>> Well, thanks for joining us on Chicago Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

>> It's not want to have to go to the people.

The country's largest food aid program will be partially funded as the government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever.

We hear from local members of Congress and the impact.

And the new leader of the Adler Planetarium on her vision for the historic institution and the pressures museums are facing under the Trump administration.

>> First off tonight, SNAP recipients may still have a lot of questions, even though the Trump administration today agreed to fund the Food aid program.

But only partially a pair of judges ruled last week that the administration must continue funding the supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, even during the government shutdown.

The U.S.

Department of Agriculture said, well, it had planned to stop payments as of November first, but the administration has reversed course under judge's orders.

USDA says it will use just under 5 billion dollars in contingency funds to cover half the normal benefits.

But it's still not clear just how much beneficiaries will receive or how quickly they'll start to see that value owner Snap debit cards.

The process of loading them through state and federal agencies in vendors can take up to 2 weeks in some states and we'll have more on the government shutdown with Congress members in just a few minutes.

Mourners gathered today in downstate Illinois to remember the family of Republican candidate for Governor Darren Bailey, whose son daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren were killed in a helicopter crash last month.

>> Bailey's love for each was never hit and they were family.

That was inseparable.

Well known together.

They were also known and treasured for their unique personalities.

Sacked the loud, fun-loving, adventurous leader.

Kelsey, the enthusiastic joyful friend, sister teacher and mother Veda rose, the fearless sweet, loving Warrior Princess.

And Sam, the strong-willed little farmer.

We missed by all, who knew and loved him.

>> Bailey's oldest son Zachary was 37 years old.

His wife Kelsey.

35 2 of their children, 12 year-old Vader Rose and 7 year-old Samuel died in the crash as well.

Their oldest son family, 10 years old was not on the helicopter.

A GoFundMe account has been created for family.

A measure aimed at protecting residents on Chicago's south and west sides from pollution stalls and city hall.

The proposal would require industries that want to set up shop or expand in Chicago to submit a study that examines the amount of existing air water and soil pollution in the community.

Not just what the proposed project is expected to add.

The city's zoning committee today peppered city officials with questions about the plan that faces opposition from business groups and labor organizations.

Opponents say the measure with new and expanding businesses red tape preventing the creation of new jobs.

But backers of the plan say the city doesn't have to choose between good jobs and clean air.

And she's big.

She's beautiful and she's on her way to downtown Chicago.

The city's official Christmas tree has been chosen.

Crews arrived at the Glenview home of Ryan and Julie Mason this morning to cut down the 6 ton 66 foot, Norway spruce.

She'll be pruned and prepped for tree lighting festivities in Long Grove before setting up shop it for the season in Millennium Park.

On Wednesday, the city's tree lighting event is on November.

21st, the Mason family says they plan to germinate some of the tree's seeds and replant them.

So a piece of the tree can live on.

Up next, we check in with local members of Congress amid the ongoing government shutdown.

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.

>> The federal government shutdown is on track to become the longest in U.S.

history by tomorrow night with Democrats and Republicans in Washington.

No closer to a spending agreement funds for handful of federal programs, including food assistance for millions of Americans dried up November.

First as a result of a shutdown, the Trump administration today agreed to release contingency funds to partially keep SNAP benefits coming following to federal court orders.

But a long-term solution continues to evade law makers.

Joining us with more are.

Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, Democrat representing parts of Chicago's West side, Congressman Bill Foster, a Democrat from Naperville and Congressman Sean Casten, a Democrat from Downers Grove.

We also invited the Republican Congress members from Illinois, but the they either declined or did not reply.

I think the 3 of you for joining us.

Welcome back.

Representative Kasten to you first.

The Trump administration, as we've said, has agreed to pay half of the regular amount of SNAP benefits in November.

Following the court order from a federal judge in Rhode Island around 1.8 million Illinoisans are enrolled in snap.

What is your reaction to the administration's decision only to restore funding partially?

>> You know, there's there's an old Chris Rock joke about people wanting credit for things they're supposed to do.

And in this case, the Trump administration has done half of what they're supposed to do.

The law's very clear that this contingency fund exists.

was also clear that there's a transfer fund that they can take money from other funds, which would be sufficient to fully fund.

The fact that the Trump administration, who, by the way, seems to be completely unconstrained by the law would mandate or streets with ICE.

Officers can seems to be completely unconstrained by the law when when steal money of prop up their crypto regimes.

Now is saying that they can to honor the that would feed hungry people.

You know, I'm glad the court said they have to do it.

But there still saying they can leaf and a half or there's going to be some delays that's leading to a ton of uncertainty going into the holiday season.

Well, Donald Trump really great Gatsby parties at Mar-A-Lago.

it's so you know, I'm glad that some of the money is flowing through, but it's still less than is what's legally required.

And it's just evil.

That amounts to put it.

>> Representative Ramirez, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson today spoke on the president's focus on restoring SNAP benefits.

Let's listen to them.

>> The president is desperate for snap benefits to flow to the American citizens who desperately rely upon it.

He has been over backwards, as you know, to get the troops pay too.

Keep with funding going.

He's found creative solutions to what the president said logically was OK, your honor, if you're saying we can do it, I'll go for that because I want to have to go to the people is the Democrats that stopped it?

Not So tell me how to do it because I have all my personnel here in the office, the legal minds and the and the number crunchers.

And they're trying to figure out how this can be done.

Give us some guidance.

We're glad to do it.

>> Representative what's your reaction?

First to speak or Johnson's argument that Democrats cut off SNAP funding and second to the administration's argument that there's no easy way to restore it.

>> You know, it's hard to hear Speaker John someone, you know, he's full of lies is super critical.

This Republican government shutdown its there's it's appalling that willing to live the way they children are starving the president if he wanted to fully fund snap today, he could.

He always finds a way to get what he wants done.

But there's a ballroom.

We're giving ICE agents billions of dollars.

He couldn't make sure kids are eating today and that's a choice that they're making.

You Congressman Cass and say the funds are there.

He could immediately make those transfers.

And even though the judge has ruled that he has to priests or snap.

Those snap benefits will not be available according to him for weeks, people will start as a result of it.

And it's a choice.

It cruel choice that Donald Trump and Speaker Johnson are making every single day, you know, against the children that they say that they care about.

>> Representative Foster, we know a lot of what this comes down to is the fact that congressional Democrats want to make a set of Obamacare tax subsidies that were expanded.

You'll want to make those permanent.

Republicans have said that those subsidies provide health care for illegal immigrants.

But is it the Democrats stance that you all will not open the government until you've gotten some guarantee on those subsidies being made permanent.

For those who are receiving them.

>> One of the things that happened, I'm sure all of us is that since the since the price estimates for insurance came out.

Now we're getting flooded by people are saying what is this?

My insurance costs are going to double.

All right, which is what the experts told us going into this was going to happen to know what's happening and people are saying how am I going afford insurance?

You know, the estimates are somewhere in the range 50 million people are going to end up losing insurance through a combination of Medicaid cuts then price increases of where they simply won't be able to afford insurance more.

And real previous shutdowns of always bordered on the same health care discussion and Republicans have painted Obama care since its and since its inception since I voted for it.

You know, back many years ago.

Now.

And and they pine, they're finding every way they can to kill it.

And one of the ways to kill it is to take away these tax credits that crucial for many, you know, millions of families in America to report health insurance that are taken away.

And and it's, you know, that this is not a who gave.

how Ted Cruz was holding the floor reading green eggs and ham, you know, to shut down to go.

You know, it was fight over health care.

They want cut them they want to cut it.

Now.

>> That said, if Republicans don't give in, if the Democrats don't given, how will the government get to be reopened?

Representative Foster.

>> Look at we first off.

We should be negotiating Washington and Speaker Johnson has no excuse for why he's holding the house owner such out a social were not.

We should be in Washington.

First off, doing the normal business of Congress just because a government shutdown doesn't mean we can't be having hearings.

But most importantly, actually negotiating on this.

You can see Republicans all over the country saying, of course, we have to negotiate getting the subsidies back for health care and a they've agreed to the principle that they say we can't do during shutdowns.

And that just, you know, another thing, they're saying that just simply not true.

>> hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed without pay since the shutdown began.

The largest federal workers union is calling for a short-term funding bill that would reopen the government, restart their paychecks.

Something Democrats have rejected.

Congressman cast.

And what do you say to those workers, including some who may have supported the Democratic Party but are running out of time because they're running out of money.

>> So it doesn't it with a lot of those workers.

Those workers include all of our There's no reason why we should have to go through the sacrafice revenue.

I think you know, when you know, all of the continuing resolution that have been and it's always the same solution.

You fund the government on a temporary base based on the last complete funding package that was passed by by by the House and Senate.

Until you get through.

The difficulty the Johnson and through have been, frankly, the difficulty we have Democrats.

Is that the last time there was a pool funding package passed through it, see Pelosi was the speaker.

Under through and Johnson's leadership.

We have passed 0 appropriations during the entirety of the last fiscal year.

And Johnson wrote a bill to the floor that said, we want to fund it at the last appropriations package.

You get overwhelming bipartisan vote.

That's the way through.

Johnson isn't doing that.

That because when McCarthy Kevin McCarthy did that, lost his job.

Because a significant part of his own caucus revolt.

so what they're asking us to do is not to continue to fund the government current levels that the at levels that bacon, all of the illegal cuts, the unconstitutional cuts, the power grab come from the White House.

saying we do not want to honor congressional funding levels and that's never going to be a bipartisan idea that you need 60 votes in the Senate.

I'm not happy about the fact that our air traffic controllers are federal employees are losing over that.

But I would submit to you that the with the White House is already completely eliminated agencies like like USAID, like the Consumer Financial Protection Board, his could the Department Education and if we're going to fight for those federal workers were going to fight for all of not just the ones that happen to be favored by the Trump White House.

>> So as Speaker Johnson yesterday, he said that November first, could mark a turning point in the shutdown.

Here he is.

>> I don't know how they can believe they're winning if it were indeed a game to them.

And I think it is because you have all the unions now coming out against them.

You have major airlines in the country.

You have every segment of the population and hard-working Americans who will be going without you.

42 million recipients of snap that are in jeopardy right now.

You have women, infants and children because the nutrition program that President Trump in the White House of her oakleaf and it thus far is running out of money.

And of course, the troops.

I mean, we've got them paid now for 2 cycles, but that money's not inexhaustible.

And it's running now.

And so increasingly the American people will be feeling the pain.

And after week pass the threshold of the first of this month, it's very real for more and more people.

>> Representative Ramirez with funding for programs like early education food assistance, military pay up in the air or congressional Democrats who feeling any increased pressure to get this done.

>> Johnson can sell that.

He saying that he has the ability the power to call us back into session tomorrow.

To actually negotiate a continuing resolution that actually restores health care, make sure the snap benefits are paid and that we bring back all the federal workers, including the federal workers are furloughed and hot.

They're not able to process the housing subsidies we could be doing that right now.

Johnson can cause and secession get that resolution going.

But what he's saying is I passed a resolution 6 weeks ago the only resolution are going to have.

I'm not willing to negotiate if you don't like it then so be it.

That's not how it works.

willing to call us into session because he wants to protect Donald Trump from the Epstein files being released.

That is what's happening.

He's willing to starve children so that I believe that the how about this not get sworn in, we don't have to 18 signatures to release those files and we don't reopen.

The government was a new container resolution.

It is a choice he's made every single day.

>> Just about out time.

Representative Ramirez.

Well, we've got you, of course, the eip ice operations that have been going on in Chicago last week.

Governor Pritzker asked U.S.

Homeland Security Security Secretary Kristi Noem to pause on the ice reads over the hollow Halloween holiday weekend.

She called that request shameful.

What is your reaction?

There was a reported noticeable decline in Halloween and day of the dead activities in Chicago over the weekend.

>> Yeah, of course.

Over because ICE agents masks, Asians and these that they were every single day for terrorizing people in my district and all over the Chicago area.

It is pure evil.

What you were saying with no accountability.

It is a shame that our speaker is willing to celebrate the terrorizing.

The children were not sleeping and night out of fear that ice will take their family or hurt them too.

That is what's happening in Chicago every single day.

Well, we are in a government shutdown, but they have enough money to be sending these agents and his unmarked cars to terrorize people throughout the Chicago area.

thing will have to.

>> That's where we'll have to leave it.

Thanks to the 3 of you for joining us representatives Delia Ramirez, Sean Casten and Bill Foster.

We appreciate it.

And we're back with more right after this.

>> the country's oldest planetarium has a new leader.

Elizabeth Babcock is the latest CEO and president of the astrophysics focused institution.

She previously served as the founding director of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C., and earlier in her career, the Chicago area native worked with the field museum.

So her return to the city's museum campus.

It's kind of a homecoming.

Joining us now with more vision for the institution and current challenges facing museums is and was Elizabeth Babcock, the new president and CEO of the Adler Planetarium.

Welcome back to Chicago.

Thank you so much, of course.

And congrats on the new job.

Thank what you do.

Want this Sure.

Well, the opportunity to come to a historic organization like the Adler Planetarium that's approaching its one 100th year.

>> In a fabulous city like Chicago, something I couldn't turn down.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

That's it's good place to be replaced, So the actor took a bit of a hit during the pandemic.

Of course, as did many museums laying off 120 employees in 2020.

Closes doors for nearly 2 One of the planet's Haram's plans for growth and expansion.

Sure.

So now we're past the pandemic in where and, you know, a few years on.

So our plans and our plans for the future are really focused on our one 100th anniversary.

So we are in the middle of rethinking everything from how can we be more present around space, discovery and exploration?

How can we revitalize and renew a lot of our visitor experience efforts and how can we continue to focus on science?

Discovery has a lot of people don't know that we actually do research at the Adler Planetarium in astrophysics.

So the other a few of the things we're going to be doubling down on.

And of course, new planetarium shows us lots of fun.

So has mentioned you were previously with the little known institution called the stunt.

So never heard of all.

And the Smithsonian's really all museums throughout the country been under threat, of course, because of federal funding cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and President Trump's mission, of course, to get to the woke.

That's a quote, unquote woke out of American museums.

How are you dealing with that tension?

So here at the Adler Planetarium, we're focused on our mission, which remains the same, which is how do we get people focused on science, science exploration in our case.

Exploring the cosmos.

So we remain consistently and steadfastly committed to that as a science research organization and a science education organization for us.

That's at the core sites inquiry.

So do you think any programming will change because of the federal government's policies or requests demands?

No, we're actually very focused on what we do.

We know that our visitors love the focus on space and space exploration.

We're welcoming to all and we are excited to continue on the same path.

As someone who is familiar with museums all of your working experience with it in the letter sent to the Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch.

The 3rd the White House said that it will perform a comprehensive review of museums to, quote, assess tone, historical framing in alignment with American ideals.

What was your reaction to that request?

Well, let the Smithsonian kind of comment on those on that question.

But I will say that like all museums, it is time of change and careful consideration of for us at the Adler Planetarium.

What we're focused on is the Chicago land community and beyond and how we can serve.

Our audience is right now.

And one of the things we know is it's key to be welcoming to all we know that we're a science organization.

So we're standings, UNOS get with science inquiry at our core.

We are a planetarium.

So when you come to the other, what you get to explore is the cosmos, the universe and all of the new discoveries that are coming out almost every day.

So for us, that's what we're staying focused on plant area been using social media as a means, of course, to connect and educate the community.

What are the plans that you have to get folks to visit in-person?

Sure.

So a couple things.

One is over the holiday season.

I want to encourage people to come back if they haven't been to the I-learn a while.

We have a new exhibit about astrology and astronomy and the connections historically between those 2 fields.

We also have a new planetary and we're going to be showing called Big Astronomy over the holiday season.

That's looking at some of the largest telescopes in the world that are exploring the cosmos.

So first news, new content, new experiences.

Second, we're very committed to and excited about new exhibits and new activities and new kinds of science activities that people can do when they're actually in the building itself.

And we're really focused on laying out a plan that's heavy on focus on space discovery.

And what's new today for the first time in a long time space discovery and and the whole notion of what's out there in the cosmos is something that a lot of people are talking about, that all of us are interested in.

And so that's the stories that will bring to the public.

You mentioned the latest exhibit that you all kicked off just on Halloween stars aligned tracing the story of astronomy and astrology.

Something fun for the Zodiac fans in What can folks expect that that?

Sure.

So it's a beautiful gallery that is exploring the common history between astrology and astronomy.

And there are some really interesting connections in that regard.

But we are actually display for the first time.

A lot of the objects from our collection.

People may not know this, but the Adler has an extraordinary collection of historic objects and artifacts that tell the history and the story of astronomy.

So we've brought some of those objects out ranging from beautiful scrolls that astrological predictions too scientific instruments that actually advanced astronomy work.

So it's a beautiful gallery we encourage people come out.

will be on for quite a while.

So this is a great time to come out and see it.

Well, it's A lot of people, you know, when you read your horoscope, people like, alright, let's cute.

And it's kind of fun.

But, you know, some folks aren't really aware that astronomy is actually scientific and that it is a science.

What do you find?

Interesting about astronomy and astrology.

Sheriff says astrologer real versus not astronomy.

Everybody knows that's real.

Things I found most interesting is that.

>> A lot of the early astronomers also did astrological predictions on the side kind of like a side business for them.

And when we look back at some of the historic alma, next, you'll find in an ax astrological predictions and astronomy calculations and observations.

So this science and the astrology side by side, I found that really fascinating that that the astrology part was kind of side job for a lot of astronomers.

is interesting like yeah.

Looking over the 900 numbers back in the day.

Whatever can I call one of the scientists that my horoscope turns out to be wrong So you talked about the centennial celebration.

It's coming up in 2030 got a little bit of time.

But are you all preparing?

Sure.

So the first thing we're looking at basically asking our audience is and our visitors.

What are they interested in hearing about what are kind of experiences are they looking for at the Adler?

And I like to say that, you know, wearing museum planetarium and for us, we want to provide those experiences that people can't get at home.

So how are we leveraging our planetarium domes?

We have to theaters right now that show amazing immersive digital experiences where you are transported in space and time out into the cosmos.

So really doubling down on those digital in immersive activities that you can only do at the Adler, right?

So it sounds like a good reason for people to physically go to the Adler to see it.

Elizabeth Babcock, thank you for joining us.

Congrats on a new position.

Thank you so much for And that's our show for this Monday night.

You can get Chicago tonight streamed on Facebook, YouTube and our website.

>> W T Tw Dot com Slash news and join us tomorrow night at 5.30, and a special time 10, 30.

The Trump administration moves to end automatic renewals for some immigrant work permits.

What it means for workers and the larger economy.

Now for all of us here at Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching to healthy and safe and have a good night.

>> Closed caption he's made