Somebody has to pull the trigger. Our job is to get them not to pick the gun up. This is all in america chicago. Crime was actually down this year in the city of chicago. Shootings were down, murders were down. No one can say why that have though it is obviously good news. Better numbers are only so much comfort when youre talking about more than 600 people dying. Returning to the city again and again to talk to the people who actually live there. People suffering and people trying to do something to stop it. Through the reporting and analysis i hope we can add some context, a place so much more vbrant what the president reduces it to. What the hell is going on in chicago . What the hell is happening there . Chicago is out of control. This is not like its the United States of america. What the hell is going on in chicago . Attacking chicago has always been a big hit with donald trump rally crowds. More than 3,000 people have been shot in chicago since january 1st. Thats worse than the war torn nations that youre looking at. Give donald trump a chance. I will fix it. What do you have to lose . You have nothing to lose. When he became president the people of chicago became his constituents. You tweeted about the murder rate saying if chicago did you want fix the horrible carnage going on i will send in the feds. What do you mean by that . It. Is carnage. It is horrible carnage. Afghanistan is not whats happening in chicago. I want them to fix the problem. I want them to straighten out the problem. Its a big problem. It soupded like a threat of invasion. Raise your hand if you hear send in the feds it feels like a threat . A few weeks after that we held a town hall knowing just how complex the situation in the city is. I also know if we do one of these town halls every night for an hour for 365 nights there could still be five years worth of shows to do before we scratched the surface of whats going on in chicago. There was no simple take away from the town hall. What was evident is that emotions were running very high. Please listen to me. Chill. Everyone there cares deeply about what is happening in the city. The Unemployment Rate is the highest in chicago than it is around the country. When you talk about violence you have to talk about the economics, not police. The trauma that folks are seeing inside the road but also people are wound up and traumatized. I know i have ptsd. Its off the chars. Theres no help for us. If you personally feel like you have trauma. Youre wearing the button of someone. Yes. He was a person i lost within a weeks span. People are hurting. I am joined by laura washington, long time columnist, jamal green. He joined us in february. You saw him in the clip there as did demetria roberts who grew up on the citys south side. When the president said send in the feds thing thats three days into the administration. There is something he may be in campaign mode. He is the president of chicago. He did you want take any ownership of chicago. He uses chicago. One is because its a major democratic stronghold. Number two is the city of emmanuel who he has made an arch enemy. Number of three is because its a city of people of color. None of those folks are his friends. He put the resours in the places he mentioned but he has not shifted the resources to chicago to actually address the problem. What do you think about that . He talks about afghanistan. If belook at how much money has much has been sent to the southeast and asian regions and how much has been focused then we have real statistics to look at and hold donald trump to some of his campaign promises. It should be clear it was a campaign promise. We should be building up back here. Chicago is part of america. What i dont understand is why chicago is even in his mouth especially when he hasnt even walked these neighbored hoods. Yeah. And i work with these families every day. I know whats going on. I know whats going on with schools, Mental Health. All President Trump has to do is call us and say lets do a tour. This is an open invitation right now for donald trump to call up community actiists and say lets figure out how we can replace the politician there. There is no mistake in this messaging. Itshorthand. It is dysfunctional, dangerous and dark. It is not by mistake to send a message to a certain segment of his supporters but also america outside of these major cities. It feels like the city of chicago among many other places is kind of written out of the story. It is written into the story. It is written in the wrong way. Right. We are putting the people of chicago in the context of foreigners, of people that are enemies, of people that dont deserve each other. Who are they . They are American People who went out to vote for you and are now needing and wanting your full support to make chicago and put chicago in the highlight in the greatest city. He wants to show the American Cities are not part of the world. Right. These folks are the other. These are the folks who dont deserve your support. Right. Does it surprise you that he still talks about that . He is Holding Tight to the folks that elected him. Hell talk about how he is very popular in the polls among that group. He is still campaigning as though he were in a president ial race because i dont think he knows how to be president. Someone who has served in a civil role and grew up in this same city it surprises me we see politics say a lot of rhetoric and hype up their base. They transition in saying im here to help people. We want to reinstate some of the principal and we dont see that. And these are regular people in these communities that actually need some help. Right. The fact is he is the president whether we dont like it or not. He should do his duty as a president to come and sit with community leaders, use federal funds to help us fund some of these things that are so vulnerable. We have 3,500 people that were shot this year. So while the numbers are down from last year there is still a problem here. All right. My own personal theory has to do with what happened in the heat of the 2016 campaign. Days before the illinois primary donald trump scheduled a primary. Thousands showed up. Trump suddenly cancelled the event. After meeting with Law Enforcement has determined that for safety of tens of thousands of people that gathered tonights rally will be postponed until another day. Inside the venue pandemonium. And in one moment a young activist rushed the empty stage. He told us about that day at a town hall we held in chicago. We saw what Donald Trumps campaign was doing across the country. We seen black bodies getting pushed around, people getting punched in the face. I department shut down the rally, he did. Trump never successfully held a rally. Instead he attacked the city constantly. It was his threat to send there the feds that brought us there for the town hall. Trump, bring your rump into chicago. I dont know what trump means when he says bring in the feds. The back and forth, the twitter war did you want mean anything. We have a lot of people committed to making it a better place to live. There are a lot of people here that have the heartbeat of this neighborhood. He met me again last month in chicago. We had a chance to talk about what came after. It was the first time a lot of us came in the same space. All of the people who are frustrated and fighting each other in causes, we are all in the same space. It was intense. People have been through it. People have lost people close to them. They are survivors themselves. Theres a lot of that. Im no strapger to the realities of depression or ptsd. A lot of times youre dealing with your own need to survive in this environment. As an advocate im responding to death and crisis and poverty and pain. You kind of gone auto pilot. There is no way youll see the amount of death in the city and not be effected. One of the biggest things is that it finally gave the every day of chicagoans a voice. It was a room full of people crying for help. Three days after the town hall brown himself was crying for help. The relationship i had i lost it because i was too busy fighting for yall. Really. Im only lost because of yall. Forgive me, lord. Im so sorry. This is my first time looking at Lake Michigan in this spot since that day. I drove my car right down to the side of where land ends and i sat there contemplaing taking my life and driving into that brake. I had my foot on the brake, car in drive and gun in my hand. My intend was to shoot and be in that lake. And the police came. Police came. They had these two militarized Police Vehicles that had pretty much cornered me where i was at. They actually rammed the car, both sides. What did you think . You know, so many things went through my head. It was very intense for me. I had on hand im ready to give up on life and on the other hand here come these police again. I have to fight them back. It highlights the disconnect between the community and the police. I thought i will kill myself or they are going to kill me. It really intensified everything i was dealing with at that moment. There is a lot of plen Mental Illness going on because we dont talk about it. Im glad i went through it because i recognize its okay to get help. There are so many people i was classified as ticking time bombs because they dont know it is okay to have someone to talk to. Youre living below the poverty line. Youre seeing dead bodies throughout your entire summer. Your family members are being killed. Your government is not responding to your needs. It is okay to say i need help. People that have money and privilege in america, they get a lot of Mental Health support and not going through one tenth of the kind of experiences you feel ton souts side. They can afford it too. Thats the thing that pains me about chicago. Its the tale of two cities. My chicago doesnt get that help but theres a whole other chicago that gets all of the help and resourtss that they need. When we return our special reports on the prevalence of guns and cycles of retaliation. Was there ever a moment you feared for your own life . Every day, today sitting right here right now. Cannot live without it. So if you cant live without it. Why arent you using this guy . It makes your wifi awesomely fast. No. Still nope. Now were talking it gets you wifi here, here, and here. It even lets you take a time out. No no yes yes, indeed. Amazing speed, coverage and control. All with an xfi gateway. Find your awesome, and change the way you wifi. That gives you coverage here, here and here. And it even lets you take a timeout. Nooooooo yes amazing speed, coverage and control. All with an xfi gateway. The people in this room feel like they have ptsd. Raise your hand if your feel like you have trauma. Almost everyone in that room knew 1078 one killed from gun violence. The effect it has on people is from shermane lee. That very last shot the window shatters. When the bullet hit she didnt make a sound, wimper, cry, anything. I didnt know she was hit. It was just a split second. I wake up every day hoping it is a dream but its not. It has been one month i have not heard my daughters voice, been able to touch her, see her dance across my floor. There are so many things. Nikia williams lost her 11yearold daughter on chicagos south side. She was struck inside a minivan outside the dry cleaners where her mother worked. Her brother was in the car. Your threeyearold was in the car. Have you seen a change in him . Dramatic change, his attitude, behavior, everything is different. I put him in counseling. I have no choice. I dont know whats going on in his head. I dont know what hes thinking. Are we doing enough to address trauma in this city . No. Dr. Brad stabach spent 35 years treating trauma in kids. There is a great need for all of us to say they are so young it didnt really effect them. It does effect them. Even Young Children that dont have a conscious memory, it is in there and it does effect them. They often times feel like they are going crazy because they are having these reactions in their bodies that are like they are back there in that situation. They dont necessarily put that together that thats what the happening. Much of the violence is driven by untreated trauma to the ways that people off deal with that are to use substances to manage their emotions and to carry weapons in order to feel safe. Both of those things are going to increase the risk for them being harmed again or for them doing harm to somebody else. We are home. There are organizations trying to help traumatized families, communities in chicago. The sheer number of people needing help is staggering. I have been there since 2015. I have been able to serve 153 families. That number seems enormous. It is but its a reflection of whats happening in our city. Her brother was murdered in 2008. Now she helps others heal. When you go into these communities is there a sense that everyone is traumatized in some way . Its hard to say they are not. Its not like every time i do an assessment with someone they dont express they have not experienced some level of trauma. They know a friend, a neighbor, someone who is closely connected. They may have been at their church. Posttraumatic stress disorder is through the fabric of the urban community. It feels like everyone here has lost someone. Do you feel like youre traumatized . Absolutely. It takes a toll on a person when your kids werent bad kids and Something Like that happened. It just tears a hole in your heart. The campbells have lived here for 20 years. They raised three children here, a daughter and two sons. They have lost both sons to gun violence. Are there moments that are harder . A whole lot of them, yeah. I see a lot of boys on the street resemble my children. You know, it tears me up. When i see people doing things with their sons that kind of gets me too. I feel like you have your good days and you have your bad days. You have some days you wake up and its all you can think about. The campbells worried about raising a new generation of young black men in the city. We were sitting in the front room and i told him, i was like he was sitting by the window. I said sit on the couch over there by the wall. Its just really small things. Do you feel restricted you cant prove the way you want to move . I feel enclosed and bad memories in the house. I feel like i should go outside and play but i cant because its on the south side. I dont like being scared to go outside or play with my friends. Is it hard . Yes. Whats the hardest part . Well, like i got to take care of my little sister. I got to protect her. I know its going to be hard because in the streets its dangerous. We just have to be safe. Im scared every day. Any little noise makes me nervous. Thats how bad its gotten. Anything makes me nervous. I didnt even used to be like that at all. Im not scared of nothing. Now im scared of everything. After her 11yearold daughter was killed she fears for her young son growing up on the south side of chicago. I feel like i need to get away. I need to raise my son still. None of this is normal. This cant be life. This is not normal. Is it hard . Yes. Whats the hardest part . Well, like i have to take care of my little sister. I have to protect her. I know its going to be hard because in the streets its dangerous. And we just have to be safe. Im back here with the panel. I want to start with you germane. It is almost a cliche but the reality of what it means for people emotionally and psychologically is that little incidents of violence have this Ripple Effect that you sort of traced in that piece. I think in the big picture there is this black suffering in america. We suffered every step along the way. It seems normal. As people try to go to school, try to go to church, try to be with their families. Piece by piece it is taken from folks. The beg your pardon of black death and black pain and losing a mother, losing a son. You see that young boy with tears down his cheeks. You traumatize you respond by carrying weapons or in a household like that family where every corner there is hurt, depression and sadness. Here is what makes me mad about this. We have the blueprint to fix this problem. One thing this country has done right is reinvesting ptsd research, medication and doctors into fixing the problem of our returned wounded warriors. We have the blueprint. We forget that at the end of the day we all bleed the same color. Thats what we need to be focused on and focusing on solution to fix this problem. There is throughout environments particularly those where you have folks that have dealt with the unfortunate other side of bad issues and social economic problems that have gotten them to this point. One thing that is important to me is Mental Health when i worked in these neighborneighbor i saw people being shot when i was coming up. My life could have taken a different road but i ended up changing my life. They are going through depression. I call it ctsd. It is continuous. We look to leaders to figure out ways to solve this problem. We get the major who shut down all of the urban kplunties chls we get no funding when students have issues in schools. He said i creates more trauma. There is not an expectation that people of color deserve or are even prepared. You mentioned ptsd. Those are returning soldiers. We are not looked as those as those that deserve support. We can do without. Part of it is some responsibility we have to take by ourselves. We have tried to say we are going to buck up. We can get through this too instead of realizing that some folks are beginning to realize we do need this. This is something we deserve and something the community deserves. It always strikes me that one of the biggest inequalities is access to Mental Health resources. Everybody is in therapy. Everybody has i mean seriously, the amount that are directed of people when they have to deal with things that go wrong in their life, a car crash, pregnancy that was terminated or whatever it is, you know, they have that access. People that are living through some of the most traumatic experiences have access to none. And i think as we look at this from a Solutions Based per specificive folks look at this and say what can we do . This seems to far removed from my narrative or where i am or my place in life or the community. What they can do is support organizations that are going out that are focused on fixing these efforts in the community. And there are some who are working specifically on Mental Health on dealing with trauma specifically. There are so many on the front lines responding in the crisis and the trauma. When pain starts to ripple