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

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

>> Chicago is a hole right now.

This is not about crime.

>> Local officials are sounding off on President Trump's plans to send National Guard troops and immigration agents to Chicago.

We know so far.

>> Now this comes as violent crime in Chicago is down how the local FBI office has been assisting local law enforcement in that fight.

Plus, uncertainty at the CDC and confusion over changing vaccine.

Guidance.

>> What you should know.

>> First off tonight, President Donald Trump today was clear about federal troops being deployed to Chicago in an effort he says to address violent crime.

But we're going in.

I didn't say when we're going in.

It comes as more than 50 people were shot and 8 killed across Chicago over Labor Day weekend.

But shootings and homicides in 2025 are down more than 30%.

Each compared with last year.

Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson along with other local officials are pushing back on the president saying his pledge to combat crime is a cover for unconstitutional federal overreach.

>> An identifiable agents in unmarked vehicles with masks are planning to raid Latino communities and say they're targeting violent criminals.

As we saw in Los Angeles, a very, very small percentage of the individuals they will target will be violent criminals.

breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try and disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades.

Let's be clear.

The terror and cruelty is the point.

Not the safety of anyone living here.

>> And our Heather Sharon joins us now with more.

Heather, did the governor say when he expects the president to deploy troops to Chicago while citing unidentified sources that he called patriotic Americans within the Trump administration.

He said he expects this deployment to target Mexican Independence Day celebrations.

Mexican Independence Day is September 16th.

Now he couldn't say exactly when this deployment will start, but he did again, as you heard sound the alarm that it is nearly certainly coming.

of course, know the president has not said when do we have any confirmation that the president will send Texas National Guard or other troops to Chicago?

We don't.

We heard that from the first time from Governor Pritzker today.

That's caused a great deal of alarm because it would be nearly unprecedented for one state's governor to send that state's National Guard to another state without the request of that state's governor.

Now I reached out to Texas Governor Greg Abbott's office.

They said that the governor's information was inaccurate but declined to detail exactly what was wrong.

Does the president have the authority to do this out that is really the million dollar question.

Nobody is quite certain.

This will certainly trickle a legal challenge.

We heard from Attorney General Kwame ruled that they would act almost immediately, but these are parts of federal laws that nobody has really tried or tested in the courts.

So will the ruling today by a federal judge that the Trump administration violated federal law when it deployed the National Guard in California in Los Angeles.

>> Will that give Governor Pritzker a way to stop the president from sending the military to Chicago?

Will?

It will certainly help bolster Illinois's case that what the governor or what the president is attempting to do is illegal and it violates federal law.

It's not clear if the president will assert the same law or the same section of law that he asserted in the Los Angeles deployment.

And that could change the legal fight entirely.

And this is sort of I think what's so concerning for a lot of people, including the governor and Mayor Jim Brandon Johnson.

Nobody quite knows what we're dealing mean time.

A game of wait and see for Chicagoans and reporters like Sharon will be on top of the force.

Had a Sean.

Thanks so much.

Thanks.

Brandis.

And you can read headers full story on our website.

That's all it.

W t Tw dot com slash news.

Up next, we talk with the local FBI agent about federal efforts to fight violent crime in Chicago.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part why the Alexander and John Nichols the gym and K maybe family the Pope Brothers Foundation and the support of these donors.

>> Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows violent crime is declining nationwide, including here in Chicago.

Well, local law enforcement has been touting the progress being made.

The federal agencies like the FBI are also supporting the fight against crime in the city.

Joining us with more is Robert was Orrick assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago Field Office agent.

Welcome to Chicago Night.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me here.

So first, give us a sense of the local field office, the work that you all do there and how you support the national FBI headquarters.

Well, tell you this.

The FBI's number one priority is keeping our community safe.

>> And we do that by working very closely with our local state and federal law enforcement partners.

The FBI's been around for 117 years and we've established that the most efficient best way of accomplishing this mission is to the task force.

Business model.

And by that all across the country, in fact, all across the world, the FBI leads hundreds if not more task force that range from counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber and bound crimes.

I run the violent crime program here in Chicago.

We have a rare, very robust task force here.

So the idea is that.

We enlist the help of our local state and federal partners.

They're embedded in our teams.

So we work all day every day together.

There's discernible.

No difference between the agents on my team and the officers.

And that's helpful because those officers act as a connective tissue from their departments to our agencies.

So if we come across a violent criminal that is driving violence in certain neighborhoods.

We're able to learn that information in real time and act on it.

So it makes it extremely it's it's a force multiplier not only because of human capital, but because the intelligence sharing so when we are working with our partners were obviously a lot better because we're talking earlier from Erie, Pennsylvania.

But my home is a Chicago, Illinois.

And when I first came to this area, I learned these neighborhoods from our local and state partners grew up in this area.

Now this this is home for me.

And that's what makes us so.

So personal because I'm raising a family here.

So when the FBI says, you know, our number one priority is keeping the community safe.

It's not an abstract theory.

It's it's It's it's the men and women of the FBI.

And I can tell you this.

We are aggressively pursuing violent crimes.

We've always worked violent crimes, but we're working at at a pace that is an precedent.

And that comes from our top down and doing good job.

>> So let's talk about that because the Chicago police data shows that overall violent crime in the city.

It's down about 22% in the 1st half of this year compared to 2024, there've also been 32%, fewer homicides and 36% fewer shootings in the city.

What do we know about what works to lower crime?

What's what's causing this reduction violence?

So it all it always comes back to the partnerships.

You know, the FBI spearheaded a nationwide initiative over the course of the summer.

It's called Operation Summer Heat.

So for the entire summer.

Week in and week out, we are teaming up with our local partners inside our communities.

And we're taking on new initiatives.

Like, for example, we're targeting child predators, violent gang members, fugitives.

Also the individuals driving the drug trade in our our neighborhoods.

Fentanyl is is incredibly dangerous to call.

drug is an understatement.

It's poison.

I was that I was meeting with the Illinois State Police today and the mother of a child that lost her life.

And this wasn't a hardened drug user.

It was someone that took the wrong thing on the wrong day.

And fentanyl incredibly dangerous.

It is impacting our neighborhoods and that drug trade is driving the violence.

So we talked about Operation Summer Heat.

A couple different tentacles of Operation Summer Heat.

Child, predators.

And one week nationwide, we arrested as the bureau.

255 predators.

We identified them.

We hunted them down 255 predators in Chicago alone in the nationwide in nationwide 255.

So that that is encompassing 55 to from field offices, hundreds of different departments.

Not only what's even more impressive is just in the Chicago land along.

We saved over 100 children from being victimized and you can't quantify that.

Like there's no statistics that that that hammers that home because each each one of these children are human beings.

Important is it is it is priceless course to to be able to if there's no number that could be priced on saving a child's lane.

And there is another initiative that we're doing under the operation.

Summer Heat umbrella and it was a fugitive push.

So we got together with our partners.

The Illinois State Police and we were able to identify the 25.

Baddest of the bad worst violent criminals who had outstanding warrants.

3, these individuals had homicide warrants.

A lot of them had gun warrant.

And then the dangerous narcotics that I talked about that's plaguing our streets.

And one week we rested.

25 find criminals.

So you mentioned child predators, drugs, of course, the fugitive push.

We heard Mayor Brandon Johnson today say that while progress has been made in taking.

>> Illegal guns off the street.

Help is still needed there from the federal government.

Here's a bit of what he said.

>> need the federal government to stop the endless flow guns into our state and into our city.

Chicago police officers have taken more than 24,000 guns, illegal guns off the streets of Chicago since I've taken office.

Over 24,000 illegal guns taken off the streets of Chicago.

Since I've been in office.

They have worked hard every single day to make our city safer.

And they've made historic progress.

>> Agent, where would you say a gun trafficking is on?

The Chicago FBI offices list of priorities to so the criminals that we come in contact with are violent offenders.

You put a gun in that individual's hand.

That isn't just one or 2 victims like we've seen countless times.

That could be multiple victims and not only do they have do.

The subjects of our investigations illegally carry firearms.

But they also modify these weapons.

The calm putting switches on.

We may have heard that term before.

So it takes a regular pistol and makes it into an automatic weapon which in anyone's hands incredibly dangerous and what to do.

makes it even more dangerous is not only the intent behind it, but these weapons are exceedingly hard to manipulate in a safe direction.

So if you're shooting at, you know, your adversary arrival, you're bound to hit a whole group of people.

And that's something that the FBI partners up with.

People like the D the ATF CPD Cook County, Illinois State Police.

Anytime there's a switch involved that wraps up for us.

Well, in part of what the mayor said earlier today was that many of these guns are coming from out of state.

They're coming from surrounding states.

He even called out the state of guns being trafficked that far away into the city of Chicago.

How come the FBI address that?

>> So here's the thing.

The way.

You're very good at at your craft.

A new practice every single day.

>> These criminals that is their livelihood.

That is how they sustain their life and their family and stuff like that through criminal activity.

So they are very clever.

They're very creative.

And they go to the most outrageous links and that means going to Mississippi for guns and as the federal government.

We're not only nationwide were across the entire globe.

So it is very easy for me to reach out to the Jackson field office in Mississippi and say, Hey, can you guys help us with this investigation?

Can you cover this leak?

What do you know about this individual?

What should we know about this individual?

It's a lot more challenging for local law enforcement agency to do that because they don't have that connectivity that we have on a nationwide basis.

And it's something that we do very well and probably couldn't spare the resources as well.

Obviously, actually are as lot more manpower.

But we'll have to have you back a special agent in charge.

Robert was have to have you back to talk about this more.

>> Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you.

So much course.

Up next, what you need to know about changes to vaccine policy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The premier public health agency in the United States, arguably the world.

>> Is experiencing chaos.

Unlike anything ever seen before following mass layoffs.

There's also turmoil at the top after CDC director Susan Norris was forced out last week triggering resignations from other senior staff.

Meanwhile, there's also growing concern in the medical community over changing vaccine guidelines and the cancellation of vaccine research.

Here's what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior had to say about the agency last week.

>> The CDC is an agency that is very troubled.

A very long time.

Anybody gets to the COVID pandemic.

all of these bizarre recommendations overnight.

Science is all the misinformation.

Understands that there's a lot of trouble if CDC and it's going require getting rid of some people over the long term.

In order for us to change the institutional culture.

>> Joining us, our Dr Maxima, Brito professor of medicine and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Illinois, Chicago doctor Anita, Chandra president elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a clinical instructor and pediatric specialist at Northwestern Medicine.

And Doctor Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health and Interim chief of Infectious Diseases at Northwestern Medicine.

Power panel, thanks to the 3 of you for joining us.

Dr. Murphy, first over to you.

What do you make of what we just heard is the CDC, an agency that needed to be reformed?

No.

>> The CDC has been doing a great job.

Of course, anything can be made more efficient.

But what you just heard is really the words from a complete quack.

This person is not making any sense.

The people around him are making no sense and the good people are all leaving.

It's it's really a tragedy for public health in America.

>> Dr Chandra, the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You all have expressed concern over some of the changes that Secretary Kennedy Junior has implemented.

What are your main concerns?

We want to make sure that all children have access to life-saving.

Preventable vaccines.

We want to make sure that there's health equity for all children and the vaccines that we know that have been researched for years and years, science backed vaccine structure.

>> Is still in place.

>> What are what are some the consequences for children of what we're seeing happening, what we're seeing coming out of the CDC with the changes in the vaccine schedule and recommendations.

So already we know that there have been changes and recommendations and the COVID vaccine front and the Academy of Pediatrics believes strongly in the value of these vaccines that are preventing serious illness.

We know that young children can really suffer from.

>> Illness from these viral viral causes in a very terrible way.

Similar to how we think about the elderly.

And so we want to make sure that young children have access to the vaccines to the AP like other professional organizations has published a vaccine schedule that they're recommending.

All pediatricians follow its science-backed.

It is very similar to what it's been in the past it really gives us some clear guidance so that we can combat a lot of the misinformation that's out there, which is a departure from the norm for AAP because typically you all can be aligned with the CDC.

Well, and I will say that about 30 years ago, the AP is to publish their own vaccine schedule and then it became one that was aligned with the ACI, Pierre C, D C. >> So it's always been something that the Academy of Pediatrics has done is to publish an immunization schedule.

It's just that for many years, everybody was in good alignment.

And now unfortunately we're having to make those split decisions.

And so we follow with the Academy of Pediatrics.

Does say Dr Brito many health professionals.

They're expressing concerns, of course, about RFK juniors appointment.

What are your impressions of and how he's leading public health policy in the changes that we've seen so far with vaccine guidance.

Yeah.

I think the changes in vaccine are not optimal.

I mean, we're not we're not.

We're doing exactly with the opposite what we're supposed to be doing.

I think we should.

>> Especially since we have the departure of people who are very talented people who are career professionals, that where being great Stewart's a vaccine policy.

And I think these departures can as being said, Henry Salt increase in the number of preventable diseases and cause a breaks.

So I think this poses misguided.

What are your thoughts on some of the people that he surrounded himself with?

Right?

Because they've.

>> The C D or the CDC, the HHS, they've released their own sort scientific document and it's got a lot of names on it.

And a lot of people who have degrees similar to all of yours.

>> I think the people that wear at CDC and the people who have resigned from CDC are the ones that really have the knowledge have the experience and have you know, have been there through many administrations and the ones that are most capable be stewards of vaccine public parks in the country.

18.

Some of the people then we've seen placing those positions are really not qualified.

And that is concerning.

>> The impact on these vaccine changes and the changes in guidance.

What impact might that have on whether or not insurance covers it for people who would still like to get the vaccines as we previously huge, I think do vaccine the Medicaid.

>> You know, they follow the a cip.

And so vaccine recommendation change their change.

12 states have reported that and CBS or some of the promises have reported in some states have they're not covering the vaccines for season.

So he has implications.

So that's why it's important that that we tried to follow best practices, try to get back to what we were doing.

>> So one decision that a Secretary Kennedy has made is to announce that the government would no longer fund research in.

22 mrna vaccine projects of totaling 500 million dollars.

Half a billion.

He said, quote, We review the science.

Listen to the experts and acted bar to which is the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is terminating.

22 mrna vaccine development investments because the data showed these vaccines failed to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections, like COVID and flu.

Dr. Murphy that mrna technology we all remember is the technology that gave us the COVID vaccine in under a year.

What do you make of this move by HHS?

This one of the most dangerous.

>> Policies that sir ever come out of any kind of health authority, the mrna vaccines, the technology was developed over 20 years ago.

It was used in the COVID pandemic vaccine was developed in on the market within 10 months.

It couldn't happen with the older technology.

It's saved literally in the United States.

Hundreds of thousands of lives to throw this away because of some hoax theories.

Some wacko theory is really going to result in death.

People are going to die because of these policies.

Very similar to what Mr. Kennedy proposed to be some moments when they had their measles outbreak and he said, oh, you don't take vitamin A and do all this other stuff that doesn't work.

And what happened.

83 people, mostly children, died from that and they had to stop that whole anti-vaccine program.

That's what's going to happen here.

And, you know, we're going to have young children, people at risk a sort of ages die from preventable diseases.

Are you calling for his resignation for Secretary Kennedy's resignation?

Do you think he should remain on the job?

>> Heat, >> not only should you not.

Remained in this job, which is totally on qualified before, but he should never have been approved by the Senate.

Senator Cassidy should know better.

A doctor who was promoted appropriate medical therapies and prevention efforts and the world voted him in and made by one vote that one vote has put a dangerous man in this place and we're going pay the consequences.

>> How are how would you advise patients people to proceed in this environment?

Well, that that is really the question of the day.

Number one is you can no longer believe anything coming out of DHHS, which includes the CDC and the NIH and everything else because all their messaging now is controlled.

>> By the secretary, you're going to have to look at a P the infectious Disease Society of America and other professional organizations and some of the states have their own can have their own guidelines as well.

Anybody can have a guy that the problem is we'll insurance com companies cover what the professionals associations are recommending.

We were away from.

But the CDC is that's why everyone's quitting at the CDC.

All people have left.

You can't trust them.

The people that have left the people that people are so they can see that remains are saying about health equity in the pediatric population.

There's patients who have private insurance and those patients who get their vaccines to the vaccines for children program.

>> And there are several states for the vfc program is tied directly to cip.

Your CDC recommendation that is going to have to be changed.

So that all children can have access to the same vaccines across the board.

you know, this is going to be a really big fight over the next several months to make sure that children are vaccinated properly.

That all patients are vaccinated properly.

And you see what happened in places where immunization rates fall.

We all know about what happened in Texas.

We had measles get measles spread throughout the country because of what was happening with lower vaccine rates.

So our job is to really keep vaccinating people to protect them against vaccine.

Preventable illnesses.

Not listen to non science-based recommendations.

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

A best of luck to the 3 of you and getting that word out.

Dr Maximum Brito doctor Anita, Chandra and Dr. Robert Murphy, thank And that's our show for this Tuesday night.

Join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

>> Now for all of us here at Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe.

Have a good night.

>> Closed captioning is made possible by Robert.

A Chicago personal injury and wrongful death.

It supports