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Border Czar Arrives in Minneapolis Today; Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) is Interviewed about Minnesota and the Government Shutdown; Trump Heads to Iowa; A Look at Who Alex Pretti Was; Derrick Johnson is Interviewed about ICE and DHS Funding. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 27, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:06]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the potential ground shift happening in Minnesota. The Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, is facing intense scrutiny after the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis and scrutiny over her reaction to it. "The New York Times" reports Noem met with President Trump on Monday evening in the Oval Office for nearly two hours. Sources told "The Times," the president did not suggest during that meeting that she was at risk of losing her job, but you did hear from the White House podium, the press secretary distancing the president from comments that Noem had made.

And take that on top of what we've also seen from the president, making a big leadership change in his immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino is being sent out. Border czar Tom Homan is now being sent in. And the president has now held calls with both the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota.

Whitney Wild is live in Minneapolis this morning with the very latest. And what is that?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this is a new day here. We spoke with one woman last night who said that the fact that Greg Bovino is leaving was the best news she'd heard all week.

As we move through the day, we are going to try to find out more from people living here, if they think that this is a -- if this is a real shift, if this is going to alleviate their concerns about how these immigration agents have been reacting on the ground. But it is very much an open question here, Kate.

I think what we saw yesterday in a court hearing was real suspicion among local law enforcement here over federal official's actions, specifically with regard to the Alex Pretti shooting. Yesterday we saw a pretty extraordinary court hearing where the Minnesota BCA and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, concerned that the Alex Pretti evidence is not going to be preserved to their standard, that they may never have a chance to actually review it for themselves, which they say is absolutely critical because they say they are absolutely committed to conducting their own independent investigation.

And the reason it was so extraordinary, Kate, is it was just in June when we saw BCA work with federal officials to bring justice for the shooting death of a state lawmaker and her husband and the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife. And so it was a really extraordinary moment to see people who are normally on the same team and work together now on opposite sides of the courtroom in a court battle over this extremely high-profile shooting.

There are major questions today about the impact of Tom Homan, you know, President Trump's border czar. We expect that he is -- he's probably on the ground now. If not, he will be here very soon. And he says that he is going to meet with local leaders here. So, we will continue to ask about that and find out if he, being on the ground here as this longtime ICE agent with a different -- certainly a higher rank than Commander Greg Bovino, if he brings a new tone here and if the tactics here will shift under someone who is generally very well respected within DHS with a long history of law enforcement.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Those are the questions to be asking, for sure.

Whitney, thank you very much.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland.

Senator, thank you so much for being with us.

So, Bovino is out. Homan is in. President Trump is talking with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey. Allegedly, there are some changes happening on the ground there. More and more Republican senators are coming forward, and members of Congress, saying they want an independent investigation. How satisfied are you with what's been happening?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): Tom, I'm not satisfied, because what we need is permanent changes with respect to how ICE and the Border Patrol folks conduct themselves. And that will require reining in ICE, as well as the Border Control folks. And it also means creating a system for accountability. We need accountability in this particular case, in both cases in Minnesota where we've seen killings, but we also need an ongoing commitment to make sure that there's accountability.

The problem we've seen is that these agents are essentially being told from the White House by people like Steve Miller, people like Secretary Noem, people like President Trump, that they can go out and kill Americans with impunity. And so, we need systemic changes here before we move forward with the appropriations. BERMAN: How do you get permanent changes? And you say, before we move

forward with the appropriations. What you seem to be saying is, you are a no vote on these six appropriation bills that are tied together this week. If they don't pass there would be a partial government shutdown. What's your specific ask for changes to Homeland Security?

[08:35:05]

VAN HOLLEN: Well, John, two things first. Number one, Republicans should not be shutting down the government, the six agencies, in order to hold reform at ICE and Border Patrol hostage. In other words, we could immediately vote to separate five of these six bills and then deal and focus on the Homeland Security piece. After all, the House of Representatives passed the Homeland Security bill on its own. It wasn't lumped in with the Defense Department and everything else. So, we can easily do that if Republicans were willing to do that.

Secondly, with respect to reforms, they fall into a couple buckets. One is accountability. We talked a little bit about that. In terms of reining in ICE, I think they should have a warrant before they engage in arrests. We need to make sure, in my view, that mayors and governors of states provide consent before ICE or Border Patrol come into their cities and states in these big numbers. ICE -- the number of people ICE -- in ICE now, it's bigger than the armies of many countries. And then there are other things we need to do. Get rid of the masks. Make sure people have body cameras. There are other things that are -- should be on the table. So, we should just take a little time and get that right.

BERMAN: How do you feel about calls among some, not all Democrats, to abolish ICE?

VAN HOLLEN: I think it requires radical reform, but because what we're witnessing right now is it's completely out of control. But of course a lot of that, John, is the messages they're getting from Donald Trump and Steve Miller and Kristi Noem. I mean Kristi Noem should be out of there, right? Steve Miller should be out of there. Because they're -- they've been lying through their teeth. They're the ones calling, you know, these victims domestic terrorists. They're the ones that are just lying to the American people. They must think we're all stupid because we can see the video of Alex Pretti. And we can see the video of Renee Good. We know they're not domestic terrorists, despite the lies coming out of the White House. And I just think this is going to require dramatic change before we can really move forward with the funding for these pieces of the Department of Homeland Security.

BERMAN: You say radical reform for ICE. Does that mean defund ICE?

VAN HOLLEN: It means not another dime for ICE until some of the changes you and I just talked about take place.

BERMAN: And if these changes are made, or if some progress is made, do you think there's room for agreement between Democrats and Republicans? What discussions have you had with people across the aisle in the last 48 hours? VAN HOLLEN: Well, the last 48 hours people have pretty much been

dispersed to their states in the middle of snowstorms. I've had some conversations, and certainly had conversations with my Democratic Senate colleagues as to the package of dramatic changes that needs to be put forward. And we're in the process right now of winnowing that down. But there are really three buckets here. There are the kind of changes you and I just talked about, to rein in ICE and the Border Patrol.

There are also the accountability pieces. I mean we can't just allow the Department of Homeland Security to investigate itself. And so there needs to be some mechanism created to deal with that.

And then there's the funding piece, John, because Republicans in their big, beautiful bill, when they cut Medicaid for millions of Americans and gave tax breaks to the wealthiest in the country, permanent ones, they also put a whole lot of money into ICE. More than is necessary in any normal world. And so, that's another thing that we want to talk about.

But we will -- we will try to winnow these things down. But the bottom line is, we've got to rein in this lawless operation. And we do need to hold people accountable. And again, the messages here are coming from the president and Noem and Steve Miller and others. And so, they're going to have to agree with us to fundamentally reform ICE and the Border Patrol operations.

BERMAN: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, yesterday, made clear that she had never heard President Trump use the language describing Alex Pretti, that Secretary Noem and Stephen Miller did.

But, Senator Van Hollen, thank you for your time today. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also today, President Trump is heading to the heartland to refocus on the economy. He'll be in Iowa for a speech. The type of trip that the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, has promised would become much more frequent with the midterm elections looming.

[08:40:06]

Just yesterday, the president, on the economy, announced that he is raising tariffs on South Korea. Now, many goods from the U.S. ally will face a tax of 25 percent, up from 15 percent after the president claimed South Korea is not living up to the trade deal that they reached back in July. South Korea's presidential office responded to that by saying it's received no formal notice or explanation of the details here.

CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar joins me now with much more on this.

First, let's talk about the president's speech. The reporting is he's set to focus on energy and the economy as part of this strategy to get him on the road -- get him on the road ahead of the midterms to talk affordability. John was talking to Matt Egan earlier. Natural gas prices have just skyrocketed after that winter storm, doubled in just ten days. So, this will be top of mind. How is the administration doing on attacking the affordability crisis, Rana?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMICS ANALYST: You know, Kate, I think they've got a real uphill slog here. You know, you'll remember a few weeks ago, a couple of months ago, when the Democrats were really starting to make some traction with bringing affordability forward as an issue, not just an economic issue, but a political issue, that's when Venezuela happened. That's when Greenland happened. That's when we started to hear a lot more about what was happening outside of the country than the affordability crisis from the president. That's a tactic. That's a tactic that many, many leaders in many countries that have problems inside the country use. They focus on things outside the country.

Now, that said, the president has sort of nibbled at this issue. He's talked about, for example, putting limits on the amount of investor housing that can be purchased by, say, you know, large corporations. He's talked about health care tweaks. I mean -- but these are -- these are things at the margin. We haven't heard a real, systemic, here is how I'm going to make sure that being middle class in America is still affordable. I mean the price of housing, health care, education, all of these things have been skyrocketing at multiple times the inflation rate over the last couple of decades, actually. And it's something that it's not going to be fixed overnight.

At the same time, as you point out, because of weather, but also because of longer term issues, like tariffs, structural changes to the economy, reshoring, manufacturing, these things, you know, you can like them or not like them, but they are inflationary in the short term. So, at a time, too, when we've just found out that the labor share of the economy is the lowest it's been since BLS records have been kept in the 1940s, that means average workers are taking home less of the overall economic pie than they have in 70 years. That's a lot to, you know, dig yourself out from in terms of communicating to the American people about why the economy is better now than it was, you know, a couple of years ago.

BOLDUAN: And all of this kind of adds up to something that you just wrote about, your new piece that you wrote. It starts this way, "Donald Trump is a bad answer to good questions. Never has this been clearer than in the last two weeks." Explain.

FOROOHAR: Well, you know, I think one of Trump's great gifts, frankly, as a politician, has been that he can look at the system, the old system, and say, here are the fault (AUDIO GAP) tariffs.

For example, when Trump won, when Trump was first elected, his USTR, Bob Lighthizer, who I actually have a lot of respect for, kind of raised the scrim on the U.S.-China trading relationship and said, we got to fix this. Politicians on both sides of the aisle were not talking about that. It's a good question. However, is putting tariffs randomly every week something different on the entire world, adversaries and allies alike, the right way to deal with it? No. Take Venezuela. Are drug cartels a scourge? Were many people happy to

see the back of Maduro? Absolutely. Is taking over an entire country, or threatening to, seizing oil tankers and, again, alienating allies, important allies, Europeans, Canadians, et cetera, is that the way to go? No. Same with Greenland.

Mark Carney, who's the Canadian prime minister, gave a very powerful speech in Davos saying, this is not some kind of an evolution that we're going through. It is a rupture. It is a breaking of the old order. If you're going to break it, you got to have some ways to fix it. And I don't see that yet.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And add to that you've got the British prime minister is going to be the first British leader to visit China in eight years tomorrow. Just signs of people looking all sorts of places for allies when it comes to the -- their economics right now.

Rana, thank you so much.

Ahead for us, an icy rescue caught on camera. A dog pulled to safety after falling into a frigid pond. We have that video for you.

And why Tyra Banks is now admitting that she went, in her words, too far on her hit show "America's Next Top Model."

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[08:48:52]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm live here in Minneapolis as emotions, very high. Frustration, very high. And demands for ICE to leave by residents here still front and center as the administration begins to crack in its tough stance, now talking about bringing some agents out and also replacing the leadership.

Amidst all this, there is a strong reaction to the way the administration has been talking about the victim in this case, Alex Pretti, who died at the hands of Border Patrol officers in the streets, all of it caught on camera. Everyone here is looking at what the administration is saying and seeing them smear a dead man's name. A man killed by their agents.

So, we went out and talked to some of the people who knew him to learn more about Alex Pretti and the life that he led.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice over): Thirty-seven-year-old Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse. His job involved treating critically ill patients at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center.

ALEX PRETTI: May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom.

[08:50:01]

SIDNER (voice over): That's him giving tribute to a veteran who died.

A chaplain who worked alongside him for ten years at the V.A. hospital spoke of him in a Sunday service.

REV. HARRY TASTO, BASILICA OF SAINT MARY, MINNEAPOLIS: He was known for his kindness and gentleness.

SIDNER (voice over): Border Patrol agents shot Pretti multiple times. His body slumping dead on the pavement on Saturday. Friends say, and video shows, he was trying to protect a woman agents were shoving as Border Patrol agents came to the neighborhood hunting someone else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely he was standing up for someone.

SIDNER (voice over): Pretti's friends and neighbors say he began protesting ICE actions after an ICE agent killed Renee Good during her encounter with ICE.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Alex that I want the world to remember was out on the streets yesterday with 50,000 people on general strike in a mass, non-violent protest.

SIDNER (voice over): Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was a Boy Scout, sang in the Green Bay Boys Choir and played football, baseball, and ran track at Preble High School.

PATRICK STUMBRAS, FORMER CLASSMATE OF ALEX PRETTI: A lot of people had a lot of respect for him. An attack on Alex feels like an attack on all of us.

SIDNER (voice over): His former high school classmate described him as someone with a zest for life.

STUMBRAS: I don't have words to describe the amount of rage that I have when he's described as a domestic terrorist.

But he was there to help people. He was there to spread a message of warmth and love in this, in this country.

SIDNER (voice over): He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 with a degree in biology, society and the environment. He was a research scientist before he became a registered nurse. He was an outdoorsman who also loved the theater and the arts. His parents released a statement describing their son. "Alex," they said, "was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends, and also the American veterans whom he cared for. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact."

A former teacher recalled, "he was a good student who loved helping people. I'm not one bit surprised that his final act on this earth was to help a woman who had been viciously thrown to the ground."

CHRISTOPHER DISALVI, FRIEND OF ALEX PRETTI: This is a guy who was trying to serve others, too. He was genuine. He was kind. He was friendly to everybody that I know. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): And there is nothing in his background that would suggest what the Trump administration initially said about him, that he was a domestic terrorist. That has riled people here who are standing up for his legacy as a person that they say has always just wanted to help people, which is why he became an ICU nurse at the veteran's facility.

All right, let us bring in now the NAACP president, Derrick Johnson, who is joining us now. And on your way, as I understand it, to Minneapolis.

What are your plans and what will be your message as you get here?

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Well, we're launching a campaign to defund ICE. At this point, it is an agency that has lost all trust of the American people. It is no longer about Border Patrol. It's no longer about addressing individuals undocumented who are here causing some type of criminal activity. It is causing harm to American people. It is -- it is killing American citizens. That should not be funded. Congress must act this week and not pass the continuing resolutions to fund ICE, because if it does, it is state sanctioned harm that's creating problems for the American people.

SIDNER: You will have to remind me, because I do not remember this, but wanted you -- to ask you about this. There was a huge movement after the police murder of George Floyd here in this city where people were calling to defund the police. Did the NAACP ever take a stand on that, or is this something that is really unprecedented that you're asking the federal government and Congress, members of Congress, to defund ICE?

JOHNSON: So, this is completely separate. Let's understand, ICE enforcement agencies are seeking to enact civil penalties for individuals who they believe are in this country undocumented and who have caused criminal -- been part of criminal activities in this country. What we are witnessing are individuals who are masked, unidentified, terrorizing communities and killing U.S. citizens. That is two completely different things.

In this moment, Congress has the ability to hold this agency, this administration, accountable by not pushing forth funding for an agency that has proven to be ineffective. We don't know who these officers are. They are under-trained. They have no sensitivity towards U.S. citizens.

[08:55:01]

They are terrorizing citizens. And in two very clear incidents, they killed American citizens. And this administration has tried to cover it up and mislead the American people.

This is completely different. This is something we've never seen in this country before. And we should not use our tax dollars to fund the assassination of citizens in the streets of Minneapolis or any other street in this country

SIDNER: I do want to ask you if you know anything about Nekima Levy- Pounds, who was the former local leader of the NAACP, who was arrested after going into a church and protesting the pastor there, who was a member of ICE, as well as a pastor? What are you learning, if anything, about her and how she is and what she has been saying about what happened to her?

JOHNSON: Well, a very strong voice, an advocate. Someone in that community who's a pastor, who's a lawyer, who is also concerned with the harm that was being created to communities, neighborhoods and citizens. Once again, we're talking about an agency that that has allowed their officers to go into communities. We don't know if they're true ICE agents or not. There's no accountability. We don't even know the identity of the individual who -- the two individuals who shot the citizen this past weekend.

We should not tolerate in this country vigilante justice any more than state sanctioned justice. And what we are witnessing here are individuals we think are officers of ICE. We don't know. We don't know their identity. There's no accountability. There's no oversight. And it has been shown that this administration is willing to cover up, mislead or lie about the incident when the video footage is clear around what has happened.

So, I commend Nekima and all of those who have taken to the streets for peaceful protest to say, this isn't right. This isn't America, or it should not be America, and Congress must act this week and not provide funding to this agency that is terrorizing U.S. citizens, not individuals who are undocumented, U.S. citizens.

SIDNER: And her case still ongoing with the administration, saying she illegally went into this church. It is one of the investigations that is happening that we know more about than the investigation by the federal government into.

JOHNSON: But let's be clear, she did not --

SIDNER: Hold on. Hold on, I will let you (INAUDIBLE) --

JOHNSON: She did not --

(CROSS TALK)

SIDNER: But we know more about -- my point is, we know more --

JOHNSON: She went to a church.

SIDNER: What -- I'm sorry, say it again.

JOHNSON: Yes, your statement, she illegally went into a church. She didn't illegally go into a church. You're statement was she illegally went into a church. She --

SIDNER: Yes, it wasn't my statement. Yes, it wasn't my statement. I --

(CROSS TALK)

SIDNER: Yes, it wasn't my statement. It is --

JOHNSON: Let's -- I want to stay focused on that this --

SIDNER: Yes, it wasn't my statement.

JOHNSON: Agency is a problem. This --

SIDNER: I -- sir --

JOHNSON: This agency is a problem. And they should not be funded by Congress.

SIDNER: I understand. Yes.

JOHNSON: This is the week that Congress must act. The U.S. Senate has the ability to move forward and not fund this agency because this agency is causing harm in our communities. That's why we're calling on the American people to text "dry ice" to 20707 and so we can pass through to Congress and say, do not fund this agency. We have never seen something as grotesque as we're witnessing today. Video footage of a woman being shot in her face in the U.S., as well as an individual who have been shot simply by having a video -- his phone camera in his hand. Peaceful protest. In this moment, we must stand up as Americans, across communities, and say, let's stop funding this agency because this administration have not proven to hold this agency accountable.

SIDNER: Yes. And my point was that we know more about what they are saying and their investigation into the former leader of the NAACP here than we do about the officers involved in the shooting of Alex Pretti, this latest shooting, and the investigation into the shooting of Renee Good. So, that is something that people have really noticed and are very, very upset with.

And I do want to mention, I know that you are coming here. We are now learning that there is going to be a town hall by Ilhan Omar, congressman -- a congressperson's representative here in Minneapolis who I'm sure all of these issues will be coming up there. CNN will also have its town hall on Wednesday, speaking to many different leaders. And I'm sure that you too will be invited to come and attend that.

We do appreciate you taking the time.

[09:00:00]

I know you're on your way here and in transit because this weather has been treacherous for everyone trying to get here. Thank you to NAACP President Derrick