CNN Situation Room co-host Pamela Brown asked for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to respond to President Trump calling for his arrest, but did not ask him at all about why the Chicago police were directed to not assist border patrol and ICE agents. The lapse in journalistic responsibility came during a Wednesday morning interview with Johnson.

Brown opened the interview by asking the mayor to react to President Trump’s Truth Social post:

BROWN: But first, President Trump this morning called for you, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, to be jailed for, quote, “failing to protect ICE officers!” What is your response?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, first of all, this President is unstable, unhinged, a double-minded individual that, quite frankly, is a threat to our democracy. And it's certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has called for the arresting of a black man unjustly. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay firm as the mayor of this amazing city, which was voted nine years in a row the best big city in America. And we're going to defend all of Chicago.

Of course Johnson wasn’t going to put his hands behind his head willingly. Go figure.

Brown should have asked: a) Why did CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling lie about police being told to not help out ICE agents being mobbed?; and b) Why was patrol chief Jon Hein allowed to make that directive in the first place?

Those were the burning questions. They further illustrate why Chicago was a failing city, and not asking them demonstrates why CNN constantly failed at its job.

In the middle of a blathering rant, the mayor half-mindedly brought up the fact that a woman was shot by federal agents:

JOHNSON: What we have seen is a full escalation from these federal agents. And a man was shot and killed. Another person was shot by federal agents just this past weekend. They unleashed tear gas on my local police department. Over two dozen police officers were subject to this type of violent escalation. The people in Chicago are very clear about our fundamental right to protest. That is a fundamental right for our democracy, and that's what we're going to continue to protect.

BROWN: Right. Now, the woman that was shot, DHS has said they did that for defensive reasons. She was car-ramming. But there are certainly questions surrounding that still.

No, Pam. The incident was pretty cut-and-dry. The woman alleged to have performed vehicular assault, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon, and was neutralized accordingly.

The only question still surrounding that was why did a judge allow that violent mobster to walk free before trial?

The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:

CNN’s The Situation Room

October 8, 2025

11:37:22 a.m. EST

(…)

PAMELA BROWN: So, Mayor, we're going to get to the National Guard in just a minute. But first, President Trump this morning called for you, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, to be jailed for, quote, “failing to protect ICE officers!” What is your response?

MAY. BRANDON JOHNSON (D): Well, you know, first of all, this President is unstable, unhinged, a double-minded individual that, quite frankly, is a threat to our democracy. And it's certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has called for the arresting of a black man unjustly. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay firm as the mayor of this amazing city, which was voted nine years in a row the best big city in America. And we're going to defend all of Chicago.

BROWN: Yeah. And to be clear, he's also calling for the Governor, JB Pritzker, to be jailed as well. What are you hearing when it comes to the Texas National Guard troops? When they'll actually be deployed into the city? When — what they're actually going to be doing there?

JOHNSON: Well, there's been no communications with my administration and the federal government. What we do know is that this President is working outside the bounds of the Constitution, and that there are National Guard from the state of Texas that are being quote unquote, “trained” just outside of the city of Chicago. And keep in mind these individuals do not have policing powers. They do not have arresting powers.

So the judge right now in Illinois is looking at what exactly is the mission of the National Guard from the state of Texas. We know this is illegal, unconstitutional. That's already been proven in the courts in Oregon. And we fully expect the same ruling to take place here in the state of Illinois.

BROWN: And the White House says that they're doing what they're allowed to do under Title 10, the law. They say that these operations are designed to protect federal facilities and officers. And there have been some protesters around Chicago that have blocked access to the ICE facility in Broadview. Does that prove that this mobilization is needed?

JOHNSON: No. In fact, this President is working to — look, from the very beginning, we always knew that sending in the federal agents was a pretext to the National Guard. His ultimate goal is to send the military into American cities, which there aren't people who are signing up to serve and protect our democracy abroad, to be then unleashed on the cities that are actually raising them.

What we have seen is a full escalation from these federal agents. And a man was shot and killed. Another person was shot by federal agents just this past weekend. They unleashed tear gas on my local police department. Over two dozen police officers were subject to this type of violent escalation. The people in Chicago are very clear about our fundamental right to protest. That is a fundamental right for our democracy, and that's what we're going to continue to protect.

BROWN: Right. Now, the woman that was shot, DHS has said they did that for defensive reasons. She was car-ramming. But there are certainly questions surrounding that still.

But when it comes to what I had mentioned, for example, you know, protesters blocking access to federal buildings, what is your message to those protesters? I mean, do you support them blocking access?

JOHNSON: What I've always said is that we have to peacefully assemble, and we do that nonviolently. That is how we have transformed this country. The city of Chicago is known for its ability to stand up and to resist peacefully. So, of course, we're not condoning any acts of violence. But that also includes that the federal government cannot unleash tear gas and shoot pepper balls at journalists for just showing up to do their job and to cover the news.

This President has intentionally worked to escalate violence in the city of Chicago and cities across America. We're just simply defending our fundamental right to our democracy. This President has made it very clear he doesn't support this Constitution. And if Congress, which our framers designed for Congress and the Supreme Court and the courts to provide checks and balance, if Congress will not hold this President accountable, I will.

BROWN: And what are you going to do?

JOHNSON: Well, just this past week, I signed another executive order. We have three sweeping executive orders to make sure that the fundamental right to protest is intact. We're making sure that people know their rights. And all of our sister agencies and city departments are working in accordance with the local ordinance. And then now public property that the city owns, ICE cannot prepare its weapons on school parking lots, ICE cannot prepare to disappear families in the parking lots of libraries. That's not what these public accommodations are for.

We literally had a South Side neighborhood under siege with black helicopters, Black Hawk helicopters, where individuals who were sleeping peacefully in their communities had masked, armed men stick long guns in their faces.

This is not the type of America that my ancestors, our ancestors, fought hard to create. This is a fundamental attack on our democracy. It's not about immigration. It's not about safety. It's about authoritarianism. And we're going to push back and we're going to defend Chicago and all American cities against this tyrant.

BROWN: Okay. But let me just go to the issue, like, at the Chicago apartment building overnight last week. This is according to DHS, 37 undocumented immigrants were arrested in that operation. The building was targeted because it was known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua gang members. I mean, how do you respond to people who say these sorts of efforts are making the country safer?

JOHNSON: Look, I'm working hard every single day to build the safest, most affordable big city in America. Just this past summer, we had the fewest amount of homicides since 1965. Homicides are down. Shootings are down. Shooting victims are down. A lot of work to be done. But we are building a safe, affordable, big city in America.

But I don't know if there's anybody in America that believes that armed, masked men showing up with Black Hawk helicopters, sticking guns in the faces of black women, zip tying black children, putting immigrants in one van, putting black folks in another van – this is not what built safety.

What built safety is to make sure that we're doing what I've done, working with the ATF and my local law enforcement to get illegal weapons off the streets of Chicago, guns that are being trafficked from states that voted for Donald Trump. If he was serious about safety, he would not have defunded a program of $800 million that was geared towards violence prevention. He cut the ATF budget by 30 percent. He has defunded our education system. He has defunded our transportation system. He is firing black women across this country. He's defunding our health care system. This President is absolutely out of control.

And it's incumbent upon all of us — if there was ever a time for working people to unite in this country, now is that time. And the city of Chicago is going to stand firm in protecting humanity and protecting and defending our democracy.

BROWN: Alright, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, thank you for your time.

(…)