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CNN This Morning
Outrage After ICE Officer Kills U.S. Citizen in Minneapolis. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired January 08, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And that's going to do it for us here this morning. Thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon, live in New York. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
[06:00:20]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish, and we're following that breaking news out of Minnesota.
Anger boils over after an ICE officer shoots and kills a U.S. citizen on the streets of Minneapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself.
MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: That is bull-(EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Well, we're going to show you the video.
And a community all too familiar with tragedy like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is unacceptable. A member of our community was killed in this very spot protecting her neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: This happened just blocks from where George Floyd was murdered more than five years ago. I'm going to talk to a member of Minnesota's state senate.
And some lawmakers quick to cast blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): This clearly appears to be the result of this just months-long rhetoric against law enforcement and people encouraging that kind of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: In the meantime, state and local leaders have one message for ICE.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): You've done enough.
FREY: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of Minneapolis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But for -- But first, we're going to begin with the investigation.
A 37-year-old U.S. citizen, Renee Nicole Good, is dead after an immigration officer shot her in Minneapolis. Now, protesters across the country are calling for accountability.
The Trump administration says that it was the victim's fault. The Department of Homeland Security say that she attempted to run over ICE officers, and they were quick to call this self-defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOEM: This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents. An act of domestic terrorism. The ICE officer, fearing for his life, and the other officers around him, and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: State and local officials have disputed that claim, and witnesses agree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILY HELLER, EYEWITNESS: -- that this would be twisted and it would be self-defense. And that's absolutely not what happened. But it's just -- I -- my life is forever changed from having witnessed this, and I'm -- I just can't let this narrative that it was self-defense go any further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right. We're actually going to play a video of the incident. You can decide for yourself. But we do want to warn you that the videos are graphic. It might be difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) No! No! Shame! Shame!
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! You just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: We've also obtained a second video, this time from a different angle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey! Hey!
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now, Juliette Kayyem, CNN senior national security analyst, former assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security.
Juliette, thank you for being with us. Because all day, people are going to see these videos online, and they're coming from all different angles. Can you talk about what you were looking for as you were watching some of them?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. So, we don't see the beginning. Like, we don't see sort of how we got to this moment. So, I want to put that as a caveat.
I want to start with what I don't see. I don't see domestic terrorism as -- as one might think it is. I don't see someone purposefully trying to ram someone. I think the best -- the best explanation or defense of what the Department of Homeland Security is saying is that she might have been confused about whether she was supposed to stay put and get out of the car, or move. And that's some witness testimony -- testimony we've heard.
You also see an officer shooting into a moving car from 90 degrees. That is not only just bad policing. And generally, most law enforcement agencies prohibit the shooting into a moving car for -- for obvious reasons. But it's hard to see him under imminent threat when he's no longer in front of the car.
People are going to look at where the wheels are and the frame by frame and everything else, but I want people to also take a step back from the sort of totality of circumstances perspective.
[06:05:05] Even if everything that the -- that the department and the White House is saying about Ms. Good, about her purposefulness and trying to kill or trying to harm an ICE agent, under no circumstances would that automatically justify, you know, a murder or killing.
We have categories of the use of force, because police officers are supposed to be trained to live under some threat, of course --
CORNISH: Right.
KAYYEM: -- but also learn to de-escalate.
So, I just wanted to put those pieces. And everyone's going to look frame by frame. But overall, that's what I see. And also, what I don't see.
If I could add one more thing. We are -- we are reporting regarding the failure to access medical care for her immediately. I don't know if she survived --
CORNISH: Yes. Do you mind holding for a moment, because I want to play that piece. There's some video --
KAYYEM: Yes.
CORNISH: -- that addresses what you're talking about. I think people should hear it for themselves. Right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I go check a pulse?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Back up now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a physician.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, we understand, we've got EMS coming. Man, I get it. Just give us a second. We have medics on scene. We have our own medics.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are they?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Juliette, your thoughts on this question --
KAYYEM: Yes.
CORNISH: -- of medical care?
KAYYEM: It's -- it does not matter whether an ambulance is there. It doesn't matter if ICE had access to medical care. It wasn't there.
When someone is harmed, the duty of care by any public official is get them medical help immediately. When he says -- when the ICE agent says, "I don't care," that is to -- to someone who says that they are a medic or someone, you know, who can provide health services, that is -- there's no -- that just violates every notion of the duty of care that public officials have to the public.
The ICE at that stage knew that they shot and severely harmed, at least, at that stage, a civilian. And whether she was purposefully harmful or -- or -- if she were a robber, you would still give her a duty of care. And that's the piece that is inexplicable.
CORNISH: Last thing. I just want to play for you very quickly. The former Minneapolis police chief about the possibility of de- escalation, given what we were seeing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEDARIA ARRADONDO, FORMER MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF: You're also trained to do what you can, as a law enforcement officer, to eliminate your risk and to eliminate the public's risk.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: What does that mean? Get out of the way of the car?
ARRADONDO: Get out of the way of the car. You can always, if you need to, get the license plate of the vehicle, let her go. If there's people around or witnesses around who can identify her, then you can let her go. Come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: A comparison there to police training. But what are we dealing with when it comes to ICE?
KAYYEM: And so, we don't know. I'm going to be honest with you, Audie. The surge of -- of personnel into ICE as part of the White House's massive deportation plans has led to new recruits. We don't know who this person is who shot Ms. Good, but this is a -- an agency that is growing quickly, that has limited training, that has lowered standards for qualifications and has been sort of -- sort of put -- you know, basically been given the energy to do these kinds of enforcement efforts in civilian society where there is no -- there's no law enforcement purpose for this. They're not -- they don't have an arrest warrant for anyone or -- nor for Ms. Good.
I want to make it clear that the former police chief is absolutely right. Standards, use of force standards are -- are always the police officer should not put himself in imminent danger.
CORNISH: Right.
KAYYEM: So, even if you argue that -- that she was running him over, he could have easily gotten out of the way. They have her driver's license -- I mean, her plate. They have the car. They could have gotten her any other way, if indeed, she was a threat to them.
CORNISH: OK. Juliette Kayyem, thanks for this detail. We'll be checking in with you today.
We're also following breaking news out of Salt Lake City. Two people confirmed dead, six others injured after a shooting outside a building at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The suspect is not (ph) in custody.
Now, they were attending a funeral at the time. Police also do not believe that the shooting was random, but they do not believe that the church was the target.
Our breaking news coverage continues ahead. CNN THIS MORNING, a community reeling. I'll be speaking to a member of the Minnesota state senate who represents the people of South Minneapolis.
And to no one's surprise, Republicans are blaming the rhetoric. But do the protests around ICE -- do they help the situation?
And it's a simple message from the governor: get out. We're going to talk to the group chat next, get their thoughts on all of this rhetoric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: I have a very simple message. We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you've done enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:14:16]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREY: I have a message for ICE. To ICE, get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That is the mayor of Minneapolis, echoing the anger of Minnesotans after the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by an ICE officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ICE, no, no. Ice, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ICE, no, no. Ice, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ICE, no, no. Ice, no, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The killing drew hundreds of protesters last night in Minneapolis. At least five people have now been killed nationwide since the Trump administration's immigration crackdown began.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you've done enough. There's nothing more important than Minnesotans' safety.
[06:15:02]
I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard. We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed, if necessary. I remind you: a warning order is a heads up for folks. And these National Guard troops are our National Guard troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Governor Walz has not clarified what he will instruct the National Guard to do if ICE resumes its enforcement activities in his state.
Joining me now in the group chat, Betsy Klein, CNN senior White House reporter; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.
I'm glad you guys are all here, because like any image of law enforcement death, brutality involved shooting, we're hearing different narratives.
This is what the president said on Truth Social. He described the person who was killed, the woman screaming was obviously -- he called her a professional agitator: "The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, then violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self- defense."
I am seeing this language echoed everywhere but the White House: that somehow everyone who protests is a professional and that they are creating the problems that might be leading to -- to their own, in this case, demise.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right? In these sort of sensitive moments, people look to their leadership for that message. They want their leaders to take down the temperature. President Trump is not doing that.
He immediately politicized this. He called her radical left, a professional agitator, as you saw. But he is also standing squarely behind ICE, behind Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
And the why of why they are there. They are enacting President Trump's mass deportation agenda.
So, there is some hope that the president is going to tone down his rhetoric, even inside the White House. He has no public events on his schedule today. We'll have to see if that holds.
CORNISH: It's interesting, because we heard that clip from Governor Walz, from the mayor, very blunt at this point. Does it help or hurt, Meghan?
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I don't think it hurts. I think that they need to -- they need to take control of their city. And what happened here was murder.
That was -- they are not trained to shoot at a moving vehicle. That is not in their training.
But also, let's remember the context of why they are there. From a right-wing blogger who posted something about Somalian fraud, which the state of Minnesota was already on and already knew about. And so, that is what this surge is about. So, I don't want to lose context of why that they are there.
But also, I also want to point out, the Obama administration also had deportations. And also deportation -- deported more people than Trump is. And there weren't these protests. There weren't these raids.
They did it in a humane way. They gave people due process. So, there is a way to enforce immigration policy here. That is not what the Trump administration is doing, which is constantly turning up the rhetoric and creating more chaos.
CORNISH: Mike, can I get your response?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes. I'm going to -- I'm going to disagree with Meghan on this in terms of turning up the rhetoric and turning up the response.
I think we've got a culture right now of -- of speak first, think second. And that -- and part of that is from the president, but also from the mayor.
The only voice of reason I heard -- and I am not a fan of Governor Walz at all. I think there was fraud in Minnesota. The reason why they were there is really governor -- governor's lack of oversight on -- on the federal programs, and we can talk about that later.
But they all turned up the rhetoric. And right now, to Betsy's point, we really need to turn it down. Because the next, you know, 24 hours, if these protests get out of hand, we might have more individuals hurt than we had yesterday.
CORNISH: Yes. And you heard Walz saying these will be our National Guard. And --
DUBKE: Yes.
CORNISH: But I do think that -- yes.
DUBKE: It also took him four days last time, with the George Floyd killing, to call up the National Guard. So, I think the governor has learned something from that in 2020.
HAYS: I just think a lot of it -- like, turning down the rhetoric. We can keep saying that after every single one of these incidences, but the actions don't match the words coming from our leadership and coming from the president. And I think that is the issue here.
And I think, with Walz asking for the National Guard, I actually think that is turning down the rhetoric and sending a signal to protesters, don't come here and be agitators, because I have put these people on notice, and I am in control of our streets.
DUBKE: And with that, I don't disagree. But while I will say is the mayor turned up the rhetoric. He's trying to out-Gavin Newsom, Gavin Newsom, it seemed. No. 1.
And secondly, yes, maybe they are. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be saying, as professional communicators, tone it down.
HAYS: OK.
CORNISH: All right. You guys, let me let you pause for a second. Only because we're going to bring on a voice from Minnesota. We're going to hear from people who are experts in this. And I really want your point of view.
This morning's breaking news coverage is going to continue next, because the Department of Homeland Security secretary says that the officer was following his training. But did the ramp-up in ICE recruitment play a factor in where we are now?
Plus, I'm going to talk, as I said, to a member of the Minnesota state senate who actually represents the people of South Minneapolis.
And we're going to be live from the candlelight vigil for the woman killed by that ICE agent. And we're going to learn more about her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:23:56]
CORNISH: This morning, two very different stories of what actually happened in Minneapolis. We're going to show you that video one more time. And a reminder that this is graphic footage.
In the meantime, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem says the video shows exactly what the officer was trained to do, and that the shooting was an act of self-defense.
But people who actually watched the shooting unfold completely disagree with that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOEM: It's very clear that this individual was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations. Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers.
HELLER: The ICE agents, other ICE agents surrounded him. He was obviously spooked, too. I mean, they seem like children. They seem like untrained people.
And so, that agent was obviously spooked, because he had just killed someone. And it was very obvious to everyone who had witnessed it all that she would not make it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now, Garrett Graff, federal law enforcement journalist. Garrett, thanks so much for speaking with us.
[06:25:03]
You and I have talked for months about ICE recruitment and what it would mean for it to grow.
But I was thinking that, in a police brutality case, I would be asking you about badge numbers and accountability offices and all this sort of stuff. But is that the case with ICE?
GARRETT GRAFF, FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT JOURNALIST: Yes, one thing we have to remember in the context of this is that, even before last year's hiring surge began, ICE officers were among the least trained and least educated in federal law enforcement.
And in fact, DHS has substantially cut the training and education standards to help better align the agency with hiring this vast number of new officers coming in after that huge immigration surge last summer.
So, this is an officer who, as far as we know, based on DHS's use of force policy, violated some of the most basic precepts of that training and how they're supposed to do tactical engagement like this, and under what circumstances they can use deadly force.
CORNISH: Can you talk about the recruitment drive? We've been seeing all kinds of posters for this at events. ICE has mapped out, basically, a $100 million wartime recruitment. And that's even involved geo-targeted ads to specific places.
But the tone and tenor of the ads and memes themselves, I think, are kind of revealing. What do you see?
GRAFF: Yes, we've seen some very strong white supremacist imagery, you know, akin to what you saw in Nazi Germany in recruitment ads from that era.
CORNISH: What do you mean by that?
GRAFF: You've seen a lot of sort of this "defend" -- Well, we've seen this sort of "defend the homeland" slogan that they've used, with -- depicting sort of a idealized white suburban lifestyle that somehow is being overrun by brown and black hordes of criminal migrants.
And what we've also seen that, I think, is particularly troubling is the -- the officers who are showing up for the academy are not the best and brightest; that we've actually seen reports that a large number of them are failing basic physical fitness standards; that they are washing out at very high rates of the academy, because the proper vetting isn't being done.
Some of them are showing up without having completed the drug tests that are mandatory. Some of them have even been thrown out of the academy after it turns out that they have criminal records that no one bothered to check before they arrived at the academy.
CORNISH: You have Secretary Noem, though, in the press conference, describing this officer as, quote, "experienced," saying he's been in situations like this before. What questions are you going to have, given the response from the government?
GRAFF: Well, I think one thing -- and you were just talking about this in the previous segment -- is ICE was capable of doing these types of enforcement actions over the last 15 years in ways that didn't provoke this level of violence and outrage.
And the reason that they were able to do that, in many cases, was they were making very targeted operations. You know, they woke up knowing who they were going after.
And today, what we're seeing is that, after Stephen Miller set these daily quotas of 3,000 arrests a day, what that means is ICE and CBP agents around the country, when they're doing these types of enforcement operations, don't know who they're going after.
CORNISH: Yes.
GRAFF: And so, they're doing these, you know, broad sweeps. You know, this is how they're sort of out in the streets of America, you know, sort of doing showdowns at schools and daycare centers.
Because it's just really targeted -- it's really manpower intensive to go after the known criminals and, you know, sort of "normal," quote, unquote, targets that ICE has gone after for the last 15 years.
These sweeps are much easier, on the one hand. But they bring them in -- but they bring the officers into much more violent contact with the public.
CORNISH: OK. That's Garrett Graff. Thank you so much.
We're going to turn now to the breaking news coverage of the shooting in Minnesota in a bit, where we're going to be live from Minneapolis, as we learn more about the mother killed by ICE.
Plus, the U.S. seized another oil tanker. This one nowhere near Venezuela.
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