The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump's anti-immigrant overreach backfires; 'It looks bad,' says advisor
17 Jan 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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We have a fire hose of breaking news to tell you about tonight. And I want to start with the good news. And I just referenced this with Crystal. Let me give you a little bit more description and I'll say it a little bit slower.
So tonight, a federal judge in Minnesota has blocked ICE, CBP, other federal agencies assisting them from impeding the free speech rights of protesters or using force against them unless they are interfering with enforcement activities. Now, it's always how they define that, but this is certainly good, big news from a ruling tonight.
This is a lawsuit, of course, that was brought all the way back in December by six protesters on behalf of anyone who records, observes, and protests ICE's ongoing operations in Minnesota. The judge even said that ICE is not entitled to stop and search protesters in their cars solely because they are safely following ICE and other federal law enforcement at an appropriate distance.
And again, we are still digesting this ruling. As I mentioned to Chris, it just came out. It's a whole lot of pages. We're looking through it. We're combing through it. But one thing is very clear. It is bad news for the Trump administration and good news for the people exercising their First Amendment rights in Minnesota.
Which brings me to the other piece of breaking news we are following tonight. MSNOW reported that the Department of Justice has opened a federal criminal investigation into Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. And that, to state the freaking obvious, is no coincidence.
I mean, these two elected officials have been the most outspoken and the most passionate voices about the horror ISIS wreaking on the city of Minneapolis. And because they are actual leaders, we've all been watching them, and not malicious man-children like the current occupant of the White House and his hateful posse of Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Greg Bovino, I could go on.
They have actually called for calm from the moment an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Goode last week. I mean, both Mayor Frey and Governor Walz have consistently and repeatedly called for their residents not to take the bait, to protest, but do so peacefully so as to not give the Trump administration justification to increase its already massive federal presence in the state.
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Chapter 2: What recent legal developments have impacted ICE operations in Minnesota?
But in the midst of this incredibly upsetting and chaotic week of news, though I did start the show with some good news, I would note, I want to tell you that if you were angry, if you were outraged, if you were absolutely beside yourself about what Donald Trump is doing to our country right now, you are far from alone. You are definitely not alone.
New polling out today from CNN shows that the majority of Americans call the first year of Trump's new term a failure. Back in Trump's first term, the lowest his approval rating on the economy got was negative five. Now CNN has him underwater by 22 points. A new NPR-Marist poll also has Trump underwater by 21 points on the economy. The poll also has Trump 19 points underwater on foreign policy.
Another CNN poll shows that Americans think that ICE enforcement actions are making cities less safe rather than more safe by a 20-point margin, which, how could you not think that if you've been watching what's happening in the city of Minneapolis? A poll from Yahoo found that Americans believed ICE raids were doing more harm than good by, yet again, a 20-point margin.
But the issue where this administration stands is the most underwater. is there justification for the killing of Renee Nicole Good? Polling from CNN shows that 56% of American adults said that ICE agents' use of force in the killing of Good was inappropriate, compared to just 26% who said it was appropriate. I want to know who those people are, but 26%. That is a whopping 30-point margin.
And today, Axios reported that Trump's team recently reviewed private GOP polling that showed support for his immigration policies is falling. No kidding.
A top Trump advisor told Axios that while Trump himself isn't concerned about the policy, he's not a policy wonk, remember, meaning he isn't actually concerned about ICE brutality either, which there's that, but what he doesn't want is what people are seeing. He doesn't like the way it looks. It looks bad. That's from an advisor. If nothing else, I guess the man can read a poll.
Yes, it does look bad because it is bad. And a lot of America is watching. I mean, polling from Quinnipiac earlier this week showed that 82% of registered voters said they had watched the video of Renee Nicole Good being shot, 82%.
And as hard as it is to watch a lot of what we are seeing in Minnesota and everywhere all around the country where ISIS surged, clearly showing the world what the Trump administration is doing here is moving the needle. And I know that a lot of what I'm about to show you and tell you about is pretty rough, tough to watch.
And that has been the case of a lot of what we've been showing over the last week and a half. And I know we have all been consuming a lot of these videos of Minneapolis. But it's clearly important that we don't look away. It's clearly important that we see what is happening with clear eyes and we also spread it as far and wide as possible.
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Chapter 3: How is the Trump administration responding to local officials in Minnesota?
Paul titled Kidnapped and Disappeared, Trump's Deadly Assault on Minnesota. They heard from witness after witness who shared their stories of what living in Minnesota during this ICE surge has been like.
I was not running. I was just walking away because I did not want to talk to him. I knew that ICE agents had been targeting people that looked like me. I immediately started repeating over and over again, I'm a citizen, I'm a citizen, I'm a citizen. But the agent did not stop to look at my ID.
As second ice agent entered the restaurant, to there they dragged me outside and put me into a headlock on the ground. I repeated, I'm a citizen, I have an ID. The agent kept saying, that don't matter, that don't matter.
That's just a taste of the flavor of the of the tenor of this hearing today from witness after witness. The hearing also featured leaders from the community like State Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry. And St. Paul Mayor Coley Herr spoke directly to the members of Congress and to the public about the terror the Trump administration has brought upon her state.
Here was how the mayor described the situation today.
We are ground zero for Trump's war on America, a war on our democracy, on our freedoms, on our rights as Americans. It is in our backyard today, and it is only a matter of time before it is in yours. We've received reports of federal law enforcement officers going door to door asking people where the Asian people live, right in our very own city.
I myself have received advice to carry my passport with me because they may try to target me based on what I look like as well. That is the America that we are living in right now, where people cannot access food, they cannot access health care, they cannot access their basic needs because of the terror, because our cities are under siege. We need your help, whatever it may be.
Joining me now is the woman you just heard speaking there, the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kali Herr. Thank you so much for being here. That has stuck with me since I watched it today, what you had to say in that hearing. And I'm so grateful you could join us tonight.
I wanted to just start with the news we got tonight about the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota, a criminal investigation being launched into them. It feels so completely baseless on its face. I've just talked about this, but what do you make of it?
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Chapter 4: What challenges do Minneapolis residents face from federal enforcement actions?
And this administration has essentially been terrorizing your community for the totality of the time you've been in office. Help people out there watching right now. We've been trying to show as many videos as possible and tell the stories of what's happening on the ground. But you're there. What is happening in St. Paul right now?
You know, for as much as he's been trying to terrorize us, that community is sticking together. But it is not lost upon me that everywhere that I go, I see ICE vehicles. That as I'm working with our local immigrant businesses and I'm helping open and close doors, lock and unlock doors for customers to come in to ensure that it is the customers and not ICE.
that I'm seeing and constant, even down the blocks from the places that I'm supporting and helping out, ICE vehicles, people being detained, people being grabbed off the streets, and I'm witnessing these things myself.
Just last Sunday when I was helping at one of our Mercados here, one block down, ICE had an individual, and our protestors had to walk down there to ensure that they could see what was happening, and ICE finally let that individual go after they saw that there was a group of people starting to form.
This is an everyday occurrence, and we are constantly getting notification from our community members that they see ICE vehicles, that they saw somebody get taken. And this isn't just hearsay. They're sending us pictures, and they're sending us evidence so that we can actually look into it and send law enforcement over to have eyes on the situation.
And so this is a complete overtake of our city, a siege of our city.
I'm sure you're getting even in just two weeks, a lot of people calling and asking, what should they do? How should they engage with ICE officers? What do they do if somebody comes to their door? What are you telling people in your community to do in this moment? I know you're saying peacefully protest, but what else are you telling them to do?
We are telling people that they do have rights and that to the best of their ability, we are sending out information to our residents if they are in their homes, that they do not have to open the doors. We are giving them procedures as to what they can request from ICE to see and how they can provide their documentation.
But we are also letting people know where it is that they can go in order for them to have individuals who might be there to protect them. We know that there are certain locations that we have constitutional observers who are ready to support and to document. We are also informing people that if you are scared and you are worried, call 911. Our local law enforcement will show up.
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Chapter 5: How have public opinions shifted regarding Trump's immigration policies?
Congressman Ro Khanna joins me here at the table when we come back.
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Tonight, we are continuing to digest the news that Donald Trump's Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye over claims they obstructed federal agents. Basically, they have opened an investigation because Trump doesn't like that they are criticizing him.
That is what's happening, everyone, just to state it very clearly. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. He's a member of the House Oversight Committee. I was just saying to you during the break, and we'll get to a lot of this, that earlier in the day, we were like, we're going to talk to you about all sorts of things.
And now there's just all this news that dumped in this evening. Let me just start by asking you, when you saw the news that Governor Walz and Mayor Fry of Minneapolis were going to be investigated. This is a week where also Senator Alyssa Slotkin, Congressman Jason Kerr are also being investigated. What do you make of this as you look at the totality of this?
You know, we're laughing at the silliness, but it's dangerous.
Yes. I don't mean to be laughing to be clear. It is dangerous. Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the recent polling on ICE enforcement?
But one of the questions I have and a lot of people ask me is, what happens if you take control of the House? Are you going to remember, like, do you have a list somewhere of Gregory Bovino and Tom Homan and all of these people? And are you going to, is holding them to account at the top of your priority list?
Absolutely. It's going to be accountability and people who are not complying with the Epstein law, people who cut USAID and had people die in Africa, people who have threatened universities, people who are arresting American citizens or shooting American citizens without due process. All of them are going to be investigated and hauled before Congress.
Look, I am for bringing this country together in reconciliation, but you're not going to have reconciliation without accountability. And my colleagues in the Democratic House share that. These committees are going to be active. They're going to be seeking justice.
There's a long way to go before November, to be clear, for everybody watching and a lot of things that need to happen. I mean, Cook Political Report, who's a pretty good gauge, just flipped about 18 seats this week.
That was a big deal.
That was a big deal, not insignificant. I just started the show by talking about a lot of things, but including some of the polling we've seen. It feels a little bit like the horrors of what we've seen in Minneapolis.
And how people are digesting it out there, thanks to excellent local reporting, excellent national reporting, incredible citizens who are proudly holding up their cameras and sharing video is a bit of a turning point on this issue. But how do you I don't want to be, you know, don't be too rosy. How do you see it?
It is a turning point because, look, Americans wanted a secure border, but people are fair and they don't want ICE agents out there shooting and killing Americans. They don't want ICE agents going through Americans' cars, pulling out someone disabled, going to a doctor's office and detaining her. They don't want... people knocking on doors of immigrants who are paying taxes.
And they're just saying, what is going on? There is something that is fundamentally snapped in the Trump administration where people are seeing that he's violating freedoms. He's violating constitutional rights.
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