Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

I.C.E Agent Shoots And Kills Woman In Minneapolis. Aired 4:30- 5a ET

Aired January 08, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In that is called critical high quality diplomacy. We've done it. We've done it time and again, but we just did in Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course, real concern over the future security situation in Venezuela and of course, questions around what a U.S. government situation could look like in Venezuela. We've heard now from the U.S. president speaking to the New York Times and here's what saying only time will tell when it comes to how long the U.S. aims to control Venezuela, though he didn't give any clear timelines on that front. Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Nada Bashir before us in London. Nada, thank you.

Colombia's president says that a phone call with his U.S. counterpart has helped ease tensions between the two governments. Gustavo Petro says that he spoke with President Trump for about an hour on Wednesday with the two agreeing to restore direct communication channels. President Trump says that he appreciated the call from Petro, who he says explained the, quote, "situation of drugs and other disagreements." President Trump said that it was a great honor to speak with Petro and looked forward to a meeting with him in the near future. This marks a stark contrast to the U.S. president's weekend remarks when he described Petro as a sick man and reiterated his claims that Petro was connected to drug trafficking.

Still ahead for us, protesters are demanding the arrest of an ICE agent who shot a U.S. citizen in her vehicle. We'll get back to more breaking news after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:49]

SOLOMON: Welcome back to Early Start. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York this morning. Police in Minneapolis are on an elevated state of readiness right now with additional resources on standby after the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by an immigration agent. Crowds had gathered for a vigil near the scene with people lighting candles and leaving flowers. Now, before we show you what happened, a warning, the video was graphic and it's disturbing. It shows two officials approaching a maroon SUV you see here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

SOLOMON: As the woman inside tries to then drive away, a third officer in front of the vehicle opens fire three times. Here's the scene, but from a different angle.

Now a third important video has emerged showing the woman's SUV positioned sideways across the street. Authorities had said that she was blocking ICE agents, but you can see other vehicles going around her.

In a fourth video, well, that shows the tragic end to the incident. You can see the SUV careening down the street and then crashing into a parked car. The driver, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was pronounced dead a short time later at a hospital. Trump administration officials say that the woman intentionally tried to run over ICE agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened was our ICE officers were out in enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him.

And my understanding is, is that she was hit and is deceased. We're continuing to gather more information, but this goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day. These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism. We're working with the Department of Justice to prosecute them as such.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Governor Tim Walz is calling for immigration agents to leave Minnesota but says that he's also taking steps to keep residents safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: I have a very simple message. We do not need any further help from the federal government. To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you've done enough. There's nothing more important than Minnesotan safety. I've issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard.

We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary. I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks. And these National Guard troops are our National Guard troops. They're teachers in your community, they're business owners, they're construction professionals, they are Minnesotans. Minnesota will not allow our community to be used as a prop in a national political fight.

We will not take the bait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following all of the developments from Washington.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A woman was shot and killed in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday. Now Department of Homeland Security secretary holding a press conference in Minneapolis, returning there after being in the area the previous day and saying that the officer had followed his training. The secretary saying that in the moment of this targeted operation, a federal vehicle had gotten stuck and that there were protesters that were harassing and impeding officers and that eventually this led to the federal law enforcement approaching one of these vehicles with this woman inside. And as she drove off, the officer was bumped and he shot at her.

Now, earlier in the day, we also heard from local law enforcement who said again that federal law enforcement approached her and she was shot as she drove off. The incident as a whole has raised a lot of questions, especially as to whether deadly use of force was justified in this incident.

Now, it's also drawn the ire of local officials who say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should leave the city and have also called the recollection of events by the Department of Homeland Security essentially BS.

[04:40:09]

Now again, the Department of Homeland Security is standing by the officer who they say or described as quote, "experienced." They also say that he too went to the hospital and has since been released and will be with family. The Trump administration standing with the federal agency at the core of this again, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has launched a massive immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area. But again, questions still remain as to exactly all of the bits that unfolded here in this incident that led to the death of a U.S. citizen woman, 37 years old, that the FBI, according to the Department of Homeland Security is going to continue investigating.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

SOLOMON: And the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, whom we heard in Whitney Wilde's report earlier, using strong language, also spoke last night to CNN's Anderson Cooper. Frey, again, using strong language, rejecting the administration position that the ICE agent acted in self-defense. He also ridiculed comments by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the woman who was killed engaged in domestic terrorism. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB FREY, MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS: I'm not going to preempt the investigation that will be taking place, I'm told, by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at the State. But I got two eyes. I saw the same videos that you saw. And the notion that this is domestic terrorism on the form of the victim, yes, is positively ridiculous. I mean the way that ICE is behaving is reckless not just in this incident but numerous others.

And here's the thing, the chief and I have been saying, not just privately but very publicly for well over a month that something like this was going to happen. Either a civilian, a police officer or even an ICE agent getting injured badly or killed. And so look, I saw exactly what happened. I mean what you saw was the victim taking at least like a three point turn. This was clearly not with any sort of intention to run somebody over but to get out of there.

And you don't need a legal degree to know that that does not authorize the use of deadly force. Again, the narrative that ICE is spinning immediately after this was that this was purely self-defense and that the act by the victim was some sort of domestic terrorism, that, and I'll say it again, is bullshit. That is bullshit. The way they've been conducting themselves is also bullshit. And we all need to be very clear eyed about what's happening because by the way, this is not just about Minneapolis, this is about the endurance of our republic.

The things that are taking place are not just illegal, they are unconstitutional. They are coming in here. They are claiming it's about safety and it ain't. They are claiming it's about enforcing the law and it's not. What they are doing is terrorizing communities.

They are ripping families apart and they are creating danger as we saw where they claim to be creating safety. That's not OK in Minneapolis. That's not OK in any city in the entire country. If you care about the endurance of our republic and you care about the President of the United States and an administration abiding by the Constitution, whether you are a Democrat or you're a Republican, now is the time to stand up. This ain't OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem addressed the mayor's comments as she continued to defend eyes and the officer who fired the fatal shots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mayor Frey called the claims of self-defense BS. How do you respond to that?

NOEM: I say that he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's very clear that this individual was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations. Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he's been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Vice President J.D. Vance adding his thoughts on the matter as well. He posted on X, quote, "You can accept that this woman's death is a tragedy while acknowledging it's a tragedy of her own making." He also said that ICE agents have the full backing of the administration.

CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson says that the Minneapolis community needs to be prepared for what comes next. It's unknown if the investigation will lead to any type of prosecution, but if it does, he says that they need to be prepared to disagree with the outcome. Here's part of his conversation with our Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What I'm concerned about, though, is the nature of the investigation. Let's be clear that there are going to be, of course, local officials investigating this, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in addition to the federal government. In the event that there's anything federal here, of course, then Trump would have the power to pardon. We're not there yet. There's not been a prosecution, there's not been an indictment, there's not been a criminal charge levied.

[04:45:04]

However, in the event that it goes that way, I think it's very important that the community gets a sense of fairness, a sense of justice. And in the event that it is federal, of course there would be, according to Trump and what he put out already, he's judged that there's nothing to see here. And so if the locals get it, what will they do? Will they move forward? And if they move forward, what will that look like?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes.

JACKSON: Would it look like a, you know, actual prosecution? And what would be the prosecution here? Criminal negligence intent? We'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Still ahead, CNN has a firsthand account of what played out during that deadly shooting. Still ahead, an eyewitness describes what she saw. We'll also show you the video that she took right after the incident. Plus, a new move by the White House that some describe as a get out of jail free card for polluters. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:18]

SOLOMON: Protesters turned out on the streets of New York to voice their anger following that deadly shooting in Minneapolis. The crowd took part in a march and spoke out against ICE. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When ICE is doing this, it was just like today was just like the last straw. I just had to come out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so I think the only way that we're going to have any accountability and fight for any justice for Renee is by being out in the streets and showing that we're not going to -- we're not going to stand down and let this happen to our communities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We see the injustice that happened in Minneapolis and we -- and we won't stand for it. And we demand that these ICE agents are prosecuted and that they can't get away with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: With immigration advocates in New York organized the rally in Foley Square in response to what happened in Minneapolis. Those who gathered held a number of signs, including one that read, quote, "The people demand ICE out of our communities." President Trump blames what he called the radical left for what played out in Minneapolis, for allegedly targeting ICE agents on a daily basis. In a social media post, he claimed that, quote, "The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, and then violently, willfully and viciously ran over an ICE officer who seems to have shot her in self-defense." Again, those are the president's words.

And a video taken right after the shooting shows outraged residents confronting law enforcement. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I go check her pulse?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Back up now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a physician.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, listen, I understand. We got EMS coming and I get it. Just give us a second. We have medics on scene. We have our own medics.

EMILY HELLER, WITNESS: Where are they? Where are they?

How can I relax? You just killed my (BLEEP) neighbor. You caught butter in the (BLEEP) face. You killed my (BLEEP) neighbor. How do you show up to work every day?

How the (BLEEP) do you do this every day? You're killing my neighbors. You're stealing my neighbors. What the (BLEEP) the man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, the woman who recorded that video says that it took at least 15 minutes before an ambulance showed up. She says that paramedics had to carry the victim's body on foot because the street was clogged by ICE vehicles. This is how she described the situation to CNN's Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELLER: I hadn't even gotten dressed. I was making breakfast. I came -- I went out, I heard the commotion, I heard whistles, which is a common sign of ICE is nearby. And I went out onto my front porch. I didn't even have shoes on.

And within 60 seconds everything had already gone down. But there was a -- there was a -- an ICE convoy that was -- that seemed to be stuck. And then there was a protester who was blocking traffic so they couldn't progress. And she was totally peaceful. And ICE, it seemed completely unorganized.

They didn't really know what they were doing. They were screaming at her to move, move, move. And then they approached her vehicle aggressively and grabbed -- tried to open her door. And then that's when she got spooked and she reversed her vehicle to turn her wheels to try to escape. And that's when an ICE agent stepped in front of her vehicle and said stop.

And then, I mean she was already moving and then point blank shot her through her windshield in the face. My life is forever changed from having witnessed this and I'm -- I just can't let this narrative that it was self-defense go any further because it's absolutely not what it was. And yes, my neighborhood, my neighbors, we're all going to be pretty traumatized for the -- from this from -- for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: We'll have more coverage of the deadly shooting in Minneapolis in just a few moments in a top of the hour. But now let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories we're following for you this morning.

The arraignment for Nick Reiner has been delayed until next month after his attorney asked a judge on Wednesday to be removed as counsel. The judge and Reiner both agreed and he was then assigned a public defender. Reiner is charged with two counts of first degree murder and the stabbing deaths of his parents last month. Hollywood director Rob Reiner and photographer Michelle Singer Reiner. He could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty if found guilty.

Although prosecutors have not decided if they will seek the death penalty.

Former U.S. Climate envoy John Kerry is accusing the White House of giving polluters a get out of jail free card. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said that it's pulling out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The U.S. adopted it in 1992. The treaty led to the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, which Trump abandoned for a second time last year. Still unclear whether this withdrawal is legal since the convention was ratified by the Senate.

[04:55:00]

And according to this post from the White House, the U.S. is also pulling out of 66 international organizations. It says that the memberships no longer serve U.S. interests.

A storm nicknamed Goretti is expected to impact France and the U.K. in the coming hours. The rapidly strengthening system is on track to bring strong winds and heavy snow to parts of Europe. Southern England and northern France, especially along the coast, are expected to be hit. A cold snap has already turned flood plains in Oxford into a natural ice rink. And heavy snow from storm Goretti will likely disrupt travel in the air, the roads and the rails across parts of England and Wales.

France's meteorological office is also warning that the snow will impact travel. Some rural communities could even face power blackouts.

All right, that's going to do it for this hour of Early Start. Thanks for being with me. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. I will be back with more news after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)