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Tom Homan Declares ICE Operations in Minneapolis is Ending; Investigators Building New Timeline in Nancy Guthrie Case; Senator Susan Collins Officially Announces She's Running for Reelection. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 12, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Minnesota walking off there. He spoke for nearly half an hour but I have to say the headline could all be boiled down to one sentence. The border czar who's been in charge of the immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis. The surge there, just announced that this surge, as he's called it, is concluding and they will draw down the number of agents there.

He declared success. It made me think about, frankly, the famous comment attributed to George Aiken, the Vermont senator, during the Vietnam War, who said, we should just declare victory and go home.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: No matter what.

BERMAN: From a political standpoint, that seems to be what just happened there.

Let's get to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez helping us understand.

You've studied Tom Homan for years. You've listened to these sort of winding news conferences for years, but he just made a pretty big announcement about the fact that what they have been doing in Minnesota is basically over.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right but there is some nuance. Of course, he said that he proposed, Tom Homan proposed, and President Trump concurred that Operation Metro Surge will conclude. Surge is the key word there because, remember, this was an unprecedented operation from the very beginning when they had 2,000 federal agents who were deployed to the state of Minnesota.

However, now they will draw down those federal agents. He said that's going to happen over a period of time as they transition full command. That doesn't mean, however, that immigration enforcement ends. Of course ICE has been in the state of Minnesota for many years, and there are generally around 150 agents on the ground in the state. What this means, though, is that the surge, the unprecedented nature of this operation, that got so much public backlash is going to be drawing down even more.

And that is at the proposal of Tom Homan and with the blessing of President Trump. Now there were two themes here. He talked about often targeted enforcement. We've heard that from Tom Homan recently, but certainly over many years. And also the theme of cooperation, and I want to talk about that here briefly because he said, quote, "Minnesota is less of a sanctuary state for criminals."

Remember, that sanctuary state, sanctuary city was used in this tense back-and-forth between the White House and local officials. This idea that there wasn't enough cooperation between federal government and state and local governments. And that is what Tom Homan has been doing over the last two weeks, he said. Meeting with local officials, meeting with county jails so that instead they can get those undocumented immigrants who have criminal records as they're released from jails and put them into ICE custody for potential removal.

That is what was at the crux of this in so many of these public statements between federal officials and state and local officials. He also, however, recognized again that there were issues in the operation. He said he came to identify them. Remember being dispatched by President Trump. He said that they have solved for body cameras, for targeting, for zero tolerance, for misconduct.

We can't overlook the fact that people died in Minnesota over the course of this operation, and so he kept coming back to this idea that because they have struck cooperation with local officials, that they can now draw down the federal agents in the state. And I think we can sort of start to see this as the blueprint perhaps in other states and cities because this has been the crying call for Tom Homan, and he appears to have achieved something here for them to start to draw down the federal agents in the state even if immigration enforcement continues because ICE has been on the ground here.

And lastly, I'll leave you with the numbers. He said over 4,000 arrests in the state. He didn't have a breakdown. He did recognize that some of those were not public safety threats but certainly they are saying that they have been -- that they have achieved some sort of victory here. But it's of course we can't overlook what happened to get to this point.

BOLDUAN: That's very, very true.

Let's go over to the White House right now because Tom Homan talking, mentioning President Trump many times, Kevin, saying he's pleased to report the surge operation yielded the successful results we have came here for, and saying that the president concurred with his proposal. This surge operation now conclude.

It sounds like they are ready, no matter what, to declare mission accomplished in Minneapolis. What do you think is driving this now from the White House?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mission accomplished, but also mission continued. You know, I think Tom Homan had a delicate balance there to say, yes, this mission is concluding, but that the president's overall policy of mass deportations, which was his signature political issue as a candidate, is not ending. He said President Trump promised mass deportations, and that's what the people are going to get.

You know, I think that this had been kind of the direction of travel for quite some time. You know, you saw Tom Homan last week say that 700 agents were coming out of Minnesota. You heard President Trump himself saying in an interview last week that he thought that perhaps a softer touch was needed in this hard line immigration agenda.

[09:35:05]

And so when Tom Homan comes out, you know, spends 15 minutes declaring victory before eventually getting to the headline that the mission will conclude after 73 days, after mass detentions, and after two Americans were shot dead. I think you see him there, you know, really kind of trying to balance both what the president wants to project, which is strength on the immigration front, but also the reality that had been sinking in at the White House, that some of the tactics and some of the images were becoming very, very damaging.

The other thing that I think Tom Homan didn't mention, which is another backdrop to what is happening today, is this funding battle that's unfolding on Capitol Hill, as Democrats resist spending any more money on DHS and on ICE and on CBP as they, you know, demand certain reforms be in place and how those agencies are going about their jobs here. At this point, it does not seem as if there's any resolution to that.

And I think perhaps the hope among Republicans is that this action will be conciliatory enough for Democrats to say we can find an agreement here because one of their demands had been and certainly this had been a demand by the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis is that the federal agents leave the state. And so the fact that it's happening today, you know, one day before that funding expires, I think is important context for this announcement.

BERMAN: Yes, I think you're right, Kevin, to point out the political nature of this, because there will be questions and arguments made over the next several hours about whether this was really just a strategic retreat here, that what Tom Homan was doing there was saying, we're going by and large, I know it's a surge. Not every day ICE activity but the surge is ending here. And that was going to happen no matter what.

But we're just going to say we had mass success over the last 72 days. And there will be questions about whether this retreat would have happened had there not been the uproar over to the killing of two U.S. citizens there.

Elie Honig, our senior legal analyst, watching along with us here.

So from a functional standard, Homan talked about all kinds of changes that have been made here, but functionally speaking, it does seem that ICE operations in Minnesota in a week when all the ICE officers and Border Patrol officers do leave, will go back to the way it was before 72 days ago.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. John, major development. So as Priscilla said, the surge is over but Tom Homan made a point of stressing that the footprint of ICE will remain. ICE will continue to do business there, but those extra troops that were surged in or law enforcement officers who were surged in will be pulled out. But a lot of this is a balancing act politically and legally.

So a couple key points. First of all, Homan was asked about targeted operations. When people asked that what they mean is, is ICE going after people with known criminal records who are here illegally or just people who are here illegally? Now Homan said there have been a total of 4,000 arrests. He did not know the statistical breakdown as to how many of those were targeted, were people with known criminal records and how many were not.

There's also a balancing act between where the state and local officials will work with ICE and will allow them to go and where they want. And what Homan said is we the feds, we ICE have been respecting certain sensitive areas, hospitals, schools, churches, and on the other hand, Homan said, we've now -- he said he had met with various county sheriffs who said, we will allow you to come into our state and local jails and arrest people who are here illegally and who have known criminal records.

And the last point I want to make one question that was not asked, John, and I think will remain a large concern is what exactly is happening with the ongoing investigations into the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good? Homan was not asked that. We've been given, at best, mixed signals from the authorities. It looks like the answer on Renee Good, based on what we've heard from Kristi Noem, from people in DOJ, as there is no criminal investigation.

Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi have given us mixed signals on whether there is an ongoing investigation into the death of Alex Pretti but I think people even with the surge ending, I think people are still going to be very much focused on those questions as well.

BERMAN: No doubt about that. Elie Honig, Priscilla Alvarez, Kevin Liptak, thank you all.

Again, the breaking news, major breaking news, Tom Homan just announced that surge operations for immigration enforcement in Minnesota are over.

BOLDUAN: Our breaking news coverage continues this morning, including with this. Investigators are now looking into a new timeline in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie. We have updates on that ahead.

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[09:43:54]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, a new alert was sent out to Nancy Guthrie's neighbors. In it, it sort of says investigators are searching for a suspicious vehicle. They're asking for those neighbors to check their home camera footage on two specific dates, January 11th, between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, and also January 31st between 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. That was the last day that Guthrie was seen.

With us now is decorated former FBI special agent Kyle Vowinkel, one of only 10 agents chosen for the FBI's elite crisis negotiation unit.

Kyle, great to see you this morning. I want to talk about this calendar here because I think it's so interesting and important to point out the dates. Officials are asking for people to check their home security footage from the 31st. That makes sense, right? This is the day, the night, between the 31st and the first that Nancy Guthrie went missing. But also three weeks before that, Sunday, January 11th, during specific hours.

So what does this level of specificity on these two specific dates tell you?

[09:45:02]

KYLE VOWINKEL, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, this kind of targeted request typically indicates the investigation is moving from broad based evidence collection into a narrower lead corroboration and validation of timeline. So when the FBI asked for specific videos from specific time and location, they're usually trying to confirm something that's already in the case, investigative stream. A tip, a vehicle lead, or some piece of physical or digital evidence that they're now trying to corroborate.

It's no longer an -- initially a member of law enforcement asked, did anyone see anything? Now we've transitioned to more focused, did this happen at this place and this time? So that's how investigators build a defensible timeline of events.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about something also that we saw on this video. In the video you see the individual, this is the video released yesterday, wearing a backpack right here. Well, CNN did some digging on this and found out that it appears to match an Ozark trail backpack like this sold at Walmart, right? This is actually right off the Walmart page. You can see the backpack here in the video. You can see how it is sold at Walmart.

So if investigators make this match, what can you then do with that information?

VOWINKEL: Well, investigators are analyzing every piece of article of clothing in that video. There's teams assigned to the backpack, to the ski mask, to the gloves, and they're going to the manufacturer initially asking for their distribution network. Who sells those items, what stores in that area. And then the agents are going to follow up and go to those stores. They're going to ask for receipts, records, one who purchased those items, and then they're going to follow up and talk to those people who purchased those items.

So this is what the FBI is the best at when you combine, you know, the three ecosystems of the FBI intelligence with the FBI investigations, with our technical prowess, the speed at which the unknowns become known is incredible. BERMAN: Very quickly, you mentioned the gloves here. The "New York

Post" had video of a glove that officials identified and picked up about a mile and a half from the scene. They did this yesterday, though. You can see side by side the image of the glove that they found and then the glove on this video. Now it's impossible to know whether they're the same glove or not.

I guess one question I have, though, is why was it that this search, a mile and a half from the home, was only picking up items, whether or not they matter or otherwise, you know, 12 days after Nancy Guthrie went missing?

VOWINKEL: There likely was a search already conducted in the area. This is a small glove. It is easy to overlook items. And you know, we're talking about a very large area. And maybe there was new information, a new lead that pointed in that direction of travel. Maybe they've possibly identified the perpetrator's route of egress or -- entry or egress. So there's many reasons it could have gone back.

It's a fantastic positive potential lead which the FBI lab will quickly be able to determine, does it match debris from the crime scene and more importantly, is there DNA match from the victim or the subject on those gloves?

BERMAN: All right. And they will use that information if they can find.

Kyle Vowinkel, thank you so much for talking to us this morning. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Ahead we have more on the breaking news that just that just happened here on the show. Border czar Tom Homan now announcing that the surge operation, the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis is coming to an end. We'll be right back.

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[09:52:56]

BERMAN: All right, new this week, Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, officially announced she is running for reelection. Everyone thought she was already, but she made it official. She made it official. So what do we know about her chances this morning.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

So Susan Collins is running.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: She's been there for a while. She's always seen as a vulnerable Republican, one of the few, maybe incumbent vulnerable Republicans. What her chances of winning? What do the prediction markets said?

ENTEN: She is the last Republican in the great subdivision known as New England. Right? And Democrats have been going after her for years. They may finally get their woman. What are we talking about here? OK. Chance to win the Maine Senate race. You go back to August 12th, 2025, six months ago, it was about split. 51 percent chance the GOP win, 49 percent chance that Dem wins according to the Kalshi Prediction market.

But look at this. The Democrats' chance up like a rocket. Now 67 percent chance of winning. Republican chance of winning, likely to be Susan Collins, just a 33 percent chance. So Susan Collins still in this. But Democrats at this point have a 2 to 1 advantage if you believe the people who are putting their money where their mouths are.

BERMAN: It is interesting because Susan Collins has been vulnerable before and prevailed. So it's interesting that prediction markets are saying this. There, of course, is a very contested Democratic primary for who gets to take Susan Collins on. What are the predictions there?

ENTEN: OK. So, you know, I think a lot of Republicans perhaps want to face Graham Platner and say, OK, what does this mean? Does this mean that in fact, Janet Mills, the governor there, is in fact favored? No, according to the Kalshi prediction mark, look at this, chance to be the Maine Senate Democratic nominee, it's actually Graham Platner, who is favored with 68 percent chance. And then you have Mills there at about a 34 percent chance.

So the bottom line is this. It looks at this particular point, more likely than not that in fact the more progressive candidate will in fact be the Democratic nominee in the state of Maine.

BERMAN: Seen as more of the establishment choice, seen as perhaps riskier here, but loved, beloved by some progressives here.

Now again, why is Susan Collins in such an unusual situation?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. Why is Susan Collins in such an unusual situation? Why Maine Democrats finally be able to defeat her?

[09:55:02]

Well, you know, Susan Collins, of course has been reelected over and over and over again in a state that the Democrats have won but now that is extremely unusual back then when it used to be. OK, senators and states, the other party won by at least six points in the last presidential race. Back in 2010 it was 16. Voters are no longer splitting their ticket. Now it's just one. So for the United States Senate, used to be folks would split their ticket. You had 16 senators from states that the presidential candidate from the other party won by at least six points. Now it's just one.

And then I will note one last nugget, John Berman, you know, historically speaking Susan Collins has been pretty gosh darn popular. But Susan Collins' net popularity in Maine each pollster's last poll, get this, positive in none of the polls. She's underwater in all of them. Very much unlike her past bids.

BERMAN: Not where you want to be. ENTEN: No.

BERMAN: Underwater in Maine. The water is cold.

Harry, thank you very much.

We got a lot of news, including a lot of breaking news. We'll be right back.

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