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to try to provide a disincentive for any politician trying to do this ever again. not just a president, but a local alderman or a congressional candidate. this coordinated conspiracy of lying about it in an election and trying to force through public pressure, local officials to overturn an election. which would be easier to do. >> that is absolutely true and it tees up an interesting conflict here. there are some like the congressman who say it is double dipping. is it really necessary. there are others i think who raised very good questions about should we be in the system where every politically elected county prosecutor across the country can start prosecuting a sitting president. so these are all very legitimate questions. however, the other side of that coin is you have prosecutors like in this case, fani willis
on the ground in chicago for us. a sad reality for so many that actually remain in the city. chicago alderman raymond lopez knows many have fled the city, including big companies, could not keep their employees safe or recruit top talent because of the rising crime rates. this is new sound of the vice president on the ground in chicago, a bit of what we heard out of the gate. >> how you are thinking about this issue right now in this moment. >> vote.gov. [laughter] >> sandra: alderman, a bit of a puzzling moment of laughter as we have seen with the vice president, she takes a question and laughs. apparently she was being asked about gun violence in the city of chicago and that was the response. but why are they highlighting a city that's having such clear problems? >> well, sandra, let me just say this is not a laughing matter and i don't find it funny one
i am coming home with my wife. they have got the street blocked off. they look at me like i am crazy. okay. then a beep again and they all jumped out of the car. i have to do what i have to do. i get my gun and say which one of you? >> chicago's civilian say chicago politicians care more about the migrants than their own voters. it is starting to feel like that all over the country, isn't it? nick is an alderman in chicago. nick, you can tell right there someone is about to get shot. is the chicago political scene doing anything about this? >> that is the south side. i am the northwest side. i hear it is a big mess over there. in my part of town it's a mess but a different kind of mess. it is not a criminal mess. it is more panhandling and people just not understanding the american order of chicago
hand every they're trying to run everything. i'm coming home, my wife from a function. >> they got the street staff party i.d. they look at mee like all crazy. p okay. so and then i guess again, they all jumped out of the car. so i have to do what i hadt my to do. i jumped out with my gun and gut there. >> which one of you going down chicago's? ans ca civilian say. chicago politicians care more about the migrants than their own votersreor . lik it's starting to feel like that all over the country, isn't it ? next. bizarre. there's an alderman in chicago. niso, nick, you can tellht there right there someone's about to shot. is the chicago political scene doing anything about this? >> that's the south side.i am yes, on the northwest side. i hear it's a big mess ovei heab there at my part of town. it's a mess, but it's a different kind of mess. it's not a criminal mess. it's more panhandling and people just not understanding the american or the chicago ways.
here is nick, chicago alderman speaking to jesse watters last night on his show and here's what he had to say. >> almost seem like they are living out in the country and don't pay attention to what they are doing and where they are going, just overtaking neighborhoods, a lot of panhandling going on in my neighborhood which is very minor compared to some of the other areas. so -- somebody donated a bunch of bikes, driving around recklessly, what's going on which i'm a little worried about some of these kids getting hit by a car. rachel: 70 coming across the border illegally in these massive numbers coming from rural communities, third world central america, landing in chicago, having a hard time adjusting, doing things the way they did it in their home countries and so many chicago residents, many of them poor, working class, struggling,
a violent manner intentionally and without justification. i don't quite know how to square that circle. >> well, they say it is for misdemeanors and some felonies, and of course that one that you are referring to could be a felony, so frankly it's a wobbler. back to you. >> william, thank you. sandra. >> sandra: chicago, new mayor brandon johnson finally has rolled out his new blueprint for the windy city and full of progressive ambitions, but light on details on all the new taxes to help curb the violence. bring in raymond lopez, chicago alderman and former mayoral candidate, a democrat, i might add. you have always given it to us straight, a city i know you love. does this blueprint address the issues, is it going to help solve the crime crisis in the city?
then others that are to follow including the one in manhattan that has already been returned. how are they going to view the totality of these charges against mr. trump and the impact that it's going to have on his political fortunes. >> let me ask you a question about the department of justice, just institutional. my colleague rachel maddow's made an excellent point before about a public integrity unit inside the police department of justice for reason, and the reason is that people interested with people's power commit crimes, and in fact it's not some shocking anomaly to see somebody who's elected office, governor ron blagojevich, the mayor of detroit, numerous and sundry alderman in the city of chicago when i was there. it was almost a weekly occurrence. joking only slightly. there is a culture of public integrity cases in the department of justice, and this is obviously a difference in kind, but in some ways also difference a degree.
people here are so welcoming. i could not imagine being able to do what we've done in any other place, or anywhere else. >> art, there is in our next out about your work as an activist that you want scott, get ready for this, nuns to lobby city hall for gay rights, in order to get votes from a catholic councilman. talk to us about that and how sidetracked really became the center of not just of community, but of a political movement. >> well, alicia, it's a pleasure to be here. thank you. chicago has always been a very catholic city. when we were trying to pass basic laws that you couldn't fire people or deny them housing because of their sexual orientation, we were running up against all -- who said i'm catholic, i've catholic i -- can't vote for this. so we reached out to activist nuns. many of whom did civil rights work in the american south. they settled in chicago with women's shelters. these radical nuns became our best allies. we would seek out a none from the same order that had taught the alderman when they were in school. when the alderman would say, i can't vote for this, because i'm catholic.
It's difficult to find a place for coffee open at 5 in the afternoon on a Monday in Springfield; Starbucks had to do. But on the walk to meet Ward 6 Alderwoman
school. when the alderman would say, i can't vote for this, because i'm catholic. the none would say, whoa, hang on a moment. i'm catholic too. the nuns became our allies. we wondered, why don't we know about this? that's because nuns don't self promote. many of the nuns who helped us were later shut down by the vatican. because of their support of gay people. but it made all the difference in chicago. we were told over and over, chicago will never passed basic gay rights. we proved them wrong with the help of the catholic nuns. >> absolutely incredible. pepe, your first jobs in chicago, those were in gay bars. i wonder how those experiences and that immersion in the community then came to influence your activism and your thinking about what it