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Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota; Mississippi Faces Prolonged Power Repairs After Winter Storm. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: ... they can to stay warm in this extreme, extreme cold.

KEILAR: Yes, and also, they have to be thinking about this. It's not like they're getting a respite tomorrow. This is going to drag on.

WARREN: It really is. In fact, I want to show you the temperatures. What we're going to see the blues and the purples.

That is the extreme cold here going forward. Next couple of days, a little bit of relief in the south, but then boom getting locked in once again for this weekend. And the big question for this weekend, could something else be developing?

And that's something we'll continue to update you on throughout the week as that becomes a little bit more clear. As far as warming up in the south again, we talked about warming up this time of year. It's getting above freezing.

That's going to happen. But then drop down below freezing again at night for the south for the northeast, Brianna, it's going to be for a lot of places from D.C. to New York, it's going to be not until middle of next week before temperatures get above freezing in the afternoon.

KEILAR: Yes. Oh, I'm tracking because I'm not looking forward to that. Is something else developing?

I mean, Chris, come on, give us a but we need a break here. This is crazy.

WARREN: I know. I know everybody does. So it's a little still a little early, but something we're going to keep an eye on for the south and northeast.

KEILAR: All right. Thank you for doing that, Chris Warren.

And still to come, the shooting of Alex Pretti leading to new concerns within the Department of Homeland Security. We have details on the growing frustration and questions about Secretary Kristi Noem's leadership.

[14:05:00]

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to our continuing coverage from Minneapolis. Sources are telling CNN that some Republican lawmakers are privately expressing relief that borders are Tom Homan will be taking over leadership of the immigration operations in Minnesota. Sources also tell CNN that these same lawmakers have been stressing to the White House the importance of getting the right messaging to the public on immigration policy.

Meantime, the White House says the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem retains the confidence and trust of the president, despite her misstatements and lies that she has told about what happened here over the weekend.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is in Washington with more. So why is sending Tom Homan to Minnesota seen as a de-escalation?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and a relief among homeland security officials. The reason for that, Anderson, is because Tom Homan is a veteran law enforcement official, especially with many years of experience at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. So in many ways, he is seen as someone who can try to get a hold of the situation.

Up until this point, you have had a top Border Patrol official, Gregory Bovino, who has been leading the charge in the immigration crackdown in cities. But of course, he is with Border Patrol. His experience is more intended for the U.S. Mexico border, not necessarily the urban landscape. And that is what the hope is among homeland security officials that Tom Homan can get a grasp on.

Now, the White House has described his role as managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota. The president himself also saying that he was going to have Tom Homan call Governor Walz. So the hope here among observers among those officials that I've been speaking with is that with Tom Homan on the ground, they can start to pivot this operation to be very much more focused on it being targeted with national security and public safety threats.

And less of these broad sweeps that have attracted many protesters on the ground there.

COOPER: At least two federal agents appear to have worn body cameras during Saturday's shooting incident. Most of the the ICE for Border Patrol people you see out here, a lot of them do not have. And they in fact, you know, the shooting Renee Good, they were out with their own cameras shooting things.

What do we know about those body cams and and why more people aren't wearing them?

ALVAREZ: Well, Anderson, this also speaks to the confusion a lot of people are struggling with in terms of how many agencies are on the ground there. So you have immigration and Customs Enforcement, and you have U.S. Border Patrol. In Saturday's incident, it was U.S. Border Patrol that was involved and they tend to wear body cameras. ICE, for example, had not yet really gotten to the point where they

had rolled this out with everyone and then it no longer became a requirement under the Trump administration. So our sources tell us that this body camera footage is part of the review that is ongoing.

I am also told Anderson that investigators have interviewed the agents that were part of this deadly shooting that unfolded and you see images there on Saturday. So this is all part of the investigation that is underway. In this case, however, since you made the comparison to Renee Good, there is more body camera footage that is available in many ways or for many reasons because of the agency that was involved here, which is the U.S. Border Patrol.

COOPER: Priscilla, have you heard anything about the camera that Alex Pretti had that he was documenting what occurred? Is it clear that that is in the hands of whether it's the border officials, ICE, whomever is that -- I mean, have they looked at that?

Is that something that's ever going to be released? Because that would seem to be a critical piece of evidence.

ALVAREZ: Well, certainly, and our understanding is that it is in the hands of federal investigators. But to your point, Anderson, there are still so many questions, even among Republican lawmakers, allies and even internally about how this investigation is going to be conducted. Up until this point, it suggests an internal review at the Department of Homeland Security.

[14:10:00]

But as you've heard from folks there on the ground, they also want independent investigators, which was part of the conversation had between the president and the governor of the state. So certainly will be keeping eyes on that. But right now, it seems that federal investigators have some of the crucial evidence here and videos that we have not been able to see yet.

COOPER: Yes, there's really not a lot of confidence by people you talk to hear about their ability to investigate themselves. We shall see. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you. Brianna, back to you.

KEILAR: And let's get more background now on what DHS insiders are saying. John Sandweg is with us. He served as acting director of ICE during the Obama administration.

I wonder what you think, John, and Borders Czar, Tom Homan, going to be this main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis, according to the White House press secretary. She was asked about whether this means Gregory Bovino, the top CBP official, is going to be leaving Minneapolis, essentially going to be sidelined.

She wouldn't quite answer that. But you work closely with Homan during your time at DHS and ICE under Obama. What do you think?

JOHN SANDWEG, ICE ACTING DIRECTOR UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yes, look, I know Tom. Well, Tom brings a lot of experience to the job. He was a special agent at the INS. Actually, the legacy to ICE before he transitioned over to ICE.

He during the Obama administration, he ran immigration enforcement operations. The division inside ICE. It's focused on civil immigration enforcement.

There's a pathway here, Brianna. There's a pathway for the administration to say we're continuing immigration enforcement operations, but it's going to look a lot more like it does across the United States. I mean, one thing that struck me throughout this whole incident in Minneapolis is this idea that was promoted by some in the administration that you either have what we saw on the ground in Minneapolis, or you have no immigration enforcement at all.

And that's just not true. We have immigration enforcement all over the United States today, including in sanctuary cities that looks nothing like what's been happening in Minneapolis.

The good news is, if there's someone who knows how to get things back into that steady state of immigration enforcement where we lower the temperature, certainly Tom is capable of doing that. Of course, the question is, is that what is -- is that what he's charged to do by the by the president? That's going to be the real the real question here.

KEILAR: Gregory Bovino is someone who has created this narrative about what happened that just doesn't -- it's not backed up by all of the videos that we're seeing and what we know so far. Does he need to not be a part of this?

Is that important as people are starting to really take issue with what's happening in Minneapolis?

SANDWEG: I certainly think that those statements, Brianna, undermined the credibility of any investigation, right? In my opinion, DHS is capable of running an investigation. They have criminal special agents who would typically investigate this.

It's not always the FBI that's running these investigations. But because of those statements, it makes it impossible for them -- it's impossible for anyone have any confidence, right?

But I think a bigger concern for me is from Chief Bovino's presence in this is something that Priscilla mentioned. I mean, we have to remember there are two different agencies. And Brianna, something I've been repeatedly emphasizing. Is one of them is trained to operate in a very high risk environment in the southern border, you know, apprehending drug cartel mules in the dead of night.

They have a very aggressive approach to their enforcement. It is not suitable to an urban environment where you have peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. And I think that one thing you certainly look at the videos.

I mean, amongst the many questions I think the videos raises, why were the agents being so aggressive when the three individuals, you know, with the two individuals that were with Pretti, they all appear to be following the commands of the agents. What was it that led to that -- to where we decided we had to it, effectuating arrest?

And I, you know, again, I think those are questions investigation will look at. But it also demonstrates kind of what I'm saying about this aggressive approach that Chief Bovino's brought to these operations that I think Tom won't bring because of his experiences as a special agent who's worked in these urban environments for a long time.

KEILAR: Karoline Leavitt also said the administration could pull back on CBP deployment in Minnesota if state officials cooperate with ICE agents on the ground. What do you make of that?

SANDWEG: You know, I saw interviews with the chief of police there and this is consistent with my experience, Brianna, there's always a lot of cooperation. There's political length. There's political disputes, right, between the mayors or the governors and even, but even in these sanctuary cities, even the cities that we would most associate with cities that are opposed to immigration enforcement, there's cooperation when it comes to public safety.

And I can tell you that throughout my experience at ICE and including my time after working with, you know, current ICE officials or former ICE officials, they will tell you that their strongest relationships are with their state and local partners. And even where politically they can't be involved, let's say they decide they don't want to be involved for their own law enforcement reasons on arresting, you know, people like the father of the five-year-old last week, right?

People with no criminal history. There is tremendous cooperation on the things that matter. Violent gangs, violent criminals.

My understanding is the Minnesota Department of Corrections does cooperate, hands over prisoners when they finish their prison sentences.

[14:15:00]

And that I understand from the Minneapolis, listening to the Minneapolis chief of police, there was broad cooperation on the things that matter. So again, I -- listen, you can't commandeer the states into being another arm of the civil immigration enforcement against those non-criminal targets. But I think if we all found -- we find that there's a lot more common ground than we think.

And the commitment to public safety is shared on both sides, you know, typically by the career federal agents in the offices and the local police.

KEILAR: So just real quickly before I let you go, then what do you see of this rhetoric? Is this sort of a -- just a political fig leaf then to you, this idea of saying they're not cooperating and also pointing to that as a cause of why this all went down with Alex Pretti?

SANDWEG: I think at the end of the day, Brianna, the administration, there's some of the administration who want to harness the power of state and local law enforcement to just help with the civil immigration enforcement mission outside of those with a criminal history, right? Outside of that, there's criminal cases. I can promise you that there is always close cooperation in big cities between ICE agents, especially the agents who are focused on those more, A, active bringing criminal cases federally, you know, against traffickers or against drug smugglers or against criminal street gangs.

And B, those even including those ICE agents who are focused on using the civil deportation powers, but against the right targets. I think though, at the end of the day, there was a desire by some of the administration for more, and that is to harness the power of the state and local police to force multiply ICE's ability to get the asylum seekers and the people who just may have overstayed their visa or across the border 20 years ago. And that's typically in my experience with the state, you know, local police just don't want to be involved in that business.

KEILAR: John Sandwig, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

And still to come, gold soaring to a record $5,000 an ounce. Why the metal is more precious than ever?

[14:20:00]

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KEILAR: America is coming off a historic winter storm that has left a trail of damage and lingering freezing temperatures. Southern states like Mississippi are getting the worst of ice damage and power outages.

Video from North Mississippi shows ice weighing down trees and encasing power lines. You see it there. It is just so heavy on that.

And the Northeast Mississippi Electric Power Association says repairs are going to be prolonged because of the widespread damage and unsafe conditions. More than half of their customers are still without power in the northern part of the state.

Joined by Scott Simmons, spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Scott, thanks so much for being with us. Can you just give us the latest on the power situation in the state?

SCOTT SIMMONS, SPOKESPERSON, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Well, right now, certainly our biggest focus is the northern portions of the state that have been hit so hard and still dealing with the lingering effects of this cold weather. You talk about 47 counties that have been impacted, some 37 that still have ice the ground. Today was a big day because it was a day where at least we had no freezing rain coming down.

But the problem has been the temperature. The cold, frigid temperature below freezing still keeping that ice in place. But we've made so much progress in this one day.

MDOT telling us that most of the main thoroughfares are clearing. They're working as we speak now to get even more road accessibility. What we've been doing has been working with our federal partners, the governor and the president, of course, working tandem in this presidential declaration that enabled us to get some actual federal resources in.

FEMA is moving in as we're speaking up. They've got some 30 generators, a couple of truckloads of pallets of water and things like that. And we're trying to move those into the most vulnerable places.

The first stop will be a staging area that we've set up at Camp McCain, Mississippi, right there in the Grenada area. And from there, we'll be dispatching those to those most vulnerable places. Some long term care facilities that lost power at their backup generator went out.

We hope to move one of these 30 generators into those types of places. They're in need of a warming center support.

KEILAR: Yes, so necessary. I mean, unbelievable pictures coming out of Mississippi here. We should look back probably, right, a few decades to 1994 when Mississippi had that historic ice storm and it took 23 days for power to be restored.

Are we expecting a repeat or is it going to be better than that?

SIMMONS: I wish I had a crystal ball and a magic wand to go with it. My fear is that this ice event will be larger than that one in '94. My hope is that our restoration efforts and abilities have increased fourfold.

But this will be an extended recovery. There's no question about that. The question is going to be how long.

And our biggest concern is certainly the energy and transformation grids that are needed to be repaired. Not only the transmission lines, but those rural energy providers that have to take the energy that's coming, say, from TVA or energy and move those to their customers. They have damage on their lines, too.

And so they're working to get those corrected so that when the main transmission problems are worked out, the transmission to customers will be a little faster. We're hoping it's going to be a faster process this time.

KEILAR: Do you have any information now on injuries or loss of life from this storm?

SIMMONS: We have two deaths confirmed. We have a handful of injuries. Thank heavens.

That's been the blessing. If you can find one in an ice event like this, one death in Tishomingo County, one in Hines County, there could have been so much more from this type of event. And we're still assessing.

Today is the assessment day, and we're still going out and doing welfare checks, working with our county partners, as they're always the tip of the spear of this type of response. But we've been relying on our locals to help us check going out and doing welfare checks, working with our county partners, as they're always the tip of the spear of this type of response. But we've been relying on our locals to help us check on those vulnerable people who have not been accounted for yet.

We believe that we have done the majority of that work, but of course, it's going to be going on for a while.

KEILAR: And what's your message to Mississippians right now and about resources they need to be aware of?

SIMMONS: First message is, especially the northern part of the state. If you can stay off the road, please do, because those linemen and those emergency responders that are still trying to navigate need accessibility. The linemen are taking on a Herculean challenge now, because you have frozen, broken trees on type of power lines, poles snapped, and those trucks are large.

They need access to roads. So if people can avoid sightseeing, certainly that northern part of the state, we would appreciate it. We would also appreciate some prayers.

So many residents in the northern part of our state right now are cold, and hopefully they're finding warming centers. Hopefully they're getting their power back into their home. But right now, that's what we ask for people to do, is just to think about those people who are dealing with that and perhaps offer a little prayer.

KEILAR: Yes, we've got an all call out for that for you there. Scott Simmons, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts after a quick break.

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