The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: “‘You can’t walk in with guns.”’

This is the Jan. 28, 2026 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.

Americans are demanding action. Vague assurances regarding ICE reforms are not enough. 

Officials in Minnesota say they have spoken with White House border czar Tom Homan about reducing federal immigration forces on the ground as quickly as possible, as well as holding impartial investigations into the officers involved in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. 

When Trump suggests that Good’s killing is worse because her parents are Trump fans, you get the sense that the White House has yet to read the memo. 

The crisis in Minneapolis is breaking through into the world of sports. 

Globally, people are looking at our country and asking, what the hell is going on?  Does the rule of law still exist in America?

If you want people’s trust, you have to admit when you’re wrong, and you have to hold those who have committed those wrongs accountable.  

Words and attitudes are shifting slightly, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Trust is eroding, poll numbers are dropping, and public safety is at risk. 

It’s past time for the White House act. 

What, exactly, has the administration done regarding the ICE agents involved? Are federal forces still operating in Minnesota at full capacity? What are the numbers, and is the Department of Homeland Security drawing them down? 

And what about the agents involved in the death of Alex Pretti — two of them, apparently, who fired shots into his body? Are they still in the field, or have they been placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure after any officer-involved shooting?

That process exists for a reason. Administrative leave allows for an impartial investigation and protects everyone involved — the public, the victims’ families, and the officers themselves.

Vice President JD Vance said Good’s killer was traumatized after being struck by a car six months ago. If that is true, then why was he out in the field? Where are the safeguards meant to ensure that armed officers are fit for duty?

What the public has seen instead are disturbing videos of agents slipping on ice, drawing weapons, and showing little discipline with their firearms. That alone raises serious questions about training, oversight, and command responsibility.

Are the Feds still holding all the evidence and all the cards? 

And what about members of the Trump administration who rushed to label Pretti a would-be assassin, who said he intended to do maximum damage to ICE agents, who called him a domestic terrorist?

The people who should be worried are the ones who may have been wrong — who rushed to judgment and defamed someone before the facts were known. 

If you want the public’s trust — on the economy or anything else — you have to earn it.

And I just wonder: If Republicans see this as a big problem — given the videos and the fact that two U.S. citizens were killed during ICE operations meant to target undocumented immigrants — could this be the moment when public trust is finally broken?

“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns. You just can’t.”

 — President Donald Trump yesterday, flip-flopping on his Second Amendment position

U.S. POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS

ON THIS DATE

Today marks 40 years since Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven people on board — including New Hampshire high school teacher Christa McAuliffe.

President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation that evening with the comforting words of speechwriter Peggy Noonan:

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’”

A CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS HAYES

Chris Hayes — host of MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes” — joined a ride-along this week with members of an ICE watch in Minneapolis, observing firsthand how federal agents operate on the ground. Hayes spoke with “Morning Joe” live from Minneapolis about what he witnessed, how communities are organizing, and why this moment reflects the struggle over power and attention at the center of his New York Times bestseller “The Sirens’ Call.”

MB: Chris, what are you seeing and hearing from the people you’ve been interviewing on the ground?

CH: What’s struck me most is the overwhelming sense of unity. People genuinely feel under siege. It’s hard to convey how omnipresent these agents have been — everyone is either directly affected or one person removed. 

People describe agents at their kids’ schools, at their regular supermarkets, everywhere they go. That siege mentality has produced a steely sense of solidarity, mixed with deep grief and rage after two people were shot and killed by agents of their own government.

MB: What else stands out to you?

CH: The other striking thing is the civic infrastructure that people here have built almost overnight. Tens of thousands — maybe around 100,000 people — have gone through “upstander” trainings. Volunteers are doing everything from doctors providing medical care to neighbors locking arms around schools.  

If you read Taylor Branch’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the civil rights era, especially “Parting the Waters,” he details how the Montgomery bus boycott wasn’t just Rosa Parks and then a clean victory. It was more than a year of hard logistical work — who’s driving whom, who’s coordinating rides, all the granular details that keep a movement going. 

That’s what you’re seeing here: a voluntary, ad hoc but highly organized civic network, born of a desperate desire to protect their neighbors.

WG: The president keeps calling these “paid agitators” and “organized outsiders.” But these are clearly local residents. Where is that resilience coming from?

CH: People feel attacked, and shared vulnerability creates unity. The “paid agitators” line is almost absurd. A right-wing influencer circulated a photo of hand warmers and snacks as evidence of something sinister — but every kids’ travel soccer game has hand warmers and snacks.

This is everyday community infrastructure repurposed. Parent and PTA networks that once coordinated snacks are now coordinating grocery deliveries to families too afraid to leave home after seeing people grabbed off the street.

And the threat is real. At the peak, officials estimated that roughly 15% of all ICE agents in the country were deployed to a metro area of just a few million people.

Mike Barnicle: You’ve written about shrinking attention spans in America. But this feels different. Do you think it lasts?

CH: I do. Trump ordered this surge in part to send a political message. But once you flood the streets with agents grabbing people at gas stations and demanding papers from people walking home from school, that becomes the story.

Then, within two weeks, those same forces shot and killed two American citizens who were peaceful observers. That’s what seizes public attention — because what else could?

JL: We’ve all seen the red whistles. What do they represent to you?

CH: Literally, the whistle acts like a siren — it compels attention and alerts others that agents are on the block. But it’s also metaphorical: ordinary citizens blowing the whistle and saying, “This is not OK. Pay attention.”

Dragging neighbors from cars and leaving them in the street because they don’t have papers is a basic injustice — and that’s something most Americans, across ideological lines, instinctively reject.

JL: Turning to your book “The Sirens’ Call,” how does what you’re seeing fit into the argument you make there?

CH: One of Trump’s core insights is that attention is attention, even if it’s negative. As long as people are focused on him, he wins. What’s happening in Minnesota now shows the limits of that strategy.

They treated these raids as content. Jonathan Ross was filming on his phone, gun in the other hand, when he shot and killed Renee Good. They assumed the spectacle would command attention; instead, it horrified people.

JL: When that attention-grabbing approach fails, what happens next?

CH: Now they’re facing an old-fashioned public opinion backlash, and you can see they’re off-balance because their usual attention-maximizing playbook is failing. 

The challenge is sustaining this civic infrastructure once the national spotlight moves on. 

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity and length.

EXTRA HOT TEA

GOLD RUSH

Has the stock market struck gold?

The per-ounce price of gold surpassed $5,000 for the first time earlier this week, continuing a steady climb since 2024. Other precious metals are also soaring: The price of silver soared to a record high of almost $110 an ounce on Monday and is still trading up.

Analysts and reporting have chalked up the gold rush — in motion since the persistent inflationary environment of 2024 — to several reasons, including the U.S.’ trade wars, the prospect of another government shutdown, and tensions in Ukraine, Venezuela and the Middle East.

“There is comfort in holding an asset perceived as secure in a world where the global order may be shifting,” Chris Weston, the head of research at Pepperstone, a financial services company, wrote in a note reported by The New York Times.

ONE MORE SHOT

A building occupant uses his phone to record US rock climber Alex Honnold climbing the Taipei 101 building without ropes or safety gear in Taipei on January 25, 2026.

NIGHT CAP

For all you night owls: Joe will appear on tonight’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — don’t miss it!

SPILL IT!

Next week, actor Ian McKellen will join us to discuss his new play, “The Ark.” Have a question? Ask here, and we may feature your question on the show.

CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE