Minneapolis Mayor: DHS Drawdown Isn’t Real De-Escalation (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: This morning, the White House border czar, Tom Homan, announced that effective today, the Department of Homeland Security will withdraw 700 personnel from Minnesota, leaving about 2,000 in place. In just a moment, I'm going to speak with the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Fry, who says that although this is a step in the right direction, it is not de-escalation.

[00:00:22] Speaker 2: That big change on immigration, 700 officers leaving Minneapolis, did that come from you? Yes, it did. But it didn't come from me because I just wanted to do it. We are waiting for them to release prisoners, give us the murderers that they're holding, and all of the bad people.

[00:00:41] Speaker 1: This drawdown comes after weeks of outrage following the killing of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preddy, by federal agents. Amid the protests, state and local leaders have called for a complete end to federal operations in the city. Homan today said that's possible, but only if things change on the ground.

[00:01:02] Speaker 3: My goal with the support of President Trump is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge as soon as we can. But that is largely contingent upon the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its federal partners that we're seeing in the community.

[00:01:24] Speaker 1: All right, let's get off the sidelines and head into the arena. My panel is standing by. But first, let's get right to CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes. Kristen, this was a pretty remarkable admission from President Trump, essentially unprompted. He was just asked, what have you learned? And he said that it needs a softer touch.

[00:01:44] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a rare concession when it comes to President Trump. He often doubles down on anything that he's doing. And in the past, when he's been asked what he's learned in various situations, he certainly doesn't admit to any kind of wrongdoing. However, the term softer touch obviously implies that things could have been done differently. And while this goes against the rhetoric we've heard from President Trump, even just as recently as when he was at the Melania film premiere and he said that he wouldn't be drawing down agents in Minneapolis, it certainly aligns with what we were hearing was going on behind closed doors, which was the administration was looking for an off-ramp when it came to Minneapolis. And they were understanding, as President Trump among them, that this didn't look good, that this wasn't playing well. For the administration, it certainly wasn't going well either. President Trump has seen all of the polling numbers when it comes to his immigration tactics. So the fact that they're actually drawing down numbers of agents there, the fact that they understand, at least to some extent, at least President Trump does, that this situation got out of control, that goes again with what we've been hearing happening behind closed doors. And so what you're seeing now is Tom Homan doing exactly what he was slated, to do, which was go into Minneapolis, into Minnesota, work with these various officials and turn the temperature down. They are very much aware that right now things are incredibly heated. And that's why you've seen Homan in these back-to-back meetings with these local officials trying to, again, turn the temperature down and find an off-ramp for the administration when it comes to the immigration crackdown in that state.

[00:03:21] Speaker 1: All right, Kristen Holmes kicking us off this afternoon. Kristen, thank you very much. Thank you very much for that. And joining me now is Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for being in the arena. I really appreciate your time today. And I'd like to start by just asking what you would say back to President Trump. President Trump said in an interview that a softer touch is required. What do you say to President Trump?

[00:03:50] Speaker 5: He's right that a softer touch has been required. The drawdown of both... Both federal agents as well as the implementation of body cameras is obviously a step in the right direction. That being said, the continued presence of 2,000 federal agents in a city that only has 600 police officers is still not de-escalation. So we have been very clear that Operation Metro Surge needs to end. The restoration of peace, of safety, the rejuvenation of small local businesses throughout our city depends on... One main thing, which is for ICE to leave. And so that continues to be our position.

[00:04:32] Speaker 1: Sir, how would you characterize... You say it's not a de-escalation. What is it? What does it mean that 700 of these agents are leaving?

[00:04:44] Speaker 5: Well, obviously, there is a de-escalatory element if you are decreasing the number of agents that are on the street. That being said, when you have 2,000 agents that are still here... Approximately 20 times that which we had prior to Operation Metro Surge, that, relatively speaking, no, is not a de-escalation. And so we need to understand where we have been and then where we were just a couple of months ago. You know, look, we've had ICE operate in our city for decades. We've had ICE operate in our city even during a Trump administration. And this is not about... This is not about ICE doing normal ICE stuff. The objection is to ICE pulling people off the street indiscriminately. It's these roving bands that were walking through Minneapolis and targeting both Latino and Somali people without regard for whether any crime had been committed at all. The frustration, of course, comes in the way and the how people in our city have been treated. I think, you know, you've got tens of thousands of people... Tens of thousands of people in Minneapolis that are standing up and speaking out and delivering food to those that would be terrified to go outside and stand and watch it at daycare. And they're doing it for the right reasons. They're doing it because they care about their neighbors. And that is a beautiful Minneapolis sentiment.

[00:06:12] Speaker 1: Sir, of course, this coming from Tom Homan, the border czar who was sent in to replace the border patrol head who had been in Minneapolis. You've now had a number of meetings with... Homan behind closed doors. Do you trust Tom Homan?

[00:06:32] Speaker 5: The meetings that we've had with border czar Homan, the meeting that we had with Trump was a positive meeting. It was affable. It was collegial. And at the same time, we continue to have very clear asks. Those asks are in Operation Metro Surge. You know, obviously, they have talked about wanting to... To improve safety in a number of cities throughout the country. And if this is about safety, hey, you know what? We're on board to catch offenders of violent crime. We've worked extensively with a number of different federal agencies from the DEA to the ATF to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office to successfully drive down crime in Minneapolis to where, you know, we're seeing record lows in some areas right now. And we have been for quite some time. But again, that is not what this has been. What this has been about over this last month and a half, what this has been about is not about safety. It's not about even immigration. This has been about creating some sort of political narrative and seeking political retribution on people that don't agree with the president.

[00:07:44] Speaker 1: Sir, one of the policy pieces that conservatives keep returning to that has become a flashpoint is the jails, state and local jails. Right. And whether or not they will be required to follow ICE detainers, right, to turn people over to ICE when they are released. Why don't you want to do that?

[00:08:10] Speaker 5: We don't have any jails under our authority in Minneapolis. And so that's not even a question that is posed to us.

[00:08:18] Speaker 1: Well, Hennepin County has jails, correct?

[00:08:22] Speaker 5: Correct. Correct. Hennepin County has jails. Correct.

[00:08:26] Speaker 1: Is there a reason why you would urge them not to follow these detainers?

[00:08:32] Speaker 5: I don't know all of the logistics associated with the Hennepin County jail. What I do know is that both at the state level and corrections and also at the county level, we have worked pretty extensively with federal agents from a number of different departments to make sure that violent offenders have been apprehended. You know, there are a number of pretty technical logistics as to how those offenders are handled and where they are ultimately sent. But, you know, look, in Minneapolis, we've got to make sure that due process is achieved. We've got to make sure that somebody isn't held accountable for a crime that they didn't commit. But where they've committed crimes, yeah, of course, you investigate, you prosecute, you charge, you arrest. And then, yeah, ICE, they have the role that they've been delegating. They've been delegated through Congress as well. But that is not what we're talking about here. Again, what we have seen are all sorts of constitutional violations that have been carried out on our street. It's been largely indiscriminate pickups. And that is not okay in Minneapolis. That's not okay in any city in the entire country. And by the way, what we're also seeing, and this needs to be made clear, is coercion. It is compelling local officials to change. It is compelling local officials to change their policies and their practices to meet an overarching national or federal agenda, you know, saying, hey, hand over the voting rolls or else we're going to continue this Operation Metro surge that is wreaking havoc on your city.