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CNN This Morning
New Documents Reveal School Ties To "ICE Watch" In Minneapolis; Federal Prosecutors In Minneapolis Resign Over ICE Shooting Probe; Protester Set To Be Executed In Iran Today; NASA To Attempt First Medical Evacuation From ISS. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired January 14, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:00]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Pleading their mandatory military service. The tour kicks off in South Korea and makes a stop in Tokyo before coming to the U.S. and leave April and May.
Hits another cities in Asia, Europe, and North and South America and beyond. Have also been announced extending into 2027. Get excited fans.
All right. That's going to do it for us here on "Early Start." I'm Rahel Solomon. Live in New York this morning. I'll see you tomorrow.
In the meantime, "CNN This Morning" starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish.
Fallout from the president's pressure campaigns. We start with the revolt in Minnesota. Half a dozen top prosecutors step down over the investigation into the woman killed by an ICE officer.
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JACOB FREY, MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS: When you have the lead investigators that are leaving, that's a major problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And the red line Iran prepared to hang protesters, but will they go through with it after this warning?
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will take very strong action, if they do such a thing. We will take very strong action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Takeover threats, the future of Greenland at stake today at a White House summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is the worst-case scenario that, you know, in a month, I'm American. We don't even have military in Greenland, because we don't do war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But we begin with the six federal prosecutors in Minneapolis who resigned over the investigation into the woman killed by ICE last week.
A person familiar with the matter says their issue is the focus on Renee Good's widow and the lack of focus on the officer's conduct.
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MARY MORIARTY, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: If they are indeed resigning, this is an indication to me that they feel that this is political and -- and not about what actually happened with Renee Good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: It appears investigators are focusing on Good's links to ICE monitoring at her kid's school.
A document obtained by CNN and linked to the school appears to be a message to parents. It was dated December 16th and it reads, "Thank you to families who have been on ICE watch helping to protect their neighbors."
CNN asked for legal experts to review the documents. They found that the tactics talked about to be non-violent civil disobedience, but the president still believes it was good who went too far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would bet you that she under normal circumstances was a very solid, wonderful person, but then her actions were pretty tough.
So when you look at that tape, it -- it can be viewed two ways, I guess. But when you look at the way that was -- that car was pulled away, there are a couple of versions of that tape that are very, very bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. Joining me now in the Group Chat, Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter. Charlie Dent, Republican and former congressman from Pennsylvania. And Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state. Thank you, guys, so much for being here.
Isaac, I want to start with you because going into the history of the person who died and pulling information from any of their sort of associations, so to speak, what are we looking at with this investigation?
ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: A week ago right now, Renee Good was still alive. In the time that this has happened, we've had these people resign. It is a -- it seems a sign of just how much pressure they felt that they were under to pursue charges that they didn't -- or pursue an investigation that they didn't think was OK.
That should be something that we are paying a lot of attention to for that to happen that quickly. These -- it's not like these are people who just quit their jobs really nearly. A lot of these are longtime employees who don't do things like this.
There are people -- some of them who were there through previous administrations, including the previous Trump administration.
And, ironically, here also a number of them were involved in the investigation into the childcare and Somali stuff that has been generating so much of the president's attention and the attention of a lot of his allies against the people who are in -- on the Democratic side in Minnesota.
And -- but -- but it's something that you see going on throughout U.S. attorney's offices across the country and in the main justice department in Washington.
And it -- it's really --
CORNISH: Yes.
DOVERE: -- a major change from how any of this has ever gone before.
CORNISH: That's true. There will be no criminal civil rights investigation which we saw in police brutality cases. We got the word on that from Todd Blanche.
One of the things that's interesting to me is how this is perceived by the public that is either not MAGA or, you know, not some radical left thing, but they're just watching on social media and seeing how it's coming off.
One weathervane for that. Joe Rogan, on his podcast on Tuesday. I want to play this for you, guys.
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JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": We've got to take those people that got in and send them back to where they came from or do something. Because if we don't, they're going to keep doing it if they get in office again in 2028.
And then I could also see the point of view of the people who say, yes, but you don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around snatching people up.
Many of which turn out to actually be U.S. citizens that just don't have papers on them. Are we really going to be the Gestapo? Where's your papers? Is that what we've come to? (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Not MSNBC, right? Not like it's bringing up the Gestapo here.
JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes. Well, look, Audie, we -- we don't have papers, you know. Americans do not have a national I.D. card. I worked on the Hill. And I remember years ago, Republicans saying that would be against the ethics of what it means to be an American citizen.
So this idea that somehow Renee Good, by being interested in protecting her neighbors through civil disobedience discourse, whatnot, that's legal. That's fine. That's American.
I think it's reprehensible that the -- the Justice Department is trying to figure out a way to criminalize her when she's dead. They need to be looking into how she got killed, why she got killed, focus on the act itself. That will make Americans calmer.
Instead, we now see people legitimately panicked about their safety when they see ICE walking down the street. And I think this is only creating more attention rather than less.
CHARLIE DENT, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Yes. Last week, I thought, and I still feel that the politicians should be doing less talking. We wanted to have an investigation to get to the truth, to get to the facts.
But as Isaac pointed out, when you see these resignations of career prosecutors, not just in this case, but in many other offices around the country, this does not bode well for public confidence in whatever investigation occurs.
That's what is so disturbing to me. And again, it's not just Minnesota. We saw it in Northern Virginia with the resignations, Eric Adams case and elsewhere. This is a problem.
And --
CORNISH: Yes. And also, I wonder if it's turning people who were demonstrating because they are concerned whether it's actually just drawing more support to their cause online, et cetera.
I just want to play for you a protester named Zoe on Tuesday night. And in the face of some pretty strong imagery that we're seeing in these clashes, here's what she had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have the sway here clearly about drawing weapons at us. They're afraid they don't want us here because we know we have (INAUDIBLE) personally, I could be hit by flash bangs again, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be out here for the coming weeks and tell ICE off of our streets and stops terrorizing out neighbors or killing our neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOVERE: And look, you see there was another video yesterday of a woman being pulled from her car in Minneapolis, who said she was disabled. She was in that. It -- it seems like trying to go down the street that had been closed.
They -- within a few seconds of the video, you see an ICE agent go to start opening the door for vehicle. And eventually they break the windows, cut her seatbelt, pull her out. These are scenes that are not --
CORNISH: Yes. This yanking on the door and smash window smashing is not even something we saw with police during the Black Lives Matter protest.
RUBIN: And -- and their face -- and their faces are covered. And one does not know who they really are, right? Like, why should I be handing over my I.D.? Why should I be saying, yes, I submit to someone who's not showing me their own identification, their own face, their own legal rationale for coming after me?
And I -- so this is creating chaos. This is probably what President Trump wants, his chaos in the streets.
Look, Minnesota, in the big picture, has been under assault for some time.
CORNISH: But here's Greg Bovino commander of the U.S. Border Patrol. He is the leader of all these big operations. And I just want to play for you what he is saying about how he perceives this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER: Despite rioters, agitators, and vast amounts of violence against federal officers, we're not going to stop.
We're doing this for ma and pa America.
And we're glad to be here. And for those 90 to 95 percent of Minnesotans that -- that like us here, we salute you. We respect you and we love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DENT: Wow. This -- this is -- there are all sorts of problems being created because of this. Now, Congress is --
CORNISH: But is there a world of ma and pa America that loves this?
DENT: Well, I think there are a lot of people in America who do want interior enforcement to occur. It's the question of how it's occurring. That's the problem.
But the -- the bigger problem right now for ICE and the Border Patrol is that, you know, the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is whining its way through Congress.
And I suspect, there are going to be all sorts of pressure now to, you know, to maybe require body cameras, no masks on agents.
And I don't know how they're going to get through this. But because of what's happening, the funding for the Homeland Security Department right now is at great risk.
CORNISH: OK. You guys stay with me. We're going to talk a lot more this hour.
But coming up, Iran is actually prepared to execute protesters. Will President Trump's threat stop that?
[06:10:00]
Plus, the measles outbreak in South Carolina actually doubled in size in just one week.
And an evacuation from space. For the first time, four crew members head home early because someone is sick.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are interesting times. This is the International Space Station who had continuous human habitation for 25 years.
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[06:15:00]
TRUMP: We will take very strong action, if they do such a thing. We will take very strong action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not seek war, but we are fully prepared for it, indeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. In Iran, a protester set to be executed today amid anti- government demonstrations.
Now, this is something President Trump has warned he would take, quote, strong action against if Iran follows through.
The latest numbers into CNN from a U.S. base rights group says that more than 2,400 people have already been killed and at least 18,000 arrested.
CNN is unable to independently verify those numbers right now. But given the ongoing Internet blackout in Iran, it's possible. The actual death toll is much higher.
CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now.
Paula, first, I want to talk about the person Erfan Soltani. Why is his case drawing so much attention?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Audie, he appears to be one of the very first that has been sentenced to death during these protests.
We understand from his family, who has spoken to CNN, that he was arrested back in -- on Thursday of -- of last week by plain clothes officers.
And then he was not given a trial. He was not allowed an appeal system. Once he was found guilty, both do seem fairly regular in Iran when it comes to these protests.
And his case has also been highlighted now by the U.S. State Department. They've said on X, quote, "This time, the Islamic Republic regime didn't even bother with its usual 10-minute sham trial. Erfaneh was sentenced to execution without any legal process or defense lawyer."
Now, his family has said that he is an incredibly kind and warm- hearted young man. They are, as you can imagine, desperate to hear any news about him.
The execution due to take place January 14th, which is today. But, of course, with the internet blackout, it is almost impossible to find any information about his whereabouts or about his well-being at this point.
We did hear, though, from the head of the judiciary in Iran that the so-called, as he called them, terrorists that -- that had been arrested, that they were going to make sure that they fast-tracked those cases.
They were going to treat them as a priority, which in itself is extremely worrying. And when you bear in mind that the official figures or the figures we have at this point are about 18,000 that have been arrested, it is extremely worrying.
Audie.
CORNISH: OK. That's Paula Hancocks. We'll be talking about this more today. Thank you so much.
And after the break on "CNN This Morning," President Trump has a solution for the housing crisis. But will it create more money problems for you in the long run?
Plus, for the first time, the crew will be evacuated from the International Space Station for medical reasons.
And good morning to Chicago. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:20:29]
CORNISH: Hey, NASA is about to make space history. Later today, the agency will attempt the first medical evacuation from the International Space Station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I accept command of the International Space Station.
(BELL DINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke turning over command of the Space Station to a Russian cosmonaut.
For Crew 11, astronauts are scheduled to depart the ISS just after 5:00 P.M. Eastern. This is actually a month earlier than they planned because one of the crew members is in need of medical attention.
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DR. JAMES POLK, NASA PHYSICIAN: This is not an operational issue. This is not an injury that was -- that occurred in the -- in the pursuit of operations, if that was the question.
And -- but unrelated to the operational environment that we have right now. It's mostly having a medical issue in the difficult areas of microgravity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, Keith Cowing. He's the editor of NASAWatch.com. Keith, thanks so much for coming in for us.
So we don't know the cause of this medical issue, but a medical evacuation is unusual, right, and unprecedented.
KEITH COWING, EDITOR, NASAWATCH.COM: It's unusual. And, you know, the thing here is people are getting a little upset, like, why are they coming home. I've been on expeditions to the north -- up near the North Pole, the Himalayas for months at a time. You plan for this. You don't want to do your homework and then figure out, you know, oh, my God, what are we going to do?
CORNISH: So there's always a backup plan for a medical evacuation.
COWING: This will back up for the back-up plan.
CORNISH: What are the unique challenges, though? I heard a phrase I hadn't heard before, which is microgravity that I'll have to explain to them later. COWING: Well, microgravity, it -- it's the technical term for weightlessness.
CORNISH: OK.
COWING: OK. And when you live up there for a long time, your bones can become thinner and changes in your body fluids move around. And that can cause some problems with sometimes eyesight with your cardiovascular system.
Usually, they can take care of it with the stuff they have up there, but now apparently, whatever it is, they can't give the full treatment to these folks until the person -- until they come home.
But if it was a real emergency, they could have been home in an hour and a half to two hours.
CORNISH: Oh.
COWING: They would put the suits on, push the button, come home.
So the fact that it took them several days, let you know that it's not going to be life threatening, but, you know --
CORNISH: Need to be taken care of.
COWING: I don't know what -- what the issue is, but it's -- it's prudent for anybody to just get the best healthcare they can. And if you can't get in outer space, go back to earth.
CORNISH: Why do they all have to come back? Like, why can't just the person who is sick? Yes.
COWING: Well, it's -- it's like Lego, actually. You have one Lego with one crew and another. And if you move them as crews like that. And they'll be moving the next crew up a little early to take up, you know, that.
[06:25:09]
But it has to do with how many seats are in the spacecraft, the rocket they use, and all that. And you kind of just group the -- they call them crews for a purpose. This is Crew 11. And Crew 12 is the next one up. So someone has to fly the spaceship.
CORNISH: I wanted to ask you about the new boss of NASA. And if you could tell me a little bit about him, because his name had come up before to head the administration. And then it was withdrawn in the nomination process. Say more.
COWING: Well, you know, like anything with this administration, the personality things are like -- it's like Jeopardy, they spin the wheel, and you do or you don't get the job, and you get another spin, and you get it.
So, that said, he was seen as a great choice the first time. And when he came back, it was rather quick to get him re-reconfirmed, or whatever the term is now.
Smart guy.
CORNISH: Yes. That's Jared Isaacson (PH)?
COWING: Isaacson, yes. Isaac --
CORNISH: And he -- he helped -- he helped found United Bank Card, which is now a place called Shift4 at 16.
But then he also co-founded Draken International. And he is a pilot himself who's actually piloted commercial flights. Am I -- is that right?
COWING: Not commercial flights. He's -- he -- I think he skipped that. He just want jet fighters.
CORNISH: OK.
COWING: And he's got a bunch of those and he's got a couple. He's painted now. And he's giving rides to people, and he's covering the bill for that. He's donating a salary to Space Camp.
But the only thing about him is he's younger, he's got a -- he's a girl dad. So his actual children of the next generation in his house that he can talk to. And he's -- and the other kids in the neighborhood. So that's important when you're talking about the next generation of exploration.
But he also raised a quarter billion of dollars for -- for St. Jude. And that's kind of unusual. And it's sort of in his way of doing as much as he can with everything he's been given, whether it's raising money or jamming science into a mission that he paid for out of his own pocket.
So now you got this guy, and he's got a lot of energy. You had NASA.
CORNISH: Are you guys still worried about cuts?
COWING: The cuts didn't get as bad as they were going to be.
CORNISH: OK.
COWING: They're still there. But he's sort of said, if I have to go walk up the street and get more money, I'll try.
CORNISH: OK. All right. Keith Cowing, thank you so much.
COWING: My pleasure.
CORNISH: All right. Straight ahead on "CNN This Morning," what to do about Iran? President Trump is taking it to his national security team. But does he have any solid options?
Plus.
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REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): To my knowledge, former president Clinton has never answered questions about Epstein.
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CORNISH: The Clintons to be held in contempt. Bill and Hillary Clinton refusing to testify. We're going to hear about their reasons, ahead.
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