>> The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original
production. >> Wisconsinites braced
themselves for the dangerous Arctic chill,
while some also brace for the white House to send an
influx of Ice agents into the state.
[MUSIC] tonight on "Here& Now".
Community advocates prepare for immigration action in
Wisconsin. Then, following a disappointing football
season, the UW chancellor and athletic director
discuss their plan of action, and the candidates
for governor show their record of working across
the aisle. It's "Here& Now" for January 23rd.
[MUSIC] >> Funding for Here and Now
is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin. >> The surge of Ice and
customs and border control enforcement action across
the border in Minnesota has resulted in the arrest of
more than 3000 people, according to the agencies,
which say the operation there will continue. Will
that kind of escalated force come here? Advocates
for immigrants in Wisconsin believe Milwaukee will soon
be a target. That includes Daryl Morin, the national
president of Forward Latino. He joins us from the
Milwaukee area. Thanks very much for being here.
>> Thank you for having me here.
>> So you have said that it's your and others belief
that Ice will undertake a widespread operation in
Milwaukee. What information do you have that that's
going to happen? >> Well, yes. Over the last
couple of weeks, there's been a growing consensus at
all levels of government here in Wisconsin that
pending a dramatic change in priorities, there will
be a large scale enforcement action here in
the state of Wisconsin. We're seeing that they have
just under 3500 agents up there in Minneapolis. And
daily we see them coming into western Wisconsin
probing, detaining individuals, attempting to
detain others, etc. And I think it's the firm belief
of many that it's just a matter of time before they
come all the way down to southeastern Wisconsin.
>> And what would bring them to southeastern
Wisconsin? >> Well, we know there's a
huge population here in southeastern Wisconsin. Not
too many people know this. Wisconsin are Hispanics are
the largest minority population in the state of
Wisconsin. And there's obviously a tremendous
population down here in the southeastern part, as well
as in rural areas throughout the state, in
our farms and our dairies, etc. So everything we've
heard is that there there is sincere interest at the
highest levels to come to Wisconsin.
>> Do you think that the extent of what's unfolded
in Minneapolis would happen in Milwaukee?
>> Tragically, yes. As we've been working with our
partners and Los Angeles and New Orleans in
Charlotte, etc. we've seen these significant
enforcement actions take place. And most troubling,
most concerning about that is that individuals for no
probable cause are being detained are being
threatened, in some cases being even assaulted. So
it's a tremendous concern not just for our immigrant
population, but for Wisconsinites in general.
>> I know that Milwaukee police policy is that they
will not detain or arrest an individual solely for a
suspected violation of immigration law, and
President Trump has dubbed both Madison and Milwaukee
sanctuary cities, although that is not an official
kind of status. How does that factor into whether
the administration surges in Wisconsin?
>> Well, I think there's a lot of political
calculations that are going into that, quite honestly,
with regards to law enforcement's response, I
tell you, that's those are discussions we're having
every day. We only need to turn on the news to see
what is happening in other places. As I mentioned, to
U.S. citizens and immigrants alike, where
their rights are being violated and what we're
going to be asking law enforcement to do here is
to do their job. And if they see a resident of
Wisconsin being assaulted, being unlawfully detained,
we're going to ask them to intervene. They're here to
protect us. And sadly, we're seeing our federal
agents that are supposed to be doing the same, doing
the opposite. So we're concerned. I will also
share this, as I say, with business leaders around the
state, farmers, dairy farmers as well. There's a
growing consensus that as a purple state, any kind of
large scale operation here in Wisconsin would actually
cost more votes than when being a purple state. We're
hoping the administration takes that into account
before making the final decision to come here.
>> To your understanding, how prepared are Milwaukee
police and city leaders and others should Milwaukee
become a powder keg? >> Well, we've been working
with our partners around the state, both in the
private sector and our private sector and
government sectors. We've been very pleased that
everyone is taking prudent, prudent steps to make sure
that the residents and citizenry of Wisconsin will
be protected. So can't go too far into details on
that. But we're grateful for the partnerships we
have with many members of law enforcement and
government, as well as our private and nonprofit
partners. >> How has the immigration
enforcement changed the lives of people and
families and communities? Yvonne lawfully present
people? >> Well, there's tremendous
fear. Once again, it's one thing. If we were seeing
enforcement action truly going after the worst of
the worst. But that's not what's happening here.
We're seeing over 70% of people who are being
detained have no criminal record. We're seeing U.S.
citizens and those lawfully present detained, even U.S.
veterans that have served our nation with dignity and
honor. So there's tremendous fear here. We're
seeing people are going out less, they're spending less.
They're driving less. We're seeing absenteeism in
schools and in workplaces tick up. So it is having a
significant impact. And should things escalate
further, I think we could see a significant shift in
the productivity across the entire state if they were
to come here in force. >> You have urged
preparation for Ice enforcement. What does that
look like? >> Yeah. So as I share this
information today, I don't want to be causing panic.
Right. It's time for thoughtful preparation.
It's time for our governments and law
enforcement agencies to prepare. And it's time for
people who may be at risk to prepare to put things in
place. I'll share with you. Last time we saw a
significant increase in immigration enforcement, we
were getting calls from school districts asking
what we could do to assist them because their parents
weren't here anymore, to pick them up from school.
We're working with people in the health care field to
discuss how can we safely move people back and forth
who are going to be in need of dialysis and other
treatments, as well as how are we going to dispense
food once again to people who no longer feel safe
leaving their homes? So there's quite a bit of work
going into this right now at every level. Glad to be
able to do the work, but sad that it's needed
nonetheless. >> We leave it there. Daryl
Morin, thanks so much. >> Thank you.
>> In Milwaukee and across Wisconsin, K-12 schools
were closed Friday due to extreme cold warnings. And
in a rare move, UW-Madison and many other campuses
across the state also canceled classes due to the
cold. The National Weather Service issued the warnings
with wind chill lows ranging from 40 to nearly
50 below zero. In the far north. Cold weather
advisories remain in effect into Saturday. The all time
state record cold was back in 1996, when the weather
service posted a -55 degrees. Wind chills as low
as 40 below zero can cause frostbite on exposed skin
in ten minutes. It's recommended if you go
outside to dress in layers, including a face mask.
Warming shelters across the state are available and can
be found by calling 211. Season tickets for UW
football went on sale this week. The Badgers are
coming off consecutive losing seasons, and last
fall, fans at Camp Randall were chanting to fire head
coach Luke Fickell. The football program generates
$60 million in profits each year to fund the entire
athletic department, and a study last fall estimated a
loss in fan support from a losing team could lead to
more than $100 million of losses in state and local
revenue. Earlier this week, “Here& Now” senior
political reporter Zac Schultz sat down with UW
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and athletic director Chris
McIntosh to discuss the state of the football team
and the ever changing landscape of college
athletics. >> Chancellor Mnookin
Athletic Director McIntosh. Thanks for joining us, both
of you. Great to be here.
>> So, Chancellor, let's start with you. It's been a
few months since we heard the student section
chanting to fire the coach. What have you seen since
then that gives you faith that the decision to keep
the coach was the right one. >> Well.
>> For one thing, we saw two pretty great victories
after that moment against both Illinois and
Washington. But more generally, I think that
while last season's football performance wasn't
what any of us would wish for, and it's what we have
to do better than that, there's no question about
that. But I also think that what we've seen is that
this team can pull together the resources, the
discipline and the know how to help Badger football
perform at the level that all of us rightly expected
to. >> Athletic director
McIntosh. We've seen headlines about the new
recruits coming in through the transfer portal, but
what have you seen from inside the building that
gives you faith that this next team is going to
perform a lot better? >> Well, I mean, there's a
lot of excitement around the players that have
committed to play at Wisconsin. It's been fast
and furious. For those Badger fans that have been
following the news, it's it's been a flurry of
activity. You know, at this point in the season, I feel
satisfied that we had a plan and we were able to
execute it. And I think we did well in this
environment of college athletics and its
dependance on the portal. At the same time, while I'm
excited, you know, we haven't played a snap yet
and we're looking forward to getting those kids on
campus and getting getting to work. And and they'll
get to work right away. And so it's a, you know, the
beginning of a new season for us. There's optimism
and excitement. And like the Chancellor said,
there's high expectations. And we all understand that.
We embrace that. >> Chancellor. There's a
lot of things that you have to deal with. As the
chancellor of the University of Wisconsin,
national issues have never been hotter than before.
How do you view the athletic department? Is is
it something that would be a lot easier if it was
something that didn't draw that much of your attention?
>> I think, first of all, that we're really proud to
be a school that has an amazing athletic tradition,
and we're really committed to our athletic future.
We're really proud of the student athlete experience,
and we're proud of the way that athletics is a great
part of being a student at UW-Madison, whether or not
you're a student athlete. And also it's a front porch
to the university for the whole state of Wisconsin
and well beyond. It's an absolutely critical part of
who we are. It's not the only part of who we are.
Some fans might think otherwise on that, but we
do have teaching and research mission to. But
athletics is absolutely central to the identity of
what it means to be Wisconsin and what it means
to be a badger. >> We've saw Indiana win a
national title in football, a program that for years
was a doormat in the Big Ten. Does that change the
expectation for what we should expect out of
Wisconsin football? >> I don't think it changes
the expectation. I think it demonstrates what's
possible, which is which is much different today than
it was not a long time ago. You know, it's a I mean,
first of all, congratulations to Indiana
and kudos to everything they've accomplished.
>> And go. >> Big Ten.
>> Yeah, absolutely. But, you know, it wasn't long
ago in which the which optimism around the program
revolved around the high school kids that you were
recruiting and maybe just maybe four years from now,
we'll see the the fruits of that. And and that's just
not the world we're living in now. And so, you know,
their turnaround in a two year span, while
unprecedented, creates optimism for us and
excitement. And you know, they have their strategy.
And it's obviously worked. We're executing ours. And
we're optimistic and excited about ours.
>> For decades, the standard at Wisconsin was
to compete for Big Ten titles and hopefully in the
right scenario, win a national title. Is that
still the standard? >> Yes.
>> Is that still the standard.
>> So in that sense, you you gave the athletic
director a contract extension last year and
he's the one calling the shots here. What is your
confidence level in him, and will he be making the
ultimate decisions on who runs the football program
here? >> Yes, I mean, Mac is, I
think, a first rate athletic director. We've
we've all we've had some bumps. This is a wild ride
in college athletics right now. Moore has changed over
the last couple of years than really in decades.
It's still very much in flux. So, you know, it's
not altogether surprising that there will be and can
be bumps in the road. What we need is somebody
passionate, committed and strategic who also will be
accountable for the program's success. And I
have every faith that Mac is going to execute on that
successfully. >> There are fans out there
that say, well, one of the reasons that you kept Coach
Fickell is because you were the one that hired him and
you. It would look awkward if you admitting a mistake
to let him go. Is there any basis in that?
>> No, I mean, I, I understand and and I
appreciate the frustration of our fans sharing it, but
I think, you know, my job was to try to determine
what it will take to move us forward and to be
successful. And when we looked every aspect of our
program, certainly with the leadership in our football
program, Coach Fickell, and we weighed that against
what we need to be successful in the future.
We realized that we have a great coach here. We need
to do more to invest in the program. Like the
Chancellor said, my goal is to position this program to
be successful in the long run, and there's no room
for pride in that. >> It's part of the
landscape that's changed is nil, and the media money
and the things that have changed drastically
everywhere is Wisconsin. Were they behind in terms
of adapting to that new landscape? Were they
playing by a different set of rules than other
universities? May have taken advantage of how nil
was supposed to be used? >> Well, I can say this.
You know, we welcomed the House settlement last July,
and that was an opportunity for us to share revenues
directly with student athletes, a way for us to
maybe influence our own destiny in ways that we
hadn't been able to before, in the time since House,
since that settlement was finalized and took effect,
the world has been has gone through even more change.
And so we continue to adapt and we continue to iterate.
I think we have along the way. But there's no doubt,
like we announced last fall, there was a need to invest
more in football. And that's what we did. And and
that's what we've been executing. And I think, you
know, the progress we've shown and the success we've
had in the portal, just this last week is the first
step of many that show the progress we're making.
>> The one thing I would add to that is we welcome
the house settlement. We welcome the chance to be
able to support athletes directly. And I think we
would be we would both welcome. And I think,
frankly, many schools would welcome a system that did
have clearer guardrails and greater clarity about what
was and wasn't permitted. We are operating all of us
in something of a wild West right now. That's not the
structural environment that I think is really ideal for
the future success of college athletics. That's
not a Wisconsin issue. That's not a Big Ten issue.
That's not even an NCAA issue. That's now a
national dynamic. But I would love to see greater
clarity and rules emerge that would ensure that we
were all playing by the same rulebook about what
was and wasn't allowed. >> The Big Ten has been
negotiating a deal with private equity brokers for
a 10% stake in media rights. It's been rumored to be up
to $2.4 billion. Do you support that deal.
>> At this point, there's no deal under active
consideration, as has been publicly reported. We were
in conversations with actually a pension fund,
not not exactly private equity, about a minority
stake in a new enterprise. I think that the question
of how we can work together as a conference to ask, are
there revenue and growth opportunities where we can
come together to add collective value? I think
that's a really important conversation for us to
continue to have. >> As you travel and speak
with alumni, do they bring up sports to you? Is that
one of the. Sure. >> Of course they do.
>> And do they bring up the successes? I mean,
Wisconsin football is that part of like one of some of
the first and earliest conversations?
>> I've had lots of conversations about
Wisconsin football. I've had lots of conversations
about other aspects of Wisconsin athletics. It's
definitely something that alums talk to me about and
sometimes make their feelings known in, in
strong terms. And there's also a lot of people who
believe in this institution and what we're trying to do
athletically and more generally. That's one of
the incredible, really positive things about the
Wisconsin culture and environment. Wherever you
travel, there are badgers everywhere, and there's
usually badgers with, with, with, with opinions and
strong feelings and ideas. But whether those whether
they're happy with what you're doing or whether
they're unhappy, that comes from a place of caring
about the institution and its future and believing in
it. And that's that's special sauce. That's
something really wonderful. >> And bringing this full
circle back to the football team and looking ahead to
next year. There are people we talked about what is the
standard, but there are some people that I've
talked to that said, well, it's got to be bowl or bust
in terms of the success for the coach next year, is
that a sentiment that's fair for fans to have that
a winning record and a bowl season should be the
minimum. for our coaches and our
athletic director, and I understand that our fan
base does as well. >> Is bowl or bust. Is that
a fair sentiment? >> I don't think our
expectations have changed, and I think our intent is
to compete at the highest level. I think, like I said,
we've put a plan in place that we feel optimistic
will will allow us to do that.
>> Right now. Usually the coaches from the fall get
an extension on their contract, and it's usually
announced somewhere in February or March. Will
there be a one year extension on Coach
Fickell's contract? >> I think that's a
conversation that we should take up in February.
>> All right. Jagler Mnookin JD McIntosh. Thanks
for your time. >> Thanks so much for
having us. >> And go Badgers.
>> We're continuing our look at some of the biggest
issues in the race for governor. As a reminder,
you can see the interviews for nine different
candidates on our web page, PBS Wisconsin. Org. And
then click on the news tab. Here's Zac Schultz asking
the leading candidates for governor to show us their
track record of bipartisanship and working
across the aisle. >> With a Democratic
governor and a Republican legislature. The last eight
years in Wisconsin politics have been defined by
gridlock and a lack of trust in the Capitol. And
whether a Democrat or Republican wins the race
for governor this fall, there's a good chance the
other party will control at least one chamber of the
legislature, meaning the next governor will need to
know how to work across the aisle to pass a budget. We
asked nine of the leading candidates for governor
about their track record of bipartisanship.
>> I'm incredibly proud to have passed the Asian
American education legislation that was
Republican led, where we had stakeholders from all
across the state, a coalition that was
multi-generational and multi ethnic, where
Republicans and I came together to make sure we
delivered for working class families and what they were
demanding. history, again, over 20
years of working with some of the most conservative
Republicans to get things done, whether it's criminal
justice reform, whether it's helping to pass the
first pro-choice legislation in a generation,
working with in a Republican anti-choice
assembly and getting that passed into law, or just
earlier this year, where I helped expand access to
rural health care options by allowing nurse
practitioners to practice. And for a long time, I was
the only Democrat on that bill. And Governor Evers
vetoed that bill several times. We finally got it
done. So I have a long history of being able to
work well with folks from across the political
spectrum. >> So I've done bills when
I was in the legislature and as well as in Congress,
working on a bipartisan basis. And we're going to
try to do the same thing. The thing that I won't get
away from is my principles, though. And number one is
we got to make sure that we have balanced budgets. We
cannot spend too much money. The second thing is we got
to do a better job with our educational system public,
private, parochial, homeschool, whatever every
kid in Wisconsin should expect to get a good
education regardless of their zip code.
>> Yeah, I mean, even out of office, I've been
working with a bipartisan group on democracy reform
because there are a lot of folks, sometimes both sides
of the aisle who, you know, may make comments, may say
certain things, or, you know, we've seen these
issues, obviously, January 6th, but other instances
where people call into question the integrity of
elections and campaigns. And, you know, with a
bipartisan group we've worked to instill more
confidence in the electoral process.
was confirmed twice by the Republican Senate
unanimously as secretary of Economic Development. And
if you asked any of them, I believe that they would say
they have a record of working with me. I would
also say that I've had a bipartisan board at Wedc
for six years, and in that whole time we had two close
votes. Other than that, the board was practically
unanimous in many of our moves approving our budgets,
passing programs. So I have a mindset of working with
everybody who is willing to come to the table and have
good discussions and think about how do we make
Wisconsin better. >> I think this has been
one of the things I've been most critical of recently
is the lack of communication between the
East Wing and the legislative branches. Both,
I mean, look back to the state budget process. The
Democrat minority leader is critical of the Democrat
governor for not even giving her a seat at the
table in the conversation about the budget. You know,
Greta Neubauer and I probably don't agree on a
whole lot. One thing we do agree on is everybody
should have a seat at the table. 90% of things, we
probably disagree, but there's probably going to
be 1 or 2 where I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. How
do we get to. Yes. >> Well, I think I'm
somebody who over the course of 30 years has
demonstrated that I am a relationship person. First.
It's something that I have made a point of, and I have
ensured that as I go throughout my career, I
think I check my ideology at the door when I want to
roll up my sleeves and get things done. It's necessary
to do in the nonprofit sector, it's necessary to
do in government. >> You know, I spent seven
years in the state capitol. So, you know, having worked
under both Governor Evers administration as well as
Governor Walker's administration, I've had to
to navigate these political landmines, if you will. And
as the county executive of Milwaukee County, I've
worked with the Republican controlled legislature not
only to benefit Milwaukee, but every community across
the state with the passage of act 12, but continue to
work across the aisle even in this most recent budget,
where we're going to receive reimbursements for
our highway patrol, giving us the ability to invest in
our public safety building in our courtrooms to make
sure that we can deliver justice for those who need
it and take care of those who are in our care. And so
I'm going to always show up and deliver for those that
I represent. And I want communities all across the
state to know I'm going to be a governor for everybody,
not just one party. >> So coming from a
rhetoric community, I'm used to having those types
of conversations with Republicans. I represented
a purple district. My strategy would be able to
do things that have, you know, wild popular support
in Wisconsin and be able to start with those types of
things. So whether that is fully funding our public
schools, we know that that's something that
people want to do within Wisconsin. We want to make
sure that we're going to be able to get some relief for
healthcare across, across the finish line. I'm
willing to work with anybody who's going to make
life better for Wisconsin. >> Reporting from Madison.
I'm Zach Schultz for here. And now.
>> For more on this and other issues facing
Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin
and then click on the news tab. That's our program for
tonight I'm Frederica Freyberg. Have a good
weekend. >> Funding for "Here& Now"
is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and
Friends of PBS Wisconsin.