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- [00:05]
Shemitah Basu
Good morning. The ICE surge in Minneapolis is fueling more protests and clashes.
- [00:10]
Jacob Fry
We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another.
- [00:20]
Shemitah Basu
The Venezuelan opposition leader has handed over her Nobel medal to Trump, but it doesn't seem to have swayed him to support her. And why Soccer fans around the globe aren't happy about World cup ticket prices.
- [00:32]
Henry Bushnell
In the U.S. it's a complete scam. Fans are being fleeced for basic tickets.
- [00:38]
Vera Bergengruen
And it's not good enough.
- [00:39]
Shemitah Basu
It's Friday, January 16th. I'm Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News. Today, As federal and local leaders continue to trade blame, protests continue in Minneapolis. The Washington Post's video reporting shows enforcement agents firing bursts of what appears to be tear gas as demonstrators shout and throw things at them. On Wednesday night, a Venezuelan man was shot and injured by a federal agent. The Department of Homeland Security said their officers were reacting to being attacked as they attempted to make an arrest. Right now, there's close to 3,000 federal agents in Minnesota as the Trump administration expands its presence there. Hannah? Heavily armed agents have been reported forcibly entering houses, pulling over a school bus, and seizing people at work. The ACLU has now sued the government, accusing it of indiscriminately targeting Somali and Latino communities without probable cause. Yesterday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry repeated his call for ICE to leave.
- [01:52]
Jacob Fry
This is not sustainable. This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in. And at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order.
- [02:10]
Shemitah Basu
But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has promised to continue the surge and defended the operation to reporters.
- [02:17]
Caroline Levitt
Every single action that our ICE officers take is according to the law and following protocols that we have used for years, that this administration has used, that the previous administration used. They are doing everything correctly.
- [02:29]
Shemitah Basu
Meanwhile, President Trump has not for the first time threatened to invoke the centuries old Insurrection act, which enables the president to deploy the military on US Soil. In response to the surge, some local groups have begun tracking the movements of federal agents. Madison mcvan is a reporter with the Minnesota Reformer.
- [02:50]
Madison Mcvan
The idea behind a rapid response network is that when people see an ICE raid happening, they can alert other members of the network so that they can all respond, inform people of their rights, warn neighbors, and protest ice.
- [03:02]
Shemitah Basu
This mirrors similar groups we've seen pop up in places like Los Angeles and Chicago. Mcvan recently went on one of these community patrols in Minneapolis with two observers who decided to follow a truck with ICE agents inside the Observers continued following.
- [03:17]
Madison Mcvan
That vehicle until it came to a stop in a parking lot and the observers parked nearby. Then the ICE vehicle backed up and blocked in the observer's car. The agents got out of the vehicle, they came up to the car and told the observers, stop following us. This is your first warning.
- [03:36]
Shemitah Basu
Mcvan told us that the increased attention on immigration action has meant that ICE has shifted their strategy slightly from what we saw in Chicago and in LA last year.
- [03:46]
Madison Mcvan
It seems like the ICE agents aren't doing these big protracted raids anymore. They're getting in and out quickly before people have a chance to respond. So in response, these people that are in rapid response networks have shifted to more of a proactive approach. They're following ICE vehicles around, filming them and basically trying to discourage them from making arrests in the first place.
- [04:08]
Shemitah Basu
Mcvan told us her observations have led her to believe that people in the community are more galvanized than ever to support their immigrant neighbors.
- [04:16]
Madison Mcvan
We're seeing people escort immigrant workers, teachers, restaurant employees to and from work to make sure they arrive safely. Lots of immigrant families are sheltering in place right now because they don't feel that it's safe to go outside. So churches and other community organizations are gathering donations of food, things to do indoors for kids. I think Renee Goode's killing really, rather than scaring people away from doing this work, has brought more people to it.
- [04:46]
Shemitah Basu
ICE did not respond to the reformers requests for comment. Venezuela's Nobel Prize winning opposition leader was at the White House yesterday hoping to rally Trump behind her cause. Maria Corina Machado told reporters after she had come with a gift.
- [05:11]
Maria Corina Machado
I presented the President of the United States the medal of Nobel Peace Prize and I told him this. Listen to this. 200 years ago General Lafayette gave Simon Bolivar a medal with George Washington face beneath. Bolivar since then kept that medal for the rest of his life.
- [05:43]
Shemitah Basu
A White House official confirmed to ABC that Trump accepted the medal though even if it now sits on the Oval Office mantelpiece. The Nobel Committee has underscored that the honor itself is non transferable for Machado. She said the meeting had gone very well, but it appears she still has some persuading to do as the White House reiterated their position yesterday that Machado doesn't have the support to lead a post. Maduro, Venezuela. Vera Bergengruen is a national security reporter with the Wall Street Journal and was covering the exchange.
- [06:16]
Vera Bergengruen
I think for most of her supporters. The more notable thing is what didn't happen in this meeting. She wasn't given a public audience. I Think we're all used to these Oval Office meetings where Trump receives foreign dign and they have this back and forth or they at least meet outside the White House. They have some kind of photo op and they say some words to the cameras. It is really unusual for this not to happen.
- [06:37]
Shemitah Basu
Instead of backing her, the White House is messaging that it has a cooperative relationship with the current leader of Venezuela, Delsey Rodriguez, who was Maduro's vice president. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said Trump likes what he's seeing.
- [06:50]
Caroline Levitt
They have been extremely cooperative. They have thus far met all of the demands and requests of the United States and of the president. And I think you have all seen that play out. We obviously had a $500 million energy jail that was struck in large part because of the cooperation from Ms. Rodriguez.
- [07:07]
Shemitah Basu
Rodriguez gave her first State of the Union address to the country yesterday where she outlined what sorts of changes could come to the state owned oil industry. Oil remains a key part of why Trump thinks he can work with Rodriguez. But Bergen Gruen told us the extent of the relationship so far has been surprising.
- [07:25]
Vera Bergengruen
And it has been really stunning to see him say that, to really embrace her. I mean, he's been very, very flattering towards someone who again, was Maduro's vice president and she is a regime loyalist. I mean, it's not like she turned against him. And all of the same people who enforced this brutal regime are still running the government. But Trump had a long phone call with her yesterday. He called her a terrific person. He's been very complimentary of the working relationship with the Venezuelan government.
- [07:51]
Shemitah Basu
As Trump has expressed uncertainty about Machado, a number of Florida Republicans who represent a state with the largest Venezuelan population in the United States have said that the opposition leader has their backing. That includes Senator Rick Scott, who was asked about it on Capitol Hill yesterday and said that he disagreed with Trump's assessment.
- [08:10]
Rick Scott
Well, I don't think there's any question she has respect. If she'd been on the ballot, she would have gotten 90% of the vote. Last time she proved that Edmonda Gonzalez won, so she has the respect. But President Trump's got a plan of how to transition where we don't have civil unrest.
- [08:26]
Shemitah Basu
As for Machado, Bergen Gruen said she's on a bit of a campaign to make her case and get more visibility.
- [08:33]
Vera Bergengruen
We know that she's in Washington for a few more days to meet with supporters here, but it's very unclear exactly where she goes. And again, I mean, there isn't yet much of an indication that the administration is wanting to help her return to Venezuela or to help her opposition movement really take hold.
- [08:53]
Shemitah Basu
Foreign. If you were hoping to catch a game at the upcoming Men's World cup this summer, which is being Hosted across the U.S. mexico and Canada, then prepare for an uphill battle over tickets. On Thursday, FIFA said it received more than half a billion requests for tickets in its most recent application window. That closed this week, a record. But it has already proven to be one of the most controversial tournaments in recent years, and it hasn't even begun yet. It all centers on the way that FIFA has decided to sell their seats.
- [09:27]
Henry Bushnell
World cup ticketing is very complicated by necessity. This is the most in demand sporting event in the world, and there are only a certain amount of games.
- [09:36]
Shemitah Basu
Henry Bushnell is a senior writer for the Athletic.
- [09:39]
Henry Bushnell
There are various ways that you can distribute a scarce resource, and basically FIFA has chosen to have two filters. One is a lottery, so random luck. They did two lotteries in the fall and and then they are currently doing their biggest one. And the other way they are distributing this resource is with prices.
- [09:59]
Shemitah Basu
And those prices are far higher than any previous World cup, costing hundreds of dollars. With the final running well into the thousands Now, FIFA says it's a nonprofit and it reinvests the money it makes into promoting and developing the game around the world. But the decision has still generated a worldwide backlash from fans in other countries more accustomed to double digit US Dollar prices. Take soccer mad. Scotland. The country is appearing at the World cup for the first time in nearly 30 years, and they're so excited that their government declared a national holiday to mark the first game. But the ticket costs have enraged fans, even becoming a political issue. Speaking to the BBC, Scottish lawmakers like Anas Sarwar have been demanding action against FIFA. It has to be stopped because this is a deliberate fleecing not just of Scotland fans, but actually fans from every nation that's represented in that World Cup.
- [10:55]
Henry Bushnell
I'm sure FIFA knew all on that the prices would be controversial because they were going to be so much higher than previously and because American people are much more accustomed to paying premium prices for sports tickets than the rest of the world. And so there was always going to be some sort of issue here that got people talking inevitably.
- [11:18]
Shemitah Basu
And that, Bushnell reports, illustrates a pretty wide cultural divide between fans in the US and fans abroad.
- [11:25]
Henry Bushnell
It's two very different visions of what sport is and what sport should be. In the US it is thought of as entertainment, as a commercial product that you can seek out as an experience that you can seek out and buy. And so the conversation about ticket prices often comes down to supply and demand. Whereas in Europe especially and also other parts of the world, sport is more seen as like a public good and like these teams are seen as community institutions that shouldn't just be treating their fans as customers.
- [12:00]
Shemitah Basu
Bushnell says a lot could have been done to keep ticket prices affordable for a common fan, but so far this seems to be working out in FIFA's favor. Given that 500 million people apply to purchase tickets.
- [12:12]
Henry Bushnell
They're basically using that number to show like, yeah, our strategy worked. Yes, you all criticize these prices, but people are willing to pay these prices because this is a big event. What we don't know, though, is there's a chance that 100 million of those requests are for the most popular game, which is Portugal against Colombia, and another 80 million or whatever is for the World cup final. What we don't know is whether they even have 5,000 requests or 10,000 requests for a game like Switzerland versus Qatar or Saudi Arabia against Cape Verde. And that's the level of game that I think people are wondering about.
- [12:52]
Shemitah Basu
For those still willing to spend and hoping to get a ticket, the first game on US soil is on June 12th in Los Angeles. And finally, a few other stories we're following. The number two at ICE has stepped down to run for a seat in Congress, Madison Sheehan, who's 28 years old and serves as deputy director at ICE, said in a social media post yesterday she left her job to challenge Democratic Representative Marcy Captor in Ohio's 9th district. Captor has held her seat since 1983 and is the longest serving woman in congressional history. Sheehan steps into an already crowded GOP primary, where more than half a dozen Republicans have entered the race. The district, which currently covers most of northwest Ohio, became more friendly after a redistricting effort in the state. It's been just about a month since Australia enacted the world's first social media ban for kids, and data on compliance is starting to roll in. Social media companies so far have deactivated nearly 5 million accounts across several platforms. Australia's Internet regulators say the figures are a sign that the law is having a major impact. Reuters reports. The data also suggests these companies are taking the law seriously. The law bars kids under 16 from being on sites like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat, among others. Australian officials say it's too early to declare all sites are in full compliance. Meanwhile, a study by mental health experts is also tracking how the ban will impact kids in Australia long term. And here's what's coming up on Apple News In Conversation this week I spoke with msnow senior reporter Jacob Soboroff about last year's fires in Los Angeles, where he grew up. Soboroff is out with a new book called Firestorm, about the human and political fallout and why we may never know the true cost.
- [14:56]
Rick Scott
What was lost is incalculable. You know, two entire communities in the most populous county in the country are gone now, and I don't think that the ramifications of what has happened and sort of literally the population shifts that are happening are going to be understood, if not now, you know, even for years to come.
- [15:17]
Shemitah Basu
If you're already listening in the Apple News app right now, stick around to hear the rest of that conversation. It's queued up to play for you next. If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News in Conversation to find that episode or come back to the Apple News Today feed tomorrow. All new episodes of In Conversation will be available there on Saturdays, too. Enjoy the weekend. We are taking off for the MLK Day holiday and we'll be back with the news on Tuesday.