Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Sending Homan to Minnesota; Hearing over Minneapolis ICE Operation and Shooting, Trump Administration Reviewing Minneapolis Shooting; Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) is Interviewed about the Minnesota Immigration Crackdown; Deadly Winter Storm Hits Millions; Subzero Across Pennslvania Today; Lingering Storm Impact on Flights. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:07]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, crews in the southern Philippines are searching the water after a ferry with more than 350 people on board sank overnight. At least 18 people are confirmed dead so far. Among them, a six-month-old baby. Rescue boats, helicopters, fishing crews all out there this morning searching for the missing.

A huge truck skidded out of control on an Ohio interstate, captured on video from a trooper's dash cam. The trooper was not hurt. Just 30 seconds later, the same trooper's dash cam caught a black SUV losing control, crossing the median. Four people inside that SUV suffered minor injuries.

A manufacturing mistake turned a lunar new year stuffed animal into a viral sensation. Now it was supposed to look like the cheery horse. Instead, let's put it back up, it was sewn upside down. Take my word for it, the horse's mouth was sewn upside down and the horse shown frowning. There it is. And people are rushing to buy the sad horse. Why? Because it reflects the human condition.

A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

And the breaking news, the president just announced he is sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minnesota, but what is the subtext here? Is he looking for a way to change course in Minneapolis and push aside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem? The flurry of brand-new developments after federal agents shot and killed 37 year old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, including a crucial hearing today about what happens next in the investigation and who handles the evidence.

And a foot of snow or more falls across 17 states. Close to a million people without power. Just as deadly cold sets in. And now the forecast says this brutal cold will be here for days.

I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan in New York. Sara Sidner, live in Minneapolis. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We begin live here in Minneapolis with breaking news. New comments just in from President Donald Trump, who is now saying what he plans to do as this place has been a powder keg after federal agents, for the second time in less than a month, shot and killed an American citizen. This time, an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti.

Here is what the president is now saying. He is sending in border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. And I want to quote him. He's saying, "he has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair and will report directly to me."

What he has not said is what protesters have been demanding, which is they want ICE out of this state. And not only protesters, but the governor of this state, Tim Walz, has demanded that, as has the mayor of the city where those shootings have happened.

Let us go live now to Alayna Treene with the very latest from the White House.

Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, Sara, this is a huge development that the president is going to be dispatching Tm Homan, his borders czar, to Minnesota. We did get a little bit more context, I should note, from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She wrote this morning that Homan will be managing the ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and also coordinating with those who are looking into the fraud investigation that the administration is conducting.

Look, the reason this is so notable is not only because Homan is being sent there. It's what this means about the people who have really been the face of the ICE operation, particularly in Minnesota, but really across the country thus far, and that is Gregory Bovino. He is essentially considered kind of the Border Patrol commander at large on the ground in Minnesota. But also the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem. she has also, of course, been one of the biggest public faces around all of this.

Now, Homan is someone who is a veteran ICE agent. He has served for many years. He's actually very respected within DHS. But he has very different views. He's a less hard line on immigration policy than Noem and Bovino have been. And so this could potentially be, you know, kind of a different strategy, really, that the Trump administration is embracing by sending him here. I don't want to get ahead of myself. We have to learn some of the details. But just to give you context on this. We also have reported CNN, in the past, that Homan and Noem have clashed at times regarding the president's immigration strategy. So that's some more context into all of this.

[09:05:03]

Again, it's not very much -- it's not clear that there is some subtext here. We have to report that out. But this is a big development. And I will say, again, Homan going in is a bit of a changing strategy given that he has not been involved really on the ground in Minnesota thus far. Something actually President Trump highlighted in that post this morning. So, we're going to be working on getting more information on exactly what this means for the president and why he made this decision, and we'll be bringing that to you, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, that is a significant development that you bring us, Alayna Treene. We should also mention that those who have been here, including the commander of ICE, Greg Bovino, have infuriated and inflamed tensions because of the way in which he talks about the investigation, putting all the blame on Alex Pretti for his own death at the hands of Border Patrol agents. The second killing by federal agents in this town, and the third shooting in this town in less than a month.

There is also something else significant.

Thank you to you, Alayna Treene, from the White House.

There is something significant happening right here in federal court. In about an hour from now we expect to see the state put forward its case, asking for a temporary restraining order against ICE, against federal agents here, asking them to stand down for now. That is going into court, as is another case, which is asking the federal courts to rule to make sure that the federal agencies preserve evidence.

Let's go now live to Whitney Wilde, who is watching those developments as they are about to start unfolding.

What are you learning about? Exactly what is being asked for here by state authorities, of course, versus federal authorities?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's important to explain the distinction that Minnesota officials are trying to draw here, Sara. They are not arguing that the federal government has no role in immigration enforcement. They are asking for the federal government to peel back this major immigration crackdown. They are asking the federal government to conduct their operations, as they were before the surge. They want the number of agents to go back to pre-surge levels, saying that this huge immigration crackdown, which DHS admits is the largest immigration crackdown they have ever conducted, amounts to an invasion of the state of Minnesota and it's infringement on the state's sovereignty, arguing this, Sara, that "this is driven by nothing more than the Trump administration's desire to punish political opponents and score partizan points at the direct expense of plaintiffs residents."

However, the Trump administration says that that argument has absolutely no legal merit, that it is totally baseless, and that the president has broad authority to enforce federal immigration law.

This will be an uphill battle. There is very little case law to support one -- to support really much of the arguments here. Even the federal judge in this case, Katherine Menendez, saying that she hasn't -- doesn't have a lot to go on because this is such a novel approach here. There was a hearing within the last week or so. She declined to basically give an initial order here while she waited for the Trump administration to make their case. Today we will hear more broadly from both sides. We just saw Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison walk into the building. We expect that he's going to be in the courtroom, Sara. And so this is -- this is an unprecedented movement here. It is really about state's rights versus federal rights. And these are really novel claims that are going to be examined today, Sara.

SIDNER: I do appreciate your reporting, Whitney Wild. I know you'll be watching to see what actually happens in court. And if the court decides something immediately, we will, of course, come back to you in the coming hours. Thank you so much to you, Whitney Wild, and thank you to our Alayna Treene there from the White House.

Let's go now to Steve Moore, CNN law enforcement analyst.

You were a former special agent with the FBI, a supervisor with the FBI. Can you give me a sense if any of this matches anything that you have seen when it comes to an investigation into an officer involved shooting?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, as far as -- Sara, good morning, by the way.

As far as the request or the order to maintain all communications, all evidence on a specific case, that is not uncommon in the FBI. That that came down several times, probably a year, because the FBI is dealing with multiple cases, thousands of cases all at once. So that I've seen before. I've not seen anything where the actual strategy or tactics of an agency has been challenged in court.

[09:10:13]

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about what happened on the ground, and what we heard from -- initially from the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the ICE commander, Greg Bovino, in this case. You know, they said three things that were really starkly proven to be false on the videos that everyone has seen. Is that a normal way to start an investigation, talking about the details before a full investigation has happened?

MOORE: Well, it's certainly not a wise way to start. I have seen some agencies, some local agencies and stuff do that kind of thing. But generally what you want to say is that our understanding is, or not make a -- an absolute, definitive statement, especially when there's going to be videos that are going to disprove you. What you want to do is reference legitimately that an investigation is going on and nobody should be making wild or unproven statements, which, unfortunately, everybody, both on the federal and state side, have been making on this. And what it comes down to is, who turns out to be more right as the evidence comes in.

SIDNER: Steve Moore, it is a pleasure to have you to walk us through that. Thank you to you, Whitney and Alayna Treene for bringing us all the latest information and your analysis. Let us go now to Congressman James Walkinshaw.

Thank you so much for speaking to me this morning about what is happening here in Minneapolis. Certainly,

[09:15:02]

there are a couple of things going on here. One is that the community here no longer has any trust in the federal government. Two is the federal government is saying that it plans to stay here and continue its operations so far, with the president saying he's going to be sending in border -- sorry, sending in immigration czar Tom Homan now. What do you make of that? What do you think about this new move from the president?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): Well, I was in Minnesota two Fridays ago and I heard directly from Minnesotans about the fact that their businesses had to close, schools have had to close, folks were hiding in their homes because they didn't want to be the next person dragged through the street, tear gassed, or, God forbid, shot.

And look, I think perhaps in the Trump White House they're realizing that a line has been crossed here. The American people have eyes and they see what happened to Alex Pretti. They see that the leadership at DHS is flat out lying about the circumstances that he wasn't threatening anyone. He was filming with a cell phone camera, and he was executed in the streets. And Donald Trump might be getting nervous about that. We've seen a small handful of elected Republicans start to speak out. I think more -- I hope more will find that courage to do so. It's what this moment demands of all Americans.

SIDNER: One of your colleagues in the Senate is now calling for an impeachment of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Do you think that's what should happen?

WALKINSHAW: I've said even before this latest incident that Secretary Noem has violated the oath that she took. She's proven herself to be both incompetent and corrupt. She should be removed. She should step down. If not, Congress should remove her.

I support that effort. I'm not optimistic that Republicans in Congress will support that to the extent necessary to remove her from office, but I think we have to put that in motion, yes.

SIDNER: Why is it important, do you think, to try and impeach her, which doesn't always mean they are removed. As we know, President Trump was impeached twice and still stayed in office. Why is it important to move forward on that from your perspective?

WALKINSHAW: Well, look, you know, I think the Constitution lays out the grounds for impeachment of either a president or a cabinet official. In my view, those grounds have been met with respect to Secretary Noem. And I'll note, you know, there have been bipartisan frustration with her performance. She's proven incredibly slow at her job in getting resources to communities in the wake of disasters. She's been very fast in lining the pockets of her political associates with taxpayer dollars to fund an advertising campaign to the tune of 200 plus million dollars to promote herself. And we've seen with respect to this immigration enforcement, this mass deportation, mass destruction effort, systematic violations of the law and of constitutional rights. Just in the last six months there have been 2,300 documented cases of DHS, ICE, and others illegally detaining people. Courts have found 2,300 times that they have illegally detained people, including hundreds of American citizens. These aren't mistakes. These aren't errors. These are systematic violations of the Constitution and of civil rights and she should be removed.

SIDNER: There are two courts certainly in Illinois, that found that federal agents lied in those cases. Now you look at what is happening here and you're seeing federal agents, or at least the officials lying about at least three things that are demonstratively false that you can see on video versus what they are saying about Alex Pretti, the victim of this latest shooting at the hands of federal agents.

I do wonder if there is anything that Congress may do in light of all that you have seen, all of you have heard and all that has been said here, to what's happened here? Three shootings at the hands of federal agents in less than a month, two shootings ending up two people dead at the hands of federal agents. Both of them U.S. citizens.

WALKINSHAW: Yes, look, there are common sense things that Congress can and should do. And we have the opportunity in the Department of Homeland Security funding bill, which I voted against last week because it didn't include these common sense provisions. We can end the masking of federal agents and officers. We can require agents and officers to identify themselves, just as our local police do across the country. We can require not just the implementation but the enforcement of real use of force standards, where these officers who are using force and tear gassing and pepper spraying non-violent, peaceful protesters and observers are disciplined and removed from their positions. These are common sense things that Americans support. You can look at the polling. My colleagues can talk to their constituents. Look, the American people want secure borders. They want our immigration laws enforced, but they want it done fairly and humanely and consistent with our Constitution. And we should require that before the DHS funding bill moves forward.

SIDNER: Congressman James Walkinshaw, thank you so much for speaking to us this morning on this really important and divisive issue that this country is facing now.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Sara. Ahead for us, much more on kind of the one-two winter punch now, a deadly storm -- snowstorm that swept across the country, dropping a foot of snow across 18 states. Now the bitter cold that is moving in.

And a member of Congress punched in the face at a film festival. What we're learning about what happened here.

Plus, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White surprised a group of people having some fun in the snow in Central Park in the midst of this snowstorm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:22:42]

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, millions of people are facing the aftermath of that massive winter storm. At least 11 people have been reported killed in weather related incidents from it. And snow is still falling in some parts of the northeast today. At least 18 states saw a foot of snow or more. Across the south, ice is the major threat. Up to an inch of ice has accumulated in parts of Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana. All told, more than 800,000 people are still without power.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is in Louisville, Kentucky. Danny Freeman is in Philadelphia.

Derek, how are things looking there in Louisville and what are you watching now in the forecast?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kate, it truly is a race against time to restore power to those some 800,000 customers that lost power from this massive, very dynamic winter storm that's now exiting off the East Coast, because the Arctic air that is spilling in behind it means business. We're talking about 10 to 15 degrees below average for this time of year. Considering that this is coming in at the end of January, some of the coldest times of the year, and then you factor in how many people are without power. This could be dangerously cold.

This is some of the coldest January temperatures in the south central parts of the U.S. that we've experienced in decades. And it just coincides with some of the hardest hit areas from the ice storm. We're thinking Mississippi, into northern Louisiana, western Tennessee. These areas need to get their power restored quickly so we can get life back to normal and, most importantly, start warming our homes and our businesses.

And you think that we would have maybe some relief in sight. Unfortunately, that's wrong. We have reinforcing shots of cold air that will lock in these impacts right through next weekend. Beyond some of our computer model capabilities, it looks like it's here to stay. So, let's get right to the forecast details and talk about what we expect and what's the current state right now.

Because what we do know is that over 50 percent of Americans will experience subzero wind chill temperatures over the coming days. And here's some examples, Chicago, Minneapolis. Omaha, Kansas City, Indianapolis. Boston and Bangor, Maine, all below zero. That's what it feels like on your skin this morning as you step outside.

[09:25:02]

And again, it is just going to be wave after wave of cold air, maybe some temporary relief into the day on Wednesday, but into the weekend again we're going to start setting records once again, especially for low temperatures. That could be dozens of records set here in the next 24 to 48 hours.

So, there's the extreme cold alerts. Roughly 250 million Americans under cold alerts as we speak. Most states east of the Rockies. And then when we talk about temperature recovery in the deep south, we have to get to tomorrow afternoon with full sunshine before we start to see the mercury climb above the freezing mark. That's important because we want to start to melt the ice that formed on the trees and the power lines from this latest winter storm.

But look a little further to the north and it's a whole different story. Temperatures will stay below freezing in places like Chicago, Saint Louis, D.C., and New York right through the week. And that means we're going to lock in those impacts.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's absolutely right. Thank you so much, Derek.

Let's go to Pennsylvania now. Danny Freeman is standing by. Has been there for us all morning.

What are you hearing from officials there now, Danny?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're expecting to hear updates from not only the city of Philadelphia a little bit later in the afternoon, but also the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at around noon today. So, they're going to give us an update on what the progress has been, basically what I would call the big dig out now.

You can see right here, folks are working to plow, to snow blow, to shovel this whole area. Go birds. Because that's what people are dealing with here. It's bitterly cold, but thankfully the precipitation has stopped. So, now it's just about making sure that roads are clear and that areas, especially some of the side roads and some of the nooks and crannies of Philadelphia, let's call them, actually get clear of snow.

Now, Philadelphia, Kate, saw over nine inches of snow, which is the most snow that we've seen in a single day since 2016. So, it's serious business. And we were out here all last night as well in this exact spot. People were slipping and sliding all over this road here. This is one of the main thoroughfares here just around city hall. Thankfully today you can see it's a big difference because you can actually see the black on the streets. That's the first time we've been able to see that in quite some time.

But here's the challenge, Kate. The snow here, it's very, very icy. So, it's not that fluffy stuff anymore. This is what people are going to be contending with when they try to dig out here over the next coming hours, Kate.

BOLDUAN: The big dig out. It's a good, good phrase for it. Danny, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

John. BERMAN: Yes, on top of all this, this morning, the NTSB and FAA are

investigating a private jet crash in Maine. Eight people were on board the business jet which took off from Bangor Airport last night. A source tells CNN the extent of injuries is not known. First responders are still working the scene.

And this morning, more than 3,900 flights are canceled with this winter storm.

CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean at Reagan National Airport for the latest on what you're seeing this morning.

Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Danny Freeman has the big dig, and we have the airport floor Zamboni, yes, right now. They are cleaning up here after what was a -- quite a quiet weekend here at Reagan National Airport. And it is still pretty quiet here. This is not the way that it usually is during a morning rush here at DCA on a Monday.

I just want to show you the ramp here right now. Some flights are getting in. Four departures, two arrivals. The big concern earlier was the runway slickness. They called that FICON (ph) or field conditions. It was listed as medium. Even one of the planes coming in here actually had to divert to Dulles because the pilots were so concerned about that. So, that flight, listen up (INAUDIBLE) geeks, will be the elusive tour, the beltway flight here in a little bit over from Dulles to DCA. You never see that anymore back in -- now in 2026.

Let's just take a look at the board here. This is the departures board right now at DCA. Still a lot of red. We're talking about a third of all flights canceled here today. Doesn't seem like it's going to get much better. And the FAA is warning that airports will essentially reopen their runways sort of on a case by case basis. FAA says they are still sort of evaluating this as things go on.

Yesterday was the worst day for flight cancellations since the pandemic. We saw about 11,600 flights canceled, according to FlightAware. Today, that number a lot different. We're talking about 3,900 cancellations. But the day is young and airlines have been hit at some of their major hubs. Planes and pilots out of position. The list of airports includes not only here at DCA, but LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth climbing on the list, and Charlotte. So, we will see as things go here, John. We are not totally out of the woods yet. Airlines not fully in recovery mode, although they're going to give it a shot.

[09:30:05]

BERMAN: Yes, a little more blue on that board, but not a lot. And not enough for the passengers looking.