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Pelosi vs. CIA; U.S. & Israel: Thorny Issues; Rising Gas Prices; Growing Refugee Problem; Mysterious American in Myanmar; Killing Kids in Chicago
Aired May 18, 2009 - 12:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Disagreements among friends, differing views on the best road to Middle East peace. President Obama is meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the discussions involve some sensitive and thorny issues.
We want to delve into some of those issues with our correspondents. Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty on duty at the White House for us today, and International Correspondent Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.
And let's start with you, Jill. Walk us through some of the main sticking points between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I'll do that in two seconds. I just wanted to give you some fresh information.
HARRIS: Oh, great.
DOUGHERTY: The White House saying these meetings have been going according to schedule. We had the first one, one-on-one, between Netanyahu and President Obama at 10:30. And that went for an hour. Then, they opened it up to their aides, national security aides.
And just about now, we're expecting the pool to go in and have a chance to ask them a couple of questions. So perhaps within this hour we'll get a little more information.
Now, on those issues, the primary one would have to be the two- state solution, as it's called, the proposal for -- and the plan, the aim of the Obama administration -- to have Israel as a state and the Palestinians as a state, living side by side in peace. It's something the Obama administration takes very seriously, it's a cornerstone of their policy, but Benjamin Netanyahu has refused so far to completely sign on to that.
Another issue would have to be the settlements. Netanyahu does not want those settlements necessarily stopped. He's saying that there should be a natural break of them. The White House, here, is saying that they should be stopped and, in fact, some of the outposts should be dismantled.
And then, finally, you'd have to say Iran. A very complex issue, but essentially, the Israelis are saying Iran is the biggest threat. But until you solve that, you won't be able to deal with peace. The U.S. looks at it in reverse, that you should be able to go for peace, but also work on Iran and pressure them.
HARRIS: OK.
Paula, let's bring you into the discussion here.
What's the most pressing issue for Prime Minister Netanyahu. Is it Iran?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt, Tony, yes. And we've heard this from Prime Minister Netanyahu on a number of occasions. He said that there was a fear of a second Holocaust after we heard the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, speaking at the Geneva racist conference, talking about the destruction of Israel, talking about Zionism equals racism.
This is a very serious worry for Israel. They see Iran as an existential threat. And Benjamin Netanyahu has been quite dramatic in using the word "Holocaust" when talking about Iran.
He is likely to want some concrete guarantee from President Obama about, if there are going to be negotiations with Iran, how long are they going to take? And if they don't work over two, three, four, months, will there be military operations? This is the one thing that Mr. Netanyahu wants.
HARRIS: OK.
And Jill, and then to both of you -- Jill, let me start with you.
Will Prime Minister Netanyahu be willing to agree with the idea of a two-state solution?
DOUGHERTY: Well, that's the question, isn't it? Nobody really knows precisely what he'll come out with, but the guess is that he would move, in a sense, closer to that idea, that he would talk about improving the situation for the Palestinians -- economic development, things like that. But whether he would actually go for a two-state solution, as it is defined by the United States and others, so far it appears to be dubious.
HARRIS: And Paula, what's your view on that same question from Jerusalem?
HANCOCKS: Well, you know, Tony, it was so interesting reading the Israeli newspapers this morning. Every single one of them said something different.
One said he would say yes to a two-state solution. One said he never would. One said he may do.
I haven't seen that in Israeli media for some time, so it means that people really don't know what he's going to decide on. But one expert I did speak to today said that if he gets something concrete on Iran, if he's happy with what the U.S. president promises on the Iranian threat, then, really, anything is up for grabs. He could say yes on a number of things and give some serious concessions, if he's happy with Iran.
HARRIS: Paula, Jill, I have to let you both go. The folks at CNN are screaming at me.
Got to let you both go, but appreciate it. Thanks for the analysis and insights. Appreciate it.
You know, gas prices are rising by the day. Just how high will they go? That's really the question here.
Let's check in with CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow. She has our "Energy Fix" from New York.
Good to see you, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. I know this is something you don't like to see, gas prices going up 20 days in a row now. The national average, $2.31 a gallon. Nowhere near the $4-plus a gallon we saw last summer, but still, gas is up, folks, more than 26 cents over the past three weeks or so. In every single state in this country it is above $2 on average.
Let's use the glass half full approach, though...
HARRIS: OK.
HARLOW: ... because we're nowhere close to where we were a year ago.
HARRIS: Well, we shouldn't have been there, but go ahead. Go ahead.
HARLOW: OK. OK. But the average then was $3.79 a gallon. So a big difference from that.
But I want to show you two charts and compare the rise we saw during this time a year ago -- that's the blue line -- and the rise we're seeing now. A similar trend here. The big difference is the big gap here in prices.
We were above $3. We're just above $2 now, Tony. So, still a difference, but a similar trend. And that unnerves a lot of people.
HARRIS: Yes. Still, we're getting used to the idea of paying less than $2 a gallon. So, Poppy, why are prices rising now?
HARLOW: A number of factors; right? It's not unusual this time of year. The days are longer and people are out driving more. Memorial Day is this weekend.
They call it the summer driving season. I don't buy it that much. But AAA does expect that more people will drive this Memorial Day Weekend. About 27 million Americans planning to hit the road. That's up about 2.5 percent from last year. But the real driver here is oil prices, Tony. Oil prices are just below 60 bucks right now, about $58 a barrel.
Look at the chart from the beginning of this year. We're seeing a big increase in oil prices, especially since February. They are rising as investors are betting the economy is getting a little better and the demand for oil is going to pick up. And that's exactly what we saw a year ago, a massive surge in oil prices, a massive surge in gas prices.
HARRIS: Investors are betting.
OK. So, how high do analysts think gas prices will go here, Poppy?
HARLOW: Here's the good news, right? No one is saying we're going to hit that $4 mark again this summer.
AAA says the national average should about $2.50 a gallon this summer. The lousy economy, it's still lousy, right? Expected to keep somewhat of a lid on these gas prices. Industrial demand for oil is not going to push it as high as we saw it last summer, Tony.
But there's a cool segment on CNNMoney.com right now, a talk-back segment. We want you to sound off on gas prices, let us know.
We'll bring you those responses a little later today.
HARRIS: Thanks for putting up with me, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
HARRIS: Appreciate it.
A sixth death in the United States has now been linked to the H1N1 virus, an assistant school principal in New York City. What you need to know about this flu, compared to the seasonal flu, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Just want to give you a quick update on the breaking news that we're following here in the CNN NEWSROOM out of Louisiana.
A student at Larose-Cut Off Middle School in Lafourche Parish has been hospitalized after trying to shoot a teacher and then shooting himself in the head. My goodness.
This information we're getting from Sergeant Leslie Peters (ph), who tells us that the student tried to shoot a teacher inside the school, but missed. The student then went behind a stairwell and shot himself in the head.
The school has been locked down. That continues to be the case. All of the students, we understand, are accounted for, and no word yet on the condition of the young person, the alleged shooter in this case.
We'll continue to get the latest information on this story.
A sixth death from swine flu in the United States. A middle school assistant principal died last night in New York. Fifty-five- year-old Mitchell Wiener was one in five people infected with H1N1 at the Queens school. A hospital spokesman says, medical complications likely played a role in the death, but an underlying illness has not been confirmed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR DESIGNATE, CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL: There is no doubt that we will continue to see cases in schools, cases in different facilities, cases at Rikers Island and elsewhere. And unfortunately, we may well see additional cases of people with severe illness. It would be surprising if we didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. So our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with us.
And Elizabeth, I understand there is a -- what, a CDC teleconference going on. Has it wrapped or is it still going on?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, right now, as we speak.
HARRIS: And you were listening early on.
COHEN: Right. I got to listen to the beginning of it. And there were a couple of interesting things in there.
First of all, what the CDC is saying is that most of the people who are getting this disease seem to be between the ages of 5 and 24. So that's a relatively young group.
And they also said that they're not seeing so many hospitalizations among the elderly. Now, this is sort of the flip of seasonal flu. In seasonal flu, usually you see older people getting hospitalized. You don't see quite as many cases among younger people.
They also said something else interesting. They started talking about Mexico, and they said the virus hasn't run its course in Mexico, but they are seeing more sporadic cases there. So there seems to be sort of a downturn there.
That's good news in that -- sort of the way it goes. They were the first ones, so hopefully we'll follow them.
HARRIS: With that explained, it sounds like Mexico is getting its act together and has gotten its act together in handling this particular outbreak. Would that explain why it seems our conversations about swine flu in the United States, we weren't talking about it for the last week or so, and here we are talking about it again today?
COHEN: Do you want my particular theory on this?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: OK. Here's my theory.
HARRIS: And it's one I happen to share, by the way.
COHEN: OK. Well, I think what happened in the beginning is that people got very scared. And sort of talking about the general public here, and people...
HARRIS: Well, because of the pronouncements from the WHO.
COHEN: Right, imminent threat to humanity...
HARRIS: Hello?
COHEN: ... makes you shake. Right, that makes you shake. But -- so people were sort of expecting this sort of 1918 scene where people are sort of dropping dead in the streets.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: When that didn't happen, when this started to look, well, just kind of like seasonal flu, which really doesn't intimidate most of us -- maybe it should, but it doesn't -- when people saw that it was relatively sort of milder than this nightmare scenario, I think people, to some extent, kind of lost interest in it.
But now, when we hear that there is this sixth death, this is someone in New York -- and Tony and I were talking before, when things happen in New York, people seem to pay more attention to them. You know, when Mayor Bloomberg has a press conference, the entire press corps is there, so people are paying more attention to this. But really, the reality is somewhere in the middle.
HARRIS: Well, give me the reality right now.
COHEN: The reality is we are seeing more cases in this country. We' are not on a downturn the way that they are in Mexico. There are more and more cases over time, and we have been told over and over again by the Centers for Disease Control, expect to keep seeing more cases and even more deaths.
HARRIS: That's right. Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
HARRIS: Thanks for the update.
President Obama takes on the abortion issue in his highly- anticipated commencement address at Notre Dame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do, or believe precisely what we believe, that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground. That's when we begin to say, maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually. It has both moral and spiritual dimensions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The president asked for a mutual respect from both sides. But was his message received?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We want to get you the very latest information on the developing story that we've been following out of Louisiana and Lafourche Parish.
A student at the Larose-Cut Off Middle School in Lafourche Parish has been hospitalized after trying to shoot a teacher and then shooting himself in the head.
With us now on the phone is Lafourche Parish sheriff, Craig Webre.
And Sheriff, this is the information that we've been reporting, that this student apparently tried to shoot a teacher. And then, having failed at that, shooting himself in the head.
Is that the best, most accurate information on the story?
SHERIFF CRAIG WEBRE, LAFOURCHE PARISH, LOUISIANA: Let me clarify just a little bit.
HARRIS: Great.
WEBRE: The student entered into a classroom at about 9:00 this morning with the firearm exposed in his hand. It was a semiautomatic handgun.
He ordered everyone to the floor as he walked to the front. He initially pointed the gun at a whiteboard and attempted to fire the gun. The gun did not fire at that point. Apparently, the safety was on or something was malfunctioned.
And then he adjusted it. And then he pointed it at the teacher, and then raised the gun and fired into the wall, above her head. At this point, he exited the classroom and went into an adjacent boys' bathroom and attempted to take his life by shooting himself in the head.
HARRIS: Well, Sheriff, that raises a number of questions.
So, this chronology suggests that he went -- you're telling us that he went into the classroom and first attempted to shoot a whiteboard?
WEBRE: A chalkboard, if you will.
HARRIS: Yes.
WEBRE: The board -- according -- and we have just finished speaking to the teacher. And she identified him in very specific detail.
He pointed the gun at the chalkboard and it did not fire, although it appeared to her he was attempting to fire it. And then it looked like -- and she's not familiar with firearms, so, consequently, what she's reporting may not be exactly as we understand, and there's some degree of supposition. My guess is he either put it on safety or adjusted it in some way. At that point, he turned to the teacher, stepped maybe a foot closer, maybe 10 feet away from her, pointed the gun at her momentarily, and then lifted above her head into the -- not quite into the ceiling area, but maybe 10 or 12 feet up, and then fired it where the projectile looks like it ricocheted off of the wall.
HARRIS: Got you.
WEBRE: But firing it once. He put it back down and then walked out.
HARRIS: Got you. Let me -- the teacher, does the teacher know the student?
WEBRE: Does not know the student and is not -- has never taught the student.
HARRIS: Wow. Any information so far that you've developed to indicate that particular teacher, someone in this class was being deliberately targeted?
WEBRE: No, there's no specific indication. The shooter does have a cousin who was in the class who recognized him. But no one was targeted individually.
HARRIS: Was the alleged shooter a student at the school?
WEBRE: Yes. We have confirmed that the alleged shooter did, in fact, attend this school. And at the time, was wearing a school uniform shirt.
HARRIS: Got you.
Is there any history with this alleged shooter?
WEBRE: That's what we're investigating. The school principal was not personally familiar with anything in particular with this student, but we are going to be reviewing the student's records and talking to family members and fellow students, and anyone who might be able to shed some light into what could have motivated this, this morning. HARRIS: And one last one, Sheriff. Can you give us an update on the condition of the young man? I believe he's 15 years old. Is that correct?
WEBRE: That is correct. He was taken to the local hospital initially, in critical but stable condition, and has since been transferred to an area hospital in the same condition.
HARRIS: All right. That is Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre with the breaking news story.
Sheriff, appreciate it. Thanks for the update.
WEBRE: Sure thing. Bye.
HARRIS: We're back in a moment.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Obama calls for a change in tone in the abortion debate. He addressed the issue head on during his commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. The president's appearance at the Catholic university was met with cheers and protests.
Details now from White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outside the gates of Notre Dame, hundreds of anti-abortion protesters objecting to the president's appearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blessed art thou among women...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States.
MALVEAUX: But inside the graduation ceremony, an enthusiastic welcome and a robust defense for the invitation.
REV. JOHN I. JENKINS, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: President Obama has come to Notre Dame though he knows full well that we are fully supportive of the church's teaching on the sanctity of human life and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem- cell research.
(APPLAUSE)
JENKINS: Others might have avoided this venue for that reason, but President Obama is not someone who stops talking to those who differ with him.
MALVEAUX: The president's appearance and an honorary degree from one of the nation's largest Catholic universities ignited a political firestorm. Mr. Obama tackled the abortion controversy head-on.
OBAMA: No matter how much we may want to fudge it, indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory, the fact is that at some level the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.
MALVEAUX: But he also called for common ground.
OBAMA: So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions. Let's reduce unintended pregnancy. Let's make adoption more available.
MALVEAUX: Early on, several protesters disrupted the president.
OBAMA: And since -- and since this is Notre Dame, I mean...
MALVEAUX: But the sea of graduates before him drowned them out, chanting, "Yes, we can" and "We are Notre Dame."
OBAMA: We're fine, everybody.
MALVEAUX: A small number wore pictures on top their caps of crosses and babies' feet to protest the president's abortion rights position. Other students donned pro-Obama signs. About a dozen people walked out during Mr. Obama's remarks, but the audience gave him a standing ovation when the president praised Notre Dame students' handling of the controversy.
OBAMA: I want to join him and Father John in saying how inspired I am by the maturity and responsibility with which this class has approached the debate surrounding today's ceremony.
MALVEAUX (on camera): In the weeks to come, President Obama will pick his Supreme Court nominee, and conservative groups will be watching out for their on abortion, not because they believe they can block the nomination, but rather raise awareness and money over this controversial issue.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, South Bend, Indiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: More than a million people homeless, jobless, their futures uncertain. We go inside a camp for those fleeing the Pakistan/Taliban fighting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The Taliban now vowing its militants will fight to their last breath against advancing Pakistan troops. The battle may turn to urban warfare. Pakistan's army says it is fighting militants on the outskirts of a major city in Swat Valley.
And troops have entered two other Taliban-held towns. Pakistan's government is also using political and religious strategies to help defeat the Taliban. The government today convened a meeting on almost all of the country's political parties to consolidate support for the military. Plus, Muslim clerics have been gathering in Islamabad to issue a unanimous declaration against militant violence.
Mixed into all this, the huge number of Pakistani's fleeing the fighting in the northwest. Ivan Watson visited one camp.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Impoverished Pakistanis, pushed to the edge. A fraction of the more than 1 million Pakistanis forced to flee their homes over the last two weeks have ended up here at the Swabi Refugee Camp.
The Pakistani government and aid organizations are trying to help, providing food, water, tents and medicine. But living conditions are primitive. The weather, scorching hot.
In this makeshift medical clinic, doctors say they've seen hundreds of cases of diarrhea and Scabies, a highly contagious skin disease. This week, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees visited Swabi Camp. He wants the international community to do more to help.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: Pakistan cannot do it alone. Without massive support in the international community to the Pakistani people, these will become a very dramatic problem. And not only a humanitarian problem.
WATSON: The Pakistani army says Taliban insurgents are escaping the war zone by mingling with the refugees. During this visit, we witness Pakistani's security forces detaining a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not something really important (ph). We are running security checks (ph).
WATSON: The police chief does not want us watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what are you doing here?
WATSON: Among the refugees, loyalties are dividing between the Taliban and the Pakistan government. This boy defends the militants. But an older man calls them butchers. He says Taliban fighters beheaded three Pakistani security forces and displayed their bodies in the town market.
WATSON (on camera): Why chop their heads off?
WATSON (voice-over): "To terrorize the people," he answers.
The people of the camp come running when a government minister in a helicopter pays a visit. He makes a quick tour and then leaves. Officials will have to do more if they want to keep the hordes of refugees on their side in the potentially explosive months to come. Taliban leaders are already accusing the Pakistani government of steeling international aid money intended for the refugees.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy. And Ivan Watson joining us live now from Islamabad.
Ivan, my question is this. Is the Pakistani government doing enough -- you know, how do you quantify that -- but doing enough to end the fighting and get all these people back home?
WATSON: They're certainly taking casualties, Tony. Another three soldiers killed in fighting overnight in the Swat Valley. Today we heard from the general, the spokesman for the military. He said that after weeks of bombardment, aerial and artillery bombardment, Tony, that now the Pakistani army was sending in infantry in the Swat Valley to conduct house to house fighting in some of the towns and cities there.
So the fighting is far from over. This is not going to be over in a week. In fact, there's a district just about 60 miles from where I'm standing now. The Pakistani army first sent troops in there last month to try to clear out the Taliban there. And they're still fighting to dislodge the Taliban from some of the mountain valleys there -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Our Ivan Watson in Islamabad. Ivan, appreciate it. Thank you.
An American from Missouri fashioned swim fins out of cardboard and swam into an international controversy. Now the mystery man and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi are in court. Will this stunt prevent her from going free.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In southeast Asia, a long-time thorn in the side of the Myanmar government is in a Yangon courtroom today. Opposition leaders. A 1991 Nobel Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in detention by the government for 19 years. For several years she's been confined to her lakeside home. That is until an American swam across a lake and entered her home. Now the Nobel laureate and the American face charges. Reporter Casey Nolen of affiliate KSDK reports on the mysterious American at the center of this controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY NOLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It reads something like a mission impossible. Police accounts tell of an ex-military man, traveling halfway around the world to the country of Myanmar, fashioning flippers from cardboard and swimming two miles across a lake with a water bottle for flotation, all to gain access to the home of a house-arrested, government opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. His name, John Yettaw. The purpose of his mission is unknown, but his actions were illegal and now he and the Nobel Peace Prize activist, Suu Kyi, are in custody awaiting trial.
NOLEN (on camera): But if Yettaw's exotic trip of international intrigue seems bizarre, knowing where he began his journey may just make it seem even more impossible. To southeast Asia, from the hills of southwest Missouri.
MIKE AZEL (ph), NEIGHBOR: Well, I wasn't surprised that he was over there. But I was certainly surprised that he had gotten himself into this situation.
NOLEN (voice over): Mike Azel is Yettaw's neighbor in the small community of Falcon, Missouri. He says Yettaw had traveled to the far east a few years earlier, to China, Thailand and Myanmar. And as recently as a few weeks earlier, talked of returning. Why, Azel isn't sure. Perhaps for humanitarian reasons. Perhaps to research a book he's said to be writing.
But Azel does say behind Yettaw's home is evidence of the kind of unconventional man he is. An unfinished building he worked on with help from neighbors that was meant to serve as a country (ph) medical clinic. Neighbors say Yettaw never made it to medical school, but they say at age 53, with the aid of student loans, he is working to complete a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. And drawing on disability from the U.S. military, the father of seven is still supporting four children.
Friday, a woman who would only identify herself as working for the Department of Social Services, paid a visit to the home, taking pictures, but no one answered the door. Others in the area, who declined to speak on camera, describe Yettaw as different and a loner. Azel says he can understand those descriptions but never doubted his neighbor was a good man.
AZEL: And I don't know all the motives for the incident that occurred. And I think he had the best of intentions. You know, I'm hoping that John comes home and can resume his normal life again.
NOLEN: In Falcon, Missouri, for CNN, Casey Nolen, KSDK-TV.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A crisis on the streets of Chicago and children are at the center of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANE LATIKER, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: I'm wondering why we are not out in the street crying and screaming and beside ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Thirty-six kids killed this school year alone. What's behind the violence? And what are the police doing to stop it? We're digging deeper.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: This is the deadliest school year ever for students in Chicago. Thirty-six students killed. We are committed to tracking the deaths and the impact. Our Abbie Boudreau of CNN's Special Investigations Unit joining me now with more on the story -- Abbie. ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it was really important for us to understand how all of this violence is affecting families in Chicago. So we gave a video camera to a mom and her 10-year-old son for a couple of weeks and we asked them to be open and honest and to show us just how difficult life is after losing a young family member to gunfire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAM BOSLEY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: OK. Tell me your name.
TRAVON BOSLEY (ph), VICTIM'S BROTHER: My name is Travon Bosley.
P. BOSLEY: And how old are you?
TRAVON BOSLEY: I'm 10 years old.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Travon Bosley sits in front of a video camera. His mom asks him questions about his older brother who was killed.
P. BOSLEY: So you had fun with your brother?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Yes.
P. BOSLEY: Do you miss him?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Yes.
P. BOSLEY: OK. So the day when all this took place, you was there, right? You went to the hospital?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Can you pause it.
P. BOSLEY: No, let's talk. You went to the hospital. Come on, Trav. It's hard. It's too hard?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Yes.
P. BOSLEY: OK. OK. OK.
BOUDREAU: A few minutes later, Travon sits back on the couch in front of the camera.
P. BOSLEY: It's hard to talk about him because everything has changed, right?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Yes.
P. BOSLEY: OK. So you don't have that same happiness in your house anymore?
TRAVON BOSLEY: No.
P. BOSLEY: No more music? BOUDREAU: School children throughout Chicago are scared. In the last school year, 36 students attending Chicago public schools have been killed. Thirty-six, compared with 26 the previous year. The crimes happen off school property. Most are shootings.
BOUDREAU (on camera): How is this happening now? What is going on?
DIANE LATIKER, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: Because no unity. Because we are not unified.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. That's the word. That's the word.
LATIKER: Because our young people are not unified because we are not. We are their leaders. We're their parents. We're their community.
BOUDREAU: So who's failing the children?
LATIKER: I think we all are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is wrong with us. Wake up.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): A memorial was held on Chicago's south side.
LATIKER: I'm wondering why we are not out in the street crying and screaming and beside ourselves.
BOUDREAU: Each brick you see represents a child who was killed in the city.
This is Pam Bosley (ph), the voice you heard behind the camera, asking her young son about losing his 18-year-old brother, Terrell (ph). This is his brick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have a moment of silence.
BOUDREAU: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was at the memorial. We asked him about the rise in student deaths.
BOUDREAU (on camera): I'm wondering want you want the country to know right now about what's happening in Chicago. Tell us beyond what's happening -- the people here in Chicago, they know what's going on. What about the people in the rest of the country?
RICHARD M. DALEY, CHICAGO MAYOR: (INAUDIBLE) in Chicago, you're go to each community. You go to a large city or a small city. It's all over America. It's not unique to one community or one city. You're killing another generation. That's all they're doing.
BOUDREAU: But there's a lot more students here being killed in the Chicago public school district. DALEY: Because they follow them. They identify them. In other cities, they're dropouts. They don't call them students anymore. (INAUDIBLE) at 15. You're gone at 14. We count them as even students, even though they drop out. We count them as students. The rest of America doesn't count them. You're a dropout forever. We don't think they're dropouts. They're students. They're 13 years old or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17, or even 19 or 20. And that's what you see. People forget them. They're called the dropout society.
BOUDREAU: So the problem isn't worse here than in other places?
DALEY: It's all over. Same thing.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): But the Chicago public school district spokesperson told us, none of the 36 victims were dropouts. Though 15-year-old Alex Areano (ph), who was recently killed after being beaten, burned and shot in the head, was forced to leave school. His mourning family says Alex left because he was threatened by gang members.
And when you compare student homicides in other major cities this school year, Chicago does stand out. In Los Angeles, a bigger city known for gang activity, 23 students were killed. In Atlanta, there were four. In Philadelphia, there were also four killed. Compared with Chicago's 36 student victims.
Most of the homicides happen on the city's south side. And if we zoom down to this neighborhood, street level, and inside this house, there a 10-year-old boy dreams of making a difference.
TRAVON BOSLEY: We've got to have (ph) some unity over division. And sending a powerful message that change is coming to America. I am the first black president of the United States. I did -- I had to learn that speech because I want to be president, just like Barack Obama.
BOUDREAU: For two weeks . . .
P. BOSLEY: This is the football field where Terrell used to play.
BOUDREAU: We gave the Bosley family a camera.
P. BOSLEY: I have not been here since my son was murdered.
BOUDREAU: And asked them to record video diaries.
TRAVON BOSLEY: I would give up any one of the game systems I have, anything just to get him back.
P. BOSLEY: I'm here at a cemetery visiting my baby. This is crazy. This is not the type of life that no mother should ever have to go through.
I tried to leave on my own, even though I (INAUDIBLE) to the church, I tried -- the first year I tried to commit suicide. I couldn't take the pain. And I tried and I thank God that he did not allow me to go out like that because my other two boys are already suffering.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A child is murdered. A parent has to break the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BOSLEY, VICTIM'S FATHER: I told my sons, I says, your brother, he won't be coming home. I just looked at him and I told them he won't be coming home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: More of our in depth look at the crisis on the streets of Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Genocide in the United States. That's how one Chicago teen describes what's happening in his community. Thirty-six students killed in Chicago this school year alone. We are committed to tracking the deaths and the impact. Here now is part two of our report from Abbie Boudreau of CNN's Special Investigations Unit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU (on camera): There are so many people who are watching this who don't understand truly how it feels and no one can really know, but could you try and (INAUDIBLE)?
P. BOSLEY: It felt like somebody just took a knife and just stabbed you in the heart. And they don't stop. They just continue to stab you in your heart. But you still live and you can't die.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Pam Bosley's son, Terrell, was shot in 2006 in this church parking lot, just before band practice. The police still haven't found the killer.
Terrell was not a gang member. He wanted to play the bass guitar in a gospel band. Instead, he was killed for no apparent reason and died a painful death.
P. BOSLEY: The bullet destroyed a lot of things. It destroyed a lot of things in his body. And my baby was suffering. He could not breathe. He did not deserve this. It was horrible.
BOUDREAU: Pam and Tom Bosley feel people have become desensitized to all the killings because there are so many.
TOM BOSLEY, VICTIM'S FATHER: It could happen to anybody at any time.
BOUDREAU: Tom remembers how he told his other two sons their older brother had died. TOM BOSLEY: I told my sons, I says, your brother, he won't be coming home. I just looked at them and I told them, he won't be coming home. And they looked at me with -- they just stared. And I told them, I said, we'll get through it. I said we'll get through this. And they just looked at me.
BOUDREAU: Though nearly half of the cases have not been solved. Police believe most of the killings are gang-related. We went out with members of the Chicago Police Department's gang task force. The unit expanded in January.
CHIEF ERNEST BROWN, ORGANIZED CRIME DIVISION: I think whenever there's an availability of guns and there's certain systemic ills in this generation, generation next whatever you choose to call it, where their behavior is just inconsistent with civility. And when you have that circumstance, you're going to have people who act outside of the norm.
BOUDREAU (on camera): So how bad is it?
DETECTIVE REGINA SCOTT, ORGANIZED CRIME DIVISION: I mean this is an inner city. We have crime, as other inner cities do. We're not unique to this in this United States, you know? We're not -- you have Detroit. You've got New York. You've got L.A. We have a gang issue and we're dealing with that. But we are out here every day actively trying to make a difference.
RONNIE MOSLEY, STUDENT LEADER: We're fed up. You know, we want a future and not a funeral.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): We also gave Ronnie Mosley a camera for a couple of weeks. He's the senior class president.
MOSLEY: Greg was a freshman here.
BOUDREAU: Earlier this year, his classmate, freshman Gregory Robinson (ph), was gunned down and killed. Police say Robinson was doing nothing wrong.
MOSLEY: The car was gunned down by an AK-47. It was a car full of people. And when they looked back and they told him to get up, you know, he was crouched over his family members, one who was a 10-month- old baby and the other was four years old. And, you know, when he got up, he was just breathing like -- and, you know, they saw him take his last breath.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you care?
CROWD: Do you care?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) do you care?
CROWD: Do you care?
MOSLEY: Part of the solution to gun violence in our city, in our neighborhoods starts with common sense gun laws. BOUDREAU: Mosley has fought for years for stricter gun laws. He's had limited success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the guns down.
CROWD: Put the guns down.
MOSLEY: This is like genocide in our own backyard. And, you know, I see the U.S., we always are, you know, the champions. We go overseas and solve problems. But yet, you know, we still have problems here that, you know, we can't deal with.
BOUDREAU: Mosley isn't like a lot of other 17-year-olds. He knows he's not invincible.
MOSLEY: Every day I get up thinking about the work that I do and, you know, if this could be my last day here.
BOUDREAU: Ten-year-old Travon Bosley shares the same fears.
TRAVON BOSLEY: I'm afraid that someone will shoot someone else in my family.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Do you feel like that could happen? I mean is that the kind of thing you think about often?
TRAVON BOSLEY: Yes.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): And it's the last thing he thinks about before going to sleep each night.
TRAVON BOSLEY: Please don't let anybody get shot. Amen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU: Though we were able to find out how many student deaths took place this school year in L.A., Philadelphia and Atlanta, most other cities do not keep track like Chicago does. For example, the New York City Medical Examiner's Office told CNN there were 34 school-aged children killed this school year, but the office would not release the names. And without the names of the victims, school officials cannot confirm how many of the children were actually enrolled in school. So there's really no way to compare a city like New York with Chicago.
HARRIS: You mentioned something in your report. I made a note of it. Nearly half of the student deaths are unresolved. Why is that?
BOUDREAU: Yes. Well, I mean, police say they're doing everything they possibly can to try to solve these crimes. But these are hard cases to solve. A lot of them were just random shootings.
But the parents we talked to see it much differently. They say that there were witnesses in a lot of these cases and the witnesses just won't come forward. There's that' fear of retaliation or, you know, whatever it is, a code of silence that has existed in this community and many other communities for a long, long time. But some of these crimes could be solved if people just came forward with what they know.
HARRIS: People just absolutely have to come forward.
Abbie, I appreciate it. I know you're going to be following this story.
We want to direct people to your blog. If you'd like to read more about what's happening in Chicago, Abbie is, as I mentioned, keeping a blog as she continues to investigate this issue. Just go to cnn.com/siu.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.
