Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Abolish ICE vs. the Insurrection Act ‼️

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

Born Lucky in Chicago ✈️: I want to see you this Saturday at Kenilworth Union Church.

✏️The GREAT Ben Bradley of WGN-TV will interview me and then I'll be signing copies of "Born Lucky" from 2 to 3 p.m.
- 📚Click HERE to RSVP.

Special!‼️ You can listen to "Born Lucky" on Audible

🎧I narrated the audiobook.
💸Audible members get a discounted price until the end of January.
📗Click HERE.

Wow😱: We can now add Governor Gavin Newsom to the list of Democrats who can't answer simple questions about basic anatomy because it's a pitfall for them.

📺In an interview with Ben Shapiro, Newsom was asked: "The fundamental question … is the question that you're not wanting to answer, which is whether boys can become girls?"
- 🎤Newsom's answer: "Yeah … I think … I'm for the grace of God … Yeah."
Look back🔙: Democrats chose a DOCTOR with similar difficulties as an expert witness during a recent congressional hearing.
🤦🏼Are they afraid members of the LGBTQ+ community will be so upset with their answer that they are going to go vote for Trump?
- Thought bubble💭: We learned in the 2024 election it's a losing issue — but Democrats keep doubling down on it. It will become their Achilles' heel.
Watch tonight📺: Kurt Bardella and Laurie Watkins join us.

A Rioters Veto ‼️

Situation🚨: The administration backing down in Minneapolis gives a veto to a tiny sliver of the population rioting that's decided it's their mission to fight ICE.

👀We aren't seeing a mass groundswell of millions of people taking to the streets in a civil rights movement.
It's changing because of a small number of people fighting with ICE and the media who is largely sympathetic to their viewpoint.
- Look back🔙: A year ago, most Americans wanted all illegal immigrants deported.
  - 🤷🏼‍♂️What they don't like is seeing how it's done.
  - ‼️The small number of people willing to fight ICE and get pepper-sprayed are completely changing the conversation.
    - 📊They are changing the polling, not because people love illegal aliens but because they are seeing how deportations happen.

Video📱: The small number of anti-ICE protesters have found a way to win the optics argument.

🚙Much has been made on the Right (and the Left) of this 2016 CNN ride-along with the Department of Homeland Security.
- 🤷🏼‍♂️The Right asks why wasn't CNN outraged by ICE then?
- 🗣️The Left says ICE acted differently — didn't wear masks, etc.
🤷🏼‍♂️The reason ICE didn't wear masks during the Obama administration was because they weren't getting doxed.
‼️People weren't showing up with whistles, spray-painting their cars and protesting through the night at their hotels.
- Which came first👀: Wearing masks or the fighting?
  - 🤷🏼‍♂️I think the fighting came first.

🚨As we go into the weekend, ICE protests are only going to ramp up — but if the Trump administration wants a way out, what is it?

📉Americans' views are turning against ICE.
- 🎤CNN's Harry Enten: "Fifty-one percent of Americans say that ICE enforcement is, in cities, is making those cities less safe … compared to just 31% who say that in fact, ICE enforcement is making U.S. cities more safe. … So, what we see here is Trump and ICE losing this argument over ICE going into cities, making them more safe."
🗣️And big conservatives are also expressing concerns — especially as we get closer to the midterms.
- 🎤 Megyn Kelly: "We're starting to get political data in on it, and it's not great. Not great."
- 🎤Joe Rogan: "People are now looking at them like murderous military people that are on the streets of our city. And they're masked up, which is also a problem."
- 🎤Tim Dillon: "These are not well-trained law enforcement people in ICE right now. We're taking people that did backyard wrestling. The people that are in ICE right now, I mean, this is your cousin who, like, was in backyard wrestling, like, this is tough. This is not the cream of the crop…This is people, on their third-grade report card, the teacher wrote that 'has violent tendencies.' It just is what it is."
👀Even today, Trump walked back on his threats of using the Insurrection Act in Minnesota.
- 🎤Trump: "The Insurrection Act, which has been used by 48% of presidents. The elder Bush, I think he used it 28 times. … If I needed it, I'd use it, I don't think there's any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I'd use it. It's very powerful."
  - And he's right — there is no reason to use the act right now.

Watch tonight📺: Chad Wolf and NewsNation's Chris Cillizza on what Trump's best options are with ICE.

Plus➕: NewsNation's Ali Bradley on the ground in Minneapolis.

Bipartisan Buffoonery 🤪

🤪 Tonight's buffoonery from the Left and the Right.

🐘The winner on the Right tonight is reality star Farrah Abraham in her interview with TMZ about her running for mayor in Austin — but it looks like she announced these plans a bit too early.
- 🎤TMZ: The election is not until 2028. Why so early?
- 🎤Abraham: Ohhh, for some reason, the mayor's election is 2026. That's what the office told me as well.
- 🎤TMZ: We should get some clarity here … so Farrah, we just got this in our ear, the election is in 2028, so I think you may have jumped the gun here.
- 🎤Abraham: I loved that I jumped the gun.
🫏And on the Left: Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas
- 🎤Crockett: "Y'all never let the fact that I am black go! So, I'm gon' be clear 'bout one thing, I know my good black history! And so when I look and when I say it loud and proud because the DHS secretary had some words for me but this looks like modern-day SLAVE PATROLS!"

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