Monday morning news: September 8, 2025

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Chicago prepares for federal crime crackdown » President Trump has announced Chicago is the next city to be getting federal troops… in an effort to crack down on crime.

TRUMP: You know how many people were killed in Chicago last weekend? Eight. You know how many people were killed in Chicago the week before? Seven. You know how many were wounded? 74 people were wounded. You think there’s worse than that?

But Democrats are protesting the move. Mayor Brandon Johnson says the city’s crime rate has been going down, and says Trump’s plans are “beneath the honor of our nation.’

Trump fanned the flames with a social media post this weekend in which he called the city ‘Chipocalypse’ and said Chicago is “about to find out why it’s called the Department of War.” Democratic Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth…

DUCKWORTH: The president of the United States essentially just declared war on a major city in his own nation. This is not normal. This is not acceptable behavior.

Duckworth on CBS’s Face the Nation. Trump pushed back.

TRUMP: We’re gonna clean up our cities. We’re gonna clean ‘em up so they don’t kill five people every weekend. That’s not war. That’s common sense.

Duckworth says she’s received no indications an influx of National Guard troops into Chicago is imminent. But Border Czar Tom Homan says Chicago and other sanctuary cities can expect to see immigration enforcement action in the coming week.

GOP, Dems debate slowdown in job numbers » New numbers showing a weakening U.S. labor market have the attention of top leaders in both major political parties.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat, tells NBC’s Meet the Press the president’s tariffs are the reason employers added only 20,000 jobs in August.

MOORE: These tariff policies are continuing to increase a lack of predictability and it’s continuing to make prices go up on the American consumer.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says stats showing more manufacturing jobs under the Biden administration than now… are misleading.

BESSENT: The jobs that are being created are going to either native born or legal Americans. Most of the jobs created under the Biden Administration went to illegal aliens.

The unemployment rate also increased slightly, from 4.2 percent in July to 4.3 percent in August.

More on this story with David Bahnsen on the Monday Moneybeat a little later in the program.

Israel moves forward w/Gaza offensive, Houthis strike Israeli airport » Israel is forging ahead with its takeover of Gaza City… aimed at totally removing the terrorist group Hamas from Gaza.

The Israeli military is toppling high rises and posting evacuation notices… amid fears from protestors that the new offensive could endanger the Hamas-held hostages who are still alive.

Meantime, the Trump Administration has offered a new proposal calling for the immediate release of all hostages… in exchange for freeing some Palestinian prisoners. It’s not clear whether that proposal has any chance of becoming reality.

All this comes as Israel intercepted three drones fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen over the weekend. But one drone did manage to get through… hitting an Israeli airport, shutting down operations, and wounding two people.

Largest Russian attack on Kyiv since start of Ukraine war » Russia hit Ukraine with the largest air attack of the war so far this weekend, killing four people and wounding close to four dozen… according to Ukraine’s government.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it’s time to ramp up economic pressure on Russia, saying he agrees with President Trump calling on European leaders to stop buying Russian oil… which helps fund the war.

ZELENSKYY: I’m very thankful to all the partners, but some of them continue [to] buy oil and Russian gas, and this is not fair.

Zelenskyy on ABC’s This Week.

He added he thinks President Trump gave Russian leader Vladimir Putin the video and images Putin wanted in last month’s bilateral summit.

Zelenskyy says he won’t meet Putin in Moscow for peace talks, saying he can’t go to the capital of a terrorist. Instead, he says Putin will have to come to Kyiv.

Ukrainian refugee killed on U.S. public transit » Public transit officials in Charlotte, North Carolina have released horrifying surveillance footage showing the unprovoked murder of a Ukrainian refugee who survived the war… but not public transit here in the U.S.

Here’s the story according to WSOC-TV. Iryna Zarutska was 23. Police say the video from the attack, which happened just over two weeks ago, shows Decarlos Brown stabbing her as she sat wearing headphones on a Charlotte public transit train. She’d had no other interaction with Brown… who has a criminal history and mental health issues, and now faces first-degree murder charges.

Zarutska had fled Ukraine's war with her family and, according to her obituary, dreamed of becoming a veterinary assistant in America. Charlotte officials released the footage while asking the media not to share it out of respect for her grieving family.

Charlotte’s mayor called the attack heartbreaking and said the city is doing … her words … “all we can to protect our residents.”

New York students return to school under cell phone ban » Public school students in New York just returned to the classroom… and this year, back to school meant something totally different: no cell phones.

A statewide cell phone ban applying to all public and charter schools is now in effect. Governor Kathy Hochul explains the rationale…

HOCHUL: You walk into a hallway with a school that allows cell phones, the halls are silent. Kids aren’t speaking to each other. They’re not making friendships. They’re not creating human connections that you’re supposed to do when you’re a child.

Each school decides how to collect and store students’ phones… using lockers, cubbies, or secure bags.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: a special report about changes to the bar exam on Legal Docket. Plus, more on last week’s jobs report with David Bahnsen.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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