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Monster Winter Lashes United States; Border Patrol Fatally Shoots Minneapolis Man; Outrage In Minneapolis After Man Killed By Federal Agent; Massive U.S. Winter Storm Brings Ice, Snow & Bitter Cold; BTS Comeback Tour Selling Out Fast. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey! Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York. We are following two major stories at this hour. The first, outrage in Minnesota after federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen. The death of the 37-year-old ICU nurse at the V.A., fallout continues after that.

And the false narrative from top Homeland Security officials that is directly contradicted by video evidence is fueling some of these new protests. It also calls for ICE to leave the state.

Plus, now, snow and ice from a massive winter storm gripping a large part of the U.S. We've seen hazardous conditions on roadways all across the country and the worst day for flight cancellations since the pandemic. And all of these as brutal cold temperatures are now pushing in. So, the worst is far from over.

Right now, more than 800,000 customers from Texas to Virginia, they are still without power because of that storm. Ice coating trees and power lines across several southern states, including Mississippi. The ice buildup in some cases causing the branches on trees to snap off. You can imagine how much additional weight is on those limbs. And the snow, it's also creating some dangerous conditions for many on roadways as crews there struggling to keep those roads clear.

Conditions are forecast to worsen overnight amid frigid temperatures as much of that precipitation freezes. At this hour, the system is still dropping some snow across parts of the northeast. And as it pushes east, bitter cold is setting in. Sadly, at least 11 people have died as temperatures drop to their coldest so far this winter.

The storm is taking a toll on air travel across much of the country. The tracking site FlightAware says that on Sunday alone, more than 11,500 flights were cancelled and more than 5,000 were delayed.

In fact, I want to show you the scene just a few hours ago at Boston Logan International Airport where almost all flights had to be cancelled, and then scenes very similar to that happening at major airports throughout the country, including here in New York, Washington, D.C. Both of those airports also shutting down operations for hours with Reagan National topping at 90 percent of their flights having to be cancelled because of the weather.

Let's start our coverage with CNN's Derek Van Dam as he's tracking the winter storm and more on the forecast from Kentucky.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the wintry precipitation has largely come to an end across the state of Kentucky, including here where I'm located, in Louisville. But, of course, this massive winter storm has left its mark. You can see the snow-covered roads here. These businesses were closed on account of the weather.

Now, the real agony sets in because the mercury in the thermometer is going to drop like a rock behind this cold front that is responsible for the precipitation. That's still going to be ongoing overnight across parts of the northeast, including New England. Boston could easily see a foot to a foot and a half of snow.

But the point being is that this precipitation that it left in its wake is going to be encased in very, very cold temperatures. In fact, over 50 percent of the U.S. population will experience wind chill values below zero in the next couple of days. Let that sink in. We're feeling it here. You can see the breath coming out of my mouth. It is absolutely frigid.

So, when we talk about people who lost power, they're going to not have the ability perhaps to warm their homes. So, you need to look after elderly. You need to look after the vulnerable, especially in this situation because it is brutally cold but also dangerously cold as well.

There's something called a flash freeze that we're also concerned about. This is when we get a brief spike in the temperatures. There was a period when that snow transitioned to freezing rain, then rain in some parts of the southeast. Well, then the cold front swept through and these cold Arctic air temperatures are dropping behind it, and that freezes that precipitation that's left over on the ground almost instantaneously. So, that can create black ice, that can create very treacherous travel conditions, and that is really what we're concerned about.

So, as the cold front moves through, the winds pick up. The freezing precipitation or the freezing rain that's encased on power lines and trees could still come down because of the added weight, but also the stress from the wind that is sitting in behind it.

[02:05:05]

And with no relief in the temperatures, we're not going to get that thawing that we so desperately need to get out of this cold winter cycle that we are in. So, really an impactful, very dynamic winter storm. We are ready to say goodbye and good riddance to this, but we still have another couple of days to go over the eastern half of the U.S. Back to you.

SANDOVAL: Derek, thank you. More now on our other top story. Crowds of anti-ICE protesters, they are braving some of these frigid temperatures in the city of Minneapolis. They are denouncing the way federal officials are labeling Alex Pretti, as a domestic terrorist.

The Department of Homeland Security claiming that federal agents shot him in self-defense. They're alleging without providing any evidence that Pretti -- quote -- "brandished a firearm and attacked officers."

Minneapolis officials say that Pretti was a registered and lawful gun owner with no criminal history and, crucially, that his death was captured on several cellphone videos, it was shot by multiple witnesses, and at no point in any other video that has been reviewed by CNN is he seen holding that weapon.

This next video shows at least one of those angles. Now, warning, it is graphic, it is disturbing, but important to give you an idea of what happened that day. It shows Pretti in that baseball hat. He's moving between an agent and a woman federal officers had shoved to the ground. At one point, you see Pretti attempting to assist that woman back before that agent then peels him off of her. And a short time later, during that struggle, that's when multiple shots rang out, and Pretti collapses to the ground. As authorities later said, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Minnesota's governor says that Pretti's killing and the federal government -- quote -- "sullying his name" is an inflection point in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): I've got a question for all of you. What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace, and kidnap its citizens off the streets or on the side of a nurse at the V.A. Hospital who died bearing witness to such government? We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody is going to write that children's story about Minnesota. And there's one person who can end this now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's go now to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz in Minnesota. He shows us just how people there are paying tribute to Alex Pretti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: People continue to gather here through the night despite the really frigid temperatures. A lot of candles being lit and flowers. People leaving notes in remembrance of Alex Pretti. Many of the people who have been coming here to this makeshift memorial -- this is the site where it all happened. This is where he was killed. And the community members have been gathering here because they want to have some unity. They want to get together and talk about what happened and how unhappy, obviously, they are about what has been happening here, the fear that they face.

Of course, there's a lot of questions that still remain and need to be answered by federal officials as to exactly what happened here. You have a local law enforcement which is completely unhappy with the federal authorities.

The police chief here in Minneapolis speaking out, saying that some of what they're doing, their tactics, some of the other things that they're doing are unconstitutional.

Many of the people here are just tired and they want to see this come to an end. And in the days ahead, there's going to be legal battles and other, certainly, political battles. Everyone here right now is saying that the federal authorities need to go and things truly just need to de-escalate and calm down. People here just want to move on and get going with their lives and get back to the way things were.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And then there's one of the battles that's playing out in court. The Department of Homeland Security pushing back against a lawsuit filed by Minnesota authorities. It seeks to prevent possible tampering or destruction of evidence in the Alex Pretti shooting investigation. Now, warning, the video that you're about to see, that is also disturbing as it shows the moments leading up to the shooting.

This lawsuit I mentioned, it claims that federal authorities -- quote -- "took from the scene of the shooting," referring to evidence, "preventing state authorities from inspecting it."

A DHS official dismissing those claims, calling them a ridiculous attempt to divide the American people. The official also doubled down on the Trump administration's position that the victim, Alex Pretti, attacked law enforcement officers.

Areva Martin joins us live from Los Angeles. Areva, it's wonderful to see you again. Thank you so much for joining us.

[02:10:01]

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Areva, you have no doubt seen multiple angles out there already of Saturday's shooting. After reviewing all of it, do you see any justification whatsoever to justify the actions of Border Patrol agents that left Mr. Pretti dead?

MARTIN: Absolutely not. What we see from the various videos that have been circulated is a man who was exercising his First Amendment rights to protest, who was getting in between an ICE officer and another protester who was tackled to the ground by several ICE officers.

He did have a gun. We've been told he had a license to carry that gun, that that gun was removed from his body, from his person, as he was pinned to the ground, and that he was shot after the gun was removed, while he was pinned to the ground.

So, there's nothing in the videos, nothing from any of the witnesses' statements that would justify what appears to be just a cold-blooded murder of this 37-year-old U.S. citizen who is or was, as we were told, a registered nurse working for the Veterans Administration Hospital.

This is an absolute tragedy, learning that his parents learned about his killing because they received a phone call from reporters who were watching this smear campaign, this inflammatory language by the Trump administration, calling him a domestic terrorist, saying that he had the intention to massacre ICE agents, all of which is completely contradicted by what we can see with our very eyes and hear from the video that has been released.

SANDOVAL: Yes, the second U.S. citizen killed by ICE agents this month alone. Areva, let's turn to Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and what he told my colleague, Dana Bash, on Sunday morning. I want you to listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You keep saying that he injected himself into the crime scene. He was a guy on a street filming an operation. He wasn't -- he was far away. He wasn't on the crime scene. And what I want you to see, again, is that law enforcement appears, by the video we have, to be approaching him and the person who is next to him, not the other way around. And so, what I want to know is what evidence do you have that he went after law enforcement.

GREG BOVINO, COMMANDER-AT-LARGE, U.S. BORDER PATROL: Sure. The fact that he was standing in the middle of the road. There was interaction between him, the bystanders, and law enforcement. And, again, follow directions of law enforcement. He doesn't need to be in the middle of a crime scene.

Dana, I don't think you would want to be in the middle of a crime scene or you would want civilians in the middle of a crime scene injecting themselves into something that is none of their business at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So, two things off of that. One, I mean, the residents of Minneapolis are certainly making it their business. Many of them take an issue with the actions of ICE agents. But separate from that and just focusing on the legalities here, when he's saying that he put himself in the middle of a crime scene, just tapping into your expertise, Areva, what constitutes a crime scene if there was no obvious yellow tape, no sort of barricades? I mean, Pretti was also not the only civilian there.

MARTIN: Let's be clear. He's conflating a lot of concepts here and a lot of words out. First of all, the fact that he's claiming it wasn't his business. He had a First Amendment right to be on that street. It's a public street. We all have First Amendment rights to go into the public, to protest, to be in the middle of the road. So, he calls it the middle of the road, but yet he calls it a crime scene.

And, as you stated, Polo, there's no evidence that this was a crime scene. There's no yellow tape. There are no barricades. There are no indications to anyone that this is a crime scene. You can't just call something a crime scene simply because you deem it so. What evidence is there of it being a crime scene? And what notice did they give to the public that this was a crime scene?

So, I'm not sure other than, again, attempts to smear Mr. Pretti, attempts to justify what is not justifiable by what we saw in that videotape, a rush to judgment.

And if you listen to the rest of that interview, he admonishes the anchor about not allowing the investigation to take place, yet we've seen the administration already say that he was, he being Mr. Pretti, was trying to massacre ICE agents, that he was a domestic terrorist, that he was, as you just -- as we just heard him say, in the middle of a crime scene.

So, they want us to reserve judgment until there's an investigation when it's to their benefit, but when they want to smear a victim like Mr. Pretti, then they jump to conclusions and there's no need for an investigation. So, you can't have it both ways. The hypocrisy is just nauseating.

[02:15:01]

SANDOVAL: Yes. The reality is that there was no shortage of speculation a mere hours after the shooting happened when it comes to what we heard from the White House.

And then in the last hour or two, Areva, I was listening to a conversation that my colleague, Pam Brown, had with Pete Sessions, with Representative Pete Sessions from Texas, the Republican from Texas, and he called the actions of many of these anti-ICE protesters not just not prudent but also criminal acts, specifically referring to their use of whistles.

Look, whether people agree with those actions or not, I'm wondering if you could help me correct the record there. I mean, those actions, are they legal? Are they not? I'm talking about specifically people standing on a public right of way and making their voice or whistles heard.

MARTIN: Again, this is an administration that makes the law as it goes. They think they have the ability to write law in the midst of the actions that they're taking. And the reality is they don't. I'm not aware of any federal law that prevents a protester or anyone standing in the -- quote, unquote -- "middle of the road" from using a whistle. There's no indication that that's a violation of any kind of Minnesota law.

So, again, these aren't laws. These are facts. These aren't even -- they're not facts. These are statements, inflammatory statements, hypocritical statements in many cases, contradictory statements in most cases made by this administration to justify the shooting of unarmed victims. We've seen it not just with Alex Pretti but also with Rene Good.

And we've seen an ICE group, ICE agents that seem to be completely out of control, lack training, lack any kind of discipline, lack an understanding of what citizens constitutional rights are. A complete trampling on the constitutional rights.

And we're seeing gun rights advocates themselves stand up and say, look, Mr. Pretti was licensed to carry a firearm. That alone should not have made him the victim of a shooting by ICE agents. And yet here we go. Here we see this man being smeared for having a gun that was removed. And we have to say that over and over again. The gun appears from that video to have been removed from this person before he was shot. And for all purposes, this Mr. Pretti, this man was shot unarmed by these ICE agents.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it was absolutely notable, the NRA response that we saw yesterday. I'm glad you mentioned that. Look, the reality is Alex Pretti was not the first and certainly will not be the last civilian who will use their phone to document what they see. I mean, I did that. I reported many times, standing on a sidewalk, from a safe distance.

Areva Martin, I really appreciate your time and your analysis as always. Thank you.

MARTIN: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And federal investigators, they are looking into what caused a private plane carrying eight people to crash right after takeoff on Sunday near a main airport. Now, it comes amid a major winter storm that's thrashing the region. A source telling CNN that the extent of injuries to those on board, that's still unknown at this time.

Federal records do show that the plane is registered to a business in Houston. And we also know that minutes before the crash, controllers and pilots could be heard over the air talking about low visibility and de-icing. But it's still not immediately clear exactly who was talking to who.

Still to come, though, on "CNN Newsroom," from the deep south to New England, nearly 90 million Americans, they are under extreme cold alerts.

I'll be talking to a reporter in Georgia about how, this monster winter weather, it measures up to various expectations. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Hundreds of thousands of customers across the mid-Atlantic and south are still without power after this massive winter storm swept through much of the United States, and it dropped snow and plenty of ice in its path. Right now, the system is making its way across the East Coast. And behind it, some pretty chilly temperatures are setting in. Frigid temperatures, I should say. The death toll from the system, well, that now stands at 11 weather-related deaths.

Across the south, layers of ice, they remain on the ground and on power lines, and that spells power outages. In Mississippi, the governor said that there has been catastrophic damage to at least one power distribution line.

Joining me now is Jeff Martin. He's a journalist with the Associated Press. He has been closely following this winter wave. Jeff, it's great to have you with us and great to have you reporting.

JEFF MARTIN, JOURNALIST, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Thanks for having me. Good morning.

SANDOVAL: Good morning to you. Look, for viewers watching this around the world, give them a sense of just how widespread and how significant this weather system has been. I just received an alert right now. Central Park shattering a 121-year snowfall record. I mean, that tells you a lot.

MARTIN: Yes. That has been the thing about this. We've had ice storms in the south. But this thing started in -- you know, it stretched from New Mexico and Texas all the way through Atlanta, all the southern states, and then all the way up to about Maine. So, the sheer size of it makes it very unusual. And then all that cold air is just going to be really tough for a lot of people in the south.

SANDOVAL: What is the biggest -- you know, you're reporting, what's the biggest concern for emergency responders right now? You know, I've covered many of these storm systems myself, and there's always some light at the end of the tunnel. There is usually a sense that temperatures will go up above freezing after. However, in this case, that's not happening.

MARTIN: Yes. From our reporting, it's really -- it's quite scary because there's about 190,000 people just in the city of Nashville and then thousands more in places like Mississippi and Louisiana who are, you know, going to have to stay warm, try to survive for multiple days. We're hearing, you know, a week to up to -- up to 10 days in subfreezing temperatures. And, you know, just like right now in Nashville, it's minus 9 Celsius.

[02:25:03] And by Monday night, it's going to drop to minus 17 Celsius. So, quite a bit below freezing. And they're just -- you know, that's the real danger, I think, and what people are concerned about.

SANDOVAL: Sure. And, you know, we're seeing some picture right now at Fairview, Kansas. You see some children enjoying that snow, playing with sleds. So, the impact of this storm on you, it really depends on where you are. Of course, what conditions you're in. Sadly, we have seen especially many homeless people who have died in the storm. So just help me really underscore the risks that come with this weather even after the precipitation has come and gone.

MARTIN: Oh, yes. I think that's what makes this storm so unusual, just the long duration and the nature of these cold temperatures. This Arctic air that's coming in, it's just going to stay around. And, you know, they've opened a lot of warming shelters in Nashville and also in some of the rural areas in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. But, you know, it's going to be a challenge to get people there. It's going to be a challenge to get into these areas and clear out the trees and to try to restore the power.

SANDOVAL: Sure. Winter is far from over to you, Jeff. And in your reporting and speaking to weather experts, meteorologists, do they give you a sense that perhaps we could be in for another event? Not necessarily of this magnitude, but something else that could continue to test the power grids.

MARTIN: Absolutely. I mean, these are long range forecasts. But we're starting to talk to some meteorologists. And, you know, we're hearing that some of these cold temperatures are going to stay around in parts of the U.S. through the early part of February. So, you know, I think it's from what we're hearing. It's a little too early to, you know, to know if there's another ice storm, another snow storm, that kind of thing. But definitely, the colder temperatures are going to stick around for at least five days to a week.

SANDOVAL: And finally, you cover this story nationally, just give us a sense of what some of those troubled spots or where the biggest concerns are throughout the country in the days ahead. Is it perhaps the south that may not be used to this kind of weather?

MARTIN: Absolutely. I think that -- you know, I'm in metro Atlanta and we dodged a bullet in a sense because we didn't get the, you know, the level of ice that we could have. However, you know, areas like parts of Tennessee and some rural areas in Mississippi and Louisiana, they got just -- you know, they were just really clobbered by the ice.

And, you know, also, some of my colleagues were going to be looking at areas of Western North Carolina that were hit hard by Hurricane Helene in 2024. And, you know, that did tremendous damage to the forests up there, a lot of tree damage, more tree damage now. And some of those people had to move around, too, after the flooding. And, you know, so, they're a little bit vulnerable up there because of all that they went through during the hurricane. So, that's one area that we're looking at, too, that, you know, we think there could be some real concern. SANDOVAL: Seeing some of the winter storm alerts as you were speaking right now on screen. It's pretty remarkable to see an extreme cold weather alert for my South Texas where I spent Christmas in shorts. So, I think that's pretty telling.

Jeff Martin, appreciate your reporting. Thank you so much for keeping people safe out there with all that information and the reporting.

MARTIN: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: Of course. Well, a flood of images from Saturday's fatal shooting in Minneapolis tells one story. But the Trump administration is painting a very different picture of what happened. Just ahead, we go frame by frame, analyzing video of Alex Pretti's killing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:32:06]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the growing unrest in Minneapolis after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.

Despite the city's frigid weather, large crowds there, they are out on the streets and they are calling for the removal of federal agents from their communities. This is coming as the Trump administration really doubles down on its aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. Meanwhile, top White House officials, they are still defending the officers' actions during the deadly encounter. They're even blaming Minnesota officials for escalating this crisis.

The video was taken by president -- taken by various residents, I should say, on Saturday as Pretti was shot. They paint a very different picture of what actually happened compared to what we're hearing from Department of Homeland Security officials.

CNN's Gianna Toboni walks us through every one of those frames

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GIANNA TOBONI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): Federal immigration officers fatally shot a man Saturday in Minneapolis. He was an ICU nurse who worked at a local veterans 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.

Fifteen seconds later, Pretti yells.

ALEX PRETTI, ICU NURSE: Do not push them into the traffic!

TOBONI (voice-over): 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 did not 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 shouts --

OFFICER: There is a gun!

[02:35:02]

TOBONI (voice-over): The officer removed the gun from Pretti's belt. The officer steps away from the scene, carrying a firearm seen here in his right hand. Then gunfire.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you just do?

TOBONI (voice-over): 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 direction. We can't see his gun when the first shot is fired, but we can see that this officer fired the second shot. 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 kill that guy?

TOBONI (voice-over): 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.

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)

SANDOVAL: And gun rights advocates, they are weighing in on the administrations claims about the shooting death of Alex Pretti.

The Trump administration says that Pretti posed a threat when he scuffled with agents. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even claimed that he brandished a weapon without providing any evidence. According to Minneapolis police, though, Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit.

But as FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News over the weekend, it was illegal to bring it to the protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have that right to break the law and incite violence

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: There are many disputing that claim.

Border Patrol official Greg Bovino says that Pretti's Second Amendment rights, they did not apply in the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: We respect that Second Amendment right. But those rights don't -- those rights don't count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers, and most especially when you mean to do that beforehand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, posted this on social media. If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there's a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you, don't do it, wrote the prosecutor there.

In response, the NRA wrote that his comments are, quote, "dangerous and wrong," adding responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law abiding citizens, which is some rare pushback coming from the gun lobby. But to back up for just a second to what FBI Director Kash Patel said

about people not being allowed, not being permitted to bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to a protest.

You may remember back in 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, he shot three people during protests over racial violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In fact, he killed two of them. Well, Patel went on a podcast the following year offering to help pay for Rittenhouse's legal fees if he wanted to file a defamation case. Rittenhouse was tried. He was acquitted in November of 2021.

Then, of course, there was the attack against the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, where multiple individuals were convicted of carrying loaded weapons, including Christopher Alberts and Lonnie Leroy Coffman. Well, they were pardoned by President Trump.

CNN anchor Anderson cooper actually spoke with demonstrators in Minneapolis on Sunday. Here's why they say that they're marching in subzero freezing temperatures. So here's some of the conversations that Anderson had with protesters

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: What brings you out today?

PROTESTER: I just want to be with the community. It's so moving. It's beautiful to be a part of this.

COOPER: Right.

PROTESTER: And I'm just so proud to be a part of this community, and I just want to be here and support people who --

COOPER: Does it make you feel better to be with others in this?

[02:40:01]

PROTESTER: Yes. I think it's time to stop living on social media. I just -- I think it's time to be here, time to show up.

COOPER: Thank you, appreciate it.

You hear that a lot from people here. This idea of community, everybody I have talked to today talks about that. They feel the community rising up. They feel the community voicing, and they feel that there's power in that community.

(CHANTING)

COOPER: Excuse me. I'm with CNN. Can you ask a question?

PROTESTER: How you doing?

COOPER: Okay, hey.

PROTESTER: Hi. COOPER: My name is Anderson.

PROTESTER: Yeah.

COOPER: Okay. So why did you come out today?

PROTESTER: Because what's happening here is completely wrong. It's completely wrong. And it's -- I -- we couldn't stomach ourselves if we stayed home.

COOPER: Yeah. Do you feel does it help to come out and be with others?

PROTESTER: Yes. Yes. It -- you know that you're not alone and you know that other people are as mad as you are and are willing to fight as you are. Being with people makes a huge difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And the killing of Alex Pretti cast a shadow over the NBA on Sunday, as the Minnesota Timberwolves hosted the Golden State Warriors. Before tip-off, the Target Center Arena in downtown Minneapolis held a moment of silence in Pretti's honor, calling it tragic. And before the game, the head coaches from both teams were asked about the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS FINCH, HEAD COACH, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: For the second time in less than three weeks, we've lost another beloved member of our community in the most unimaginable way. You know, as an organization, we are heartbroken for what we are having to witness and endure and watch. And we just want to extend our thoughts, prayers and concern for, Mr. Pretti's family, all the loved ones and everyone involved in such a unconscionable situation in a community that we really love, full of people who are by nature peaceful and prideful.

STEVE KERR, HEAD COACH, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: For the city, there's a pall that has been cast over the city. You can feel it. And you know, a lot of people are suffering, obviously, loss of life is the number one concern. Those families will never get, you know, their family members back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: That game was initially scheduled to happen on Saturday, but after the shooting, the league postponed the game to the following day out of safety concerns. And with that, we'll be right back.

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[02:46:10]

SANDOVAL: Desperate search and rescue operations are underway in the Philippines, where a ferry carrying more than 350 passengers is sunk in the south of the country. Officials say the bodies of 15 people have been retrieved, with more than 300 people rescued.

The coast guard says that the boat apparently encountered some technical problems and sank after midnight, though the exact cause of the incident, that's still not immediately clear. The ferry sank in good weather, according to the coast guard commander. He says that there have been no signs of any overloading on the vessel.

And with that, I'll be right back.

Actually, we do want to stay on the other breaking story that we're closely watching. And that's the brutal winter storm which is sweeping across the U.S. It's already left 90 -- 90 million people under extreme cold alerts. I want to show you now the current wind chills throughout the country.

I mean, look at how much blue is on this map, which shows the -- what it actually feels like outside. So we'll save you the trouble and the inconvenience. We're seeing temperatures right now dip below zero in places like Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis. Two degrees in Nashville.

Ice is one of the biggest threats to states right now down south, where you see hundreds of thousands of customers currently without power. And this is why you see some ice that's actually, quite literally encasing some of those power lines, leading to some issues. Outages could last for days in some areas.

Schools in many major U.S. cities, including here in New York, they've already canceled in-person classes, moving to remote learning for Monday. In the nation's capital, many areas have already received some six to 12 inches of snow, with some sleet mixed in.

Let's go now to CNN's Michael Yoshida for a report from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Clear and cold conditions here in our nation's capital. But what a weather journey we've been on throughout this major storm. When our crews first got out here near the capital area early Sunday morning, we were in a winter snow globe. Big flakes filling the sky where it was even hard to see the capital, to see other monuments while you were out and about.

As the day went on, we saw those conditions continue to change to smaller flakes and eventually just a mix -- wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain. You can see even right now, all this snow, it's starting to freeze over as this all cools off and freezes into the night. With that being said, we saw a lot of people out here throughout the day.

They were cross-country skiing. They were making snowmen. They were having a massive snowball fight by the Washington Monument, doing anything they could to really try and make the best of this wintry weather. While all that was going on, of course, we had hundreds of crews out in the roadways trying to clear all of this snow, all of this ice. And for the first few hours of this storm, they're just trying to keep

up with all of those flakes. But as these conditions changed, so did their strategy. And driving with the director for the public works department here in Washington, D.C., he talked with us about the challenges they're facing with these cooler temperatures in the overnight hours.

Here's what he had to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've gone from a light, fluffy snow, which was really easy to push. The -- you know, it blows a little bit with the wind as well. Now, as the air temperatures coming up, as you said, its 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 its more prone to freeze into solid ice, which is a real problem.

YOSHIDA: And the director telling me that with their normal snow team, plus some of the contractors they hired just for this massive storm, they have more than a thousand people working on these snow and ice removal efforts. They also have more than 300 different pieces of equipment, snowplows and other things out throughout the Washington, D.C. area, trying to clear all of the snow and ice.

[02:50:06]

We're told this will be something they're working on throughout the night and hopefully midday Monday, they'll start to have main -- most of the main roads cleared in the effort to again get this city back up and running.

In Washington, D.C., Michael Yoshida, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Up next, light it up like dynamite. K-pop superstars BTS preparing to go back on tour with tickets selling out in just minutes. We'll hear from some of their superfans when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: So unless you've been living under a rock, you know that there's been a global rush for tickets after K-pop superstars BTS announced their worldwide comeback tour. Presale tickets they sold out in minutes, and general sale tickets, they have really been just so hard to get. Some fans are going to extraordinary lengths to get their idols in concert, to get to see their idols in concert.

Here's a few of their thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): It's one of the hottest tickets in the world, the comeback tour of the K-pop band BTS, which these superfans were lucky enough to score.

JOANNA MARIE, BTS FAN FROM PHILIPPINES: I flew all the way to Korea just to book -- just to book this tickets, so it was all worth it.

[02:55:02]

SANDOVAL (voice-over): For BTS fans, it's been a long wait for their return, nearly four years since the group announced its hiatus, during which all seven members completed their mandatory military service. There were solo projects to fill the void, but the full group is officially back with a new album in March, followed by a world tour kicking off in South Korea in April, and eager fans pounced on the chance to see the pop sensation again.

CHIARA BABASSUD, BTS FAN FROM FRANCE: I'm really happy I got it. It was kind of unexpected because I got in the waiting line at a very good number, so it was really fast and I chose a good seat, so I'm really happy.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): The tour is expected to include stops in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Australia. And billboard estimates that the new album and tour could rake in more than $1 billion from music sales, concerts, licensing and merchandise.

The BTS was already a global sensation. The first Korean act to headline Wembley Stadium in London. They spoke at the United Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a great honor to be invited to the White House.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Ad we're even invited to the White House. But a lot has evolved since BTS took its hiatus. Korean culture influences have spread worldwide. Netflix says its animated film, "K-pop Demon Hunters", is its most watched film of all time. BTS returns as a group with most of its members now in their 30s, and many of their fans are older, too. A new chapter for both a chance for one of the legends of K-pop to show new fans just what put them on top, and older fans to once again cheer them on.

XUE SUNYI, BTS FAN FROM SHANGHAI: I hope they can be healthy, happy and peaceful all the time and they can stay together forever. I love BTS.

BTS: Hello, we are BTS. Hi guys!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for joining us. Last hour of news on Polo Sandoval in New York. The news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte in Atlanta. Stick around

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