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230 Million People On Alert As Crippling Winter Storm Moves In; Demonstrators Detained During Airport Protest; Officials Defend Federal Agents After Five-Year-Old Taken Into Custody; Trump Says A "Massive" U.S. Armada Is Heading Toward Iran; Deal To Secure TikTok's Future In The U.S. Finally Closes. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:01]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A monster storm is about to hit millions across the U.S. with catastrophic ice and snow. We are tracking the latest weather data and will bring you the full forecast.

Plus, as hundreds of Minnesota businesses close, and many take to the streets to protest President Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement, Border Patrol's commander-at-large sends them a message, it's on and we won't quit. We're live from Minneapolis.

And later, a slavery exhibit at the site where Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived in Philadelphia is now gone and the city is suing the federal government to get it back.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: One of the most powerful winter storms to hit the nation in years is now getting underway. More than 230 million Americans are in the storm's path and the next 48 hours are really set to be extremely dangerous, life-threatening in a number of areas. Heavy snow in some areas as high as two feet is set to pummel several states and, of course, there is also the very real concern about what is being labeled catastrophic ice.

This threat stretches from Texas into the Carolinas. Power and travel understandably a major concern. And just moments ago, Maryland become the 14th state to declare an emergency. Meteorologist Chris Warren is Weather Center for us looking at all of this.

So, what more do we know as these models are changing as really the storm is now officially starting?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is now getting underway and we can see that right now. It is still looking to be far-reaching, widespread and potentially historic with multiple dangers, multiple things to watch. How we know it's getting underway right now, the green and the yellow, that's rain. And this is showing us where that cold air is coming in and you can see where they're starting to meet up. There's a changeover in precipitation, so from rain to sleet. Rain drops freezing on the way down to the ground, but it's in these darker purple areas where the rain won't freeze until it hits something.

So, warmer air above the very cold air, the rain falls hits either streets, sidewalks, your car, hits power lines, trees, freezes on contact. That's when trees and power lines can come down and power outages can last for days. Knowing that and seeing this, this potentially has the -- the makings for something to be dangerous. No power in extreme cold.

Right now, it feels like it's 38 degrees below zero in Duluth. This cold air coming in behind the system, at times there's going to be rain going up pretty far north, like into parts of North Georgia and Tennessee, but that's not going to last very long. Cold air comes back in and changes things back over to snow, sleet or even that freezing rain again.

Pink is that freezing rain, that's the ice, purple's the snow. This is now Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday, notice it is still snowing, still raining in some of the same areas that it will be during the day on Saturday. So, by Sunday morning, it is going to be an absolute mess. And on top of all that, it's possible there will be a few thunderstorms mixed in with the -- the main line of storms as it moves through. Again, high impact snow, more than a foot of snow possible across several states, but again, Erica, it is this ice that can be extremely dangerous. Travel will be impossible, just walking out the front door can be dangerous.

HILL: Yes, absolutely, Chris. Appreciate the update. Thank you. Brianna?

KEILAR: Now to Minnesota, where a new wave of protests are happening right now. This is video that was captured outside of the Minneapolis, St. Paul International Airport. Protesters gathered there, they demanded airlines join them in calling for an end to the immigration crackdown. At one point, some of the participants could be seen being taken into custody and loaded on buses.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Minneapolis, he's with us now.

What are you seeing, Omar?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, one, if you haven't seen the weather forecast for here, we are deep into negative degrees here and so we've been following a lot of protests outside, but I actually just wanted to take a moment to come inside for a second and actually show you just kind of what's been gathering here. We are at the Target Center in Minneapolis, this is where the Timberwolves play.

And this is really the beginnings of what is said to be a major protest here, not against the Timberwolves or anything, but against getting federal immigration enforcement out of the Minneapolis area. And what they're doing is there's actually a group that is over at U.S. Bank Stadium, which is where the Vikings play here in Minneapolis, and they will be walking over to this area and participating in a protest with some of the folks that you see here, much warmer than those that are starting outside.

[15:04:59]

Now, look, if you look anywhere across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, you have seen various forms of protest. You talked about the ones at the airport, for example, and they've been against federal immigration enforcement being here. But we heard from one of the most visible leaders of that immigration enforcement, Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino. He was in front of the microphones earlier today. Take a listen to how he is responding to what have been pretty consistent and forceful protests against their presence here to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: U.S. Border Patrol, ICE and those allied law enforcement teams, we're going to take again these criminal aliens off the streets that you see behind us and that I've shown you this morning. We're going to take them off the streets wholesale. It's on. We won't quit. That is what we're here to do. And we're not going to be deterred in doing that. We are going to take these criminal illegal aliens off the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And a lot of the protests here haven't been necessarily against the types of some of folks that have criminal backgrounds being taken off the streets, but more so about the tactics that have often spilled into wider communities and at times detained American citizens in the process.

KEILAR: But Omar, immigration officials are defending their actions after taking a five-year-old boy into custody. What more can you tell us about that?

JIMENEZ: Yes. So, when this story first came out, I mean, the -- the image was really what seemed to go viral first, that -- that stark image of the little five-year-old boy in the presence of federal immigration enforcement. And the Department of Homeland Security has insisted that they were targeting his father and that when the father fled that they stayed with the boy to make sure he made it into safe hands.

Now, obviously, that's an account that's been disputed by -- by the family, the family attorneys, who said that there was someone there that -- that could have potentially taken this five-year-old in. As DHS says, they tried, and it didn't happen.

So obviously, a lot of people going back and forth here as this protest is getting ready to get going in a little bit. But -- but that narrative is something that -- that the Department of Homeland Security and the White House have really put their foot down on multiple times and through multiple statements in regards to what happened with this five-year-old, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Omar Jimenez, thank you for the latest on that.

And still to come, President Trump says a massive armada is headed toward Iran right now, but insists it's just in case and he would rather not use it to strike the country.

Plus, the city of Philadelphia is suing the Trump administration after the National Park Service removes a slavery exhibit at the historic Independence Park.

And later, as millions of Americans prepare for this monster winter storm we're expecting, FEMA is pausing the firings of hundreds of disaster workers who are set to leave the agency here in the coming days. We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:12:21]

KEILAR: President Trump says a major convoy of U.S. military warships is heading toward Iran. In a stark warning to the Islamic Republic's rulers. Trump says he prefers not using military force to strike the country but is not ruling it out as Tehran continues to brutally crack down on a wave of protests against the regime. So far tens of thousands of people have been arrested and according to a U.S.-based rights group, nearly 5,000 protesters have been killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're watching Iran. You know, we have a lot of ships going in that direction just in case we have a big flotilla going in that direction and we'll see what happens. But we have a -- an armada, we have a massive -- we have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won't have to use it, we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by CNN Military Analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

All right. Colonel, first off just tell us about the USS Lincoln which is on its way toward Iran.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, this ship is one of the biggest aircraft carriers that we have, Brianna. It basically carries up to 90 planes and helicopters combined and that doesn't even include UAVs. So, this thing is -- is big and it's also accompanied by three guided missile destroyers.

So, these kinds of ships can carry weapons such as the Tomahawk missile. The Tomahawk missile is first used in -- back in Desert Storm and it can go after personnel, it can go after tank positions, it can go after almost any target. And we saw that used to great effect when we employed the Tomahawk back in -- in the June time frame against Iran.

So, that becomes a major issue, you know, for the Iranians and it really shows how much firepower we can bring to bear on them.

KEILAR: So, that is sort of the firepower that comes with this carrier group. What kind of damage could it do if Iran is looking at that? What are they thinking the U.S.' abilities would be with all that?

LEIGHTON: So, what they -- what they're thinking is, this actually is a really good question, because in Iran itself there are several major sites around here. They, you know, first we went after the nuclear sites of course, but you've also got air bases, naval bases, installations up in Tehran. So, there are a lot of things that they could go after and it really depends what the target set is.

That hasn't been determined yet as far as we know. But if President Trump wants to go in and make it more difficult for the regime to crack down on protesters, they're going to have to figure out a target set that is even more extensive than what we've had before.

KEILAR: Talk about these other U.S. assets, bases that are in the region.

[15:15:01]

LEIGHTON: So, these bases right here are actually kind of interesting, because what we have here is the headquarters for the 5th Fleet. That's the so-called Naval Support Activity Bahrain. And that's the fleet that's responsible for all the missions, the U.S. naval missions in the Persian Gulf. They're the ones that keep the Strait of Hormuz open. And remember, about a fifth of the world's oil goes through this strait right here.

We also have Al-Udeid Air Base, which is the biggest air base really outside of the continental United States right now. And it is the one that has about 10,000 personnel associated with it. That is also responsible basically for Air Force activities and naval air activities, not only in the Iranian area, but also throughout Iraq and Syria whenever that's needed.

KEILAR: Yes, that is a lot of stuff. Colonel Leighton, thank you so much for taking us through that. I appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Brianna.

KEILAR: Ahead, after years of uncertainty, the deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. has finally closed. What that can mean for the app and for its users next.

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[15:20:22]

HILL: So, TikTok manages to beat the clock. And the President says he deserves some credit. The deal, which just closed, would require the wildly popular social media app, of course, to transfer control of its U.S. user data from the ownership of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to this American-owned joint venture, a pretty complicated transaction. But one finalized just a day before the deadline that President Trump had set after Congress passed a law that threatened to ban it, a law that was, of course, that was passed. It was signed into law. Then, the President was a little worried about that when he was coming back into office. The President posting online, quote, "I'm so happy to have helped in

saving TikTok. It will now be owned by a great group of American patriots and investors, the biggest in the world. So, those new owners include multiple allies of the President.

For more, CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is here with me.

Brian, I remember just about a year ago, you and I being on the air together as this deadline was expiring and President Trump was trying to figure out how to keep that law from going into effect. Here we are. What does this mean? What do we know about this new parent company?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right. And Congress originally said you can only extend this deadline once. But Trump worked around those rules. Some people believe he broke that law as he extended the deadline over and over again. And now, one year after that law took effect, here we are with a finalized deal.

This is, in some ways, a win for President Trump in his negotiations with Beijing. This is something he can point to now as an accomplishment because he vowed to keep TikTok online in the U.S. And now it's a Trumpy makeover of TikTok, or you might say a Trump- approved revamp of TikTok in the U.S., because he has lined up his allies to be investors in this new U.S. entity.

People like Larry Ellison, the billionaire behind Oracle. Also, Michael Dell, who recently announced he's funding those Trump accounts for babies who were born. He has lined up these billionaires to help run the new TikTok. We know it's going to be run by a mostly American board, while the Chinese-based ByteDance, which created TikTok in the first place, they're going to retain 19.9 percent of this U.S. TikTok entity.

So, this American-led company, it will have control over content moderation. It will have control over user data. But it will still be relying on that original TikTok algorithm that is so addictive, that is so popular, that is so widespread all around the world.

So, some of the concerns that lawmakers had about national security, those concerns are not entirely going away. But at least for the moment, no more mystery about the future of TikTok in the U.S.

HILL: So, you mentioned those concerns are not going away. I mean, this is what got us to this point in the first place. And let's not forget, there was a time when President Trump said he was concerned about the security implications here. So, the point of that TikTok law was to keep American data, right, out of the hands of concerns that the Chinese government would have access to it.

So, in terms of what we know now, how will those things be separated?

STELTER: Yes. According to these companies, the company Oracle that I mentioned, controlled by Larry Ellison, it will be the one that will oversee storage of Americans' TikTok data. This is something that had been in the works for years. Now, it has been finalized. Now going forward, Oracle will have that responsibility.

One of the giant outstanding questions is about whether this app, whether TikTok will now be under Trump's thumb in some way. And again, I say I emphasize this is a question, not an answer. But you'll recall when Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X and gave it a right- wing overhaul, he changed X to make it much friendlier toward President Trump and toward the MAGA movement. The question now is whether that's going to happen at TikTok as well.

If so, users will probably notice it. This will probably be detectable, at least in some ways, whether it's through content moderation or through the algorithm. But that's one of the big unknowns now. Elon Musk took over Twitter. He moved it to the right. Now, will these Trump-aligned billionaires move TikTok to the right? And if so, could that have an influence in the midterm elections? I think that's one of the short-term questions now.

HILL: So, there are the people who use the TikTok, right? And then there are a lot of people who don't. So, for people who are not TikTok users ...

STELTER: Right, right.

HILL: ... what's the takeaway here?

STELTER: Yes. I would point to Minnesota, actually. I would say that this relates to what you've been covering all afternoon long. When we look at videos of ICE actions in Minnesota, many, many millions of Americans are watching those incidents, watching those controversies, watching those protests, watching, in some cases, those abuses happen on TikTok. Those videos are going viral, and they are spreading, yes, on Instagram, yes, on YouTube, but largely on TikTok. So, that is the best recent example of why it matters and then more broadly, ask any user of TikTok, they'll probably admit they're addicted.

[15:25:06]

Many, many users talk openly about how addictive the app is, and will that change? Will that get even more intense now that it's controlled by an American group of investors? We shall see.

HILL: We will be watching. Brian, appreciate it. Thank you.

Coming up here, FEMA is abruptly pausing the firings of hundreds of disaster workers as the agency now prepares for this massive winter storm set to impact about half the country. Stay with us.

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