What Kash Patel's FBI Means For Minneapolis, Trump Investigations, and More

Journalists have spoken to forty-five current and former FBI employees. Many say that leadership is  undermining the agency and making America less safe. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast and Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School, and Rachel Poser, features editor at The New York Times Magazine, discuss their reporting on the The Federal Bureau of Investigation under the directorship of Kash Patel.  

As tensions continue in Minneapolis between federal agents and locals, what does the law say about how ICE or CBP are allowed to act?On Today's Show:Michelle Hackman, Wall Street Journal reporter covering U.S. immigration policy, talks about the legality of the tactics ICE agents are using in Minneapolis and elsewhere, including entering people's homes without warrants, and the ways they are dealing with bystanders in the wake of the two recent fatal shootings in Minnesota.

ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti during a protest in Minneapolis, and the Trump administration is pushing a version of events that clashes with video evidence. On Today's Show:Reid Forgrave, state and regional reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune, reports on the latest and the community response.

A judge recently ruled that the Staten Island and Brooklyn congressional district now held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R) should be redrawn.On Today's Show:Brigid Bergin, WNYC's senior political correspondent, discusses what that would mean for local representation and, potentially, control of congress. 

As Trump and other world leader meet in Davos, international relations and global geopolitics are at the forefront of our political conversations.On Today's Show:Robert Kagan, contributing writer to The Atlantic, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and the author, most recently, of Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart—Again (Penguin Random House, 2024), offers his take on how President Trump is trying to rearrange the world order to look more like the 19th century and the dangers that lie ahead if continues to succeed.

As world leaders in Davos meet to discuss the future of international relations, many were relieved to hear that President Trump's recent rhetoric about Greenland would remain rhetorical. On Today's Show:Amy Davidson Sorkin, staff writer at The New Yorker, looks back at the first year of President Trump's second term, and where we are now.

As world leaders prepare to meet in Davos for an economic conference, many are mulling how to respond to President Trump's suggestion that the US claim Greenland. On Today's Show:Matt Steinglass, Europe editor at The Economist, explains the recent news in President Donald Trump's remarks on acquiring Greenland, including that the U.S. will impose tariffs on eight European countries until the U.S. acquires the country, and Europe's response. 

Amid military actions against Venezuela, and a new European trade war over Greenland, Trump's global ambitions could change the political calculus for Congress members running in this year's midterms.On Today's Show:Eleanor Mueller, congress reporter at Semafor, talks about the national political news of the day and the growing rift between President Trump and congressional Republicans.

Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast, Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (Random House, 2019) , recaps this week's news from the DOJ – including the investigation into Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, the resignation of six prosecutors over the Renee Good shooting, and the recent raid of a Washington Post journalist's home – and offers analysis about what it might say about the state of judicial independence. 

Questions about ICE recruitment, vetting and training are being raised, especially after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.On Today's Show:Laura Jedeed, freelance journalist focused on American conservative and far-right movements and author of the Substack Firewalled Media dot com, talks about her reporting on the shoddy screenings hopeful applicants to become ICE agents receive, which became clear when she was offered a position after applying at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hiring expo -- despite her public profile as a journalist critical of ICE and the Trump administration.