Today on The Weekend, MSNBC co-hosts Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany spoke with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on the immigration raid on a Chicago apartment building and President Trump’s suggestion that cities should be training grounds for the military. “[Trump is] a double-minded man,” Johnson said. “He is unstable in every way possible, unhinged and unhealthy. The idea of describing the American people as enemies from within is clearly not just a sign of authoritarianism. He has totally imbibed the full spirit of tyranny.”

EUGENE DANIELS, MSNBC HOST:  As the government marches on in this shutdown, two furloughed workers are here to tell us how they’re navigating the uncertain future and what they think both sides should do next. But we begin this hour with the alarming scenes coming out of Chicago and the surrounding area where the Trump administration has escalated its immigration crackdown. Officers were seen in riot gear, gas masks, and armored cars as protesters gathered yesterday outside a detention center. At times, there were confrontations with federal agents leading to a number of arrests. Those same agents have been seen in tactical gear, roaming the streets openly carrying guns in a show of intimidation. And then there was this early morning raid of an apartment building earlier this week that involved around 300 federal agents, including those rappelling down from a Black Hawk helicopter. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, quote, “Armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down their doors overnight, pulling men, women, and children from their apartments, some of them naked, residents and witnesses said.” Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in this five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours. Agents claimed that the neighborhood was, quote, “a location known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members and their associates.” But DHS, of course, gave no evidence to support that assertion, and authorities did not confirm that any of the people arrested were members of the Venezuelan gang. Joining us now is Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Mayor Johnson, thank you so much for coming. I want to start with the raid, because for so long, the American people have felt safe in their homes from a lot of the things that are going around in the streets, whether it’s these immigration raids or the Marines in LA or whatever. But this is coming to the front doorsteps of people in your community, in your city, who are American citizens, who no evidence has been shown that they are a part of Tren de Aragua or even any of the other folks that were in that building a part of that. Talk a little bit about what it is like for the people in that apartment building to feel so under siege. BRANDON JOHNSON, MAYOR OF CHICAGO:  Well, the tensions are certainly high in the city of Chicago. What the president is doing is absolutely dangerous and unconstitutional, but our position is clear. We’re going to remain resolved and firm in our position to protect the rights of all of our residents. What you are describing is something that we have been warning about for some time, that there are a number of people, including the president of the United States of America, that have decided to declare war on poor people and on working people across the country. And this raid that you are describing was on the south side of Chicago, where black folks live. And it is evident that this is not about safety. It’s not about deportation. This is about the president of the United States of America and his kind that are looking to stoke and foment chaos and fear within our streets of cities across America. But we’re going to remain firm and we’re going to fight back against this tyranny. JONATHAN CAPEHART, MSNBC HOST:  Mayor Johnson, Secretary Kristi Noem, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was in your city yesterday and she spoke to federal agents before they were unleashed on protesters. Listen to what she had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:  So today, when we leave here, we’re going to go hard. We’re going to hammer these guys that are advocating for violence against the American people. What they are doing is advocating to harm not just you and your colleagues, but your families. And they’re doxing your identities and victimizing people every day by the way that they’re talking, speaking, who they’re affiliated with, who they’re bonded with, and what they’re talking about as far as consequences for what we’re doing by protecting this country. (END VIDEO CLIP) CAPEHART:  So two-part question, Mayor Johnson. One is what she alleged, is that what protesters were doing? And two, and more importantly, has the secretary or anyone from the Trump administration reached out to you directly, personally, asking you, or at least telling you that they’re coming to town and wanting to meet with you and discuss any of this with you? JOHNSON:  Well, first of all, she has no idea what she’s talking about. You know, the Trump administration, they are completely delusional right now. And what they are promulgating in this particular moment are not just unconstitutional measures, but they’re dangerous and reckless, and it’s antithetical to who we are as a nation. You know, what I’ve done in the city of Chicago, I’ve signed two sweeping executive orders, one to make sure that the residents of this city know their rights and that there’s real clear engagement with our law enforcement, not wearing any masks, being identifiable, and being also very clear about protecting the rights of all of our residents. The second thing is we made sure that we’re protecting the right to protest. This is something that’s fundamental to our democracy. The peacefully assembling of individuals to petition their government, to do right by the people of this nation, is something that is fundamental, and it’s part of the bedrock of our nation. When it comes to black, brown, white, Asian, working class people, this president has not only been a disappointment, but again, he has worked hard to relitigate the Civil War, and we’re not going to stand for it. But she has no idea what she’s talking about, and there are protests that are happening all over the country that are demanding justice in this moment. CAPEHART:  Have you heard from anyone? Have you heard from the secretary? JOHNSON:  No, no. CAPEHART:  Have you heard from the president? JOHNSON:  No. CAPEHART:  Has anyone talked to you directly? JOHNSON:  No, they — CAPEHART:  No one at all, okay. JOHNSON:  They don’t communicate with us. In fact, I’m in regular conversations with mayors across this country, and whether it’s, you know, Karen Bass in Los Angeles, you know, whether it’s, you know, Andre Dickens in Atlanta, as you know, that our resources are being threatened in our respective cities because we’re actually investing in people. This president is not interested in communicating with those of us who are on the ground every single day, and we know what it takes to govern our cities, and we’re doing all the good work, right? Our investments have led to some of the greatest declines in violence across this city and across this country. This president is — CAPEHART:  We have those stats. Let’s put them up on the screen. JOHNSON:  Yes, so 30 percent reduction in homicides, 35 percent reduction in shootings and shooting victims. Violent crime is down as a whole over 20 percent. You know, in fact, we had the fewest amount of homicides in the summer since 1965, one of the safest summers we’ve had in over a generation. This is not about deportation. This is not about community safety. This is — quite frankly, this is about for profit. You know, we know that there is an investigation right now that’s underway with Tom Homan, who took $ 50,000, $ 50,000 from two FBI agents, because Tom Homan made a promise to direct contracts to the very people who are running these detention centers, who actually gave over almost $ 3 million to President Trump’s campaign. The president of the United States of America has declared war on poor people. And if there was ever a time for working people to stand up across this world, the time is now. JACKIE ALEMANY, MSNBC HOST:  Mayor, I want to ask you about comments from another high-level official in the administration. This was President Trump, who spoke to a gathering of the nation’s top military commanders earlier this week. If we can give a listen, I want to ask you about his comments on the other side. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  It seems that the ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within. It’s really a very important mission. And I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, national guard, but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon. (END OF VIDEO CLIP) ALEMANY:  How are you going to ensure that Chicago is not used as a training ground for the U.S. military? And what was your reaction to Trump’s speech when you heard it this week? JOHNSON:  A double-minded man. He is unstable in every way possible, unhinged and unhealthy. The idea of describing the American people as enemies from within is clearly not just a sign of authoritarianism. He has totally imbibed the full spirit of tyranny. And our cities are not training ground for the military. In fact, even the notion to suggest that the brave women and men who sign up to serve this country, to fight terrorism around the globe, to protect our way of existence, turning neighbors on their own neighbors, is not only unconstitutional, it is reprehensible. And so, what I’m going to do is what I’ve been doing. I’m going to use every single tool that is available to me to protect working people in this city, to ensure that our fundamental rights are protected, to make sure that people know their rights, and then to ensure that we’re actually investing in people so that they can live healthy and vibrant lives. That’s what the people of Chicago ask of me every single day. No one has ever asked me to go to the White House and to express a desire for the military to occupy cities. No one has ever raised that. And so, what they have asked for — ALEMANY:  Have you asked the White House — JOHNSON:  — is to make sure that this president is not cutting food and medicine and housing. ALEMANY:  Have you asked the White House for a meeting, Mayor? JOHNSON:  What? I’m sorry, what’s that? ALEMANY:  Oh, have you approached the White House for a meeting? JOHNSON:  Here’s what we’ve made very clear to the White House. Invest in violence prevention. They took over $ 800 million away from violence prevention programs. They cut the ATF budget by 30 percent. Just a few months ago, working with my local police department, we took over 170 high-powered weapons off the streets of Chicago. Well, this administration cut over 1,400 of those ATF positions. We said, make sure that we are funding our education system. Look, if you look at everything that this president is cutting, he is literally cutting resources and services from everything that descendants of slaves fought for — education, housing, transportation, health care, good-paying jobs. This president has declared war on poor people, and it’s going to be working people that are going to lead the charge to transform this country and to push back against tyranny. This is the time now. And I’m calling every single resident, not just in the city of Chicago, to express their voices in very emphatic terms. We have been under siege by this administration, and it’s going to be the power of the people, the power of working people across this country, to lead a transformation in this moment, to make sure that we’re protecting our democracy and protecting our humanity. CAPEHART:  Mr. Mayor, you mentioned the resources being pulled back. The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, who everyone here knows, there’s a tweet from Friday, $ 2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, specifically the Red Line extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project, have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting. More info to come soon from USDOT, that’s the Department of Transportation. Are you — and you talked about fighting, and you guys being on the frontlines. Are you guys suing the federal government for doing this? What is the — what is your recourse here? JOHNSON:  We’re definitely going to use every single tool that’s available to us. CAPEHART:  Is that a lawsuit? JOHNSON:  That includes the courts, absolutely. Look, we have been fighting for investments in our transportation system, particularly our Red Line, that hits the South Side of Chicago for over 50 years. Well, under my administration, we finally delivered, working with our congressional delegation and we have a strong Illinois congressional delegation that secured the $ 2 billion to extend the Red Line to the South Side of Chicago, so that the residents of the South Side of Chicago can access our economy. And for this president and his administration to withhold those dollars, while at the same time they’re spending billions of dollars to undermine farmers in our country, billions of dollars to nations that are starving children right now. And so, the world that is in upheaval right now, this president is exacerbating it. And the fact of the matter is that he is more interested in funding wars than the West and South Sides of Chicago or urban centers across this country. And so, yes, I’m going to use every tool that’s available to me to make sure that the South Side of Chicago, we will not be ignored, and that cities across America, we’re going to stand up and fight to make sure that working people and our values are upheld. CAPEHART:  Mayor Johnson, real quickly, because we are way out of time, but I want to ask you — show you this poll from The New York Times/Siena. Do you think Donald Trump’s actions sending National Guard troops into big cities have gone too far? Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said yes. Real fast, do you think President Trump even cares what the American people think? JOHNSON:  No, he does not. Masked men going into people’s homes in the middle of the night, pointing long guns in the faces of black and brown and working people and poor people is unconstitutional, reprehensible, and in the city of Chicago, we’re going to fight back. CAPEHART:  Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, as always, thank you very much for coming to The Weekend. JOHNSON:  Thank you.

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