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New Video: Alex Pretti & Agents Clashed 11 Days Before Shooting; Boder Czar Homan to Hold New Conference in Minneapolis; U.S. Federal Reserve Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired January 29, 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: Don't go anywhere, because CNN THIS MORNING starts right about now.
[06:00:11]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING, the tone shift didn't last long. Some of the president's allies say de-escalation is not what they want.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO DONALD TRUMP: We don't need to bring down the temperature. Raise the temperature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Meanwhile, Tom Homan takes control. Could he now change the tide in Minneapolis?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: There was a general consensus that the present status needs to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And is it 2020? Because President Trump is once again searching for ballots in Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, instead of taking care of people who are dying in the streets in Minnesota, they are here in Fulton County, trying to get ballots from 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: We begin in Minneapolis with new video of Alex Pretti. He's the man shot and killed by federal agents over the weekend.
But this video is from another encounter that was more than a week before he was gunned down. The video was first posted by the News Movement and appears to show
Pretti, here in the brown jacket and hat, kicking out the taillight of an SUV. Agents then get out of their car and tackle him to the ground.
The encounter lasts a few seconds before Pretti is let go. At one point, a gun is seen in his waistband, but it's unclear if agents saw it. Agents then deploy tear gas and walk away.
In another video, we hear from Pretti moments after agents leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK? You're OK?
ALEX PRETTI, PROTESTOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK?
PRETTI: I'm OK, I'm OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we all OK? Are we all safe? We OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the Department of Homeland Security says it is reviewing this footage. President Trump hasn't commented on it publicly, but he has been reposting the commentary from social media.
So, for example, comments like this from his supporters, which say that Pretti, quote, "Such a peaceful protester" and he was a domestic terrorist.
The mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, said he hadn't seen the video during CNN's town hall. But he also says it doesn't matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREY: Are we actually making the argument that Alex Pretti should be killed for something that happened, like, 11 days prior to the shooting itself?
No, I think we should be talking about the circumstances that actually led to the killing and what took place. And those circumstances, I mean, you can believe your own two eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for "The New York Times"; Doug Heye, Republican strategist and former RNC communications director; and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.
OK. I want to talk to you guys, because this video coming out sort of created more fuel for the people who say that Pretti was an agitator, that he was putting himself in harm's way. Can I come to you, Doug, just for the messaging? Because the White
House is, as we've -- sort of struggled --
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes.
CORNISH: -- the last couple of days. What do you think they're going to be doing with this video, and does it change things?
HEYE: In some ways it does. It is agitating, and it is putting yourself in harm's way. And ultimately, that shouldn't matter for what happens 11 days earlier.
But everything in our discourse is so weaponized, has been for a long time.
So, I think if we -- if we go back to the Rodney King beating. After that, we heard, well, Rodney King did this, and it turned out six months later, Rodney King did that. None of that had any real relevance to the actions that police did on a highway in Los Angeles.
But in our political discourse, we know this is going to be used. We know it's going to be weaponized. And as we talk about de-escalation, I would hope that everybody can de-escalate a little bit. Everybody can -- can exhale.
CORNISH: Yes. We're going to keep talking about that part of it.
HEYE: Because that's -- that's part of the situation, as well.
CORNISH: Exactly. Tom Homan is going to speak today. We're going to talk about that separately.
I want to play this clip of Steve Bannon on Wednesday, just because he's the kind of person who is very loud from the sidelines, right, through "The War Room," and trying to tell the White House, Look, this is what you should be doing, at any given time. And here was his take on this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BANNON: We have to hold the line. There can be no de-escalation at all. You don't need to bring down the temperature. Raise the temperature, put them under pressure. They're the ones that are cracking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Are you guys cracking?
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: No, I mean, I don't think -- I think that that's inflammatory and disgusting. And I don't know what his reasoning is for saying that.
It might be because he wants Kristi Noem out. And if they keep raising the temperature, she'll inevitably say something stupid again and maybe lose her job this time. But I do think that what he did 11 days prior to being killed doesn't
change the fact that he was still murdered. If you want to surface that video and he's still alive and charge him with something retroactively, that would be a different conversation. But you can't do that, because the man is no longer living.
[06:05:04]
So, I just think it is even -- it's kind of a silly conversation to have. It just shows, again, how long this has been going on and how people are just so enraged. And it just keeps going.
And so, this is what's going to continue to happen. You're going to have people continue to go to the streets over and over and over again. But something that happened two weeks prior should tell us that this has been going on too long.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And it also doesn't explain why the administration -- administration officials said that he was brandishing a gun in the moments before he was shot, as well. Right?
There's core questions as far as this shooting. Why did you say he was brandishing a gun? You were so quick to also use the term "domestic terrorism," as well. "Assassin."
A video 11 days prior doesn't answer those questions. Nor does it provide clarity on why the administration, in the investigation they're doing, is not examining criminal wrongdoing for these agents, as well. It's about (ph) the use of force.
CORNISH: Right, right. Especially because there you have an example of ICE agents not circling someone and ending up shooting them. Right? Like arguably, you see him taking an action, and you don't see them reacting the way we saw in the moment -- to his death.
HEYE: Republicans -- Republicans are spooked. Two examples. I give you one.
I got an email two days ago from a very conservative, very senior Republican member of Congress who said, What should I say?
This is somebody who is a very big Trump ally --
CORNISH: Yes.
HEYE: -- usually knows what to say. I reached out to one of the party committees yesterday and said, what are you telling your candidates?
Point one: message of unity, slash calm, slash order. That's de- escalation. That's not raise the temperature.
CORNISH: One more thing I have to show you, then. We had a CNN hall, town hall in Minnesota. People got to ask questions.
There was a Republican lawmaker there, state Senator Michael Holmstrom, and he was trying to talk about the way the president has handled this moment. I want you to hear not just what he says, but how the crowd reacts after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HOLMSTROM (R), MINNESOTA STATE SENATOR: President Trump met with these leaders. And he came out, and he said great things about them. If you read his post, he was very complimentary.
And it was -- it was repudiated with more insults from the leaders here in Minnesota. The olive branch is constantly extended, and it's swatted away because of anger and resentment.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we speak --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Laughter.
HAYS: I mean, I think that's the problem. I think that's the problem that Republicans are going to face going into the midterms; is they keep saying, don't believe your lying eyes. It's like they're in this little bubble that they are the only ones that believe what's going on outside of it.
But the voters are going to have the final say. You hear people just blatantly just laughing at this guy, which is not normal in those town halls. We've all sat in them before. They're normally very quiet --
CORNISH: Yes.
HAYS: -- and very respectful. So, it's just -- it's kind of interesting that you hear all these people just having open reactions to just the lies that you're being told to see.
CORNISH: All right. We're going to talk more. You guys stay with me. There's a lot ahead today.
Coming up on CNN, as we said, Tom Homan. He's looking for a reset in Minneapolis. At the same time, he's got a list of demands for leaders there.
Plus, the story the president won't let us forget: 2020 election fraud claims. Now the FBI is searching for ballots.
And people in the South going on day five without power. I'm going to be speaking with a congressman from Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please bear with us. We are working our very best. The weather conditions: trees are still falling. Limbs are falling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:12:50]
CORNISH: Border czar Tom Homan will hold a news conference just a couple of hours from now in Minneapolis. Now, he's been meeting with officials in Minnesota.
And while the Trump administration considers de-escalating its immigration crackdown in that state, Minnesota's governor says de- escalating doesn't go far enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): I'm not interested in a more efficient Metro Surge. I'm -- I'm ready for them to get out of here.
Minnesotans believe in law and order. Minnesotans believe that we should have border control. Minnesotans believe in due process, though. And Minnesotans want to know, if you say you're going to get the worst of the worst, quit lying about who you're arresting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The tensions in Minneapolis reaching all the way to Ecuador this morning. The Ecuadorian government says an ICE agent attempted to enter its consulate in Minneapolis, so they sent a formal protest note to U.S. Authorities.
Now, CNN has reached out to both the State Department and ICE for comment, but the group chat is back to talk about Tom Homan and his role going forward.
The thing about Homan is that at one point, he worked for the Obama administration. Correct? And so, we are hearing -- I just want to play this for you. Here is Karoline Leavitt, kind of selling the press on Tom Homan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a Washington Post headline from nine years ago, 2016: "Meet The Man the White House Has Honored for Deporting Illegal Immigrants."
And I would remind everyone in this room that it was former President Barack Hussein Obama who awarded a medal to Mr. Homan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: What's the -- what's the pitch here?
KANNO-YOUNGS: The pitch here from the administration is we're sending in -- as we -- as the president says that he's focused on deescalation. You're sending in Tom Homan. He's a respected law enforcement official. Maybe he can bring down the temperature.
I do think that that is -- it leaves out some context, right? Yes. Tom Homan is -- is respected and has a long law enforcement --
CORNISH: A lot. Greg Bovino in temperament and attitude. And he won't be standing in the street, tossing -- yes -- the gas canisters.
KANNO-YOUNGS: The optics, right. At the same time. I mean, I've talked to DHS current and former officials who have told me that they've raised an eyebrow at times over the past year at some of the comments Tom Homan has made.
This is the same person that said he was going to bring hell to Boston over their immigration policies; sat next to Eric Adams and pressured him on live TV to adopt the -- the administration's immigration policies, too. You know, was an instrumental figure in endorsing the zero-tolerance policy in Trump, round one.
[06:15:18]
You know, we have a question right here where the president is concerned, more so, about the optics of Minneapolis, rather than the situation playing out on the ground and the tactics of ICE agents.
So, is this just window dressing, or are we actually going to see Homan push for mediation here that results in a change?
CORNISH: OK. I want to play one more thing for the audience so you can hear the kind -- the way that Tom Homan was speaking about immigration enforcement here. He was on FOX earlier this month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: One thing I'm pushing for right now, Laura. We're going to create a database where those people that are arrested for interference, impedement [SIC], assault, were going to make them famous. We're going to put their face on TV. We're going to let their employers and their neighborhoods and their schools know who these people are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, we know Homan has said people should not be doxing ICE agents. People should not be going after them.
But here he is, threatening the protesters, basically saying, if you're caught, we'll put you in a database. Is he the person that is going to calm things? You talked about calming things.
HAYE: Well, look, we've worked on a lot of press conferences. I've worked on exactly one in my career that started at 7 a.m. It was the day after election day. So, this is hitting the ground running.
I don't know what direction Tom Homan is going to go.
CORNISH: How interesting.
HEYE: But part of that is also this is an administration that's going back and forth on all this, on policy and personnel and temperament and language.
So, what we see from Tom Homan isn't just an Audience of one. It's shifting, potentially, how this conversation is going within the administration. And then we have the question of, OK, for how long does that last for an hour, a day, a week, and so on?
HAYS: It happens until the next crisis happens or something -- or they shoot somebody else in the streets again.
I mean, it just is -- It's baffling to me that they think that Tom Homan is going to bring down the temperature.
And I think they're starting at 7 a.m., because then it's going to be what's talked about all day in the news cycle. Right? So, they need -- it's just more chaos.
CORNISH: It's not just that people are going to talk about the Senate vote, where Democrats are going to potentially block funding for the government.
HAYS: But this -- this is changing the conversation away from the economy for Donald Trump, because his economic policies are failing, and everyone knows it.
So, this is creating a different conversation for him that he was polling really well on until recently, until two people were murdered in the streets.
So, this is to change the conversation back to something he thinks that he is popular on, which is immigration.
CORNISH: Well, it will be interesting to see if this is a change of conversation. If people keep talking about it the way they are.
You guys stay with me. There's more we're going to talk about today.
After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about a defiant Federal Reserve. Jerome Powell not bowing to White House pressure.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been into jails and prisons, but I've never had to see children that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Five-year-old boy detained by ICE. We're going to get an update on how he is doing.
In the meantime, good morning to St. Louis. A live look at the Arch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:22:25]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: While job gains have remained low, the unemployment rate has shown some signs of stabilization and inflation remains somewhat elevated. In support of our goals, today the federal open market committee decided to leave our policy rate unchanged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: After three straight cuts, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says he's leaving interest rates right where they are. That's not what the president wants.
Powell opted to keep interest rates at 3.5 to 3.75 percent. And this is really the first decision since Powell called out the Trump administration's criminal investigation into him.
Powell says that probe is retaliation for not bowing to the president's pressure on lower rates.
So, two Fed governors, Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller, they actually wanted a quarter percentage point cut. Both are on the president's short list to replace Powell once his term expires later this year.
Courtenay Brown, senior economics reporter at Axios, joins the chat.
OK, so we were talking during the break. And you said people are worried about inflation. So, this is a real concern. It's a concern of the feds.
And just so people can see where inflation is: under Biden inflation was 2.9 percent. Obviously, the voters felt that pain. Under Trump, it's 2.7 percent.
So, what is the concern here? What is it that the administration wants Powell to do that they think is going to make a difference?
COURTENAY BROWN, SENIOR ECONOMICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Every Fed reporter has essentially become a trade war reporter because it has such huge implications for inflation.
We heard Powell say yesterday that all of the overshoot in inflation is from the good sector. And he said that's because of tariffs.
Now, the Fed is making a huge bet that that inflationary pressure is going to be temporary. But they don't know for sure. And so, that was one of the reasons the Fed said we can't cut rates again.
The labor market is stabilizing. Inflation is still a little sticky. Powell essentially said, please tell me why we need lower interest rates right now. I'm paraphrasing, of course.
CORNISH: Yes, yes. But we're in luck because two people in the board did try to say, why now I want to get to the fact that these are people that the president might actually want to take Powells job, but what is the argument from those on -- on the board who say, actually, yes, you should have taken action, Powell?
BROWN: We're going to hear from them at some point this week between today and tomorrow. They will come out, and they will defend their reason for dissenting against the rate decision.
But I think there is some weakness in the labor market. While Powell said that it is stabilizing, like it's still not great. It's really hard to get a job right now.
CORNISH: Yes, yes.
BROWN: There's this looming risk about A.I. and what that's going to do.
[06:25:05]
CORNISH: Especially if you're under the age of 30.
BROWN: Oh, yes. Entry-level employees are really struggling right now.
So, it doesn't feel good out there by any means. But Powell is saying, well, it hasn't gotten worse since the end of last year. That was his argument.
CORNISH: OK. So, let's talk about these top contenders for potential replacement of Powell, because his term is expiring, despite all of this fighting.
So, we've got Christopher Waller. We've got, of course, Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary. Also, Kevin Hassett, who are the people to watch? Who are the names that maybe the market is watching?
BROWN: We thought we knew what was going to happen. We thought it was going to be Kevin Hassett, who's a longtime Trump loyalist, has served in his White House in both terms.
And then, I don't know, something. Even yesterday, when I was at a Trump account summit, I heard Trump say, Well, I don't want to -- I want to keep Kevin Hassett where he is.
And that's kind of the same thing he said about Scott Bessent.
So, now, the market is convinced that it's actually not going to be Hassett. There's been this big scramble in prediction markets. Now the market believes it's going to be a man called Rick Reeder, who is a BlackRock strategist.
And there's a lot of talk about whether he is going to be the top pick now.
But you know what's so weird? We are two meetings -- Powell has two meetings left, and we still don't know who the Fed chair pick is going to be. We anticipate that announcement will come in the next few weeks or so,
but yes, big shrug. We don't know.
CORNISH: OK, Courtenay, thank you, as always, for being here.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the White House weighs a major new strike on Iran. The options on the table for the president.
Plus, there's new virus worries for officials. Some countries are ramping up health screenings.
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