00:00Good evening from New York. I'm Chris Hayes. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been very busy this week
00:06getting in front of microphones trying to save her job.
00:09Yesterday she was in Southern California to trumpet the department's good work as its funding is about to lapse.
00:15But the event was drowned out by a throng of protesters outside blasting whistles and bullhorn sirens.
00:26Good afternoon, everybody. I think you're asking about detention facilities.
00:31Are you talking about our funding bill? I heard you ask about Operation Metro Surge and CBP and ICE. And
00:37what was the 287G?
00:42A little hard to make it out, but that did not stop her. Today, Noem held a press conference in
00:46Phoenix claiming the DHS is now an election police force.
00:52Although the Constitution gives states the primary responsibility for running their elections, Congress also gives authorities and duties to the
01:00federal government.
01:00Now, as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, those authorities lie within my department and the responsibility lies
01:07with me.
01:09Somehow, the Constitutional Republic managed to stand for more than 200 years without a Department of Homeland Security to oversee
01:15elections.
01:16I've got to say, right now, Kristi Noem is, and believe me, it's crowded, frontrunner for the worst, most incompetent,
01:21and inhumane cabinet member of my lifetime.
01:24She's trying harder than ever to project strength because she's unpopular, and this is important, even within the Trump administration.
01:31The latest evidence of that comes from one of the most devastating pieces of political reporting I can remember.
01:37A new investigation into the bizarre behavior of Noem and her unofficial number two, Trump confidant and accused sexual harasser,
01:45Corey Lewandowski.
01:46According to this incredible piece in the Wall Street Journal, who spoke with multiple administration officials,
01:52Noem and Lewandowski are causing chaos in DHS, berating senior staff, giving polygraph tests to employees they do not trust,
01:59demanding expensive perks, like, extremely expensive perks, and in one case, firing a U.S. Coast Guard pilot
02:07after Noem's blanket was left behind on a plane, according to people familiar with the incident.
02:12The piece also deals with Lewandowski and Noem's close relationship, noting how, quote,
02:20after photos in the Daily Mail showed Lewandowski going back and forth between his apartment and Noem's across the street
02:25last year,
02:26the secretary moved into a government-owned waterfront house on a military base in Washington.
02:30The pair, who are both married to other people, have publicly denied the reports of an affair,
02:35but people said they do little to hide their relationship inside the department.
02:40A DHS spokeswoman said the department doesn't waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.
02:45The Journal noted also that Lewandowski and Noem have lately been using a luxury 737 Max jet with a private
02:54cabin in back
02:56for their travel around the country, according to people familiar with the matter.
03:01A $70 million plane that, in official documents, is earmarked for high-profile deportations, sources told the paper.
03:11At the same time, the story relates how even red states like Florida and Georgia have been waiting on funding
03:16from DHS
03:17for emergencies they've had, because Noem and Lewandowski have reportedly taken a lead role in reviewing contracts.
03:24At one point, I think all contracts over $100,000 had to cross her desk,
03:27and several officials inside the department said contracts and grants are being awarded in an opaque and arbitrary manner.
03:34And it appeared Noem was keeping tabs on how much TV time she got.
03:38The Journal says she routinely berated staff if she saw border czar Tom Homan on TV
03:43and kept track of both of their appearances to make sure she was on TV more than him,
03:48according to people familiar with the matter.
03:51The DHS spokeswoman, who would only speak on background, said that was false.
03:56And then there was the blanket incident, in which Noem had to switch planes after a maintenance issue was discovered,
04:02but her blanket wasn't moved to the second plane, according to people familiar with the incident.
04:07Their journal writes,
04:08The Coast Guard pilot was initially fired and told to take a commercial flight home when they reached their destination.
04:15They eventually reinstated the pilot because no one else was available to fly them home.
04:21Imagine how quiet that flight home was.
04:24Then, in an incident last year that rankled some senior staff of the agency,
04:29Lewandowski, who is not a regular government employee at all, he's not a law enforcement officer,
04:34made it known to top ICE officials that he wanted to be issued a law enforcement badge
04:40and a federally issued gun, according to people familiar with his push.
04:44MSNOW has independently confirmed that story.
04:47A top ICE lawyer declined to sign off on giving Lewandowski a gun,
04:51and days later he was placed on administrative leave.
04:54He was later demoted and moved to FEMA, the people said.
04:57Lewandowski never got that gun.
04:59But, the journal says, he has been spotted by DHS staff,
05:03sporting a badge, emblazoned with the words Homeland Security.
05:08These are not the acts of ordered minds.
05:11And it is all happening as DHS is on the verge of an agency funding shutdown, tonight.
05:17Because there is a very real debate over whether to further fund a massive and growing police force
05:22of armed, masked agents that have been marauding American cities and streets,
05:26disappearing people, killing people on camera, and then lying about it.
05:31They are also planning a nationwide expansion of detention camps,
05:34as we are getting more evidence day by day by day of absolutely inhumane conditions
05:40at the camps ICE already has.
05:42The latest evidence comes from Seamus Culleton, an Irish national who has a legal work permit
05:48and is married to an American, but who has been held in an El Paso detention center for five months.
05:54He called into an Irish radio show to describe the conditions there.
06:00The best way I could describe it is probably like a modern-day concentration camp.
06:04I've been locked in the same room now for four and a half months.
06:08I've had barely any outside time, no fresh air, no sunshine.
06:13I'm in fear for my life down here, honestly, because, you know,
06:16people have been killed by the staff here, by the security staff, you know.
06:20And you just don't know what's going to happen on a day-to-day basis.
06:24A modern-day concentration camp.
06:26That's the characterization of an individual who's been in that camp for five months,
06:31barely able to go outside.
06:32So think about that.
06:34The department that runs that facility, the one that killed two Americans in front of all our eyes
06:39and then proceeded to slander them, gleefully.
06:42The one that just shot a space laser at a bunch of Mylar Valentine's balloons
06:46and endangered civilian aircraft and claimed it shot down a cartel drone.
06:51The one that's run by a self-absorbed politician and her special friend with a special badge.
06:56That is the department that wants continued funding from Congress.
07:00Now, let's be clear.
07:03Democrats don't have a majority in either house.
07:04They do not have a ton of leverage here.
07:07They may not be able to sustain the cessation of this funding,
07:11a shutdown of the agency, for very long.
07:14They've got to keep, you know, almost all their members.
07:18They can't allow for eight defections.
07:20And even in a shutdown, DHS is sitting on this enormous amount of money from Trump's terrible big bill.
07:28But here's one idea.
07:29I'm just going to throw it out there.
07:30It is possible for Democrats to say, along with the demands they have for changes to the behavior of DHS
07:36officials,
07:37that there's not another cent for a DHS run by Kristi Noem.
07:42Absolutely not.
07:43She's already unpopular in this administration.
07:45You can sort of see that in the reporting.
07:47Would removing her and Corey Lewandowski magically solve all the problems?
07:51No, absolutely not at all.
07:52No way.
07:53Would it be a victory politically and morally to actually force one of the worst Trump 2.0 cabinet members
07:59to resign in disgrace?
08:01Absolutely yes.
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