>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

A live report from the Dirksen Federal Courthouse as Michael Madigan faces questions from prosecutors in his corruption trial.

eta's president says he's stepping down a look at the projects he oversaw and why critics, one of them gone.

Ctu.

President Stacy Davis, Gates on contract Negotiations, Education, equity and more in a one-on-one conversation.

>> Becoming and remaining a stage or every city has been a bit of mayoral tug of war.

>> And amid an effort to scale back protections for undocumented immigrants.

Look at how Chicago became a sanctuary city in the first place.

>> First off tonight, Michael Madigan made headlines last week when he took the stand in his corruption trial.

Madigan is facing bribery, racketeering and wire fraud charges.

He and longtime right-hand man Michael McLean, who is also charged, have pleaded not guilty.

Today, prosecutors got their chance to cross examine the famously tight-lipped, former Illinois House speaker at Masterson joins us now from the Dirksen Courthouse with more today, the prosecution played a wiretapped phone call of the former Illinois House speaker.

What are they here?

>> Yeah.

So bring us that call involved a conversation from 2018 between Madigan and his longtime confidant and current co-defendant Michael McLean and which state commented about a comment consultants who were working without what they were being paid without it essentially doing any work for the company.

This tape.

It previously been excluded from court, but we Madigan took the witness stand last week to testify that he was very angry when learning that these consultants were not doing the work that they're supposed to be doing.

The judge reconsider and allow this tape to be let Now on the tape, Madigan can be heard saying that these men made out like bandits while doing very little work.

And while testified that he was very angry with he was laughing with McClain while they talked about this on the secretly recorded call.

So it's definitely a major piece of the prosecution's case that it was only admitted because Madigan decided to take the witness stand.

>> map.

There was also some back and forth between the attorneys in the case this morning.

Tell us what happened.

>> Yeah, that attorneys on both sides spent the entire morning going over a host of legal issues before the jury was brought in the discussed, the admissibility of this very bandits tape.

If it was going to be allowed in court, they also a push from the defense to tax return information from disgraced former 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, who one of the government's star.

Witnesses recorded several artists, secret recordings for the government and the defense will be allowed to show these documents will show that lied on his tax returns in previous years as way to try to discredit him and his testimony against Madigan.

>> what are we here for Madigan in his testimony today?

>> Yeah, some of the most contentious testimony came right at the end of the day where he was actually discussing Sully's.

So I wanted that mean issues that Manning is facing is that he was trying to trade public action for private gain from his law firm.

So Solis had the possibility of a quid pro quo doing tax work format is legal firm exchange for Danny Solis approving a zoning change for a union west development in his ward Madigan to last.

We testified that he was surprised concerned when he heard that.

So used this term quid pro quo.

But prosecutors to date confront him with a saying that he had discussed this multiple times with weeks that he hadn't push back on it for 4 separate conversations.

They had each other until they finally met in person and magic and told him that shouldn't be using that language.

But even so Madigan later, the following year was still willing to recommend Suisse First State Board but he ultimately did not do so because Suisse's work as an undercover more eventually became public and Madigan backed off of that recommendation.

>> And that before we let you go, what can we expect next?

>> Madigan is gonna be back on the witness.

Stand in the morning.

His cross-examination is still going on.

attorneys hope that they're going be able to get through all the testimony this week and that closing arguments will begin next week in month's long trial.

We're entering month 3 here.

But the expected the jury could get the case as soon as the week after next.

>> Alright, lot of time in the courthouse for you there.

Matt Masterson, thanks so much.

Thanks for And you can catch up on the trial on our website at Wt Tw dot com slash news.

And now to some of today's top stories.

A coalition of immigrant rights organizations are protesting a proposed change to Chicago's welcoming City ordinance >> he's a step backwards.

I concession to say no phobia if it has no place in our city.

Because of the coming up or things.

not just a symbol, has it tangible impact on our lives?

>> The proposal from 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez and 23rd Ward Alderwoman Silvana Tavares would reverse an amendment prohibiting Chicago police officers from cooperating with federal immigration agents.

In all cases it's set for a vote this Wednesday.

Members of the coalition say that proposal would further President Trump's anti-immigrant agenda and make immigrant communities fearful of calling 9-1-1.

And later in the broadcast, find out how Chicago became a sanctuary city.

In our latest W T Tw News explains series.

It might have looked like the NASCAR race track this morning for drivers who take the Kennedy Expressway since the Express lanes reopened this morning for the first time since last spring, though, I'm sure everyone respected the speed limit today, right?

The ongoing Kennedy project has been in the works since 2023 as crews rehabilitate bridges and pavement, install new structures and signage, modernize electrical components and more while the express lanes were finally reopened today, construction on the outbound lanes of the Kennedy will begin later this spring.

And remember in 2 influential Chicagoans who died recently, one of them a member of the W T T WWF Empty family.

Daniel 11 died at his home after a brief illness at the age of 94 Levin was the founder and CEO of East Bank Club, enormous development project that was considered ahead of its time in 1980, when it was founded as a real estate developer.

He also founded and chaired Habitat company.

One of the Midwest's largest development and property management companies among other community and civic commitments.

Llevan served as a Trustee W t Tw and her sister radio station WFM T for FORTY-SEVEN years chairing the WFMZ Radio Committee for many of those years in 2001 WFM T unveiled the FE in Daniel 11 performance studio made possible with support from the lemons.

Levin is survived by his wife, former ambassador fate.

Hard talk 11, their children and grandchildren.

The founder of the young lords organization, Jose Cha Cha Jimenez has died in the late 1960's.

The young lords began as a street gang of young Puerto Rican men in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Jimenez led the conversation of that gang or excuse me, the conversion of that gang into a political organization to protest police harassment and the police killings of 2 young Puerto Rican men modeling the lords after the Black Panther Party.

They also fought against urban renewal which often push Puerto Rican families out of their homes as well as established breakfast program for children and child care for working Families.

Jimenez was 76 years old.

And this our website for a Chicago stories documentary on the young Lords of Lincoln Park.

That's at W T Tw Dot com slash Chicago stories.

Up next, more on CTA.

President Dorval Carter's resignation.

That's right after this.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part why the Alexandra and John Nichols family.

The gym and K maybe family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> A longtime Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter is set to leave his job at the end of the month.

Carter has led the agency for nearly a decade after his appointment by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

His tenure was marked by major infrastructure projects, including the upcoming Red Line extension.

But in recent years, he's faced widespread criticism for issues like unreliable service and in consistent communication.

Our Nic Bloomberg joins us now with more.

Nic Carter say why he's resigning?

He didn't, although that Red Line extension project that you mentioned, that has been a major priority of his for many years last week, local and federal officials gathered for a ceremony to sign off on the 1.9 billion dollars in federal funding needed to help pay for the project.

That deal was inked on Friday.

This morning.

We got word from the CTA that Carter's leaving on January 31st.

In a statement, Carter said serving as president of this great agency has been an extraordinary privilege and I am forever grateful for what has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

It has been an honor to work on behalf of CTA customers and to advance our mission in a city that I love so dearly.

Carter first started working at the CTA in the 80's as a staff attorney.

He's been there on and off for a total of 26 years If we briefly mentioned it at the top, but remind us of some of the criticism the Carters been facing.

A lot of it began during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CTA kept running a full schedule because it was the only way for a lot of essential workers to get around.

But a shrinking CTA workforce that actually predated the pandemic was exacerbated by bus and train operators calling into work or leaving their jobs altogether without hiring.

That kept pace.

And that created a lot of anger around unreliable service.

Long wait times other things like the so-called ghost buses and trains out fears about customer safety complaints about cleanliness.

Now in recent months, Carter says increased hiring has allowed the agency to restore its service to pre-pandemic levels.

Of course, whether the agency always delivers its scheduled service.

Another matter.

Carter has had a very contentious relationship with some members of the city council in recent years.

Here's a bit of a meeting last May where he pushed back about as forcefully as he ever had public.

>> It's very easy to find someone to blame for everyone troubles and challenges.

It's much harder to find people to work, to find solutions to them.

I've been committed to finding a solution.

The problem ever since I came to this agency.

I think my track record on that has been pretty good.

I have been turned into a caricature.

I've been turned into something that left in a human being.

>> During his tenure, Carter oversaw some major projects like the red purple modernization effort.

There's that Green Line Station that just opened a in a plan to make all CTA stations fully accessible.

The agency is also facing a fiscal cliff of more than 500 million dollars when COVID relief money runs out next year.

State lawmakers are considering a plan to merge CTA, Metra Pace and the RTA, which as we've reported on Carter and his peers oppose some of those lawmakers have also floated the idea that boosting funding for transit should be tied to a leadership.

Change is what Mayor Johnson said about that last week.

>> We're certainly going to to to those levels of constraints.

Here's what we're committed to making sure that the Chicago Transit Authority is fully funded so that we can have affordable, reliable and safe transportation.

>> Carter plans to take a job as president of Saint Anthony Hospital on the Westside where his father practice medicine for 4 decades.

Mayor Brandon Johnson now gets to pick his replacement and brandis.

I'm sure a lot of people are very interested to see who that will be.

I am sure they are.

And I'm sure you will bring it to us when the time comes.

Nathan Burke, thanks so much.

Thank you.

And you can read next full story on our website is all at W T Tw Dot com Slash news.

After months of negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago public schools still have not reached a contract deal.

>> Meanwhile, the CPS Board of Education's publicly elected members will be sworn in on Wednesday in the district will be on the search for a new leader since the current board fired CEO Pedro Martinez just before the holidays.

Joining us to discuss the state of negotiations and more is Stacy Davis, Gates, Chicago Teachers, Union President.

Stacy, welcome Thank you for having me.

How would you describe the progress of contract negotiations at this point?

It's not moving fast We were good successful men back and forth.

>> Before the CEO received his temporary restraining order.

That slowed progress significantly and almost to a halt.

You know, we have members at the table today who you know, their level of frustration.

Many of the things that we're pushing for.

We one in place before.

Number 47 is inaugurated.

Title 9 was struck down last week.

We are.

We have real concerns about our and transgender students here in the city.

Ray Lopez has introduced legislation that make Chicago a co-conspirator in deporting our students and their families.

We don't know what that looks like in the school These are things that we have to settle at the table to codify and build a force field around our school district.

And of course, that the temporary restraining order that you're referring to is the one that CEO Peter Martinez received from court.

>> So that he would be the one negotiating with you all, not the board members who were recently ceded, not the ones are going to be taking the oath this this Wednesday, of course.

So a few things that you are asking for your contract.

5% raises annually for the first 2 years of the contract, 4 to 5% raises for years.

3, 4, of the contract.

district says it is offering 4% because that's all it can afford.

You're also asking for more fine arts and library.

20 minutes of prep time for teachers as well as 200 librarians for the district, approximately and a nurse in every school.

What's been the district's response on knees, presentations proposals.

The district is still living from a very marginal perspective of how we offer the best type of public education for all of our students here in the city.

contract is over a multi-year plan and what we are trying to do is do what we did in 2019 2019.

>> We implemented a plan, a or says and social workers in our school.

The program restored of justice coordinators gave more to the student when they return from COVID and when they return from COVID, they had the staffing, the support and the resources that they needed to overcome.

A lot of the deficits that many other districts are dealing with.

That is what we are trying to do here.

Build off of those gains, create a unmovable infrastructure already.

We think that what we've landed with sports is will be like iconic and legendary as it compares to what we've had previously.

However, only 12 of our high schools have school libraries to be very frank with you, the way in which the district says teachers pitch black teachers or teachers who teach at a majority black school and parrot their ratings are a lot lower.

This is not our data or research.

This data was commission by the Illinois General Assembly.

This data comes from a study at the University of Chicago.

We are trying to work with the district to replenish the number of black teachers that were fire.

We used to have 50 almost 50% black teachers in the city of Chicago.

Now we're hovering under 19%.

The the district has to work with us for the last few years.

We have been incubating in supporting black teachers to get through that process.

But that process is arduous biased and it's unfair.

We need to fix in our Of course, you know, we have to pay for all of this, right?

You know, part of your argument that the 9 economic issue Brandis the court if I can be completely transparent with you, the push and pull at the table right now is not over the economics.

>> It is over academic freedom.

We want to make sure that our young people in our our members are able to engage in a complete dimensional history of our country.

And teacher preparation time when you come to the studio, you don't just jump in this chair and, you know, do an interview with the president's Chicago teachers union.

You prepare for that.

That's the same thing that our members want to do.

They want to prepare to receive the young people.

So all of what we're talking about is doable because we have the time already in our schedule.

We do not have to marginalize instructional time.

We can do this work.

These are 9 economic that said, though, part of your argument, though, is that the district is not in fact, broke CPS leadership that they held a press conference late this afternoon to explain some of the district finances.

>> 1.1 billion in reserves.

That notion is just not is flat out.

Not true.

It's based on a snapshot in time.

Not fully coming for revenues and expenses in the fiscal year.

And I can let my son go into more qna.

But the reality is we have 66 million dollars of cash on hand and that's 3 days of operating revenues.

You heard or see a fall.

If we had on 1.0, 1 billion in reserves sitting in the bank, we would not be taking over out.

We would not be taking out loan over a billion dollars in tax and suspicion loans to make payroll.

waiting for property taxes come in.

There is no medical pot of gold.

>> All right.

also want to add on to that before a grand time because the Civic Federation released a report today as well.

And a little bit of says the quote to the existing fiscal year 2025 CPS budget is structurally imbalanced heavily relying on temporary revenues and lacking provisions for impending collective bargaining costs.

These financial strains coupled with long-term issues such declining enrollment rising expenditures, pension liabilities and looming credit downgrades demand immediate in strategic action to stabilize CPS.

The board must implement a forward looking financial plan, addressing budget deficits with cost saving measures, operational efficiencies, sustainable revenue source is an advocacy for increased state support.

What do you make of of both of these assessments from the district and the one from the Civic Federation which sort of supports what the district is claiming.

So let me answer this in 2 ways in the first bike, it I will say that everything that is at the table that need settling right now.

>> real issues are 9 economic.

So those 2 press conferences, our mood when it comes to settling this contract.

The settlement of this contract will be about the 9 economic issues that empower educators, protect our freedoms and make sure that our students get their supports.

Those are economic.

Now to the press conference and the Civic Federation, the Civic Federation for years has argued for the closing of black schools.

They've argued for underpaying women.

They've argued for stealing people's retirement security.

So this makes sense for them to say this is what they always say.

Number 2, pedro's assessment of the finances of the Chicago Public Schools without our contract is dire.

No one can argue facts.

But here's the question that I think we need to ask ourselves Chicago.

I think Congo.

Public schools needs leadership that is going to be visionary enough to sustain it for the long term.

This contract is a snapshot in time.

The sustenance in the sustainability of this school district is something else.

So he has to do a few things.

Number one, he asked the leverage the fact that he just received the largest of surplus ever in the history of the city.

Number 2, buy 2031 that tariff will be nearly a billion dollars.

He has to count those things.

Here's the other thing that he needs to do.

He needs to figure out how to get a reimbursement for Medicaid so he can pay for the social workers.

We need for our students.

And then here's the next thing.

You need to be very clear about advocating for both progressive revenue and for the Illinois General Assembly and the governor of this state to fund are schools.

That said the state is also facing a 3.2 billion dollar shortfall.

But we've only got a couple seconds left and I want to get your response on this.

>> Obviously last week it was reported on that you compared CPS CEO Pedro Martinez to a special education student that can't be suspended.

Of course, you know, there's a statement that we received from equip for equality equality, excuse me nonprofit disability advocacy agency, which our viewers can see online.

I want to give you the opportunity to to respond to all of this.

How do you plan on rebuilding trust with parents and students after this incident?

Obviously, you apologized immediately last week as well.

First off, I am extraordinarily embarrassed.

It does not reflect my values or my body of work.

>> I am deeply sorry for it and I am going to be in a process speaking to the advocates, family students are members about how to repair the harm.

I'm absolutely open for that.

And for or union is going to redouble its efforts to make sure that the Chicago Public Schools actually supports the special education students that we do have because we do have a track record in that work, OK?

Stacey Davis, Gates, Chicago Teachers, Union president, thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

Good luck in your negotiations.

Up next, what it means for Chicago to be a sanctuary city.

But first, a look at the weather >> as we mentioned earlier, some city council members are trying to scale back protections for undocumented immigrants in Chicago.

The proposal comes from to older people who have long opposed the city's status as a self-proclaimed sanctuary city.

The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump has promised to launch mass deportations in his second term.

But how exactly did Chicago become a sanctuary city?

And what does it mean?

Joanna Hernandez explores the topic in our W T Tw News explains series.

>> for decades Chicago has held the designation of a state city.

But what does it mean and how has Chicago status indoors, the term sanctuary city reverse any jurisdiction that discourages limits or denies cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

There are currently hundreds of sanctuary communities in America and 13 same jury states.

Where did they come from while Berkeley, California claimed the title of first same jury city in 1971.

The sanctuary city movement really began popping up across the country in the Mid 1980's as President Reagan focused on identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants, churches opened their doors to provide shelter in resources for Central Americans fleeing civil war and violence in Chicago becoming and remaining a stranger.

Every city has been a bit of mayoral tug of Mayor Harold Washington first declared Chicago a stranger every city in 1985.

Via executive order.

>> The order prohibited police and city employees from questioning residents about their immigration status and terminated cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Some argued the policy shielded convicted criminals from deportation.

And in the 1990's, Mayor Richard Daley interpreted the policy to allow city officials to provide immigration information to the Fed's is the subjects were involved in serious crimes.

Chicago, same tree policies when from executive order to a strong law with the 2006 welcoming city ordinance in 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the city council weaken the law, allowing police to work with federal officials in limited cases I election in 2016 President Donald Trump threatened century cities with the loss of federal dollars.

Nevertheless, Chicago City Council voted to reaffirm ordinance under Mayor Lori Lightfoot and expanded welcoming ordinance close the loopholes open by Daley and Emanuel banning all police cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Chicago enters its 40th year as the same tree City Mayor Brandon Johnson has reaffirmed Chicago's commitment.

And today thousands of refugees and undocumented immigrants have found a safe haven in Chicago.

A point of pride for those who believe offering sanctuary is a matter of human rights.

The point of consternation for those see it as a hurdle for law enforcement.

You can find the rest of our Emmy winning W T Tw News explains series on our website.

>> And that's our show for this Monday night.

Join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

>> Now for all of us here in Chicago tonight, I'm Brandis Friedman.

Thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good night.

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