>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on the week in review.

I'm Nick Lumber.

Other people are in the driver's seat as they take the first step toward passing a rival budget plan.

>> We go.

She Asians are still prevalent.

This process is not over just yet.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says he has grave concerns about the plan but hasn't yet decided whether he'll veto it.

>> Chicago land residents including Evanston Mayor Daniel, this confront Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino as he makes a return.

>> Far from heading toward the abyss as some predicted.

We are on the verge of delivering a world-class transportation network.

State officials celebrate as Governor Pritzker officially signs the Chicago Land Transit overhaul into law.

>> Meantime, Illinois Republicans urged the president to reject a pardon request from disgraced former state House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The city watchdog says the Chicago Police Department isn't properly tracking officers disciplinary histories and the Bears threatened to move again.

This time to northwest Indiana.

Okay.

Sure.

>> And now to our week in review panel.

Joining us are Rob heart of WBBM Newsradio Laura Washington of the Chicago Tribune and ABC, 7 News Hannah Maisel of Capitol News, Illinois and Steve Daniels also of the Chicago Tribune.

Thank you all for being here.

Let's get right to it.

So for all those took the first of 2 budget votes today.

They've got the second one scheduled tomorrow.

course, the mayor has also introduced his latest revision of his budget today.

Give any sense of where the momentum is here, where there's not?

Well, the momentum is definitely within the alders who are in opposition that they call renegades.

you know that they had their own local.

They created their own little but swords and beds and So they're they're on a roll.

And there's a lot of time to if there's any negotiation because it's gonna be a lot of time to do it.

>> big question is there going to probably pass something tomorrow?

question is will the mayor vetoed and he's playing coy on that.

Yeah.

I mean, what's the idea there behind?

You know, clearly he's coming out and saying this is it moral?

This is unrealistic, but not saying what he's actually going to do.

You know, Daniels.

What do you think is his calculation?

Is there why the coin U.S.?

>> That's a good question because I think he's but he's been he's been defeated effectively.

And I think it's over and I think it's been over now for.

>> Several days and so so I it is a little I mean, it could simply be just setting things up for the mayoral re-election campaign to come.

You know, try did absolutely everything.

I introduced a last second alternative.

And like Laura said that the veto is the last thing he's I would be surprised if that's what he does.

But he said he has said that he's not going to let the government shutdown he's any circumstances and >> To me that says everything because of Beatles, that's what's going to happen.

It's not going to be enough time to get a budget done by end of the year.

So it looks like he's going have to make that decision.

But I think you're right that he's going he's trying to get the political calculations and how he can blame it all on council.

can live next year the campaign.

You know, Rob, have you ever seen city budget season like this where all those have been so openly in control of the process?

interesting you bring that up because 40 years ago, I live in interesting interesting and rich life as a result.

We always say that myself listening to old radio broadcast from 40 years ago, December of 1985, one of the news items from early December of that year.

>> Was that the city Council and Mayor Harold Washington had arrived at a budget agreement.

They admitted it was late, but it was in before the deadline and they said it was remarkable because this was back when Fife Council wards were in full swing.

And yet Mayor Washington and the Eddies were able to get a budget deal together.

week after Thanksgiving.

So as we saw last year, these budget negotiations going to December.

What's remarkable this time around is the campaign machinery that is already sprung into action.

18 months before we have a mayor election.

There's already in Air war about the budget.

And that is something think we've seen before.

Yeah, you know, and how about that?

Our folks invoking the memory here of the Council wars of the 80's D do you see any parallels or is it not quite apples apples?

Not really.

I mean, the council really about A group of white aldermen host Harold Washington, on everything.

It was not about issues of principle.

This this is this is a clear battle between the ideology of the mayor and his supporters feeling like they have to help the poor low-income families, no matter what which is, which just a fine argument.

But the other side trying to be more practice and we have to make sure city >> survives the city moves on.

And so I think it's really much more of a pop.

It's political, but it's not political.

It's not.

It's it's it's about who sticks.

This was what's best for the city with especially the city.

you know, Hannah, you've certainly covered plenty of difficult budget deals at the state level, but it feels like at least in recent years they play out much more behind closed doors.

They're not necessarily quite is as public or is personal, perhaps as it feels like, what's it like watching the process play out in Chicago?

Yeah.

I mean, like in Springfield, especially the last 5 years since we've had a new speaker >> you know there's much more budget hearing.

It's always been sound behind closed doors process.

But, you know, things really do not get done at the committee level anymore.

But I will say, you know, having watched up close the two-year budget impasse.

27 15 to 2017. is not a pleasant time to go, you know, to go through and like, know, if the mayor decides to veto this, you know, he will pretty much have used all of his political capital and he'll have painted himself into a corner that's really hard to get out of.

And to justify that.

I mean, we also you know, not too long ago, Democrats make the calculation on the federal level that they were not going to continue on with the budget shutdown in Washington.

You know, people can debate whether they got enough out of that deal.

But it's really hard you know, sell to people.

It's really hard to explain because these are easy topics.

And when you talk about taxes yet, you know, you can get very, very lost and very you can lose a lot of people no matter how you're trying to sell it.

>> Yeah.

And you know the issue here, of course, with the federal shutdown is essential.

Federal workers are still on the job.

They get their back pay when the city shuts down, it just shuts down and do to that point ever seen.

never happened before is we don't actually know they could pass some sort of continuing resolution of some sort I think Clinton, they can't even do Well, exactly.

just we never been there.

So so don't think that's going to happen.

I do think if there's a veto, it'll be over and I think that council, the ones who have voted so far with the mayor, that will be enough appeal out just simply in the interests of the city, not, you know, not getting to that crazy point where we would automatically have a credit downgrade if that occurred, probably still have one, but we've to be in the junk status.

If we if we shut down, it would just be clam I just don't think because we've you know, the mayor's closest you know, even distance themselves.

And, you know, >> the mayor doesn't have very many you'd like close yet.

Lockstep allies anymore.

So I think Steve's right, that even if you do that.

The numbers right now are it's not veto proof.

But I think if there was a veto would be easily over I think they won't pass a budget tomorrow.

Let's say the Alderson during control know that they have enough to overcome the veto.

And I think bottom line whether he vetoes it or not, he's going to have to take responsibility.

Unfortunately, some air this he's gonna wear the jacket for whatever happens to the last thing.

I think he wants to do politically as be the mayor that oversaw government shutdown.

Yeah.

I mean, how about that right idea.

>> also to remember that this is probably the last time Mayor Johnson can roll the really speaking and get his agenda past because next year is anybody going to stick their neck out right during budget season with election just months away.

next year is going to be an election year budget and then everybody's up in March of 27.

So you can call this a last stand budget.

If you want to.

All right.

Well, the other big story this week, actually, there were many plant, another one we were following, Rob Border Patrol Chief Greg movie.

No return to town just for a couple of days.

Although the Chicago Tribune has now reported that he's already departed any idea what's behind such quick drop-in visit?

You know what, it's it's very you don't want to say this just because there are real lives hanging in the balance and people whose lives are being disrupted in some people who are being uprooted from their families and the communities and and taken out of the country.

But there is something very theatrical about all of this that this is.

Us 10 Sibley about immigration enforcement.

But a lot of it is about creating content.

And you see a lot of social media back and forth between both the X account and Chicago reporters who are passing along information and that you get the sense from his side that a lot of this is a game.

This is about creating content and being a compelling social media figure.

And and you got to be the disrupter and then everybody dances to your to very theatrical.

Any travels camera crews and business is all about the show.

But it's also about think about creating fear and intimidation and keeping people.

>> And, you an he's doing this right around the Christmas holidays that that was unnecessary.

He wants to send a message to keep people off guard.

He said they left it, there was some some indication they were going to come back to the spring.

Well, they want a full us, but think they want to come back to keep us off guard.

Yeah, because it's been a month you know, departed I think maybe for some people people have been.

>> Feeling more comfortable, especially those who felt unsafe going outside their houses may be selling things on the corner.

I saw, you know, a guy you know, typically sells talkers and think that at the border in Albany Park today.

And I thought I wonder, you know, how safe he's feeling right now.

But, you know, to do it right before Christmas, I do think that I can't get in their heads, but I do think it sends a message that like, you know, you're you're not safe.

You're safe anywhere any Well, you know, it's Steve Bovino.

Thanks, Chicago and Evanston police for their assistance.

There was at least one instance where CPD reportedly pulled over a driver that was following immigration agents.

But, >> you know, thanking officers genuine gratitude or as a kind of a poke in sanctuary cities.

It's the latter.

to the points that have been made, it was this is all about the inner.

It's about instilling fear.

>> 100%.

There.

>> What at the one thing that would add are added in oil is that this isn't working politically.

So we we reference the Susie Wiles interview in Vanity Fair and which, you know, the what Trump's White House chief of staff made a whole bunch of incendiary comments, incendiary from the point of view of MAGA Trump common sense in terms of the rest of us And one of them was about immigration and and deporting, you know, mother with her children who was showing up voluntarily to an immigration hearing and things like that and she was basically saying this isn't working for us politically.

We need to do it differently.

We also in Chicago have had some real horrendous crimes that have taken place recently that the Venezuelan migrants in particular have committed.

One of them was the murder of a homeless man de in downtown.

Nobody seems to be doing much about them.

staking out Home Depot parking lot.

So so all of that is I think in the mix here we'll see how long vino show really goes on.

it's going to how well it's working politically, what in their direction now, it's been actually completely blown up because lot of data has shown that the vast majority people they're resting.

>> Have not committed any crimes, much less where violent crimes and they're being very complete indiscriminate scrimmage.

Like you said about the vendor you you're into.

They're just pulling driving around.

Looking for someone who's looks like a person of color to pull off the street.

think the defense, a lot of people and that's why I think politically to not wanting to cause, you know, a lot of people would be on board with, you know, the Trump administration's stated goal of getting the worst of the worst.

But that's, you know, like you said that's not at all.

Born out in the data.

Yeah.

>> Well, more I want to get to this, that the city's inspector general out with a report this week on this really teen record keeping system when it comes to police discipline.

>> You know, it's spread across multiple departments and offices that don't necessarily communicate with one another.

You know, how big of a hurdle is that to these reform efforts?

Well, the police department claims that they really clean up their act.

And if the data that that she looked at and the analysis is is is not really valid.

But it clearly I think it's disturbing given the fact Larry Snelling leadership there is committed to the consent decree that committed to police reform and yet that they can't even keep track of their own disciplinary system and make sure that the understood everybody knows where the cops I and the cops are bad cops.

And so I think it's problem.

Yeah, especially that the consent been moving at such a slow pace.

This whole this is just just want just one tiny piece of it.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, Hannah, everybody's favorite.

Former House Speaker Michael Madigan currently behind bars, but he is angling for a pardon Illinois.

Republicans reacted to >> Illinois Republicans.

We'd be glad that anyone asked their opinion to no.

But yet here met again, has been behind bars in a West Virginia federal prison since early October.

And he's recently made a kind of strange request to have a pardon.

But after he served his time, which you know, everyone I've talked to doesn't fully understand that angle.

actually the former commonwealth at us CEO and promissory who was convicted in a separate trial that Stephen I had covered.

Megan.

Driving.

driving that She has apparently made the same request.

So I maybe it's a new legal theory that people around them are testing out It's just it's interesting.

But yes, to your point, little high Republican, all 3 congressional Republicans, Illinois, have written a letter to President Trump inside.

You know, please do not grant any sort of, you know, request for pardon or clemency or whatever it would.

You know, baster dies, rule of law and you know, which I think some people would find a little Get the pardon me after him out.

But I'm not an attorney.

So what do I Yeah, we think you would mean he would join is the last how can you be pardon before you actually?

>> You know, ask week way, our who was pardoned before stood trial, right?

Isn't preemptive Americans appeals process I want to mention is still playing out and I think we'll see a lot more on that next year.

Madigan, the summer high or very high profile team of appellate wires and will see you and you'll be back in court comes all right.

Rob Governor Pritzker this week officially signed into law.

The measure to keep transit from going over the fiscal cliff to overhaul the way that it's governed.

>> You know that it's a big lift here is funding and restructuring is going to take time.

What are you going to be watching for during this process?

Well, first, to find a dollar for every time, the RTA, the CTA, Metra and pace of all come up with a doomsday schedule.

I would have $3, but that's over the course of 20 years is with these fiscal cliffs happen every 5 years or so.

And the most important thing for people who ride Metra or the CTA or pace is that.

No fare hikes, no service cuts.

Things will continue as they are.

The question is, though, is the status quo?

Good enough.

If you are a regular transit has a sound like good news.

yeah.

And and what this can do is first the future is say goodbye to the RTA and it's cool.

1970's will be replaced by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority.

The service boards and the people make up those service boards are yet to be determined.

And as the governor said, it's going to be a process to get this whole thing back up and running.

But ultimately you will have fear integration across Metro, the CTA and pace.

And you could potentially now Metro has been unshackled from just the 6 county service area.

You can see Metro being used to serve Kankakee by rail to resume rail service to the quad cities.

There's already a plan to run metro up to Rockford.

So if this thing actually realizes all of its potential, it could be good for transit riders.

But if your transit writer and a cold platform waiting for a train, that's late because of mechanical delays.

You want some of those fixes right now?

Yeah, a little bit of a sense of urgency.

You know, maybe they can get the people who designed the logo for the renegade all the agencies.

well, you know, our we've seen some back and forth this week between the CTA and the Federal Transit administration over whether buses and trains are safe.

know, you wrote this week that there be some points And I save into to your point.

>> People are worried about not just with that rain going to come, but whether it's going to be safe and whether or not they're going to be attacked.

And there have been some recent grant us a you Trump administration, Federal Transportation Administration wants to see more done about safety.

They want to see a better plan the city and see takes a minute one this week.

>> It got they got one back at them.

They're saying they're going provide More officers on on on the trains are going.

They're going to up security, but it's unclear the dust on back.

I think that this city particular needs a little kick in the to get them much more aggressive about this and they're in the in in the Trump administration is threatening back what hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

So that they need to be listening to that.

Yeah about that.

Steve, does it feel like there's enough of a sense of urgency here to get this done?

Not really.

I mean, I thought the governor had had emphasize that that need to be patients.

>> Understanding that the arrived to ride transit are pleased.

The moment by and And wasn't sure that was the right I think.

Yeah, of course, is going to take awhile to really, make the improvements that people will notice.

But, you know, a message of, you know what, we're going to get on this right now.

Yeah, yes, we need to fill out these boards and all this kind of stuff.

We need to do all that.

But in the meantime, we have we need to to act on what Laura's talking and we need to.

We need to get make these trains safer.

We need to on the case of Metro, which is something I take.

The trains late most of the time and not her endlessly late, although sometimes, but, you know, just routinely 3 for 5 minutes late.

I mean, you know, there a lot of people going back to the office to be or at least more back to the office after the beginning of the year because of company dictates.

And, you know, CTA and Metra should need to be on the ball, especially because they've lost.

They've lost.

so many passengers in the head that got me where back to pre-pandemic levels and if they can't get people get people to understand that they can get on the trains and be on time.

They can be safe.

They're never gonna get those people back.

Then.

All right.

in the latest episode of everyone's favorite soap opera the Bears are now saying they might have to look outside Cook County for a new home.

Maybe as far as northwest Indiana.

>> Okay.

Maybe fans would be fine with like Arlington Heights.

Do you think they'll stomach if that bears actually go out of state?

Bear There is well, the last time I was on this program, they announced that Arlington Heights was going to be their choice.

I think laid out in great detail how one could drive to the Arlington Heights Stadium.

>> So now if you want to drive on the Indiana toll road or take the Skyway and get off the Gary Airport, maybe you could go attend a Bears game.

Circa 2040.

>> a 400% increase ridership on the >> And just imagine speaking a budget impasse is just imagine how much money the owners of Kyra.

what if we still owned Bears in Cary under under the file of everything old is new.

Again, 30 years ago when the Bears were trying to find a way out of Soldier Field that eventually ended with a big spaceship being plopped on top of the Collin AIDS.

They explored northwest Indiana and specifically a plot of land near the Gary Airport.

And there was a graphic in the Chicago Tribune from 1995, they show this is what it would look like.

Here's the airport here in the runways.

Here is I-90 here's the stadium here.

The parking lot.

Here are the numerous toxic weeks to clean up sites that need to be addressed before a very stating what open carry.

And then that was all she wrote in February of 96 and they moved on.

yes, the leadership in Indiana, the mayor of Hammond, Thomas McDermott, state lawmakers, the governor, Mike Braun, all very enthusiastic about bring in the bear is to northwest Indiana.

Just is how everybody's enthusiastic to have the Bears.

But when the rubber meets the road, when you actually have to buy land and build infrastructure and and and sell bonds to get this thing off the ground.

That's where these projects derails.

So if I put my swami hat, I would imagine chances are they're playing in Arlington Heights when this is all done well in hand, we heard from, you know, elected officials from the governor, you know, who are pretty upset about this latest attempt to leverage basically saying.

>> You know, we're willing to negotiate with you, but we're not going to give away the store.

I mean, are the Bears putting themselves in an even tougher position when you know, if every time is right here when they decide to stick around, know, I mean, like number one, I think most people believe that this is a bluff, but it's also an insulting bluff.

You know, leaders in Springfield, the governor legislative leaders over and over and over again, we.

>> We'll consider serious, you propositions.

But, you know, we're not giving you, you know, carte blanche of all the state money.

And, you know, I think that the Bears doing It does impact there leverage and they don't have much leverage to begin with.

It seems like they believe they have been far more leverage and they actually have.

>> Yeah, I do you think there's any situation here where Indiana just absolutely gives away the farm and gives the bears everything they possibly wanted, not everything, but I will say and I were and who we are in the bluff camp as well.

I don't think we think this is probably going to happen, but I will say that we have other situations in the NFL and which teams are when told to pound sand like in Kansas City are, in fact going across the state line and doing something else and obviously have stadiums and East Rutherford, New Jersey, We have stadiums and other and other situations.

I wouldn't say it's absolutely not going to happen.

So I'd I do think there's going to need to be at at some point some serious negotiation.

The Bears I would say in Springfield has kind of been a little dismissive, And and and saying this is a very, very low priority.

Well, yeah, but it's still something you need to deal with.

Well, it may be a low priority for Springfield, you for a high priority.

For me.

You're a great panel.

But we are out of time.

So our thanks to.

>> Rob Heart, Laura, Washington, Hannah Maisel and Steve Daniels.

And we're back to wrap things up right after this.

>> Tonight's presentation of Week in review is made possible in part by an and rich com BNSF railway.

And Francine and Doctor Anthony Brown.

Chicago tonight is made possible in part why the Alexander and John Nichols fate.

The Pope Brothers Foundation, additional support is provided by.

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

Be sure to join us for a special year in review program next Friday night and stay connected with our reporters and what they're working on by following us on Instagram at W T Tw Chicago.

Now for the Week in review.

I'm Nick Blumberg.

Thank you for watching.

Stay healthy, stay safe and stay informed.

Happy holidays and have a great weekend.

All right.

The exciting stuff talk about with the Bears.

What we think is going to happen Well, thank you my friend.

There's did get him come on field and he's going to run through a good, better best if the of hit you.

Imagine how people are going to feel if they win tomorrow night.

I mean, that that might actually win.

center 3 was Captioning is made possible by Clifford.

And that would