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By Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — Stella Carlson was supposed to spend Saturday morning painting children’s faces at a church. It would have been a welcome contrast to the weekslong onslaught of federal immigration enforcement and protests that have overwhelmed her home in the Twin Cities.

Being an active participant in her community is important for Carlson, and she had spent the last three weeks learning about mutual aid and participating in grassroots efforts to warn her neighbors of impending federal immigration action. The fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this month proved to Carlson and other Minnesotans that the potential for danger as an observer was not abstract.

“I know every time I leave my vehicle or leave my house and I put that whistle around my neck, I know because of Renee Good, the risk,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper during an interview Tuesday. “I think we all knew after that happened, it is now at that point, and it could be any of us.”

But she had no way of knowing that she would soon watch a man die — or that her video of that fatal incident would serve as a crucial counter to the Trump administration’s initial efforts to paint Alex Pretti as a wannabe assassin or domestic terrorist.

On her way to work, and wearing a pink jacket that would become instantly recognizable from other videos of the incident, Carlson heard the sound of whistles that have become the ubiquitous warning of the arrival of immigration officers.

She drove down Nicollet Avenue and saw what she described as a brawl in the street. She thought of Good, who was also driving her car when she was fatally shot. This was when she first noticed Pretti directing traffic.

“It felt like somebody in my opinion, in my background, who was doing a risk assessment and found his place in this moment to be useful,” she said of Pretti.

Carlson got out of her car and began recording.

The video Carlson took showed that Pretti, who had a permit to carry a concealed pistol, never brandished his gun, as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first claimed he did (Carlson said she didn’t even know Pretti had been armed until after he was shot, and wouldn’t have gotten so close if she had known). Nor did he approach law enforcement with the intent to assassinate them, as Stephen Miller, the architect of the White House’s immigration policy, also claimed.

Instead, Carlson’s video showed that the 37-year-old ICU nurse who treated veterans spent his last moments trying to help a woman who had been knocked down.

The video also showed that Pretti’s handgun had been removed from its holster by an officer seconds before he was pinned down and shot multiple times, including in his back.

“I remember him arching his back and his head rolling back,” Carlson said. She

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) -

San Marcos 17, Santa Barbara 4: USC-bound senior Charlotte Raisin and freshman Natalie Klan each scored five goals as San Marcos cruised to a 17-4 semifinal win at the Channel League Tournament.

The Royals led 6-0 after the first quarter and 10-0 at halftime.

Earlier in the day Santa Barbara beat Ventura 16-6 in a first-round game. Standout sophmore Jules Horton scored 8 goals for the Dons who will play Buena for third place on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m. at DP.

Dos Pueblos 20, Rio Mesa 2: Parker Bryant scored 4 goals to lead DP to a lopsided win over the Spartans. Juliet Writes, Cora Smith and Devon Fitzgibbons scored three goals apiece for the Chargers.

Dos Pueblos 14, Buena 10: Kyra Jones scored 4 goals while Talia Marshall added 3 goals to help the Bulldogs pull away in the fourth quarter. Reagan Mack had 12 saves for DP.

The league final is 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday at Dos Pueblos.

The post San Marcos and Dos Pueblos girls water polo advance to finals of Channel League Tournament appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Rashard Rose, CNN

(CNN) — Top Justice Department leaders said in a court filing Tuesday they expect to release the department’s Jeffrey Epstein-related files “in the near term.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton told two federal judges the department could not “provide a specific date” for when it would complete its review of the files.

The update comes as the Justice Department faces enormous pressure to release all of its files after Congress passed a law in November – with near-unanimous support – giving the department a December 19, 2025, deadline to do so. Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was accused of abusing dozens of underage girls, died by suicide in 2019.

The filing, a letter sent to Judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer in the Southern District of New York, is the latest update from the Justice Department as it continues to review and release materials.

The officials wrote in the letter that “the Department has reviewed millions of pages of materials” along with video and audio recordings and has made “substantial progress” in identifying documents and completing redactions to protect victims.

“The Department is not able to provide a specific date at this time and cautions that its ongoing processes, including its quality control checks and document management system preparations, may require additional efforts to ensure the protection of victim identifying information while complying with the broad demands of the Act,” the letter said.

The letter said DOJ efforts have included “manual review by hundreds of Department attorneys, agents and others” who have “dedicated days and weeks” to the effort. CNN previously reported on the department’s scramble to review documents, asking for career prosecutors in Florida to volunteer over the winter holidays to help redact the documents.

The files are made up of papers, videos, photographs and audio files that live within the FBI’s main electronic case management system and largely originate from the FBI’s two major investigations into Epstein, in Florida and New York, spanning decades. A July 2025 FBI memo said that the department had uncovered “more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence” during a review of the investigative materials.

The Justice Department earlier this month said it had released 12,285 documents — less than 1% — of its Epstein-related files, with more than 2 million documents still in review.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS between January 9-12 found that few Americans are satisfied with the amount of evidence released in the Epstein case, with most saying they believe the government is intentionally holding back information.

A two-thirds majority of Americans said the federal government is intentionally holding back some information about the Epstein case that should be released, while just 16% said the government is making an effort to release all information possible. The remainder said they haven’t heard enough about the case to say.

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By Jessie Yeung, Gawon Bae, CNN

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — It all started with a designer handbag. Then two, then a luxury necklace, and more.

Now, it’s ending in jail time for South Korea’s former first lady.

Kim Keon Hee, the wife of disgraced (and also jailed) former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison on Wednesday for bribery –– in just one of three criminal trials she is facing. Both prosecutors and Kim’s team can appeal the ruling.

The court found Kim guilty of accepting bribes from the controversial religious sect Unification Church, including a Chanel bag and a Graff diamond necklace. But it found her not guilty of stock manipulation and conspiring with her husband to receive free public opinion polls, citing lack of sufficient evidence and expired statute of limitations – and also cleared her for receiving a second Chanel bag.

Prosecutors had estimated that the stocks, bribes and polls altogether were worth 1.15 billion Korean won (about $813,000).

Kim “misused her status as a means of pursuing profit … The defendant was unable to refuse the expensive luxury items provided in connection with special favor, and was thirsty to receive and decorate herself with them,” said Seoul District Court Judge Woo In-seong in the ruling.

However, Woo added, Kim had not asked for the gifts, did not relay any requests from the church to her husband, and is now “self-reflecting” on her actions.

It’s the latest blow to the former first couple, both of whom have repeatedly denied wrongdoing, though Kim has admitted receiving the Chanel bags from the Unification Church.

Yoon is on trial for insurrection over his brief declaration of martial law in 2024, as well as a number of other allegations. But his wife has been embroiled in scandal for far longer –– with the stock manipulation accusations related to a car dealership going back more than a decade.

She was arrested last August by a special counsel, with prosecutors requesting 15 years in prison for the various crimes the court ruled on Wednesday.

“Kim Keon Hee used her status as president’s spouse to easily receive money and expensive goods, and widely intervened in various personnel appointments and nominations,” said Min Joong-ki, who led the special counsel team, on December 29 after concluding its 180-day investigation.

The leader of the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies, which began in South Korea and has spread worldwide, is also on trial over the bribes.

Long list of scandals

From the start, Kim wasn’t your typical first lady.

She had worked in the art industry, having founded her own exhibition agency, when she married Yoon in 2012. At the time, he was still a prosecutor and had yet to enter politics.

Kim maintained a high profile as first lady, often wearing stylish outfits on overseas presidential trips that won her both praise and criticism back home. That set her apart from other South Korean first ladies – who traditionally were viewed as humble, behind-the-scenes figures.

But suspicions about her conduct had mounted even during Yoon’s run for office.

In 2021, Kim apologized for inflating her resume, vowing to “remain focused on my role as

Análisis por Stephen Collinson, CNN

El tono que el presidente Donald Trump intenta cambiar en Minnesota es el que él mismo estableció.

“Vamos a reducir la tensión un poco”, declaró Trump a Fox News el martes durante un viaje a Iowa, después de una represión en la que han muerto dos civiles y ha provocado disturbios y miedo en Minneapolis.

El presidente está intentando lograr una hazaña de escapismo político.

Una vez que su operación de deportación se volvió moralmente insostenible tras la muerte de Alex Pretti, un enfermero de cuidados intensivos que protestaba, la presión aumentó sobre la Secretaria de Seguridad Nacional, Kristi Noem, y el alto funcionario de la Patrulla Fronteriza Greg Bovino, los dos rostros principales de la empresa.

La reunión de dos horas de Trump con Noem en el Despacho Oval el lunes por la noche fue un sutil gesto de culpabilización, insinuando que Noem había cometido un error. La destitución de Bovino de Minnesota envió una señal más directa.

Pero ambos funcionarios, de carácter enérgico, actuaban bajo las políticas, la tensa atmósfera de confrontación y las expectativas de un desempeño público exagerado establecidas por el presidente, que había respaldado reiterada y públicamente el liderazgo de Noem, en particular en las reuniones del Gabinete y en otros lugares.

Desde que descendió de su escalera mecánica dorada en la Torre Trump en el verano de 2015, el ahora presidente ha esbozado una imagen sombría de una nación rehén de violadores, asesinos y personas expulsadas de manicomios antes de unirse a una invasión extranjera de Estados Unidos.

Trump ve las ciudades como infiernos distópicos de anarquía y crimen que necesitan la ética de un hombre fuerte y un poder federal brutal para ser reparadas.

En un evento en Clive, Iowa, el martes, Trump dijo que incluso los inmigrantes que ingresaron al país legalmente necesitaban demostrar que amarían a Estados Unidos, no que lo odiarían.

“Tienen que demostrar que no van a volar nuestros centros comerciales, ni nuestras granjas, ni matar gente”, indicó.

En ese contexto, no es de extrañar que sus subordinados se sintieran con la libertad de enviar agentes armados con máscaras y uniformes de estilo militar a las calles de Minneapolis y otras grandes ciudades en una demostración de poder que surgió directamente desde la cúpula.

Las imágenes han estado circulando durante semanas, y Trump no las detuvo. Y se unió a la difamación contra la primera civil de Minnesota en morir, Renee Good.

La inmigración siempre fue un ingrediente secreto que unió a Trump con su base.

Demonizar a los inmigrantes es un clásico de los populistas y una herramienta para imponer un poder personal inusual.

Las promesas de Trump de organizar deportaciones masivas siempre provocaron fuertes ovaciones en sus mítines de campaña.

El fracaso de su predecesor, Joe Biden, en asegurar la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México fue un acto de negligencia política impresionante, considerando que Trump se encontraba al acecho antes de las elecciones de 2024.

Frente a los fracasos de los demócratas, no sorprende que los votantes recurrieran a Trump para solucionar el problema.

Dado a que los estadounidenses conocían a Trump desde su primer mandato, y que nunca había ocultado sus posturas intransigentes, es lógico suponer que se esperaba un endurecimiento de la aplicación de la ley, junto con una mayor seguridad fronteriza.

Las historias de altos funcionarios sobre jóvenes víctimas de homicidios a manos de inmigrantes indocumentados, como Laken Riley, estudiante de enfermería de Georgia, son desgarradoras. Las víctimas y sus familias merecen justicia.