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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Top DEM On Homeland Security CMTE. Reacts To DHS Funding Fight; Former CHair Of Jan. 6 Committee Reacts To Trump's New "Fraud" Probe; Vulnerable MS Residents Still Facing Power Outages After Storm. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired January 31, 2026 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:35]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First of all, it's not just Minneapolis. The backlash to President Trump's immigration crackdown is spreading across the country in a big way this weekend. Right now, the government is shut down again. It's a partial shutdown and not expected to last too long.

The fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the future of ICE is at the center of it. And all of this is piling pressure on a Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem. The president says he stands by her, but Democrats want her to resign or they'll try to impeach her.

Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi is with us. He's a top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, good to have you this morning. First, let me ask you about what passed out of the Senate. Will you vote for this new package that was passed by the Senate Friday?

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D) RANKING MEMBER, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: No, I won't. It's not really anything other than pushing the can down the road. I think there will be significant opposition on the Democratic side to it. What people have seen in real time in cities in America is not who we are as Americans. So at some point we're going to have to stop. And I think this just might be that time.

BLACKWELL: And so let me ask you about that. What the speaker is trying to do is fast track this by suspension of the rules. He knows that he'll likely lose. Some Republicans will have to rely on some Democratic votes.

He won't get yours. He won't get many of the Progressive Caucus votes. So do you believe that despite your own protestations here, that this will pass quickly early next week?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, I think members are going to have to vote their conscience. And so this will be a ideal time for America to see who wants change or who just want business as usual. Victor, I think what people have seen in real time, not just in Minneapolis, but Portland, all over the country, is just not who we are.

Kristi Noem has been a horrible manager of the Department of Homeland Security. We've been asking for her firing or resignation since April of last year. But it continues to give the drum beat that clearly she's not competent. But also there are some very strange acquisitions and procurements that we've been calling attention to. But because of this administration, they just look over it. So it's time for Democrats, as they say in the south, to fish or cut bait. And this is our moment to take a position.

America is looking, they're watching, and they're asking for action. And not just something that's politics as usual.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about an accusation the president made yesterday. The president said that the people on the left are, in his words, going after Kristi Noem in part because she's a woman. You care to respond to that?

THOMPSON: Look, anything the president says now I'm suspect of if all he can talk about is Kriste Noem just being a woman. She's in the job, he appointed her. And if you look at the report card, she has an F. She's a failure.

So if you look objectively at what's happening in the operation of the department, it is absolutely just not there. And, you know, for a president that tweets all night. There got to be something wrong. Why don't you talk to members of Congress? But if you're getting on your own app, there's something fundamentally wrong with a person who will tweet rather than talk to members of Congress.

I think that's how we solve our problems. You can't solve problems with a tweet. So I encourage the president to put his device down and talk to members of Congress face to face and not on Twitter.

[08:05:04]

BLACKWELL: So there's. The first chapter that has to happen is the passage of what was passed out of the Senate or at least the consideration of it funding the five agencies and then DHS for two weeks. Then there's the negotiation over the funding for DHS. Democrats, they want an end to what they call these roving patrols. We heard from Senator Schumer for agents to identify themselves, to carry id, to get rid of the masks, to wear body cameras, but also to use judicial warrants instead of administrative ones for some of these immigration arrests.

I want everyone to listen Tom Homan when he arrived in Minneapolis and then the president in the span of maybe 12 hours. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: This is common sense cooperation that allows to draw down on the number of people we have here. Yes, I said it. Draw down. Matter of fact, I have staff from CBP and from ICE working on a drawdown plan. My main focus now is drawdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be pulling back immigration enforcement agents out of Minnesota?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Keep our country safe. We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So not pulling back?

TRUMP: No, no. Not at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In the morning, there's a drawdown. In the evening, there's no pullback. Does that influence what should go on that list of demands from Democrats considering there's the inconsistency in the administration?

THOMPSON: Ye, well, you know, this policy is like whiplash. One minute is here, next minute is that. That's not how you run a country. That's not how you run an administration. There are five times more ICE agents in Minneapolis than there are local law enforcement. That's just not sustainable.

But more importantly, Victor, you're not even talking to state and locals when you come. That kind of mutual cooperation is fundamental in law enforcement. And they have just thrown the primer for how you get things done out of the window.

I implore this administration follow the law. We shouldn't have to negotiate what's already in law. Everyone that I come in contact with, they just know that a search warrant is fundamental except ICE. And somehow ICE has to get back on basics in law enforcement. We shouldn't have to, as members of Congress, negotiate basics.

The basics are fundamental. Every other law enforcement agency follows the law except ICE. And what we are saying is that's not really negotiating anything. You should follow the law regardless. We shouldn't have to come and say, well, we're not going to do this with this package unless you follow the law.

That's not the kind of negotiation that members of Congress should be involved in. If that's our point, we're in real trouble.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask --

THOMPSON: And that's why a lot of Democrats going to vote against this package, because we're negotiating what's already in law.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let me ask you about a different topic here. You chaired the January 6th committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, and everyone heard the president ask Georgia officials to fine those 11,780 votes. The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was in Fulton County this week as the FBI executed that search warrant collecting hundreds of boxes of ballots. I want you to listen here to the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, explaining her presence in Fulton County.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Election integrity is extraordinarily important to this administration, always has been and always will be. She doesn't work for the Department of Justice or the FBI. She's an extraordinarily important part of this administration. This administration coordinates everything we do as a group. The fact that she was present in Atlanta that day, you know, is something that shouldn't surprise anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What's your reaction? Do you have concerns about a presence in Fulton County this week?

THOMPSON: Oh, absolutely. But I also have, you know, there's also a fundamental thing in this country that any excuse is better than no excuse. So what you just heard in that excuse was any excuse. It had no correlation between Tulsa Gabbard's position in this administration and why she was in Georgia. But again, this administration is set on rewriting history, the January 6th scenario.

[08:10:08]

They want you to believe that what happened on January 6th and what you saw with your own eye didn't happen. That it was antifa and Black Lives Matter dressed up as Trump supporters. Give me a break. This administration is stuck on trying to rewrite history to even though the public can see it play out every day in real time with their very own eyes.

And so we're just stuck in dealing with this. Tulsa Gabbard needs to find something to do that's tied to her job, which has nothing to do with election security on Mississippi.

BLACKWELL: On Mississippi, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves now says that 16 people in your state have died related to last weekend's storm. That's extreme cold warning for this weekend. And more than 70,000 Mississippians are still without power according to poweroutages.US. That's more than any other state.

Tens of thousands of them are in your district as the storm hit. We highlighted a study that showed that when comparing affluent communities and poor communities, given the same kind of impact from weather events, poor communities experienced power outages that average 170 minutes longer. So what do you know about restoring the power to the tens of thousands of people in Mississippi a week later and the equity of that restoration so that the poor communities don't have to wait so much longer than those who are more affluent?

THOMPSON: Well, Victor, you're absolutely correct. Look, the infrastructure and poor communities is not the same as in affluent communities. Many affluent communities have underground utilities. So when the trees fall, there are no wires to fall on. The resource base for those communities also are far away from where people live. So we have crews here now from all over the Southeast trying to put it back together. I've been all over the district. We have rural water systems that

don't have backup generators. Normally you have backup generators when the power goes out. So we're trying to move generators to those rural water systems. But we have hundreds of rural water systems in this state. So that's a monumental job.

We have MREs that we're trying to get to communities to make sure that while they are in this disaster, they can still be fed. So we are partnering with Red Cross. But to be honest with you, I'm just making sure that the resources are dispersed equitably in my district and it's a full time, all hands-on deck effort.

We're trying to get there. But those realities you identified in terms of under resourced communities, they're accurate and that's why we pull all partners together. I was on conference calls last night until around midnight, trying to go through the steps with local communities on what they have to do.

Many of them don't have warming stations. We have churches who have stepped up. We have volunteer groups. But it's still a major endeavor. People are cooperating, but they do need help.

And FEMA, even though they are supposed to be here, as you know, a majority of the response team for FEMA had already received the notice that they were being fired.

BLACKWELL: And the administration had to call back.

THOMPSON: They had to call all those people.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Right before the storm came in. Congressman Bennie Thompson --

THOMPSON: That's right.

BLACKWELL: I thank you for your time and for the interview this morning. And we'll be watching, hoping that power is restored to those folks across your district.

Still ahead, the Trump administration said they were targeting the worst of the worst criminal immigrants for deportation. So why is a developmentally disabled man who cannot care for himself facing deportation? His attorney and the governor trying to intervene on his behalf are here.

Plus, for the first time since their arrest, we're hearing from journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort with a saying about the charges against them. Next.

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[08:19:16]

BLACKWELL: This morning. I'm thinking about Victor Acurio Suarez. He's 52 years old. He's developmentally disabled. Victor is described as childlike and unable to live on his own. Victor

needs his brother to take care of him, but his brother cannot. Victor was detained by ICE back in September.

ICE was not targeting him. His family says Victor was in a home improvement store parking lot. He wanted to find a job, so he flagged down someone he thought could help. It was an ICE officer.

The family fears that if he's sent back to Ecuador, Victor could be hurt or killed by gangs there. And despite that fear and his disability, a federal judge last week ordered him back to Ecuador.

Congresswoman Sarah McBride represents Delaware, and this week she called for ICE to release Victor and for him to be granted asylum. In a rare move, the governor of the state is personally advocating for his release. The governor wrote a letter to the court directly.

[08:20:14]

Delaware Governor Matt Meyer is with us now, along with Victor Acurio Suarez's attorney, Kaley Miller-Schaeffer. Thank you both for being with me.

Kaley, let me start with you. Your client, as I read, has autism, aphasia, a disability. It makes it difficult for him to understand speech. He's in ICE detention. What does he understand about what is happening to him?

KALEY MILLER-SCHAEFFER, ATTORNEY FOR VICTOR ACURIO SUAREZ: That's correct, Victor. My client, Victor, does suffer from those developmental disabilities. He has difficulty communicating and understanding the nature to -- or the degree rather to which he understands is unclear. I will say that we did hold a competency hearing and the judge did afford him competency protections because it was abundantly clear, even to the court, that his level of understanding was very minimal.

He, in fact, didn't even know who I was, or rather that I was playing the role, that I was the role of his attorney and what that meant. So I don't -- it's clear that he doesn't understand what is happening. He's not sure where he is or why he's there.

BLACKWELL: Governor, you took the rare step of personally writing a letter to the immigration judge. What about this case compelled you to do that?

GOV. MATT MEYER, (D) DELAWARE: Well, there are two things, Victor, and thank you for having us on this morning. The first thing is that government shouldn't be cruel. It does no public safety purpose to send federal agents or any government officers out to parking lots to find development, nearly disabled people and scrutinize their record and see if they belong in this country or not. That just serves no public safety interest. That's the first thing.

The second thing is what -- what I know is that our Attorney General's office and public safety agencies throughout our state for generations have had federal resources to help support things, support enforcement of child trafficking laws, terrorism laws, important things, crime that crosses states, that keeps us safe. All those resources are being pulled away.

According to our attorney general's office, something like 90 percent of those resources from Homeland Security federally, are being pulled away to focus on cases like Victors, to focus on Minneapolis. And it's really bad for some critical public safety incidents here that we have those federal resources back.

So, yes, we're calling for the immediate release of Victor, but also just leave us alone in Delaware. We're a state of neighbors. We get along here. Both Democrats and one of the top Republican elected Officials in our state, Senator Eric Buckson, are calling for Victor to be released.

BLACKWELL: Kaley, back to you here. Is there family who can take care of him if he goes back to Ecuador? Because I know his brother is taking care of him here. And then there's also the real fear of danger. Talk to me about that.

MILLER-SCHAEFFER: Absolutely. So that is our primary concern. Victor does not have family in Ecuador that could care for him. He is here. His brother's been his full-time caregiver since they were teenagers and is here in the United States pursuing his own process.

Victor's mom is also a U.S. Citizen who has petitioned for him. His family is here in the United States. So if he is sent back to Ecuador, that's our main concern, is that he does not have adequate care and he's unable to live independently. And as far as the violence, that's absolutely correct. He fled gang violence after being physically assaulted himself and had his house set on fire. So he doesn't even have a home to return to.

So the family is extremely concerned about what his well-being would be like if he was returned to Ecuador.

BLACKWELL: Governor, the president said this week that the immigration crackdown, he's been saying the whole time is focused on the worst of the worst. And we've done reporting on the truth about who's being targeted for some of this deportation.

You wrote in your letter to the judge that this is not who we are as a country, but chances are that Victor could be deported back to Ecuador. What's the larger commentary if this man, who is described as childlike, is sent back without a caregiver, without a care plan by this country?

MEYER: It's tragic, Victor. My great grandfather came to this country with my grandfather, who was a baby at the time. They didn't speak English. There was a lot of hostility towards them when they came, but they were fleeing danger in Eastern Europe.

[08:25:09]

There was a plaque when they came on the Statue of Liberty that said, give me your tired, you're poor, you're huddled masses. Written by Emma Lazarus. That's -- we can look at the law and I think the law in this case, as Kaley knows is very clear that Victor has a well-founded fear of persecution and should not be sent home. There are treaty obligations in a refugee convention of 1948 that we are not legally allowed to send him back home.

But even more important than that, this is about our values. This is about who we want to be as a country. And it's about a president who I think quite frankly misled and lied to people a year and a half ago when he was running for office when he said he was going to get people off the street who were eating your dogs and doing dangerous things, right? We remember that.

That's not what's actually happening. So as a governor, I'm calling on Homeland Security. Please just leave us alone. We're a state of neighbors. We can handle things on our own and return those resources to help us keep our kids safe with child trafficking, help keep us safe from terrorism.

BLACKWELL: Delaware Governor Matt Meyer and attorney Kaley Miller- Schaeffer, thank you both for being with me. Now we did reach out to DHS for more info on Victor's case and they have not sent over a statement.

In the national conversation about ICE and its officers, there's a family of a man shot and killed by an off-duty agent. Says his name deserves to be included too. Keith Porter's mother and their family's attorney. They're here next.

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[08:31:17]

BLACKWELL: The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis are putting new scrutiny on the people working as immigration enforcement agents and the family of Keith Porter Jr. They want to be part of that national conversation.

He was killed in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, shot by an off duty ICE agent. And the family says Keith was firing his gun into the air to celebrate the new year. So to be clear, this case is not connected to immigration enforcement. But there are parallels in terms of the initial narrative from the Department of Homeland Security being very different from what the Porter family is saying.

In a statement to CNN, DHS says the off duty officer, quote, bravely responded to an active shooter situation at his apartment complex. They add, in order to protect his life and that of others, he was forced to defensively use his weapon and exchange gunfire with the shooter. Fortunately, our brave officer was not injured while protecting his community.

DHS says the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating. We've reached out to LAPD and have not heard back.

Now, the lack of answers on where this probe stands is frustrating the Porter family. Keith Porter's mother, Franciola Armstrong, is with us, along with the family's attorney, Jamal Tooson. Thank you for being with me. Attorney Tooson, let me start with you.

Nearly a month after the killing of Keith Porter Jr. You were scheduled to have your first meeting with the LAPD, your first conversation with the California AG about this. Did those happen and what did you learn?

JAMAL TOOSON, PORTER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Yes, yesterday evening were able to sit down with the Los Angeles Police Department and to be truthfully honest, it was met with a lack of answers, certainly we had direct and pointed questions about where the investigation stood, as well as why the individual responsible for shooting and killing Keith's name was not initially released.

It was only released based off of the investigation that myself and the family conducted. And when we found the disturbing details about his background, those questions were raised to LAPD as well.

BLACKWELL: Let me read for you what this ICE agent's attorney said to us. It's my understanding that the deceased was shooting in the air, a felony in California, in a highly populated area well before the midnight hour in front of apartment complexes. When asked to drop his weapon, the firearm was turned on my client and was discharged in his direction, hitting the wall of another person's apartment, leaving bullet holes in the wall. He is not only acted in self-defense, but also protecting the residential neighborhood in Northridge.

What's your response to the attorney for this ICE agent's description of that night?

TOOSON: The description is not accurate. It's self-serving. We have a ICE officer who unilaterally made the decision to arm himself, hunt Keith down, never identified himself as an ICE agent, and shot and killed him.

And what's interesting about that, Victor, under the law of self- defense in California, you cannot be the initial aggressor and then claim self-defense. There was not a single person within that apartment complex that we have spoken to or heard about who indicate they went to this ICE officer and asked for help because they were in fear of their safety.

The ICE officer made the unilateral decision to arm himself, grab a gun, hunt him down while not being in uniform, and then engage in a dispute which ultimately led to the death of Keith.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it is interesting that their purview is federal law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[08:35:00]

And to go out even if you hear shots fired. It's not within his legal purview to investigate a shooting because he has a job of a very specific element and he was off duty at the time.

Franciola first, I don't like to talk about people just in the context of their death. Talk to me about your son as he lived.

FRANCEOLA ARMSTRONG, MOTHER OF KEITH PORTER JR.: My son was an amazing human being. He loved openly with his heart. When he walked into a room, he commanded the room. Everyone loved my child. He was a jokester. He brought joy and laughter to everyone. He was the type of person that if you needed help for anything, he was always willing to give a helping hand with his home default family. He wore a bow tie. My son was amazing. Everyone looked for him.

He woke up every morning just to call me to say, mom, I love you. Have a wonderful day. He did that for me and his daughters. My son, charismatic, charming. He would never harm or hurt anyone. He's a son, a father loved by all his family and friends. No one has ever had anything bad to say about my child because he was a giving person. And I want justice for my son.

BLACKWELL: And what does justice look like for you?

ARMSTRONG: Accountability. Transparency. I want that for my son. No mother should have to feel this pain. No mother should have to bury their child. I need justice for my son. I need transparency. And I need the man who murdered my child arrested.

BLACKWELL: Franciola Armstrong and attorney Jamal Tooson, I thank you so much for spending some time with me and sharing the story of Keith Porter Jr.

Arresting journalists, it's not normal. The White House posting a meme about arresting a journalist. It's not normal. And yet it's happening, including to a journalist we just spoke with last week on this show. Hear from both just released from custody, next.

And remember, First of All is also available as a podcast. Just scan the QR code below for more information or you follow and listen wherever you get your podcast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:54]

BLACKWELL: This morning, independent journalist Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are out of federal custody. Both were arrested for filming anti ICE protest at a church in Minnesota. And now they're both vowing to fight their charges and keep reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless of other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them and I will not be silent. I look forward to my day in court.

GEORGIA FORT, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: I should be protected under the First Amendment, just like all of the journalists who I've been advocating for, too. I've been advocating for mainstream media journalists who have been brutalized for months. Do we have a Constitution? That is the pressing question that should

be on the front of everyone's minds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And now Georgia Fort filmed the moment agents showed up at her door saying they had a warrant for her arrest. And I just talked to her last week on this show. And at this point a week ago, a judge had rejected the DOJ's first attempt to charge Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Have you heard from federal authorities?

FORT: No, I have not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, before Georgia Fort was released, there was this emotional moment when her daughter spoke in defense of her mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is wrong. This goes against her First Amendment right as a journalist, and it's being challenged today. She is not a protester. She is not an activist. She is a mom working to provide for her children through the only way she knows how, documenting and sharing stories of the community and truth of what's happening here every day in our state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Press freedom groups are alarmed by the arrest. Seth Stern from the Freedom of the Press Foundation said in part, these arrests, under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting, are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them.

And Seth Stern is with us now. He's the chief of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Seth, good morning to you. And I want to start this conversation with two different viewpoints. First, specifically on this case, before we get into journalists more broadly, your thoughts on the arrests and the charges in the indictment for specifically Lemon and Fort and what they did at the city's church in St. Paul.

SETH STERN, CHIEF OF ADVOCY, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: Well, the charges are absolutely frivolous. Journalists don't get to choose where the news happens. Journalists follow the news and document the news.

Lemon and Fort did not decide where this protest would take place. They did not conspire with protesters. They did not obstruct or interfere with anyone's access to a religious observance. They simply documented the news. Two federal judges recognized the baselessness of the charges.

[08:45:00]

And the Trump administration, I'm sure, knows the baselessness of the charges. Just like the lawsuits that Donald Trump files frivolously against news outlets, he's demanded $65 billion in damages from news outlets. The point is not to win. He doesn't think he's actually going to get those $65 billion. The point is to intimidate and chill lawful news gathering, to make journalists think twice and have to guess what the next bogus theory he's going to come up with to harass them might be.

The only rule they can come up with, the only way they can avoid his ire, is to report the news he wants to report. And that's the objective here.

BLACKWELL: You mentioned the two judges who rejected charges that were brought by the DOJ. Let me read from one chief judge in the district court. The government lumps all eight protesters together and says things that are true of some, but not all of them. Two of the five protesters were not protesters at all. Instead, they were journalist and his producer. There is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.

The White House posted after the arrests this meme with Don Lemon and the phrase, when life gives you lemons and then a chain emoji next to it. What's your reaction to this coming? And this is the official White House social media account.

STERN: Well, it's childish and it shows how unserious this administration is about the First Amendment and so much else. But I prefer not to get distracted by memes that the White House posts on social media. Journalists are being arrested for doing their jobs. A couple of weeks ago, we saw Hannah Natenson, the Washington Post reporter rated for doing her job, having all of her communications equipment, all of her computers seized so that she can't follow those stories.

We're seeing immigrant journalists who are still, despite what happened to Mr. Lemon and Ms. Fort, the most at risk when covering ICE's invasion of our cities. We're seeing them arrested, harassed in the case of Mario Guevara, deported. We're seeing the Federal Communications Commission come up with frivolous theory after frivolous theory to come after broadcast journalists and FCC licensees.

So when you look at the totality of the pick here, what the Trump administration posts on social media is not necessarily my top focus. It is, though, telling of what we all know, that these aren't serious people. These aren't people who think about the First Amendment, who even attempt to measure the repercussions of the actions they take. In fact they enjoy -- they want these repercussions. They don't like the First Amendment. They want the press to be censored and to keep quiet.

BLACKWELL: Seth Stern with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, thank you for being with me this morning. Coming up, Art is Life, the community band that's using music to

protest and show solidarity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:22]

BLACKWELL: Hey, if you watch videos of protests in Minneapolis, you'll notice that along with the chants and the signs, there's often music. One of the groups leading that soundtrack is Brass Solidarity. I spoke to one of the band's co-founders and leaders, along with their vocalist for Art is Life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUTCHY AUSTIN, CO-FOUNDER, BRASS SOLIDARITIY: My name is Butchy Austin. I'm from South Minneapolis. I am one of the co-founders and co-leaders and trumpet player of Brass Solidarity.

ALSA BRUNO, VOCALIST, BRASS SOLIDARITY: My name is Alsa Bruno. I'm a vocalist of Brass Solidarity and I'm in the Twin Cities.

AUSTIN: A lot of people were just trying to process their pain, their frustrations after George Floyd was murdered. And they found that avenue through music. And we found each other on verdict day. There's maybe like seven or eight of us that got together at Potterhorn Park that Friday just to talk about music and how we can use it in this movement.

And we collectively decided to keep on meeting. And we just started meeting Mondays and the group grew to a couple hundred people over the course of five years. And it's been just outstanding.

BRUNO: There's a sonic occupation happening and every sound is important as something we say, right? Bring your gifts to the square. There's of course a diversity of races, of body types, of ability, of heights, of sizes, of singing. Musical experience is filled with so many non-brass folks like me. And we got violin players, flautists.

So Brass Solidarity's mission has always been black liberation. Right like that. That's why we convene. That's why we make the music, we make the sounds we make. That's why we sound how we sound. That's why we're using songs from the civil rights movement.

Just because we hear from black liberation does not mean we ignore when a white mother is murdered, doesn't mean we ignore when a nurse who is protecting our people, who cares about black people, that doesn't mean that they're not worth our sound.

We know that for black liberation to be a reality, we have to ensure that all of us are free. That like every chain gets broken so that it doesn't come all the way back around and catch us on the other side.

[08:55:03]

AUSTIN: When the call is made, we answer and we'll show up for community. We're not a gig band, so people oftentimes ask us what our rate is and we're like, we play for justice. So that's how we show up. That's what Brass Solidarity has provided is community, and we provide it every week. And we do it with joy, and we do it with love, and we do it with this posture of justice and liberation for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Brass Solidarity's meetups are on Monday nights at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. Check them out on social media at Brass Solidarity for more.

And remember, if you see something or someone I should see, tell me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X and Bluesky. You can listen to our show as a podcast. Also tune in for an all new episode of Have I Got News for You? Comedian Nimesh Patel and political commentator Tara Setmayer join as guests. Watch tonight at 9 on CNN and anytime tomorrow on the CNN app.

Thank you for joining me today. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up after a break.

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