THE USUAL SUSPECTS: Two federal agents fired their guns during the weekend fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, according to a report to Congress by the Department of Homeland Security.

  Pretti was legally carrying a holstered pistol. “During the struggle, a (Border Patrol agent) yelled, ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times,” according to the investigative report. The report says, “Approximately five seconds later, a (Border Patrol agent) discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a (Customs and Border Protection officer) also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”

  The DHS report does not say Pretti brandished a gun as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem originally claimed.

  State investigators say they were blocked from the shooting scene, came back with a warrant, and continued to be blocked from gathering evidence by federal agents.

ICE, ICE BABY: The exasperated chief federal judge in Minnesota ordered the head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in court on Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating court orders regarding ICE operations and specifically the detainment of one Ecuadorean man who’s been in the country for 30 years.  

  Judge Patrick Schiltz said he recognized that ordering ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, to personally defend himself in court was “an extraordinary step,” but that “the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary.”

  On January 14^th Schiltz ordered ICE to either allow Juan Hugo Tobay Robles to challenge his detention within a week or let him go. The judge had determined that ICE was holding Tobay Robles under an improper reading of federal law. He said, “This is one of dozens of court orders with which respondents have failed to comply in recent weeks.”

  Schiltz said ICE’s acting director Todd Lyobs would be let off the hook if he releases Tobay Robles.

  President Trump met with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for two hours on Monday as changes were being made to leadership of the massive immigration sweep in Minnesota. Trump told reporters yesterday when he was leaving for Iowa that Noem is not losing her job … although that’s often the last words before someone gets fired.

  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with Border Czar Tom Homan, who’s taken control of ICE operations in that state, and said the two agreed to work toward ending a “campaign of retribution” against the state.

POLITICAL TARGET: Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was attacked last night at her town hall meeting by a man who sprayed her with a liquid. Incredibly, she ran after him before he was tackled be security guards.

FLIGHT DANGER: Investigators in their report on the Washington collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet last year blamed the Federal Aviation Administration for discounting safety warnings and mismanaging the control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport. Sixty-seven people died in the crash.  

  The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA had designed and approved dangerous, crisscrossing flight routes that allowed the Army helicopter to fly into the landing path of the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Potomac.

  The NTSB released a video re-creation of the accident with the real pilot speaking to the tower up to the moment the helicopter comes into his path and his voice goes silent.

THE REGIME:

— A federal judge ruled that the  five-year-old Minnesota boy detained with his father wearing a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack cannot be immediately deported. The Texas-based judge said the boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, cannot be removed from the country while their case is being fought in court. 

— Leaving the White House yesterday, President Trump told reporters contrary to real life evidence that grocery prices are going down and, “We have gasoline in many states now at one dollar and ninety-nine cents.”  

  While it’s true that in many areas gas is in the $2.20 range, we were unable to find a single place in the country where gasoline is $1.99.

  Speaking in Iowa later he called “affordability” a Democratic hoax.

BLINK OF AN EYE: CBS News’s new editorial chief Bari Weiss yesterday announced radical tactical changes for the network including  a focus on becoming a streaming medium, re-inventing itself like a startup, and adding 18 commentators of diverse views.

  “Our strategy until now has been to cling to the audience that remains on broadcast television,” she said. “I’m here to tell you that if we stick to that strategy, we’re toast.” Weiss said, “We need to shift to streaming mentality immediately.”

  CBS News already has a streaming service.

  Having never run anything more than a Substack blog, Weiss is not timid about taking charge and making changes. She ruffled the staff on her first day.

She announced yesterday that she’s adding “many more” contributors including podcasters, conservative historian Niall Ferguson, former Atlantic writer Derek Thompson, retired Gen. HR McMaster, and happiness expert Arthur Brooks.

  Essentially she is adding political voices to what has always been a non-political news operation. She said that “to cover America as it actually is, we in this building need to reflect more of the political friction that animates our national conversation.”

THE SPIN RACK: Editors of the Washington Post abruptly told their staff that they will not be sending a reporting team to the Winter Olympics in a major break with usual coverage of the sporting event of worldwide interest. They gave no explanation after having already paid for travel and securing credentials for 14 journalists. — A 19-year-old University of Michigan student was found dead outdoors Saturday after leaving a fraternity party in zero-degree weather at 1 am Friday dressed only in a t-shirt and jeans.

BELOW THE FOLD: Six-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick was denied entry to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot even though  at age 73 he also has a record-setting 24-year-old girlfriend.

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