JOHN YANG: Tonight on PBS News Weekend, Chicago braces for a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration as President Trump's social media post heightened tensions.

Then, a wave of violence sweeps across Indonesia as rioters protest a worsening economy and collapsing job market.

And a new book tells the story of how multiple generations of one family built the oldest black owned construction company in America.

WOMAN: I came from a long line of builders and architects and I just think it's important that you document where we came from.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

Tensions are rising in Chicago as President Trump signals that he'll soon send troops and ICE agents to the city as part of his crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.

This weekend he posted on Truth Social Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War.

Leaving the White House today, he rattled off some numbers.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. President: You know how many people were killed in Chicago last week?

You know how many people were killed in Chicago the week before?

Seven.

You know how many people were wounded?

74 people were wounded.

You think there's worse than that?

I don't think so.

JOHN YANG: Numbers from the Chicago Police Department show that through the end of August, murders were down 31 percent from the same period in 2024.

Brandis Friedman is anchor of Chicago Tonight on member station WTTW.

Brandis, all this attention on social media, especially he's calling this chipocalypse.

Now, how are people reacting or how are people feeling about this in Chicago?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN, WTTW News: So this weekend we've seen a number of people take to the streets, thousands and thousands of demonstrators.

I think just yesterday they stopped by the ICE Chicago Field Office as well as the federal courthouse, Trump Tower, protesting what they're hearing from the president.

I think their intention is to send him a message that they won't tolerate what they believe to be sort of fear mongering.

We know that the president has been making these threats for a couple of weeks.

On social Media, we see Governor J.B. Pritzker saying that, you know, that this is not normal and saying that it is the president basically declaring war on an American city and that it should not be tolerated.

And something similar from Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago as well.

JOHN YANG: I know this weekend, big Chicago celebration among the Mexican American community, Mexican Independence Day.

Is there fear among the immigrant community?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: I think so, yes.

I think it is safe to say, yes, there is some fear.

The Mexican Independence Day parade in Pilsen, the Pilsen neighborhood, it did step off yesterday, but with noticeably fewer people.

I think there are certainly some people who are fearful of coming out, fearful of those events being like, you know, I hate to use this kind of metaphor, but, like, sort of shooting fish in a barrel, right?

Making it an easy target for ICE agents to round up people who may be undocumented.

Another festival that's supposed to take place next weekend, the El Grito Festival, which is supposed to happen in downtown Grant Park, that one has already been canceled because you're also hearing from some folks say, you know, we are still going to celebrate our culture and our heritage and not going to allow what's happening to sort of steal that joy from us.

But, you know, I also heard someone else say that right now this is not a good time for the Mexican American community, that they are being targeted by the American government and that there's nothing to celebrate right now, that they should be sort of hunkered, hunkering down and taking care of themselves and each other.

JOHN YANG: You know, another reason why the president is focusing on Chicago is that it's a sanctuary city.

And Tom Holman, the border czar, had this to say about sanctuary cities on CNN's State of the Union today.

ATOM HOMAN, White House Border Czar: You can expect action in most sanctuary cities across the country.

President Trump's prioritized sanctuary cities because sanctuary cities knowingly release illegal alien public safety threats to the streets every day.

That's where the problem is.

JOHN YANG: Has the police said whether or not they're going to cooperate with the ICE agents when they get there?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: The police department and the mayor have said they will not cooperate, they will not support these efforts, but they will not hinder them.

Right.

So what Superintendent Snelling has said here in Chicago is that if they are called, they will first send a more senior officer to that scene and make a determination of what's happening.

Right.

And whether or not it warrants Chicago police officers to be on the scene as a matter of public safety and sort of protecting anything from getting out of hand and to enforce municipal code or municipal laws.

But they will certainly not be lending a hand to the ICE agents who are on the ground.

JOHN YANG: And what about the Chicago public schools?

Have they said anything about if agents were to come even in the vicinity of a school?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: They have.

I think the big conversation for Chicago Public Schools has been whether or not they should shift to remote learning in the interest of protecting students who are undocumented, protecting them from agents.

You know, as a sanctuary city, the district tends to be in lockstep with the mayor on the issue of immigration and protecting students and not allowing ICE agents to come to their schools for ICE enforcement, for immigration enforcement.

JOHN YANG: I know we talked about Governor Pritzker.

He said that he'll go to court if the - - if troops arrive in Chicago.

Has the mayor said anything about what sort of action he would take?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: The mayor has not.

I think he's sort of leaning on the state for this one.

Right.

Like, so we're hearing a lot more from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raul.

Kind of waiting to see what laws the president or, you know, what method the president should take to do what he's planning on doing.

Right.

Starting with ICE agents and then eventually the National Guard, if it becomes necessary, and then taking them to court.

Nothing necessarily legal action that the mayor has stated.

But obviously, this is one place where the mayor and the governor are in total agreement with regards to resisting what it is the Trump administration is attempting to do.

JOHN YANG: Trump has long been talking about Chicago in the 2016 presidential campaign.

I remember he was always talking about Chicago crime and about how he could clean it up.

And he also phrased it as a sort of reaching out to the black community in Chicago by talking about that it would help them.

Why do you think he talks about Chicago so much?

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: I think a lot of Chicagoans would like to know that, why he is often, you know, why we often hear him talking about Chicago the way that he does.

And, you know, with regards to the crime issue, there are black and brown communities that are feeling the effects of crime much more regularly than other parts of the city of Chicago.

So that's not to say that there is not a problem, but the problem is certain.

I think you'll hear this from, you know, from local leaders.

The problem is certainly much better than it is or than it was, than it has been.

It has definitely been worse than it is right now.

That does not mean it's okay.

And certainly there is that there is work to be done.

But why he is always -- why he's attracted to talking about Chicago the way he does, I could not tell you.

JOHN YANG: Brandis Friedman from Chicago tonight at WTTW, thank you very much.

BRANDIS FRIEDMAN: Thanks, John.

JOHN YANG: Staying with immigration, South Korean officials say there's a deal with the United States to release the South Korean workers detained in last week's raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia.

South Korea is set to charter a plane to take them home, escorted by the foreign minister who's traveling to the United States on Monday.

Of the nearly 475 workers detained, more than 300 are South Koreans.

South Korea says it's going to review its visa system for travel to the United States in hopes of preventing a repeat incident.

Overnight in Ukraine, Russia launched a massive wave of drone and missile attacks targeting Kyiv.

Russia sent more than 800 drones and decoys and 13 missiles into Ukraine.

At least four people were killed, including a mother and her three month old child.

In Kyiv, the government's headquarters was damaged.

It had been unscathed since the full scale invasion began three years ago.

War weary Ukrainians say it's time for allies to step up.

OLEH USACH, Ukrainian Resident (through translator): We are waiting for all this to be over.

World leaders gather together to come up with a solution.

But in reality, nothing has changed.

On the contrary, the situation is getting worse.

JOHN YANG: For its part, Russia said it used high precision weapons to target military sites and denied hitting the government building.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has resigned after less than a year in office.

Ishiba was blamed for his party's historic defeat in this summer's legislature elections.

Voters said the governing coalition didn't deliver on promises to address rising prices and stagnant wages.

Ishiba said he had waited to resign until there was a trade deal with the United States.

And there is now a millennial Saint Pope Leo canonized Italian Carlo Acutis today during a Mass in St. Peter's Square.

Acutis is known to many young Catholics by the nickname God's Influencer.

The teen is credited with developing a multilingual website documenting miracles recognized by the church.

He died in 2006 at the age of 15 from a rare and aggressive form of leukemia.

Some of the young people who filled the square called Acutis a modern day role model.

LEOPOLDO ANTIMI, Visitor from Rome (through translator): I learned from different people what his professors, his teachers said about his joy and the light he carried around him.

So for me personally as an Italian, even as social media is used so much, it is important to have him as an influencer.

JOHN YANG: Leo also canonized Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was born to a wealthy Italian family but devoted his life to serving the poor.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, the worst violence in years sweeps across Indonesia, and a new book tells the story of a black family who helped build America.

(BREAK) JOHN YANG: In recent weeks, Indonesia has been rocked by massive anti-government protests that have spread across the nation.

Demonstrators torched vehicles and government buildings.

The protests are led by students, workers and women's rights groups angry over the yawning gap between Indonesia's elites and the shrinking middle class.

Things turned violent after a delivery driver was killed amid a police crackdown.

In all, at least 10 people have died.

Earlier, I spoke with Aaron Connolly, Asia diplomatic editor at the Economist.

I asked him about the current situation.

AARON CONNELLY, Asia Diplomatic Editor, The Economist: It remains to be seen what will happen this week.

The protesters set a deadline of Friday for some of their demands to be met.

The first 17 of the 25 demands.

Most of those demands were not met.

And I think the president is hoping that everything will just calm down, that it takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of the protesters, that to promise that there would be an investigation of the motorbike delivery rider's death and that the allowances would be withdrawn and that they don't go back down onto the streets, or at least not in the same numbers.

JOHN YANG: We have a little bit of sound from a protester talking about some of their demands.

MUZAMMIL IHSAN, Student Protester (through translator): We want concrete steps that they continue to take for all the people of Indonesia.

We still feel unsatisfied.

We still feel that there are still many changes that must be made because we believe that when our voices have not been heard, then we must continue to move, then we must continue to speak out to convey our aspirations.

JOHN YANG: What else are they looking for?

What else do they want?

AARON CONNELLY: The initial demands focused on this incident that took place on August 28 when the motorbike driver was run over, that there be an investigation into his death, and then also that the military retreat to the barracks, that it not be involved in enforcing in domestic law enforcement.

But then the demands broadened and some of them go so far as to require revisions to the law authorizing the military or authorizing the police and reform of the legislature to make it more democratic.

JOHN YANG: That accident may have been the spark that started this, but was there already sort of kindling laid down unhappiness over issues?

AARON CONNELLY: Yeah, quite a bit.

You know, on paper, the economy looks like it's doing pretty well, so growing at about 5.1 if those numbers are accurate.

But beneath the surface, there are all sorts of economic indicators that suggest that people aren't doing okay.

So, you know, the price of key staples like a kilo of rice, that's up 34 percent since three years ago.

And then there just aren't very many jobs.

And so youth unemployment, particularly the unemployment rate of young graduates of university, that's gone up considerably over the last couple of years.

And so people really feel like they're doing it tough.

We talked to one teacher in central Java who said that she's struggling to make ends meet, and then she sees these legislators enriching themselves with things like housing allowances.

But more than that, I think the underlying cause is the president's effort to try to squelch democratic opposition in the legislature.

He said that he wants a coalition of all the parties in the legislature and that he then wants to make that permanent, implying that there would be no democratic opposition in the legislature going forward.

And that really limits the avenues that people have for opposing his policies.

And they find their voice only on the street now.

JOHN YANG: So is the concern that Indonesia may be going back to authoritarianism under this way?

AARON CONNELLY: That's been the concern since President Prabowa Subianto was elected last year because he has himself a history in the dictatorship of his former father in law, Suharto, who ruled from 1967 to 1998.

He was a Special Forces general during that period.

And then in the protests that brought down Suharto in 1998, he was quite active.

And there have been allegations that he was involved in some sponsoring some agents' provocateurs in an attempt to try and justify Suharto remaining in office under emergency rule.

And so there's a real fear that, you know, some of the more violent protests that we saw over the last couple of weeks, that was actually not protesters who were doing that.

And of course the protest leaders have said that wasn't their people, but that he was seeking to justify really a power grab, a consolidation of power.

JOHN YANG: This is sort of the first big test for President Subianto.

What have we learned from it?

What does this, what his reaction and response tell us about him?

AARON CONNELLY: I spoke to one foreign diplomat who knows President Prabowo well and said, you know, look, he's a populist and like all populists, he wants to be popular and a crackdown doesn't serve that end and nor would, you know, a really heavy handed authoritarianism.

So, I think he's trying to thread that needle.

As we said earlier, he's trying to find a way to take the wind out of the sails of the protests without necessarily giving over to the protesters a lot of their other demands.

JOHN YANG: So what's the next chapter?

What do people think is going to happen next?

AARON CONNELLY: You know, there were big street protests under President Prabowo's predecessor, Joko Widodo, in 2019 and 2021 that looked a lot like these.

And it seemed as though this was going to be a really big moment Indonesian politics.

And the president did make some concessions and it did take the wind out of the sails of the protesters.

The protest leaders have said that they don't want to allow that to happen again.

But it's certainly possible that President Prabowo plays this perfectly and that, you know, we don't see the protests immediately revived.

I think all that dry kindling that we talked about earlier, the economic issues, the lack of democratic accountability that's going to lead to protests again and again throughout his term unless he changes course and allows for more democratic contestation and accountability in the legislature.

JOHN YANG: Indonesia, in all this turmoil, what does this do to its standing in the region, and what does it do to the region overall?

AARON CONNELLY: Well, Indonesia is the biggest country in Southeast Asia.

In fact, it's the fourth most populous country in the world, third largest democracy.

And so what happens Indonesia matters.

It matters for Southeast Asia and it matters for the rest of the region as well.

Some of us who focus on Indonesia, we like to say that it's the world's biggest invisible object because it doesn't get very much attention in Western press except for moments like this.

And so it is an important country and it is a kind of leader within the region.

And so other countries will look at what happens Indonesia, whether it's moving toward a more illiberal future or whether it's moving toward a more democratic future.

And they will, to some extent, take their cues from Indonesia.

JOHN YANG: Aaron Connolly in Singapore, thank you very much.

AARON CONNELLY: Thanks, John.

JOHN YANG: For centuries, black Americans, significant contributions to architecture and design have often been overlooked.

A new book chronicles the resilience of one family who's left an indelible mark on American construction since the mid-1800s.

Ali Rogin spoke with Cheryl McKissack Daniel, CEO of the Construction and design company that bears her family's name and author of "The Black Family who built America: The McKissick's.

Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers."

ALI ROGIN: Cheryl McKissack Daniel, thank you so much for joining us.

Your family's legacy stretches back many generations.

It is anchored by a man named Moses McKissack.

Tell us about him.

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL, Author, "The Black Family Who Build America": Moses McKissick was the first descendant from our family who came to this country in 1790 as a slave.

He was taught the trade of making bricks, and he resided in North Carolina.

His son was Moses McKissick II, he was also a carpenter and master builder.

He was actually given as a wedding gift to the Maxwell family, and they lived in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

And after emancipation, Moses McKissack moved to Pulaski, Tennessee, and that's when he first started our business.

The interesting thing about Pulaski, Tennessee, is where the Ku Klux Klan started.

This is the deep, deep south you mentioned.

ALI ROGIN: This is the deep, deep south shortly after emancipation, what sort of discrimination did your ancestors face in the early days of starting this firm?

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: In the early days, you know, they had many white patriots because these slave masters would help the slaves start their own business.

But it wasn't until later on the white people began to feel that blacks were a threat to them and their livelihood.

And so that's when the McKissacks begin to shift their clientele to the black communities.

So that was churches, that was black, historically black colleges, things of that nature.

ALI ROGIN: And what sort of barriers?

When you took over the company, as you did more than 150 years later, what sort of barriers did you face?

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: Well, when I first took over the company, it was the beginning of minority and women owned programs.

So I was definitely anomaly.

But most of the time the thought was that I could not provide quality work or I didn't know what I was doing.

I didn't have good staff, I didn't have funding all these things that are myths.

It was not true.

I came from a long line, as the book lays out, of builders and architects, so we definitely knew what were doing.

ALI ROGIN: Tell me about some of the projects that you are the proudest of over the course of your career.

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: Well, the first chapter of my book talks about the Barclay Arena, and I'm extremely proud of that project.

That project catapulted us into the transportation business, the rail business, because we had to move the rail where the trains were being stored to make way for the Barclay Arenas Foundation.

And so that was the beginning of our rail division, which then brought on clients like the MTA.

I'm also excited about our work at New York City airports, from LaGuardia to now the new Terminal 1 at JFK.

That's almost 3 million square feet of state of the art airport.

And we have been working on that project, I want to say, six years.

We've also done quite a bit of work for Columbia University Manhattanville Campus, EDC, which is the Economic Development Corporation.

We've been able to work with them to build the new state of the art Coney Island Hospital, which we are excited about and the same as the Harlem Hospital on 135th Street.

ALI ROGIN: You end the book talking about your hopes for black entrepreneurs to be able to pay it forward and create generational wealth and success.

What does that future look like to you?

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: Well, I believe that black businesses should focus on ownership.

I think that creates an ecosystem that can empower a whole community.

If we look at JFK Terminal 1, the owners there included Magic Johnson and Jim Reynolds from Loop Capital.

And as a result, the top of the food chain dictates how the rest of the project is going to work and who is going to work on it.

They wanted to have strong minority and women owned business participation.

And so that's how I see it playing out in the future.

More ownership.

ALI ROGIN: And you know, this book, it's not just a memoir.

It's not just your story, but it's also a reframing of who Built America.

What do you want readers to take away from reading this story?

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: Everyone can have a legacy.

My interest in my family story started with just a family tree that my grandmother had in her Bible that I got my hands on.

And it was so exciting to me that I filled it out with the rest of our generations, my generation, my kids generation.

And I just think it's important that we document where we came from.

So I hope readers can take that away.

ALI ROGIN: The book is the Black Family who built America.

Cheryl McKissick, Daniel, thank you so much for joining us.

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL: My pleasure.

JOHN YANG: Now online, many people love gel nail polish for its durability and shiny gloss.

But now that it's banned in Europe, salons across the continent are looking for an alternative.

All that and more is on our website, PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that is PBS News Weekend for this Sunday.

On Monday, how climate change is causing a decline in seabird populations and what humans can do to help reverse that trend.

That's Monday on the PBS NewsHour.

For all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us.

Have a good week.