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Soren Stevenson is Interviewed about Growing Outrage in Minnesota; Polls on a Government Shutdown Over ICE. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 26, 2026 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Airlines not fully in recovery mode, although they're going to give it a shot.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a little more blue on the board, but not a lot. And not enough for the passengers looking to get home this morning.
Pete Muntean, great to see you. Thank you very much.
All right, the breaking news this morning, just moments ago, the president takes action in Minneapolis. It looks like he's trying to mitigate the fallout after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti. And maybe create space between himself and other members of his administration.
And an ice breaker rescues a luxury cruise ship trapped in the Antarctic ice.
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[09:35:10]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are live here in Minneapolis. We begin again with breaking news this morning.
President Trump is now sending his border czar, Tom Homan, into Minneapolis. Now, this is all after federal agents shot and killed an ICU nurse who worked at the local veteran's hospital, who was in the streets with a cell phone and was trying to record the actions of federal agents. Those federal agents were border patrol agents who ended up shooting and killing him. They shot him multiple times. We counted at least ten shots.
Tensions are extremely high, not just because of that death, the second killing by federal agents here in Minneapolis in the last month, but also because of the way in which DHS has described the scene and gone after the victim in the shooting, telling three demonstratable lies that are completely antithesis to what you see on video in several different angles. That has ratcheted up tensions here tenfold.
And we are seeing that overnight play out in the streets as protesters were outside of a hotel where they believe that federal agents are saying this is what happened.
I did not hear that. I'm so sorry. But there was a lot of noise. Flashbangs from police there outside of that hotel.
Joining me now is Councilman Soren Stevenson. He was here in 2020, as was I. He was out in the street protesting against local police. The local police shooting and killing of George Floyd. And in that case, he ended up being hit in the eye with a less than lethal munition, losing his eye at the hands of police.
Thank you so much for being here.
Since you were there, since I was there, and since you saw the aftermath of what happened in the George Floyd case where a Minneapolis police officer was initially accused of killing an American citizen and eventually was taken to the courts and charged by both federal and local law enforcement. Sorry, federal and local attorneys, prosecutors.
I'm curious what you think about what you are hearing from the Department of Homeland Security here in this particular case.
SOREN STEVENSON, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL: Well, this is something that's not new to us. We are familiar here in Minneapolis, unfortunately, with the idea that people in power aren't going to be held accountable. So, that's why you see massive protests last Friday, 75,000 people, by some estimates, came out to peacefully protest. That's why you see people outside of these hotels. That's why you see people out and out and out because we want justice. We want it now. And we know that we're not going to get it if we don't go out and demand that it happen.
SIDNER: What do you think of President Trump now sending in his border czar, Tom Homan, after he had some of his other officials here, including the commander of ICE, Greg Bovino, who has been speaking and really attacking Alex Pretti as opposed to talking about the investigation at large. What do you make of the president sending in the border czar? Is that going to have any effect to calm things down, if you will?
STEVENSON: No, its' escalating tensions. They know that they're in a bad spot. They have now murdered two people. They have shot another person. And one of the people, at least one of the people that they disappeared from our community has died in their custody. So, they are doing this brutal campaign against us, and they are losing the battle in people's minds because we're seeing the video, we're seeing what's happening. We're seeing that -- this is Minnesota. What are you talking about? A lawless, crazy place. This is Minnesota. This is a beautiful place. A wonderful place. And they're losing this narrative battle.
And so, he's sending in his top guard. And really it's escalating because we just want to be left alone. Just leave us. You know, we don't have this big law and order problem. This is a great place to live. The chaos in our community is coming from ICE. It's coming from this invasion that we're under, this occupation. And so, this is just escalating tensions, and it's got to stop. It's just got to stop.
[09:40:02]
SIDNER: I do want to, you know, talk to you just a little bit about what you see happening going forward. You have the state going to court to try and put a temporary restraining order in front of a judge hoping to get that, although they have failed to be able to do that in the case of the shooting and killing of Renee Good. You also have the state doing something remarkable saying, hey, the federal agencies must be held to account. In other words, they must keep evidence and not destroy evidence that so far the federal agencies are saying, we are not going to hand that over to the state. So, how do you see this playing out? What do you expect to happen? And do you think there is ever going to be a real, honest investigation that occurs?
STEVENSON: I certainly hope so. My constituents are asking me every single day about whether we can get an honest investigation, whether we can get charges for these murders in our community. So, you know, I've spoken with some folks and we are, you know, sorry, spoken with folks at the -- at the county attorney's office and whatnot. And we really want to see a fair investigation. And so, this is something that -- that's really important to my constituents. And that's, again, why people are out in the streets trying to make sure that it happens.
SIDNER: Well, I know someone is really trying to get in touch with you this morning. I am sure that phone has been ringing off the hook.
I do appreciate you taking the time because I know it is a busy time for you as a representative of this community and also a difficult -- very difficult time for you as there is a lot of anger and sorrow in the streets.
Thank you so much for joining us. I do appreciate it. And I can attest to the fact that this is a great town. I have spent quite a bit of time in here over the years. It is unfortunate what has happened here for everyone to deal with. I do appreciate it.
John.
BERMAN: All right, thanks, Sara.
Thousands and thousands of flights canceled. New fallout from the monster storm with new forecasts pointing to problems and threats that will last for days.
And at long last, the New England Patriots are finally headed to the Super Bowl. The long national nightmare is over.
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[09:47:08]
BERMAN: This morning, Democrats in the Senate say they will not vote for this new huge funding package because it includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This is in the wake of what's been going on in Minneapolis. If enough Democrats vote against it, it means a government shutdown.
With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.
So, what are the chances right now that there will be a government shutdown?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Very high, and they've become significantly higher after the events in Minneapolis this past week. And I mean just take a look here. Chance of a government shutdown this Saturday. Start this Saturday. You go back to late last week, it was only eight percent. But after the events, after the shooting this weekend in Minneapolis, now we're talking about nearly a four in five shot, 79 percent, a 79 percent chance of a shutdown. The folks who are putting their money where their mouth is believe after the events this past weekend in Minneapolis that the Democrats will, in fact, stand firm and they will not allow the government to fund DHS.
BERMAN: So, more and more Senate Democrats came out over the last 48 hours saying they would vote against this. Why?
ENTEN: Why? Why? Why? Because just take a look. Look at ICE's -- the Democrats who disapprove of ICE. In 2018, during Trump term number one, it was 69 percent. You go to the middle of last year, 89 percent. Now, 95 percent, 95 percent of Democrats disapprove of ICE.
And again, this goes back to why there's this belief that the Democrats will, in fact, cut off the funding or try to cut off the funding and not -- and allow for a government shutdown because their base, 95 percent disapprove of ICE.
And, John, you know, we were talking about it late last week, right? What do Democrats want? They want folks to fight. They want their Congress folks to fight against the president of the United States. Because just take a look here. Dems who say that congressional Dems do too little to oppose Trump. Early last year it was 73 percent. Now it is 78 percent. They want -- Democrats and the electorate want their representatives in Congress to fight against Donald Trump, and they especially want them to do it on this particular issue where we see Democrats who disapprove of Trump up to nearly a uniformity, we're talking about 19 out of 20, 95 percent of Democrats who disapprove of ICE.
BERMAN: This is what Democrats want. And that matters, right? Obviously, it matters what Republicans want, too. They've been largely supportive of President Trump. But the group in the middle that may matter the most in the midterms is independents. What are they saying?
ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, you see this figure right here. You see the chance of a shutdown up like a rocket, right, we're talking 79 percent. And you say, OK, you know, Democrats, 95 percent, but will there be any backlash from the middle of the electorate? I don't think so. Because take a look here, independents who disapprove of ICE. You know, in Trump term number one basically at this point it was 39 percent. Then it was up to 64 percent by the middle of last year. Now 70 percent, 70 percent, seven in ten independents disapprove of ICE.
[09:50:02]
If there is a time in which independents I think would be OK with a government shutdown it would be in this one if it's about funding of ICE, because the bottom line is (INAUDIBLE).
BERMAN: And the president probably sees that number. He's making some of these moves to try to mitigate the situation there.
Harry Enten, thank you very much for this.
ENTEN: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: A lot of news. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Super Bowl LX is set. It will be a rematch between the New England Patriots and --
BERMAN: Really?
BOLDUAN: Really? Berman doesn't know anything about this. And the Seattle Seahawks. The Patriots won that first Super Bowl meeting in 2015.
[09:55:04]
The two teams will play February 8th in Santa Clara, California. Early betting lines have the Seahawks as a 3.5 favorite, Berman.
BERMAN: I think it's 4.5 actually now.
BOLDUAN: OK.
Again, he's got no opinion on this at all.
BERMAN: I actually think she should be higher.
BOLDUAN: Really?
BERMAN: Yes. Yes. I think the Seahawks are much better.
BOLDUAN: You know what you should do?
BERMAN: But the Patriots will still win.
BOLDUAN: You should always set the bar low and then exceed expectations. I've seen this before.
BERMAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: And, take a look at this, three time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White doing exactly what you'd expect him to do on a snowy day, but this time in New York City's central park. There he was, the snowboarding legend surprised a whole crowd yesterday, even jumping over, as you saw that image right there, comedian Shane Gillis and Chris O'Connor. The biggest single snowstorm -- biggest single total snowstorm in Central Park history happened back in 2016, which brought 27 plus inches. Though Central Park this time did still break -- well, not that, but did break a 121 year daily record for January 25th, recording 11.4 inches.
A luxury cruise ship stuck in thick ice near Antarctica got a much needed rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard. This video shows the moment the Coast Guard vessel worked to crack the ice, and then eventually escort the ship back to open water. The rescue just so happened to occur on the Coast Guard's Polar Star's 50th birthday. Dubbed the Coast Guard's most powerful ship, and its only heavy icebreaker. So now you know.
BERMAN: Yes, no thank you. Not the cruise I will be going on.
Thank you all for being with us. This CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.
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