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Erin Burnett Outfront

Judge: ICE Violated 100 Orders; Attack On Rep. Omar; GOP Hypocrisy On Guns. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 28, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:27]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news of chief federal judge slamming ICE, saying the agency has violated nearly 100 orders in the Minneapolis area in the past 28 days alone. And Pam Bondi on the ground in Minnesota, posting mug shots of people she claims are rioters. What happened to tamping down tensions to de-escalating?

And breaking news, the FBI now leading the investigation into the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall. I'm going to speak to a Minneapolis city council member who was right next to Omar and was also hit with the liquid.

And reversing course. Our KFILE uncovering past comments from Trump and his top Trump officials which completely contradict what they're saying now when it comes to bringing guns to a protest.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, ICE violating judges' orders. The chief federal judge in Minnesota slamming the agency, claiming it violated nearly 100 orders in 74 immigration cases in Minnesota this year. Wow. I mean, there's only been 28 days in this year, and a lot of them have been weekends.

The George W. Bush appointed judge writes, "This list should give pause to anyone, no matter his or her political beliefs, who cares about the rule of law. ICE is likely violating more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence." Judge Patrick Schiltz adding, quote, "ICE is not a law unto itself."

It's a scathing reprimand. And it comes as Pam Bondi landed in Minneapolis firing off a whole series of social media posts in which she claimed agents had arrested 16 people for assaulting law enforcement officers. Now that's what she says. But she didn't just name them, she actually posted their pictures as well. Their mug shots, a move slammed by another judge. This was the judge overseeing the first court appearances for those 16

people. According to "The New York Times", that judge says Bondi was -- that judge said she was, quote, deeply disturbed that Bondi posted the names and mug shots on social media.

And our Ryan Goodman says tonight, the attorney general's action flouts another long settled Justice Department norm. It's even more egregious when this department often fails to successfully prosecute people it arrests, including in protest cases. It treads on the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Bondi, though no surprise, defiant in her post, making it clear that this is just the beginning. She writes, "We expect more arrests to come. I've said it before and I'll say it again, nothing will stop President Trump and the Department of Justice from enforcing the law."

So, the talk of Trump de-escalating the situation, as he said, seems to be in question at this moment, especially after he told Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey that he's, quote, playing with fire. Just about two days after Trump said he had a great conversation with Frey. The president also going after Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who was targeted during a speech last night. He claimed without evidence that she staged the incident.

He told ABC News, "I don't think about her. I think she's a fraud. She probably had herself sprayed knowing her".

And Trump then raged at Republicans who have turned against his homeland of -- his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, including Republicans like retiring Senator Thom Tillis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): She's a complete failure on disaster response. She clearly doesn't know how to manage. She's never managed a large organization, and she's failing at every possible measure of the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. So, he's calling it like he sees it. Trump, meanwhile, responding to him and to Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who also slammed Noem by calling them losers, adding, "They're terrible senators. One is gone and the other should be gone."

And then there's this bizarre fundraising email from Trump's Never Surrender PAC, which threatens to unleash ICE agents on his own donors. It reads, "Are you a proud American citizen or does ICE need to come track you down?"

Tonight, we're learning that the federal agents who fatally shot Alex Pretti have now been placed on administrative leave. That is important. A shooting that prompted outspoken Trump critic and singer Bruce Springsteen to release a new song tonight. It's a new song. A lot of people are talking about this. It's called the "Streets of Minneapolis". (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

"STREETS OF MINNEAPOLIS" BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Through the winter's ice and cold down Nicollet Avenue. A city aflame fought fire and ice 'neath an occupier's boots. King Trump's private army from the DHS, guns belted to their coats, came to Minneapolis to enforce the law, or so their story goes.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[19:05:16]

BURNETT: Shimon Prokupecz is OUTFRONT live in Minneapolis.

And, Shimon, what more are you learning there on the ground? You know, in light of Bondi coming and posting all of those images and what these judges are saying tonight?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, there's a lot of concern because, of course, for the past few days, we've been talking about de-escalation. And there's a lot of concern that pam Bondi being here, putting out these photos, all of these federal agents who are still in the streets here making these arrests, that this could escalate the situation.

And, you know, most find it interesting that while many are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate what happened here behind me on this street where many people have been coming to pay their respects to Alex Pretti, there's no focus from the Department of Justice on the investigation of what happened here. And many people are asking why that is, and certainly people are worried about the next steps here. And for the first time, we will hear from tomorrow from the border czar, who is expected to have his first press conference.

So we'll see what the next steps, next steps here are tomorrow when he speaks. But certainly, that's going to be a good indication for us on the next steps here in the federal process here and the federal presence here in Minneapolis.

BURENTT: All right. Shimon, thank you very much. As you're getting more this hour, I know you've been talking to some sources.

We'll be coming back to Shimon.

More breaking news, though. The FBI is now leading the investigation into the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall in Minneapolis. So, in this footage, I'll show it to you again. If you haven't seen it, you see a man walk up and then spray liquid out of what appears to be a syringe at the Minnesota Democrat, appearing to yell, "You must resign". Security guard then tackles him to the ground. But obviously the syringe. It's scary.

Minneapolis City Councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw was sitting right next to Congresswoman Omar as it was happening. She says she was also hit with the liquid, the smell of it so rancid that she vomited. And she is OUTFRONT now.

LaTrisha Vetaw, the Minneapolis City councilmember. You just saw her there in that video.

Councilwoman, I appreciate your time.

And I do want to ask you about what happened here in detail. We do, though, have this breaking news that the FBI is now taking over this investigation. I mean, is that good news to you or not?

LATRISHA VETAW, MINNEAPOLIS COUNCIL MEMBER: I think it's really good news. It was very scary last night. This matter has to be investigated so that folks know they can't just show up at a town hall meeting and attack not only the elected officials, but everyone that was in that room last night felt attacked. It was a terrible, terrible, terrible incident.

It was scary. It smelled horrendous and I didn't know what was going on in there or what liquid was being sprayed towards the congresswoman, but it also hit Senator Bobby Joe Champion and myself as well.

BURNETT: So, as we're looking at the video and we've got you highlighted there so we can see you, Congresswoman, as you were last night. The photos show that there was that syringe, right, that contained a brown liquid. Authorities are now saying they believe it was apple cider vinegar. Obviously, you didn't know that at the time. You're talking about the smell. It sounds like what you're saying might have smelled something even more dramatic than that.

I mean, in the moment that were watching, when you get sprayed with it and you get that, that smell, what went through your head?

VETAW: I mean, real fear, right? I didn't know if it was acid. I didn't know if it was some airborne liquid that could have contaminated every single person in that room. I mean, I really didn't know. I looked up and I could just see the syringe up and this liquid just spraying out of it, and I was terrified. I mean, it was so scary. It really was.

BURNETT: So, when you realize you'd also been hit, we see you get up from your seat in that moment. So you're sitting now, and then all of a sudden this happens, and then you get up from your seat. I can see that initial just shock. And your reaction, that physical reaction. What was the experience when it hit you and you smelled it?

VETAW: So, I couldn't -- I didn't realize that I had it on me. I was focused on the congresswoman and trying to get her out and saying to her she needed to go get checked. And, you know, I could see that he had hit her directly. And I didn't realize until the smell didn't go away. I just kept gagging and I couldn't get the smell out of my nose. So then I realized it was me and I needed to go outside and get some fresh air, or at least see what was happening.

[19:10:01]

And my staffer walked up to me and walked me out of the door.

BURNETT: Do you have any reason to doubt it was apple cider vinegar at this time, or?

VETAW: No, I feel fine. Last night, I didn't -- I've talked to a couple people who said the smell really bothered their stomach and they didn't feel well. Someone said their throat felt a little scratchy.

And so, I think, you know, the folks I've checked in with today, we feel fine. I feel fine now. Still shaken up by the incident, but I believe it's apple cider vinegar. I believe it was tested. They took the police actually came and took my jacket for me at home.

BURNETT: Well, that's good news.

VETAW: Yes.

BURNETT: That's very good news in terms of the way it's being handled. So, President Trump has obviously minimized reports of the incident. And I mentioned this a moment ago, Congresswoman, councilwoman. But he said that Congresswoman Omar is a fraud, which is something he has said about her before. But he said that.

Then he told ABC News, the reporter actually got him on the phone last night, and his response was that Omar, quote, probably had herself sprayed knowing her -- you know, essentially staged, staged it.

You were there. So, what's your response to that?

VETAW: My response to that is that there was fear in that room. There were over 100 people in that room. We were in the basement. We had come through security measures, and I think everyone felt like we were safe because we had our bags checked. We had to take our hats off. They used the wand.

And then for something like that to break out, there was just so much fear in that room. And I mean, I don't scare easy. And I was terrified.

BURNETT: Congresswoman Vetaw, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.

VETAW: Thank you.

BURNETT: Paul Rieckhoff and Gretchen Carlson are here with me.

And, you know, I mean, Gretchen, just to hear what she said, the tension and the fear is palpable. You're from Minnesota. You have so many family and friends there. I mean, you -- you know this yourself. Obviously, she was handling that with grace, but the stress and the tension.

GRETCHEN CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Yeah. Listen, we live in a time where this type of thing may not be that shocking to American citizens to see. The vitriol is at an all-time high, and the hatred that we feel for one another if you're on either side of the fence, has never been like it is today. And so, I guess I would say as an American, that I'm not surprised to see this, although it's incredibly saddening. And of course, I would love to see a president of the United States just handle it with a little bit more grace and say that he's very sorry for an episode like that happening, instead of blaming it on her.

BURNETT: Right. I mean, here's the thing, Paul. What he did yesterday, he talked about de-escalating, and he had, I think it seemed appropriately realized that things were not things needed to calm down.

But now, today, it's a very different tone, right? Bondi is on the ground there. He's saying, Ilhan Omar staging this whole thing. He's calling Tillis and Murkowski losers for saying Noem needs to go.

PAUL RIECKHOFF, FOUNDER & CEO, INDEPENDENT VETERANS OF AMERICA: He's back to doing what he always does, which is make everything worse. And I think when it comes to the political violence, I think we have to take a step back and recognize this is a threat to our entire country. This is a threat to our entire system. We've got a higher level of political threat, political violence than we've ever seen.

Thousands of threats are coming in on an annual basis to Republicans and Democrats and everybody in between. And I think the problem here, of course, is the president and his tone and targeting people, but also that he and Congress have failed to create a national response. This should be a national security priority.

We have enemies, foreign and domestic, who want to take out elected leaders, and we don't seem to have a national strategy to protect them. So, I think we need to call on the president and congress to do that, to protect everybody all the way down to judges, because its getting worse. And there are plenty of people who want to take out elected members of our -- of our government.

And that's a threat to all of us and everyone around them. It is a national security threat because everybody in their orbit is at risk when something like this happens.

BURNETT: Right. I mean, that's a terrifying thing. And then you have Gretchen just to go back here to the numbers the federal the chief federal judge of Minnesota coming out and saying ICE has violated nearly 100 orders in Minneapolis in the past 28 days and saying that they are not a lawless organization, that they have to follow the laws. But, but, but what are the consequences?

CARLSON: Well, I think every American knows that after seeing those videotapes over the last three to four days, that if we didn't have the videotapes, we would be hearing a completely different story that we were actually told to believe, even though we actually had seen the videotape. So, none of this is surprising.

Remember, the majority of Americans believed in what Trump was saying about immigration when he was reelected just a short year ago. That has completely flipped now, and that's not because of the issue. That's because of the implementation of the way in which ICE has reacted.

If they were really going to Minnesota to get rid of the worst of the worst criminals that were told about, they would have been able to round them up relatively quickly and be on their way to other states like Texas that actually has more of those kinds of criminals that are illegal. Instead, they've been carrying out missions that that seem to defy what the original intent was. And that's why you're seeing the poll numbers completely flipping to the other side.

[19:15:00]

BURNETT: And yet and yet, it's fascinating. I know, Paul, as you say, he's back to what he would normally do in terms of the president's behavior, but he had an opportunity here to, in some sense, try to right the ship to do what he was elected to do, and he was elected to do it. But that's not -- what's happening here.

RIECKHOFF: It's like they sit around every day and say, how can we make things worse? Let's send in J.D. Vance. Oh, now, let's, you know, let's send Pam Bondi.

BURNETT: Pam Bondi, yeah.

RIECKHOFF: It just continues to escalate the situation. But ICE is out of control, and the entire world can see it. They are undisciplined.

They are unaccountable. They are unlawful. They are unconstitutional. They are un-American.

And now you're seeing everybody from left wing protesters to right wing gun owners who are saying this is a problem to our democracy. This is very, very, very deeply un-American. Down to the door knocking without warrants, the masks, the lack of badges. It all is very, very deeply un-American.

And you're seeing a bipartisan response. And now his numbers with independents in particular, are falling off a cliff because they are pushing back, and all Americans are pushing back and saying this is wrong and out of control.

BURNETT: But he's making a bet that they're going to come back in line if he goes after Tillis and Murkowski, right? He's making the Tillis is talking out. Trump saying because he's leaving, Murkowski should be -- he's trying to make it to corral the usual suspects.

CARLSON: But he has to do that. Is it the usual suspects, though, Gretchen? Or when you talk about these polls, you polls, you talk about what you're saying. Paul, is something shifting with his base?

BURNETT: Yeah. Look, I think Kristi Noem is going to be the scapegoat in all of this. And obviously, she said a lot of lies at the press conference and arguably at the first shooting that happened. So should she go.

CARLSON: Then immediately blame Stephen Miller. BURNETT: Well, but do we really think that she got her talking points

from herself? I mean, I'm not saying she's not a smart, qualified person on her own to come up with talking points, but we all know that those talking points came from above Kristi Noem.

So we can get rid of her and we can talk about impeaching her and all of that. Does that really change the scenario of the way in which the government is acting right now? No, in my mind, it doesn't change it at all because you still have Donald Trump and Pam Bondi and Stephen Miller there.

RIECKHOFF: The culture of ICE is rotten to the core, and you can remove Kristi Noem, but the culture is deeply flawed, especially folks in military and law enforcement can see that. But it's also an extension of the leadership vibe of Trump. This is the atmosphere that he's created, and I think the biggest story continues to be that he can do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen, and nothing is stopping him. And he views ICE as an extension of that military, and he doesn't really care about the poll numbers. He may not care about Republicans because so far nothing is stopping him.

CARLSON: Well, I think he did care, though, that that's why he brought Tom Homan in there.

RIECKHOFF: And that's going to help.

CARLSON: But I also think I also think that got overblown. I think that all of a sudden, it was like, oh, well, now everything's going to be better because Tom Homan is there. I don't -- I don't necessarily agree with that.

RIECKHOFF: Also -- also toggling and going to other places, so they'll pull back in Minneapolis, but now they're going further into Portland, Maine. They're going deeper into Phoenix, Arizona. So he's responding to the -- to the friction by moving into places where there's less friction.

BURNETT: Right, right. All right. Thank you both very much.

And next, the breaking news. We're just getting this new video that appears to show Alex Pretti's previous run in with officials. What does it show? You'll see it here.

Plus, President Trump adamant that you cannot walk into a protest with a gun, but as our KFILE found out, that is not how he talked about protesters who were armed just a few years ago. And breaking news, new details just coming in on how that five year old boy, who was taken by ICE along with his father, is doing after he was taken from his driveway eight days ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:50]

BURNETT: Breaking news. This new video and this is very new video. It is of another incident with Alex Pretti. It has just emerged. It shows a physical clash between Alex Pretti and federal agents over a week before he was fatally shot by Customs and Border Protection officers. Now representative from the family is confirming to CNN that the man seen in the footage is Pretti.

Without further ado, let me just let you see it for yourself in full.

I should have said that.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BURNETT: Okay, so there was no audio on that. As you might have thought, maybe your volume was not working, but there was no volume on it. But I think you saw it very clearly.

So, let's go to Priscilla Alvarez to tell us what we know about what we just saw there. So, Priscilla, tell us exactly what we see there. I think everybody watching this now can recognize Alex Pretti there kicking that tail light. But tell us exactly what we know happened and any context that you've learned.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Erin. And as a reminder, this is a physical clash that happened between Alex Pretti and federal agents over a week before he was fatally shot in Minneapolis this past weekend. So let's walk through that video.

You see him there shouting, and also tack or rather kicking a tailgate on that vehicle as it, as it drives away there you're seeing the tackling of the federal agents. This whole interaction only lasts a few seconds. Now you'll also notice here in a bit that there does appear to be a gun that is tucked in his waistband. It's unclear, however, if the agents notice it there you see the gun tucked into his waistband. Now they do not disarm him. And as we see later in that video, the agents walk away.

[19:25:03]

It is unclear, Erin, however, what happened before this video and what happens afterwards. I am told, however, that the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing this video. Recall that they are part of this investigation into the fatal shooting last weekend. A few other notes of context. Erin. This was filmed less than two miles from the scene of the deadly encounter this past weekend. And as you can see from his attire he is wearing similar clothing as he was again this past Saturday.

Now, Erin, your viewers remember CNN previously reported just yesterday that Pretti did have an encounter with federal agents a week prior to Saturday, where he suffered a broken rib. It is unclear, however, if the video were seeing here is of that incident. And Erin, we are continuing to review additional footage of what unfolded here. But again, this is a physical clash between Alex Pretti and federal agents over a week before he was shot by U.S. Customs and Border protection agents on Saturday in Minneapolis.

BURNETT: All right, Priscilla, thank you very much. With that very important new reporting.

And John Miller is here.

So, John, as Priscilla saying it is we cannot definitively say that it was at this incident when he got the rib broken. But we do know that they've only said there was one other known incident. So, I'm going to say it appears likely that it is that incident. But we don't -- we cannot definitively say that. But this is very significant that we're actually looking at this.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: It is and it raises a whole raft of different questions. But one question is and it goes back to the tactics, behavior and procedures of these officers. So here you have an individual who is kicking their car, breaks a taillight. The officers immediately get out of the car, grab him, wrestle him to the ground or attempt to for 25 seconds. They're struggling with him. It does not appear that during that time, even though he wriggles out of his coat and escapes their grasp, that they detect or know that he has a loaded firearm in the small of his back in the holster. So. So they miss that, but --

BURNETT: Which in the case where he died, of course they saw it, removed it, and then subsequent -- subsequently, he was shot.

MILLER: Exactly. So that -- that's a kind of a pattern of poor tactics that we're seeing here. Because if someone destroys government property, breaks a taillight on a vehicle, and you get out and you wrestle with that person, the normal thing to do is to arrest that person. If --

BURNETT: You don't beat them up and leave them and leave them there, right? That's just not -- that's not -- okay.

MILLER: Just to be clear, and in fact, the unwritten rule is if you end up in a physical confrontation where you end up rolling around on the ground with somebody enough to maybe even create an injury that usually follows with an arrest. Otherwise, you're just committing an assault under the color of law and leaving. So, the fact that they didn't take police action, is another deficit in kind of what are the rules of engagement and what does law have to do with it?

BURNETT: Right. So, operating outside the law, outside of precedent, outside of norm, outside of training, sloppy. All of that true.

When it comes to the next incident, I was saying to you, as you and I were getting ready to come to air, I was saying, well, it -- in a sense, the two may be completely unrelated, right? If he comes upon a group of, you know, he's protecting the woman that he was trying to do, and there's a group of customs and border patrol officers, and that one ends so tragically. But you raised a very interesting point.

MILLER: Which the question is, are any of the agents involved in the confrontation? We just looked at 11 days before any of the same agents who encountered him on Saturday that ultimately led to him being shot to death? In other words, one of the questions we've been asking as we look at that video is the government narrative. The first version was he approached agents with a gun. In fact, when you look at the videos, they approached him rather aggressively.

And we don't know the answer to this, but if they were the same agents from the earlier encounter, were they still upset? Were they angry at him over what he did to their car? The fact that they tried to arrest him and he got away? Was that a factor? And until we figure out which agents were both encounters, we won't know that.

BURNETT: No. And obviously they have none of that information has been released. Although, of course, as we point out, Attorney General Bondi is very quick to release mug shots of people that they arrested today. But we don't yet know those -- identities of those of the people who shot him yet.

All right. John Miller, thank you very much. As we get more on that incident, we're going to bring that to you. But I just wanted to make sure we got you that video the second that we actually got it in.

Next, Senator Elissa Slotkin on Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's future.

Plus, our KFILE finding President Trump and his top officials are really shifting their position on something that is extremely core in this country to the Second Amendment, to conservatives and to Republicans -- bringing a gun to a protest.

[19:30:06]

Now, they say you shouldn't.

KFILE's here to tell you what they said then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And the breaking news. This new video that has just come in to CNN.

I want to share it with you again. It does not include audio, but it is very clear what you see here. A physical clash between Alex Pretti and federal agents. This happened over a week before he was killed.

Now this video was posted today by the digital outlet the News Movement. In it, you see Pretti shouting at agents. He kicks their vehicles tail light and breaks it as they're driving away.

So, then they stop. You see an agent get out of the back seat, they get out and they tackle him to the ground. This interaction lasts a few seconds before Pretti gets up.

[19:35:00]

Now a few things here. We don't know for sure if this was the incident in which he broke a rib prior to of course when he was killed. We don't know for sure if this is the same incident, but we do know that he's got a gun in his waistband, which it doesn't -- it's not clear if agents noticed it. If they did, they didn't do anything about it. They don't disarm him. They walk away. It is unclear, obviously, what took place immediately before or after

the footage, but the fact that he had the weapon on him is obviously crucial. We know that he had a permit to conceal carry, and we know he had that weapon on him, although not out and not being held in his hands when he was killed.

Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin joins me now. She sits on the Homeland Security Committee.

And, Senator, I appreciate your time. Obviously, as were all trying to get the facts of what happened here. And, you know, at the beginning, it was very unclear there would be any sort of an investigation at all. So just by asking you about this new video that we have, does it change anything for you, Senator?

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Well, look, I just saw it a couple of minutes ago on your show. So, you know, look, you can't destroy federal property. You can't just bash in a light like that.

But it doesn't to me, you know, what I've seen in the couple of minutes online is just that people are making this equivalency, like, look, you know, he bashed in a light. And so, he was justified for him to be killed. And I think that -- that's completely false.

So, this is why we need an independent investigation. This is why we need to, like, have someone besides DHS, besides ICE, do an investigation of what actually happened. But no matter what I mean, even if he knocked in a light, which is not legal that doesn't deserve -- you don't deserve to be shot 10 times in the street. So, I think this is why we need some independent voices here

BURNETT: Yeah. And very, very well and fairly said there you were, one senator of seven Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Kristi Noem as secretary of DHS. Obviously, here we are now. You've seen what she said, how she's conducted herself in these past days. Do you regret your vote?

SLOTKIN: Well, I was just talking about this on the Senate floor. And look, a year ago, as a Michigander that has a bunch of border crossings, some of the busiest border crossings, I need to work with Department of Homeland Security every day with Customs and Border, with Border Patrol every day. We have a new bridge that's coming in in 2026.

So, I had Kristi Noem in my office and I talked to her about those things, and I needed a productive relationship, and I don't regret, as a Michigander, that I was trying to have some sort of relationship with someone I need. But over the past year, I mean, it's just she's beyond the pale, a fundamentally not understanding who we are as Americans.

Just this past weekend, she called Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist. She just doesn't understand. In her cabinet secretary role, her responsibilities. And so, she should resign. If not, the president should fire her. And if not, then we should impeach her. And by the way, it's not just her. We know Stephen Miller is the

through line on so many just dark policies related to immigration, from caging kids in the first term of Trump to what's going on in Minneapolis. He is the throughline. He should resign as well or be fired. But you know, she has the big job, the Senate confirmed job. And so that's the one I've been, you know, her resignation or firing is where I've been focusing.

BURNETT: I just want to play part of an exchange you had with her during her confirmation hearing. That really stands out to me now, Senator. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SLOTKIN: I want to hear from you as an intelligence officer that you're going to speak about real threats and not blow something up, politicize something, make something more exciting, because that's maybe what the president wants to hear.

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I will be as transparent and factual every day with you and the American people as possible, based on the information that I have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Obviously. Alex Pretti she came out and said he was brandishing a weapon, which video showed to be false. Do you believe she lied to you? Or do you believe that it's -- as she's saying it now that, you know, Stephen Miller saying that she got the wrong talking points on the video, didn't look for herself, and so was that not a lie?

SLOTKIN: No, that -- I think I'm sorry. That -- that is -- she lied, because on so many issues, both in the headlines and out, so many requests, so many asks that the committee has had of her. You know, she's appeared once in front of our committee in a year, and we've had federal troops deployed to just countless cities.

She just fundamentally said what she needed to say to get through that hearing and then did none of that transparency. And I you know, part of it may be that she's just doing the bidding of the White House, who is really in charge of immigration policy, but it doesn't matter, right?

[19:40:03]

You have the big job. You wanted the big office. You wanted the big security detail. And to look cool as a cabinet secretary, you own the accountability. And I think that's -- whether it's Alex Pretti or many times before then, she just does not understand her role as a cabinet secretary or as it was designed.

BURNETT: Senator Slotkin, I appreciate your time and thank you tonight.

SLOTKIN: Thank you. BURNETT: Also tonight, the NRA, the National Rifle Association,

breaking with President Trump saying that the organization, quote, unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be. This after Trump said Alex Pretti shouldn't have been carrying a gun after he was killed by federal immigration officials.

Of course, Alex Pretti had a legal right to conceal carry. What Trump is saying is a stark departure from what he has said before. What other top administration officials have said about Americans right to bring guns to protests.

Our KFILE has discovered stunningly contradictory statements from Trump, from the FBI Director Kash Patel, and from Secretary Kristi Noem of DHS, who just this week blamed Pretti for being armed at a protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOEM: I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, Kyle Rittenhouse had a lot to say about that.

KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is with me now.

And, Andrew, you found comments. Let's just start there with Kristi Noem from Noem directly contradicting what she's saying now about bringing guns to protests.

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: That's right, Erin, and what makes these comments so striking is that less than two years ago, Secretary Noem was not condemning armed civilians at protests. She was actively praising them.

In her 2024 book, Noem wrote approvingly about what she described as hundreds of armed bikers who showed up at a Black Lives Matter protest in her state in 2020. She wrote that they stood with police officers with their guns on display.

Take a look here at what she wrote in her book. In May 2020, there was a large Black Lives Matter protest in Sioux Falls, which grew to thousands of people at our local shopping mall, sparks the violence erupted but never got out of control.

There also happened to be hundreds of Second Amendment loving bikers in close proximity. They parked along the protest road downtown and at the mall, standing with the police with their Second Amendment rights on full display, they didn't have anything to say. The message was clear no riots or looting tonight.

And as governor of South Dakota, Noem also signed legislation expanding concealed carry rights. In fact, it was the very first law that she signed into law. And in 2021, op ed we found, she wrote, quote, "The Second Amendment exists to defend all the rest, including the First."

So, very clear shift in rhetoric there. And, Erin, Secretary Noem isn't alone here. The president himself has very much changed his tone. Listen to him on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You can't walk in with guns. You just can't. And you can't -- listen. You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KACZYNSKI: But that is not how Trump talked about armed civilians during protests just a few years ago, after the 2020 unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Trump declined to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, who was armed with a rifle and later fatally shot two people during the protests there, listened to him in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away from them. I guess it looks like. And he fell. And then they very violently attacked him, and it was something that we're looking at right now, and it's under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been -- he probably would have been killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KACZYNSKI: And, Erin, Trump actually met with Rittenhouse at his Mar- a-Lago resort, publicly praised him after he was found not guilty, saying Rittenhouse, quote, he's a really nice young man.

BURNETT: So, all right, you just showed there the changing tune, the hypocrisy of Kristi Noem and Donald Trump.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, has also been weighing in on this situation and has a history as well of comments.

KACZYNSKI: Well, that's right, Erin. FBI Director Kash Patel has been very explicit in recent days saying civilians should not bring guns to protests. Listen to him over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KACZYNSKI: Now, that was the comment that we saw a lot of pushback from gun rights groups like the NRA. And those comments from Patel stand in contrast to how he talked about armed civilian protests just a few years ago as well.

After those 2020 protests in Kenosha, Patel also publicly defended Rittenhouse. We found a 2021 podcast in which he accused authorities and political leaders of unfairly targeting Rittenhouse.

[19:45:00]

He also went further, publicly, offering to help pay for his legal fight against the media. Listen to him here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATEL: If Kyle Rittenhouse and his team is listening or your audience is tweeting, this is what fight with Kash is for. We will help Kyle Rittenhouse with defamation cases. We will pay for them by raising money so he can clear his name like I'm clearing mine.

Remember, this is coming on the heels of Kenosha, the city burning down in last year's riots, right? This also came on the left's call as the city was burning down to defund the police and bury people's constitutional rights. If you were named Kyle Rittenhouse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KACZYNSKI: So, Erin, we reached out to the White House, FBI and DHS. We got a response back from Homeland Security and the White House. DHS spokesperson told us in a comment. They accused Pretti of obstructing law enforcement when they were arresting an individual they said had a criminal history.

They also said, quote, "Of course, Secretary Noem supports every American Second Amendment right. Americans have the right to show up to protests with a gun. But you must follow the law."

A spokesperson for the White House pointed CNN to a comment from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in which she said the president supports Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens. Absolutely. While Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations. And a White House official that we spoke to also told us, they said this is an entirely different situation. And Rittenhouse had no interaction with federal law enforcement or ongoing law enforcement operations.

So, what they were saying there in 2020, obviously very different today when it comes to armed protesters.

BURNETT: Right. And of course, he killed somebody. And Pretti was killed. So they're obviously very different there.

All right. Thank you very much.

And next, breaking news for the first time since the five-year-old boy was taken by ICE agents, we are learning exactly how he is in Texas right now with his father. Plus, a special report on the Minneapolis police chief. He's been

working to rebuild the department after the murder of George Floyd. And what he is saying tonight needs to be heard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:10]

BURNETT: Breaking news, a family of Alex Pretti have retained an attorney who helped prosecute former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. This, as we are moments away from a CNN town hall live from Minneapolis, as tensions remain high after Pretti and another U.S. citizen were fatally shot.

Anderson Cooper, who is moderating the town hall with Sara Sidner, is OUTFRONT.

And, Anderson, you and Sara have a lot of special guests tonight. What can we expect to see?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Yeah. We are -- we're going to be talking to the mayor of Minneapolis, obviously, who the president has communicated with just in the last several days. Were also going to be talking to the attorney general, the chief of police, Republican state representatives, faith leaders and others.

We've assembled a great group of citizens here who are obviously very concerned about what is going on here. This is a city, a state which in many ways feels under siege. There's going to be a lot to talk about at the top of the hour, Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Anderson, we will all be watching and looking forward to that.

And also tonight, there's a large crowd of protesters gathering at an ICE detention facility in Texas where Liam Conejo Ramos, the five- year-old Minnesota boy who was taken by ICE with his father, is being held now. At one point after protesters clashed with state troopers. A chemical agent was thrown into the crowd.

And this development is coming, as we are hearing for the very first time in eight days how this boy is doing. He was taken from his family's driveway. As I said, eight days ago, and Ed Lavandera is on the ground OUTFRONT with more

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): You can see from the picture that I posted that he was lying in his father's arms. His father said that Liam has been very depressed since he's been at Dilley, that he hasn't been eating well. I was concerned with -- you see how he appears in that photo with his energy. He seemed lethargic.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Congressman Joaquin Castro met with five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian, during a visit inside the south Texas family residential center in Dilley, Texas.

For more than three hours, the congressman says he met not only with Liam's family, but also with hundreds of other detainees.

Castro said Liam has been asking about his family and his classmates back in Minnesota.

CASTRO: He said that he misses his classmates and his family and wants to be back at school, and he keeps asking about that hat and that backpack that are in the picture. I think they took that from him.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Liam and his father were taken into ICE custody last week in suburban Minneapolis amid the Trump administrations immigration crackdown in the state, sparking anti-ICE anger within the community and across the country.

The Department of Homeland Security says Liam's father was in the country illegally, and that agents only took the five-year-old boy after his father asked that he stay with him. An attorney for the family disputes that, saying Adrian Conejo Arias hadn't committed any crimes and was following, quote, all of the established protocols for seeking asylum in the U.S.

Outside the facility in Dilley, Texas, hundreds of protesters clashed with Texas state police demanding Liam and his father and other families be released immediately.

While federal officials claim the family inside are cared for. An attorney who says he represents a family there says the conditions are, quote, worse than people think.

ERIC LEE, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: The water is putrid. They have to mix baby formula with water that nobody wants to even smell. The food has bugs in it. The food has dirt in it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: All right. Ed, you know, obviously just stuff that we all need to know. We need to hear. Congressman Castro, I know, met with others, including Liam and his father. Who else did he speak to inside the facility?

LAVANDERA: Speaking with staffers of the congressman that they were told that they had set up a sign up sheet inside the facility so that people could sign up and speak with the congressman as well as Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who was with Joaquin Castro as well today.

[19:55:11]

The staffers told me that there were hundreds of people who signed up on that list to speak with them. Joaquin Castro told me that he had been inside the facility more than three hours. They got there at 11:00 in the morning. Didn't leave until almost 2:30 Central Time. They spent about 30 minutes or so meeting with Liam and his father, but there were hundreds of others.

And, you know, they kind of documented what they thought were abuses and the conditions that they were enduring inside that facility, which is one of the reason why, after the event, you heard the two congressmen and women coming out saying that they feel that not only should ICE be disbanded, but that these families should be released and that they also were calling for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as well.

BURNETT: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much on the ground in Texas.

And also tonight, the Minneapolis police chief is speaking out now against ICE's deadly tactics, calling them alarming. The chief warning federal immigration officials are fueling fear and torching progress.

Shimon Prokupecz is OUTFRONT with this special report on Chief Brian O'Hara, who is now suddenly in the spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: It's been alarming to me that we've had shooting and another shooting and another shooting, and nothing has changed.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Chief Brian O'Hara has been working to rebuild the Minneapolis police department in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

O'HARA: I was afraid that was it. It's over. Like we were going to wind up having looting and destruction again. Just like in 2020. And we might just slide into that cycle again.

That cops are burned out. They want to leave crime increases. At the same time. And people completely lose faith in law enforcement.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Now, he says, the surge of federal immigration operations in his city threatens to undo the progress that's been made.

PROKUPECZ: It's got to be hard to see us, especially as a longtime law enforcement leader.

O'HARA: Working the other night with an officer, around midnight, we saw a car take a red light, so we pulled him over and it was a young family. With a child in the back seat, and they had come out late at night to pick up food because they were afraid they were going to get stopped. And the woman looked like she hadn't eaten in days, the mother.

I mean, I don't know how you can't be impacted on the on a human level by some of the things that are happening.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The escalation of ICE tactics against the public here, culminating with the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have been widely criticized. It's the kind of policing Chief O'Hara was brought into Minneapolis to stamp out.

O'HARA: I don't think it's too much to ask the federal government to conduct law enforcement in a way that respects the constitution in a way that, you know, lives up to the standards that people expect law enforcement in this country to have today to be professional, to use tactically sound methods. I think a lot of the videos you see, it looks like policing from 30 years ago at best.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Chief O'Hara brought us to Colonial Market, the epicenter of some of the most violent protests back in 2020. We met the owner, Danny Hernandez.

O'HARA: So, this whole strip here burned in 2020.

PROKUPECZ: So, this is all new like in the last couple years. And now it's all empty?

DANNY HERNANDEZ, OWNER, COLONIAL MARKET: No, it's all empty. We have 12 small businesses. As you can see, all of them are closed. There is only one standing beside the grocery store. Everybody else told me that they are there -- they're not -- they're no longer going to be able keep going, to get back to our feet. That's going to be a challenge. So, the impact, you know, that it has, I don't the scars are going to be there.

O'HARA: They're still ongoing public safety issues in these communities that we have to try and deal with. And if everybody just scared and nobody tells us anything, you're going to create a situation where there's entire groups of people that are going to be the perfect victims, because it can easily be targeted for crime, and they're not going to report things because they're scared.

HERNANDEZ: MPD really worked hard to gain the trust. Now we are not trusting federal government. Now, I don't know -- you know, like any time people hear feds, they're going to just lynch (ph), you know.

PROKUPECZ: What happens now? Like what's -- what do you think? Yeah. Well, like what is like, hopefully things deescalate.

O'HARA: Deescalate, that's what we need. We need peace.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Shimon Prokupecz. CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Incredible access there from Shimon.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us tonight. We'll be back here tomorrow. But now, the CNN town hall, "State of Emergency: Confronting the Crisis in Minnesota" with Anderson Cooper and Sara Sidner live from Minneapolis starts now.