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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Bovino Out, Homan In As Trump Makes Changes In Minnesota; Alex Pretti Remembered As "A Kindhearted Soul"; GOP Senator Slams Noem's "Premature" Shooting Response. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired January 26, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what I've seen is that after Renee Good's murder, after Alex Pretti's murder, more people are out on the streets the next day.
The everyday acts of deep love and courage that I see my neighbors, my community members taking, that's the world that we want, and we're practicing it every day here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The power of protest and song.
That's it for us. The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: The President's top guy in Minneapolis is out, and Tom Homan is in, as the President himself is now doing damage control.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
Tonight, President Trump is making leadership changes in Minnesota, as the backlash from this awful scene led the President to this change.
37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen who had no criminal record, was killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis on Saturday. Pretti was an ICU nurse who had dedicated himself to treating critically-ill veterans.
And as outrage over his killing has consumed the Twin Cities, and also the nation, the person who became the face of this administration's aggressive tactics on the ground, Greg Bovino, is leaving Minneapolis with his future uncertain tonight.
Bovino was a very visible presence and a lightning rod at times during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. He sat for interviews with local news, trying to personally reframe the public perception after an ICE officer had shot and killed Renee Good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: We're doing this for ma and pa America.
And we're glad to be here. And for those 90 to 95 percent of Minnesotans that like us here, we salute you, we respect you and we love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Bovino did interviews, but he also made a point of being seen on the front lines like this, squaring off with protesters, clad in tactical gear, and also hurling a gas canister at them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Third warning.
BOVINO (ph): Gas on Bill (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas canisters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas canisters. (bleep).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now tonight, we know that at least some of Greg Bovino's agents with Customs and Border Patrol are also leaving Minneapolis with him to return to their designated sectors.
The Department of Homeland Security has been insisting this is not a demotion for Bovino. Though his future, as I noted, appears uncertain tonight.
And my colleague, Priscilla Alvarez, reports that the Department of Homeland Security has actually suspended his access to his government- linked social media accounts. You might remember those accounts from yesterday. He spent the day responding to people, who had criticized or questioned this administration's handling, and their comments about Alex Pretti after he was killed.
What we know tonight is that in Bovino's place, the President is sending his Border Czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis, instead. Our CNN team saw him as he was leaving the West Wing, earlier today.
And this comes as the administration has been facing major backlash over the comments that they have made, in light of Pretti's killing, with a noticeable shift coming in the comments as soon as that White House press briefing started today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America's streets.
This has obviously been a very fluid and fast-moving situation throughout the weekend. As for President Trump, whom I speak for, he has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Waiting for the facts is not what several senior members of this administration did over the weekend, however. Instead, we heard a lot of comments like these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism.
BOVINO: This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: You do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It was comments like those that I'm told actually caused a lot of internal frustration, with several officials telling me that people inside this administration felt that Noem and Bovino had only made things worse, not better.
At the White House briefing today, this was the press secretary's response, when she was questioned about some of those exact same comments.
[21:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Secretary Noem said Alex Pretti committed an act of domestic terrorism. Stephen Miller labeled Pretti a domestic terrorist. Does the President agree with them?
LEAVITT: Look, as I've said, I have not heard the President characterize Mr. Pretti in that way. However, I have heard the President say he wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.
REPORTER: Was he alarmed to hear his top officials--
REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline.
REPORTER: --referring to him in that way, rushing to that judgment?
LEAVITT: Danny (ph) go ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Perhaps the biggest shift came from the President himself. Right after Alex Pretti had been killed on Saturday, we saw President Trump calling the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, Sanctimonious political fools. Today, he posted that they had very good phone calls with both of them.
And according to Mayor Frey, in the readout we got from his office tonight, he says, The President agreed that the present situation cannot continue. And also said, Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, as Mayor Frey says, he Will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go.
I want to get straight to the ground in Minneapolis tonight, where CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has been working this story, and joins me.
And Shimon, obviously, Greg Bovino had become such a face, you saw him in so many of the videos of people who were recording, as this had been happening.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
COLLINS: What are people on the ground saying tonight about him leaving Minneapolis tomorrow?
PROKUPECZ: Look, there is some optimism here on the ground. People are trying to hold on to anything they can here for some hope.
I don't think people understand what this community has been through, and just how tired people are, how much fear they have had to live with. People who aren't even under the threat of possible immigration action are afraid to leave their homes.
I heard a story tonight, about a family that wouldn't leave their home during the day, and would only leave at night, and they needed to buy food. And they kind of sense that nothing would happen to them at night, so they drove at night. I mean, these are the stories.
These are the things that have been happening here, and Greg Bovino has been the face of this. Whoever thought that, this past week, that Greg Bovino should be out there, talking as much as he did, you really started seeing the downward spiral for him, and the way he was talking about people here, and the way he was treating people here.
Tonight, I went and talked to the Police Chief here, Brian O'Hara, who has been so candid, and so frustrated, and so sad, and so concerned, over what has been happening here. He's concerned for his officers. He's concerned for his community. And he's hoping that this now is the beginning of perhaps a change here.
Take a listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: Are you hoping, by him leaving, there is some de- escalation? CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: I hope that's what this means. Yes, absolutely. You know, I -- nobody in law enforcement is saying federal law enforcement should not be enforcing federal law. That's ridiculous, right? But I don't think it's unreasonable to think that federal law enforcement should operate the same standards and professionalism that the rest of law enforcement in the state does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: And Chief O'Hara also told me, when he looks at the video of Bovino and the caravans that he's driving around in, these large caravans and what look like really militarized teams, he said that would escalate situations.
Bovino would go to gas stations, claiming that he needed to use the bathroom, or he would go to a Target. And the observers are much -- observers here are much like what Alex was, when he was killed. They would find these caravans, and they would follow these caravans, and then it would just escalate the entire situation.
So, by Bovino leaving, certainly the Chief feels that, what he described, sort of the tactics that they were using were sort of like things you would see law enforcement doing, 30 years ago. And he said, it's just not acceptable, because law enforcement has come so far to work with this community to make things better, and he's hoping that now perhaps this could be the start of something.
We'll see, Kaitlan, how things go here.
COLLINS: Yes, and we'll see how that meeting between Mayor Frey and Tom Homan goes tomorrow.
Shimon Prokupecz, as always, grateful to have you there, out in the cold for us, and reporting live on the ground.
PROKUPECZ: Thank you.
COLLINS: My next source here tonight used to actually hold the position that is now currently occupied by Secretary Kristi Noem. Jeh Johnson was the Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama, and joins me now.
And thank you, sir, for being here.
Because, I just first want to know, given the gravity of that position, which you obviously know well from serving in it, I wonder what went through your mind when you heard what Secretary Noem was saying over the weekend, in addition to Stephen Miller and Greg Bovino, almost immediately after Alex Pretti had been killed.
JEH JOHNSON, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Kaitlan, a lot of things.
[21:10:00]
First, Americans tonight have to wonder what has happened to the department of our government that was created in 2003, after 9/11, to protect Americans from acts of terrorism in this country.
And I look at the videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti, and the shooting Renee Good. Videos don't always capture the entirety of what's going on in a situation. But I look at these videos, of the force that I once led, and I see, frankly, an ill-trained, hot- tempered, undisciplined force that has lost its way, and has lost sight of its core mission of immigration enforcement.
To civilians, to citizens in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, this must feel like an occupying force of some sort, except it's their own government.
I'm pleased that the President is sending Tom Homan to Minneapolis. Tom Homan used to work for me. He is very definitely pro-enforcement, but he's a career law enforcement officer. He was a police officer in Upstate New York, before he went into immigration enforcement.
And my belief and my expectation and my hope is that Tom will be able to calm things down with the local government there, and we'll see a cessation of hostilities. And hopefully, the thousands of DHS personnel who are in Minneapolis right now, for reasons I don't fully understand, will withdraw from the situation and go back to their core mission in other parts of the government.
Let's not forget, by the way, that Greg Bovino, who we've talked so much about, is a Border Patrol official. The border is Texas. It's north of Minneapolis. Border Patrol agents are not well-trained to do law enforcement in the inner cities of Minneapolis, and Chicago, and other places like that. So, I hope we've seen a turning point from a very dangerous situation.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, and Tom Homan, as we always remind people when he's on the show, he got an award for his distinguished service, when he was working under you as Secretary, and under -- in the Obama administration.
But Tom Homan going in there, given what has happened on the ground already in Minneapolis, it's clear the officials there still want all of the federal agents to leave.
Do you think that people can trust the word that is coming from the Department of Homeland Security, given, obviously what Kristi Noem said on over the weekend doesn't match up with what everyone could see themselves in those videos?
JOHNSON: Right. And you don't need to be a law enforcement expert to look at those videos, and see what happened to both Renee Good and Alex Pretti. They did not have to die. This was a confrontation by law enforcement officers who were undisciplined, hot-tempered, who came at them in a menacing way, and it ends up with them -- with them being shot and killed. They did not have to die. And it doesn't take an expert to see that.
I do worry about the credibility of the Department of Homeland Security, and its leaders, branding these two Americans, these two civilians, as domestic terrorists, or the perpetrators of acts of domestic terrorism. Does a huge disservice to them. I'm sure, it wounds their family, their survivors, their friends. And it makes light of the term. A domestic terrorist is a very, very dangerous individual. And these two have none of those attributes, obviously.
In the Pentagon, where I used to work, there's a concept called undo command influence. And what that means is that leaders of a department do not get out ahead of an investigation. You let the investigation play out, you let the facts lead you to a conclusion.
Tom himself was actually pretty disciplined after the Renee Good shooting to say, Let's see what happens with the investigation. While everybody else was branding her the perpetrator of an act of domestic terrorism and making all sorts of conclusions.
And so, there needs to be an investigation of this shooting, of the shooting of Renee Good. If I were DHS Secretary, I would want to see local law enforcement participate in that investigation--
COLLINS: Yes.
JOHNSON: --for reasons of accountability and credibility.
COLLINS: Can I ask you, because you mentioned the work that you did with Tom Homan, when Obama was in office. When you were the Secretary, the Obama administration used ICE to remove undocumented immigrants from American cities, many of them who did not have criminal records, I should note as well.
[21:15:00]
I have seen so many people say, Why are we seeing scenes like this under President Trump, but we didn't see them when President Obama's administration was deporting people? What would you say to that?
JOHNSON: The priorities for any administration, when it comes to immigration law enforcement are, secure the border, and deport the worst of the worst, prioritize the worst of the worst undocumented. That's what this administration initially said it was doing. Those were my objectives too, when I was in office.
But we've embarked on this, this campaign now, of mass deportation. I used to tell people in immigration enforcement, when I was Secretary, Use your commonsense when you're on the streets. One high-profile notorious incident can derail your credibility and your ability to conduct your mission in a particular community. And I'm afraid that's what's happened here.
We worked patiently with local government, with mayors, city councils, when I was in office, to have them give us the worst of the worst in their jails, who were undocumented. But that's a delicate balance in public safety to strike.
COLLINS: Yes.
JOHNSON: And I'm afraid that this administration has gone far overboard to the detriment of public safety in places like Minneapolis.
COLLINS: Former Secretary, Jeh Johnson, thank you for joining us tonight. I really appreciate it.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
COLLINS: And up next here on THE SOURCE. The administration is facing those growing calls for accountability, even from Republicans tonight, after these two shootings of American citizens.
And there are new concerns coming from even within the Department of Homeland Security, amid the frustration about Secretary Noem's leadership. More on our reporting ahead.
And also, this conversation, a former patient of Alex Pretti's is going to share her memories of the ICU nurse that she describes as compassionate, gentle, someone who held her hand in her room. And what she has to say about the officials who called him a domestic terrorist.
[21:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX PRETTI, ICU NURSE: May we never forget and always remember our brothers and sisters who have served, so that we may enjoy the gift of freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who treated critically-ill patients at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, delivering a tribute there to a soldier who had died.
A Border Patrol agent shot and killed Pretti, Saturday, while he was wrestled to the ground. In the moments before that, you can see on the video that has since surfaced, where Pretti was trying to protect a woman that the federal agents had shoved.
Pretti's friends and neighbors, since his death, have said that he began protesting ICE actions after an agent killed Renee Good, almost three weeks before.
His parents described their son, in a statement, as a lot of false claims and unverified claims from the administration were coming out, and they said this: Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for... Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact.
I want to bring in one of those veterans that Pretti cared for in the ICU, earlier this month. Navy veteran Marta Crownhart is here.
And thank you so much for being here. First, thank you for your service. And I just really appreciate you coming on to share this perspective about what Alex was like, and what it was like for you to have him as your nurse.
MARTA CROWNHART, FORMER PATIENT OF ALEX PRETTI, DISABLED NAVY VETERAN: Thank you.
COLLINS: What was--
CROWNHART: He--
COLLINS: Well, how would you describe him?
CROWNHART: He was very caring, kindhearted. When he walked in your room, well when I was in the ICU, when he walks in your room, he was there for you. He was never preoccupied. He never was thinking about anybody else. He was always there for you.
He -- I had a bad, a real bad, day, and he sat in my room, for a little over 20 minutes, holding my hand, talking to me, letting me know that things were going to be OK. He prayed with me, and he let me know that I was going to be OK.
I thought it was -- when I first went in, I thought I was having a stroke, and I had stroke-like symptoms. And when I went into the ICU, they did a -- they did a bunch of random tests, and I found out I didn't have a stroke. And when Alex found out that I didn't have a stroke, he came right away, and let me know that I didn't. And he calmed me, and he treated me like I was his only patient, and I knew I wasn't. And he treated every vet like he -- that like they were his only patient.
[21:25:00]
And he told me about his protests that he did, because he felt so strongly about how Renee Good had died, and he wanted to make that difference. And I remember him telling me about a protest that he went to, and how -- the difference that he wanted to make in the world, and in Minneapolis, and I remember telling him to be careful.
And it's just been very difficult. I am going in today. I also volunteer at the Minneapolis VA, and I volunteer in the waiting room, which is right across the hall from the ICU. And today was very difficult to look at the doors and know that he's not there.
COLLINS: It must be so painful for you, especially after having that conversation with him. I mean, that's just, it's heartbreaking to hear that the two of you talked about the death of another woman at the hands of ICE and then to -- I mean, it must just be so hard for you to hear what had happened to him.
CROWNHART: I think, yes, it was heartbreaking to see the video. It was heartbreaking to know when I found out it was him.
What was worse was listening to Kristi Noem talk about him the way she did, and not knowing -- not even seeing the videos yet, and not knowing exactly what had happened. I think that hurt worse than anything. And I can't imagine his parents listening to that, or hearing what she had said about him. I think that hurt worse than anything. Calling him a domestic terrorist, I think that hurt worse than anything.
COLLINS: Yes, just them -- the man that you describe, holding your hand, and rushing to tell you that what you had feared had happened to you had not happened. I mean, that must not line up at all with what you heard from the administration, calling him not only a domestic terrorist. I mean, they also called him an assassin, and said he wanted to massacre law enforcement.
CROWNHART: They didn't even have the facts yet. And you can see in the video that they disarmed him even before they shot him 10 times. And it just broke my heart to see what they did to him, and he did not deserve it. And I can't imagine. My heart goes out to his parents and his family and to the many nurses that worked with him.
There were so many people that brought flowers today for the nurses in the ICU, and I'm so grateful that there are so many people out there that are mourning the -- mourning, and other nurses too. There were many tealight candles that they had put out on the floor of the hallway, leading up to the doors to the ICU that I walked into today, and I just -- it was so special that they memorialize him the way they--
COLLINS: That's--
CROWNHART: --the way they are.
COLLINS: That's -- it's beautiful to hear that, and to see the tributes to him from those who did know him and worked with him.
And do you remember what he said to you about Renee Good, who had also -- who had been killed, and obviously that had inspired him to go out and protest, and was why he was out there in the streets on Saturday. Do you remember what he said to you about her?
[21:30:00]
CROWNHART: He just knew that she was a good person from what he had heard, and that she was killed for no good reason, and that -- that she -- that they had just killed her for -- they tried to -- and again, they tried to say that she tried to run them over, which she didn't. You can clearly see that in the video, again. And the administration needs to stop making these contradictions for -- before they look at the videos.
COLLINS: Marta Crownhart--
CROWNHART: And they need to--
COLLINS: I want to say thank you.
CROWNHART: Thank you.
COLLINS: I just, I mean, to -- it must be so difficult for you to see what happened to someone you knew, on Saturday, and I can't even imagine how painful that is. So, I want to thank you for being willing to come on and share that with us tonight.
CROWNHART: It's difficult for everybody involved. It's difficult for the whole VA system. It's difficult for the City of Minneapolis. It's difficult for everyone.
COLLINS: Yes. Marta, thank you. And please, give our love to everyone in that community. And thank you. And thank you, again, for your service, and for joining me here tonight.
CROWNHART: I will. Thank you.
COLLINS: Up next here. There's a growing number of Republicans that have actually been calling on the administration to carry out a thorough investigation of what happened to Alex Pretti. My political sources are here ahead.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, the Trump administration has been facing rare pushback from some members of its own party, over the handling and that response to the shooting of Alex Pretti.
Republican senator, John Curtis, said that he disagrees with Secretary Noem's premature DHS response, as he called it, which came before all the facts were known.
It's a sentiment that, while may seem obvious to some, was also echoed by a handful of other Republican voices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: We certainly should not be labeling him as being a domestic terrorist who is going to execute cops. There is no evidence to support that.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): What I think the administration could do better, is the tone with which they're describing this. That immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing that, We took out a violent terrorist. Hurray.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I know that they're working on a game plan to make sure that they are going to, let's say, recalibrate, and maybe work from a different direction, to ensure that they get back to what they wanted to do to begin with.
And that is to remove people from the country who are here illegally, who were allowed in by Joe Biden -- especially those who pose the most danger -- and go about their job in a more structured way, to make sure that they are going to be able to remove these people, but without causing all the kinds of problems and fighting in communities that they are experiencing right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My political sources tonight are CNN political commentators, Paul Begala, and Scott Jennings.
Scott, do you agree with those Republicans?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO MITCH MCCONNELL: Well, look, my advice is, when you're a government official, the facts always work best. You can leave the hyperbole to political commentators, like Begala, and me, and others. But when you're in a position of trust with the federal government, any government, sticking to the facts is always the best option.
And so, in this case, we had some facts, but we didn't have a lot of other facts that would have supported some of the hyperbole.
So, my advice? Just stick to the facts. Tell the public what you know. Tell them you're going to investigate everything about a situation. And then, as more facts emerge, make those facts available to the public. That will build trust, and I think that's what people expect out of you.
COLLINS: Paul, it stood out to me that one Republican, who was actually running for governor of Minnesota, also someone who represented the immigration agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, he ended his campaign, and said that he, Cannot support the national Republicans' stated retribution on the citizens of our state... nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.
What do you make of that?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, yes, you're right. Trump is even losing key members of his own party.
But it's really not about the politicians. If in fact they're backing down, if in fact they're standing down this assault on our democracy, it's because of the people. It's because we, the people of forces of freedom, stood up against a president that even his own top general in his first term said, was fascist to the core.
Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans took to the streets, peacefully protesting. Renee Good was shot in the temple for that. No threat to anyone. Alex Pretti shot on the ground, in the back. No threat to anyone. They were there to bear witness and to stand up for our Constitution.
So if, in fact, this is turning, it's not because Trump is losing the politicians. It's because we, the people, have decided we're not going to put up with a guy who, as I say, even his own top general, said, was fascist to the core.
COLLINS: Scott Jennings, one thing that the White House was asked about today, during the briefing, where we really saw the change in how they were talking about this. I mean, the moment that Karoline Leavitt came out to the podium. She was asked about Stephen Miller, and what he said on Saturday. Pretty immediately after Pretti had been shot, he called him a domestic terrorist. He said he tried to assassinate federal law enforcement.
There was no evidence of that then. There's no evidence of it now.
And Karoline Leavitt was asked about it today, and this is what she told reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Will Stephen Miller be apologizing to the family of Alex Pretti for calling him, quote, an assassin who tried to murder federal agents, despite the fact that, as you say, this is still under investigation?
LEAVITT: Look, again, this incident remains under investigation. And nobody here at the White House, including the President of the United States, wants to see Americans hurt or killed and losing their lives in American streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:40:00]
COLLINS: Given what you said about focusing on the facts, do you think, Scott Jennings, that Stephen Miller should apologize?
JENNINGS: Look, that's a question for the President and for Karoline Leavitt. I think she had it just right. The President and nobody else in the White House wants to see people getting injured.
Also, the President and nobody else in the White House wants to see Democrats in Minnesota radicalizing people and instructing them to go obstruct federal law enforcement. That's the thing here. There's a difference between protesting and trying to impede and obstruct law enforcement. You do not want people, any people, going out and getting in the middle of active law enforcement situations. That is a recipe for chaos and is a recipe for heartbreak and tragedy, and we have now seen it twice in Minnesota.
They need to stay on message here with what the President is trying to do. He's simply trying to enforce federal immigration law, just like every other president before him has done. In fact, a president Paul Begala knows well, Bill Clinton said, we won't tolerate immigration by people whose first act is to break the law as they enter our country. The presidents that have come before Donald Trump have all done this. In fact, Barack Obama gave Tom Homan a medal, a medal, for deporting people.
So right now, in terms of messaging, I'd say, stick to the facts, dump the hyperbole, and stick to what every other president that's come before you has done. Talk about the need to enforce immigration law, and talk about the fact that a state, even a blue state, cannot exist in a state of secession from the federal government or federal laws. COLLINS: Paul, you want to respond to that?
BEGALA: Yes, the immigration crisis is not in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is 1,500 miles from the southern border. What the hell is the Border Patrol doing 1,500 miles from the southern border? This was never about immigration.
Minneapolis has a large, probably about a 100,000 Somali immigrants. 87 percent of them are American citizens. Almost all of them, because they love our country so much, because we've been so good to them, they passed a test that I bet you half of us, native-born Americans, probably couldn't pass.
What are we doing giving $75 billion budget to ICE in that big, ugly bill that Mr. Trump passed? $75 billion. The entire military of France is only 64 billion. And France has got 511 aircraft and 100 ships and 300 nuclear weapons and bases from Polynesia to Niger.
This was never about immigration. This was never about Customs. This was about Donald Trump being autocrat wannabe. And it looks like we, the people, standing up to him works. And I really just can't say enough about those people who braved the freezing cold in Minneapolis to stand up for our democracy. And I'm really moved by them. And of course, disgusted by President Trump, and Mr. Miller, and the rest of those autocrat wannabes.
COLLINS: Well, and Scott, you talked about what the President is saying. And Karoline Leavitt saying today, if she speaks for him, and he would not -- she wouldn't go as far as to defend the comments on domestic terrorists. I mean, she didn't repeat them, but she didn't really criticize Stephen Miller for it.
But also, on Saturday, I was looking at the President's Truth Social feed. One, he was hosting a screening of "Melania," that was scheduled here at the White House with a bunch of CEOs. He was posting about construction and lawsuits related to the White House ballroom, the NFL kickoff rule.
I mean, it wasn't like he was only focused on this story that was gripping the nation, over the weekend, in terms of what had happened here, and the backlash. It wasn't until after we saw the backlash to the comments that the President weighed in, as he did today by sending in Tom Homan.
JENNINGS: Yes, look, the President comments on all kinds of things.
I think I'm looking at what the President has done today. Number one, he spoke to Walz. Number two, he spoke to the Mayor of Minneapolis, he spoke to Frey. He's clearly trying to get them to acquiesce to his very, very -- and Paul raised, why are there so many Border Patrol and ICE agents in Minneapolis? It's a simple answer. Because they will not cooperate with federal officials.
In Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, the Mayor, has made it clear, they will not cooperate, and they will not let ICE or Border Patrol into the jails, like they do in so many places. So, is the immigration crisis in Minneapolis? No. In fact, most of the immigration that's going -- or the deportations going on in this country are actually happening in red states.
But there are illegal aliens in Minneapolis. They are being protected by the Democrats who run Minneapolis. And if Jacob Frey and Tim Walz cooperate, as the President (inaudible) and as they have been begging for, for weeks, then you wouldn't have this massive presence in Minneapolis.
You don't have chaos anywhere else in the country, nowhere else except Minneapolis. And what does Minneapolis have that nobody else has? Walz and Frey, and a failure to cooperate, and them out, radicalizing their constituents, comparing this to the Diary of Anne Frank, calling it the Battle of Gettysburg? Come on. That is not responsible rhetoric.
[21:45:00]
So, for whatever you want to say about Stephen Miller, or anybody else at the White House. The local politicians have responsibility to be more measured in their own rhetoric, and to simply cooperate with the federal government, good for--
COLLINS: Well, I mean, speaking of being measured in your rhetoric. The Vice President also retweeted Stephen Miller, calling Alex Pretti an assassin, something that no one is even repeating today.
Paul Begala. Scott Jennings. Thank you both for joining me tonight.
BEGALA: Thank you.
COLLINS: Up next here on THE SOURCE. This deadly shooting is scrambling funding talks on Capitol Hill. You just heard Paul mention there how much funding ICE has. Now, there could be chances of a government shutdown, at least a partial one, over just this. I'll speak to Ro Khanna about it, right after this, on the ground in Minneapolis.
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COLLINS: The growing outrage over Saturday's deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal officer in Minneapolis could lead to a partial government shutdown here in Washington by the end of this week.
[21:50:00]
Hours after that shooting, we heard from the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, who said Democrats in the Senate will not provide the 60 votes that are needed to advance a funding bill if it includes the current funding measures for the Department of Homeland Security.
And now tonight, sources are telling CNN that both Senate Democrats and Republicans are weighing how to move forward with no clear end in sight.
My next guest is California congressman, Ro Khanna, who is in Minneapolis tonight, and was meeting with protesters, as he attended a vigil for Alex Pretti earlier today.
And so, Congressman, I obviously want to ask you about what's going on here in Washington. But first, tell me what you heard on the ground in Minneapolis today.
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): I was so moved. I was at the vigil site where Alex Pretti was shot and killed, and there were hundreds of people there. They had brought poems. They brought flowers. They talked about love. They talked about healing.
There were many people there who were Minnesota families for generations. I expected to see immigrants and children of immigrants. But actually, there were -- it was a multi-racial group. And I just thanked them. I thanked them for their faith in this country.
And I could tell -- put aside the politics, Kaitlan. This is a community that is hurting. They don't feel seen. They don't feel heard. They feel like ICE agents are going into their restaurants, into their bookstores, are surveilling their houses. One mom talked about having drones surround her place, and having kids at home now, can't go to school. I mean, we just have to end this. It's -- on a human level.
COLLINS: Well, and on the funding aspect of this. One of your Democratic colleagues, Tom Suozzi, he actually had voted with Republicans to pass that House funding bill, last week. After Pretti's death, though, he wrote to his constituents, he said it was a mistake and that he failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis.
Do you expect the government to shut down over this?
KHANNA: We can't provide another dime for a government that is killing American citizens.
And good for Tom Suozzi. I came into Congress with Tom Suozzi. He's a person of deep Catholic faith, and he recognized that he cast a wrong vote, and he was brave enough to say that. And I hope that that's a signal to the entire Democratic Party, in the House and the Senate, to hold firm. No additional funding for ICE. And we need to be repealing the $75 billion that they've gotten for the next four years.
COLLINS: I mean, what's your message to Senate Democrats tonight, on that front?
KHANNA: They need to hold the line, first of all, for humanitarian reasons. That's the one thing I heard from people in Minneapolis. They don't feel that the government cares about them. They're really under siege. And it's not just immigrants. I mean, these are Minnesotans, who have lived there for years, saying that their lives are being disrupted, their businesses are being disrupted. And we will so let down Minnesotans, and we will let down the entire country if we cave this time.
I'm taking Senator Schumer at his word that we're not going to provide the votes. We need to stand up for constitutional democracy. It's no longer just about immigration. They're violating the First, the Second, and the Fourth Amendments simultaneously. This is about federal government overreach and trampling on our freedoms.
COLLINS: I mean, and I should note, Thomas Massie, someone that you worked with on making the government release the Epstein files, or at least compelling them to, trying to, he was critical of this, over the weekend, talking about it from the perspective of the Second Amendment. And so, that's an area where, obviously the two of you have been speaking out on this.
Just overall, on this front. 140 of your colleagues are now co- sponsoring Articles of Impeachment, when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. Do you believe that she has committed impeachable acts?
KHANNA: Absolutely. She needs to go. I don't know why Donald Trump wants to keep her. I mean, she's a total political liability, as is Pam Bondi. And as you know, that Thomas Massie and I are planning to have contempt or impeachment for Bondi. But Noem and Bondi should have no place in the government. I mean, she's presided over agents who are killing American citizens, who are overreaching in violating the Bill of Rights.
Even people who voted for Donald Trump, and I disagree with this, who want mass deportation, did not think that you would be killing a 37- year-old American nurse, did not think that you would be killing Renee Good, a 37-year-old mom who are American citizens.
You know what shocked me in Minneapolis? The amount of people of color who carried their passport with them. What are we doing in this country, that people are having to carry their documents with them?
COLLINS: Congressman Ro Khanna, on the ground in Minneapolis, thanks for joining us to share your perspective from there tonight. I appreciate it.
KHANNA: Thank you, Kaitlan.
[21:55:00]
COLLINS: And up next here. I'm going to give you an update, because that U.S. carrier strike group has now arrived in the Middle East region. The White House has been weighing possible strikes on Iran. But what the President has said about it tonight.
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COLLINS: Tonight, a U.S. carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, as the President has continued to consider military options in Iran.
Our sources tell us that the USS Abraham Lincoln is now in the Indian Ocean, putting it closer to help in any potential operations targeting Iran. I say, potential, because this carrier is not necessarily in a final position, and there's no indication tonight that a final decision has actually been made here. [22:00:00]
The President has acknowledged the buildup. He did an interview with Axios today, where he told our friend, Barak Ravid, We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela.
The President did say though, that diplomacy is still on the table, and that Iran, in his view, quote, wants to "Make a deal."
We'll continue to follow that story for you here. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
