Border Patrol Kills Man as Minnesota ICE Enforcement Fuels Outrage (Bloomberg)

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A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a US citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, the latest violent incident by law enforcement that has sparked widespread protests and condemnations by state and local officials.

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Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference with other local officials that the 37-year-old man had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead. O’Hara said the victim had no criminal record beyond traffic tickets and had a permit to carry a weapon.

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The man was identified by state and local officials as Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse for veterans, pictured below.

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Source: Michael Pretti

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“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital,” Pretti’s family said in a statement shared with The Washington Post. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world.”

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In the statement, Pretti’s family called the administration’s description of the shooting “sickening lies” and “reprehensible and disgusting.” The family said Pretti was trying to protect a woman who had been pushed down by immigration agents.

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“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by [President Donald] Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” the statement said. “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”

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As with the killing of Renee Good in early January, cellphone videos of the deadly encounter between agents and Alex Pretti instantly spread online, Axios writes. 

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Video shows that Pretti was stripped of a gun during the scrum before he was struck by multiple gunshots. A New York Times analysis found that verified videos on social media "appear to contradict the Department of Homeland Security's account. Footage shows Pretti was clearly holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him."

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“We are, once again, now being asked to deny what we saw with our own eyes,” said Representative Kelly Morrison, a Minnesota Democrat. “We watched the videos of the masked federal agent shooting Alex in the back multiple times while he was pinned down by more than six other masked federal agents.”

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Footage Analysis: A Moment by Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti (New York Times)
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Gun Debate: Gun Groups, Republicans Condemn Noem, Patel Statements Amid Minnesota ICE Enforcement (Axios)

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A Minnesota gun-rights group accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI director Kash Patel of spreading misinformation about the right to bear arms at protests.

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In an interview, Patel said, "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 a right to break the law."

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Patel was echoing Noem, who said Saturday, "I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign."

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The Gun Owners Caucus of Minnesota was quick to dispute Patel's statements, posting on X that Patel was "completely incorrect on Minnesota law. There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota."

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Minnesota law does not prohibit carrying a loaded firearm to a protest, according to the caucus' webpage as well as information from gun-safety advocates like Everytown, the US gun violence prevention organization founded by Mike Bloomberg.

Today in the Judiciary: Two Court Hearings Loom in Minnesota Over ICE Enforcement, Fatal Shooting Evidence (Politico Playbook)

Today your attention should be on the courts, where twin hearings in the Twin Cities could dramatically reshape how this narrative is playing out, Politico Playbook reports. 

“In one, Judge Katherine Menendez will consider the state’s urgent lawsuit to pull the plug on ICE’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ altogether — seeking a ruling that the federal government has trampled on state sovereignty in unconstitutional ways. Minnesota officials filed the lawsuit around the time of Renee Good’s death, but they ramped up the urgency after Alex Pretti was shot and killed, pleading with Menendez, a Biden appointee, to rule by the end of the day.

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“In the other, Judge Eric Tostrud will weigh Minnesota law enforcement’s lawsuit requiring the Trump administration to preserve evidence stemming from the Pretti shooting. Tostrud quickly granted a restraining order in the matter on Saturday, but Monday afternoon will be the first hearing on the matter and the first chance for the Trump administration to explain how it has handled evidence from the crime scene.”

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US Weather Watch

Only in NYC: Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White pulled off a daredevil stunt in snowy Central Park, jumping over comedians Shane Gillis and Chris O’Connor in footage shared on social media Sunday. Click the photo below to watch the clip.

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Travel Freeze: US Travel Chaos Set to Linger as Airlines Try to Restore Flights (Bloomberg)
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Travelers are bracing for extended disruptions to start the working week in the US as airlines try to get their schedules back on track following an intense winter storm that saw the most flight cancellations since Covid.

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Around 3,500 flights were canceled on Monday as of 1:30 a.m. New York time, according to FlightAware. That’s down from the roughly 11,600 cancellations on Sunday, which bore the brunt of disruptions as the worst storm in years coated vast stretches of the US South and Mid-Atlantic in ice, and effectively shut down some of the country’s busiest aviation hubs.

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While the storm is starting to push out of the US, the Weather Prediction Center has warned that extremely cold air following the system will prolong dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts through the week. Widespread heavy snow will continue across the Northeast, while sleet and freezing rain will impact portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, it said .

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Energy Shock: Post-Storm Freeze to Test US Power Grids as Demand Surges (Bloomberg)

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US power grids are expected to grapple with unprecedented seasonal demand and the threat of blackouts after a damaging winter storm coated parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic in ice — leaving brutal cold in its wake.

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More than 800,000 homes and businesses nationwide are currently without electricity as snow and ice wreak havoc on local distribution lines. Grids so far have avoided larger system-level cuts, but frigid wind chills will likely persist all week, testing seasonal power-demand records from New England to Texas.

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The PJM Interconnection grid that stretches from Chicago to Washington, DC warned late Sunday it’s bracing for seven straight days of extreme demand, representing “a winter streak that PJM has never experienced.” The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as Ercot, is projecting record demand of 86 gigawatts on Monday, which would surpass the previous high set in August 2023.

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Electricity prices have soared and grid operators have been obtaining federal waivers from some pollution limits so they can employ dirtier power-plant fuels such as diesel and coal. The US government also asked grid operators to make backup power available from facilities including data centers.

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Monday will be a day of tests of infrastructure and patience across most of the nation’s major population centers.

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Disaster Relief: Massive Winter Storm Could Lay Bare Trump's FEMA Cuts (Axios)

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The storm will be FEMA's first major, multi-state rapid activation since the Trump administration began reducing the agency's manpower — and watchdogs warn it may not be ready.

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President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have previously floated dismantling FEMA and seemingly denied aid requests on partisan lines, fueling local leaders' doubts that they can depend on the administration.

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FEMA has deployed more than 20 staffers to state emergency operations centers to coordinate storm preparation and response, according to an internal memo reviewed by Axios.

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FEMA reportedly planned to cut roughly 50% of its workforce this year — including roughly 300 people already let go this month alone — but some reductions are paused because of the storm, according to CNN.

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What I'm Reading

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O Canada: Trump’s Latest Canada Threat Previews Rocky US-M-CA Talks (Bloomberg)

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President Donald Trump’s new tariff threats signal an early escalation in what’s expected to be months of posturing as the US, Canada and Mexico prepare to review their trade pact this year.

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On Saturday, Trump criticized Mark Carney via Truth Social for expanding economic ties with China, saying the prime minister would be “sorely mistaken” to think the US will allow Canada to be a “drop off port” for Chinese goods. Trump threatened to levy a 100 percent tariff on all imports from Canada if our northern neighbor completes a trade deal with China.

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Canada’s minister in charge of US trade, Dominic LeBlanc, pushed back, saying there was “no pursuit of a free trade agreement with China.”

While Trump’s remarks were ostensibly about Canada’s tariff truce with China — and come as Carney draws international attention for his Davos speech about standing up to great powers — the salvo also portends a heated back-and-forth ahead of the USMCA review.

Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg still anticipate a positive outcome to those talks, but Trump’s broadside injects fresh uncertainty.

Intelligence Breach: China’s Top General Accused of Giving Nuclear Secrets to US (Wall Street Journal)

Negotiations Watch: Ukraine Talks End in Abu Dhabi as Kyiv Endures New Air Barrage (Bloomberg)
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Two days of talks between US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Abu Dhabi wrapped up on Saturday, with another round of trilateral talks to be held this week.
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Kremlin forces launched a massive air attack on Ukraine, with over 370 drones and 21 missiles hitting Kyiv and other regions, causing power cuts and damage to critical infrastructure.

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The attack was denounced by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha as a "cynical" move by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has raised questions about the prospects for progress in the peace talks.

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Iran Reconnects: Amid Two-Week Internet Blackout, Some Iranians Are Getting Back Online (New York Times)

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For more than 17 days, Iranians have withstood not only a brutal crackdown to quell nationwide protests, but also a near-total communications blackout. Now some Iranians, eager to reconnect with the world, are managing to gain sporadic but brief internet access.

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Many Iranians have used the quick windows to send their first messages to loved ones to reassure them they are alive, relatives said. But the openings have also allowed Iranians to send more extensive messages and videos abroad, giving journalists and rights groups a widening view of the extent of the government crackdown and its toll.

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Even the limited information being gleaned indicates that thousands more Iranians may have been killed than the estimated 5,200 previously reported, according to some human rights groups working to verify the numbers.

UK Politics: Labour Party Blocks Andy Burnham From Standing as an Member of Parliament (Financial Times)

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The Labour Party has blocked Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing as a parliamentary candidate, triggering a political backlash.

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A 10-strong panel from the party’s ruling National Executive Committee decided on Sunday that Burnham would not be allowed to end his mayoral term early and run as a candidate in the forthcoming Gorton and Denton by-election.

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Policy Outlook: Tense Fed Is Set to Lead Global Peers With Interest-Rate Hold (Bloomberg)
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The Federal Reserve and three of the central banks that just backed its embattled chair, Jerome Powell, are poised to keep interest rates unchanged at an edgy moment for global policymakers.

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Officials in Washington are widely expected to defy US President Donald Trump’s calls for lower borrowing costs on Wednesday at the end of their two-day meeting. Peers in Brazil, Canada, and Sweden may also retain current settings.

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This Week's Test for Tech: Big Tech Earnings Land With 2026’s AI Winners Still In Question (Bloomberg)

Investors have made a pile of money recently by focusing on niche stocks in the AI trade. Earnings from some of the world’s biggest technology companies this week will offer an indication of whether they should stick to that strategy in 2026. 

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Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla report earnings on Wednesday, followed by Apple on Thursday. Alphabet, by far the best performer among the Magnificent Seven last year, reports on Feb. 4, while number two Nvidia’s results land on Feb. 25. Amazon.com reports on Feb. 5.

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🔊 New Episode Alert: The Daily Read Podcast is live with an AI-fueled breakdown of today’s biggest headlines. Smarter context, sharper analysis—stream it now on Spotify or  Apple Podcasts.

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Skyscraper Stunt: Free-Solo Climber Honnold Conquers Taipei 101 Live on Netflix (Bloomberg)

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Alex Honnold completed a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, scaling the skyscraper in one of Netflix's most ambitious and riskiest live-streaming sports events.

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The 40-year-old US climber started his mission to ascend the exterior of the 508-meter (1,667-foot) glass-and-steel skyscraper at about 9:10 a.m. local time on Sunday, a day after the event was postponed because of rain. The delay fueled more attention online, with viewers speculating about the risks and how quickly he could complete the challenge.

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Honnold took a selfie from the top of the building, which he climbed in 95 minutes, and appeared mesmerized by the view of Taipei.

Super Bowl Preview: New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks to Face Off in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 (New York Times - The Athletic)

The New England Patriots knocked off the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC Championship Game, putting them back in the Super Bowl much quicker than expected. 

The Seattle Seahawks outlasted the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game to secure a rematch of 2014's Super Bowl XLIX, famous for cornerback Malcolm Butler’s interception of Russell Wilson at the goal line to secure the Patriots’ 28-24 victory. 

The Patriots have six Super Bowl victories, and the Seahawks have one.

The game will take place Sunday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, airing live on NBC and streaming on Peacock, with Green Day opening the Super Bowl pre-game festivities and Bad Bunny headlining the Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show.

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President Donald Trump revealed in an interview with the New York Post that he will not be attending Super Bowl LX.

Best of SNL

"The singing of the US national anthem at an NBA game in London was interrupted by protestors yelling 'Leave Greenland alone!'. And you know we've gone too far when the British are like, 'easy on the colonizing.'"
-- Michael Che

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"Vice President JD Vance criticized protesters confronting I.C.E. officers, saying they should instead write an op-ed or argue about it on social media. You know, just like these young scholars did on Jan. 6."
-- Michael Che

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On President Trump saying that God was very proud of the job he's doing as president:

"Remember when President Trump straight up told us he was going to hell? But he thinks that after this week, God is back on board."
-- Colin Jost

And from the Cold Open: President Donald Trump (played by James Austin Johnson) hosts the first annual Trump Awards. Click the photo below to watch.

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