← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
LIVE from MINNESOTA: Nick Valencia, Maritsa Georgiou, Rep. Angie Craig and Saikat Chakrabarti
00:58:29
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Foreign.
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Welcome to the Jim Acosta show. And it's another day that ends. And why in Donald Trump's assault on democracy in America, Trump's secret police force, otherwise known as ice, is still out on the streets violating the civil liberties of American citizens. Just over the weekend, federal agents brutally shot and killed Alex Preddy, a US Citizen who was out protesting in Minneapolis on Saturday. And. And now the White House is in full damage control mode after the killing of Preddy. At a White House press briefing earlier today, the press secretary, Caroline Levitt, would not say whether Trump agreed with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, saying that Pretty committed an act of domestic terrorism and whether his top official, Stephen Miller, was correct in referring to Preddy as an assassin. Our friend Nick Valencia, independent journalist, is back out on the streets of Minneapolis. He's actually at the scene of where Alex Preddy was gunned down by those federal agents. Nick, tell us what you're seeing right now. And first of all, I have to say thank you, man. Thank you for everything that you did over the weekend. Thank you for being there for us. Great work that you did. Tell us what you're seeing now.
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C
Hey, Jim, sorry, I'm doing this all by myself here. So we are at the virtual of Alex Pretty. This is where he was shot and killed. And, you know, this has been a scene, a somber scene, a scene where people have come to, at points, emotionally belt out what they're going through. Other times just reflect on there being another murder in the city. You know, 66% of the homicides that have happened in Minneapolis have been at the hands of federal immigration officers here. And so this has turned into, you know, a place of mourning and grief. And we know that, you know, grief knows no timeline here. And so what you have here also is the street and traffic continuing to go through this thoroughfare. And that's kind of upset some of the locals and activists here. They think this should be blocked off. They think this should be sort of more of a respected memorial space. And let me tell you, you know, we were here 15 minutes after the shooting happened. The only reason this is blocked off is because the community did it. The only reason this scene was preserved was because the community took the police tape and put it around. Items of Alex Pretty were left at the end of the block here. That's how they were preserving the scene. And so this has really been a space that had been taken over by residents of Minneapolis to reflect.
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B
Jim and Nick, tell us about what you've been going through over the last 24, 48 hours. It's been extraordinary. I mean, you were on the main page of the Drudge Report. We can show people that image. You were at a hotel last night. You overheard, I guess, some demonstrations that were going on. And the. These agents came out guns drawn. You know, they were being threatening towards you, menacing towards you. They were aiming their weapons at you.
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C
Yeah. You know, the fact of the matter is here, when we're in this situation, it's like an us against them mentality that the feds have. And if you're not wearing a badge, it seems like you're potentially a target of their ire. And we showed up, as we have the right to do, to document what was happening. We had heard that activists were putting on a noise demonstration. They had found out where immigration officers were staying and they went to protests. We showed up about an hour and a half into that, and about five minutes after we showed up, that's when the feds showed up and they stormed in and flashbangs, they started pointing weapons at anyone who got in their way. We repeatedly identifies ourselves as press. And I think, Matt, we have video of what we went through last night. Part of what we're going through here. Guys, I'm at Independent Media.
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B
I'm Independent Media.
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C
Watch this. You have a federal officer that is engaging with the demonstrators now. He appears to fire to less lethal round at the chest of one person to try to clear the. You have fire department showing up now. Ambulance now. And these. The entrance still flooded with debris here from what was left over of the scene earlier under arrest. Okay, we gotta go. Press, press, press, press, press. We're alerted to a demonstration that happened about an hour ago or so. And what's unfolded here was another tense situation here tonight in the Twin Cities. You had activists who had staged in front of a hotel that was being used by federal immigration officers. Some clashes happened. They encroached on the front lobby. They were pushed out. A perimeter was established. After that, there seemed to be, you know, things kind of died down for a little bit. Graffiti was put up. Things kind of died down for a little bit until they didn't.
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B
Oh, my God, look at this.
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C
Coming in with the mrap. They're coming in with more. Okay, they're coming in with more reinforcements, and they're now pushing people out. Flashbangs now are deployed. Press, press, press. Okay, press. There's a big unit. Press, press, press. Unpressed. Unpressed. Unpress. Unpressed. Unpressed. Unpressed. We're press. Come on, man. Okay, you have now large Vehicles now what appear to be unmarked federal vehicles. Press. I'm Press. You have police department now that have shown up. Press.
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D
Okay, we're.
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We're leaving.
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C
They're asking every. They're saying everybody that's here is going to be under arrest. Okay, we gotta go. Press, Press, press, press, press, press, press, press.
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B
Nick, it looks like a war zone out there.
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C
You know, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that. It certainly felt like it. And you know what was even more. It's just so crazy, Jim, that I said over and over, you hear me there, identifying who I am and what I didn't get on.
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B
Oh, might have lost Nick there. Did we lose Nick? Oh, we got you back, Nick. We got you back.
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C
You can still hear me here. What I did get on video saying, I'm identifying myself as Press. And they said, we don't care who you are, we'll fucking shoot you. And so that's what we're dealing with here in terms of press freedom. We have a First Amendment for a reason. Our profession is protected by it. We have every right to be there. And part of what I was experiencing yesterday is my behavior is my biggest press badge. You know, there are independent journalists out there, and I. I love independent media. I'm so grateful to be in this space. But the fact of the matter is, is that there are people out there who. Who claim to be independent journalists, but in between their live shots are throwing things at law enforcement because they're pissed off and angry. And some of those people then hide behind someone like me. And I'm not making excuses for the behavior of the federal officers. They shouldn't be pointing weapons at anybody. But in this fog of war, because it really was like a war zone out there, it creates this confusion. You know, I'm getting pushback this morning as well, because at one point that federal officer who was all by himself. You don't see it. You see it in other reporting. He was bleeding from the mouth and he spit up blood. And, you know, I asked him in that moment if he was okay documenting what was happening. And, you know, look, that we're bound by certain ethics codes. You know, we've talked about this on my show when you were on just like what journalism means. And, you know, this new space where, you know, for me, I'll speak for myself, I don't believe in objectivity, and I think what I'm doing is taking a stance. But I also abide by journalistic ethics where I am not an aggravator or an agitator. I have every right to be there and document what's going on. And I talk my shit to the government because I believe in this country. I believe my speech is protected. And sometimes I don't always get it right, but I'm allowed to do it because this is America and I believe in this country and what we're doing and what I saw yesterday and them trying to limit the interactions of the media, trying to, you know, quell what we're recording. You know, I was here recording on livestream and I thought I ran out of battery gym, and I talked to two other people who had the same thing happen to them. We know that the feds have, you know, tens of millions of dollars at their disposal, that they're using technology. It's not beyond the scope of the imagination that they shut off my live screen because it was getting thousands of views and traction what we do. And it's hard for me to hear you right now. I know, I'm just going on a tangent here, but what we do is so important, Jim. As an independent media, it took me an hour and a half at the scene before I thought these big cameras here right now with live and their big people and all their teams, it wasn't for a lack of effort.
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B
You know, like, yeah, Nick, you were there to be. You were on the.
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C
We were here by myself holding my camera, and I was taking you through. And that's what journalism is. It's raw, it's unfiltered. It is giving you the truth as we see it. It's not creating some narrative. And what we're in right now is a propaganda war. You have the administration claiming that somebody was shot and killed because they were rioting here, starting a riot. That man was murdered. Everyone that sees that video knows it. And when the government tells us these lies and not to believe what we're seeing, it only adds to that Kindle that's happening here. Those embers that are being fanned, those flames, whether you want to accept it or not.
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B
I know, Nick.
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C
We're here to tell the story. And I'm so grateful to be safe and that we weren't arrested last night and that, you know, we get to live to tell the story another day. Jim.
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B
Well, Nick, thank you for your brave reporting. I know you need to get out of the cold and to the airport and back to your family, but great work out there, man. Really, my hat is off to you. I gave you a shout out on a substack today because I just think what you're doing is emblematic of what independent journalism is all about. And so many thanks to you, Nick. Keep charging, keep fighting, man. Really terrific work, Jim.
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C
I think I'm gonna have to drop off to hear you. I'm gonna, I'm gonna drop out of the room and come right back. I'm so sorry.
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B
I'm having this technical problem.
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C
So sorry, man.
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B
No, that's okay. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. I mean, the folks out there doing this work are under such extreme conditions right now. They're so difficult. Another journalist who is with us over the weekend was Maritza Giorgio. She has the Grounded podcast. That is so wonderful. There's Maritza right there. Great to see you. You did amazing work over the weekend too, reporting to us. How is it going where you are? I know you're also at the scene. It looks like a vigil as well.
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I can see Nick over here.
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B
Yeah, it's just been crazy, but what's it been like since we last spoke on Saturday?
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E
You know, it just continues to kind of stay active, Jim. I mean, we just keep seeing more and more people. I was out here pretty early this morning. I think I got here about 7:15, and it was pretty quiet then. But all day long, just tons of people coming in. And we're seeing a lot of sadness, we're seeing a lot of anger. And there was a man out here earlier and I think we, I, I sent you the clip, but really powerful. And you know, he was saying like, this has to stop, this has to stop. And then a short time ago, I talked with Senator Tina Smith, who came out here, laid some flowers right here in front and hugged people and talked with people. And you know, everyone here just continues to grieve. And we're all kind of waiting for what comes next with, you know, the border czar, Tom Homan coming here tonight. This conversation that happened between President Trump and Governor Jim Walz and then these court hearings that are happening here in Minneapolis today, the first over this lawsuit filed to stop this operation, this federal operation, these raids in the Twin Cities metro area that was filed, filed by the Cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Attorney General Keith Ellison. There was a hearing this morning, but also there then this afternoon this hearing basically that, that would force the, the federal government to preserve all of the evidence that they've collected at this scene. And we saw a temporary injunction granted over the weekend, but another hearing today. So so much happening. And again, like a lot of emotion over the weekend. And today it's Monday. It Seems like people are getting to work and trying to move here and get some action.
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B
Yeah. And I think we do have that clip that you sent us from what you were able to get at the scene earlier today. Let's play that because I think it's, it's, it's powerful stuff.
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C
Yeah.
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Everyone repeat after me.
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I pledge allegiance.
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C
I pledge allegiance.
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I pledge allegiance to the flag of.
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The United States of America.
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C
The United States of America.
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Everyone finish it up.
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C
And to the Republic we can stand.
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B
One nation. One nation under God, Under God, indivisible, with liberty and what?
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Liberty.
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B
Wait, Liberty and what? Just liberty and what?
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C
Liberty and what?
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Liberty and what?
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Liberty.
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What Liberty and what?
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Justice for all. Damn. There's.
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B
We said this when we was in school, Marita. I mean, I can understand why we feel this way. And people want justice there in Minneapolis.
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E
Yeah, they do. And it reminds me back to George Floyd. How many times did we hear no justice, no peace? They do. They want justice. And that's part of what Senator Smith talked to me about. She seemed hopeful and she said she talked to the governor shortly after his call with President Trump. And she said, she seemed, she, he seemed hopeful that this might be some kind of turning point to a wind down because apparently the governor talked, according to the statement his office released, the governor talked to the president about removing just the amount of federal troops here. I mean, we have federal agents, I should say, you know, 3,000 DHS officers on the ground in a city that has only 600 police officers. So apparently that was talked about. But what Senator Smith went on to say was, but that's not it. That's not enough. We also need some accountability from this administration. And the calls for accountability seem to be growing here. Today we had quite an announcement from a gubernatorial candidate, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who dropped out. And he actually provided legal counsel to the ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, who, you know, we saw on camera shooting Renee Goode. And so he dropped out this morning of this race and basically said he can't stand to watch the federal retribution to his state of Minnesota and he doesn't want to be in a party that goes along with it.
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B
Yeah, he said, I didn't sign up for this to that effect and said he was dropping out of the race because of that. Any sense as to what people are thinking about Trump talking to Governor Walz today? It looks like Trump in the White House, they understand the political trouble that they're in right now. So they're trying to turn down the temperature just a little bit. But of Course, we all know that that's probably going to be short lived and politically motivated, not a full withdrawal from Minneapolis. But are there any reactions to any of that?
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E
You know, I don't think so. I think at this point, emotions down here are just raw and they just want this to end. And I think, you know, as we know, with this president, you see it when you believe it. You see a lot of talk, whether it's about Greenland or Canada becoming a 51st state or whatever. And they just want to see this end. And so I think that in this state, they'll believe it when they see it.
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B
Yeah, people certainly had enough and they want justice, as that man was saying that you captured earlier this morning. Marita, great to see you. Thank you so much. Thanks for all the great work you did every week. I know you were so freezing cold, but I appreciate it so much.
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E
No, thank you so much, Jim. And thank you for your good work.
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B
Thank you. All right, stay safe, stay warm. Thank you so much, Maritza. Really appreciate. I want to go now to Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig. She's joining me now. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. We've just been getting some live reports from the scene there of where Alex Preddy was shot and killed. You and I have not had a chance to speak about any of this. What's been your reaction since all of that went down on Saturday?
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D
Well, my wife and I were there at that scene yesterday to lay flowers and to just be with our community. And you know, what I will tell you is I feel just about like every other Minnesotan. You know, I'm mourning for Alex Preddy and his family. I'm mourning for Renee Good and her wife Becca. I'm. I'm angry that the federal government has been here terrorizing Minnesotans for weeks on end now. And I'm also resolute they have picked on the wrong city if they want us to falter, because that's not what we do in Minnesota. What we do is we stand with our neighbors. And yesterday as we stood with hundreds of Minnesotans, we just sort of slipped into the crowd there and held hands and sang hymns together. It did fill me with hope that if we continue as a community to come together, to fight together, that in the end, good will win. So, Jim, it's good to be with you here, but all of those emotions are really flowing right now.
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B
I'm sure they are and they will be for some time. But, I mean, I have to get your reaction to a few things, I guess. First of all the way that the administration tried to slime Alex Preddy in the initial moments after he was shot and killed by federal agents. Stephen Miller, we can show this, tweet him an assassin who tried to murder federal agents. Christy Nome, the DHS secretary, she was lying repeatedly about what took place. And I just wonder what your response to that. Sounds as though the White House is backing away from some of that. Here's Stephen Miller saying that Alex Party was a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate federal law enforcement. Just disgraceful, despicable comments. But your thoughts?
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D
Well, I'll tell you, when we first heard Saturday morning that this had unfolded in Minneapolis, my wife and I were immediately concerned because our own 28 year old son was out among those constitutional observers. Our own 28 year old son has a permit to carry. So the first 20 minutes of this were, my God, it's happened again in Minnesota. Let's find our son. And so honestly, as a mother is my first reaction to what's happening here for the Preddy family who have lost their son, who was a helper. And that's what makes Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem calling him a domestic terrorist. That is what makes Greg Provino's commentary just so disgusting. Alex Preddy died in, in his last moments after, before he was murdered. He was a helper. And that's what America sees. And I think that's why this is resonating so fully with America. Renee, Good. I'm not mad at you, dude. Those were her last words to an ICE agent. An ICE agent escalates a situation, shoves a woman to the ground. And Alex Pruddy, he's the helper and that's what so many Minnesotans are. And so when I say there's so much emotion, look, I'm, I'm pissed as hell at my Republican colleagues in Congress who still refuse to stand up against Kristi Noem and Donald Trump's ICE and the tactics that they're using and the racial profiling they're doing in our communities, the fact that they won't speak out. But we have to be able to hold all of these things at once, Jim, because they are all coming at us at the same time.
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B
Yeah, it's so true. And it's almost, I mean, Trump and his, and his people, they seem to be trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. There's word that Tom Homan, the borders are who I guess is. There's, there's evidence that he may have been involved in a bribery scheme. Of some sort. But he's still hanging around the administration. Trump sending him into Minneapolis apparently and pulling Greg Bovino out, or Bovino is getting, I guess replaced somewhat by Tom Homan. Your response to just how they're handling this? It, it seems like they're back on their heels because they, they, they've been surprised somewhat by even the Republican reaction.
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D
Well, look, I mean, they've been back on their heels for weeks, to be honest. If you're looking at this, you know, Kristi Noem kind of screwed up the killing of Renee Goode right out of the gate. They don't send J.D. vance into Minnesota last week. If they know, they don't know that they have a very big problem unfolding. And then with the killing of Alex Preddy on Saturday, it just elevated and escalated the situation in Minnesota. And I just can't tell you how proud I am of Minnesotans for not turning to violence. It is very hard to be restrained at this moment in time. And we are resolute. We are restrained. We are fighting for our neighbors in our community. But this seems very much like Donald Trump may finally be waking up to, hey, this is not going to be very helpful to me. We know that he really only thinks about himself. And I'm glad the governor and President Trump had a conversation today. Hopefully this will be the beginning of an off ramp for what is happening here in Minnesota. It should have happened, shouldn't have happened to begin with. We are the number 24 state for immigration in our nation. We know this was political retribution. We know there are ulterior motives and we know that this was never actually about immigration in Minnesota.
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B
And speaking of those ulterior motives, I have to ask you about this because the attorney general, Pam Bondi apparently sent some letter to the governor and we're showing it on screen right here. And it is so strange. She talks about the voter rolls. At one point it says, allow the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota's voter registration practices comply with federal law. I don't understand why the attorney general would even be bringing this up in this context. It's almost as though, you know, give us the voter rolls and nobody gets hurt. I mean, what is going on here?
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D
It's really stunning, just stunning at this moment in time. I mean, Pam Bondi sends us a letter saying the only way we're going to leave is if you violate state law and your voters privacy by handing over these records. Minnesota is not going to do that. Our secretary of State has already said we're not going to do that. You cannot blackmail Minnesota. We are too strong. We stand in minus 11 degree weather, 50,000 of us and we march and we support one another. So, you know, Pam Bondi's request, it does feel very much like blackmail, like extortion. And again, just once again proves that this surge of ICE agents into Minnesota was never about immigration and continues to not be about immigration.
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B
Well, and the scary thing about it is I heard Trump the other day making these comments that he had won Minnesota three times. He has these delusional fantasies about winning states that he didn't win and so on. And so I wonder how much of this is coming from just these bizarre fantasies of his. And to me, to see innocent people in Minnesota be subjected to this, it's just absolutely appalling.
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D
Well, we're talking about an American citizen who was practicing his First Amendment, second Amendment and fourth Amendment rights here yesterday. But when you look at the history of what's happened over the last several weeks, from using a five year old as bait to get his father out of a home, a two year old who was under court ordered not to be deported. Deported. I mean, this is insane what's happening. And that, you know, that doesn't even cover, you know, the American citizens who have been detained and locked up by ice. One of the most stunning pieces of testimony county members of Congress received two weeks ago Friday, when we had 28 members here, was that there is a U.S. citizen section at the federal buildings and the detention centers here in Minnesota. It's really just stunning.
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B
Wow, that, I mean, that is stunning. And I guess it also underlines why I know you and many of your colleagues in the House among the Democrats voted against funding for dhs. It got through anyway with support of a handful of Democrats. I saw Tom Suazi put out a statement saying he now regrets voting for that, but now goes over to the Senate. What would you. I know members of the House don't like to tell senators what to do and so on, but what would be your advice to your Senate colleagues on this?
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D
Well, I don't mind telling Senators what to do at this moment in time, Jim. I think if we are playing by the normal rules of our country, where we expect to have an administration that obeys the laws, then we've missed the memo in the Democratic Party. And so I voted against the Department of Homeland funding bill. I introduced articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem, and frankly, I voted against the minibus, the three other funding bills that were on the House floor last week. And I did that to make the point to my colleagues and to my constituents in this country that we cannot behave as the. As if these are normal times. These are not normal times in our country. So I would say to my colleagues on the Senate side in the upper chamber that now is the time to take a stand against this administration. Now is the time to say, hell, no. We will not vote for any package that contains a penny of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. And Trump and Kristi Noem's ice.
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B
Yeah. And what's the message to Donald Trump at this point?
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D
You know, my message to Donald Trump is that you can't break Minnesota. It's never going to happen. You see, we have been trained to protect our neighbors in our country. That is who we are. That's who we are inside us. You cannot take away our First Amendment, our Second Amendment, our Fourth Amendment rights in our country. It's something that if Donald Trump wanted to come after a state, he picked the wrong state, because Minnesota's Minnesotans will not back down. And I would say to this president, too, what the hell are you doing? I mean, we're not even a sanctuary state in Minnesota. You know, you lost three times when you ran here. Get over it. You're President of the United States now. And we're good people. We, we love our neighbors here. We're, you know, we're about half Democrats, half Republicans in the state of Minnesota. And in my congressional district, it's about a third Democrats, a third Republicans, and a third don't like Democrats or Republicans. But I can tell you what they really don't like is the tactics that ICE are using in our state.
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B
Well, Congresswoman, I appreciate your time very much. I can just feel, you know, what you're feeling right now. And it just. I've been to Minnesota so many times. It is absolutely just terrible and tragic what is taking place there. But I know the character of the people, too, and it has not surprised me whatsoever to see the way they've just been showing their true colors and pulling together and standing united and demanding justice. And I know that they'll. You all will continue to do that. But, Congresswoman, thank you very much for your time.
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D
Thank you, Jim.
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B
Really appreciate it. Good to talk to you. That's Congresswoman Angie Craig, not. Not mincing words at all whatsoever when it comes to Donald Trump in this situation right now. And one of the things that you have to keep in mind is we're now in an election year, the midterms it may seem like a far way off, but they're, they're coming up fast. And look at the reaction that you saw over at the White House earlier today. The White House press secretary being asked about what Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller have been saying and not saying, oh, this is what Donald Trump thinks. They were distancing themselves over at the White House from Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem just ever so slightly. And then to say that they're sending in Tom Homan, which is, I mean, that's like putting, you know, that's like putting lipstick on a pig or maybe vice versa. I mean, sitting in Tom Holman instead of having Greg Bevino there, as I said earlier, it's rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. But it is an indication that they know that they're hurting politically coming out of what took place over the weekend. And, you know, one of the things that you're going to start to see, I think in the coming days is a lot of these Democratic candidates who are running in the midterms, you know, some of them are running for open seats, some of them are primary other Democrats. And they're going to be holding the line on a lot of these issues. I had a chance to speak with one candidate earlier today. He's running to replace Nancy Pelosi in California. His name is Shoykat Chakrabarti. And he is very clear. He thinks that ICE should be abolished. He thinks Trump should be impeached. He is not on board with the current Democratic leadership. He, he certainly is feeling it, you might say. And here's, here's our conversation. Take a look. And joining us now is Shoikat John Krabarti. He is running for Nancy Pelosi's soon to be vacant seat in San Francisco, if I have that correct. Shoikat, great to see you. Thanks for coming on.
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A
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Jim.
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B
Really appreciate it. You know, Shoikhan, I think we should jump right into it. There's a lot we probably would talk about if it weren't today, if it were any other day, just about. But it seems to me what took place in Minneapolis over the weekend has everybody talking the ICE killing of Alex Preddy. Your thoughts on what was going through your mind when you saw this go down over the weekend?
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A
I mean, it's absolutely horrific. You look at the video and it's clear that he gets approached by the ICE agents, they bully him and he's actually trying to protect this other woman that's with him. And then they just gun him down on the streets. I mean, it's like I've been talking about ICE being treating, you know, acting like a paramilitary force for Trump as sort of basically a Gestapo. And to me, you see the reaction from the administration to this murder, and it's like double speak. You know, they're. They're just claiming something happened that didn't happen at all. They're doubling down on, you know, no accountability, nothing at all about this. And the guy who murdered him, he's apparently back out there, still on the job. Right. So I think it's a turning point, honestly. I. I think the murder, Renee Good, was bad enough, but this is them just pushing the bounds even further.
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B
Yeah. I mean, it seems as though they didn't learn any lessons and didn't feel any shame at all after the killing of Renee Good. And, and I think that in part led to what took place over the weekend with. I've been calling it a murder, too, of Alex Preddy, but Shoican, I guess there's sort of a. There's a policy matter in all of this. We just saw in the House, there were seven Democrats who joined with the Republicans to pass a DHS funding bill that pays for ice. And, you know, I know. Is that the majority of Democrats in the House? Absolutely not. It was a small number of Democrats, but people are pretty outraged about this. Your thoughts on funding DHS funding ice, what should be done?
- [32:47]
A
I mean, I thought they were completely wrong to be voting for any DHS funding. I mean, this was before Alex Preddy's murder, but it was after. After Renee Goode's murder. And I think it was a huge failure of leadership in the Democratic Party. Hakeem Jeffries told his caucus to vote no, but he didn't whip any votes, so he let them go the way they will. And he got people like Suazi today saying, ah, that was a mistake. I guess I shouldn't have voted for that. Well, maybe you shouldn't have your seat if you make mistakes like that. We're living in the middle of an authoritarian coup right now. Democrats campaigned in 2024 saying that if Trump wins, we might lose our democracy. And what we're seeing right now is that if it quacks like a duck, it is a duck. You know, you're seeing ICE got more money right now than the militaries of every country other than America and China. This is a military force attacking American citizens. And so I'm glad to see that, you know, it passed the House, but the Senate seems to be holding strong now largely because, you know, it took the murder of Alex Brady to get us there. But I can't believe they didn't see this coming. It's clear as day to anyone who's been following this over the last year. I hope we actually stand, you know, keep the government from being funded, because at this point, nothing should pass unless we fully take all the money back that we already gave to ice, we end qualified immunity and actually prosecute everyone that's broken the law, because not just this one guy. There's a report I saw today about 2,300 constitutional violations have happened from ICE since they've been operating over the last year. And you look at what's going on in the detention centers where there aren't any camera phones going on, horrible, horrible human rights abuses. So this has to stop. And until it stops, we can't fund the government.
- [34:31]
B
Right. I mean, and just the other day we saw a little boy, five years old, Liam Ramos. He was picked up by ICE and he's now in jail. He's in a detention facility in Texas. And Trump said they were going to go after the criminals and the gang bangers and that that was obviously a lie. And I guess. So what could be done about this from a Democratic standpoint? You mentioned Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader. I mean, if you're elected to Congress as a Democrat to fill Nancy Pelosi's seat, would you want him to be the leader or the speaker of the House? Would you want new leadership? What are your thoughts?
- [35:05]
A
I don't want him to be leader of the House. I believe he's been a failed leader in this moment. Same with Leader Schumer in the Senate. I don't think they're treating this moment correctly. Because right now, when you have an authoritarian coup happening, which is what this is, you have to use every point of leverage to fight that back until you get to election. Then you can get power back and you actually have hopefully fair and free elections. But what we're seeing instead is sort of politics as usual. You know, like Jeffries is treating this. I think they're trying to do this politics of backlash where they're just hoping, you know, let Trump do his worst, we'll see the backlash build up, and then Democrats will get to win on an anti Trump message. But that might not work. You know, we might not have elections if we go that route. So I just don't think they're taking this moment seriously. And what I'd like to see them do is use places of leverages like this government funding bill to hold the line. And, you know, I'd like to get to a place where we're completely defunding ICE and talking about building up immigration enforcement from the ground up right now. Because at this point, we've, you know, hired up more than half of the force on ICE into this agency. That's being cruel. You know, that's what people are being attracted to joining this force for. So we have to completely start from scratch. So, yeah, they need a whole line. And the other thing I would like to see Democrats doing right now, they're on the House. Democrats are on recess. They should be showing up en masse to these detention centers and demanding to be let in. Until we get real oversight of everything that's happening under ice, the government should not be allowed to open.
- [36:39]
B
Yeah, and you mentioned defunding ice. You'd like to see ICE abolished.
- [36:46]
A
That.
- [36:46]
B
That's a policy position that you're taking now.
- [36:48]
A
Yes, because. Because at this point, I don't think you can reform an agency that's. That's doing such horrible human rights and constitutional violations daily and where the majority of the force, they've been brought in, with that being the understanding, they're. They're being asked to do maximum damage on American people. So, you know, that's not to say we shouldn't have immigration enforcement. We used to have immigration enforcement. That was more humane, that was done correctly. It just means this agency is not capable of doing it. So I believe we have to start from ground one. We have to rebuild this force.
- [37:20]
B
And what about what should be done about Trump? I mean, there's been some talk there should be an impeachment. If Democrats take back the House, should Democrats try to impeach him again? And should you do it if Democrats don't have the majority in the Senate? Would that just be sort of a, you know, a wasteful exercise, do you think? Or do you think it needs to be done to send the message?
- [37:41]
A
I think we should be. We gotta impeach Trump. We also need to impeach Noem. I mean, I think stuff's honestly gone so bad where every now and then you are seeing the Republicans actually break because Trump has become an historically unpopular leader and even have House Republicans now calling for hearings on what ICE is doing. They want to bring Bovino and others in front of their committees. So I think you push, at this point, make the case, create such popular will against Trump and this administration for the real violations that they're committing. That I think you could get an impeachment because we just saw this with the Epstein files released, too. Right. Trump did not want the Epstein files to get released. He kept whipping his Republican colleagues to make sure they wouldn't get released. But there was such public backlash to that, and people like Ro Khanna and Tom Massie just fought, fought and fought and stuck with it, that eventually the Republican caucus cave, they voted to do the release of the Epson files. Of course, they're still, you know, avoiding actually releasing it, but you got to keep pushing and keep fighting. That's what you have to do. And so, yes, absolutely, we should be impeaching anybody who breaks the law, because nobody's above the law.
- [38:53]
B
Yeah, yeah. No, there's no question about it. And, but the flip side of this is that Trump is being emboldened by some pretty powerful forces. And you come from the world, I guess, of Silicon Valley. If I feel free to correct me or if I mischaracterize anything, you were a top official at Stripe, and I guess. What do you make of the way that some of these big tech CEOs have gone into the Oval Office and presented these golden gifts and really just sort of bent the knee. Craven, what's been your observation of that?
- [39:28]
A
It's complete cowardice, opportunism, and is horrible. I mean, I, I will say most of the tech industry, the tech workers, I talked to a lot of them in San Francisco, they're embarrassed by, and they hate it. They don't want to be seen as being represented by people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel and David Sacks and even Tim Cook. Now, you know, who's going over there and doing movie viewings with Donald Trump in the White House last night. It's, you know, clearly it's just pay to play. You know, all these tech leaders, they know the way to get on Trump's good side is to bribe him, frankly. And I believe we have to be holding everybody who's enabling this administration accountable and looking into anything illegal that's going on. Because if it is pay to play, that's wrong. Right. That's illegal. And so Democrats, I don't think we can go back to just, you know, asking these same leaders to come back to our side. Give them a pass. No, if you, if you're enabling what's going on right now, murder of people in Minneapolis, you got to be held accountable.
- [40:24]
B
Yeah. I mean, what happened out in Silicon Valley, what happened in tech world? I mean, I, I'm old enough to remember when there were a lot of Democrats and progressives who were leading a lot of these companies. And it's sort of, did it change on a dime? Did it slowly evolve over time? Is it, is it just that they're, they're, you know, kissing up to Trump because he's been in power more or less over the last decade or so? What is it? Can you put your finger on it? Like, what the heck happened?
- [40:50]
A
You know, again, I want to say, like, it isn't most of the tech world. Right, Interesting.
- [40:55]
B
Okay.
- [40:55]
A
Largely some VCs, some CEOs, who've aligned themselves with Trump and with Elon Musk and that movement. And there's always been a strain of that. I mean, Peter Thiel, if you look at his history, he's been talking about basically corporate run city, nation states for the last 15 years. Since I've heard of them, it was just a fringe part of the tech world. Ideas like that gained power. And then when someone like Trump came in and brought them in and he really did give them a lot of attention, I think they got seduced and they realized, ah, well, we can have power not just over our little kingdom here in Silicon Valley, but over the entire country. And hey, by the way, if that means my crypto holdings go up and I make a billion dollars, why not? Right? So a lot of it is, you see this happen anytime, greed is a part of it, but also the hunger for power. And I think that's, it's, again, it's, it's, it's a handful of these VCs and CEOs who have, in my mind a sort of a God king mentality where they think they're above it all. Well, they're not. Right. If you break the law, you're going to, you're still going to be held accountable.
- [42:04]
B
Yeah. And Shoykat, you're looking to fill some pretty big shoes in. Nancy Pelosi, she was the speaker of the House and I think by and large, throughout the Democratic Party, I mean, people really look up to her and see her as, you know, sort of the, the prototype for, you know, taking on Trump. Everybody can remember when she put the sunglasses on and had the red coat coming out of the White House that day and so on. What do you say to people out there in San Francisco to say, okay, I can, I can take this on, I can take on this mantle.
- [42:33]
A
Yeah, you know, look, I believe Speaker Pelosi was a groundbreaking speaker and she was a historic figure and she was, you know, amazing for a certain period in our politics. But I think a lot of people in San Francisco actually realize that we do need something new. I mean, I launched my campaign back when Speaker Pelosi was still in the race, and I primaried her. And my argument then and my argument now is if we actually want to save this country is not just going to be enough to stand up against Trump and beat him. We actually need our own vision for how to improve the underlying economic anxieties that led to someone like Trump getting elected in the first place. We have to have a real vision for making life affordable, for creating high wage, dignified work for people. And that's been the focus of my work for the last 10 years. So it is pitching a new kind of politics. But that's what I'm seeing in people in San Francisco. They're ready for that. You know, they realize it's necessary in this moment.
- [43:30]
B
Absolutely. I mean, and I think that there is something to be said for. We need some fresh legs, fresh ideas, fresh faces. And so if you don't want Hakeem Jeffries to be the speaker, who would be the speaker in your mind? Can I put you on the spot like that?
- [43:45]
A
There are other exciting folks in the Democratic Caucus. I mean, honestly, I did like a lot of what Ro Khanna did in this past year where he's figured out how to push these issues that are very popular and actually get votes on things like releasing the Epstein files. But my bottom line here is I think we need a leader in the House who is actually going to fight for policy positions that are popular. I mean, the stuff I'm running on, it gets painted as progressive. If you look at things like banning congressional stock trading, banning the revolving door between Congress and the lobbying industry, this stuff polls like 80, 90% amongst Republicans and Democrats. You talk about reducing the military budget. Most Republicans, like 85% of Republicans want that, you know, so this is all popular stuff. But we have politicians who don't give it a vote, who don't actually want it to happen. So I like to see someone for a leader who is going to fight for where the people are actually at, and also someone who kind of understands how to fight in this current day, who's able to recognize a talent in the caucus, so get the best communicators out there at the front fighting day and night. Honestly, like when I was in, in Congress in 2019, I sort of saw how a lot of Democratic Party sort of sidelined AOC is. You know, they're sort of saying, she's just a social media star. Well, no, she's an incredible communicator. Right. Use that talent, use that power. So I think that's what it takes if you're going to be leader of the Democratic caucus. You need to have a real vision of what you want to do, and you have to be able to know how to use your team. You're like the coach of this team. Right. And use that to advance his vision and win the fights.
- [45:18]
B
Yeah, no, I know. I'm sure there can be some people watching this and say, yes, exactly. That's exactly what we need. We'll see if you can get it done. But it sounds like you're on your way. Shoykat Chakrabarti, thank you very much for joining us. Really appreciate his Democrat running for the seat held by Nancy Pelosi. And best of luck. Hope to talk to you soon.
- [45:38]
A
Thanks, Jim. Appreciate it.
- [45:39]
B
All right, thank you. Thanks so much. Well, so you can see that, you know, there are, I mean, you know, there are Democrats who are willing to make some waves and say, you know, listen, what the party's been doing up until this point is just not enough. And I mean, I don't want to go back and harp on this too much, but I'm going to harp. Go back and harp on this a little bit. There was a key vote in the House of Representatives last week. Seven Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the DHS funding bill. One of those Democrats was Tom Suazi of New York, and he just put out a statement today saying that he regrets what he did. I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis. I hear the anger from my constituents and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE's unlawful behavior, and I must do a better job demonstrating that. I mean, there's a congressman right there who voted for DHS funding. And I'm not blaming Alex Preddy's death on Tom Suozzi. But, I mean, this just goes to show you that these votes matter. What is happening right now in Washington matters. And there are headlines that are coming out right now that Greg Bevino is expected to leave Minneapolis and that some of his forces are. His thugs, I should say, are expected to leave Minneapolis. Trump was on the phone with, with Tim Walls, the governor of Minnesota, earlier in the day. And it sounds like Trump was coming off the ledge a little bit. You know, it's been said before and it should be said again. Donald Trump is a day trader. He understands that his stock is once Again, tanking and in the toilet right now. And so he can't afford to go any further down the shitter. And so he is recalibrating. The people around him are recalibrating. Caroline Levitt was asked earlier today if Trump agrees with Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem and the way they slimed Alex Preddy. Here's what Caroline Levitt said on Gabe's question. Secretary Noem said Alex Preddy committed an act of domestic terrorism. Stephen Miller label Preddy a domestic terrorist.
- [47:54]
C
Does the president agree with that?
- [47:56]
A
Ms. Look, as I've said, I have not heard the President characterize Mr. Preddy in that way. However, I have heard the President say he wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.
- [48:05]
B
Was he alarmed to hear his top.
- [48:06]
C
Officials referring to him in that way.
- [48:08]
B
Rushing to that judgment?
- [48:09]
A
Thanks, Caroline.
- [48:12]
B
That's as close as they come to admitting, whoops, we screwed up. And it's not just, I mean, it's Stephen Miller, you know, going out there and calling Alex Preddy an assassin and a terrorist. I mean, that, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Kristi Noem was lying over the weekend saying this looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement. This is what she said. And she went on to say, this is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and using them to assault law enforcement officers. That's. She said that, too, in another lie. So they are lying. They are lying. They were lying all weekend. They were trying to lie about Alex Preddy. They were trying to lie about what happened, and the lies won't work. We saw what took place over the weekend. We saw it with our own eyes. Republicans saw it with their own eyes. As, as we were talking about earlier in this program, Republican who was running for governor, Minnesota suddenly pulled out of the race saying he doesn't want any part of this. He doesn't want to be a part. No kidding. No kidding. What is happening right now is absolutely toxic. Ice is completely toxic. Greg Bevino is completely toxic. And I'm sorry, but sending Tom Homan to Minneapolis is putting lipstick on the pig or putting pig on the lipstick. It's, it's one or the other. Do they have any cabas in Minneapolis? I mean, there's a question that needs to be asked. But make no mistake, Donald Trump needs to understand that he may, he may feel somewhat up against the ropes, and he's recalibrating. He's sending in Tom home And they're pulling in, they're pulling Greg Bovino out. They're sending Caroline Levitt out there to try to cool things down in the briefing room. That's not enough, ladies and gentlemen. That's not enough. I'll tell you what is enough. I'll tell you what. This may not be enough either, but this would be a start. This guy, this SOB Stephen Miller, who put out the tweet over the weekend, we could just show that one more time. Referring to Alex Preddy as a domestic terrorist. This is what Stephen Miller said. A domestic terrorist tried to assassinate federal law enforcement. That is what Stephen Miller said about Alex Preddy, an American citizen who was murdered by federal agents in the streets of Minneapolis over the weekend. If you want to start healing the damage that you've done to this country, Donald Trump, you can fire that son of a. Right there. Fire that son of a. Right there. And there's a lot of talk here in Washington about communicating to the audience of one. And I'll just communicate to the audience of one right now, Donald Trump, if you're watching, if somebody clips this and shows this to you, maybe Stephen Miller will clip this and show this to you and say, daddy, daddy, look what they did to me. Look what they're saying. Saying about me. You're right. You're goddamn right I am. Stephen Miller should have his ass fired tonight, right now, for calling Alex Preddy a domestic terrorist. Kristi Noem should be fired immediately. There's all this talk of impeaching Kristi Noem. Her ass should be fired immediately. Secretary Puppy Killer, seacot Barbie, Ice Barbie should be fired immediately. If Donald Trump wants to start repairing some of the damage that he has done. But make no mistake. Make no mistake that that goes nowhere near as far as it needs to go. The Senate absolutely should be willing to shut down the government over funding the Department of Homeland Security. It is not enough at this point to pull out Greg Bevino and send in Tom Homan. You know, which is it, the organ grinder or the monkey? When it comes to those two, that. That is not solving the problem. The only thing that begins to solve the problem, that begins to solve the problem is for Stephen Miller to have his ass fired and for Kristi Noem, Secretary Puppy Killer, to be fired, too. She has no business being the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. We all know that. We've known that since the beginning. Her ass should be out of a job. Stephen Miller, his ass. They should box up his, hand it to him and say, get the out of this White House right now. He has no business being in that position. Calling Alex Preddy is a domestic terrorist. That should be the last straw, but it probably won't be the last straw and I'll tell you why. And you've heard me say it on this program before. It all flows back to Donald Trump, ladies and gentlemen. It all flows back to Donald Trump. He said during the campaign that immigrants were poisoning the blood of America. He called immigrants vermin. He has been doing this back since back in 2015 when he referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. This all flows back to him, the people who work under him. Stephen Miller, Christy Noem, Tom Homan, Greg Bevino. The thugs of ice, the Trump secret police force, they all report to him. The fish is rotting from the head on down. And it is on Donald Trump. It is on Donald Trump. Alex Preddy's death is on Donald Trump. Renee Goode's death is on Donald Trump. The arrest of five year old Liam who is in jail right now is on Donald Trump. The terrorizing of Minneapolis, Minnesota is on Donald Trump. All of this is on Donald Trump. Now I was covering the White house back in 2017 when he fired Steve Bannon. That came after what happened in Charlottesville. It took the death of Heather Heyer during the the violence in Charlottesville to result in the firing of Steve Bannon. We are once again seeing the ultra right wing fascist thugs in this administration running wild and it should result in a firing. There is sending in Tom Homan doesn't even come close to getting the job done. Sending Caroline Levitt with a different pack of lies to paper over the other lies doesn't come close to making up for it. So if the audience of one is listening and if it's propagandists on Fox who watch this program and record this program and sometimes play clips of this program on Fox if they want to clip something, clip this Donald Trump. You are responsible for all of this. The only thing that works this week is if you fire Stephen Miller. The only thing that works this week is if you fire Kristi Noem. The only thing that works this week is if you fire Greg Bevino, AKA Little Hitler. Little Hitler needs to go. His little ass, his munchkin ass needs to go. Follow the yellow brick road out the of Minneapolis. Greg Bevino. Follow the yellow brick road to the unemployment line. Greg Bevino. They're all liars. They're all thugs, they're all goons. And no money should go to ICE until somebody is fired. Stephen Miller Kristi Noem, Greg Bevino, take your pick or all of the above. That is the only thing that is going to start to tamp down what Donald Trump has unleashed in Minneapolis. My thanks to Congresswoman Angie Craig. My thanks to Nick Valencia. Just did an incredible job over the weekend. An incredible job, absolutely incredible job reporting out there in the field. Maritza Giorgio, also an incredible job. They were both with me on Saturday. My thanks to them both. It means so much. And also to keep your eyes on Shoikat Chakrabarti who is running for Nancy Pelosi's seat. He represents this new wave of Democrats. They're not taking any shit, ladies and gentlemen. They're not taking it. They're not taking it anymore. And there are more of them coming and we'll be profiling them on this program in the months to come. But thanks everybody for watching. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you next time.