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State of the Union
Massive Winter Storm; Interview With Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); Interview With Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino; Interview With Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ); Interview With Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK). Aired 9-10a ET
Aired January 25, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:20]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Flash point. Tensions boil over in Minneapolis after another fatal shooting by federal immigration agents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be a powder keg.
JACOB FREY (D), MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: How many more Americans need to die for this operation to end?
BASH: Is the situation in Minnesota spiraling out of control? I will ask top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino. Plus, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy will be here to respond.
And cold front. A monster storm sweeps across the U.S., pummeling millions of Americans with heavy snow, extreme cold and crippling ice.
GOV. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): It's been a while since we have seen a storm like this.
GOV. KEVIN STITT (R-OK): We're as prepared as we can be.
BASH: How bad will it get? Two governors in the path of the storm, New Jersey's Mikie Sherrill and Oklahoma's Kevin Stitt, will be here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in Washington, where the state of our union is on edge.
For the second time in less than a month, an American citizen is dead, shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis and further roiling a city that's been at the epicenter of President Trump's immigration crackdown and the resistance to it.
I want to go straight to CNN's Anderson Cooper, who is on the ground in Minneapolis.
Anderson, what's the mood there this morning?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes, Dana, it is just about exactly 24 hours since Alex Pretti was shot to death, shot multiple times, at least, it seems, 10 shots, according to those videos, multiple videos which have now emerged.
A makeshift memorial, as we have often seen in shootings, has sprung up. It is very early in the morning here. It is bitterly, bitterly cold, but there are about a dozen or two dozen people who have been here just to pay their respects, just to stand and think about what happened.
State investigators yesterday have said -- who would normally be involved in an investigation of a shooting like this say that they were denied access to the scene by federal law enforcement. They returned with a signed search warrant by a judge. They say they were still refused access to have any kind of investigation on their own.
Last night, there were hundreds of people in this entire area who were here to pay their respects to Alex Pretti and also to voice and express their outrage at what they see happening in this community and in communities all around this.
They obviously want federal law enforcement, federal ICE operation and Border Patrol operations stopped. Federal officials, as you know, Dana, were very quick to come out. The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, came out yesterday making a statement which seems very much now at odds with the videos, the multiple videos that have now emerged.
We have not yet seen a video from the camera that Alex Pretti was carrying that we see him holding up. Law enforcement, federal law enforcement had indicated, Secretary Noem indicated yesterday that he approached the agents armed.
According to the video, it seems like whatever gun he may have had, which, according to the police chief here, he had a permit for, he was not actually holding or was not visible. And the agents early on may not even know he was carrying a weapon, which, again, according to local officials, he had a license for to carry.
Those videos are obviously going to be crucial. As more videos emerge, we will see more angles on this, but it does seem that they are very much at odds with some of the early statements and the early portrayals, certainly by Kristi Noem, of Alex Pretti as a domestic terrorist who was intent on slaughtering law enforcement.
He was not brandishing a weapon. He was holding a video camera. And he was trying to intervene and held two women before he was wrestled to the ground. So, a lot of questions here remain. And, obviously, this is -- the scene here, that more and more people will be coming here throughout the day.
BASH: Yes, I would imagine so. Anderson, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.
And as Anderson mentioned, the Department of Homeland Security is saying that the 37-year-old, Alex Pretti, was armed and that federal agents acted in self-defense.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him and multiple, dozens of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers coming, brandishing like that.
[09:05:09]
GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: But multiple videos from the scene from multiple angles tell a different story, appearing to show Pretti holding a cell phone and filming agents.
The video you're about to see shows Alex Pretti filming Border Patrol agents from a distance and appearing to try to help wave cars through. I want to warn you that the graphic -- the content is graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) people. What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is wrong with you, honestly?
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
(GUNSHOTS)
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you just do? What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you just do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Here with me now is U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino.
Thank you for being here.
Sir, you are still in Minneapolis. And I want to get to a lot of questions that we have that are unanswered. First and foremost is that Alex Pretti approached Border Patrol agents with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun. I want to go back to one of the videos. And I know you can see it there.
And I want to ask you about what you're seeing, because multiple angles of this incident show him holding up a cell phone and recording it, not a gun. Did he at any point pull out his weapon?
BOVINO: Well, Dana, good morning and thanks for having me. The weapon and -- we do know that the suspect did bring a weapon, a loaded 9- millimeter high-capacity handgun, to a riot. We do know that.
As far as what happened in that intervening moment with the video that you just showed, that's going to come to light through the investigation. That's being investigated. And those facts and those questions will be answered soon enough.
BASH: OK, but the homeland security secretary is not waiting for that investigation to take place before saying that Alex Pretti was -- quote -- "brandishing a weapon."
Let's go to video seven, because, of course -- you know this far better than I -- the definition of brandishing is waving or flourishing something, especially a weapon, as a threat or in anger and excitement.
That's just a still photo of what Alex Pretti appears to be holding. There is nothing that we have seen that showed him, as Secretary Noem said, brandishing a weapon.
Have you, sir, seen something different to support what the secretary said?
BOVINO: Dana, I think what we need to take a look at here is the situation in its totality. What happened leading up to this situation?
The suspect decided to inject himself into a law enforcement action. What's not being said here is the fact that Border Patrol agents and law enforcement were conducting a targeted law enforcement effort against a violent illegal alien that was nearby, and that suspect injected himself into that law enforcement situation with a weapon.
And what happened between the -- when that situation first came about and the shooting, that's going to be investigated and we're going to get to the facts of that.
BASH: Well, you said yesterday that this looks like a situation where the individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
What evidence do you have that he wanted to massacre law enforcement? Because all the videos that we have -- and I do want to -- we just have this still shot up now, but I do, control room, want to play one of the other videos. Let's play video number one again.
It doesn't look anything like he's trying to massacre law enforcement. In fact, he was filming and then it looked like he was trying to help another individual there who was pushed down by law enforcement, and then they went after him.
BOVINO: In fact, I believe that the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have, the fact that they're highly trained prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement.
[09:10:07]
So, good job for our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that. And, again, Dana, let's look at why he was there in the first place. Was he simply walking by and just happened to walk into a law enforcement situation and try to direct traffic and stand in the middle of the road and then assault, delay and obstruct law enforcement?
Or was he there for a reason? Did he fall victim to that violent and heated rhetoric by a Mayor Frey, a Governor Walz? Look, Dana, they're trying to portray Border Patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi and many other words.
Did this individual fall victim, as many others have, to that type of heated rhetoric?
BASH: OK, I want to stay focused on this incident right now, because what you were saying is that he went there to try to stop this law enforcement operation.
All of the video that we have seen shows him documenting it with his cell phone, which is a lawful thing to do. And the only time he seemed to interact with law enforcement is when they went after him when he was trying to help an individual who law enforcement pushed down.
So where do you have the evidence to show that he was trying to impede that law enforcement operation?
BOVINO: Sure.
Dana, first he was there in the scene. He was in the scene actively impeding and assaulting law enforcement to the point...
BASH: But that's not illegal.
BOVINO: And here's a -- Dana...
BASH: He wasn't impeding it. He was filming it, which is a legal thing to do in the United States of America.
BOVINO: Dana, let's don't freeze-frame adjudicate this now. He was there for a reason. And that reason was to impede law enforcement, to the point...
BASH: What evidence do you have of that?
BOVINO: And here's a -- and here -- and here's a good point, Dana, is the fact that de-escalation techniques were utilized during this action.
Those de-escalation techniques, whether it was physically trying to remove them from that law enforcement scene, that active law enforcement scene, in which law enforcement were going after a violent illegal alien, or the use of pepper spray, which is another de- escalation technique.
Those techniques did not work. Officers always try to use the minimum amount of force necessary to either an effect on arrest, which in this case was more than likely 18-USC-111 assault on a federal officer or to impede, delay, obstruct.
BASH: Where did he assault -- where did he assault the federal officer in any of the video that you have seen? Because it looked -- it looked to us from every angle, sir, that he was approached by them when he was helping another individual who was pushed down. What evidence do you have that he was assaulting any law enforcement?
BOVINO: Dana, we don't need a suspect's help in an active law enforcement scene. We don't need his help. We didn't ask his help.
BASH: When you say suspect, what is he suspected of?
BOVINO: That's an active law enforcement scene. He knew that was an active law enforcement scene, especially when the officers approached him and it was very evident he did not need to be where he was.
BASH: So when somebody...
BOVINO: And he decided on his own to stay there.
BASH: So, when somebody is pushed down and a person's instinct is to help that person, when somebody is pushed down by law enforcement, you're saying that you just stand back and let law enforcement do what they're doing? Is that really human nature?
BOVINO: You know, Dana, every situation is different. What our officers are faced with here in Minneapolis are chaotic, very difficult and violent situations in which individuals -- and this suspect is not the only one to bring a loaded weapon to a riot.
The situations are chaotic and ever-changing. Follow directions for law enforcement. Don't inject yourself knowingly beforehand into a law enforcement situation.
BASH: With respect, it feels as though in some ways you're blaming the victim here.
BOVINO: The victims -- the victims are the Border Patrol agents. I'm not blaming the Border Patrol agents. The victim are the Border Patrol agents. The suspect put himself in that situation. The victims are the Border Patrol agents there.
BASH: I want to go back to the gun, sir, because I think this is really, really critical. You can see an agent -- and I just want to go to, let's see here, video five. You can see a screenshot of an agent in a green jacket approach
Pretti, and then he appeared to take a gun away. When the agent took the gun away, which seems as though it was Pretti's gun, that happened before Pretti was shot.
Why was an unarmed man shot multiple times by law enforcement, by your Border Patrol agents?
BOVINO: Dana, you don't know he was unarmed. I don't know he was unarmed. That's freeze-frame adjudication of a crime scene via a photo.
[09:15:03]
That's why we have investigators. That's why we have an investigation that is going to answer those questions. How many shots were fired? Who fired shots? Where was the guns? Where were the guns located? All those questions are going to be answered in the investigation.
BASH: Sir, I just want -- I think you can see the screen. We're -- we're...
BOVINO: Us, we're not going to adjudicate that here on TV in one freeze-frame there.
BASH: OK. It's not a freeze-frame. We're show -- we have -- we're showing a video of one of your agents taking the gun away. And that happened before Pretti was shot.
BOVINO: We don't know that agent was taking any gun away. That could have been the agent's, because we don't know that. The facts are going to come to light as to what exactly happened with an investigation.
BASH: So you're disputing the video that that's what happened?
BOVINO: That's why we investigate.
BASH: Well, with respect, you say that's why we investigate. But you're also drawing other conclusions that sort of fly in the face of waiting for an investigation.
I just want to also go back to what I was asking about regard to what Secretary Noem said, that he was brandishing a gun. At any point, do you have any evidence that -- yes, he might -- he had a gun on his person. Was he brandishing it? Was he a threat because he had a gun in his hand that put law enforcement in danger?
BOVINO: Dana, we heard the law enforcement officer say, "Gun, gun, gun." So, at some point, they knew there was a gun. So, again, that is going to be part of that investigation as to what was happening on the ground there between those victims, the Border Patrol agent victims, and the suspect.
BASH: Both the police chief in Minneapolis, O'Hara, and Governor Walz say Pretti was legally licensed to carry a concealed weapon. So are you saying it's not OK for him to exercise his Second Amendment
right, not to mention his First Amendment right to be there in the first place, but his Second Amendment right to carry a gun? And, if you do, you can be shot by federal law enforcement.
BOVINO: No, I didn't say that, Dana. I never said that.
What I'm saying is, 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.
BASH: How do you know that?
BOVINO: When you mean to do that -- when you mean to do that beforehand, when you show up to an active crime scene, don't leave the crime scene and you're armed, then you have got -- the decision-making process for that individual doesn't seem to be very good.
BASH: So...
BOVINO: Now, back to the Second Amendment, what you're saying about the Second Amendment is peacefully protesting with firearms, absolutely. I have done that myself and fully support that, but not when you perpetrate violence, obstruct, delay, or obfuscate Border Patrol in the performance of their duties in an active crime scene.
BASH: There's no evidence that he was perpetrating violence.
And there's no evidence, unless you have it -- and we'd love to see it if there is -- that he was intending to massacre law enforcement, other than the fact that he was there and he had a gun lawfully.
BOVINO: No, he meant to be there beforehand. Again, again, Dana, he meant -- he came there beforehand for a reason.
BASH: How do you know that? How do you know that?
BOVINO: For -- because he was there, because he was there. It's very evident.
BASH: But all he was doing was filming and documenting it, which is legal. He was carrying a gun, which in Minneapolis is legal.
BOVINO: I didn't say it wasn't. And I didn't say it wasn't legal.
BASH: So then what did he do that was illegal?
BOVINO: But he cannot assault federal law enforcement when he does that. That's an active law enforcement crime scene that he decided to enter into.
BASH: Where do you see in the video that he was assault -- where do you see in the video that he was assaulting law enforcement?
Because, from everything we have seen, law enforcement was assaulting him when he was there trying to help another individual.
BOVINO: Dana, law enforcement doesn't assault anyone. Follow directions of law enforcement. Follow directions of law enforcement in an active crime scene.
It was very evident he didn't want to do that. Very evident that the other individuals didn't want to do that. And it's too bad the consequences had to be paid...
BASH: Yes.
BOVINO: ... because he injected himself into that crime scene.
I can't say that enough. He made the decision to go there.
BASH: I want to...
BOVINO: We didn't make the decision to talk to him. We didn't even know that individual was in existence...
BASH: I want to go back to...
BOVINO: ... until he came into that crime scene.
BASH: I want to go back to video number one, because you keep saying that he injected himself into the crime scene. He was a guy on a street filming an operation. He wasn't -- he was far away. He wasn't on the crime scene.
And what I want you to see again is that law enforcement appears, by the video we have, to be approaching him and the person who is next to him, not the other way around. And so what I want to know is, what evidence do you have that he went after law enforcement?
[09:20:02]
BOVINO: Sure.
The fact that he was standing in the middle of the road, there was interaction between him, the bystanders and law enforcement, and, again, follow directions of law enforcement. He doesn't need to be in the middle of a crime scene.
Dana, I don't think you would want to be in the middle of a crime scene or you would want civilians in the middle of a crime scene injecting themselves into something that is none of their business at all.
BASH: Can you also just answer the question about the gun? Because, again, do you have any evidence that he was brandishing his weapon? Did he ever have his hand on the weapon?
BOVINO: Yes, again, the officers on the ground, in that melee, we hear "Gun, gun, gun."
So that gun at some point became visible to officers. BASH: But it could it have been because they were -- they were --
they had him on the ground and maybe his shirt came up and they saw that it was on him? That doesn't mean that he was...
BOVINO: Pure speculation. And that is why we have an investigation.
BASH: But -- fine. I...
BOVINO: That is what we are investigating.
BASH: I think...
BOVINO: You're not going to know that now and I'm not going to know that.
BASH: I think an investigation is great. But the homeland security secretary said he was brandishing a weapon. Do you have evidence that we haven't seen that he was brandishing a weapon?
BOVINO: He was -- he brought a semiautomatic weapon to a riot, assaulted federal officers, and at some point they saw that weapon. So I do believe the secretary is 100 percent spot on in what she said.
BASH: Seeing a weapon...
BOVINO: Why would you bring a weapon and assault a federal officer if you did not have intent to harm...
BASH: OK.
BOVINO: ... or delay or obstruct that federal officer with a weapon?
BASH: You keep saying that he assaulted a federal officer. But, again, we have not seen evidence that that happened. It looked like he was on the defense.
And, again, he had a gun legally. It just -- it's -- it sort of feels like we're in the Upside Down, where we have law enforcement and conservatives, who are very pro-Second Amendment, saying the problem was that he had a gun legally.
BOVINO: No, the problem is, as I said several times now, is, he injected himself, he put himself where he did not need to be. He put himself in and...
BASH: Can I...
BOVINO: ... put law enforcement officers in jeopardy through his actions. These were his actions, not law enforcement officers' action.
We had to react to an individual that came there for a specific reason. And, again, what that reason is, we're going to find more out about that in the coming days. I will be interested to see what his reason for being there...
BASH: What... BOVINO: ... while Border Patrol agents were arresting a violent criminal illegally and doing their lawful ethical and moral duties in Minneapolis. That's the question.
BASH: Well, but the question is also, why is an American citizen now dead for the second time who was there to document in this case and clearly to be there as a bystander, which is his First Amendment right?
BOVINO: It's not clear. He wasn't there to clearly document anything.
Don't socially engineer the topic, Dana. He was not there to document.
BASH: Appeared to be. That's fair. Appeared to be.
BOVINO: He came there for a reason. And he obfuscated and delayed officers there on the scene.
BASH: I want to ask...
BOVINO: That's pretty evident to me.
BASH: I want to ask you about your agents. You said that this was a highly trained agent who had been serving on Border Patrol for eight years.
What was he trained for? Because these are your Border Patrol agents and they're now in the interior of the country in American cities. Was he trained in urban policing?
BOVINO: Yes, all of our Border Patrol agents are trained in all -- for all types of environments, including urban policing.
This particular Border Patrol agent had eight years with some specific skill sets there with both firearms and less lethal munitions. Also, let's take a look at the training and the environments that Border Patrol agents operate in. We operate in places like San Diego, California, Tucson, Arizona, New Orleans.
All those have Border Patrol sectors, Detroit, Michigan. We have got Border Patrol sectors in Buffalo. So this myth -- and I saw this just last night on CNN -- this myth that Border Patrol agents don't work in urban areas is just that. It's a myth.
We're well-adept at urban areas conducting that Title 8 immigration enforcement wherever we go.
BASH: And...
BOVINO: It doesn't matter if it's a desert or an urban environment. We're very well-adept at doing that.
BASH: Is the agent or agents -- is it your understanding that more than one agent fired a weapon at Alex Pretti?
BOVINO: Again, that's going to be part of the investigation. BASH: OK. Is...
BOVINO: I'm not going to speculate on how many shots or who shot or that type of thing, because I don't know.
[09:25:00]
BASH: OK. Is it -- is -- are the agents who were involved still on the job?
BOVINO: Yes.
They're -- these Border Patrol agents are going to more than likely be on administrative duty, but they will remain Border Patrol agents, yes.
BASH: What does that mean? What does that mean? So they will be off the streets for a bit?
BOVINO: That's -- in Minneapolis, they will, but only in Minneapolis here. They will be at a different location.
BASH: OK.
And before I let you go, I just want to button up one point that you were making about what Alex Pretti was doing there. Do you accept that it is the law that an individual has a right to film what law enforcement is doing?
BOVINO: I believe that all citizens of the United States have those First and Fourth Amendment rights, as long as they do so peacefully and don't delay, obstruct, or assault anyone in doing that. And that's the issue here because he was not peacefully doing anything.
BASH: All right.
And just for the record -- and we have seen this video multiple times from multiple angles -- there is no evidence that he was doing anything other than being peaceful until the altercation began.
Again, I look forward to seeing the other evidence in the investigation that you have, because we do want to get to the bottom of this and do want to get all of the facts as they actually happened.
Chief Bovino, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate you being here and answering questions.
BOVINO: Thank you, Dana.
BASH: And you just heard from, as you saw, the Department of Homeland Security, the chief of the Border Patrol, Dan Bo -- excuse me -- Greg Bovino.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy will be here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:31:08]
BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.
I want to go straight to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy.
Senator Murphy, I know you heard my interview with the chief, Greg Bovino, defending his agents and killing Alex Pretti, saying that they were impeding law enforcement, despite video not backing that up.
What's your reaction?
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Dana, I thought that was a bone-chilling interview. I was shaking as I was listening to it, in large part because it takes just an unbelievable amount of gall to lie to the American public.
I mean everybody saw that video. And yet there he was telling you and telling the American public that this young man was brandishing a weapon, that he was impeding officers, that he was there to attend a riot, that he was engaged in assault, when everyone can see that that's not true.
It should freak the American public out that the Trump administration lies this easily, will lie to your face, when you can see the evidence for yourself. The fact of the matter is, Minneapolis is fundamentally less safe because ICE and CBP are there. And that's the point.
They are there to cause a conflict. They are there to create mayhem. And it isn't going to be just isolated to Minneapolis. As they continue to staff up with officers who are not trained for this kind of work, this is going to be in Philadelphia. This is going to be in Phoenix. This is coming to your city as well.
And so if we don't stop this in its tracks, what you are seeing in Minnesota, people being killed simply for exercising their First Amendment rights is going to be a regular feature in this country. That is dystopian. We shouldn't allow for it.
And that should unite Republicans and Democrats in Congress, because it's increasingly uniting Republicans and Democrats all around the country who are turning against this just unbelievably lawless way that Bovino and his team are operating in our cities.
BASH: And what do you make of Bovino and other Trump officials putting a blame on the governor, Tim Walz, on the mayor, Jacob Frey, for -- for lots of things, including the fact that they are encouraging local officials -- or local citizens, rather, to go out and to document these arrests?
MURPHY: Yes, it's just another lie. I mean, every single day, these guys are stone-cold liars.
The leaders in Minnesota are not and have never encouraged violence. Everyone has a right to peacefully assemble and protest. Everyone has a right to film law enforcement. They are operating in busy city streets. He called that a crime scene and that this was an individual who was interfering in a crime scene.
It wasn't a crime scene. First of all, we have no idea what operation they were undertaking, but simply because they are going after someone who is not here legally doesn't mean that it's a crime scene. It doesn't mean that individuals don't have the right and ability under the United States Constitution to be present.
So, I mean, this is really scary, because what he essentially told you is that, if you just happen to be present when they are undertaking an operation, if you pull out your phone to record it, the use of force against you is justified.
That is not true. That's not what the law says. That's not what the Constitution says. But they have now, I guess, put Americans on alert that you are going to be shot by law enforcement officers if you are simply trying to witness and record law enforcement operations.
BASH: The attorney general, Pam Bondi, sent a letter to Minnesota officials offering to take ICE out of the state if Minnesota does three things, first, share all of Minnesota's records on Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Service programs, second, repeal the sanctuary policies, and, third, allow the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department to access voter rolls.
[09:35:14]
Your reaction?
MURPHY: So, I think you're getting to the bottom of what's happening here. And I wish this weren't true.
But Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to try to interfere in the upcoming 2026 election. He says that his one regret from 2020 was that he didn't take the voting machines. And it is really alarming that, in this letter, Bondi says, well, we will get the ICE officers out of Minneapolis if you give us control of your voter lists.
It has always been, I think, the fear, and now I think closer to the reality that the Trump administration is creating this mayhem, particularly in cities in swing states, in order to take control of the election, to say, oh, it's -- the city's out of control, the state's out of control, you can't trust the state government, we just need to run the election in November.
I know, to some people, that may sound a little conspiratorial, but Trump has told you over and over again that he regrets that he didn't interfere in the prior election. And this letter seems pretty definitive proof that they are trying to trade the presence of ICE and the murder and mayhem that they are causing for control of Minnesota's elections.
That's just wild. Minnesota shouldn't stand for that. The American people shouldn't stand for that.
BASH: Before I let you go, I want to ask about what your leader, Chuck Schumer, says, that Democrats are going to vote against a government funding package that is before the Senate soon, and it includes money for the Department of Homeland Security.
How is that going to play out?
MURPHY: Well, we can't vote to fund this lawless Department of Homeland Security. And, remember, it's not just in Minnesota. They're violating the law all over the country.
I spent last week in Texas, where they are locking up 2-year-old and 3-year-old kids who are here in the United States legally just for the purpose of traumatizing them. This is a nationwide campaign of lawlessness.
I swore an oath to the Constitution. So did every single United States Senator. We cannot fund a Department of Homeland Security that is murdering American citizens, that is traumatizing little boys and girls all across the country, in violation of the law.
Listen, I'm not endeavoring to fix every single problem that exists in the Department of Homeland Security, but we should only vote for a bill that puts constraints on this lawlessness, that reforms the way that they are endangering our citizens in our cities.
So, yes, Democrats are not going to vote to fund this version of the Department of Homeland Security. But if we can get some serious reforms that saves and protects lives in our cities, then we will come to the table.
But this is something that I think the American people demand of us right now; 60, 70 percent of Americans don't support what ICE is doing, and they don't want Democrats or Republicans to fund this kind of lawlessness in our cities.
BASH: Senator Chris Murphy, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.
MURPHY: Thank you.
BASH: And a major winter storm is posing an early test for governors across the country, including a brand-new governor in New Jersey. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:42:53]
BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.
As much as an inch of snow per hour could fall in parts of the Northeast.
And here with me now is the newly sworn-in governor of the state of New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill.
Thank you so much for being here.
I'm going to get to the storm in just a second, but I do have to ask you about the shooting in Minneapolis. As a newly sworn-in governor of a blue state, what is your message to the president?
SHERRILL: This is horrible, to see first Renee Good shot, a mom with kids the same age as my kids, a soccer mom who was being given different information in her Honda, she's trying to move out of the way, to get shot and killed, and now we see Alex Pretti, who is an -- was an ICU nurse at the VA, a very upstanding citizen here, and saw a woman getting tear-gassed and seemed to attempt to protect her.
And then to get swarmed by a mob of ICE agents, his gun was taken away early, so he was unarmed, and he had a carry permit, unarmed, taken to the ground, and as about seven agents are swarming him, with several holding him down on the ground, he gets shot 10 times?
This is an unaccountable, untrained, lawless organization that is terrorizing American citizens, and we need them off the streets immediately.
BASH: Well, you have more than a dozen sanctuary cities in New Jersey, and ICE is coming. They're already in some of them and no doubt going to be there.
What are you going to do when that happens on your watch?
SHERRILL: This isn't about sanctuary/not sanctuary cities. This goes far beyond that.
This is about a basically Stasi-type force of secret police that wear masks, that are unidentifiable, that are unaccountable, that have leadership in the Trump administration blatantly lying about what's going on, when the American people can see the videos about exactly what's happening.
There is no police officer in the state of New Jersey that would, A, act like that, because we have training that far surpasses any type of misconduct like that. Or, B, should anything untoward happen, the other agents with that police officer would stop that immediately and that person would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, which is exactly what needs to happen with these ICE agents in Minneapolis.
[09:45:24]
BASH: Your state is going to probably get more than a foot of snow. How are you preparing?
SHERRILL: Well, we have been preparing since Tuesday since -- within hours of taking office, we were on the phone with people across the state to understand how the storm might be progressing.
Before I even took office, I was at our center where we handle emergencies and crisis management. As a former Navy helicopter pilot, I do crisis management, so we were ready to go. Everyone has been working overtime here. We have got -- our troopers are on the road en masse.
We have called in contracts and our DPW workers across the state to plow and salt the roads. We have mutual aid coming in for our power companies from Ohio, for example, to make sure, should any power outages occur, we are on the scene fixing them as quickly as possible.
We have also shut down light-rail and commercial vehicle traffic and buses. And then we have -- at 2:00 today, we will be shutting down commuter rail. So everyone should be on their way home no later than 2:00, so we can make sure that everybody stays safe here.
BASH: Again, I just want to emphasize, you were only sworn in five days ago. And that reminder of your biography that you were in the military obviously is something that you're clearly drawing on.
Thank you so much. We obviously hope that you and everybody in New Jersey and everybody in the path of the snowstorm stays safe. Appreciate it, Governor.
And when we come back, we're going to talk more about the ice, the snow, the extreme cold, the latest forecast on this monster winter storm. And we're going to go to the governor of Oklahoma as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:24]
BASH: A massive winter storm is blanketing a 1,500-mile stretch of the U.S. with heavy snow and ice. At least 500,000 homes are without power, and more than 15,000 flights have been canceled so far.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking the storm from Louisville, Kentucky.
Derek, what's the latest?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Dana, so the dreams of a record-setting snowfall here in Louisville, Kentucky, likely shattered.
And the reason is because of the precipitation that fell from the sky overnight tonight or last night, it was largely sleet. And I'm having my photojournalist here, Stu (ph), just kind of zoom into my hand here. You can see those little ice pellets. That is sleet.
That's very, very different than the light, fluffy snow that we were anticipating. It's all because of the temperature directly above us. And I won't get into the specifics of it, but this is the challenge in forecasting this expansive, kind of blockbuster storm that's very dynamic, and so dynamic that we noticed something this morning.
There's actually ice lightning occurring right now in portions of Central Mississippi and Western portions of Tennessee. And you can see it on the radar here quite clearly, the little lightning strikes there where the freezing rain and sleet is mixing in. I really actually haven't seen that before.
So look at the temperature differences between where I'm at right now. 15 in Louisville, but 100 miles to my south in Nashville, they have a temperature of 33 degrees. They had nearly a half-an-inch of ice coat that city overnight last night, and so very treacherous travel conditions for that area.
And it also, because of that temperature, determined the type of precipitation that fell from the sky. So what do we still have to come? A blockbuster storm across the Northeast. So if you're in New York or Boston, look, we could see a foot or even a foot-and-a-half from this storm before it exits the East Coast early on Monday morning.
There's still the potential of significant icing throughout the mid- Atlantic and into the Appalachians. But what's concerning me, Dana, is the fact that the arctic air will freeze all this precipitation in place for the next coming days, with many locations not going above freezing for several days.
BASH: All right, Derek, thank you so much for that forecast. We really appreciate it.
And here with me now is Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.
Thank you so much for being here.
How is your state faring so far in the winter storm? Last I saw, 1,300 power outages in Oklahoma?
STITT: Yes.
Actually, we're kind of on the back end of this storm now that's fixing to hit the Northeast. And we preconditioned all the roads. We had about 600 trucks all across the state. We ended up getting about seven to 11 inches. And I think we're down to about 900 power outages.
We didn't get the ice that they were predicting, which is a really good thing, but really proud of our -- I had my National Guard out there with stranded motorist teams all across the state. We prepositioned all the electric companies to make sure we get the power on.
So our teams did a really good job working all night through the storms, and all the roads are passable right now. So, knock on wood, we feel really good.
BASH: Because the prediction was that Oklahoma City and Tulsa could see more snow from this storm than in the average entire season. Is that what actually came to be?
STITT: Yes, we did. Like, Oklahoma City, I just read we got more in a 24-hour period than we have ever had in the last, I think, like 40 years.
BASH: Wow.
STITT: So, a lot of snow in one day. But it didn't hit the 20 to two- foot-type estimates that they were saying. Ended up being about a foot, different parts -- in different parts of the state.
But I think preconditioning all the roads with all the salt and all the things that we did, and then having our trucks throughout the states really kept everything passable. And so the road conditions are in decent shape. We got to worry about refreezing, because it's going to be very, very cold here for the next week.
BASH: Yes, ice is definitely the scariest thing.
As you know, President Trump has been dismantling FEMA and pushing for states like yours to handle more of the disaster preparation and response themselves. What have you heard from your federal partners during this storm?
I know that, historically -- in fact, I first met you going with the former FEMA director to Oklahoma after a tornado that you worked hand in glove with federal helpers. Is that still the case? Are you getting enough federal support?
STITT: Yes, absolutely.
Secretary Noem called -- personally called me on her cell just to make sure we didn't need anything. And so they're keeping us updated, doing a really, really good job. But we ultimately believe that the states are closer to the action and understand how to respond to emergencies better than a federal government.
[09:55:12]
So any time we can do block grants or we can have flexibility in funding, we believe that is the best solution, instead of the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. And I think most states agree with that, most governors do that, hey, let us handle the issues in New Jersey or Florida or Texas or Oklahoma, because we're a little closer to that than the federal government.
BASH: Governor, you are also the head of the National Governors Association, so I do want to ask about what's going on in Minnesota.
I'm sure you have seen the video, maybe multiple videos, of Alex Pretti being shot and killed by federal Border Patrol agents, the second fatal shooting by federal officials in Minnesota this month.
Governor Walz is demanding President Trump stop the crackdown there. Are you comfortable with what the Trump administration is doing in Minnesota?
STITT: Well, first off, this is a real tragedy. And I think the death of Americans, what we're seeing on TV, it's causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability. Americans don't like what they're seeing right now.
But I want to step back for just a second, because President Trump was elected to fix immigration issues. And there was broad agreement that we had to close the border. So the Biden era of four years of open border policies was disastrous. So, broad agreement, President Trump closed the border, promised to get violent criminals out of our country. And I think everybody agrees with that. But now Americans are asking
themselves, what is the endgame? What is the solution? And we believe in federalism and state rights. And nobody likes feds coming into their state.
And so what's the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non- U.S. citizen? I don't think that's what Americans want. We have to stop politicizing this. We need real solutions on immigration reform. And I believe that I have got a great solution, that we should give the states the authority to do work force permits, right? So...
BASH: So are you saying that they should pull out of Minnesota?
STITT: Well, I think that the president has to answer that question. He is a dealmaker.
And he's getting bad advice right now. The president needs to let the American people -- what is the solution? How do we bring this to conclusion? And I think only the president can answer that question, because it's complicated. We have to enforce federal laws, but we need to know, what is the endgame?
And I don't think it's to deport every single non-U.S. citizen. I think we need employers and employees -- if you're not on welfare or government assistance or Medicaid, we need to allow an employer to match up with that work force. Maybe charge that employer $5,000 that can pay down the national debt and to incentivize them to hire Americans.
But if they need that labor, we're overcomplicating this. Other countries have figured this out. Don't give them U.S. citizenship. But if you're going to have an employer-employee relationship, we should be fixing that, instead of politicizing this.
And, right now, just there's -- tempers are just going crazy, and we need to calm this down.
BASH: Governor Kevin Stitt, thank you so much for being here this morning. Appreciate it.
STITT: Thank you.
BASH: And thank you for spending your Sunday morning with us.
We're going to be tracking the latest with the storm all morning. Anderson Cooper will pick up our coverage from Minneapolis after a quick break.
