SmartNews

'Key detail': Expert flags 'significant development' in manhunt for Dem killer

There is a "key detail" to be considered in the Minnesota manhunt for the man who allegedly killed a Democratic lawmaker and her husband, and injured another lawmaker and his wife.

CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller, appeared on the network on Saturday to talk about the shooting of four Democratic-linked individuals in Minnesota. Donald Trump's own niece has tied the president to the unfortunately political assassinations.

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'Direct result': Trump family member ties president to political assassination

President Donald Trump is "directly" responsible for what Governor Tim Walz said is a politically motivated assassination, according to a member of the Trump family.

A man over the weekend allegedly posed as a police officer and fatally shot a Democratic state lawmaker in her home. According to the Associated Press, the same suspect also shot and wounded a second lawmaker, who could still live.

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'Does your wife love you?' Proud Boys viciously booed at anti-Trump protest

Members of the Proud Boys were viciously booed and shouted down at a "No Kings" anti-Trump protest, and video shows the encounter.

A recording appears to show members of the far-right group crashing a protest, with people yelling and booing at them.

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Leaked memo warned officials 'vulnerable' to attacks — 'months' before shootings

A leaked Department of Homeland Security memo reportedly shows officials were vulnerable to the same types of attacks that resulted in the death of a Democratic lawmaker Saturday.

A man over the weekend allegedly posed as a police officer and fatally shot a Democratic state lawmaker in her home. According to the Associated Press, the same suspect also shot and wounded a second lawmaker, who could still live.

The Daily Beast over the weekend reported:

"Just months ago, analysts at the Department of Homeland Security warned that high-profile officials were increasingly 'vulnerable to attack' at their own homes."

The report continues:

"A leaked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo warned months before Saturday’s shooting that public officials face growing threats of attacks at their personal residences."

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'Very nice': Trump gushes about Putin after his 'happy birthday' phone call

Donald Trump says Putin called him "to very nicely wish [him] a Happy Birthday."

Trump on Saturday took to his own social media site, Truth Social, to spill the details about a purported call with the Russian leader.

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57-year-old man identified by police as suspect in MN lawmaker shooting: AP

According to a report from the Associated Press, a 57-year-old white man has been singled out as the alleged shooter who gunned down two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses early Saturday morning.

Police were called to the home of state Sen. Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) at approximately 2AM, to find the lawmaker and his wife wounded from multiple gunshots. They were then transported to a local hospital.

Out of an abundance of caution, police were dispatched to the home of Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House Speaker, who along with her husband were found dead.

After an exchange of gunfire with the suspect, who was dressed as a police officer, he fled, leaving his car behind leading to a massive manhunt.

According to the AP report, the suspect has been identified as 57-year-old Vance Boelter according to investigation sources who "could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation."

(UPDATE) : According to KSTP, "Documents obtained by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS show Boelter, whose current address is listed in Green Isle, Minnesota, was twice appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Development Council in 2016 under former Gov. Mark Dayton and again in 2019 under Gov. Tim Walz. His most recent term expired in January 2023."

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'Surprised I’m the only one here': MAGA fans outnumbered at Mar-a-Lago protest

A "No Kings" march in front of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort resulted in a mass of protesters at odds with the president and just a handful of MAGA counter-protesters.


According to a report from the Washington Post, there was a huge turnout in West Palm Beach for the nationwide "No Kings" mobilization against the president, with over 2,000 marches planned across the country.

Despite weeks of notice, supporters of the president were no-shows outside the resort that Trump and his family call home.

Speaking with the Post's Lori Rocza, Gabriel Renfroe, 56, expressed dismay at the lack of pro-Trump counter-protesters.

“I’m kind of surprised I’m the only one here. I came because I love President Trump, and I want to show support,” he stated while admitting he drove over 80 miles to support the president.

He graciously added, "This all seems peaceful. They’re allowed to say what they want as long as it stays peaceful. That’s what America is about.”

As a side-note, Rocza reported, "Another Trump supporter asked a police officer whether he could engage with the protesters and was told he could yell at them if he wanted. When the man immediately began shouting expletives, the officer warned him not to try to incite an incident.The man moved on quietly."

You can read more here.

NE Minneapolis 'No Kings' protest canceled after 'targeted' shootings: CBS

A "No Kings" march scheduled for Saturday afternoon in northeast Minneapolis has been canceled after the shocking "targeted" shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses by a man impersonating a police officer, CBS News reported.

With a manhunt underway for the shooter who left a list of lawmakers behind after police confronted him in front of the home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband, both of whom were found dead, locals have been warned to shelter in place as city, state and federal law enforcement agents flood the area.

Noting that state Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife were also wounded at a separate location, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the shootings a "politically motivated assassination," and stated in a press conference, "We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint. In the state of Minnesota, and as recently as last week, in the most closely divided state legislature in the country, we sat down, shook hands and compromised, and we served the state of Minnesota together. It's possible in politically charged times to find compromise, democracy and civil discourse. I, Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence."

That led the organizers of the anti-Trump "No Kings" event in northeast Minneapolis protest to call off their march.

In a statement, they explained, "Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the communities impacted by this violence. Some events in other parts of the greater Minneapolis area are still moving forward at this time, and we are actively monitoring the situation."

You can read more from CBS here.

Minnesota lawmakers shot in their homes in 'politically motivated assassination'

(EDITOR'S NOTE) : This story will be updated as more details are released.

Two Minnesota lawmakers were ambushed in their homes overnight by an assailant dressed as a police officer.

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FL sheriff who threatened protesters will end up 'boneyard dead' buried on MSNBC

Calling a Florida sheriff's threats against "No Kings" rally participants "beyond chilling," MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart and authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat hammered the lawman on Saturday morning.

On Thursday, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey held a press conference and addressed the Saturday nationwide protests, "If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains because we will kill you, graveyard dead. We’re not going to play."

He later added, "If you try to mob rule a car in Brevard County, gathering around it, refusing to let the driver leave in our county, you’re most likely going to get run over and dragged across the street. If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, then jail. If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital, jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs we have here."

After sharing the clip, Ben-Ghiat shook her head in disbelief as Capehart asked, "Talk about how talk like that from an official like that feeds into your work looking at strongmen."

"Unfortunately, what happens is when you have a culture of kind of institutionalized lawlessness and where our the head of our government tried to overthrow the government and is calling protesters insurrectionists, but had incited a violent insurrection of his own, so when someone like that is in power, there's a kind of encouragement for all kinds of what they call a broad state security forces, including law enforcement and state militias and the military to feel empowered to be lawless themselves and speak like that," she explained.

"And so this kind of talk that any protests, and when protesters are criminalized and called insurrectionists, then all protesters are suspect. and you can speak the way that this individual was speaking,' she continued, "saying that we're going to shoot you graveyard dead, which is, again, a kind of trickling down of this idea that the strongman does not tolerate any force and, and sees any opposition as a personal affront that has to be met with maximum violence."

You can watch below or at the link.

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'Too many DUI hires': Jamie Raskin takes shot at Hegseth over hearing answers

Rep. Jamis Raskin (D-MD) got off a shot at Pete Hegseth's well-documented drinking problems when asked about the defense secretary's alarming answers at a House hearing on Thursday.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Raskin was shown a clip of the embattled Hegseth being asked by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) if he would "respect any Supreme Court decision" that stopped the deployment of Marines on the streets of the U.S.

The former Fox News personality ducked the question and instead claimed, "What I'm saying is local district judges shouldn't make foreign policy."

After watching the clip, Raskin was asked, "So, congressman, when you have the secretary of defense saying that, yes, Marines might defy court orders are we at a constitutional crisis?"

RELATED: 'That's a drinking problem': CNN's Tapper shoots down GOP lawmaker covering for Hegseth

"Well, we clearly have too many DUI hires in the [Donald] Trump administration starting with Secretary Hegseth," the Maryland Democrat immediately replied, which got a smile and an "Oooo," out of co-host Elise Jordan

"But look, the Constitution says that the Constitution and federal law are supreme," he continued. "We have a supreme Constitution, we don't have a supreme leader. We have no dictators here, we have no kings, we have no monarchs."

"This is civilian government. and there's a reason that Congress is in Article 1, and all legislative power is vested in the Congress, just like all judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court and in the inferior courts," he added. "So what's the job of the president? To take care that the laws are faithfully executed. So let the message go out through the Trump administration, your job is to faithfully execute the laws that have been adopted by the people in the House and the Senate and signed into law by the president."

You can watch below or at the link.

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'Oh my god!' MSNBC panel stunned by ICE treatment of US Marine's immigrant wife

Reacting to a report that Donald Trump's ICE agents arrested the wife of a U.S. Marine in Louisiana who recently gave birth, set off the panel on MSNBC's "The Weekend" on Saturday morning.

A furious and animated Elise Jordan exclaimed "Oh, my god!" as she noted the Marine father has been forced to bring the couple's 9-week-old baby to the jail where his wife is being held so the newborn can be breastfed instead of ICE releasing his wife.

According to a report from NOLA.com, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Paola Clouatre, of Baton Rouge, after a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services check-in last month that she attended with her husband in New Orleans, according to the family's attorney."

"There's a story on Military.com that we cannot get out of our heads that you've been reading all week. I'm so haunted by it. A woman who has been in America since age 14, she fled Mexico violence, applied for asylum," Jordan reported.

"Now 25 years old, she has a 9-week old baby, and now she's in a detention center," she continued. "She's married to a U.S. Marine, also has a 1-year old, a 1-year old mother. The Marine is taking their baby to the facility so she can breastfeed. Oh my god! What kind of country are we? Where is our humanity if we aren't willing to let a mother breastfeed her child in the safety of her own home and married to a U.S. Marine?"

"And then, on top of it, you know, she gets snatched up because she's following the rules that was set out by the American government," she exclaimed. "That's the thing of all the of all the horrors of what we've been seeing around the country, people who are told you have to you have to follow the process, follow the procedures, follow the steps, do the right thing and you'll be rewarded."

Watch below or at the link

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Only poll number 'under water' Trump cares about singled out by MSNBC host

MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart noted Donald Trump's plummeting poll numbers early Saturday morning and pointed out there is only one metric that could make him change the course he has put the country on.

On the day when Trump is using the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army to throw a parade aimed more at celebrating his birthday, Capehart pointed out the president is swiftly falling out of favor with voters.

From his spot on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Capehart explained to his co-hosts and guests, "You know, on immigration, the president is underwater. There's a new poll, this poll shows that Trump's approval rating is at 38% percent among registered voters, which is a three-point drop from April."

"And then there's another, this is from Politico, and on immigration, Trump's approval rating dropped five points from April to 43 percent," he continued. "Now, I put these poll numbers up there, and I bring this up because there's another thing that people need to keep in mind when looking at any polls that talk about President Trump's ratings, approval ratings overall or on any particular issue: the president couldn't care less about his overall approval rating. "

"What he cares about is where he stands among Republicans. And as long as his approval rating among Republicans is north of 50 percent, he is fine."

"Right," former Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson agreed before elaborating, "Because he's got the Republican majorities in Congress he can get his agenda through as long as Republicans broadly support him. As that wanes, if that wanes, you know, as Lincoln said, public opinion is everything really you need to have that sort of support."

You can watch below or at the link

- YouTube youtu.be