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Man Shot and Killed by Federal Agents in Minneapolis, DHS Says Man was Armed; Minnesota Governor Demands Shooting Investigation be Led by the State; Power Outages Mount, Roads Close as Winter Storm Slams U.S. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 25, 2026 - 03:30   ET

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

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[03:00:00]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to all of our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York.

And I want to get you straight to our breaking news coverage, and we want to start in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That's where federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old man during a protest on Saturday. Alex Pretti was his name. He was an intensive care nurse unit at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital. CNN has examined video of the deadly encounter warning that footage is graphic, it is disturbing, but also important to give you an idea of what went down. The video showing several federal officers wrestling Pretti to the ground, at least one agent appears to be kicking him. Later in the video, officers fire at least ten rounds. The Department of Homeland Security says that officers took his handgun from Pretti and accused him of threatening federal agents. Well, here's what Christie Nome says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently. Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Now, at no point in any of the videos reviewed by CNN can Pretti be seen wielding that weapon and Minneapolis Police say that he was a lawful gun owner with a permit. In a statement, Pretti's family condemned what they say are sickening lies about their son told by the Trump administration. They say, quote, Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.

Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz says that video disproves the Trump administration's, quote, nonsense and lies about how the shooting went down. And Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey sends this message straight to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D-MINNEAPOLIS, MN): To President Trump, this is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment. Let's achieve peace. Let's end this operation. And I'm telling you, our city will come back. Safety will be restored. We're asking for you to take action now to remove these federal agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's go live now to Julia Vargas Jones just keeping a close eye on developments there in Minneapolis. Julia, obviously local officials there are working to try to preserve as much evidence as they can. What's the latest on that?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that a federal judge has now ruled that they have to, those federal agents will have to preserve any evidence taken from this morning's shooting. This happened just a few hours ago. They're basically a temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge, District Judge Eric Tostrud, that blocks all of those federal agents from destroying or altering evidence related to the shooting. It bars those federal defendants from destroying or altering any of the evidence.

That, of course, after that lawsuit, Polo, you mentioned by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, where they allege that the defendants in this case, federal agents, had taken evidence from the scene of the shooting and then prevented state authorities from inspecting. There will be a hearing on Monday.

But it goes to a little bit more of our reporting from earlier today where we spoke with the chief of police of Minneapolis, who said that he had referenced some of the videos, but he had said at the time that he hadn't received any kind of public safety statement from federal authorities. And then he told CNN directly that officials tried to stop, physically stop local police from accessing the scene. We also heard from the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that there is some uncertainty about how this investigation will now move forward.

Of course, now, the courts are involved. There may be a little bit more direction on what happens here, but the response from DHS has been unwavering. We heard from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She had called this a violent riot. She had said Pretti was there to massacre law enforcement, and that the local and state law enforcement was uncooperative.

[03:05:06]

But the way that the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, described the videos, he said were that it was deeply troubling images of those federal agents forcing or using force against the city resident during this protest. That resident, of course, Alex Pretti, that ICU nurse who worked tirelessly with veterans, veterans fighting cancer in that ICU in Minneapolis, you had a quote there from his parents. Our colleague, Sara Sidner, spoke earlier, Polo, with one of Alex's neighbors on how he wanted to remember him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS GRAY, VICTIM'S NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOR: I remember Alex watching, walking his dog by my house, but 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 nonviolent protest. He was an ICU nurse. He was a worker like myself. He was part of the fabric of my community, along with immigrants and many other people who represent our neighborhood. And the people destroying our neighborhood are these ICE agents who are running around out of control, who have done nothing to make my life safer, who have done nothing to make my life better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And Alex's parents also said, Polo, that their son wanted to make a difference in the world and quite heartbreakingly added he will not be able now to be part of that different world. Polo?

SANDOVAL: Yes. And by many accounts, he did make a difference while working in that hospital.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for working into the night, keeping us updated on the situation on the ground.

I want to take you to Washington, where Senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes has more on the Trump administration's response to the fatal shooting.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Now, in the aftermath of this shooting, the Trump administration is doubling down on this effort to put federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and really across the country. We heard from Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who I was told by sources, was in touch with the White House all day. The White House believed that she should be the face of this response since it is technically under her purview. But she had gone through all of her messaging with the White House beforehand.

One thing to keep in mind as president -- as Kristi Noem ended up blaming not only the man who was shot, but also the local officials in Minnesota for what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOEM: We don't have this problem in Texas or in Florida because those individuals in those states work with us. And they make sure that they keep peace and calm while they bring criminals to justice.

In Minneapolis, Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, they instead choose violence. They instead choose to encourage the destruction of their city and the crime against their people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, I was told that behind closed doors, President Trump has been defending this agent who actually pulled the trigger, and he has continued to try and sell his immigration messaging even in the aftermath of this shooting. We saw him posting multiple times on Truth Social. And it seemed as though there was a disconnect in what he was saying to the actual shooting. He started talking a lot about the fraud in Minnesota. But I was told by an official who was familiar with this choice or strategy, if that -- if you want to call it that, of President Trump's, was that he was trying to remind Americans why those officials, those federal agents were in Minnesota in the first place. This, of course, comes, as we know, he has been increasingly frustrated that his message on immigration is getting lost amid all the chaos we're seeing across the country, and particularly in Minneapolis.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

SANDOVAL: And then there's this. The National Rifle Association is weighing in on the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti after comments made by the Trump-appointed prosecutor angered the organization. The top federal prosecutor of Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, appeared to prejudge the case involving Pretti. In a post on social media, he said, quote, if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don't do it, he warned, to which the NRA responded that the prosecutor was, quote, dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law- abiding citizens. The gun rights group condemning -- the condemnation from the gun rights group, it also runs counter to the quick pronouncements of other administration officials.

And Saturday's incident comes just over two weeks after another Minneapolis residence, Renee Good, was fatally shot by an ICE agent. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar now has this message for immigration officials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Our message is really clear and straightforward. We need ICE out of Minnesota. They are not making us more safe, as the tragic, tragic killing this morning, as people saw it viscerally on that video, shows us they are making us less safe.

[03:10:11]

With 3,000 agents, which, of course, includes border control, outnumbering the sworn police officers in Minneapolis and St. Paul by three to one, and even larger than the ten metropolitan police departments, this is completely out of whack, completely out of balance, and now three people have been shot, two resulting in death, one, Renee Good, mother of three, and now Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis man, a citizen, also a nurse. They both have families that love them very much. This city has been under siege. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And as that city grapples with yet another shooting involving federal agents, earlier, I spoke with Law Enforcement Contributor Steve Moore, about what the city should be doing in order to agree to buffer between protesters and ICE. Here's part of his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: While Minneapolis may be trying to get ICE out of Minneapolis and out of Minnesota right now, in the mean -- until it happens, you've still got the problem that you have protesters in direct contact with ICE agents. ICE agents may be trained for a lot of things, but if they've gotten any training on crowd control, it's been ad hoc.

So, what usually happens in a situation like this is the local police, Minneapolis Police Department, maybe even Minnesota State Police, they deal with the protesters, they deal with agitators, if there are any. They're the ones who handle the streets because this is their city. They know it. They can de-escalate better. They use different techniques, and they're the ones who could be between ICE and the protesters.

The issue is that both shootings occurred while agents were not directly involved in immigration enforcement. They occurred while they were dealing with protesters and/or alleged obstructionists.

So, if there had been a barrier of Minneapolis State Police, I mean, think about it, would you have rather had Minneapolis State Police dealing with Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, or would you like to have had ICE doing it? And Minneapolis has been absent. Minneapolis Police have been absent.

SANDOVAL: So, I certainly see your point there, Steve. I am curious, though, when you consider at least two things, and that is I think that the senator from Minnesota just briefly touched on it, about the sheer number of federal authorities that have descended on Minneapolis recently sent there by the Trump administration. And because of that, tempers and emotions have really been extremely high among these demonstrators.

And so it almost seems like it would be fairly impossible to try to keep some of these very passionate protesters, most of whom have remained, you know, peaceful, but very vocal and in some cases even appear to be getting under the skin of these agents. So, I'm curious how that balance is struck in your view.

MOORE: That balance is going to be a political decision. What I'm talking about is law enforcement in the short-term. I'm thinking that if Renee Good had been dealt with and kept away from ice agents, it's possible she would -- you know, the horrible thing that happened wouldn't have happened. And it doesn't -- it isn't because Minneapolis doesn't have enough officers to do this. It's that they have made a choice not to because they disagree with what ICE is doing. And in a de facto way, they're allowing the citizens of Minneapolis and Minnesota to express their displeasure with it.

And this is not victim blaming, by the way, as some people have alleged, because it isn't the Minneapolis police who are the victims here. It is citizens, the people who Minneapolis police are responsible for protecting who they could have protected and that they chose not to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Andrew McCabe, he's a former deputy director of the FBI, he told CNN's Erin Burnett earlier that he's worried that a fair federal investigation of the fatal shooting is unlikely to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Nothing. Nothing happens here, just like nothing happened after the killing of Renee Good.

[03:15:00]

You know, in fact, so what we have seen, Erin, is a very -- now we have a very common set of circumstances. We know what the game plan is for the White House and DHS. Immediately after the event, they go to the media and they put out a version of events that paints the victim as a domestic terrorist.

I can tell you that the other officers on the ground in Minneapolis, in Maine, in Chicago, wherever they may be deployed, they hear this loud and clear. And the signal they get is, do whatever you want. There will be no accountability. You can be as violent as you want. You can provoke as many conflicts as you want, as we've seen happen in this case and there will be no accountability.

And people should be very, very concerned about that. Anytime there's a law enforcement shooting of any type, there should be a fair, unbiased investigation. That is not happening here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Without a doubt, a sobering statement coming from a former FBI official.

And we are tracking a monster winter storm in the U.S. It is intensifying as it makes its way east. Coming up, we'll show you where the heaviest snow and ice are hitting right now.

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[03:20:00]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Let's give you this live and very chilly look at Kansas City, Missouri right now, as dangerous ice and heavy snow blanket about 1,300 miles across the U.S. This is a massive winter storm, to say the least, and it is making its way east. We're getting reports of impassable road conditions right now, shutting down stretches of interstate. And thousands of people in the south, they have already lost power as freezing temperatures really set in.

And then there's the travel trouble, airlines, they've already canceled nearly 15,000 flights that were scheduled between Saturday and Monday, and that's the number that you can expect to continue to rise according to tracking site, FlightAware.

Let's get the latest now from CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, who is on the ground in Kentucky with the latest forecast.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I am in Louisville, Kentucky where a multifaceted blockbuster of a winter storm is unfolding before our very eyes. The snow starting to accumulate on the roadways here, expected to pick up in intensity. We could get easily over a foot of snow, which will rival some of the largest snowfalls in this city's history. This is a multifaceted winter storm, meaning that we've got snow on the cold side, the northern periphery of this storm, that stretches nearly 2,000 miles from South Texas all the way to New England, but we have the potential for a crippling, if not debilitating ice storm, that will evolve across the Southern Plains and into the Tennessee River Valley, into the southeastern portions of the U.S., particularly across the Appalachians and into the Southern Piedmont.

These areas could pick up easily over a half to three quarters of inch of ice, which becomes extremely dangerous. And not to mention the brutal arctic air that will settle in behind this cold front, once it finally passes, has the potential to bring down tree limbs and power lines and allowing for that frozen precipitation to stay frozen, only exacerbating and elongating these -- the impacts from this massive winter storm.

All right, the scene is set here and we are preparing for several inches of snow in Louisville, but elsewhere, especially across central portions of Kentucky, a state of emergency with winter storm warnings, over 80 warming shelters that have been opened up ahead of the storm are all in place as residents here brace for the worst. Back to you.

SANDOVAL: Thank you, Derek.

Let's now take you to Nashville, Tennessee. It's about two -- almost 2:30 in the morning there. It is currently under a winter storm warning until the early evening. The U.S. National Weather Service warning that ice cold temperatures, all of this weather, will likely make travel impossible. Nashville also under a cold weather advisory until Tuesday. That's in Nashville. Below freezing wind chills, they're expected throughout the middle portion of Tennessee, and they could cause hypothermia if precautions are not taken. That's according to the folks at the National Weather Service.

So, let's get an update now from one of the folks on the ground. Joining me is Renee Pratt, executive director of Nashville Metropolitan Social Services. Renee, welcome to the program. It's great to see you.

RENEE PRATT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NASHVILLE METROPOLITAN SOCIAL SERVICES: Oh, thank you so much for having me. SANDOVAL: And great to see you indoors right now. As I can imagine, the conditions out there are quite intolerable. I'm curious, obviously, Tennessee, look, I love going there, it is fairly mild usually in the wintertime. So, tell me about how unusual this is right now for so many people that are in Nashville and also some of the precautions that folks have been taking.

PRATT: Well, it is quite unusual for us to have quite a bit of snow and ice. So, my program in Metro Social Services is the Nutrition Meals program. We're the largest meals provider here in the city of Nashville, and we provide meals for low income residents, seniors and the disabled. So, we forecast and look further out at least a week in advance to determine if we're going to have torrential weather and how we need to properly prepare to ensure our residents have what they need during this critical time.

SANDOVAL: With roads potentially becoming quite impassable, Renee, what kind of precautions have been taken to try to ensure that you can get those meals to where they need to be to today and into Monday?

PRATT: Well, we've prepared in advance. We've already given out those meals. We call those our snow meals. So, when we look and find out that the weather is going to be quite impassable, we work ahead of time at getting those meals out, making welfare check calls to make sure our residents have heat, they have their medicine, they have food, and they're able to sustain considering the weather is so torrential and people can't get out and people can't get to them. So, we prepare far in advance for just this critical weather.

SANDOVAL: What are your biggest concerns now as we head into Sunday and potentially the worst still ahead for some of the regions there?

[03:25:05]

PRATT: Well, we just want to be prepared in advance. Again, the weather prediction here is just going to be pretty icy and snowy over the next few days. So, that means people won't be able to get out and people won't be able to get in to see our residents and to ensure they have what they need.

So, again, we properly prepare, we forecast, we make welfare check calls. We ensure that our residents, again, have what they need during this important time and the weather being so treacherous out there, we ensure that we can get them what they need in advance. So, we are prepared in case we face additional days of this weather.

SANDOVAL: Sure. Renee, what is your advice to some of your community members there who are -- you know, who should be looking out after the most vulnerable, especially those -- you know, some of those members of the community who may live alone and are particularly, you know, vulnerable during this time?

PRATT: Yes, we encourage families and others to check on those people and our residents that are vulnerable and are unable to get out or unable to have anyone come in and care for them. So, at many times, we are the only person that that person encounters. We are the only person that can bring in those resources and provide those things that they need, like a meal, like their heat, like their medication in advance. So, they're ready and prepared.

And they don't have to worry about where the meal is going to come from or how they're going to get their medication. We work with others here in the city to ensure that our residents will be taken care of and will not go without during this time.

SANDOVAL: Renee, with viewers around the world watching, and I'm curious if you could just add some perspective in terms of just how significant this weather event is. We talked about how rare these sort of temperatures and conditions are, but, really, how does it potentially paralyze entire communities in the south?

PRATT: Well, yes, pretty much in the south our community stops when there's ice, when there's snow. We're encouraged to stay off the road so they can be properly treated and prepared so people can eventually get out. So, with that, again, residents might not only encounter people like us, service providers, that can get out and get to them and get them what they need, again, to sustain during this torrential weather and to ensure when it starts to clear up, we can go ahead and get those services out to them as soon as possible. And, yes, the weather is quite bad here.

So, again, the city stops, but we prepare in advance to ensure that our residents have what they need during this time when the weather is impassable and people can't get out and get what they need.

SANDOVAL: Well, Renee, bless you and your entire team there at the Nashville Metropolitan Social Services, staying up through the night not just to check on everybody but also to keep us posted on the situation. We wish you plenty of warmth and the best in the days ahead.

PRATT: Well, thank you so much for this opportunity.

SANDOVAL: Thank you, Renee, Renee Pratt.

Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, some more of our breaking news out of Minnesota. We're following another deadly shooting involving federal agents and protesters. Stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Paul Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

Federal immigration agents have shot and killed Alex Pretti, he's a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, during a protest, and this happening in Minneapolis, in Minnesota. Trump administration officials, they claim that Pretti was violently resisting being disarmed. State officials say that video disputes that narrative. Witnesses say Pretti was helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground by ICE officials and had done nothing to threaten federal officers. U.S. President Donald Trump claiming the Minnesota State leaders are, quote, inciting insurrection. He posted a lengthy statement on social media, including a photo of the gun that he says belonged to Alex Pretti. He claims without evidence that it contained two additional full magazines. Minneapolis Police say Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

And a crippling winter storm moving across the U.S., it could dump more than a foot of snow in some parts of the country. Forecasters are warning that dangerous ice will continue to accumulate, and that could potentially bring down trees and power lines. In fact, we're already getting reports of power outages increasing and impassable road conditions.

Minnesota's governor has a blunt message for the White House following the deadly shooting by immigration officers. The Homeland Security Department says that Alex Pretti was armed during Saturday's incident and that an officer shot him in self-defense because Pretti resisted an attempted to disarm him.

But according to Governor Tim Walz, videos show those claims are, quote, nonsense and lies. Well. He also says that it's time for ICE to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Donald Trump, I call on you once again, remove this force from Minnesota. They are sowing chaos and violence. We've seen deadly violence from federal agents again and again and again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN has analyzed several videos of Saturday's incident. As Tom Foreman reports, they raised some questions about whether the shooting was necessary.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to start with the very first statement made by the Trump administration in the aftermath of this shooting. It was a tweet by the Department of Homeland Security showing a firearm on what appears to be the seat of a car. And the tweet reads, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun seen here, you see the picture behind it there. This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

Now, we have this new angle of the video that's just been cleared by CNN, and it shows the lead up to this deadly altercation. This is what I want you to take a look at. Of course, this is disturbing video. Let's take some time though and watch this together. Some things to note, as it begins, you see Pretti out there in the middle of the street. He shows up right in this area here. You start seeing him and he is, at one point, using his camera, there he is right there, and he's pointing to traffic, sort of waving traffic through.

[03:35:00] At some moment here, you see that law enforcement approaches him and he backs away as they start moving up on him. He is not trying to move toward them. He's backing away.

Then you're going to see one of these officers approach a woman near him and really forcefully shove her to the ground, right there, and Pretti starts rushing over toward her.

Now, they're both getting pepper sprayed at this point. He gets grabbed. And he's taken over to the ground here. I'll point out this is about 15 seconds from when officers turned to him. He's now on the ground. They are on top of him. These officers are all around. He does not appear to have a weapon in his hand. He doesn't brandish anything. He doesn't seem to do anything. And then all of a sudden you see one agent in the middle of there, look, he turns away and that's when the shooting begins, one shot followed by, in our analysis, nine other shots here.

We heard from Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino, he was asked at what point pretty brandished a weapon in all of this. This was his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL CHIEF: Allie (ph). This situation again is evolving. This situation is under investigation. Those facts will come to light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: This is important because -- an important detail because concealed carry is legal. We know from local officials Pretti had a permit to carry a weapon, and law enforcement analysts here on CNN have raised questions as to why the picture of this gun that DHS shared online was shown on the seat of a car and not in the scene where Pretti was shot. And we now have an answer. CNN analysis shows, if you watch all those videos carefully, you see a federal agent right there who appears to be removing a gun. This is very critical to remember. That piece of video you're seeing right there is happening about a second or maybe slightly less than a second before the shooting begins.

Now, it is just video. We have to look at it. There'll be a lot of questions here, but that's the reason people say you have to have a truly impartial and fair investigation here. Because if he removed the gun before all this shooting broke out, then why is this man now dead?

SANDOVAL: And earlier, I did have a chance to speak to retired U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Chris Clem about the fatal shooting and also some of the speculation that we have seen from the Trump administration. Here's some of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CLEM, REITRED CHIEF PATROL AGENT, U.S. BORDER PATROL: We've seen a lot of angles from bystanders and there's a lot of footage out there. I've seen several takes from when they first engaged or when Alex first engaged with agents. You know, there's some active pushing back and forth, some resistance him out in the streets. But I'm really focused on the actual encounter when he was, I would just say, actively resisting and almost being assaulted when the agents were, you know, on him, right? He was fighting them. That's the part that's key to me, because that's where everything happens in such a flashpoint. And there's video of a gun being removed. Is that his gun? Is it another agent's gun?

So, there's some points there that could be very, very important, and that investigation's going to play out. I used to always say, you don't ever get an award for getting the wrong information out the fastest. And, unfortunately, that's the way this world has played out, you know, with the event of social media and everybody having a camera phone.

So, we've really got to take a deep breath. There's people mourning right now, and there's people relieved that it wasn't their loved one that was injured or killed. So, we've got a long ways to go. But, again, it's something that I've got to see. I got to see where that gun, who that gun belonged to and what happened there. And, hopefully, we get the results sooner rather than later.

SANDOVAL: But when it comes to the training too, is there -- typically, Chris, whenever these agents obviously go through their training, are they trained to, when they're encountering an individual who is armed, if they manage to disarm that individual without any further incident before they take them into custody, do they usually work under the assumption that that person could still pose a threat until they pat him down?

CLEM: Absolutely. And that training starts pretty much day one of any basic law enforcement academy. Now, I can speak about the Border Patrol Academy 30 years ago that I attended, but we had every quarter, my entire career, 27-plus years, we were doing use of force and firearms training.

Yes, the idea is to control the threat. Obviously, we don't want to have to use deadly force. But to your point, if we've got somebody that's armed, the goal is to disarm them, control them, get them in handcuffs, and then they're not clear until we pat them down.

And it's also rule of thumb when you pass that subject up who's detained to another officer, you pat them down again, because you want to make sure that they're no longer a threat. And that was the key. And that's always been the key when you were dealing with somebody that has a deadly weapon or any weapon, whether it's a, you know, a sharp stick, a knife, or a firearm.

SANDOVAL: And, Chris, you also highlight another really good point here, which is the importance of taking a breath, is to letting an investigation take its course.

[03:40:06]

Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino could not say if Alex actually brandished the weapon and that the investigation was still ongoing. But by the time that he said that, his boss, Secretary Kris Noem, had already -- Kristi Noem, I should say, had already said that it looked like he arrived at the scene looking to inflict maximum damage. And her agency, DHS, had previously posted on social media that he was trying to, quote, massacre law enforcement. So, is it too soon to come to that conclusion?

CLEM: You know, in my opinion, I say, yes, but, you know, we are operating under a different time now where, you know, again, back to social media, which is, can be a great thing, but you also have, you know, I would say, you know, opponents of this administration that are putting out information and omitting information.

So, I think that both Commander Bovino and the secretary felt like they needed to get something out there. And I would tell you, again, in my opinion, in this situation, the secretary should have the most accurate information at the time. Again, she probably doesn't have everything yet because it's still unfolding and it's an investigation, but, again, there's a lot of back and forth that's going on between the state of Minnesota and this administration. So, I think it's -- you know, they're trying to get out there and get the facts, as they know them, as quickly as possible.

I wish, you know, both sides would say tragic situation, our officers are saved, we're dealing with the loss of a of a U.S. citizen, and the investigation is playing out. We'll have further information as the facts come out. But, unfortunately, today's day and age, we don't see that as often as we should.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And across the U.S., demonstrators, they were out to protest the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. You're looking at some of the scenes yesterday here out of New York where protesters called for a general strike. To Washington, D.C., people there holding up signs calling for ICE to be abolished. One protester said that there was no way to justify Pretti's shooting as self-defense. And over to Portland, Oregon, where people shouted no one is illegal, as they made their way through the city. A crowd of people also gathered at an ICE facility in South Portland. And then there were also large crowds in Los Angeles. People there are holding a banners reading, stop ICE terror, and we stand with Minneapolis. A candlelight vigil was held there on Saturday too.

The top Senate Democrats, they are threatening a partial government shutdown following the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted this message on social media criticizing ICE's actions in Minnesota. He also said Democrats would not provide the votes to push through government appropriations if the Department of Homeland Security's funding bill was included.

Same to Washington, all of this coming as the Senate now faces a Friday deadline to pass a spending measure, which we'll need at least 60 votes in order to move ahead.

And snow is picking up overnight, including at the nation's capital. Eventually, all of this is a potentially catastrophic winter storm grips large parts of the U.S. Right now, there are millions of people at risk. The forecast and the latest on the way.

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SANDOVAL: At this hour, we are tracking a massive winter storm that's spattering about 1,300 miles worth of the United States. It's currently pushing snow, sleet, ice, and brutal cold from the Southwest to the East Coast. The ice is already building up, and high winds, they are taking down trees and power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands potentially without power.

By morning, snow will be accumulating across the Mid-Atlantic, reaching as far north as New York City. And more than half of America will be facing sub-zero wind chills this week. That is a lot of blue on this map.

It's particularly dangerous, it's a very dangerous situation, for those who are likely to lose power and for vulnerable populations. Earlier, I had a chance to speak with Aaron Redden in Arkansas. He's the founder and executive director of the Van and the One Inc. These are organizations that are dedicated to serving people who are unhoused in Little Rock.

I asked him about his work and how he's helping the homeless population during these frigid temperatures.

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AARON REDDIN, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: We don't get a lot of wintry weather a few times a year. And so we do mobile outreach to our neighbors who are experiencing specifically unsheltered homelessness, sleeping in cars, sleeping rough somewhere in a tent, anything like that. We do outreach year round. But our most important part of our work is making sure that people survive homelessness so that they can one day overcome it. And that means opening up these emergency winter shelters in Clement where there's shelters.

SANDOVAL: And because these conditions are quite rare in the part of the country that you're in, do you often see people perhaps underestimate the deadly potential of this weather and, sadly, may not actually take up some of these opportunities to seek shelter?

REDDIN: Unfortunately, we do. You know, we've gotten to a point where we're having far more emergency shelters and municipalities that are participating in getting spaces open to get people in, you know, than I've ever seen in the 20 years that I've been doing this type of work here. But, you know, there are some people that are resistant. You know, for whatever reason they may have seen barriers to entry and some shelters and assume that it applies to all and things like that.

And so we operate absolutely no barrier shelters. We welcome anyone in. And then we usually see a swell of about 20 percent per day as people's blankets get wet or perhaps their tents collapse from, you know, snow or ice accumulation, things like that. So, yes, we see a little bit of it all, but we definitely do see more people come in the worst the weather drags on here.

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SANDOVAL: All right. Let's get you caught up to speed on our breaking news story out of Minneapolis. Questions, they are growing about a second deadly shooting this month during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti, I want to show you some of that footage where you can see him wearing a baseball hat, he was shot by border patrol agents on Saturday morning. Officials say that he was armed and that the agents were defending themselves as Pretti resisted attempts to disarm him.

But a CNN analysis of video appears to show that the officers took his gun just before opening fire. And he's not seen actually wielding the weapon at any point. And Border Patrol officials say that it's too soon to tell.

Now, a warning again, some of this footage is disturbing. According to a court filing a witness said that Pretti was trying to help a woman who was pepper spray by the agents. Police say that Pretti had a legal gun permit and they believed that he was a U.S. citizen.

On the way here on CNN Newsroom, a famous American rock climber finds his footing along the grooves of a skyscraper in Taiwan, one of the tallest in the world.

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The latest on this record-setting summit when we return.

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SANDOVAL: And we'll go back to CNN Newsroom as we continue to follow our breaking news. We also want to take a quick moment to tell you about one of the world's best known free climbers scaling his way to yet another very impressive high altitude achievement.

Just hours ago, American Alex Honnold successfully scaled a well-known skyscraper in Taiwan, one of the tallest in the world.

You have CNN's Ivan Watson with his story.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Alex Honnold on the top of Taipei 101, over 500 meters, 1,667 feet above the Taiwanese capital. He got there in just over 90 minutes on Sunday, scrambling up its 101 stories with no rope, no harness, and no net to catch him if he fell. It's what's known in the climbing world as free-soloing. One wrong move would've sent Honnold plunging to his death.

The climb streamed live by Netflix in a glossy production. But while millions tuned in, Netflix kept a ten second delay.

[03:55:01] If Honnold fell, the feed would have cut.

In the end, the world's most famous climber completed the anxiety- inducing challenge. He even performed for crowds and cameras along the way.

ALEX HONNOLD, AMERICAN CLIMBER: The biggest challenge was staying calm.

Having all the people around just makes it feel a little more intense.

And then as I climbed, I relaxed more and more, I was like, oh, this is so fun. I mean, this is why I do it. It was incredible.

WATSON: Honnold's achievement Sunday is the world's largest urban free solo effort. It came a day later than planned after Honnold postponed Saturday for bad weather.

HONNOLD: I sadly will not get to climb the building today because it's raining.

WATSON: Before he took the climb, he told CNN he wasn't afraid at all.

HONNOLD: There's preparation, there's training, there's rehearsal, there's the 30 years that I spent as a professional climber practicing this exact kind of thing. You know, I mean, I would consider that a safety net. But, no, if you mean is there an actual net deployed, no, there isn't.

WATSON: For Honnold, the appeal of free soloing comes in the total focus he must display. It is the ultimate example of living in the moment.

In 2018, Honnold shot to global fame as the hero of free solo, a nail biting and Oscar-winning documentary on his successful climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, again with no rope. But free- soloing is controversial. Many of its practitioners have died, and many in the climbing world, outdoor communities and brands feel they can't encourage it.

The live T.V.-rigged cameras and drones for Honnold's ascent of Taipei 101 didn't seem to faze him, as he completed what he says was a lifetime goal, one that may never be matched.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

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SANDOVAL: That is pretty incredible.

We do want to thank you so much for joining us the last hour of news. I'm Polo Sandoval New York. We'll have much more on that winter storm hitting much of the U.S. and the news out of Minnesota, as CNNs breaking news coverage continues with Ben Hunte in a moment.

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