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CNN This Morning

Tense Protests After Federal Agent Shoots Man in Minneapolis; Minneapolis on Edge After Another Shooting; Four NASA Astronauts Back on Earth; NASA's First Medical Evacuation. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 15, 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]

TARIQ MALIK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPACE.COM: I heard today NASA is getting ready to launch astronauts to the moon for the first time. When they're out there, they have to be on their own for a prolonged period, and learning how to deal with these types of medical situations would be very key to that.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tariq, we appreciate you being with us. Look, I always love guests who make us excited about what they're excited about, and you, my friend, did that today. Thank you so much. And thank you for being with us here for these last few hours as we watch this breaking news coverage.

I'm Rahel Solomon, live in New York. I'll see you tomorrow, but CNN This Morning starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Audie Cornish. And we begin with breaking news this morning, chaos erupting on the streets of Minneapolis overnight after another shooting involving a federal officer.

So, late last night, federal agents were seen lobbing tear gas and stun grenades at protesters who had swarmed into the streets after this latest shooting. Now, the Department of Homeland Security claims an officer was, quote, "violently assaulted" before shooting the suspect in the leg. Federal officials confirmed the person who was shot and the officer are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital.

But in the meantime, some clashes with federal officers led to protesters throwing fireworks into the street. Local officials tried to urge calm as these tensions are rising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: I urge anyone that is at the scene to leave immediately. This is already a very tense situation, and we do not need this to escalate any further. For those that have peacefully protested, I applaud you.

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D-MN): For those that are taking the bait, you are not helping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to talk about this is Jill Snider, retired New York City police officer. Thanks so much for being with us. And first, I want to start with the details, which I think not everybody has heard, but this is what the Department of Homeland Security is saying. They say the officer who opened fire was actually attacked by two other people while they were trying to make an arrest. So, the statement claimed that people essentially came out of their homes with a snow shovel and a broom, that there was a scuffle, and in the process of this struggle on the ground, this is when this shooting happened. First, just what's your reaction to what you're hearing and how it's being described?

JILL SNIDER, R STREET INSTITUTE POLICY DIRECTOR FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL LIBERTIES, ADJUNCT LECTURER, JOHN JAY COLLEGE AND RETIRED NYPD OFFICER: Well, good morning, Audi. And I'm hearing the same thing as you. I'm hearing that, well, a targeted stop was trying to happen. Other people got involved, people that were not initially at all involved in the stop. And that's a real serious problem with law enforcement. When you are trying to do your job, we do have other people.

And I get it. Tensions are running very high. There's a lot of emotion involved right now, especially in Minneapolis. But when law enforcement is trying to do their job, bystanders should not get involved because that could make the situation more volatile.

CORNISH: I was wondering how you feel watching these protests. Here we are five years after the protests over the death of George Floyd, and now local police, in a way, are in the middle, right? They have this massive surge of protesters and a massive surge of federal officers into the city who are very clearly operating on the defensive. What do you do in this situation?

SNIDER: This is a challenging situation for local law enforcement because, obviously, they have their own job to do. They are there to protect the city. They are there to protect their constituents. They're there to protect the community. You have federal agents in there doing a separate job. They have their own mission. They have their own objective. They are working very siloed right now. They're not working in collaboration. It doesn't seem like there's constant communication between the two entities.

Sadly, regular citizens really don't understand the distinction between what the local police, Minneapolis police, and what federal agents, ICE, or whomever is in there. They don't get what the two are doing. This is a real problem, and this is why you're seeing these protests. This is why you're seeing this anger and this tension from the community.

So, what I am urging the federal government to do is, if they're going to be operating in these local cities, they have to be working at least in some kind of partnership with the local police because local police are going to be the ones to deal with the community every day. CORNISH: In the meantime, here is what the local police chief was saying of last night's protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'HARA: It has absolutely become an unlawful assembly. There are individuals throwing fireworks at police officers, individuals throwing ice, rocks, other projectiles at police officers. It is well past the line, and people need to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:05:00]

CORNISH: We are hearing this message over and over again to the protesters themselves. I want to get your point of view of the crowd control or lack thereof because we are actually all familiar with images of protests against law enforcement. And I remember, you know, the lineups or the barricades or just there seemed to be more structure than what we're looking at now.

SNIDER: Well, we used to have different deployment strategies when dealing with protesters, but after the George Floyd protests, a lot of agencies decide to, they didn't establish that barrier line anymore like we used to have, because there was actually lawsuits that impended from that.

So, I feel like Minneapolis is trying to deal with the situation in the most pleasant way possible, and that's like me trying to give it a good word. They're trying to not establish that barrier to where it seems we're going to cause you fear, we're going to cause you the feeling of uncertainty or unsafety. They're trying to do it in a way that they seem like they're trying to work with the community. But at the same time, they're not establishing that defensive force, that law enforcement force.

CORNISH: And ICE and the federal officers, what should their position be? I mean, I don't know if they're just not cut out for crowd control, but what's their role in this?

SNIDER: Well, typically that is not their job at all. It's -- local law enforcement would deal with protests, would deal with any kind of assemblies of the public. Federal agents, that's not at all part of their job description. They are there for a certain mission. They are there for a certain -- but they have their target or their objective. But again, and this is why we've been talking about it for -- me and you have been on several times in the last couple of months talking about the difference in distinction. Local law enforcement has de- escalation training. They have unlawful assembly training. They deal with protests regularly or large crowds, whereas federal agents, that's just not part of their job.

CORNISH: OK. Jill Snider, thank you so much for speaking with us. Also coming up on CNN This Morning, anxious hours in Iran. People there race for Trump to take military action. But is the president showing signs of backing off? In the meantime, moments ago, astronauts splashed down in a first for NASA. We're going to show you that re-entry.

Then we're going to have more on our breaking news. Protests after another shooting involving a federal officer in Minneapolis. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREY: Go home. We cannot counter Donald Trump's chaos with our own brand of chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Escalating unrest overnight in Minneapolis after another shooting involving a federal officer. CNN crews witnessed several clashes between federal law enforcement and protesters on the streets after news of the incident rocked the city. The Department of Homeland Security says the non-fatal shooting was justified after an officer was attacked trying to apprehend a suspect. As the chaotic scenes unfolded across the city, local and state leaders tried to appeal for calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Donald Trump wants this chaos. He wants confusion. And yes, he wants more violence on our streets. We cannot give him what he wants. We can, we must protest loudly, urgently, but also peacefully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me in the group chat, Garrett Graff, federal law enforcement journalist. Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director. And Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.

So, you guys, one of the things I want to show you today is the new polling that has emerged in the aftermath of these conversations, right? So, finding that CNN found 56 percent of people feel the shooting of Renee Good was an inappropriate use of force. More than half believe it reveals a bigger problem with ICE. And more than half also believe ICE tactics are making cities less safe. I'm bringing this up because there's often a conversation to me that goes, this is bad. And someone goes, but you voted for it. And then everyone's supposed to be like, well, they voted for it. So, do you see a tide shift or do you think this is heat of the moment?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: So, I look at this polling and I look at some of the other polling that has come out recently on other issues. And I think the real telling thing, and maybe we'll get to these numbers, is when you break down the polls and you look at it, I look at it through three lenses, where Democrats are, where independents are, where Republicans are. Because I think we've seen in other polling, Democrats and independents have been moving away from some of the policies of the Trump administration.

CORNISH: And I care deeply about the independent number.

DUBKE: Right.

CORNISH: Yes.

DUBKE: But the Republicans have been kind of almost lockstep with the president. Some of the numbers are indicating, especially on the incident in Minnesota and Minneapolis, that some Republicans are having some questions about whether or not this ICE presence and the way that it is being affected in Minnesota is the proper way to go there.

So, I understand the numbers. Looking at the numbers, they're important. But I think from the perspective of the administration, you also have to break that down and look to see where their supporters are because --

CORNISH: Yes. So, this actually is great context for the response from the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche. He weighed in last night.

[06:15:00]

So, in the face of all this, he says, Minnesota insurrection is a direct result of a failed governor and a terrible mayor encouraging violence against law enforcement. It's disgusting. Walz and Frey, I'm focused on stopping you from terrorism by whatever means necessary. This is not a threat. It's a promise.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I mean, I think that what they're finding, though, is that the immigration policy is popular. The enforcement is deeply unpopular among independents and Republicans, to your point, are shifting away from this. But they're going to have a real rude awakening here when people vote Republicans out and they're no longer allowed to not have a check in Congress after the midterms.

And I also caution Republicans, if they're going to take these hard stances and not listen to the public, they are also going to lose in '28. And that is a problem for them. So, you can continue this hard line on everything you want to do, but that doesn't change the fact that people still get to vote. And J.D. Vance said it last week, take it to the ballot box. People have an opportunity to vote these people out in the midterm elections to give Donald Trump and the administration a check.

CORNISH: In the meantime, this latest shooting, there was an escalation in that people left their homes, one with a shovel, reportedly, one with a broom, I say reportedly, because we're just hearing this from Homeland Security, that they're getting involved because they believe for whatever reason they need to get involved. Is that goading? Is that causing even more problems? And I bring that up because that's what the Democrats in the state are saying. They're saying, look, you are going to create a scenario where the administration takes even stronger action.

GARRETT GRAFF, FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT JOURNALIST: Yes. So, I think one of the challenges that we have to recognize up front is that DHS, at this point, has a very bad track record of telling the truth about ICE and CBP-involved shootings in these enforcement actions.

CORNISH: Yes. And while you're talking, we're going to put up the polling about whether people trust the government's federal investigation.

GRAFF: And this, by the way, is one of the reasons that traditionally places like the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security don't lie about events when they are high stakes is because you want to preserve that trust for moments like this when you might actually need them.

So, you know, we have to, at some level, take DHS at its word because we don't have a lot of conflicting information at this point. If what they are saying is true, it does represent a sort of change in the posture on the ground in Minnesota.

One of the things I'm really curious about that we were talking about beforehand in the Green Room this morning is, why was this officer so alone? That if this was a targeted stop, which is what we're being told it was, everything that we have seen is that these agents are running sort of in large convoys, a lot of backup. It sounds like this was a pretty isolated officer who was caught by these groups, by these other individuals. And that seems to me to be odd, and I want to know more about that.

CORNISH: Yes, we got at that earlier. And there are so many ways they are not operating like typical law enforcement, and that seems to be a factor in these conversations. Even when you use the word convoy, I thought, OK, not Fallujah, you know.

GRAFF: Well -- but one of the things that is really strange that we did see overnight last night was these joint officers and the backup, they pulled out but left their vehicles behind, which is something that you almost would never see under normal federal law enforcement operations. And so, you actually saw protesters break in and basically loot the FBI or ICE vehicles.

CORNISH: Yes. OK. We're going talk lots more about this. This is what everyone's talking about today. And we also have more breaking news coverage this morning. Obviously, it looks like the stage was set for some kind of U.S. military action in Iran until President Trump spoke last night, more on what he had to say and what that could mean for the protests there.

And a fiery return through Earth's atmosphere. NASA astronauts just splashed down after a high-risk re-entry. We're going to talk about what they endured on the way home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SpaceX Dragon copy, concurred. Splashdown and mains are cut. SpaceX Dragon, it's so good to be home. With deep gratitude to the team who got us there and back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK. Four NASA astronauts are back on Earth after NASA's first ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean earlier this morning. This was just off the coast of San Diego. We also got our first look at those astronauts as they got out of the capsule. It's unclear what specific health issue that one of them had that prompted this evacuation, but right now they're all safely retrieved from the capsule.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is actually live for us from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. And give us the update.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Audie. NASA administrator and NASA officials wrapping up a press briefing just moments ago. Just about three hours after this crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Not a lot of details as to the astronaut and what the medical condition was, but the administrator simply saying that the astronaut in question is, quote, "doing fine."

And all four astronauts were taken out of the SpaceX Dragon capsule that splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, lifted onto a ship this morning, and then helicoptered over to San Diego where they're currently at a hospital there. And NASA officials say that all four astronauts will stay at that hospital and in the San Diego area all day today and then be brought to Houston and Johnson Space Center on Friday.

[06:25:00]

So, not a lot of details as to exactly who the astronaut in question was. This is actually a very kind of standard procedure given privacy -- health privacy issues. NASA respects that. And it is up to the astronaut to divulge whether or not they want to share what medical conditions and medical issues they were experiencing.

But I can tell you, having watched all four of those astronauts, Audie, come out of the capsule this morning, it was really difficult to tell exactly who might have been the one affected. All four of them came out of the capsule seemingly in good spirits, waving to the cameras and all the other crew members that were there on the ship, helping them out and assisting them to get the medical attention that is part of the process of returning back to Earth. So, all four of them seemed in very good spirits. Audie.

CORNISH: OK. CNN's Ed Lavandera, we'll be checking in with him today on the status of those astronauts. Thank you.

And in the meantime, our coverage of breaking news continues, because if you're just waking up, there were chaotic scenes on the streets of Minneapolis last night, another shooting involving a federal officer. And we're going to have the details for you next.

Plus, the president says that he's been told that Iran has stopped killing protesters. Is he going to take the Iranian government at its word?

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[06:30:00]