The news just won’t stop. If you tuned out over the weekend, we get it. But if you want to catch up on the sad, outrageous, almost unbelievable and, yes, even encouraging developments of the last few days, scroll back through the Chicago Public Square account on Bluesky.
■ And now, the news for today:
‘R.I.P.: 60 Minutes.’ Lawyer/columnist Robert Hubbell, who watched last night’s interview with President Trump so you don’t have to, says it marked “the moment when mourners shoveled earth laden with equal parts sorrow, disgrace, and surrender into the grave of a once proud institution.”
■ He adds that interviewer Norah O’Donnell should have refused the assignment or quit CBS News rather than “conduct the interview knowing that she would not be allowed to ask hard questions.”
■ Chilling moment: Trump said that if Republicans scrap the filibuster rule, “we can do exactly what we want.”
■ Here’s the full transcript …
■ … or you can watch here.
■ In remarks that pretty much say what you need to know about Skydance’s takeover of Paramount and Bari Weiss’ appointment at CBS, Trump praised Skydance’s takeover of Paramount and Bari Weiss’ appointment at CBS.
■ For a palet palate cleanser, check out the best bit from the latest Saturday Night Live.
‘F--- all the way off.’ The Sun-Times notes the growing virality of Gov. Pritzker’s Illinois Federation of Teachers address last month, when he suggested that to “Trump and his cronies.”
■ See the speech here.
Now serving compassion. As the Trump administration cuts off federal food benefits amid the government shutdown, a number of Chicago-area eateries—including the celebrated Manny’s Deli—are offering SNAP cardholders free food.
■ The Sun-Times reports that an Evanston food drive proved overwhelming “in the best possible way.”
■ HBO’s John Oliver’s launching his own wine, “Cabernet SauvignJohn”—pledging to sell it at a financial loss and donating $50,000 to food banks.
■ Columnist and former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman: One food pantry client’s story “really set my hair on fire.”
■ The New York Times (gift link) maps federal food aid benefits across the country. (Illinois doesn’t show up in the top 15 congressional districts listed.)
■ Chicago housing advocates want the city to pause evictions as migrant tenants—afraid of apprehension—stay home and miss work.
■ As Trump & Co. neared a court deadline today to tell judges whether they’ll comply with orders to restore food funding, federal aid for paying heating bills also faced delays.
■ Columnist Christopher Armitage says Democrats celebrating those court wins haven’t been paying attention: “Judges can issue all the orders they want, but without an executive branch willing to enforce those orders, they’re just strongly worded suggestions.”
‘Pants on Fire!’ PolitiFact debunks Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem’s claim that “no American citizens have been arrested or detained” during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns in Chicago.
■ The Sun-Times surveys the weapons ICE has been using in Broadview and Chicago.
■ A Chicago woman—a U.S. citizen—dragged from her car by feds after their vehicle collided with hers on Oct. 10—is still seeking accountability.
■ A man injured during a violent immigration arrest in Melrose Park remained in a hospital—his family not allowed to visit.
■ Amid the feds’ immigration blitz, a Tribune investigation (gift link, free for you because readers underwrite the cost of producing Chicago Public Square) finds 911 calls made in Chicago have dropped precipitously—with many residents afraid of contacting the authorities for any reason.
■ Columnist Charlie Madigan: “Somebody has to do something. I would suggest that is all of us.”
Doomsday averted. The Trib breaks down what’s ahead for CTA, Metra and Pace riders under the mass transit rescue bill headed to Gov. Pritzker.
■ Politico’s Shia Kapos breaks down how it finally happened.
■ The Sun-Times: The CTA’s hoping New York City’s deadly fad—“subway surfing”—doesn’t break out here.
■ Drive the Stevenson? A key exit’s closing through February.
Well, someone wants Tylenol. In one of the year’s biggest corporate deals, Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex and Huggies, is buying Kenvue—the Johnson & Johnson spinoff that makes Band-Aids, Listerine and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s favorite bugaboo, Tylenol.
■ Texas’ lawsuit against Kenvue isn’t going away.
‘My sleep has been getting worse.’ An expert with the University of Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists tells the Trib (gift link) that Kathryn Bigelow’s Netflix film A House of Dynamite—about a nuclear attack targeting Chicago—could happen here.
■ The governor of Hiroshima: “The world has been lulled into complacency, believing that a city like Chicago could never be in the crosshairs. … The only way to prevent another catastrophic nuclear detonation is to eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth.”
■ On the cheerier side of Netflix: Sesame Street Season 56 debuts next week.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? The Sun-Times reports that employees of a Chicago company that specializes in negotiating ransoms for those stricken by cyber attacks employed rogue workers who were themselves digital pirates.
■ McSweeney’s: “Hi, it’s me, Wikipedia, and I am ready for your apology.”
■ If you’re among readers who’ve signed up for today’s Chicago Public Square / Northwestern University interactive online coaching in the world of AI tools, we’ll see ya at noon …
■ … so check your clocks to make sure you’re on standard time—a thing Your Local Epidemiologist says we’d be best advised to keep year-round.
Thanks. Jan Kieckhefer made this edition better.