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Outrage And Anger Spreading Across Minneapolis; Monster Winter Storm Brings Ice, Now And Bitter Cold; Private Jet Carrying 8 People Crashes In Maine. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired January 25, 2026 - 21:00 ET

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

[21:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And welcome back here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anderson Cooper in Minneapolis.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: And I'm Kaitlan Collins in New York.

Tonight, we're tracking a massive storm system that has been wreaking havoc across most of the country this evening. We've seen a steady flow of heavy snow and sleet still pouring down across the Northeast tonight. It's been burying streets and highways across several states, making travel nearly impossible. It's also knocked out power for nearly a million people, as authorities have been warning that the impacts of this storm could be felt for days.

We're seeing the worst flight day for -- worst day for flight cancellations, I should say, in the United States, since the pandemic happened. That storm has forced airlines to cancel more than 17,000 flights and counting, as schools and several major cities have already canceled classes or moved to remote learning.

We also have new information tonight when it comes to the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis. That's where Anderson is on the ground right now.

And, Anderson, obviously, this has been something that we've seen so much reaction coming in tonight in terms of what we've been hearing, not just from the community, but also from -- from federal officials

COOPER: Yeah. And so much of that from federal officials, particularly the Department of Homeland Security, has been contradicted now by multiple videos and certainly by the actions that we have seen on the ground in those videos.

Here in Minnesota, community is certainly on edge after another U.S. citizen was shot and killed by federal immigration officers Saturday morning. The death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, and the response from top homeland security officials are leading to new protests, which we saw today, a large one in downtown Minneapolis. Hundreds of people marching in frigid temperatures, new fury over the agents who descended on this city. A number of videos have since emerged of what happened from various

angles, which contradict, as I said, the version of events given by top Trump administration officials.

CNN senior producer Gianna Toboni walks us through some of those videos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GIANNA TOBONI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): Federal immigration officers fatally shot a man Saturday in Minneapolis. He was an ICU nurse who worked at a local veterans affairs hospital. Another controversial killing by U.S. immigration agents and the second U.S. citizen killed this month.

CNN analyzed cell phone footage from multiple angles. Taken together, they appear at odds with the Department of Homeland Security's initial claims about the lead up to officers firing on Alex Pretti.

Around 9:00 a.m. Central, video captures two people approaching a federal immigration officer in front of an unidentified vehicle. The sound of whistles is blaring in the background. Alex Pretti enters the frame here. He's filming an officer interacting with protesters and waving a car through.

Fifteen seconds later, Pretti yells.

ALEX PRETTI, ICU NURSE: Do not push them into the traffic!

TOBONI (voice-over): In their statement, DHS said that an individual approached officers with, quote, a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun. This video seems to show officers approaching Pretti instead of the other way around. We'll see later that Pretti does appear to have had a gun in his waistband, but this video shows he did not have a gun in his hand, only a phone.

Video from this white car shows an up close angle of a federal immigration officer pushing one protester, then three seconds later, he pushes Pretti. And then, as the camera comes into focus, you see the same federal officer push a third protester with the orange backpack.

Pretti raises his hand and turns away just as the officer sprays him with a chemical irritant. You see, Pretti and the other protester trying to help the person with the orange backpack. You can see here an officer pulling Pretti off of this person. Three more officers join and then two more.

Pretti is on the ground under them. One officer in a tan beanie can be seen repeatedly striking his head with a metal can. You can see an officer in a gray jacket walk into the frame. There isn't a gun in his hand. Seconds later, officer shouts --

OFFICER: There is a gun!

TOBONI (voice-over): The officer removed the gun from Pretti's belt. The officer steps away from the scene, carrying a firearm seen here in his right hand. Then gunfire.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you just do?

TOBONI (voice-over): At least 10 shots rang out. We looked back at the scene from different angles and slowed down the footage. This officer, wearing a black beanie, can be seen drawing his firearm and pointing it in Pretti direction. We can't see his gun when the first shot is fired, but we can see that this officer fired the second shot. In this angle, you see, a second officer also had his gun drawn, and here, he's pointing his weapon at Pretti as we hear gunshots, though it isn't clear if he's the one firing.

[21:05:06]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? Did they kill that guy?

TOBONI (voice-over): Pretti collapses onto the ground as the officers scatter backwards from around him. The same agent in the black beanie from earlier can be seen firing five final shots as Pretti lies there motionless.

Nobody approached his body for 24 seconds. When officers do return to Pretti, they appear to begin searching his body. Video shows that about a minute after Pretti collapsed, immigration officers asked for medical support.

When CNN asked DHS about the officer removing the gun before the shooting, DHS repeated their earlier statement, quote, "Officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Former deputy director of the FBI.

I want to thank Gianna Toboni for that.

I'm joined now by Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI.

Andrew, just in terms of the videos that we just watched, I just I mean, I've seen this video now many times, the multiple videos to see that officer moving away and firing five shots into the still body of Mr. Pretti laying motionless on the ground, does that make any sense to you?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, Anderson, it doesn't. No sense at all. I mean, firing five shots into the still body of a person on the ground who has already been disarmed by one of the fellow law enforcement officers. I mean, there's nothing about this video that makes sense in any reasonable or rational law enforcement sense of the word.

The way that these - the original three people, Alex Pretti and the other two person in a brown jacket, person in a white jacket with a red backpack, they are interact -- those two are interacting with the ICE officer, but not in a hostile way. They leave. They cross the street and in the ICE officer follows them and he initiates contact and provokes them by shoving all three people, Pretti and the other two, like that in and of itself. That's not a law enforcement tactic to lunge at someone and hit them on the chest.

COOPER: It seems that he had been annoyed by them, it seemed like he had had -- whether some ongoing interaction with him or was just annoyed by them in general and was shoving them and Pretti essentially kind of gets in to help the two women who are, you know, getting pushed around and falling down. And it's interesting that all these, these border agents kind of switched their focus from these women to Pretti and just wrestle him to the ground

MCCABE: That's absolutely right. What it looks like. And we don't know this for a fact, but what it looks like in the video is retaliation for whatever annoyance or the whistles or whatever they were frustrated about. They attacked these two women. They shoved them, one of them to the ground, the other one off, you know, off balance. And Pretti puts himself in between the ice officers and these two women. And for that, he's pepper sprayed. He's knocked to the ground. Then they beat him on the head with a can of pepper spray or some sort of chemical irritant.

Again, that is not a law enforcement tactic. Nobody trains you at the academy to beat someone over the head with a can of pepper spray. So, this melee continues. And likely what happens here is in the -- in the in the scuffle they discover that he is carrying a firearm. They take that firearm from him and then they kill him for no apparent reason.

He is outnumbered at that point by about six to one. And they -- they administer lethal force as he lying on the ground. There are so many tactical errors here. It's almost hard to catalog them all. But what you're seeing essentially is something that back --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Sorry. Go ahead.

MCCABE: No, no. Go ahead.

COOPER: Well, no. And then I mean, this incident happens and then the top official of homeland security, Secretary Noem, comes out with a statement which is misleading at best, saying that Pretti approached them armed, sounding like he had his gun out, was going -- and implicated him as a domestic terrorist with a design -- motivated with a design to do harm to -- and kill these officers, which is then a slanderous claim repeated by you know, one of the top officials of the Border Patrol without any evidence.

[21:10:15]

MCCABE: It's absurd on its face. What they're saying does not match up to what we are seeing with our own eyes. And then, as you mentioned, they jump to this baseless conclusion that

this man Alex Pretti, ICU nurse at the V.A. Medical Hospital, was somehow a domestic terrorist who was intent on massacring police officers. It's absurd. They offer no basis for that conclusion whatsoever.

And then when pressed with pointed questions about, did your officers ever see him have a gun in his hand? Did he present the gun? Did he threaten anyone with a gun? They say, oh, well, we can't answer any of these questions until we have an investigation. Well, that didn't stop them from drawing the conclusion that he's a terrorist. He was trying to assassinate cops.

The whole thing makes zero sense. And we should have -- we should not believe anything that the White House or DHS says about these incidents, because they have proven at this point that they deliberately mislead the public in the aftermath of each of them.

They said Renee Good was a terrorist. She's not a terrorist. They said her wife is a terrorist. She's not a terrorist either. They admittedly altered the photograph, the arrest photograph of Nikema Anderson and then said that altered photographs would continue from the White House. It's absurd, it's offensive. And every American, no matter where you are on the political spectrum, should be gravely concerned about this behavior and the way the administration is handling it.

COOPER: Yeah. I mean, you know, I was out in a talking to people in a protest today and interviewing them and just the level of, I mean, so many people who have never marched before bringing their kids to a march and just had they feel like they've had their like the blinders have been taken off their eyes and they just see the B.S. which has been spewed by these homeland security officials.

I mean, it's shocking for anybody who, you know, cares about democracy and, and the, you know, law and order in this country, if you cannot trust the top level officials of the Department of Homeland Security, I mean, where does that lead us?

MCCABE: You cannot trust them. You must believe your eyes. Believe what you see with your own eyes. And were it not for the courage of these private citizens who are out there on the streets videotaping these many, many, horrendous interactions --

COOPER: Right, we wouldn't know any of this.

MCCABE: -- we would not know. We wouldn't know any of it.

COOPER: Yeah, yeah. Andrew McCabe. Thank you. I appreciate it.

A lot more from here in Minneapolis. We're going to talk to Senator Amy Klobuchar, coming up.

Also, this has been the worst day for air travel in years, with more than 17,000 flights so far canceled. We'll track how airlines hope to get back on schedule.

And later, a group of traditional Trump supporters is now criticizing the administration over the shooting of Alex Pretti.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. More ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:15:33]

COOPER: And we are tracking some breaking news here at CNN. A private jet has crashed at the Bangor International Airport in Maine, with a source telling CNN that based on preliminary information and I should note, we're still tracking everything that's happened and learning more details, we do know there were eight people on board this plane.

CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here with the latest.

And, Pete, what can you tell us so far about what you've heard?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, of course, developing by the moment, investigators really have their work cut out for them here to try and figure out why this private jet, known as Bombardier Challenger 650, crashed, apparently on takeoff there from the Bangor International Airport in Maine. Not very good weather at the time of this crash. And that is something that investigators will look at first.

A source familiar with this incident tells me that eight people were on board. Their condition not known, although witnesses and folks nearby the Bangor International Airport telling our affiliate WABI there in Bangor, Maine, that they first heard a very loud boom, and then they saw a large fireball. This plane apparently going up in flames, light snow, low visibility, at the time of the crash.

The conditions that so many people saw here in D.C. and across the mid-Atlantic today are now making their way up through the very far northeastern Maine. And Maine, of course, you know, no stranger to challenging conditions. The airport, no stranger to small aircraft like this, very common that airplanes going over the North Atlantic may stop for fuel they're the last stop before making the big open water trek.

So, a lot of big questions here. And investigators will really be looking into this deeply. Although the weather is the big question now, apparently eight people on board this private jet that crashed on takeoff.

COLLINS: Yeah. Pete Muntean, keep us updated as you're learning more about what happened. And we'll track that story and bring you the latest information as Pete learns more.

And this comes as not just in Maine, but temperatures across the United States have been dropping, making what was an already dangerous situation even worse tonight. This massive storm has been affecting the vast majority of the United States. We have seen roads covered in ice and snow. At least seven people we know have died across the nation. As we've seen the coldest temperatures so far this winter, power crews have been racing to the lights back on for about 900,000 customers who are still in the dark this evening.

Our CNN meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, is on the ground in Louisville, Kentucky.

And, Derek, as the temperatures have been dropping there, have you noticed things changing as you've been out there reporting?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's gotten markedly colder here. And it's not just the, you know, the brutal cold that well use that as an adjective to describe it. Its dangerous cold for so many people because there's about 50 percent of the U.S. population will feel subzero wind chill temperatures over the next several days behind this departing winter storm that has blanketed the city streets of Louisville and so many other cities east of the Rockies.

Right now, there is every single state east of the Rockies that has a cold weather alert, a winter storm warning, or some sort of winter storm alert. So, it just shows you the expanse of this system that is still heavily impacting New England. The Northeast coastline. We talked about bad conditions in coastal Maine, but, you know, into Boston, the Massachusetts turnpike has snow covered roads now. So very difficult travel conditions, to say the least, at the airports we know about the thousands of flights that have been canceled.

Here in Kentucky, the city officials here have opened up warming shelters. And the governor talked about over 100 warming shelters that people need to really take heed to because of this brutal cold that that is settling into this state.

So, you want to take advantage of those if you -- particularly if you've lost power, for instance, like so many people had earlier today, they had over a million customers across the country because of this winter storm losing power. Here in Kentucky, there's just dropping below 60,000 at the moment.

But that just tells you how powerful it was, because we had snow in the northern part of the state, but we had a crippling ice storm 10 miles to our south. So exactly where that line set up was so challenging to forecast. And it's not done yet. We know that the southeastern parts of the U.S., in particular, the Appalachians, are getting coated in a fresh layer of ice right now, upwards of a half to three quarters of an inch.

[21:20:02]

That is debilitating ice that will add stress to the electrical system, that will bring down tree branches, potentially toppling trees. We've seen videos and heard the sounds of those trees just cracking under the weight of the pressure of this frozen, frozen precipitation.

So, the flash freeze behind it. That is what we're going to contend with here for the next couple of days, because all of that frozen precipitation is going to be encased for days, because the temperature will not rise above freezing, allowing it to melt. So that's going to make black ice a concern. It's also going to impact

this wintry precipitation we have in Louisville, Kentucky, for instance. But other places too, that have seen this wide swath of snow and freezing rain.

So, a large storm system, certainly one for the record books and it's not done yet -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yeah, doesn't even seem close to being done. Derek Van Dam, thank you for being out there for us.

And up next here, there's a legal showdown that has been erupting as state and federal officials are battling for control of that investigation into the latest shooting in Minneapolis by U.S. -- of a U.S. citizen, by federal immigration agents. Questions over access to evidence and transparency have taken center stage.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:25:58]

COLLINS: We do have some breaking news tonight as new comments from President Trump in an interview with "The Wall Street Journal", where he declined to say whether he supports the federal agent who fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. That was in an interview with "The Journal's" Josh Dawsey.

And our CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein joins us now.

Betsy, what else did the president say to Josh?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, President Trump and his team doubling down on their hardline immigration policies following the federal officer killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Even as this incident has revealed, cracks in the president's coalition, we saw the Trump administration deploy top officials to television, where they defended officer's actions and the administration's immigration enforcement tactics.

And while the president has placed some blame on Democrats in a post to social media earlier tonight, he also appeared to express some reservation in a brief interview with "The Wall Street Journal". He was asked twice in a five-minute interview with "Wall Street Journal" reporter Josh Dawsey if that officer had done the right thing. Trump, Dawsey said, did not directly answer. He said, we're looking, we're reviewing everything, and we will come out with a determination.

But privately, we've learned that Trump officials are very concerned about the scenes that they are seeing play out, even at the Department of Homeland Security. We're seeing deepening concerns that Secretary Noem handling of the situation is really putting federal law enforcement at risk of reputational harm. But we know that there are no plans as of now to change this policy posture. ICE is going to remain in Minnesota as President Trump hopes that the focus shifts back to deportations and arrests.

COLLINS: Yeah, and, Betsy, I just thought it stood out how in this interview with Josh Dawsey, the president said of Alex Pretti, who I should note, the police chief in Minneapolis says was legally carrying that firearm, that he had a permit to do so. The president said, I don't like any shooting. I don't like it. He said, I don't like it when somebody goes into a protest and he's got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets. Also, the president said, that doesn't play good either.

And I just think looking at comparing how he talks about Alex Pretti here with how the president has talked about someone like Kyle Rittenhouse, who he congratulated when he was acquitted and praised as a nice young man is really quite the contrast.

KLEIN: Yeah. And this originally came up when a Trump appointed U.S. attorney wrote on social media hours after the killing of Pretti that if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there's going to be a high likelihood that they will be justified in shooting you. That had prompted this very rare rebuke from the NRA. But of course, it is at odds with Trump's embrace of Kyle Rittenhouse. He is. You might recall that teenager who was acquitted back in 2021 on all charges. He fatally shot two people and wounded a third back in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020.

But Trump really embraced Rittenhouse at Mar-a-Lago. He called him a nice young man, invited him to spend some time with him at Mar-a-Lago. So, it's really certainly ironic that this is how Trump is addressing this situation. Very, very similar set of circumstances here.

COLLINS: Yeah. Betsy Klein, thank you for that reporting. And those new comments to "The Wall Street Journal" tonight from the president. Just ahead here on CNN, this shooting of Alex Pretti has sparked concerns even within the Department of Homeland Security, over the handling of this and what officials are saying publicly that is not backed up by any of the videos that we've seen so far.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:34:00]

COOPER: Well, tonight federal officials are refusing to provide critical details to Minnesota officials about the investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. They have not been cooperating at all.

Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar joins us now.

Senator, I appreciate you being here. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: What is your biggest concern right now? KLOBUCHAR: Well, my biggest concern is to get ICE out of our state. It

is still a dangerous situation. They are still here. We've seen no sign that they've left. There's 3000 of them. And 1,100 sworn police officers from Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Actually, they're bigger than ICE and border control is bigger than our 10 metropolitan police forces.

So, it's a complete imbalance. Our police officers are exhausted. They should be doing their jobs, but they're getting called to the scenes where two-year-olds are taken away on a plane to Texas, or where kids can't go into their school. So that is my number one concern to get ICE out.

[21:35:00]

My second one is to honor the memory of these two innocent citizens. Of course, Renee. And then Alex Pretti.

The fact that they are blocking any kind of investigation, which is really fairly routine when horrific things happen like this local, state and federal have come together in the past, not just in Minnesota, but other places to investigate. And I just think, I don't know if they think this is like a Trump cabinet meeting, and they can just say things that aren't true and lie, and everyone's going to believe it.

Everyone can see that video. Everyone can see with any kind of enhancement that he wasn't brandishing a gun, he was brandishing a cell phone, and that it was the agents that removed the gun from his back pocket.

So, there is plenty of evidence, of course, for our Criminal Bureau of Apprehension to be able to -- Bureau of Criminal Apprehension be able to look at but they need access to everything. And I hope this happens, it must, because we must have a transparent and fair investigation for the public to have any trust.

COOPER: Is it possible to have a fair investigation if it's the Department of Homeland Security doing the investigation and Kristi Noem has come out immediately --

KLOBUCHAR: With her own judgment.

COOPER: -- with her own judgment?

KLOBUCHAR: Yeah.

COOPER: Labeling this ICU nurse as a domestic terrorist who was, you know, out to massacre law enforcement.

KLOBUCHAR: Imagine how his family felt. I mean, he did the most selfless job that I can think of, and that is taking care of our veterans many times in the last days of their life. That is a job of honor.

COOPER: There's a beautiful video of him honoring a dead veteran in a in a hallway.

KLOBUCHAR: Right, I saw it.

And he has so many friends. I just met someone tonight, so many people who loved him at the V.A. So, this is an enormous loss and a lot of people can relate to him and to his life.

So, what has happened today to me is a bit of a sea change. And Alex will go down as well as Renee Good, for, I hope, changing our way. Our country is looking at what's happening right now because you finally have some Republican senators speaking out, like Senator Cassidy and Senator Murkowski, who had done it earlier, and Senator Tillis, as well as a number of House members just speaking out that looked at this video and say, basically, in their own words, this can't continue.

I think you also have the investigation at some point. They can't hide this. And we have seasoned professionals at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that will be able to construct some kind of investigation, as well as Attorney General Ellison and the county attorney.

COOPER: I mean, under in the Obama administration, there were a huge number of deportations. They came under criticism by some in the Latino community. I remember George Ramos asking a debate question. I think something along the lines. He was called the deporter in chief.

And President Obama at the time seemed to get annoyed by that. There's got to be a way to enforce laws in a way that does not mean guys in masks with 47 days of training, beating somebody in the head with a canister of mace.

KLOBUCHAR: It's unbelievable. You know, this started out as a fraud investigation. That's righteous. You want to have help on investigating what has been a fraud issue against Minnesota taxpayers brought by the U.S. attorney's office. And then it was about apprehending violent offenders again, something that most people believe should happen. But it has gone way beyond that when they are literally a case. My office has worked on hundreds of cases now in just the last few weeks, and many of them are legal citizens that they have abducted, brought to the detention center.

In one case of a man that had a two-year-old. The court had gotten involved and hadn't made a decision yet because there was a mom out there. They literally put the two-year-old on a plane to Texas to try to beat the court case. And then the judge ruled mid-air that the kid could go with the mom, the baby, and then the baby had to come back to Minneapolis.

Those are the kinds of things that are going. There is no way that any of this is related to those original purposes. And that's why were just asking anyone that believes in the constitution. My Republican colleagues that say they believe in liberty, First Amendment, right to assembly. Second Amendment, right to bear arms. Alex was a, of course, a legal gun permit, had a permit to legally possess a gun. And then the Fourth Amendment search and seizure. They've been ramming in people's doors without any kind of judicial

warrant.

COOPER: You know, I mean, look, there's always been hypocrisy and there's hypocrisy on all sides of all political aisles and among lots of people. But it feels like we're at a time where people are so divided that they've chosen sides. And then the government representatives who represent their side can spew bullshit.

[21:40:06]

And because it's all tribal, you, they just go along with it, even though it's against, you know, the Second Amendment. They supposedly believe in or it's not something they see in the video, but the lines are drawn. And so, you got to pick your side. I mean, that's how can we function like that?

KLOBUCHAR: I think you can't with misinformation. And Donald Trump peddles in that all the time. But something happened with the shooting of Alex, the killing of Alex. Something happened because there were multiple videos, because citizens had come out and had videoed it. There were multiple videos. And talking to some Republican senators who have not said much on this yet. They know -- they've seen this video.

And so, when we look at restraints on ice, on this incredible, ridiculous budget, they gave them $75 billion this summer, three times the amount reducing the training. They're now bigger than the FBI and they're only trained for 47 days because Trump is the 47th president. No requirement for body cameras that they should have, these bounties that are set, all of these things need to be changed.

And I think what you've seen is that the American people, because of what has happened here, and of course, you've heard this, I'm sure, from the police chief, two thirds of the shootings, killings in Minneapolis have been committed by federal agents since the beginning of the year, two of three. Theres only been three and two of them there.

So, I think what's happening is people around the country are saying this could happen in my town. And it's not just Minneapolis in our state, suburbs, rural areas, little towns. They've been spreading out. And this is just not what our country is about.

COOPER: Yeah. Senator Klobuchar, I appreciate your time.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you. I saw your glasses fogged up.

COOPER: I know it's been -- it's been happening. Yeah. It's --

KLOBUCHAR: I wonder why. Maybe because it;s below zero.

COOPER: Literally below zero.

KLOBUCHAR: You're doing well.

COOPER: Well, thank you very much.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you.

COOPER: Ahead, much more on the winter storm that is impacting so much of the country right now. Also, at least a million people without power and thousands of flights canceled. We'll have all of that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:46:19]

COLLINS: As his own officials are facing major questions over the killing of Alex Pretti, the president has given us some insight into where his mindset has been. Today. At 11:31 a.m. this morning, he wrote on Truth Social to complain about a lawsuit and say that stopping construction of his White House ballroom, in his view, quote, would be devastating to the White House, our country and all concerned.

Just a few moments ago, he posted again lamenting the NFL's new kickoff format. This is coming as more videos are contradicting what his top officials are saying over this latest fatal shooting in Minneapolis.

We now know there is growing criticism actually coming from inside the Department of Homeland Security with multiple DHS officials telling CNN they're furious with how the agency has been handling the aftermath of Alex Pretti's killing. Some of that frustration was spurred by the Department of Homeland Security secretary herself, Kristi Noem, and comments that she made.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is here with this reporting.

And, Priscilla, what are you hearing from these officials and why are they frustrated?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kaitlan, the overwhelming response and my conversations with these officials is that they are frustrated and they're concerned over the shooting that occurred on Saturday in Minneapolis, but also over the public response from the Trump administration. These are officials that are keenly aware that what is happening now could risk reputational harm if that's not already occurred. In addition to long term consequences that they are going to have to grapple with moving forward. And as they continue to try to execute on the president's immigration agenda.

And just as the American public has been, these officials have similarly been looking at the videos that have been circulating online and trying to square what they have seen with what the Department of Homeland Security secretary has said. Now, as you know, Kaitlan, the secretary, came out in defense of the agent immediately in the aftermath of it and also spoke more on it this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: He came to that scene and impeded a law enforcement operation, which is against federal law. It's a felony. When he did that, interacting with those agents, when they tried to get him to disengage, he became aggressive and resisted them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now she's also said that he was brandishing a gun, which that has not been clear or weapon, rather, but has not been clear in the videos.

And ultimately, officials tell me this is a disservice to the department. That is their primary concern and frustration here. I had one Homeland Security official who told me, quote, the department needs a law enforcement leader, not a sycophant.

I've also had sources tell me that some Border Patrol agents that are on the ground in Minneapolis are starting to become unconvinced that this is a productive use of time, given the tenuous situations that they are in and carrying out this operation.

So, Kaitlan, certainly a lot of concern within the Department of Homeland Security, especially as they continue to see this response by the Trump administration, which they simply cannot square with what they've also seen in videos.

COLLINS: Yeah, I'm not sure anyone can. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you for that reporting. And of course, as Priscilla is reporting there, what we've seen in Minneapolis, the police have said Pretti was a lawful gun owner and that he did have a permit for the firearm that he was carrying.

We heard from the FBI director, though, Kash Patel, suggesting it was illegal for Alex Pretti to bring his gun to the protest.

(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. You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The Border Patrol commander at large, Greg Bovino, was also arguing today that the Second Amendment did not apply to Pretti in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER AT LARGE: We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don't -- those rights don't count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers, and most especially when you mean to do that beforehand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And Erich Pratt joins me now. He's the senior vice president for Gun Owners of America.

And it's great to have you here tonight, because when you hear what the FBI director says tonight, is he right?

ERICH PRATT, SENIOR VP, GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA: Well, I'll say this. The truth is people do have a right to protest patriotically and peacefully while exercising their Second Amendment arms. And I'm really glad that there are people in the administration like Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, who has just unequivocally stated that people do they can exercise their Second Amendment and First Amendment rights together.

Look, I've attended protest rallies while armed and no one got injured. I've even spoken with law enforcement while armed, even while open carrying. There were no issues. And typically, at these rallies or protests, I'll see GOA members and supporters show their appreciation for law enforcement being there, and then thank them for their service.

And so, what we really see is police officers overwhelmingly support the Second Amendment, but it's really important that it be done in a peaceful and patriotic exercise of their First Amendment rights.

COLLINS: Yeah, I mean, the Minnesota gun owners caucus responded to what the FBI director said today. They said he is completely incorrect on Minnesota law.

And then Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman in Kentucky, he wrote, carrying a firearm is not a death sentence. It's a constitutionally protected, God-given right. And he said, if you don't understand this, you have no business and law enforcement or government.

I thought what stood out about that, though, was Greg Bovino responding his official account that said attacking law enforcement is not a right like you want it to be.

PRATT: Well, yeah. Saying what? And I don't know the context of that. I mean, we would agree wholeheartedly with Congressman Massie, by the way. And exercising your first and second amendment rights together is not attacking, law enforcement.

And you know what? The survey showed that. Oh, my goodness, what the most massive survey of police officers from policeone.com over just, like 15,000 police officers surveyed found that 91 percent of them support concealed carry, and they think that it's a benefit to safety, 86 percent of them say that it avoids or deters mass shootings when you have private citizens armed.

So really, on the whole law enforcement actually appreciate law abiding civilian gun owners who are exercising their rights peacefully.

COLLINS: So does it concern you when the FBI director suggests that that was illegal, since he did have a legal permit to do so? PRATT: Well, look, you know, we can disagree with that, but I'm glad

that, like I said earlier, there are voices at the highest levels of the DOJ. Like Todd Blanche, deputy attorney general, saying that you can exercise both of those.

You know, the comment was made earlier about President Trump and what he said about Kyle Rittenhouse. Probably the biggest difference there with Kyle Rittenhouse is he said those comments after he was acquitted by a jury.

And so, you know, I really think it's foolish right now for me or anybody to comment on this incident since it is under investigation, especially when there's key facts that remain in dispute. What I can say is that GOA did immediately call for a full investigation because honestly, transparency is essential to maintaining public trust.

I'll also say this one more thing. It's refreshing to hear Democrats now defending the right of people to exercise their Second Amendment rights, even while exercising their first amendment freedoms, because up until now, really, anti-gun Democrats have fought us on this point repeatedly all across the country, in many jurisdictions, they've made it illegal to carry guns at a permitted rally. So, I hope the anti-gun left will stop opposing our Second Amendment rights and start consistently defending the same constitutional protections they're now invoking today, not just when its politically convenient.

COLLINS: Yeah, I understand your criticism of Democrats, but the people who have been the most critical of the Second Amendment today is the FBI director and the head border patrol official.

PRATT: Well like I said, you know, there's differing voices there in the -- in the DOJ and the White House and you know, look, Second Amendment and you don't give up your Second Amendment rights just because you're exercising your First Amendment, full stop.

[21:55:05]

COLLINS: Yeah. Erich Pratt, thank you for joining me tonight.

PRATT: Thank you.

COLLINS: And as we follow the latest out of Minneapolis, we're also tracking the winter storm that's been impacting millions of Americans throughout the weekend. And tonight, there's been more than 17,000 flights, an extraordinary number that have been canceled overall.

Delta said moments ago they are going to resume flights where it's safe to do so. We're tracking that because the disruptions are still far from over.

CNN's Randi Kaye is tracking it all from Newark International Airport in New Jersey.

And I think that's a big question when we know when Delta says in certain places where its safe, a lot of people may be saying, well, where exactly is that? And when can I rebook my flight? That might have been canceled

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Kaitlan. That's why we've been sticking close to this departures board here all day, and it's really telling us about all the cancellations here. About 87 percent of the flights in and out of Newark Airport where we are have been canceled. But there is a little bit of hope here.

If you look at tomorrow, 7:15 a.m., there's a flight that says on time for Denver. There's another one on time for Houston. There's even one on time to Los Cabos, one on time in the morning to Los Angeles. Whether or not those stick, we'll have to see. But those are the places that people will be watching and trying to see whether or not they can get from point A to point B and get on their way.

But as you said, more than 11,000 flights canceled today. This has been the highest number of flight cancellations since the early days of the pandemic. And when we were coming to the airport, we could see how quiet it was.

Take a look at this video. We pulled up here to the departures area. We were the only car pulling up to that area. There wasn't a single car outside. It was very easy for us to walk right inside. You don't normally have that when you're coming to the airport.

We also met a couple here that had just arrived off a cruise ship, and they were hoping to get home to Arizona after their cruise. Then they learned their flight had been canceled and all of the hotel rooms close to the airport, Kaitlan, have been booked. So the hotels that were further away, there weren't any Ubers available to take them. So now they are spending the night in the airport here. And here's what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And what is your plan if you can't get out?

TIM DIGGS, FLIGHT CANCELLED: Just wait in the wait here in the airport because nowhere else to go. We can't get any Ubers. We can't find any hotels. This is the warmest place we've got, and this is the coldest I've ever been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And, Kaitlan, I also spoke with a pilot and you can understand just from my conversation with him why so many flights have been canceled. He told me on his way in from Fort Myers today. The flight itself was fine, but when they were trying to make their way to the gate, it was a -- it was a little hairy, as he put it.

So, you certainly don't want to put passengers in danger or crews in danger. So that's why they're taking their time, and we'll see how quickly they can get up and running tomorrow -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yeah. Got to appreciate the work they're doing.

Randi Kaye, thank you for that. And CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining me live from Dallas.

And, Ed, obviously, we've seen impacts obviously happening all throughout the state, not just in parts where you are, including in Dallas. What else are you seeing and hearing from officials there tonight?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the story over the next couple of days is going to be the dangerously low temperatures. We are well below freezing, wind chills into the single digits. And those freezing temperatures are going to continue into Tuesday. So, this mess that you see behind me and that we see all over the roadways here in north Texas and across the path of this storm, it is going to be some time before it can all melt away and things start getting back to normal.

And because of that, Kaitlan, we're also seeing a slew of cancellations, classes, schools and businesses closing for classes on Monday. Even classes already being scheduled and canceled for Tuesday as well in anticipation that it is going to take quite some time for all of this to melt away, and for crews to be able to get a handle on getting the roads back to a safe place.

You can see it's very slow going. There's been a decent amount of traffic that I've seen out on the roadways throughout the day, but there is no way if everyone was to come back out of their homes and start driving along the roadway would be just a just chaos everywhere. So that's why emergency officials are still urging people to stay home if they can, to really only go out if you just have to be out on the roadways. But this is a temporary situation where it's very dangerous. There was a death reported in Austin, someone exposed to these cold temperatures, and that's going to be the story over the next couple of days, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yeah, I got to imagine officials are very concerned about what that looks like there. What about the power grid? Because obviously that's, you know, it became infamous in Texas and notorious for not working. How is it holding up in this storm?

LAVANDERA: Yeah, for the power grid overall, it seems like everything's going fine. They're about 70,000 customers or so in Texas reporting outages. So, a lot of that really caused by downed power lines and trees affecting the power lines and areas. We've seen many utility companies, pre-positioning crews across the region to be able to get things back up and running as quickly as possible. But the grid seems to be holding.

COLLINS: Yeah. All right. Well, that's good news at least. Ed Lavandera, thank you for being out there. Please stay warm, my friend.

And thank you all for joining Anderson and I here tonight. I'm Kaitlan Collins. I'll see you tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern on "THE SOURCE". And stay with CNN though, because Pamela Brown is going to pick up our coverage not just of this winter storm, but also what's happening on the ground in Minneapolis.