what happened to you and your family?

HOLT: Oh, most definitely. When I saw the horrific tragic end to, that ended Derrion's life, it did strike a cord right to my heart and to see another good, young, innocent human being like Derrion, 16 years old, just like Blair was, not bothering anyone, not involved in gangs, guns, drugs, or this culture of violence, that his life had to be taken the way it was.

So yes, it was very reminiscent of when Blair lost his life. When I saw that video, it actually took me back to when Annette and I were in court, and on the sentencing date of the offender that took Blair's life, and we sat there and watched the bus surveillance video of Blair being shot along with four other kids on the bus.

WHITFIELD: Because someone had walked on to the public bus where your son was, Blair, and simply opened fire?

HOLT: Yes. Yes, so it took me back to that, and it just brings it up to speed as to how out of control that segment of the youth culture has become, and it's a lot of things that have come into play, in society, but before you even go, I want to express my condolences to the family of Derrion Albert.

I know what they're going through. I stayed in constant contact with Derrion's grandfather, Joseph Walker, and he is just beside himself with grief. So I just wanted to say that first that my heart and my prayers and my thoughts on behalf of my family and Blair's family go out to his family and that hopefully he'll have to endure this, unfortunately.

WHITFIELD: And we know they appreciate that. While everyone agrees it is out of control. It is bad. Not everyone agrees on how to address it. We just heard the police superintendent who said it is going to rely in large part of the community and it also means that people whether it be at home or in a child's life really have to help kids learn better about conflict resolution. Can it be that simple? Can it be boiled down to something like that or do you see that something else would have to take place, as real intervention to get to the bottom of this, stop this?

HOLT: Well, what you have in here and what you're seeing here, Fredricka, is you're seeing a segment of society that, where you might have a parent, or parents who are quite dysfunctional in their own lifestyles, in that they have no life lesson skills or life lesson management approach to how to raise a child, and how to, when you bring a child into the world, the necessary components that are needed to show a child that, about life lesson skills about growing up, about being law-abiding, about discipline, spiritual enrichment.

You have to enhance their education as well. Parents have to participate in the educational process of their children, so their children won't be so intimidated by the educational system. And you also have, if a parent doesn't know better, then they can't teach their child better. It's plain and simple as that, and Fredricka, let me say this -

WHITFIELD: So it's not just a matter of helping the children, you're saying, it's a matter of helping the parents as well, finding a way to help them?

HOLT: Yes. You may have parents who may be so ashamed of themselves or embarrassed that they are afraid to ask for help, knowing that they've fallen short of passing along any constructive guidance to their children in that they just withdraw themselves. Now they shouldn't do that.

They should just step forward and ask for the help, because Fredricka, there are resources necessary. There are resources that are present in the city of Chicago where they can go and get help on how to be a good parent or how to be a responsible and accountable parent, and a consistent parent in the lives of their children, so they can at least give their children half of a chance in life. If not better.

WHITFIELD: And Officer Holt, there are a lot of questions that people have about how do we, you know, find some answers on this. And in fact, one question actually comes by way of our blog in Facebook and Josh Levs has that to field to you. Because someone apparently has a question directly for you because they want some help understanding all of this as well.

LEVS: Fred, we're getting a lot of reactions over here and Mr. Holt, I want to bring this to you. It's interesting. A lot of people questioning what about those who don't trust the police? Let's show the question here or the comment. I want to see if you can respond to this. This came to us from Andrew. He talks about have grown up - he says in what he calls "the beginning of the "stop snitching" movement in the early '90s."

He says "A major part of my culture and child-rearing is that police harass, profiteer from the public and victimize. A vast movement of today's parents do not trust police and teach their children the same." He goes on to say "even more so there's a lack of trust and faith in the children services division of government. If we want a society that puts faith in the justice system, may be we could start by providing a trustworthy justice system."

Now talk to me about this a little bit. Because he's not the only one saying there are a lot of parents out there who don't see this as the simple good guys/bad guys, don't have faith in the police. What do you do about that culture and what do you do about police departments out there to try to make sure that culture doesn't exist?

HOLT: Well, what you have, and speaking for myself and a lot of police officers that I've worked with, but what you have within the Chicago Police department, you have a community outreach through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy Office, of which I am assigned right now.

Being a motivational student speaker, being a local, former local school counsel, elected parent representative from a couple of years ago, I had always had a connection to our youth, to our schools, to our community, and of course, being a veteran police officer, who grew up in the neighborhood.

Now what, we do and what I like to do is you connect with the community, and you build bridges of trust through cooperation, through involving the police department and faith-based initiatives, youth programs.

You also reach out to the educational leaders and the business leaders, and you build bridges of trust, not only with them, but more importantly, the homeowners, the stakeholders in the community, you show them -

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: Yes. We have to go but everything you're naming, is that happening adequately in Chicago right now?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLT: Yes, sir. You're talking to a person who is involved in that.

LEVS: Sure, but in your view, beyond you - big picture.

HOLT: There are a lot of police officers. We have a community -

WHITFIELD: Actually, Officer Holt, what we're going to do, we know we're going to have you later on in the hour. We're up against a hard break and I want you to answer that for us and kind of give us the path ahead for that community policing. I know you've been involved in it for a long time.

HOLT: I'd love to.

WHITFIELD: I'm anxious to know and a lot of folks are anxious to know how much more work would have to be done or if you're satisfied with the work that's been done so far in community policing. So when we come back we're also going to talk about in this very week where we heard about the tragic beating death of this 16-year-old boy, and today he's being laid to rest.

We also heard the U.S. Supreme Court is taking on a case that is rooted in Chicago, and it would mean the argument of lifting potentially the ban of handguns in the city of Chicago. Would this, if it were to happen, make people feel safer?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We have a lot more to tell you about a taking aim at Chicago violence. The focus of this hour. First a look at the top headlines.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has arrived in Iran. Mohammed Elbaradei is making arrangements to inspect a recently disclosed uranium-enrichment facility near Qom. Iran agreed to inspections during a meeting with Western officials on Thursday.

More misery meantime for the Philippines, a new typhoon made landfall today, just days after an earlier storm blamed for at least 246 deaths. The new storm has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

And a reality TV celebrity died has died in a fist fight. A.J. Jewel, who is the fiance of Candy Burris, one of the stars of the "real housewives of Atlanta." Jewel, the ex-fiance, has appeared in several episodes of the series on the Bravo Cable Network. Police say he died in a hospital after a fight outside an Atlanta strip club. A man believed to be one of the club's managers is accused of involuntary manslaughter. Jewel, by the way, is believed to be a co- manager of that facility.

So we've been talking about violence overall in Chicago. Coming up we'll talk to a lawyer who says Chicagoans need to be able to protect themselves by having a gun in their home, and that case is going to the U.S. Supreme Court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So welcome back. "Taking aim, Chicago violence," that is the focus this hour. The violence apparently has been so bad for so long, that one 76-year-old, Otis McDonald, says he was willing to go to court to try to lift the ban in Chicago on handguns. He says having a handgun at home legally would make him feel more protected. Earlier I spoke with him and he explained why having a gun is the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OTIS MCDONALD, PLAINTIFF IN CHICAGO GUN RIGHTS CASE: I think it would help, because if somebody, if there's a deterring factor, this would be it. If you have a gun in your home, somebody outside would be a little bit reluctant to try to enter to take your belongings, take your life or anything else for that matter. They would think, for instance, that, well, if I'm going to come face-to-face with what I've got, then I need to think twice about this, and this is the intent. This is one of the intents to deter. I don't want to kill anybody. I don't want to mess up nobody at all. I just would like to be able to own a gun in my own home, since it is my inherited right. And I know that it's not an inherited right for people running around out there in the streets with all kind of big guns, even little kids, you know. This is not right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: 76-year-old Otis McDonald, who is a resident of Chicago, who was one of the plaintiffs in the case of McDonald versus Chicago, now this case going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguments may begin as early as next year. So Mr. McDonald's attorney, Alan Gura is joining us. He's joining us from Washington.

So Mr. Gura, there is some precedent, even though it's a very different city, Washington, D.C., and the D.C. versus Heller case, which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, it does allow the lawful ownership of weapons in one's home. Is this the path that you're hoping to take this Chicago case?

ALAN GURA, ATTORNEY: Yes. We're very gratified that the Supreme Court has decided to hear the case. Chicago, just like Washington, D.C., has had a handgun ban for many years, and it's very sad to see that it's failed completely at reducing the violence problem.

Chicago is a very violent city, obviously. There are no simple solutions to the problem in Chicago. Better policing would help, better educational opportunities would help. Better parenting on the part of some folks might help but the bottom line is, that when a person is sitting at home, when Otis McDonald is sitting at home and the window breaks and the door starts to give, that's the time, maybe not to think about better educational opportunities, it's too late for that.

The person in that home needs to feel safe, needs to know that they have the ability to defend themselves, and our constitution guarantees that right.

WHITFIELD: So in the D.C. versus Heller case the argument was self-defense and the Supreme Court agreed. Here's a portion of the opinion.

"The handgun ban and the trigger lock requirement is applied to self defense, violating the second amendment. The district's total ban on handgun possession in the home amounts to a prohibition on an entire class of arms that Americans overwhelmingly choose for the lawful purpose of self-defense."

But the difference here, Mr. Gura, is we're talking about a federal city and that situation was made very clear versus Chicago which is not. So might this still be an uphill battle despite this precedence? GURA: No. The fact is after the civil war we realized as a country that we could no longer live in a society where we had the bill of rights protecting us from federal officials, but state and local government officials were running wild, oppressing the people, and we all know that very ugly history during reconstruction.

And so the 14th amendment was ratified and the 14th amendment requires state and local officials including the people who run Chicago to respect the basic constitutional rights of American citizens. If we're going to set an example for the kids out in the streets to follow the law, obeying the law begins with our own government and the constitution is the highest law of the land and it's time the city of Chicago respects it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mr. Gura, we invited the city, their attorneys to be part of this conversation. They did, however, provide us this written statement saying "Guns are involved in the majority of homicides and violent crimes that are committed in Chicago." That, they say, thereby upholds their position that the ban needs to stay. Right now we're looking at the D.C. versus Heller case, that's not what we're looking for right there but instead the city of Chicago's reaction to your case that is now going to the Supreme Court.

GURA: Well handguns are also involved in the overwhelming majority of instances where people successfully defend themselves from violent crime and most of the time, no shots were fired. It's enough that the law-abiding person has a gun. Typically that changes that the plans that the felon or the violent person might have for the victim. We're not asking for anything other than the right to defend ourselves in our own homes with guns, and that is protected by the Constitution.

WHITFIELD: Arguments began as early as next year. Do you expect any changes to take place before that case is heard in the Supreme Court?

GURA: I'm not expecting any changes in the Supreme Court, but I expect that the Supreme Court will hear the case, give it thoughtful consideration.

WHITFIELD: I guess what I'm asking, the climate of violence right now, what's taking place in Chicago, how in any way that might impact your argument, your case before the Supreme Court.

GURA: The right to self-defense is timeless, and the fact of the matter is that Chicago is a violent city, and we don't have the perfect solution for the violence, but we know that part of the solution is empowering law-abiding people to defend themselves when everything else fails and they come face-to-face with the violent criminal.

WHITFIELD: Alan Gura, thanks so much from Washington.

GURA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Of course, we put the question to a number of people. While Chicago has a ban on automatic and handguns in the homes, not all cities have that ban. So we did ask people who were in the state of Georgia, where there are many cities that allow handguns and this is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm a Chicago native, and I am very close to what is happening there, and I think in Chicago's particular case, something does need to be done in order to stop a lot of the killing and a lot of the destruction of our youth in that particular city. So I think that by the government taking a stance, the local government taking a more firm stance, it's really showing the city that they care about the youth and that they're trying to turn things around, so I think for Chicago in particular, it's absolutely relevant and I can also see it being relevant in a lot of other major cities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think a city and state should be allowed to limit your right to bear arms, given recent events with crimes and, you know, things that have happened, where maybe some more gun law prevention would have prevented those crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the criminals got guns. And I think the law-abiding citizens should be able to protect themselves, and I've been thinking myself about getting himself a concealed weapon, when I'm out on the streets. I was just thinking about an incident that happened, what, just two days ago, at a gas station. Two guys pulled up there and fired 15 shots into this guy's car. I said what had happened if I had been at the gas station and all of the sudden he turned around and started shooting at me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think they should have the right to tell you that you can't have a gun. I think there should be some laws on it but they don't really have the right to tell you if you should or should not have one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So the Chicago case on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court that wants to reverse the ban on handguns in the city. The legal obstacles ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. This hour taking aim, Chicago violence. While the city of Chicago tries to grapple with how do they stop this trend of children killing children. Just in the past school year alone, 37 public school students killed in unthinkable violence. Well, there is a case now heading to the Supreme Court which involves a Chicagoan who says he wants the right to bear arms in his home. They want to try to reverse the current ban in the city of handguns and automatic weapons. Why? They're hoping to use this precedent- setting case which was decided in the Supreme Court involving D.C. It was the D.C. versus Heller case. The ruling was the handgun ban that the city of Washington had and the trigger-lock requirement violate the Second Amendment.

The district's total ban on handgun possession in the home amounts to a prohibition on an entire class of arms that Americans overwhelmingly choose for the lawful purpose of self-defense. That's the precedent that the Chicago case is trying to use as it makes its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

We're going be joined by a specialist in law cases. As you know, you're very familiar with him, Avery Friedman, he's a civil rights attorney and law professor. He's going to be joining us right now to give us an idea of exactly what the Chicago case has in store, how they're going to be able to use this precedent-setting case of D.C. versus Heller in order to win what they exactly want from the Supreme Court in Chicago. So there you are, Avery, joining us now. How is this going to be similar or perhaps different?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, you teed it up perfectly, Fredricka. It is very similar in this respect. The law in Chicago is very similar to the legislation in the District of Columbia. The only question here is the Supreme Court made very clear last year in Heller that the ruling concerning the Second Amendment applied only to federal enclaves such as the District of Columbia.

Mr. Gura, who you had on earlier is arguing that look, it should be incorporated as is the rest of the Bill of Rights to apply to state and local governments. And I will tell you this. At least it takes four justices to take a case. Within hours --

WHITFIELD: And so this is pretty remarkable that they, you know, they, meaning the attorneys and the plaintiffs in this case, actually got the victory they wanted from the Supreme Court, in that they will actually entertain this case at all next year.

FRIEDMAN: Well, that's exactly right. And again, within hours of this brand new term, this week, four of the nine justices says, yeah, we want this case, and so when the plaintiff such as Mr. McDonald's lawyers say we're gratified, I think it was pretty well- known that the Supreme Court was going to take this case.

WHITFIELD: And so should the attorneys, Mr. Gura and any others representing Otis McDonald feel a little confident that the Supreme Court thinks that they have a valid argument to be made there in Washington?

FRIEDMAN: Overwhelming. The fact is that we expect that these four justices will try to induce one more, that's all they need, to win, Mr. McDonald gets his guns. He talks about keeping it in his home. But what the case is about is arming society in a very violent city like Chicago, not just in the home, but outside the home, we have an individual constitutional issue. We have a very serious societal issue as a result of that.

WHITFIELD: So then wait a minute. That means that there are going to be far-reaching implications. This will not just be if Chicago were to win this case, meaning the McDonald party, to win this case and be able to have this ban perhaps lifted in Chicago. That would mean other jurisdictions could make similar arguments and have now two precedent-setting cases.

FRIEDMAN: I think that's exactly what we're going to see. I don't think the Supreme Court is going to give carte blanche, but we are going to see the eradication of these gun-control legislations at the local state level, and we're looking for Dodge City all over America now.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. OK so now what is the obstacle, though, what might be standing in the way of any kind of victory for the McDonald and other plaintiffs in this case?

FRIEDMAN: Oh, I think, Fredricka, very little is standing in the way of their victory. I think we're going to see a 5-4 decision in validating Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cleveland.

WHITFIELD: Big cities.

FRIEDMAN: Major cities, that will lose any kind of gun legislation.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Avery Friedman, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Appreciate that for breaking it down.

Of course Chicago, they have a ban on handguns and automatic weapons but in many cities across the country, handguns are allowed in the home. We set out to ask a lot of people particularly in those jurisdictions where having a handgun in the home is legal and we ask them, do you arm yourself at home?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope, not that I know of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and in fact, my friends own lots of weapons. Me? No, I got rid of the weapons because I have children. But once the children leave, the weapons come back.

UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I've always had a gun. I came up in the family. We used to keep a gun up over the fireplace, you know, and it was just natural to have it there in the house, you know, but I don't tote it on my side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't need a gun. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. We do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got one uncle but he's kind of a bad seed, and yeah, U do have a friend who owns a couple guns, and I feel uncomfortable, you know, especially at our age, you know, we're in kind of our early to mid-20s. A lot of the weekends you're out drinking and partying, and there's fights sometimes, tempers flare, and you have alcohol in your system and you may make the biggest mistake of your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So are guns a form of protection or is it simply going to be a nuisance for more problems ahead particularly for a city already riddled with so much violence? We have many thoughts and questions coming from you at home, coming to us, by way of our blog and Facebook. Josh Levs is handling all of that.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Fred, it's going wild. People are weighing in every which way they possibly can. I'm going to show you a couple of here, then we'll show you one I think we have in a graphic. But let's zoom in.

This comes to us from someone blogging under the name "chicagosuburbanite." Listen to his point. "If you want to stop the violence in the neighborhoods of the city, give everyone a gun to defend themselves. It's time the citizens stamp out gangs and violence by working with police and state authorities."

But Fred, we're also hearing from a lot of people who are saying stop the focus on guns and the violence. They're saying there should be equal if not greater focus on parenting, that one comes to us from Tracy. And I'll tell you, that's one of the biggest things I've seen here as well.

We also -- I'm not sure if we have it, but we're hearing from a lot of people who are saying that they think it should be nationalized, that National Guards should be sent in to various neighborhoods that are the most troubled. There you go, this one from Mike.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

LEVS: And it says "Why can't we create checkpoints in these bad neighborhoods?" That introduces tricky legal questions but I'll tell you, this is one of the most popular things I'm seeing today. People say it's gotten so bad, we need to pull out some troops and start sending them into U.S. neighborhoods to clean them up.

WHITFIELD: Wow, well Josh, you mentioned parenting and policing. Who would know better than the Chicago police officer, the 18-year veteran that we spoke with earlier in the hour, Ronald Holt. He lost his 16-year-old son to street violence. He's going to be back with us to talk more about parenting and policing and how they are coming together and how also there are sometimes conflicts. Much more straight ahead as we take aim, Chicago violence.

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WHITFIELD: We'll go back to "Taking Aim: Chicago Violence" in a moment, our focus this entire hour. Right now, let's check our top stories.

NATO says five U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan today. Three of them died in eastern Afghanistan, two in what's called a hostile attack and another in a roadside bombing. Another roadside bombing, this one in southern Afghanistan, killed two more Americans.

Mudslides on the Italian island of Sicily are now blamed for at least 21 deaths. Thirty more people are missing. Heavy rain hit the island two days ago.

And then this -- a man accused of making nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews appeared in court in Chicago today. The court ordered 48-year-old Michael David Barrett returned to Los Angeles where the stalking charges were actually filed. Barrett is accused of secretly taking videos of Andrews while she was alone in a hotel room, then posting those images online.

Owning a handgun, is it your right as an American, no matter what city you live in? Or should cities be allowed to ban them? We'll hear what you have to say. Also, more from Chicago police officer Ron Holt, who lost his own son to violence in Chicago.

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WHITFIELD: All right, iReporters from the Chicago area are weighing in on our hour-long focus right now, "Taking Aim: Chicago Violence." And they're weighing in on their city and the gun rights case that's now going before the U.S. Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON BROWN, I-REPORTER: I don't think that Chicagoans should be able to carry weapons because there's such a high crime rate here especially on the south and the west side that I think it would move that crime here to the north side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So again, two things we've been focusing on this hour all related to Chicago, the spate of violence that's taken place, claiming 37 lives in the last school year of schoolchildren and then the U.S. Supreme Court is about to take on a case that is rooted in Chicago about whether to lift the ban against handguns in the homes.

Josh Levs has also been fielding a lot of your questions, and your comments from home, coming to us by Facebook and blog. What more are people saying?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every which way. In fact, we have a couple of quotes for you, I'll show you here in our graphic that kind of resembles the discussion people are having online. That's one thing I like about during this hour is we hear people kind of talk to each other.

Norman wrote us "A few thousand more police would make a difference. They cannot cover all the criminal activities in Chicago," as they are now he means, "and the schools are not protected."

But then you've got Ted saying "Maybe more teachers instead of more police will help the problem." Then Ted writes about the fact that the way he sees it, the police come along afterwards, we're seeing problems at schools that teachers were maybe even more present could make the difference.

Quickly, let's come in here, the Facebook page, this is interesting from Keith. "I live in Chicago and the police tell us that they are overcrowded on the streets." He is describing to other people on Facebook the difficulties of being there.

And here's from Alabaster. He says, "It's a problem within a culture where it's hip to not take personal responsibility for the world around you."

Now we're also getting your questions as well. We're going to post those coming up, Fred.

All right, very good. So a lot of folks at home have some ideas about how to get to the root of the violence, how to stop it, how to make Chicago and other big cities safe. We're going to check in again with an 18-year Chicago police veteran who is also mourning the loss of his teenaged son to street violence, to get some of his final thoughts on what might be next.

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WHITFIELD: Right now our final thoughts on "Taking Aim: Chicago Violence," the focus of this hour. So what might be next, particularly for the families still grieving the losses of their family members killed to street violence? Particularly, 37 public school kids have died in the last school year. Even police officers are finding it to be very painful, the community as a whole looking for some sort of answer to all this.

We're welcoming back Ron Holt. He is an 18-year veteran of the Chicago police force and also still grieving the loss of his 16-year- old son, Blair, who died at the hands of someone who simply opened fire on a city bus.

Our Josh Levs is back with us as well fielding a lot of your thoughts filling in these final thoughts in these final moments here in this hour. So Ron, you are now involved, heavily involved in community policing and the question that was asked of you earlier gave you some time to think about it some more. Is real progress, in your view, being made in the community policing effort to try to reeducate parents as well as kids? HOLT: Yes, there's been a lot of progress made. Keep in mind in all 25 districts of the Chicago police department, there's a community relations office where you have sergeants and lieutenants and you also have police officers. And each of those offices, as well as the project office, headquarters of which I work out of --

WHITFIELD: But do you feel like this has helped in the trust that community people have of police officers? Because we know for a long time and still exist, a very tenuous relationship. How does community policing help?

HOLT: Yes, it is a help. I see a lot of people always call the office, they look for assistance, as I said before. There's a lot of initiatives in which the police department has worked with the community, with homeowners and on blocks, building block clubs to make a safer environment, providing for and assisting in city services, and actually just keeping the lines of communication open, in that they know that they can always call the project office for certain type of services if they're having community events.

Even going to big meetings, and there is a connection there to build trust and put the trust back and the cooperation back.

WHITFIELD: And Officer Holt, we wish of course you and the Chicago police department the best in these new initiatives that will be imposed soon as a result of this spate of violence that's taken place. We have a hot second, maybe 10 seconds for Josh on a last thought from someone who may have blogged?

LEVS: Yes, I'll just tell you quick, the conversation is going to continue after the show closes and people can respond on each other, CNN.com/Josh, you can weigh in there. We're also up on Facebook and Twitter. I'll tell you, we heard from Deborah, who is saying "wake up, society. Fred. It's not just about spending money on investigations. It's about taking care of society and helping raise children in a better way." Lots of people talking about that on the blog right now.

WHITFIELD: All right Josh, thanks so much, and you at home as well and Officer Holt, thanks so much for your time and our condolences go out to you and your family as you continue to suffer the loss of your 16-year-old son, Blair. We wish you all the best.

And thanks to everybody who's been involved in the hour, Don Lemon, as well as Alan Gura, who is the attorney for the case that's on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court -- and Avery Friedman as well.

So a big part of the Chicago violence story, as we all know, has been the reluctance of people to help police catch the suspects. It's not just the Chicago problem, however. Tomorrow in the NEWSROOM at 4:00 Eastern Time, we talk to a Kansas City activist who is trying to convince his community to turn in criminals.

Alonzo Washington will be joining us tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern when this activist out of Kansas City joins us in the NEWSROOM to talk about getting rid of the no snitching rule. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Don Lemon joins you live in the next hour from Chicago after this short break.

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