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Border Czar: Minnesota Immigration Enforcement Operation is Ending; Bodycam Footage Released of Border Patrol Agent Shooting Woman Five Times in Chicago; Investigators Expand Request for Nancy Guthrie Neighbors' Home Surveillance Video; Colorectal Cancer is Now Deadliest Cancer for Young Adults. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 12, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

CHRIS WRIGHT, ENERGY SECRETARY: ... We wish we didn't harbor Russians and Iranians in nearby states, so might President Trump also use his creative diplomacy to achieve massive geostrategic wins without guns and without American taxpayer money? I wouldn't bet against that.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: All right, Secretary Chris Wright, we'll see what comes next. We appreciate you sharing your time and point of view.

WRIGHT: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: We have new body cam footage and text messages revealing what really happened when a Chicago woman was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent. Those details, next.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Border Czar Tom Homan says the immigration surge in Minneapolis is coming to a close. The months-long enforcement operation led to widespread protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. Well now the state is left reeling in the aftermath. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says the crackdown did serious economic damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here. There are going to be accountability on the things that happened, but one of the things is the incredible and immense costs that were borne by the people of this state. The federal government needs to be responsible.

You don't get to break things and then just leave without doing something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Minneapolis was one of several Democrat-led cities that was targeted by the Trump administration here in recent months. And we're now learning some new details in the case of an American citizen shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago last year. CNN's Omar Jimenez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cameras on.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is newly released body camera video. A team of three Border Patrol agents is driving through a Southside Chicago neighborhood, two have guns drawn. Marimar Martinez, an American citizen and schoolteacher, is driving next to them, honking her horn, warning people to the presence of federal immigration enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do something b*tch.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Another vehicle is behind the agents, also honking the horn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, it's time to get aggressive and get the f**k out, because they're trying to box us in.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It all happens in seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we're fine, man. F**k.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, out of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised, we've been struck. We've been struck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out.

(GUN FIRE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Martinez was shot five times and survived. In this surveillance video, you can see the front of the agent's SUV come to a stop. Four seconds later, Martinez's silver Nissan drives off, she says, fearing for her life.

The Department of Homeland Security was quick to accuse her of attacking federal law enforcement, saying Border Patrol agents were, quote, " ... ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles." FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media about the incident quote, "Attack our law enforcement and this FBI will find you and bring you to justice." The post also included a link to video of a car ramming, but it had no connection to Martinez's case.

And the body camera video tells a different story. In the lead up to the collision, you hear agents say they are going to collide with Martinez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to make contact and we're boxed in.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): And just before the moment of impact, it's Agent Charles Exum who sharply turns his steering wheel in the direction of Martinez, proof, according to her attorney, that they hit her vehicle, not the other way around. And as for the claim of being boxed in, this surveillance video calls that comment into question with nothing in the path ahead of the border agent's vehicle.

The court also released text messages and e-mails from after the shooting, including one message from Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino just hours after the incident, offering to delay the retirement of Agent Exum, who shot Martinez, "In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do."

And then a text message exchange between Agent Exum and someone whose name was redacted. "Are they supportive?" Someone asked. "Big time. Everyone has been, including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Secretary Noem and El Jefe himself."

In various texts to and from fellow agents, the mood was celebratory. "Good job, brother. You are a legend among agents. You better effing know that." "Beers on me when I see you at training."

"That's awesome. You did real good." "Damn it, man. Good shooting."

The day after the shooting, Martinez was indicted. According to the complaint, she quote, "Forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated and interfered with an officer of the United States." After her attorney viewed the body camera footage and other evidence emerged that undermined the government's version of events, prosecutors made an extraordinary move and asked the judge to drop their own case.

The judge agreed. But not long after, she told me the shooting still haunts her.

MARIMAR MARTINEZ, SHOT 5 TIMES BY BORDER PATROL: I don't want to remember that day. You are lying. And you're just thinking about it, like, what's going to happen? Like, it's really emotional to me.

So it's like, it's hard for me to talk about it, but I'm trying.

JIMENEZ: And that's part of why Martinez pushed to get this information out, because she believed it allows people to have a greater understanding of how agents might react after incidents like this, no matter the city.

[15:40:00]

And to further clear her name, because to this point, the Department of Homeland Security has never retracted its accusations against Martinez, even after the criminal case against her was dropped at the request of the government.

Now, as for the shooting agent, Charles Exum, Customs and Border Protection, did tell CNN that he has been placed on routine administrative leave pending further investigation.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Omar for that.

Investigators are analyzing some new evidence found in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. What this could mean for the case ahead?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

KEILAR: The Pima County Sheriff says investigators are looking into a tip about a white van in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. This is one of several bits of information that they're examining nearly two weeks into the search for the missing 84-year-old.

SANCHEZ: Investigators have also expanded a request for video surveillance from residents in Guthrie's neighborhood. They want footage of cars, traffic, pedestrians, anything that residents feel may have been out of the ordinary. They also say they've recovered, quote, several items of evidence, including gloves.

Let's discuss with CNN law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, thanks for being with us.

We have some new threads of information today, including a lead that sources indicate investigators are looking for a white van. This is an unconfirmed tip to law enforcement officials with knowledge. How much weight do you put on that?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well you know, Boris, good afternoon. And it's right there in the way that you asked that question. Unconfirmed tip.

You know, this is a lead, but it's not a breakthrough. And what matters right now for investigators is as they get these types of leads is corroboration. How do they match that description of a white van to existing video or license plate readers or cell phone data, any time -- or any type of defined point in the timeline of this investigation?

So while this is an important bit of information, it's not the breakthrough that all of us are waiting for, especially the family and the investigators.

KEILAR: We're also learning about these gloves, plural, that have been recovered. How useful might that evidence be?

WACKROW: Well, again, it's very similar to this, the discussion around the white van. We can't automatically assume that these gloves are evidence. Now, from what we know that we've watched the video, these gloves really visually appear consistent from what we saw.

But investigators must determine through trace evidence in DNA, do they match the crime? And if that is the case, it would really suggest a spatial proximity to, you know, either a potential escape route. It will help investigators map movement overall.

But again, we have to, you know, validate whether or not these are pieces of evidence or not.

SANCHEZ: Jonathan, I'm curious to get your thoughts on this request from law enforcement for video footage from doorbell cameras and other surveillance video in the neighborhood where Nancy Guthrie's home is. Initially, they had asked to get camera footage from January 11th and January 31st. They've since expanded that to be January 1st to February 2nd.

Is it unusual for law enforcement to ask for something that broad? And I also wonder if there are any potential pitfalls in them requesting that footage from the public as opposed to getting it themselves and viewing it themselves, because they'd be able to distinguish perhaps what is suspicious and what is just, you know, innocuous.

WACKROW: Yes, I mean, I think that when you make this type of request, to me, what it signals is that law enforcement has a real solid reason to believe that something relevant happened during that time frame. And to your question, Boris, whether or not it's easier for law enforcement to just go out and retrieve it or to crowdsource it as they are, in this case, you know, law enforcement may be resource constrained, and it's difficult to go to all of these locations where you may or may not know that there is a camera. So it's better to just get it, get the information directly from the sources themselves.

And that's why you see this outreach. And really, when you take a look at that in that entire time span, what they're looking for is any type of pre-operational surveillance, anything that could indicate. And again, the white van that we discussed earlier becomes more important in this case.

Did we see a white van around the vehicle? Again, this comes down to multiple sightings over time and distance. Could that be a signal of this pre-operational surveillance?

So, again, it's appropriate for law enforcement to be taking this broader time frame and asking for this video. But what to me it signals is that law enforcement in their investigative phase right now is becoming really precise on what bit of information they are actioning off of, you know, moving forward.

KEILAR: How do they wade through so many tips now that we've seen this video there? They're saying, you know, they have probably by now it's tens of thousands of tips at this point.

WACKROW: Yes. No, and actually, from the moment that the video was released, we have reporting that they received well over 4,000 tips within 24 hours. So this is about triage management.

This is about how do you intake all of these tips? And really, it comes down to bucketing these into three main domains.

[15:50:00] It's what is immediately credible to law enforcement, specific names, license plates, something that can be attributable to a person. The second tip bucket is really pattern based.

You know, again, as I said, multiple sightings over time and distance. How do you start correlating all of those bits of information, those tips together? Again, hopefully leading to, you know, a potential person of interest, a vehicle of interest or ultimately a suspect.

And finally, there's a lot of general observations. These are tips that come in that are very broad in nature, but don't have a lot of certainty to it. So from all of that, law enforcement, you know, works with basically in a fusion, you know, a fusion model where they're taking all of this information, synthesizing it and then prioritizing what tips are prioritized first that we need to action off of.

So when we see law enforcement going back to a site or we see, you know, calls for greater assistance, to me, that signals that, again, with precision, they're trying to find and piece together these items of evidentiary value that ultimately will help solve this case.

SANCHEZ: And that call for greater assistance is still out there. If anyone watching knows anything about what happened to Nancy Guthrie has perhaps seen something or heard something, you're asked to call 1- 800-CALL-FBI and to help this family get some closure at a difficult time. Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much.

I just want to note as well, the footage that you saw of authorities recovering that glove was provided by The New York Post.

Now to some other headlines we're watching this hour. President Trump just told reporters that he wasn't aware of the new Jeffrey Epstein revelations involving Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Lutnick, during recent testimony on Capitol Hill, told lawmakers he once visited Epstein's island with his wife and kids, which directly contradicted statements that the Commerce Secretary made last year. Officials have not accused President Trump or Howard Lutnick of any wrongdoing related to the late sex trafficker.

KEILAR: Also, it looks like it's RIP to an OG in political polling. Gallup, one of the nation's most well-known and oldest analytics firm, says it will no longer track presidential approval or favorability ratings of political figures. And this move marks a major shift, ending one of the longest running efforts to track Americans' views of the president, dating back to Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s.

A new warning to young adults about colon cancer. What health experts say you need to hear.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The death of "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek is putting a renewed focus on colorectal cancer. KEILAR: The actor was among a growing number of people under 50 diagnosed with the disease. In recent years, other notable celebrities have died from colorectal cancer, including "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman, who was only 43.

Let's bring in CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard for more on this very important story. Jacqueline, exactly how many young people have this disease?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Brianna, it's now estimated that there's a new diagnosis every 25 minutes. That's what we are facing when we say we're seeing more and more colorectal cancer diagnoses in people under the age 50 here in the United States. And we are also seeing increases, sadly, in colorectal cancer deaths.

So when you look at the latest data from the American Cancer Society, it now shows that colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in people under age 50. It's followed by breast cancer, then brain cancer, then lung cancer, then leukemia. And what really stands out here, Boris and Brianna, is that on that list, colorectal cancer is the only disease -- or it's the only cancer type on that list where we see this continuous, ongoing upward trend, more cases and more deaths.

So it makes this really the exception when we think about cancer among young people, Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: And why is it that there is this exception that colorectal cancer continues to see this upward trend?

HOWARD: I know it's a question that many scientists are asking themselves. Some point to diet, ultra processed foods, obesity. Other experts say we can't rule out genetic factors or environmental factors.

And then some experts say it could be many of those factors kind of working together. So this really needs more research. But the bottom line for everyone out there, if you're at average risk, so you don't have family history, you don't have a personal history of cancer.

If you're at average risk, start screening at age 45. That's what's recommended when it comes to colorectal cancer. And of course, if you have any symptoms like blood in the stool, lingering abdominal pain that doesn't go away or unexplained weight loss, talk to your doctor if you notice anything that feels off.

That's important, too.

KEILAR: I think that's the thing, too, Jacqueline, is that this is something James Van Der Beek had talked about, was that he ignored some of these symptoms. And I think that's kind of a trend, right, that we hear with people who have colorectal cancer. They'll say, I sort of ignored these symptoms at first.

HOWARD: That's right, Brianna.

KEILAR: Can you talk a little bit about the importance of that?

HOWARD: Exactly. And yes, many young people will ignore the symptoms, and they think it might go away. But the reason why -- one of the reasons why we're seeing more colorectal cancer deaths is because the longer you ignore symptoms, the more time the disease has to advance or to spread.

And so many young people don't get diagnosed until they're at later stages. And that's when it's a lower survival rate.

[16:00:00]

And so that's one reason why we are seeing more deaths. So when it's caught early, it's easier to treat. And that's so important for people to remember.

KEILAR: Yes, really important. Such an important story, Jacqueline. Thank you so much for reporting on that.

And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END