Speaking to CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday, former Chicago Mayor and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) spoke about President Trump's reported plan to send the National Guard into Chicago.
00:00So, CNN's new reporting is that President Trump has a detailed plan that has been actually in the works for weeks to send the National Guard into Chicago as the former mayor of the Windy City. What's your reaction?
00:14Well, first, I think everybody should take a step back and realize that as a commander-in-chief over his two terms, he's only deployed and put boots on the ground in American cities, never overseas. And just think about what that means as a country.
00:28Second, when he gave his speech in Iowa, he said, I hate Democrats, and this may be the reflection of that.
00:35I think the core issue here is, look, crime is coming down, specifically violence, but there's a persistent problem, which is carjacking.
00:43In fact, the Doge individual in D.C. was a victim of an attempt at carjacking.
00:49There's technology, actually, to deal with that problem. It hasn't dropped as much as homicides and shootings.
00:54And that's where the federal government can work with cities and work with mayors and work with county officials to actually reduce carjackings, which are the bigger problem in cities and the persistent problem in that area.
01:07And lastly, I think, look, the attack here is also in the area of prosecutions.
01:12And they should, the U.S. attorney's offices across the country should get back to prosecuting gun crimes in cities across the country and states across the country, unlike what's happening in D.C.
01:22And Democrats' answer isn't, here's the law or this is unprecedented, which is true.
01:28We have a strategy for fighting crime, more police on the beat and getting kids, gangs, and guns off the street.
01:34And that is the strategy, and that's what has to be done.
01:37And in this area, you can actually do it with carjackings.
01:39Is this going to be a flashpoint in Chicago?
01:42How do you think people are going to react?
01:43Well, it depends on, it would be interesting.
01:48Is he going to try to put National Guard around Michigan Avenue or downtown, or is he going to go into Englewood or other parts of the city that do have a crime problem and do have to be approached?
01:59And my guess is, when you look at what he did in D.C., he's not going to actually deal with crime.
02:03This is an attempt to get the goods through customs.
02:05This is an attempt to deal with cities that are welcoming cities, known as sanctuary cities, and deal with immigration.
02:11This will not be about fighting crime.
02:13And when he said in that video that somehow that Chicago is a mess, well, compared to a White House that uses Signal Chat to do national security, it's not a mess.
02:22If you were still mayor, how would you handle it?
02:26Well, I would say work with us on public safety.
02:29Here are the five things you could do.
02:32Technology to deal with carjackings, prosecuting gangs and gun violence in the city,
02:36working on the issues of drugs and guns coming into the city, and helping coordinate task forces that deal with confronting gangs throughout the city.
02:44Those are the things that I would say, right now, partner with us.
02:47Don't try to come in and act like we can be an occupied city.
02:50I want to ask you about a couple of international flashpoints.
02:54A group of global experts backed by the U.N.
02:57declared this week that Gaza City and its surrounding territory are officially suffering from famine.
03:03The Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, posted on X, quote, this is an outright lie.
03:09And the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, responded to the uninformed who claim Israel is starving Gaza.
03:16Get the facts.
03:17He went on to say tons of food has gone into Gaza, but Hamas savages stole it.
03:23What do you think?
03:25Well, a couple of things, Dana.
03:27You know, one is this is a product of the fact that he was prime minister and Netanyahu was told in the early days of the war,
03:32you better have a day after plan.
03:34And now there is no day after plan.
03:35And there's chaos there.
03:37And there is an issue as access to food.
03:39And there is hunger.
03:41There is famine.
03:42It's a war zone.
03:43Second is we're coming on the two-year anniversary of the October 7th,
03:50where Hamas killed 1,200 people, raped and maimed women and killed children in front of their families and took hundreds of hostages.
03:58There's also coming on, in 30 days from now, Rosh Hashanah.
04:02And I think the Israeli government, as they send their delegation to Cairo to negotiate, has to make a decision.
04:08Will these young men, mainly men, who are taken hostage, spend the Jewish holiday, the second year in a row, in a tunnel or in a temple?
04:17Will they be with their captors or be with their community?
04:21And it is incumbent upon the government in Israel to choose a temple over a tunnel.
04:26The IDF says it.
04:28The Israeli public says it.
04:29And the parents of these children say it.
04:31And this is a product, in my view, of a prime minister who refused to make the political strategic decisions
04:38in which he has degraded the Hamas, destroyed their capability, but doesn't have a plan for what to do next.
04:45Real quick on Ukraine.
04:48The president said he'll give it another two weeks before deciding if he's going to punish Vladimir Putin for failing to meet with the Ukrainian president, Zelensky.
04:58Is there any hope of any imminent diplomatic solution at this point?
05:02No.
05:03This is the fifth time the president has issued somewhat a cutoff for Putin.
05:10Putin, he is either playing with Putin or playing along with Putin, rather, or Putin is playing him.
05:16There's two months left to this part of the war because of the weather change.
05:21Putin is under tremendous strain and stress in military.
05:24And if we actually allow Ukraine, like we allowed Israel, to win a war rather than, in the Ukraine situation, not to lose a war,
05:34you can actually change the dynamics and bring Putin to the table, economically sanction him, give Ukraine the ability to prosecute the war,
05:41and you will have a different negotiation at the table.
05:43And the president of the United States has refused to actually seize.
05:46He has the upper hand here, but he is playing his cards very poorly as a negotiator.
05:50Former ambassador under Joe Biden, former Chicago mayor, former a lot of things, Rahm Emanuel,
05:58thank you so much for being here this morning.
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