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Outrage Grows Over Shooting Death of Alex Pretti by Federal Agents in Minneapolis; Video Contradicts DHS Account of Fatal Minneapolis Shooting; Deadly Windter Storm Brings Ice, Snow, Bitter Cold to Millions; Hearing Today in Suit Over Evidence in Alex Pretti Shooting. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: ... urging residents to hit record whenever they see ICE. In some ways, these on-the-ground videos from Minnesota residents are a rebuttal, are a rejoinder to the flashy, militaristic videos that ICE has been producing for months. Videos that many have likened to propaganda showing the efforts of ICE and border control officials.

But now, you have local residents, in their own words, telling their own stories. At a time when residents might feel powerless, Minnesota officials are saying, hey, the phone in your pocket is a form of power. But at the same time, John, videos are just a starting point.

They're not an end point. We've seen many times how seeing is not always believing anymore. People bring their own beliefs, and then they choose and see what they want to see.

And as the front page of this morning's New York Times puts it, video footage isn't stopping Trump from telling a different story.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: No, but videos are a path to the truth when other avenues have dried up. Brian Stelter, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

And the breaking news this morning, is the president signaling a shift in Minneapolis? A brand new interview after federal agents shoot and kill a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Alex Pretti.

The administration's version of what happened at odds with multiple videos from the scene. Today, crucial court cases about what happens next in the investigation and who handles the evidence.

A foot of snow or more across 17 states, close to a million people without power, just as deadly cold sets in. And now the forecast says that brutal cold will be here for days. And what about the travel nightmare?

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan in New York. Sara Sidner live in Minneapolis. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I am live here in Minneapolis this morning as anger is intensifying in the streets in Minneapolis after DHS continues to double down on lies it has been telling about what happened in the second shooting death of an American citizen at the hands of federal agents. Those are scenes from overnight where law enforcement used flashbangs to disperse protesters outside of a hotel that protesters believed federal agents were staying in. Demonstrators have been out in the freezing cold, the sub-zero temperatures for days now demanding that ICE get out of their community.

Now today, there are two critical federal hearings. One of them is the state's lawsuit to ask a judge to temporarily halt President Trump's immigration crackdown here. The swarm of federal agents, of federal ICE agents and Border Patrol agents that have come into this community.

And the second is to demand that the federal government preserve evidence from the scene in this latest shooting. Why is that significant? Because the state clearly does not trust the federal government and the federal and state government are not working together.

Something that is unprecedented in a shooting like this. We've just heard this morning from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche who spoke to Fox News defending the federal investigation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Look, we'll be in court today. There's an ongoing investigation as we've said all weekend and obviously, we're not destroying evidence. And so to the extent that the state of Minnesota wants to make this a show and go in front of a judge to insist that we do something we're absolutely not ever going to do, we'll be there.

But this was a tragic situation that happened. And the fact that now we're going to go to court to say exactly what we're doing, which is of course we're investigating. We always investigate any conduct like this, any shooting like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: This was of course a tragic situation. But what is making it worse is how DHS is talking about it and what they have been saying about it that does not match in any way, shape or form the video that the public has been seeing over these last couple of days.

Now, President Trump is now weighing in. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he criticized the man who shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti for carrying a gun during the protest. He also appeared to blame the gun itself, saying it's an unpredictable model that, quote, goes off when people don't know it. But he would not answer directly when asked whether the agent who shot Pretti did the right thing.

He was asked twice and was unable to answer. [08:05:00]

Now, I want to go to a CNN analysis, our analysis of this footage that is available that just about everyone, if you are on social media or watching the news has seen. It finds Pretti was not holding his gun at the scene. DHS had claimed that he approached federal agents with the gun. There is not a single shred of video evidence towards that claim.

And that his concealed firearm appeared to be taken from an officer. You see an officer remove it from his belt before he was shot and killed. Now, Minneapolis police have also said, by the way, he was a legal gun owner.

He had a permit to carry as is legal in the state of Minnesota. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says that the federal government is clearly trying to smear Alex Pretti, the man that they killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw, I don't know what else to tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The family of Alex Pretti has also sent a statement filled with sorrow at the death of their son, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at a veterans hospital here in Minneapolis.

Joining me now is CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow and our Charles Ramsey. First to you, Mr. Ramsey, you know, as a former police chief who has certainly been involved in investigations into officer- involved shootings, is there anything normal about what you are seeing happen here in Minneapolis when it comes to the way the federal government is acting?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, it's not. I mean, the video is not consistent with the statements that were made by both Secretary Noem as well as the Commander Bovino. I mean, it's clear, and I think the video I saw earlier at CNN when they really slowed it down and showed it frame by frame, that really just reinforces the fact that there's no consistency in the message coming out of DHS versus the reality of what took place.

I've investigated numerous officer-involved shootings, and you have to be very careful when you're making statements until you have all the evidence and all the facts. And they come out very quickly in defense of officers not really knowing what took place. And so if it had not been for this video, however, we would have nothing to go on other than their statements, and everyone right now would believe that Mr. Pretti was guilty of assaulting federal agents, which is not the case.

SIDNER: Yes, everyone except the people who witnessed it who were on the scene. I do want to ask you, Jonathan Wackow, when you see what has happened here, how on earth will an investigation go forward by the federal government and at the same time a separate investigation go forward with state authorities, who we saw on the ground yesterday in quite a few numbers, going around doing their investigative duties, talking to witnesses, for example, and trying to gather any other bits of video? How do these two investigations merge, or do they?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they need to merge, Sara, and the reason being is because there is a credibility issue right now that the federal government has, specifically in this shooting, and more broadly across all of their operations in Minneapolis. So working with state and local investigators will help, you know, close that credibility gap with the federal government because right now the narrative doesn't meet what our eyes are actually, you know, seeing. We hear DHS officials maintaining that Mr. Petti approached the agents with a handgun.

OK, well, part of that is factually correct. He did legally possess a firearm, and he did have it on his person, but that fact becomes contextually ambiguous in the absence of actually showing how that weapon actually threatened agents in the moment. Did he brandish it? Did he intimate that he had it?

Did he telegraph that he was going to use it? We don't have any of that, but our eyes are showing us something very different with the actions of federal officials. And when we have this knee-jerk reaction by leadership of DHS and the federal government coming out and just giving this, you know, full-throated endorsement of the action, how can credibility be given to any type of investigation?

[08:10:03]

That is why it is essential for state and local investigators to work with federal partners, again, to, you know, understand how can we get to the level of truth here.

And transparency is not about assigning blame here, Sara. It's about preserving public trust, the investigative integrity, and at the end of the day, the public safety for the community of Minneapolis.

SIDNER: Yes, Jonathan, I can tell you that public trust is blown sky- high at this point in this city between those who live here and have been watching the videos and who are in the streets and federal authorities. Charles Ramsey, I do want to ask you, how is this supposed to work? How have you seen it work in the past?

I've certainly seen it from the outside work right here in this city in the police shooting and killing of George Floyd. We saw state and federal agencies work together, and charges from both sides came forward against that officer because partly of the video and the witnesses in that case. We saw it all play out right here in the city.

Now we're back again in a very different scenario. So how are things supposed to work? What is the norm?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, you just basically described it. You know, back in 2015, I co-chaired the Obama Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and one of our recommendations was that there be an independent review of any officer-involved shooting. Now, agencies have an internal process that they use for investigating officer-involved shootings.

But in order to maintain the credibility and the integrity of the investigation, much like what Jonathan just said, having that independent third party is something that really, I think, gives some confidence to people that the matter is being objectively reviewed and investigated. This is not the case now. I mean, DHS has lost credibility as a result of this.

And it's going to affect not only what's going on in Minneapolis, even if they move people from Minneapolis and put them in another city. I mean, who's to say something's not going to happen there? And it could be a shooting that is 100 percent justified.

People will question it because they no longer have the kind of credibility and they no longer have the faith that it will be investigated objectively. So they're in a bad position right now and it's going to take a long time before they can regain that trust.

SIDNER: I think that couldn't be a truer statement. It is going to take a very long time before they can regain trust. Thank you to you, Chief Charles Ramsey, and thank you to you, Jonathan Wackrow.

Really appreciate you both coming on. Let's toss it back to John and Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much, Sara. There are some important perspectives there, both from Jonathan and Chief Ramsey, for sure, as we look at this going forward.

But also this morning, looking at parts of the country which have been brought to a halt due to a powerful winter storm. No travel, no school, and hundreds of thousands of people still without power. Keeping a very close eye on how this develops still today.

Plus, a deadly ferry disaster overseas. What may have caused the boat carrying hundreds of passengers to suddenly sink.

And new audio is coming in this morning after a private jet crashed with 8 people on board.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So this morning, from the south to the northeast, millions are dealing with the lingering effects of that massive winter storm. It is moving on out, but it is not done yet. Across the south, ice is just weighing down power lines and trees and making roads downright hazardous.

This is the scene that they saw in Mississippi overnight. I mean, it just looks terrible. And now nearly a million people still do not have power.

And when it comes to the snow, 17 states saw more than a foot, with some of the highest snow totals seen in Pennsylvania. Let's get to CNN's Danny Freeman, who is there for us. Danny, what are you seeing this morning?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, Kate, I'll tell you the good news first. The good news is that that snow, as you noted, has finally stopped here. It stopped late last night, and that was a tremendous relief, because really, for all of yesterday, it was coming down nonstop for hours and hours and hours.

But as you noted, Kate, the big challenge now is that it is very, very cold out here. We're in center city Philadelphia. So far, the roads look pretty good out here.

This is one of the main thoroughfares right here around City Hall. I'll tell you, though, the amazing thing, Kate, is that even though, like I said, the snow and the precipitation has stopped, it's still so eerily quiet here, because in Philly and many parts of Pennsylvania, a lot of things are still closed today, because people are still really erring on the side of caution, especially the city. They want people to not drive.

There are still some parts we saw folks getting stuck in the snow just right over here earlier in the day. Areas are still slick, but those crews are out there to try and make sure that people can eventually get to where they need to be. One thing I'll note, Kate, is that here in Philadelphia, we saw over 9 inches of snow.

[08:20:00]

That's the most amount of snow in one day that this city has seen since 2016. That's according to the National Weather Service. So this was no kid's play snow. This was the real deal. Like I said, a lot of things closed today, including a lot of government buildings.

The school district of Philadelphia closed in particular today, so kids have off from school. And the other thing, though, I want to say that's been interesting about Philadelphia in particular and a lot of areas, certainly in southeast Pennsylvania, is unlike what we saw in places, other states to the south, thankfully the power has stayed on here. And that's in part because last night, when the precipitation started to peter out, we didn't see that freezing rain in the same way.

So a lot of what we're dealing with here in Philly is just the cleanup of messy snow like this. And listen, it's still pretty tough. You've got this snowpack here.

It's definitely not that fluffy stuff. It's icy. It's a bit of a mess here still.

Thankfully, it has been quiet, though, because if there are fewer people on the roads, that means that plows and a lot of this heavy equipment that we've seen, they are able to do their job and to get the salt down and to dig people out. But it's going to be a little while still before all of the parts of Pennsylvania are truly dug out after so much snow yesterday -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So much so. And that's like icy. That's like ice pretending to be snow is what I'm seeing behind you.

FREEMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: So we've got to be careful. It's good to see you, Danny. Thank you for being out in it for us. We really appreciate it.

There's also new reporting this morning on the growing concerns that are being heard inside the Department of Homeland Security after the Alex Pretti shooting death in Minneapolis. New reporting on that we'll bring to you.

And a happy accident leads to a sad toy that's now gone quite viral.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a short time ago, the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche just did an interview where he mentioned what and whether there is an investigation and what is being done with the evidence surrounding the death of Alex Pretti in Minnesota. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Look, we'll be in court today. There's an ongoing investigation, as we've said, all weekend, and obviously we're not destroying evidence. And so to the extent that the state of Minnesota wants to make this a show and go in front of a judge to insist that we do something we're absolutely not ever going to do, we'll be there.

But this was a tragic situation that happened. And the fact that now we're going to go to court to say exactly what we're doing, which is, of course, we're investigating. We always investigate any conduct like this, any shooting like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Well, let's now see an illegal analyst, Joey Jackson. Joey, we should note, when he says we are investigating, it isn't exactly clear who he's talking about in the federal government, because over the weekend, it was said that Homeland Security was investigating, not the FBI or the Justice Department. But let's just start with how unusual is it for a state to be suing to say, hey, federal government, you can't destroy evidence.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: John, good morning to you. As it relates to Minnesota, it's the first time in the state's history they've had to do this. Remember that we expect our federal officials to be transparent, and we expect, because of the trust of the American people, for agencies to cooperate.

There is no cooperation. Let's understand what happened here. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Minnesota went to access the crime scene with a judicial warrant. That is a warrant signed by a judge. They were denied access by the federal government. The way it's supposed to work is that the federal government, in conjunction with the state government, would do a joint investigation.

And this way, everyone in the community and in the country would know that everything is done above board. Here you have the federal government blocking the state from doing it. And just be clear with respect to that interview we saw, this is not theatrics on Minnesota's part.

This is what they need to do to ensure the integrity of the investigation. We're living in very different times.

BERMAN: And just in terms of which government agency investigates, if it is, as was being said all weekend, Homeland Security investigating, and not necessarily even the FBI or the Department of Justice, what would that signify?

JACKSON: I think it signifies that they want to control the narrative. And you cannot blame Minnesota at all for doing their due diligence and what's necessary to ensure that every piece of evidence is preserved. There were reports, again, I'm not opining as to the truth or lack thereof, that there was evidence being removed from the scene.

And by the way, don't we have a federal Bureau of Investigations that is second to none in the world with regard to doing investigations, ballistic analysis, forensic assessments? What's Homeland Security doing investigating the case? It should be the FBI, in addition to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is the local authority in Minnesota.

It should be a cooperative effort. It's not. Hence, they need to go to court -- that is Minnesota -- to compel the federal government to allow them access so they can evaluate the information independently.

And so this investigation can have some integrity.

BERMAN: Counselor, as, or if, I should say, there is an investigation, what will be the key question, or questions do you think that they will look into?

JACKSON: The questions are pretty standard. As it relates to the killing of Mr. Pretti, number one, was there immediate fear of death or serious bodily injury on the part of the agents who were there? Number two, was the force used proportionate to any threat that was posed by Mr. Pretti at the time? Number three, were they acting, that is, the agents ...

END