Transcription
Lots to discuss with MS Now's Jillian Frankel in Minneapolis. White House reporter Laura Barron-Lopez is with us. And Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in Trump's first term before breaking with the president. Jillian, more tense standoffs overnight. How are things there on the ground this morning?
Anna, it's still early here in Minneapolis. But what I can tell you is we witnessed a chaotic scene play out just last night outside the federal building here in Minneapolis, which also serves as the local ICE headquarters. We were actually commenting on how it seemed to be a relatively calm night, but we did see some protesters start interacting with some of the vehicles that were driving into that federal building parking lot facility, banging on the cars as they entered. And after a few moments of that, we saw a massive number of federal agents pouring out of that parking lot, suddenly dispersing the crowd in all directions. They actually shoved our producer out of the way as we were documenting what was going on. And it's just representative of the increasing tensions we're seeing on the ground here. There's this growing sense of defiance to the presence of these federal agents.
And in another moment of chaos, that video that you referenced. I want to just show you a little bit of that. And I should note to our viewers, this video is graphic and a bit disturbing. And we should also note, we don't know exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the cell phone footage from January 9th. But in it, you can see these agents pinning a man to the ground. There's some local reporting suggesting that prior to that, they had pulled him from his vehicle. But in this cell phone video, you can hear this woman shouting, trying to intervene to help this man. And as these federal agents have him pinned to the ground, you can see one of those agents appear to knee him in the face. It's a very intense moment and just representative of what we're seeing play out here across the city. As we continue to see scenes like that take place, what we're hearing a concern among officials here is that we're going to see increasing, potentially increasing violence as community members continue to clash with these federal agents.
MILES, THAT VIDEO IS REALLY, REALLY TOUGH TO WATCH, SEEING THAT OFFICER KNEING THAT PERSON IN THE FACE MULTIPLE TIMES. IS THAT APPROVED OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR DHS?
NO, IT IS absolutely not. And Ana, I can tell you something unequivocally. This administration continues to say they have seen no instances of ICE agents operating against DHS policy. That means one of two things is true. Either one, they have secretly changed those policies since I was chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, or much more likely, they are lying through their teeth. We have daily documentation of ICE officers not just violating DHS policy, but violating the law and violating the United States Constitution by engaging in the United States. This now, Ana, has become systemic and it is being driven by the top because the president himself is saying that he has given total authorization for these individuals, these ICE officers to use, in his words, whatever means necessary, and the vice president saying they have absolute immunity. That is the kind of reckless language that is the firing of a rhetorical gun that is causing this situation to get worse. And unfortunately, Anna, I don't think that's accidental. I think that is by design. This president wants to foment unrest so that he can invoke his emergency powers.
Jillian, MS NOW IS LEARNING NEW DETAILS OF RENEE GOOD'S DEATH AND THE MOMENTS THAT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THROUGH SOME TRANSCRIPTS OF THE 911 CALLS AND THE INCIDENT REPORTS. WHAT ARE WE LEARNING THERE.
ANA, WHAT'S REMARKABLE ABOUT THIS INCIDENCE OF VIOLENCE IS THE NUMBER OF WITNESSES THAT WERE THERE. WE'RE GETTING SOME 60 PAGES NOW OF THESE TRANSCRIPTS HIGHLIGHTING THE confusion and the tension and the anger of the multiple bystanders, bystanders that witnessed this, that is now translating on the ground to what we're seeing play out across the city, these clashes between the members of the community and these federal agents who remain here in Minneapolis. Ana?
Miles, according to the incident reports, local law enforcement tried to get ICE to leave the scene after this shooting. One communication says, quote, contact who is in charge of feds and have them leave scene. What does that comms say about lack of coordination and just the dynamics even at that moment between these different law enforcement entities.
YEAH, I MEAN, ANNA, IT SHOWS THAT THOSE LOCAL AGENCIES WERE ALREADY WORRIED THAT ICE ITSELF AND ICE TACTICS WERE CREATING THE POTENTIAL FOR A PUBLIC SAFETY NIGHTMARE. WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT PERSONAL BEEF BETWEEN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND ICE. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT RESPONSIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO SEE WHAT THE FEDERAL AGENTS ARE DOING AND SAY LOOK, IF THIS CONTINUES, THIS CANNON WILL SPIRAL INTO A BIGGER PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS. THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, CREATING THE CONDITIONS THAT WOULD RESULT IN UH MASS, YOU KNOW, CONFLAGRATION AND FRUSTRATION. SO LOOK, YOU SEE THE LOCAL POLICE TRYING TO TURN DOWN THE TEMPERATURE. THAT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO IN THESE MOMENTS. IF I WAS STILL AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, MY RESPONSE TO RENEE NICOL GOOD'S SHOOTING WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TO ACCUSE HER OF BEING A DOMESTIC TERRORIST AND TO SEND HUNDREDS MORE SHOCK TROOPS INTO THE STATE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TO SAY, WE NEED TO TAKE A BEAT. EVERYONE NEEDS TO CALM DOWN. WE'RE IN CONVERSATIONS WITH THE STATE AND THE GOVERNOR, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE FROM A DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTY. AND WE'RE DOING THIS IN THE INTEREST OF PUBLIC SAFETY. THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING THE ADMINISTRATION DO. AND YOU ARE SEEING POLICE FORCES TRY TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN. BUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DO THE THE OPPOSITE.
YEAH, INSTEAD LAURA, THE PRESIDENT HAS THREATENED TO INVOKE THE INSURRECTION ACT IN MINNESOTA, WHICH WOULD ALLOW HIM TO DEPLOY ARMED FORCES THERE TO CONDUCT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MATTERS. WHAT'S THE WHAT IS THE LATEST THINKING ON THE WHITE HOUSE OR INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE ON THAT?
WELL, THIS IS A THREAT THAT THE WHITE HOUSE, IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE PRESIDENT, AS MILES KNOWS, IT APPEARS PREPARED TO STAND BEHIND. IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE PRESIDENT, AS MILES KNOWS, HAS WANTED TO DO SINCE HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION, SINCE 2020 DURING THOSE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS. AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE PRESIDENT AND OTHERS AROUND HIM ARE REPEATEDLY TALKING ABOUT. THEY CONTINUE TO USE THE WORD INSURRECTION WHEN DESCRIBING MINNEAPOLIS. THEY'RE NOT, IF ANYTHING, THEY ARE NOT TRYING TO SCALE BACK THE RHETORIC BY ANY MEANS, ANNA. AND YESTERDAY, STEPHEN MILLER, PRESIDENT'S DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, WHO IS THE ARCHITECT OF MUCH OF THIS WE ARE SEEING ON THE GROUND IN CITIES LIKE MINNEAPOLIS, WENT ON CHARLIE KERK'S SHOW, THE LATE CHARLIE KERK SHOW, AND HE SAID ESSENTIALLY THE WORD INSURRECTION OVER AND OVER AGAIN. TAKE A LISTEN.
"In Minnesota right now, the insurrectionists have come out of hiding. They're confronting our officers on the street. They're being arrested. This is a national security priority. More arrests of insurrections are being made every day, and each of those arrests provides an opportunity to learn more about the, about the network from a law enforcement and national security standpoint."
SO A FEW THINGS THERE. AGAIN, THE PRESIDENT, ONE OF THE PRESIDENT'S TOP ADVISERS REPEATEDLY CALLING CALLING AMERICANS, CALLING PROTESTERS QUOTE INSURRECTIONISTS RIGHT AS THE PRESIDENT IS THREATENING TO INVOKE THIS CENTURIES-OLD LAW THAT WOULD ALLOW HIM TO USE THE MILITARY DOMESTICALLY. AND ALSO THE ADMINISTRATION IS JUST CONTINUALLY TALKING ABOUT THIS SUPPOSED NETWORK, A CONSPIRACY NETWORK OF, QUOTE, TERRORISTS AND INSURRECTIONISTS THAT THEY CLAIM ARE GOING AROUND THE COUNTRY ORGANIZING CLASHES LIKE THIS. BUT OF COURSE, WHEN THE VICE PRESIDENT WAS RECENTLY ASKED, WHAT NETWORK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHO'S INVOLVED IN THIS NETWORK? HE SAID THAT'S SOMETHING WE HAVE TO FIGURE OUT. SO THEY HAVEN'T PROVIDED ANY EVIDENCE ON THAT, ANA.
MILES, YOU HAVE SAID THAT YOU HAVE PERSONALLY HEARD PRESIDENT TRUMP ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS CALL THE INSURRECTION ACT, HIS MAGICAL POWERS. IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, DID HE TRY TO CREATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE HE COULD INVOKE IT?
YEAH, I MEAN, HE ABSOLUTELY DID. AND HE WANTED TO FIND ANY PRETEXT HE COULD. I MEAN, WHEN WE RUSHED TO THE WHITE HOUSE ON THE EVE OF THE STATE OF THE UNION IN 2019 BECAUSE AIDES TIPPED US OFF THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS GOING TO SLIP LANGUAGE INTO THE SPEECH TO INVOKE THE INSURRECTION ACT, WE FOUND A MAN IN THE MAP ROOM WHO WAS TRYING TO PORTRAY TO US THAT THE CARAVANS HE SAW ON TELEVISION COMING TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN BORDER WERE ACTUALLY A FOREIGN INVASION. HE WAS TRYING TO SPIN THAT IN SUCH A WAY THAT HE COULD INVOKE THE ACT. NOW, WE ENLISTED WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL AND THE WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND OTHERS IN THE ADMINISTRATION TO HELP US PERSUADE THE PRESIDENT TO BACK DOWN, AND HE DID. BUT SINCE THEN, ANA, HE HAS BEEN ON THIS QUIXOTIC ODYSSEY TO TRY TO FIND THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND THEN IN THE PAST YEAR TO TRY TO FOMENT THEM. THERE IS NO COINCIDENCE BEHIND THE FACT THAT THE ADMINISTRATION STARTING LAST JUNE WENT INTO CITIES THAT HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF PROTESTS: LOS ANGELES, WASHINGTON D.C., CHICAGO, PORTLAND. THIS WAS BY DESIGN, BUT UNFORTUNATELY FOR THEM, PROTESTERS SHOWED RESTRAINT IN EACH OF THOSE CITIES. THEY DID NOT DEVELOP THE CIRCUMSTANCES TO JUSTIFY THE INSURRECTION ACT. PEOPLE DANCING IN BLOW UP FROG SUITS TO EDM MUSIC OUTSIDE THE FACILITY IN PORTLAND DIDN'T LOOK TO ANYONE LIKE AN INSURRECTION. SO THEY TRIED AGAIN. AND THEY REMEMBERED THAT IN 2020 DURING THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS, THINGS DID START TO GET OUT OF HAND IN MINNESOTA. AND I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY COINCIDENCE THAT THAT'S WHY THEY SENT AGENTS THERE. IT CERTAINLY WASN'T TO INVESTIGATE KINDERGARTENS RUN BY SOMALI AMERICANS. THAT DOESN'T JUSTIFY 3,000 ICE AGENTS. IT WAS TO CREATE CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE THIS, AND NOW THEY'VE GOT THEM.