DOJ Targets Minnesota Officials; Harsh Ukraine Winter; AI Harmful In Child Education

The US justice department is investigating Minnesota's governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey. The DOJ says they are impeding the work of federal law enforcement officers. I'm Scott Simon. And I'm Ayesha Rasco, and this is Up First from NPR News. The DOJ is investigating Democratic officials in Minnesota. Things remain tense there with more protests planned today. We'll have the latest. And in Ukraine, a brutal winter there makes life during war even harder. It's so frigid that things are icing up indoors. We'll tell you more. Plus, the use of artificial intelligence in education can harm child development. We'll tell you more about that study, which was done by actual humans. What an idea. So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend. This message comes from Capital One with the VentureX card. Earn unlimited double miles, a 300 annual Capital One travel credit, and access to airport lounges. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply. Details at capital1.com. This message comes from Carvana, who makes car selling easy. Enter your license plate or VIN, get a real offer in minutes, and have your car picked up from your door. Sell your car the easy way with Carvana. Pickup fee may apply. This week on the NPR Politics podcast, Iran, Greenland, Venezuela. How does all of that square up with America first? It's not that Trump's ideology changed. Trump has really just gotten better at using the levers of power, and he's just doing a lot more. Listen to the NPR Politics podcast every weekday afternoon on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. The US justice department has launched a probe into Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey. And tensions remain high there this weekend with an anti immigration rally planned for later today. Anne Pierce, Kat Lansdorf has been following these developments and joins us now from Minneapolis. Kat, thanks for being with us. Hey. Good morning. What's it like there? Well, it was relatively quiet here last night. It's really cold. It's in the single digits, and it's been snowing, so it's possible folks are hunkered down inside. But people are still really on edge. Just to give you a sense, Scott, driving around, you'll see people standing on the corners and neighborhoods wearing whistles, ready to blow them and alert their neighbors if ice shows up. There's a lot of skepticism around unfamiliar cars in the areas, especially ones with out of state license plates. And many restaurants, if they're open, are keeping their doors locked, letting customers in as they come, but keeping federal agents out. It's just a pretty tense environment. And all this occurs as federal immigration officers continue to arrive and, and make arrests. Yes? Yeah. Exactly. There are some 2,500 federal immigration officers on the ground and more expected soon, according to DHS. That's more than four times the number of local Minneapolis police officers. …