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Historic Winter Storm Batters Two-Thirds Of U.S.; Conflicting Accounts Of Deadly Shooting In Minneapolis; 240M People From Mexico To Canada In Path Of Storm; Power Outages Top 1 Million Across The U.S.; Trump Admin Officials Defend Actions Of Fed Agents After Fatal MN Shooting; Today: 10,000 Plus Flights Canceled Due To Winter Storm. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 25, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:21]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: And this is a special breaking news edition of CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

We're following two major stories this afternoon. First, a massive winter storm that continues to pummel two-thirds of the United States, bringing with it freezing rain and heavy snowfall. We know more than 10,000 flights have already been canceled today. One major airport remains closed.

We're going to have live reports from the hardest hit cities. And as the number of people without power continues to rise again all across the country.

And also in Minneapolis, those tensions remain high. Following federal agents deadly shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti. Two very conflicting accounts have emerged, one from the Trump administration, which continues to defend the agents' actions, the other from local authorities and witnesses' videos. Governor Tim Walz calling Homeland Security's version of events, quote, "nonsense and lies."

We're going to be live in Minneapolis with the latest there. But let's start first with this massive winter storm walloping, again, two- thirds of the country this weekend. You can see a convoy of snowplows here. Wow, that really is a convoy. Trying to keep the highways clear in the Philadelphia area along the Interstate 95 corridor. Some northeast cities are expecting the most snow they've seen in years.

Meanwhile, ice is crippling parts of the southern U.S. Listen to this.

That ice is heavy. Those trees and power lines in Mississippi not a match for the weight of the freezing rain that's just piling up there. Total power outages now have topped a million. Tennessee is currently experiencing the worst, with more than a quarter of a million customers without power there.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is in Louisville, Kentucky. Derek, you are there. The city is seeing snow. They have seen so many

big weather events. We are also going to talk to Danny Freeman, who is covering snow as well. But let's go first to Derek. Tell us what you're seeing in Louisville.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Jessica, look, the snow is coming down. It's some of the strongest rates that we've seen through this entire winter event. And we're kind of on the tail end of this winter storm right now. But it's just incredible to see the expanse of this very dynamic winter storm. A blockbuster winter storm that is impacting every single state with some sort of cold ice or winter weather alert east of the Rockies.

And included in that are tornado watches on the southern flank of this storm. We're talking about the panhandle of Florida and into southern Georgia. So that's what I mean when I say dynamic. In terms of Kentucky, the greater Louisville region where I'm located now, we did not get the historic snowfall totals, even though it's still coming down, that we would have had to have topped a foot.

But that doesn't look likely at the moment. But right now, you can see that this clearly is starting to pick up in terms of the wind. And that is another big part of this story because as we talk about the other aspects of this storm, which is a crippling ice storm, the Carolinas into northeast Georgia, even into Oxford, Mississippi, central and northern Mississippi, got hit exceptionally hard with ice. And I think we have some video of that as well.

Just to give you an extent, Oxford was actually under a shelter in place warning, still is, through this evening because of the weight of the ice that is bringing down the power lines, as well as toppling trees. And that is the concern we have for the Appalachians into the Carolinas and even portions of the mid-Atlantic, as over a half an inch of ice accumulates with this storm. And that, of course, the added weight will bring down an increase -- bring down trees, power lines, and increase that number of customers without power, which, like you said, has already topped one million.

Now, this part is exceptionally important. Over 50 percent of Americans will feel temperatures below freezing after the storm moves through, and this is going to really lock in place, the impacts of this precipitation that we are experiencing, specifically the freezing rain portion. And why that's so concerning? If you don't have the mercury in the thermometer going above the freezing mark, well, that ice will stay in place and it will prolong the impacts of that.

So the brutal, brutal cold is another aspect of the story that's going to last for several days. There are over 100 warming shelters here within the state of Kentucky, still under a state of emergency, among other states over the eastern half of the U.S. impacted by this.

[16:05:06]

But once the snow and the ice has been fully tallied, it is going to be the arctic blast behind it that really prolongs this storm -- Jessica. DEAN: All right. It is something. That's -- that is for sure.

Derek, thank you so much.

Let's turn now to CNN's Danny Freeman, who is in Philadelphia.

Danny, how is it where you are?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How is it where I am? It is cold. It is coming down not fluffy at all. This is really that sleet and that icy element that you've been hearing so many people talk about throughout the day. But listen, you know this area very, very well. Jessica. This is Philadelphia city hall right here. The city says that they were ready for this storm. They had 1,000 workers out all throughout the evening and into today. And we've been watching plows come through as well. 600 pieces of equipment.

And, you know, you can look, take a look at this street right here. The streets themselves are actually pretty clear in this area, but we'll have our photojournalist Tom point down Broad Street right here. You can see the roads not 100 percent clear. And part of the challenge for the city crews is that they said they couldn't really get salt or brine down properly until they cleared most of the snow.

So that's part of the reason we've been seeing these crews, these plows come through every day or rather every hour here. And you can also see over here, people, Philadelphians themselves have been out shoveling and using their own material and equipment to clear the snow.

One thing also that has been certainly making the rounds out here, Jessica, is there were a lot of ATVs and buggies that also were out and about as well. Over the course of the day, we saw some folks coming around city hall.

Listen, not encouraged by the city. They continue to want people to stay home throughout the duration of this storm. And frankly, with a couple of exceptions in terms of these larger cars here. Tom, watch out, this car comes through. Most people have been staying home. There has not been a lot of traffic on these streets.

And again, Jessica, you know Philly well. We're right in the center of city hall and Broad Street. This is usually a spot that is teeming with people, teeming with traffic certainly. Not really the case here today. So you saw the video of those plows earlier today on the outskirts of Philadelphia. They've been getting to work.

The one thing I'll note, Jessica, that we have not seen in Philadelphia so far is PECO, one of our main energy providers here in southeast Pennsylvania. As of just a few moments ago, they only had about 300 or so customers without power. That's a good thing, because that's not in the thousands and frankly, hundreds of thousands that we've seen across other parts of the country.

But again, the concern is, is that as this frozen ice and sleet comes down, that maybe power outages might be coming. So we'll keep an eye on that. But for now, Philly weathering the storm. Not too bad out here -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, normally you would not be able to stand right there in the middle of Broad Street, Danny. But here we are on this snow day. All right. Thank you so much.

Let's go to CNN's Michael Yoshida, who's in Washington, D.C.

And you can see, Michael, snow coming down there, or it could be sleet. I can't tell. You can tell us. What's going on?

Michael, I'm just checking to see if you can hear us. It can be hard out there.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Definitely sleet at this point.

DEAN: Yes. You can. OK.

YOSHIDA: I don't know if you can see these little pebbles that are just bouncing all over us at this point. We're out here earlier in the day, and we did at one point have that fluffy -- yes. At one point we did have that fluffy snow, but right now it is definitely sleet. You can still see right here at the U.S. Capitol. We have a lot of people out doing sightseeing, taking their photos. We've seen people sledding.

We've seen people cross-country skiing, making snow angels as they're trying to make the best of this winter weather. So these changing conditions definitely complicating things for the work crews. We had a chance to do a ride along with DPW earlier today as they were out in their plows trying to clear these streets, and they said this transition from that fluffy snow to this wetter sleet is going to complicate things.

It's going to make it heavier, wetter, and then as we start to see those temperatures drop tonight, that's when this will all freeze over. Again you can see as we step into the street here, we have a good amount of snow starting to pile up and I'll tell you, it's a lot denser, heavier than we had earlier today. And again, that's something we spoke about with the DPW director.

Here's how he described their efforts throughout the rest of the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY CRISPINO, INTERIM DIRECTOR, D.C. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS: We've gone from a light, fluffy snow, which was really easy to push. You know, it blows a little bit with the wind as well. Now, as the air temperatures coming up, as you said, it's switched over to sleet, which is going to compact the snow. Make it a little bit denser, which is harder to push, but then also on the back end with the cold temps. And it's more prone to freeze into solid ice, which is a real problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:10:00] DEAN: That is a problem. All right. Derek Van Dam, Danny Freeman, Michael Yoshida, our thanks to all of you, especially for standing out in the elements just ahead.

Just ahead, we're going to have more on the questions surrounding the killing of a 37-year-old protester in Minneapolis. The call from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for a federal investigation with one Republican senator saying the credibility of ICE and DHS are now at stake. Plus, the brutal winter storm continues to bear down on millions of Americans. I'll be joined by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders with a look at what's being done to help residents in that state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: This is an inflection point, America. If we cannot all agree that the smearing of an American citizen and besmirching everything they stood for and asking us not to believe what we saw.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Today, there are mounting questions as video contradicts the Trump administration's claims about the death of a Minneapolis man at the hands of federal law enforcement. For the second time this month, federal agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen who was protesting ICE operations.

This is 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who worked with veterans as an ICU nurse, and there are multiple videos of the moments leading up to his death. We're going to take a look at some now, and we do want to warn you they are disturbing to watch. You'll see that the video show Pretti trying to help a woman who agents had shoved down before, then wrestling Pretti to the ground. Moments later, multiple gunshots were fired, resulting in Pretti's death.

Now the Trump administration is defending these agents use of force against Pretti, who was armed but had a license to carry a firearm and is not seen in any of the videos reviewed by CNN brandishing that weapon at agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We do know that he came to that scene and impeded a law enforcement operation, which is against federal law. It's a felony. When he did that, interacting with those agents, when they tried to get him to disengage, he became aggressive and resisted them throughout that process.

These officers used their training, followed their protocols, and were in fear of their lives and the people around them. And that's how this tragedy unfolded, and we hope we never see it again. (END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Despite the secretary's words, there are real questions around whether Pretti actually posed a threat to officers. Video from the scene contradicts Homeland Security's accounting of the incident, and appears to show officers removing Pretti's handgun from his waist before they shot him. And again, no video has shown Pretti brandishing a weapon at agents. This afternoon top border patrol official Greg Bovino offered no specifics when asked about claims that Pretti had intent to harm the agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: When someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene, interfere, obstruct, delay, or assault law enforcement, and, and they bring a weapon to do that, that is a choice that that individual made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And again, he was licensed to carry.

And Sara, as you've noted many times so far, there are no videos of him brandishing a weapon at the officers or threatening officers with that weapon. Sara has been there in Minneapolis for days now.

Sara, I know you've been speaking with protesters, with locals there who are outraged, heartbroken. What are they telling you? What are you seeing?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, anyone who watches those videos and then juxtaposes that with what you are hearing from DHS, what you're hearing from Commander Bovino, all you see is a lie, plain and simple. And that is what people here have been saying over and over again, including witnesses that I have been speaking with who were here on the ground watching what was happening.

And we've also spoken with people who know Alex Pretti. One of his neighbors told us he was here to observe. That is what you see him doing with his cell phone. He does get involved in the sense that he goes to help a woman trying to get her up. They all get pepper sprayed. You've seen the video. I don't have to explain it to you. You can go and watch it. It is everywhere at this point.

And then you're also hearing from state officials. And what they're saying is like on a different planet from what you are hearing from federal officials. And so the state officials also see the video. And they also have sent out investigators that we now know have come out here to the scene because we ourselves saw state investigators here, and we know that they have at least talked to one of the witnesses, because I spoke with that witness and he said, yes, he has made comments to state officials who are investigating.

We know they are also looking for other videos that may be in, for example, some of the surveillance videos if any of these businesses have cameras to show the area where this happened. At this point in time, with the videos that we have all seen, there was not a single one showing Alex Pretti holding a weapon. What was he holding in his hand? A cell phone. A cell phone is not a weapon. You don't brandish a cell phone, you use it to show what's going on. And that's what we saw in those videos.

[16:20:02]

And that is why people are so angry here. This is the second time in less than a month that federal agents have killed someone here, both of them American citizens, though to folks here that doesn't make a difference whether they were American citizens or whether they were, you know, immigrants who are here undocumented, or whether they were someone who was going through the legal process of immigration.

People are fed up with having to deal with the sorrow and trauma of all of this. And you see the way that people are responding. There are dozens of people who have been out here all day in this very dangerously cold temperature that we are all experiencing across the country, and they have a huge memorial that they are building slowly, slowly, with candles, with messages, with pictures of Alex Pretti, who was a 37-year-old, who was an ICU nurse, who worked at the veterans' hospital, and who we have seen now video of him saying the final goodbye to a soldier.

That's how people here remember him. They say he was here to document what was going on. He was here to protect his neighbors and that he took part in that huge, peaceful march that happened the day before. And his role was as an observer. That is not what you're hearing from DHS. And people really resent the fact that what they are saying is not what shows up on video and not what witnesses have been saying over and over again.

So as this goes forward, right now things are very calm. People have been quite sorrowful, quite retrospect. There have been some really strong prayers. You have Native American folks that are from here coming out and also giving their version of prayers as well. The scene right now, very calm, but that is not what we've seen over the last few days. And if there are more agents that get sent in here from the federal government, we have been told numerous times this place is going to blow -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Sara Sidner, with the very latest talking to people on the ground there in Minneapolis. Thank you for that.

We have multiple angles of the shooting on videos from bystanders, as Sara just mentioned, and CNN has analyzed some key moments from those videos. We're going to show them to you. But we do want to warn you that this report contains disturbing and graphic images. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIANNA TOBONI, JOURNALIST: Federal immigration officers fatally shot a man Saturday in Minneapolis. He was an ICU nurse who worked at a local Veteran Affairs hospital. Another controversial killing by U.S. immigration agents and the second U.S. citizen killed this month. CNN analyzed cell phone footage from multiple angles. Taken together,

they appear at odds with the Department of Homeland Security's initial claims about the lead up to officers firing on Alex Pretti. Around 9:00 a.m. Central video captures two people approaching a federal immigration officer in front of an unidentified vehicle. The sound of whistles is blaring in the background. Alex Pretti enters the frame here. He's filming an officer interacting with protesters and waving a car through. 15 seconds later, Pretti yells --

ALEX PRETTI, SHOT BY ICE AGENTS: Do not push them into the traffic.

TOBONI: In their statement, DHS said that an individual approached officers with, quote, "a nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun." This video seems to show officers approaching Pretti instead of the other way around. We'll see later that Pretti does appear to have had a gun in his waistband, but this video shows he didn't have a gun in his hand, only a phone.

Video from this white car shows an up close angle of a federal immigration officer pushing one protester, then three seconds later, he pushes Pretti. And then, as the camera comes into focus, you see the same federal officer push a third protester with the orange backpack. Pretti raises his hand and turns away just as the officer sprays him with a chemical irritant. You see Pretti and the other protester trying to help the person with the orange backpack.

You can see here an officer pulling Pretti off of this person. Three more officers join and then two more. Pretti is on the ground under them. One officer in a tan beanie can be seen repeatedly striking Pretti's head with a metal can. You can see an officer in a gray jacket walk into the frame. There isn't a gun in his hand. Seconds later, officers shout --

The officer removes the gun from Pretti's belt. The officer steps away from the scene, carrying a firearm seen here in his right hand. Then gunfire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you do this?

TOBONI: At least 10 shots rang out. We looked back at the scene from different angles and slowed down the footage. This officer wearing a black beanie can be seen drawing his firearm and pointing it in Pretti's direction. We can't see his gun when the first shot is fired, but we can see that this officer fired the second shot.

[16:25:08]

In this angle, you see a second officer also had his gun drawn, and here he's pointing his weapon at Pretti as we hear gunshots, though it isn't clear if he's the one firing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? Did they (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill that guy?

TOBONI: Pretti collapses onto the ground as the officers scatter backwards from around him. The same agent in the black beanie from earlier can be seen firing five final shots as Pretti lies there motionless.

Nobody approached his body for 24 seconds. When officers do return to Pretti, they appear to begin searching his body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the gun?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a gun.

TOBONI: Video shows that about a minute after Pretti collapsed, immigration officers asked for medical support.

When CNN asked DHS about the officer removing the gun before the shooting, DHS repeated their earlier statement, quote, "Officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Our thanks to Gianna Toboni for that report.

Still to come here in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm going to be joined on the phone by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to talk about what teams are doing across that state to keep people safe during this massive winter storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:56]

DEAN: All right, going back to our other breaking news story, 240 million people from Texas to New England are under some sort of winter weather alert right now. That includes the entire state of Arkansas, where snow, sleet, and freezing rain are making travel quite treacherous.

And joining us now on the phone, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Governor, thank you so much for being here with us. As we were just saying in the break, as a native Arkansan, I can appreciate that winter weather and Arkansas don't always go together. Tell us what conditions are like right now and how things are going.

GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (R-AR): You know, thankfully, we are in better shape than some of the states around us. And we have about 3,000 people without power, mostly in the southwest corner of the state. But our teams have been working around the clock to restore that and get people back up and going as quickly as possible.

We've had literally 700 snowplows out clearing roads, and our team at the highway department was able to pre-treat a lot of the roads. But as you know, having grown up here, ice is not something, especially with the freezing temperatures still in play, that we can handle, you know, incredibly quickly. And so we're still encouraging people, if you don't have to get out on the road, please don't. And be sure and check in on friends and neighbors nearby. We've had a couple of accidents related mostly to individuals on side-by-sides and off-road vehicles. And so we encourage people to, while they're enjoying the fun and the snow, please be careful and don't take any unnecessary risks.

DEAN: Yes, and it's -- you're right, it's the ice that can cause so many issues. We're watching as the storm makes its way east. So in terms of what Arkansas's got, how is the ice situation there? Because that can be what really causes a lot of those power outages.

SANDERS: That is, you know, and especially the accumulation as it layers onto trees and rooftops and the weight of that. We've had a couple of areas where some of the rooftops have collapsed. But again, our utility companies have worked extremely hard over the course of the last 48 hours to keep our lines clear, working with members of the National Guard and State Police and the Department of Transportation to clear roadways so that they can get to places that have been heavily impacted.

One thing we encourage is we've got a website, helparkansas.com, set up that people can report power outages, locate food assistance, monitor road conditions and access additional resources as needed. So we encourage people to utilize that if they're in need of help or if they're offering to be supportive and add additional resources. It's kind of a one stop shop that people can go to get the assistance that they need.

DEAN: Yes. And the brutally cold temperatures obviously are going to stick around for some time. What are you all looking ahead to in terms of what are the next things you're making sure you're managing?

SANDERS: The biggest thing we can do again is keeping power on, making sure people have access to heat and food and shelter. And so continuing to clear roadways and keep power on is going to be the big priority that we have and that all of our teams on the ground are focused on over the course of the next 24 to 36 hours. Thankfully, we'll see temperatures above freezing, but not until Tuesday.

And so over the course of the next 24 hours, we encourage people again, if you don't have to get out and about, we encourage you to stay home, stay warm and stay safe.

DEAN: Yes. And then finally, I know you've been in communication with the federal government. Are you all getting the support you need there?

SANDERS: We are. We've had a great back and forth and incredible support both from Secretary Noem, who has been very responsive, and the president has approved federal assistance for Arkansas, as well as a number of other states. And we couldn't be more grateful and appreciative for Arkansas, as well as a number of other states. And we couldn't be more grateful and appreciative of their quick response and their willingness to help get resources as we've asked and requested them.

[16:35:13]

DEAN: All right, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, thanks for your time. Please stay warm and hopefully all of the Arkansans stay safe and warm and get a little fun out of the snow and enjoy it a little bit. Thanks so much for your time.

SANDERS: Absolutely. Thanks so much, Jessica.

DEAN: Coming up, some Republicans are calling for changes after a second federal -- second fatal shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis. We're also hearing increased bipartisan calls for a full investigation into Alex Pretti's death. We'll get into that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:26]

SIDNER: I am live here in Minneapolis at the memorial that is growing for Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at the Veterans Hospital killed by a federal agent, by a Border Patrol agent here. People's response to what they've been hearing all day from, for example, the ICE commander, Greg Bovino, is disgust because they say what he is saying and what you're seeing on video do not match in any way, shape or form.

Let me get you a look at just what people have been bringing throughout the day in these frigid temperatures here in Minneapolis. You're seeing pictures of Alex Pretti. You're seeing messages to Alex Pretti in the form of burning candles, in the form of flowers, in the form of words.

And I'll read you a couple of them. One of them says, "Nurse Alex, thank you for your compassion and love towards everyone you cared for." And then if you go all the way to the right, you'll see someone from the Catholic faith saying, "Hail Mary, full of grace, kick ICE out of this place."

That has been the message here. People want ICE to leave this community. In their minds, they not only feel that -- and believe that ICE and DHS has been lying about this, but they also believe that their community is being made worse because they are here. We have been listening to all of the different members of the officials from both DHS and from the state.

And if you try to meld those two narratives together, they could not be further apart. They are worlds apart, what we're hearing from the governor and what we're hearing from DHS officials.

Now, we want to go to Betsy Klein, who is going to tell us what she is hearing from the White House as all of this unfolds here in Minneapolis. Betsy?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Sara, President Trump and his top lieutenants are doubling down on their hard line immigration policies following a federal officer shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis, even as some cracks in the president's coalition are starting to emerge.

And I just want to give you a sense of the messaging that is coming from this White House. They deployed a phalanx of top officials to the Sunday morning news shows earlier today, where they publicly defended that officer's actions as well as the immigration -- administration's immigration enforcement actions more broadly.

They also shifted blame to state and local Democratic officials, particularly Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. They say that they are not doing enough to support federal officers' actions. We also heard earlier this afternoon from Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He described Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent on January 7th, and Alex Pretti as, quote, "suspects."

He said that they made choices that had consequences. But privately, we are learning that Trump officials are concerned about the scenes that we are seeing on the ground in Minneapolis. According to our colleague Alayna Treene, there are no plans as of now from this White House to change its policy posture.

ICE for now will remain in Minnesota. The president's hope is that these protests can calm and the focus can shift back to his immigration policies and victories. But they are getting some very rare pushback from within their party on this, including from Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. He told our colleague Dana Bash that Americans are asking, what is the endgame? And in his view, President Trump is getting bad advice.

We also heard from James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee. He said that if he were Trump, he would consider pulling out of Minnesota if ICE officials are in harm's way. And then the National Rifle Association issuing this public rebuke. They say in a post to social media, quote, "Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens."

Now, at the same time, we are learning that there are concerns at the Department of Homeland Security that Kristi Noem, the secretary, and her handling of this situation is putting federal law enforcement at risk of long-term reputational harm, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, if you look at what happened here, DHS could not be handling this worse. There are two American citizens who are dead, someone else who has been shot, and all of this happening at the hands of their federal agents within a month here in Minneapolis. Unprecedented, certainly.

But just want to give you one more look at the scene here as things have really calmed down. And it's really more of a mournful moment as people try and remember the man who was Alex Pretti, a -- an ICU nurse, someone who worked at the Veterans Hospital.

[16:45:18]

The images we are seeing of him are prayerful. He is at the Veterans Hospital and giving a prayer to a fallen soldier who has died there. That is the latest video that we have seen of him. And you're just getting people come here to pray for many different faiths, for many different walks of life, many different colors and creeds, all of them, with one simple message.

Right now it is quiet, but the message is clear -- they want ICE out of this community.

We're now going to take a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:35]

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, everybody, I'm Randi Kaye, live here at Newark Airport Terminal A. And this is the worst travel day in the last year. And this board here really helps explain why.

If you look at that, there are so many cancelations. There are still a few flights actually that say on time, but from what I understand, it's very unlikely they are going to go. They will very likely be canceled.

I spoke with Port Authority, which runs Newark Airport, and they said that 87 percent of the flights at Newark Airport have been canceled. That includes arrivals and departures.

Just look at the scene here. That's security. There is usually a massive line, people trying to get through, get their bags checked, get through that security. And now, there is absolutely nobody. It's mostly just cleaning crews and a few TSA agents. In fact, more than 17,000 flights were canceled ahead of the storm. Nearly 11,000 flights were canceled just today.

And I spoke with a pilot who flew in early this morning, and he said that flying in was fine. He thinks he was one of the last flights to come into Newark. But he said that taxiing to the gate was, quote, "hairy." I also spoke to a couple here. They had just gotten off a cruise ship. They were hoping to fly back to Arizona, and now they're going to have to spend the night here at Newark Airport without a hotel.

Listen to what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Have you ever seen an airport look like this?

TIM DIGGS, HEADED TO LAS VEGAS: No, never.

KAYE: How would you describe it?

DIGGS: Eerie, scary. It's weird to be like this here. Abandoned. Even for us, they told us that we're trying to find food. And the only thing we found so far is Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts.

MELISSA SOLANO, STUCK AT AIRPORT: We overheard somebody saying on the tram here, he was like, I haven't seen this in over 40 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: It really is a ghost town here. The airlines, of course, are hoping that they can reset quickly. That will depend on just how much ice and snow there is out there at the airport. The frigid temperatures, the dangerous conditions makes it very hard for ramp workers, luggage handlers to get things back going. And of course, de- icing, that takes time as well. Jessica?

DEAN: Yes, it certainly does. All right, Randi Kaye for us at Newark, thank you so much for that. And we hope they find something beyond the Dunkin' Donuts and the Starbucks to eat.

The massive storm is bringing significant ice across the southeast. And to help us understand what that means for the region, we're joined now by the chief of administration for the Greenville, South Carolina Fire Department, Tristan Johnson. Thanks so much for being here with us. I know you guys are very busy right now. What are you dealing with this Sunday afternoon?

TRISTAN JOHNSON, CHIEF OF ADMINISTRATION, GREENVILLE CITY FIRE DEPT.: Yes, as the precipitation has been moving in with the freezing rain, now we're starting to see the things that we've been preparing for. Motor vehicle collisions, we have downed trees, blocked roads. One of our main thoroughfares, I-26 West, was actually closed down for a tractor trailer overturning. And so as the bend is progressing its way south towards us, we're anticipating that it's going to get worse.

DEAN: Yes. And listen, for people out there who maybe haven't been to Greenville before in South Carolina, do you all get winter weather regularly? This would seem like this would be kind of an extreme event for you guys.

JOHNSON: It's a very extreme event. As a matter of fact, the governor declared a state of emergency. Our last snow -- excuse me, not a snowstorm, our last ice storm was 2005. So that was --

DEAN: Wow.

JOHNSON: -- 26 years ago. So this is not something that we're used to dealing with, but we're preparing our best to make sure that we can manage it.

DEAN: Yes. And so what are the specific challenges you're now facing as this storm continues to move through?

JOHNSON: Yes. So one of the things that we've learned from Helene, which was our last big impact storm, was making sure that we had resources in the proper areas so that we could respond. And so some of the challenges have not presented themselves yet because the storm has not been to its peak.

So our goal is to make sure that we're prepared for those challenges. And so when we do have more downed trees or power -- extended power outages, that we're prepared with those resources so that we can respond to those that are in need of help.

DEAN: Yes. I think ice and keeping the power on are always key, especially in those southern states where you tend to get more ice than we do up here in the northeast sometimes. What are you all doing in terms of making sure you keep the power on? I'm sure you're probably also work -- the different electric agencies and power agencies are working with you as well.

JOHNSON: Yes, you're exactly right. Starting on Sunday, we started having calls with all of our stakeholders, both locally, the utilities, the hospitals, making sure that they had everything that they needed, making sure that we placed them in those strategic spots as well. And so that when these outages are being reported, we can quickly respond to them.

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Currently right now in the entire Greenville County, we have over 3,000 people that are without power. So for us, that's about 1 percent of the population. I know it doesn't seem like a big number, but for us, one person without power in this type of frigid temperature of 29 degrees is a big deal.

DEAN: Certainly. All right. Chief Tristan Johnson, we're wishing you guys warm thoughts, and I hope that power stays on. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

DEAN: And we've got much more news for you. We'll be right back.

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