This is the Jan. 27, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
The Trump administration’s destructive skill in creating chaos quickens by the moment.
Americans watched in horror as Alex Pretti was shot and killed Saturday by a masked federal officer at close range.
Then the Orwellian denials and character defamation spewing from White House officials and Homeland Security operatives.
Next, the FBI director and the Treasury secretary went on Sunday shows justifying the killing because Alex Pretti was legally carrying a firearm.
Most Republicans remained silent.
Then an outpouring of public outrage and demands that Immigration and Customs Enforcement rein in its violent tactics.
Even hard-liners like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz demanded de-escalation.
In a rare display of nerve, 10 Republican senators called for a full investigation into Pretti’s death.
Yesterday, the president reached out to Minnesota’s governor and the mayor of Minneapolis, pledging federal cooperation. Shortly after those calls, news that ICE commander-at-large Greg Bovino was reassigned, with Kristi Noem met with the president for a two-hour meeting.
The Homeland Security secretary should be fired now. Her lies have eroded public trust in immigration enforcement, and her agency’s brutality has shaken Americans across the political spectrum.
The dizzying de-escalation from this weekend’s violence came as quickly as the White House’s escalation of violence against U.S. citizens.
What happens next is anyone’s guess. But one thing is certain: Alex Pretti and Renee Good are dead.
“The misleading rhetoric coming out of the administration needs to stop. Mr. President, the American people didn’t vote for these scenes, and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes.”
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Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post on the government’s dystopian claims regarding its brutal crackdown in Minnesota
WINTER STORM FERN BY THE NUMBERS
SOURCES: NOAA, The Guardian, Flightaware, Yahoo News, Newsweek
ON THIS DAY
On this date in 1976, “Laverne & Shirley” premiered on ABC. The sitcom starred Cindy Williams as well as Penny Marshall, who later became one of the first women to achieve commercial success as a movie director. The show was a spin-off of “Happy Days.”
IRAN’S DEADLY CRACKDOWN
The true death toll from Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters may be far higher than previously reported.
It is possible that more than 10,000 people have been killed — a figure that would exceed the death toll of China’s Tiananmen Square massacre — according to The Wall Street Journal, citing human rights groups.
Witnesses say millions of Iranians poured into the streets earlier this month after authorities shut down the internet. If that fact is confirmed, it would mark the deadliest episode of political repression in Iran since at least the 1980s.
By comparison, roughly 550 people were killed during nationwide protests in 2022, and dozens were murdered during the 2009 Green Movement.
A CONVERSATION WITH BILL BRATTON
Deadly ICE operations in Minneapolis have spread fear and confusion — and raised urgent questions about federal immigration enforcement. Bill Bratton — former police commissioner of New York City and Boston and former police chief of Los Angeles — spoke to us about the dangers of ICE tactics, what DHS must do to begin regaining public trust, and how the roots of this crisis are more than a decade old.
WG: Commissioner, if this were the NYPD or the LAPD, what kind of investigation would begin immediately?
BB: The investigation would be extraordinarily thorough — to the greatest degree possible. We would make every effort to keep the public informed of each stage. That’s what’s so troubling here: the lack of transparency, the absence of information.
It’s eroding public trust in institutions that once commanded tremendous confidence — the FBI and other federal agencies typically entrusted with these inquiries. The decision to not investigate, to simply declare everything acceptable, has only deepened concerns about accountability.
This moment, I believe, is a watershed. The federal government is beginning to recognize that its approach must change dramatically. What we’re seeing now contradicts everything we’ve worked to achieve in American policing over the last 40 years — in professionalism, in oversight, in community trust.
JS: Talk about how poor the policing has been — not just in this case, but in other incidents we’ve seen from Minneapolis, St. Paul, and across the country.
BB: Joe, you’re absolutely right to focus on that. The quality of enforcement we’ve observed from ICE and related agencies on immigration operations is appallingly poor — a failure of supervision, leadership, coordination, and training.
American policing has evolved for decades toward de-escalation, stricter control over the use of force, stronger supervision, and deeper community engagement. What we’re seeing now runs completely counter to that progress. It’s deeply disturbing — not only to me as a former commissioner, but to colleagues across law enforcement who see decades of progress being undone.
JS: And the scale of what we’re seeing?
BB: Minneapolis is about 58 square miles, similar in size and population to Staten Island. To flood it with 3,000 federal agents is absurd. The tactics are heavy-handed and undisciplined.
MB: What steps should be taken — beyond replacing Bovino — to restore public trust? Is that even possible now?
BB: Right now, there are too many cooks in the kitchen. We’ve had a parade of officials on television reading from the same talking points, none of them directly involved or fully informed.
The administration needs a single authoritative voice — someone like Mr. [Tom] Homan — to communicate clearly and credibly with the public.
JL: Commissioner, there’s talk of possible ICE deployments in New York City. What would happen if those same tactics were used here?
BB: It would be a nightmare — for the city, for law enforcement, and for the country’s image. New York has world-class capabilities; it doesn’t need 3,000 federal agents descending on it.
The lesson we’ve learned over the last 30 years is the value of precision policing — targeted, intelligence-driven operations, not dragnets.
JS: If people here illegally are incarcerated for crimes, should they be turned over to DHS for deportation?
BB: That’s part of the tension we’re seeing. When I was commissioner in New York in 2014, the city — like many others — designated itself a “sanctuary city,” placing restrictions on turning over individuals to federal immigration authorities. Those limits — on paperwork, process, and eligibility — created friction between local and federal agencies.
There’s room for reform, for finding balance. The original goal was to focus deportation efforts on the worst offenders, not to sweep up entire communities.
JS: What concerns you about what we’re seeing on the ground now?
BB: The current dragnet approach has spread fear, especially in working-class Latino neighborhoods.
I see it firsthand on Long Island — men standing on street corners waiting for work, afraid to be seen. It’s heartbreaking. We cannot enforce the law by destroying trust in the communities we’re supposed to protect.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.
EXTRA HOT TEA
In a statement on Monday, Ye — the Grammy-winning rapper and fashion mogul formerly known as Kanye West — apologized for a history of “impulsive” behavior, including using antisemitic imagery and publicly describing himself as a Nazi. Ye took out a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” attributing his conduct, in part, to his bipolar disorder diagnosis and an undiagnosed brain injury.
On Antisemitism:
I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.
On Swastikas:
I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it. One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments — many of which I still cannot recall — that led to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body-experience.
On the Black Community:
To the black community — which held me down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times. The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am. I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.
ONE MORE SHOT
People dig out yesterday in Albany, N.Y., after a winter storm slammed the Northeast this weekend.
SPILL IT!
This week, musician Amy Grant will join us to discuss her new single “The 6th Of January (Yasgur’s Farm).”
Have a question? Ask here, and we may feature your question on the show.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."