personally from what i am hearing from my constituents and from listeners, brendan johnson, paul vallas school districts in philadelphia, new orleans, chicago and brendan johnson has the backing up of chicago teachers union in cook county commissioner. i think those are your two guys. there may be a surprise but i think the rhetoric what we talked about, what you just talked about is what will her lori lightfoot. crime, if she doesn't come across as somebody that cares about people, i'm sure she is a nice lady and she is a wonderful family in town but it doesn't resonate. you can't -- all you have to do is show a picture, shows statistics, showed chicago was a great american city. but it's in trouble right now. i think that is what gets her in the long run. >> todd: when in doubt, lightfoot plays the race card. she's done this before and she will do it again. she is doing it here. you heard maryann's peace. will that have any impact in a city where quite frankly her policies on crime specifically have hurt people of every single race? >> you know, todd, here is what the national news ki

paul vallas is our worst nightmare.ntis has come has a fire under some people who may have been less excited about voting and the cycle, although i think there is a lot of motivation a a lot of excitement, because i think he really shows us the authoritarian future and neofascist future. he is reminding us of the worst case scenario desantis -- of course, he is aligned with folks who are aligned with paul vaas. i think we take that threat seriously. i want to go back to the question of police and crime. we saw the largest mobilization in this country's history in 2020 after the murder of george floyd. that was not an isolated incident. people feel terrorized in their homes not just by crime but also by what the police will do if they go out of their homes, what will happen to their so and daughters if they're coming back from a party and get pulled over by police what willappen in pole, and indiscriminately dide who is a criminal and who is not. so there are a lot of fears. we have to have complex answers to complex pro

why did you decide on paul vallas? >> we have to give power back to our police.e have to put more police back on the streets. we have to start policing our city again to keep it safe. so, paul vallas is the person that i think has the most rational, reasonable policies in that regard. john: in the closing days of the campaign, miracle boyd and the gun violence prevention organization she works with held a forum for chicago's youth to engage directly with the candidates. >> our communities are suffering. our youth are dying of gun violence. john: of the four candidates polling in double digits, only johnson showed up. brandon johnson: i believe a better, stronger, safer chicago is possible, and we can build that together. john: johnson's plan for community-based interventions resonated with boyd, and was a big reason she says she's voting for him. >> he's actually been in the communities, been on our talks, been on zoom with us. the citizens of chicago is calling for treatment, not trauma, and not police to show up. john: while voters have been casting ballots for

here is what she said when she was talking to people, if they voted for chewy garcia or paul vallas, said if you want them controlling your fate and your destiny, then stay home. then don't vote. i mean, it's kind of hard to walk that back. >> yeah, it is, and she was speaking to the south side largely african american audience, paul vallas is the only white candidate in the race, chewy garcia the only latino in the race, explicit play of the race card and she was heavily criticized for that and walked it back. it gives you a sense of how desperate she is in this situation. she has spent more money than any other candidate, attacking all the other candidates in every direction, including as i mentioned trike to tamp down brandon johnson's surge from her left. we'll see what happens in a week. she has a chance to make the run-off, it's a possibility, but looking bleaker and bleaker by the day. >> could always, as the song says, "just dance." jacqui. >> jacqui: dramatic day in the testimony of the murdaugh murder trial. and it is not over yet. we are expecting disgraced lawyer and accu

so i've got to pick up on one thing that paul vallas just said, repeatedly said throughout the debates that he was hired by sally yates to work on criminal justice reform. that's simply not true. what he was hired to do through a consulting firm, not him specifically is to work on raising up g.e.d. rates for federal prisoners, that's a far cry from being hired to get into policing and-- >> let you address this in a second, but i need to move on. willy wilson, more police officers and how will he ensure that they are qualified candidates? >> first of all, you have to start with the root of the problem. you've got to get law and order first in the community. obviously you make investment into the people from the perspective of making sure that the foundation is there in terms of jobs, you know, manufacturing, training, et cetera, et cetera. this particular mayor right now have lost it, you know, to be honest with you. she's to do the job, coming making excuses and people continue to die on the street every day. take the handcuffs off the police officers, we'll get law and order. we'll ta

four of them are seen as top contenders, as you mentioned before coming to me, paul vallas, a formerin chicago, and philadelphia and new orleans. he is polling or among the top contenders, seen as that. he has been endorsed by the chicago police union, the fraternal order of police that hosted ron desantis last week. and some critics, including lightfoot, have jumped on that, saying that even an association with a group that's hosting desantis shows that he's not the democrat he says he is. but we've also got brandon johnson, a cook county commissioner, endorsed by the teacher's union. jesus chuy garcia, who got to the runoff with rahm emanuel before losing, and is now a u.s. congressman. and now, moving forward, because of the number of candidates, no person is expected to get the 50% threshold needed to become mayor tonight, essentially. and so what that means is the top two candidates will go to a runoff. but critically, i talked about those mail-in ballots, we've still got 100,000 ballots, mail-in, who were requested, but haven't been returned. and because we're now at election d

the mayor made it clear the candidate she is most concerned about is the format of chicago bulls, paul vallasand she is worried six candidates will dilute the black vote and hurt her chances in the top two. >> i am the only one who has the chance and the opportunity of beating back paul vallas, the only other viable candidate of the black candidates is me. i am the only one in city hall. i am the only one who will stay in city hall. >> her other top competition is brandon johnston, the cook county commissioner who previously supported the defunding the police and who has the full backing of the politically powerful chicago teachers union. the city's border electors says there has been more interest in this election than they have seen in a decade at least. it is also worth noting if lori lightfoot fails to win this election, she will be the first windy city mayor in 40 years not to win the reelection bid, harris? >> i've never seen anyone play the race card like that. that was racist what she said. that she can't win because there are six other black people in the race so it's not fair to her

stances as public safety becomes a major concern across the city chief among them is front runner paul vallasormer chicago schools endorsement of the police union and censures his campaign around the rising crime he says he wants more police on the street and accuses lori lightfoot of failing to provide officers with the proper resources and support that they need to tackle the city's crime. >> 1700 police officers down from 2019 and 406,911 calls did not have a car available including 32000 assaults and batteries in progress there is a lack of police officers. >> many large cities across the country, crime skyrocketed after the death of george floyd in the pandemic, chicago murders hit a 25 year high in 2021 with more than 800 homicides the city did see a double digit drop in 2022 the homicides were still up 40% compared to prepare endemic numbers when the mayor was elected. as lightfoot fights the land of the likely run-up she's using a surprised right of attack the biggest challenger brandon johnson wanting to defend the police the mayor is defending her record on public safety highlightin

the person with most support among police and the business community is paul vallas, he's a former schoolat he thought he was more republican than democrat, but now he's a life-long democrat. lori lightfoot can be seen as the middle of the ground candidate in this. whether you like her or not, crime is up in chicago and has been for a while. this year alone, double digit increases in burglary, probably, theft, car thefts up triple digits. business leaders have said they don't blame lori lightfoot for starting crime but it's risen on her watch and has on her watch spread to parts of the city that were heretofore fairly safe. >> i know what people say i don't want to go to work. there's crime. we work in the city every day, seven day as week. the crime is all over the country. it's been around for 50 years on the southwest side of chicago and never been addressed. now it's in our neighborhood. >> now it's in our neighborhood. some progressives, neil, have suggested on the south and the west sides of chicago, they've always been plagued by crime. maybe it's fair that the folks downtown feel

don't vote because if you do not vote for me, then they would vote for someone other than her like paul vallasghter] she misspoke. what they really mean is shouldn't have said it. i got caught. "the fastest" is up next. ♪ ♪ this lent something to reignite your relationship with jesus. join me and millions of others on the hallow. hallow is doing something i'm incredibly excited for. it's a 40 day prayer challenge for every day leading up to easter. te invito a que me acompañes a través de estos 40 días de oración, ayuno y penitencia en camino hacia la pascua. make this the most transformative lent of your life. download it for free today. god bless you and thank you. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we support immune function. supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. hey, man. you could save hundreds for safe driving with liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance. so you only pay for what you need! whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what

seems pretty clear one of her opponents, paul vallas, will finish first in the runoff -- in this primaryve on to the runoff. the big question is, who will join him in that runoff? it's not certain that the incumbent mayor of the city, lori lightfoot, will be one of those two. she is in a very pitched battle with a couple of other candidates. brandon johnson, who is a county commissioner, backed by the local teachers union. and congressman chuy garcia, who ran last time. one of those throw is likely to be in the runoff. it may not be the mayor. we'll have to wait and see. and here is the hitch. we may not know for weeks this could be very, very close for second place. if it is, they may have to wait for all of the absentee -- all in write-in ballots, i should say, to arrive. there is a march 14th deadline for that if it's posted by election day. so we'll see. there could be a recount for that second spot. so april 4th is the general. half that time may be spent figuring out who the candidates are going to be. >> yeah. there is a real chance of her being shut out. we will see what happens

she is behind paul vallas, 19%, and then you have a man representative jesus garcia 17%.nly got 14%. if nobody during the election gets a majority, in other words, at least 50%. there were so many people that will split it into a million parts, the talk to will run off. currently she is third place. she would not be part of the runoff. >> ainsley: well, if you run an area and crime continues to go up, homeless and an airport which we will talk about in just a minute, do you expect her to win an election question where she is number three for a reason because they haven't seen change. >> brian: people say for the cubs and that's on the field. gianno caldwell was talking to the chicago people where he grew up. list them listen. >> do you feel safe in the city of chicago? >> honestly not always. i was born and raised here. a few weeks ago i was sexually assaulted, i was attacked. but you know, the crime is what it is here. >> do you feel there is any protection since you were assaulted? >> no, and nobody is doing anything about it. >> i think at school me and my friends in t

years and crime has skyrocketed on her watch and whither we blame her, we will decide tonight, and paul vallas you will get to in this race. but he said he's a lifelong democrat but the handcuffs need to come off of the police in chicago. and he said he's more republican than democrat. now, a lifelong democrat. jesus garcia lost to rahm emanuel and brandon johnson got the attention of the business community not in a good way because he wants to tax the wealthy, 3.5% tax and everybody making $100,000 and also wants to tax trades cme and hotel tax and in a tax on the wealthy in chicago or any area frequented by chicago. crime is his number one come i think, issue here. take a look, even in the last year, crime skyrocketed, robbery, theft, shootings and murders slightly down. we talked to folks in the business community who say, crime is really jeopardizing the cities economic. >> people say i want to go to work but we work every day seven days a week and crime is all over the country and has been around for 50 years in the southwest side of chicago. and now it's in our neigh neighborhood. >> wha

. >> the election is tuesday the chicago tribune editorial board has endorsed paul vallas but they wroteered the city through covid-19 better than most m mayors. editorial boards don't decide who gets in or out, the voters do, and there are plenty of them who feel their kcandidate shoul be the one. >> omar, thank you so much. >>> out front for us next, surrounded by death and destruction, what it's been like to live through putin's war that has now lasted one year. the house whisperer! this house says use realtor.com to find options within your r budget. good luck young man. realtor.com to each their home. when aspen dental told me that my dentures were ready, i was so excited. i love the confidence. i love that i can blast this beautiful ile and make the world smile with me. i would totally say aspen dental changed my le. aspen dental makes new smiles affordable. right now, get 20% off dentures. we do anything to make you smile. you've evolved. you've changed. so have we. that's why new dove body wash now has 24-hour renewing micro moisture for continuous care. new dove body wash. chang

i think what we are going to see is paul vallas and probably the mayor being a runoff.nows she is in for a tough race. there is no doubt about it that she needs a lot of people to vote for her much, to put her over the top to just get in the run off. so we are going to see today how it turns out and chicago it's a great opportunity for us to do something different. >> brian: just so disappointing. i just think it's performance matters. we watched the worst secretary of transportation with his oxford degree not show up at any events. not get ahead of the southwest story. not show up until three weeks later and then you have a situation where the president of the united states doesn't show up in ohio, can't be bothered. then you have got a governor in this state all he wanted to do was work. all he wanted to do was get stuff done and he ends up with a 19 point victory. performance matters. another guy who never glirgets of wuhan story is senator tom cotton. obviously a member of the senate intelligence committee. senator, were on our show one of the first things when this

paul vallas and probably the mayor run off. i wouldn't count brandon johnson out. and we will see what happens. i believe we are set for a runoff in chicago. we know crime has been a major issue in chicago. it's progressively gotten worse. 695 homicides and 22 alone. do you think that's the main factor for voters in chicago right now is the crime if you can't fix the crime issue, you are going to mess up the tourist situation as we have and as we have been seeing on michigan avenue on the magnificent mile. a lot of tourists aren't coming like they used to. a lot of people migrating out of chicago and leaving and going it other cities. suburban places as well. so, you know, crime is the issue that needs to be discussed is the topic that is first and foremost on most voters' minds. i know it's on mine. >> lawrence: i'm a little concerned that the mayor, trying to get the inmates to vote for her. we got reports earlier a few months ago trying to get the kids to campaign for her. trying every trick going to the voters to make her case maybe no case to be made for her,

according to independent polls we've seen, in the lead is former chicago school ceo paul vallas and lightweightr years ago when she was elected here. she made history as the first black openly gay female mayor in the city. of course declining. favorability isn't uncommon with mayors. being a mayor in a large city like chicago during a pandemic was no easy feat. you had the 2020 uprising and riots here. you had tensions with police and conversations on the or how policing should change. you had covid, the impact on lives, livelihoods and businesses. then you had coinciding increase in crime. you had carjackings and gun violence that rose. you had chicago incidents like the square off between the teacher's union in chicago and the city and the inability for them to find a deal actually meant that a lot of students missed school. you had her handling of all of that under an intense microscope. when it comes to seeing results, unless a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, this will go to a runoff on april 4th. that is looking likely. what's not looking likely is we'll even know who's going to

behind top two candidates, paul valez, who is leading at 19% with jesus garcia number two with 17% and 20% undecided. lightfoot believes it will come down to herself and vallas, and she says she will beat him in a run-off. >> todd: the family of fallen officer chris fit zgerald mourning his loss. his widow recounting her last memory with him, saying quote, we gave me a kiss and told me he loved me. when he walked out the door, he said, i'll be right back, babe. breaking down over the loss who they say was their greatest hero. >> he was very god-fearing, like >> he is a super hero. >> he is? >> yeah. and he's also an angel. >> todd: the alleged shooter, 18-year-old miles phiffer faces a slew of charges. his funeral will be held tomorrow. >> ashley: this story makes me sick to my stomach, praying for them. nine children, including a five-year-old boy were shot in georgia. there are efforts to stop the youth violence spike. listen to this. >> we have been putting $750,000 a year into local grants for any organization or program that has core mission to try to reduce crime. we have met with individuals who focus on the health of children, both physical and menta