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500,000+ Customers Still Without Power Amid Brutal Cold; Trump Says He'll Be Watching Over Pretti Shooting Investigation; Natural Gas Prices Skyrocket in Wake of Massive Winter Storm; TikTok Users Accuse App of Censoring Anti-ICE Videos. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 27, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This just into CNN, a growing measles outbreak in South Carolina is now the largest in the U.S. since the disease was declared eliminated more than two decades ago. 789 cases have been reported in the state as of today. 600 of those have been added in the new year alone.

South Carolina's health department says at least 12 people, both children and adults, have been hospitalized with measles complications. So far, no deaths have been reported though. To give you an idea of just how quickly this outbreak is growing, consider this.

Since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, the country has averaged roughly 180 cases per year, and South Carolina alone has seen 600 cases just in the last 27 days.

Right now, more than 179 million Americans are under extreme cold alerts as some of them are grappling with power outages from a winter storm. At least 30 weather-related deaths have been reported from Texas to New York. More than half a million people are desperately waiting for the lights to come back on. Some residents in hard-hit Tennessee may face bone-chilling lows through next week as crews are racing to restore power there.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell is with us now to talk a little bit about what they're dealing with. Sir, thank you so much for being with us. Power could potentially be out in much of Nashville for up to a week. What are your major safety concerns as you're seeing the temperatures continuing to hover right around freezing there?

MAYOR FREDDIE O'CONNELL, NASHVILLE: Yes, I mean, safety concerns are a mix of roadways which are still not all the way back to fully safely drivable. You probably have heard as the winter storm fern spread across the country, Nashville, unfortunately, was in the uniquely bad situation of having more ice coverage than just about any other part of the country. And so that has meant ice on power lines, ice on utility poles, ice on just about every tree in the city.

And so there is a lot of structural damage. Our local electric utility, Nashville Electric Service, NES, has identified almost 200 utility poles that have come down. There's damage from trees at and around key circuits in the system, not to mention lines.

And so we've already had a few scenarios where lines have been restored on one stretch of a roadway and just around the block, another line will come down as a new branch falls. So I'm very concerned about people sheltering in place. We've opened warming shelters, starting to get increasingly concerned about food access.

So we are working on expanding those things day by day. First, it was weather response. Now it's humanitarian response.

And we're trying to move as quickly as we can on both of those fronts.

KEILAR: Yes, the pictures of ice are really unbelievable. We can see the challenges are facing there. Do you have any updates on cold related injuries or deaths?

[14:35:00]

O'CONNELL: We sadly did confirm today the first two fatalities that do seem to be winter storm related. We're waiting on updates from the medical examiner. But from the reports we got from our Metro Nashville Police Department, they do seem to be events that were at least in some way related to the winter storm.

You know, we have had heard a report this morning that one of our large medical centers was treating more cases of carbon monoxide incidents than they usually do. So again, encouraging people to be incredibly safe and aware if you are using indoor heating while power is off, to make sure as much as possible if you can, if you're using indoor heating from some supply that might produce carbon monoxide, that you have a carbon monoxide detector.

That is one of the other big safety incidents. Fire safety is a big risk right now. People should not be using anything, you know, not setting indoor fires outside of fireplaces, those kinds of things.

KEILAR: Yes, great advice. I do want to ask you because we now have this new kind of, we have a new potential shutdown looming here in Washington coming out of this shooting in Minneapolis. This was not the story last week, but it is now.

And when you're talking about funding being held up for DHS, that's also FEMA, right? It's not just ICE. It's also potentially FEMA. And I wonder, just from your perspective, if you've had any conversations with federal officials or if you have a view or a concern about this as you're in the middle of what is a really difficult situation and you really need all the help you can get.

O'CONNELL: Yes, we do have a federal team engaged. We've got in our office, a director of state and federal affairs who's been monitoring the shutdown situation, briefing our entire office, briefing our metro council here, briefing our local government departments. And it is something we are monitoring closely because the last time this happened just a few months ago, we had to swing into action once again in crisis mode as the impact of the cessation of SNAP benefits started to hit Nashvillians.

And so we had to adjust and do fundraising, volunteer calls for food availability. And if we have to contend with that on the heels of an extraordinary winter weather event, it is absolutely going to be challenging circumstances. So we have been in touch with our congressional delegation.

We have been in touch with TEMA and FEMA. We have been in touch with the Intergovernmental Affairs Office in the White House. And I understand the concerns that are causing this to be, once again, a little bit of a showdown in Congress.

For us on the ground, local government does not and cannot stop operating to serve area residents. And that is our sole focus right now is safety and well-being of Nashvillians.

KEILAR: Yes, you have your work cut out for you, certainly. Mayor O'Connell of Nashville, thank you so much for being with us. Good luck.

You have a lot to deal with. We appreciate your time today.

O'CONNELL: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Still to come, some new details about the investigation into the shooting death in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti.

[14:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: New today, as outrage intensifies in Minneapolis over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration agent, President Trump now says he will personally watch over the government's investigation into the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you know, we're doing a big investigation. I want to see the investigation. I'm going to be watching over it.

I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The president has sent his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis to take over immigration operations on the ground, replacing Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino amid mounting criticism of federal enforcement tactics.

CNN's Whitney Wild is in Minneapolis. Whitney, what are you hearing from residents and officials about this change?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there is great relief here that Commander Bovino is leaving, but many people expressed to us that they are still skeptical about what these ICE operations are going to look like moving forward. Here's more from some of the Minnesotans we spoke with.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA HNATH, ICU NURSE: Devastated, really sad, and I'm hurt, and I'm angry, confused, and I think betrayed. Betrayed by good people that thought this is what they wanted and voted for it, wanted it, have agreed with it, and up until now maybe haven't said no. And I find that painful.

STEVE RUELLE, MINNESOTA RESIDENT: I think that's a great start, but I think they all need to leave. You know, and as ICE used to operate in the past, before the Trump administration, they need to cooperate with our local law enforcement officials to do the work that they're meant to do according to the laws and the Constitution, ultimately.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILD: It has been days since Alex Pretti was shot and killed, we went to his memorial today. It has doubled in size. Renee Good, who was shot and killed at the beginning of the month, her memorial continues to grow.

And it is really a stunning example of how strongly these Minnesotans feel about keeping their memories alive and ensuring that that memory continues for days and weeks and years and is not just a moment that gets brushed aside. We are also now, minutes ago, learning more about the meeting between Tom Homan and Mayor Frey. Mayor Frey, releasing a statement saying this, I appreciated the conversation with the chief and I had -- that the chief and I had with Border Czar Homan.

[14:45:00]

So he's saying he and Chief O'Hara met with Mr. Homan. During our meeting, I reiterated that my main ask is for Operation Metro Surge to come to an end as quickly as possible. Public safety works best when it's built on community trust, not tactics that create fear or division. I shared with Mr. Homan the serious negative impacts that this operation has had on Minneapolis and the surrounding communities, as well as the strain it has placed on our local officers. Finally, Bree, he made clear that the city of Minneapolis will not enforce federal immigration law. Back to you.

KEILAR: Whitney Wild, thank you so much. And thank you for bringing us the of Minnesotans there on the ground.

Still to come, it is almost one year to the day that an army helicopter and a passenger jet collided over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. And now investigators are laying out what went wrong and how to keep it from ever happening again.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KEILAR: The brutal Arctic blast gripping much of the U.S. could have a major impact on your energy bill. Just when Americans need to heat their homes most, natural gas prices are skyrocketing.

CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is following this for us here. Vanessa, how is this extreme weather directly affecting natural gas prices?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this deep freeze, this snow, this ice is really forcing Americans to crank up the heat just to keep warm over the past couple of days. And what we have seen with natural gas, which is the primary source of home heating, is just a huge jump in prices. Just a few days ago, about 10 days ago or so, you were looking at about three dollars trading for natural gas.

Now look at that. You're almost up to seven dollars. That's more than double.

And that is just in such a short time span. And this is the highest level that we've seen in three years. And yes, there's a there's pressure on the demand side, but also the supply side is seeing some strain because in key hubs for natural gas like Texas, Louisiana and Appalachia, there's pressure on those systems. That production because of the cold weather, the ice, the freezing temperatures.

The last major storm that impacted natural gas so heavily was in February of 2021, impacting about 18 billion cubic feet. Just on Sunday alone, 17 billion cubic feet of natural gas impacted in a single day. But energy companies were warning about higher prices before this winter storm even hit.

Last year the average price just for natural gas for a family was about $650. This year, it's on pace to be about $704. That's a difference of 8.4 percent.

That's over $50. And Brianna, I will note that is just natural gas. That's not electricity.

That's not home heating oil. So obviously, unwelcome news to be paying more this winter. However, the frigid temperatures have just forced, obviously, homeowners hands.

And of course, these natural gas companies really just trying to keep up at this point -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it is a tough several days, a couple of weeks here that we're going through. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for taking us through that.

And still to come, some TikTok users claim the platform is censoring anti-ICE and anti-Trump videos. What's behind these allegations and how the company's responding next?

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: TikTok is pushing back after some users accused the company of censoring their anti-ICE videos. A number of users say they tried to share videos critical of ICE and the Trump administration, but the videos wouldn't upload.

Notably, the complaints began shortly after a majority American owned joint venture took over TikTok's U.S. assets. And you'll recall the Trump administration shepherded that deal. CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is here with us with more on this.

All right, Brian, walk us through the complaints and how the company's responding here.

BRIAN STELTER, CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: So TikTok is blaming a power outage, not just any power outage, but a massive breakdown at a data center that led to a, quote, cascading systems failure. As a result, the app has been on the fritz for several days now. Some people seeing videos get stuck in the review process.

Others with really big followings finding they're getting zero likes on videos. Some is getting back to normal to some degree today. But folks, especially on the left, have been looking around and saying, hey, Trump just set up this new U.S. ownership structure. Trump approved investors are now in charge of the app. And all of a sudden things are broken. And it seems that my opinions against ICE or border patrol aren't being published.

You can understand why there was this scrutiny on social media and all these complaints that had bubbled up on social media in the past couple of days. But here's what TikTok said in a news statement earlier today. Quote, "We've made significant progress in restoring and recovering our U.S. infrastructure with our U.S. data center partner. However, the user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content. We're committed to bringing TikTok back to its full capacity as soon as possible." So the official word is that servers are coming back online.

Power has been restored. The server might still be -- the app still might have some hiccups for the time being. But I don't think that's going to quell all the concern, all the suspicion that's out there, Brianna.

KEILAR: Well, how hard would it be to prove if TikTok is censoring content?

STELTER: Well, that's the interesting question. And suspicion is the key word. This is mostly about suspicion right now.

Some forms of content moderation are a lot easier to detect than others. When Elon Musk bought Twitter and he yanked it to the right politically, it was pretty obvious what he was doing. So if there are similar changes to TikTok, I think users will detect them.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is saying he's going to have an investigation. He posted on X, quote, "It's time to investigate. I'm launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump critical content."

So you have some Democratic elected officials using this moment to call attention to the new ownership structure of TikTok, to call out this form of media or tech consolidation. Meanwhile, there are some indications some users, again, probably left-leaning users, are deleting the app. We see uninstall rates are up.

They're higher than normal in the last week once this new ownership structure took effect. I think that'll probably wash out. That probably won't last very long.

We've seen in the past when people have tried to give up on TikTok ...

END