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CNN This Morning

Massive Winter Storm Blankets U.S.; Man ICE Killed In Minneapolis Identified As Alex Pretti. Massive Winter Storm Blankets U.S.; KY Under State of Emergency Due to Huge Snowstorm; Trump Pulls U.S. Out of Global Climate Treaty; Minneapolis ICE Shooting. Aired 7- 8a ET

Aired January 25, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:17]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Sunday, January 25th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN This Morning. We're following two big stories today.

First, that sprawling winter storm pushing east. It's bringing freezing rain and snow and sleet and ice to cities from New Mexico to New York. Travel in some places, virtually impossible. And once the snow moves out, the dangerously cold temperatures will settle in.

Plus, more unrest in Minnesota after a federal agent shot and killed a man they say was armed with a gun and protest immediately broke out. State Democratic leaders are outraged. And we're going to tell you what we're hearing from the Trump administration about this latest shooting.

We're starting though this hour with that winter storm. It is still pushing east after dumping several inches of snow from Oklahoma to Arkansas. It is bringing bone-chilling temperatures to millions of people across more than 2,000 miles from Texas to New England today.

Stretches of the interstate are shut down because of the road conditions. And according to FlightAware, listen to this number, nearly 10,000 flights within into or out of the U.S. are canceled today alone. That accounts for almost a quarter of the flight scheduled every day.

Power outages. Let's talk about those starting to tick up with more than 300,000 customers without power in the Gulf States and communities are operating warming centers to keep people safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL GODEAUX, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, LCG: Our main concern is making sure that we have the shelter set up to where, you know, people are not looking for alternative places to stay, causing additional fire or a burden on the public safety resources. So by having everybody here, we're able to provide a hot meal. We're able to provide those services here on site without having to respond elsewhere in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now look at these kids. What emergency? These kids in Oklahoma took the opportunity to go sledding, having some fun in this snow. Oklahoma City saw 5.5 inches of snow yesterday.

We have live team coverage of this winter storm and the Arctic blast. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is in Dallas. Ivan, what's it look like there?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor. Good morning. We definitely have less snow here in Dallas than those 5 inches in Oklahoma. Since the last time we spoke, the snow has gotten a little bit less, but this is sort of what we're going to be expecting now for the rest of the day.

The silver lining is a freezing rain. The sleet, all that's over as that storm continues moving east. But this little snow that we've already had this morning is freezing pretty quick because even though it's fallen and it's fresh, it's not necessarily that fluffy snow that you would think we have here.

And in terms of the snow totals, we were expecting forecast wise about an inch to 3 inches. And you can see here based on this table, I would say a little more than an inch or so, just about more than an inch that's accumulated so far in terms of that fresh snow.

We have a pretty good vantage point from where we're standing as well, Victor, of this highway here. We're seeing a little bit more traffic now as the morning is getting a little bit later. Now, you can see some cars coming towards us on that highway.

We've seen a lot of snow plows there on both sides trying to get those roads clear. Also here at this intersection, they're continuing to salt them as well. Those crews are going to be out doing that same work for the rest of the day today and going into tomorrow because those cold weather -- cold weather is going to persist and it's also going to create some dangerous road conditions. So that's not going anywhere.

We've even seen a couple people almost get stuck here in this intersection. You can see it's a little snowy or there. Some, you know, dirt as well that some of these plows were able to throw down as well.

In terms of outages just here in the state of Texas, we're looking at more than 100,000 customers without power. According to PowerOutage.us, it's tracking about 15 million customers or so across the state. So by population, it's not that much, but obviously those customers who are impacted are definitely possibly feeling this cold here that we're getting bitter cold temperatures.

The flights are just a whole other situation. We're seeing 42 percent or so of flights canceled out of DFW. So not the worst across the country as this weather pattern now continues to shift a little bit more east.

The good news there is yesterday we were at the airport and it seems like those flights were canceled in anticipation. So we're not seeing so many customers out there at the airport and it's actually a lot quieter than you would usually expect because again of those cancelations.

BLACKWELL: Sub-zero with the wind chill there in Dallas. We appreciate the reporting.

Michael Yoshida is up next. He is in D.C. You're getting the snowfall. What are you seeing? What are you feeling?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Victor. Yes, the snow has arrived. The wind has arrived here in Washington, D.C. making visibility a little bit tough as well.

[07:05:05]

You might be able to see some of the flags around the Washington Monument behind me as the snow continues to fall here. It started overnight, continues obviously at this point and it's making for a lot of work for all of those crews out and about the city.

I had a chance to speak with DPW a short time ago. They tell me right now, they're -- they've got about 300 pieces of equipment. Those snow plows, other machines out and about through the city, through the residential areas trying to keep up with this snowfall.

Just looking around us looks like potentially several inches of snow have already hit the ground and it's continuing as we go through the rest of the day. Crews also telling us they've got hundreds of employees working to support these teams as they're continuing to increase and urge residents here to stay off of the roads.

Thankfully, as we've been making our way through D.C. this morning, minimal traffic beyond those that should be out on the roadways. We have seen a few runners out. I guess some hardcore runners wanting to get in those miles this morning even though we have this brutal winter weather, these cold temps, this snow continuing to fall.

The mayor, she did declare a state of emergency several days ago. Anticipation of this asking people to do all of that prep work. I can tell you hitting the grocery store over the last few days, people were out emptying those shelves trying to stock up ahead of this weather.

Obviously, the snow has arrived, the wind has arrived and we're just at the start of this game as this expected to continue through the rest of the day, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, stay warm if you can.

Michael Yoshida for us in the nation's capital all morning long. We've been showing you just how far this storm stretches at a live look, excuse me, in Philadelphia using one of our affiliate cameras, 13 degrees but feels closer to zero.

For the south, Charlotte up next, sitting around 19 degrees and that's where we find Dianne Gallagher. All right, walk us through what you're seeing there.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, I feel every single one of those 19 degrees right now in Charlotte. You may be able to see there's a little bit of a mist in the air. I promise you as it hits my face, it is a frozen mist that is forecasted to turn into frozen rain a little bit later this morning. And that is the major concern here.

There are two big worries when it comes to this storm and North and South Carolina and that's travel and power. The first one being traveling, you can see these roads here. This is not a main thoroughfare through uptown Charlotte, but it is something that had been treated.

And so we're looking at a little bit of a slushy, icy glaze that's over right now. This road, if you kind of come with me this way, you can see some cars still on the road. You see this one right here. It's pretty early on a Sunday morning to be traveling, especially in this weather. But the governor would like to see less of this, fewer cars.

They have about 1,800 DOT employees that have been outputting about 3.6 million gallons of brine pretreating the roads as a salty substance that reduces the freezing level of water on pavement to about 18 degrees. So it doesn't deny ice, but it does delay it. And that's what they're hoping will happen.

The other issue is, of course, power and they're expecting this to be a widespread power outage event across the state of North Carolina. I spoke with Duke Energy yesterday. They have about 18,000 employees, workers who are on standby staging right now at 22 different camps across the Carolinas.

But they said that power outages are likely going to happen. And when they do, it may take quite a while for them to fix. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WILLIAMSON, DUKE ENERGY STORM RESPONSE SPOKESPERSON: We want folks to be prepared for multiple days, multiple days, a couple days to three days of being without power. They need to plan for that. We certainly hope we will -- it won't happen. We'll be working hard for that not to happen, but we hope the folks have planned for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: So they've opened warming centers across most of the cities in North Carolina at this point. And again, we are expecting this sort of icy drizzle to turn into freezing rain later. And that's when they say that they do want people to, especially take it seriously, get off the roads, especially roads that look like the one that I was just on that are kind of already with this glaze over them, Victor, because that ice is just going to compact on top of it, seal it in and be extremely slippery.

They say that treatment will, of course, happen once it's safe to go out there and do that once that precipitation stops. They have some crews that are out there doing this now. But, again, in the words of both governors of the Carolinas, please stay off the roads and make sure that you have those supplies, that you were prepared in your home for multiple days of power outages.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we're hearing that from governors far beyond the Carolinas.

Dianne Gallagher out there in what feels like 8 degrees. Thanks so much for the reporting.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here. So, Dianne, there's snow on the ground. There's the misty slush that's falling that's going to turn to freezing rain. That's the story for a lot of places. It's in and out of these different types of precipitation, right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, and that's going to be -- continue to be the case today, especially once you get to the afternoon, the temperatures warm back up. It's going to change over again. So that's really going to kind of be the whole story.

[07:10:08]

And when you look at the radar, you can see all the various types of precipitation that we have out there now. The purple being the very heavy snow. You've got the pink that's either sleet or some type of freezing rain. And then you've got the green, which is just your standard rain, because those temperatures are going to be too warm.

Now again, you've also got see the lightning down here. Yes, the lightning is over the rain, which would indicate some thunderstorms, but it's also over some of that pink, indicating we have some thunder sleet and some thunder ice to go along with it. You have some areas that have already picked up half an inch of ice, and in most of these locations, it's still coming down.

So these numbers are going to go up. Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee already looking at a half an inch of ice accumulation. Starkville, Mississippi, looking at a quarter of an inch. But again, those numbers are expected to go up.

Here's a look at where some of the worst freezing rain is located right now. You can see around, like the Shreveport area, just to the southeast side of Memphis, portions of northern Mississippi as well. Back down through Jackson. You also have some icing over near Atlanta and into the northeastern suburbs, but that line is going to continue to slide off to the east.

Now, once we get to the later portion of the day, those temperatures warming into the 60s and 70s. You also have the potential for some severe storms. Yes, this includes strong thunderstorms with damaging winds and maybe even perhaps a tornado or two on the northern side. Snow is going to be the biggest concern. All of this purple color is the snow that deep purple. That's where you're talking about the heavy bands of snow that are coming down. So you've got areas like D. C. Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, all of them looking at snow showers right now.

That's going to continue through the day as that system continues to slide up. So that's really where the focus of the heaviest snow is going to happen for the day today. That's where you could still pick up at least a foot of snow on top of the very little that has already started to fall now that starting to push into those areas.

You saw some of those ice totals. We still have about another quarter of an inch that could fall in a few more locations. Again, keeping in mind that's on top of what has already come down.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you.

Now, despite that raging winter storm, thousands of people across the country organized rallies to protest another deadly shooting by ICE agents in Minneapolis. There were demonstrations from California all the way to Washington D.C.

A warning, the video you're about to see is of the moment leading up to the shooting. It is disturbing. An agent shot and killed 37-year- old Alex Pretti during ongoing protest in the city. Pretti's family says he was a nurse at the local V.A. Hospital. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti attacked the agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition wishing to inflict harm on these officers coming brandishing like that. He wasn't there to peacefully protest. He was there to perpetuate violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Pretti was legally permitted to carry a gun and a CNN review of witness videos does not show that Pretti ever took it out. You can see in this video he was carrying a cell phone at one point.

CNN's Whitney Wild is joining us now from Minneapolis. You're at the scene there. We saw that it was the site of a protest that turned into a vigil. What do you see now?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We still see this vigil. This is where Alex Pretti spent the last moments of his life, Victor. And let me show you there are dozens and dozens and dozens of bouquets of flowers. There are hundreds of candles here. There are are still people out here surrounding this area.

It is negative 10 to give you just a baseline for how deeply people care about this. They're out here in the dark and subduer temperatures to pay their respects to Alex Pretti. And I want to give you a moment just -- if you can see this, there are, you know, signs and notes here from people in the public. One note saying, thank you for loving, serving and saving lives.

This area has multiple law enforcement vehicles surrounding it. Earlier today, we saw them taking down a makeshift barricade that had been set up very similar to what we saw outside -- you know, in the aftermath of Renee Good's death.

We expect that there's a potential that we might see National Guard presence somewhere in the Minneapolis area. We know that Governor Walz has mobilized the National Guard. That's something he talked about potentially doing for several days.

Yesterday, he made clear that today -- that that day was the day that he would actually mobilize the National Guard because there is a major concern here that the law enforcement officers who have been dealing with weeks of protests in Minneapolis are run down.

Again, these air subzero temperatures. These protests have been ongoing. There -- this is the third shooting in about as many weeks and they need help. So right now there's mutual aid request.

[07:15:02]

So surrounding law enforcement, helping out the Minneapolis Police Department also potential National Guard resources. We may see that on the ground, we may not -- may depend on how the reaction looks as the day unfold. Right now, it is very quiet.

What we saw yesterday in the immediate aftermath of that shooting was a quite noisy crowd. We saw that there was a lot of confrontation with members of the public and federal law enforcement. They deployed teargas and other crowd control measures.

Our Sara Sidner was right in the thick of it. But as the day unfolded, that calmed substantially. We were also over at the Whipple building last night. Very small, very calm protest there. And, again, I think the context here is in the aftermath of so many protests in Minneapolis, especially when you consider this is in the aftermath of, you know, the George Floyd unrest is not far in the rearview mirror for -- everyone I talk to brings it up.

And they say that they want -- this is another watershed moment. But the people I've spoken to say that they want a different reaction here. And so what they're looking for here are larger scale protests that are peaceful. And certainly today, what we see is a very peaceful protest and just a memorial to Alex Pretti's life and moments of real reverence for everything that was lost.

As you point out that he was an ICU nurse at the V.A. His family saying simply that he was a good man, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Whitney Wild there at the memorial that's been growing for Alex Pretti. Thank you for the reporting.

Still ahead, where does the investigation into the shooting go now? CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey joins me to talk about the shooting and what happens next.

Just to give you a live look now at Cincinnati, here between Ohio and Kentucky, right on the border there, where snow has started to pile up. We're staying on top of the storm as well.

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[07:21:41]

BLACKWELL: A judge granted a temporary restraining order to block federal agents from destruction or alteration of evidence after the shooting of a man in Minneapolis. Minnesota authorities sued the Trump administration, saying its officials took evidence from the scene.

With me now is CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey. Chief, thanks for staying with us this morning. What is your degree of confidence in whatever this federal investigation will be, considering what we've already heard rhetorically and the concerns about the handling of the evidence?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, it's kind of like the weather outside in Philly is below zero, is my feeling about this investigation. Nothing's going to happen. I mean, the leaders there, whether it's Commander Bovino, Secretary Noem, they've already declared this is a justified shooting.

They've spun it in a way that's inconsistent with what you see in the video. So there is absolutely no reason to think that any investigation they conduct would be unbiased, fair, impartial, whatever you want to call it. It's really -- I have zero confidence.

BLACKWELL: And so when you look at the video, what do you believe about this, the justification for this shooting?

RAMSEY: There is no justification for it. I mean, when you look at the video, you know, he was armed with a firearm. OK, he was licensed to carry. But even if he wasn't licensed to carry, you can't just shoot somebody simply because they are in possession of a firearm.

What are they doing with the firearm? What is it that's causing you to feel threatened to the point where you feel like you have to use deadly force? You don't see any of that in any of the videos that have been shown thus far.

So there's no justification for it, even though they're trying to spin it into a story that just simply is not there. And so, I don't know what's going on, but certainly this is something that needs to have a critical review from an independent third party.

BLACKWELL: OK, so Chief, for the people who watch the video on television or online and followed the developments from the morning and through the evening, I assume they wake up with the question, OK, what now? Let me play for you what Greg Bovino, the commander at large of Customs and Border Patrol said happened. Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER: An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted, fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers.

A border patrol agent fired defensive shots. This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so the video, the witnesses don't support that. And so people who wake up this morning and say, what now? What's your answer to that? What should happen now?

RAMSEY: Well, I can tell you what should happen. What will happen is nothing. That's not going to -- nothing's going to happen as far as the feds are concerned at this point. That's unfortunate, but it's true.

[07:25:07]

What should be happening is a investigation, impartial investigation, whether it's done by the FBI, which we learned from the Renee Good shooting, didn't turn out so well either or the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension or an inspector general. There should be an independent investigation of the shooting, the circumstances of the shooting and a review by the D.A., review by an attorney general or someone to determine whether or not the actions of the officer a criminal.

And now, that's a normal process that would take place. But what you're hearing from the leadership is it's totally inconsistent with what you're seeing in the video. And I don't get it. I mean, it's as if they're just blind to the fact that people are able to see this stuff and make up their own mind about it.

They have lost all credibility as far as I am concerned. And I imagine as far as the general public's concern in turn -- their ability to be able to to actually handle this. It is out of control, not just some of the officers from ICE or CBP, but the leadership is out of control. And it's very, very disheartening to see it.

BLACKWELL: Chief Charles Ramsey, we'll see what the day brings. Thank you.

Coming up later this morning on State of the Union, Border Patrol commander at large Greg Bovino will be live to talk more about the Minneapolis shooting. State of the Union begins at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

All right, this winter storm moving east bearing down on the East Coast and the Northeast. Let's get you a look now at South Bend, Indiana. Got that on the left feels like below 9. St. Louis, barely see the Gateway Arch. Eight degrees there.

Allison, we're, of course, talking about this cold, too. CHINCHAR: That's right. You've got cold temperatures, which is what's putting a lot of this snow and ice in place. But on the south side, you have warm temperatures warm enough that we could be looking at the potential for some tornadoes as well. We'll talk about that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

BLACKWELL: This storm is hitting a lot of the United States. Look at how first responders, snowplow workers, drivers are dealing with this dangerous mix of snow and ice in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar watching it closely. Some of the south is racking up some interesting. Totals for both ice and snow?

CHINCHAR: Yes. Yes, we've got several that are, you know, 7, 8, 9- inch snow marks. And again, a lot of those places it's still snowing, they're not done. But you also have several areas that have picked up a quarter to a half an inch of ice. And again, it's still coming down.

So, we expect these numbers to keep going up. Again, when you see how much moisture is still out here and so many of places. That purple color there, that is the snow, where you see the deep purple, that's the very heavy bands of snow. The pink indicating the sleet or the freezing rain. And yes, we've even got some thunder sleet down there where you see some of that lightning. And then you also have some rain too in some of those areas that just simply aren't cold enough just yet.

And you can see that here. Again, look at this, 50 degrees across Central Alabama. It is right at the freezing mark in Atlanta. So, that's why we're now starting to see a lot of that change over into that freezing rain in a lot of the area suburbs. But you have freezing mark right around Nashville and then back behind that basically Memphis all the way back down through Jackson.

You're looking at a lot of those temperatures in the 20 range. Again, that doesn't necessarily mean it's snow and a lot of these profiles, that atmosphere is very warm up top and it just gets down to the freezing level right there at the surface. So, that's why you have a lot of these areas dealing with freezing rain.

This also makes it more dangerous. This means if you're driving out there in your car, it looks like it's raining, you look like you would be fine. But what happens is that rain freezes instantly when it makes contact with your car, when it makes contact with the roadways, that's what makes it so dangerous.

Here you can see that line continuing to slide east when it hits those warmer temperatures later this afternoon, we have the potential for some of those to potentially become severe thunderstorms.

BLACKWELL: Doesn't matter what type of tires you have, if you're dealing with ice, stay off the roads.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. Charlotte getting a wintry mix this morning. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is there. Last time we spoke with Dianne, it was a wet mist expecting freezing rain. What are you feeling now?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, it's a little more of the same, Victor. It's still that sort of wet mist, maybe a little harder right now. I feel like I'm getting pelted in the face a bit at the moment.

To kind of give you an idea, and I see how much you can see as Andy sort of shows the reflection of here. We're starting to see this sort of slick coating on metal around the city right now. Still, this like soft ice, if you will, that we're seeing on roads and sidewalk. We mentioned before travel is a major concern. They'd like to see nobody on the roads because they put pre-treatment down about three -- more than 3 million gallons of that brine solution.

But it's also trees, which of course are all over Charlotte. They're all over North Carolina. They're beautiful. They're lovely. They give us shade. They also can come down in ice storms. And Duke Energy, the governor here, they have warned people about trees. Branches falling on power lines, potentially homes, trying to be prepared for that.

But as you get that, you know, potentially a quarter to a half inch of ice, it is heavy, it doesn't just bring down power lines, they are worried about trees across the city. And we are starting to see some of that ice on those branches. I obviously can't reach the top of that tree Victor, but if you can see on this smaller one here we are starting to see just a little bit of that same glaze that we saw on that metal pole there.

[07:35:00]

Concern right now is as that freezing rain comes and sort of seals all of this soft, crunchy ice, this light glaze that we have right now seals that in. It's going to continue thickening here in Charlotte and that's when it could become completely impassable on roads and they are concerned about those power outages.

BLACKWELL: And it's on stairs and sidewalks and people should stay inside. Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Let me take you to Louisville, Kentucky now. A winter storm warning is in effect until tomorrow morning. With me now to discuss the mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg. Mr. Mayor, good morning to you. What's it look like where you are?

MAYOR CRAIG GREENBERG, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: Good morning. Well, we had about three and a half inches of snow and sleet overnight. We're expecting another two to four today. Right now, I can hear outside the sleet that's coming down. So, it's a little less than what was projected, but we prepared for significant amounts of snowfall and you hope for the best. We've had crews that are working around the clock for the last 48 hours, putting down brine, as you just heard here in Louisville as well. Then they moved to salt, then plowing, still salting the roads with the sleet and snow that's coming down right now in addition to plowing.

BLACKWELL: Are you hearing largely that people are staying off the roads? We've seen the video of the emergencies happening in other cities.

GREENBERG: Yes. So far, I'm very thankful to the people of Louisville for listening to all the warnings, for using this as an opportunity to read a book, to catch up with family or friends, play a game, watch some streaming shows on TV or something. But we actually did not have a significant increase in the number of calls overnight, which was very good.

So, we're pleased that people are heeding our warning and we're just going to encourage people again today to continue to be safe. We know it's going to be tempting to get out there. We had a couple of sledding injuries yesterday that we needed to make some emergency runs for, so we want people with their families to be safe when they go sledding as well. But we appreciate everyone and heeding the warnings.

BLACKWELL: Talk to me about power outages.

GREENBERG: That's another area. I think because we mostly have had snow, a little bit of sleet, and we have not had some of that freezing rain that you all were just talking about, we've been Pretti fortunate on power outages right now. Right now, I'm not aware of any power outages in the Louisville area. Last night we did have one. However, that was due to someone releasing a whole bunch of mylar balloons that got tangled in power lines and not due to the weather.

So, again, our utility company, they are very prepared. They have over a thousand people that were prepared to act in their service area. So, far in Louisville, we're doing OK.

BLACKWELL: All right. And you expect that you've got maybe an inch or two more. When do you expect the precipitation event to be over for you?

GREENBERG: So, we are the last I heard from the National Weather Service about 30 minutes ago. I just spoke with them. We expect by early tomorrow morning, the precipitation to end. And we're going to keep going though, because I know there's a temptation to get out there. We have to make sure we continue to salt the roads and plow them. And here in Louisville, we're going to have extreme freezing temperatures, not just today, but in the coming days after the snow and sleet ends as well.

So, people need to use caution as well. Last night, one of our snow plow drivers found an individual unconscious on the side of the road, Mr. Zach Lewis (ph). And so, he saved a life in doing his job. We're working to get everyone indoors. We have plenty of shelter space available. That's the kind of city that we are. We're helping one another out during these times, whether it's snow or sleet or freezing cold weather.

BLACKWELL: Well-deserved shout out to Zach Lewis. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, I thank you for your time as it sounds like from you, it could be worse. There are still some challenges, but you're on the better side of the ledger. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

GREENBERG: Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: All right. As the winter storm moved in, President Trump took a jab at scientists over climate change. Just so happen to come as the U.S. prepares to withdraw from a major climate treaty this week. We'll get into that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

BLACKWELL: So, we're seeing the impacts of that winter storm across multiple states. This is Kansas City from our affiliate KMBC. You can see the roads covered in snow there. We'll keep you updated on the storm and where it's headed throughout the day here on CNN.

And President Trump says that he's pulling the U.S. out of the global U.N. climate treaty. The move would leave the U.S. out of international climate change talks and is likely to raise tensions even more with allies. The timing of the announcement is notable, as tens of millions of Americans are facing an enormous and potentially catastrophic winter storm.

Let me bring in Robert Kopp. He's a climate scientist at Rutgers University and his lead author on U.N. climate assessments. Mr. Kopp, thank you for being with me. Let me first talk about the overlap between the big story of the day, this storm is hitting so many Americans, and climate change. The president posted on Truth Social, we can put it up on the screen, record cold wave expected to hit 40 states. Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the environmental insurrectionist please explain whatever happened to global warming, suggesting that the two are divorced from one another? What does he need to know?

[07:45:00]

ROBERT KOPP, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY AND LEAD AUTHOR ON U.N. CLIMATE ASSESSMENT: Well, he needs to know that the United States is not, in fact, the world and global warming is a global phenomenon. Just because it's cold where I am, you know, it's 15 degrees outside here in New Jersey, doesn't mean it's cold everywhere. In Greenland, in fact, its highs today are above freezing. They're about 25 degrees above average. And in parts of South Australia, they're 120 degrees. We also know that it's cold in winter and it'll continue to get cold even as the average temperature of the planet increases.

BLACKWELL: So, talk to me about this withdrawal from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. What is it and why is this withdrawal so impactful?

KOPP: Yes. So, the president announced a couple of weeks ago that he would be withdrawing from several things, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which I am a volunteer lead author for, and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

So, the UNFCCC, as it's called, is the overarching treaty under which things like the Paris Agreement, the 2015 agreement that set the global goal of limiting warming to well below two degrees Celsius are met. So, it's an agreement to talk. It's an agreement to come to agreement. It provides a forum for discussing climate policy, a forum that is informed by the independent scientific assessments of groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

BLACKWELL: And so, it puts the U.S. far outside of the mainstream of the global conversation about climate, right? And so, I imagine that the U.S. withdrawal has a disproportionate impact versus several other countries if they were to withdraw. What's the consequence of the U.S. withdrawing from it?

KOPP: Yes. I mean, ultimately, the consequence is the United States stepping back from a transformation that is sweeping the planet already. You know, solar and energy is among the cheapest forms of electricity around the world, thanks in part to investments that countries like the U.S. and China and Germany made during the financial crisis. And this withdrawal, more than anything, is part of an ensemble of activities by the administration to say, you know, we don't care about what the science tells us. We're not going to live in the reality-based community with the rest of the world. We want to take the U.S. back to the age of fossil fuels and ignore all the changes that are happening around us that are threatening the health and welfare of Americans.

BLACKWELL: So, let me ask you about the Paris climate agreement, which is not the same thing, but not unrelated here. The president withdrew from the Paris climate agreement in his first term. Then President Biden rejoined the U.S. into the agreement. And then on the first day of the second Trump term, he withdrew. Does this withdrawal from several elements make it harder for another president, say, in 2029 to say, we are rejoining the rest of the world in this effort to combat greenhouse gases and to control the changes in our climate?

KOPP: So, that's actually a good question for a lawyer, which I am not, because among other reasons, the Paris agreement was not a treaty. It was an agreement under this broader treaty. It was not ratified by the Senate. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was ratified by the Senate in 1992. And it's unclear that the president has the authority to unilaterally revoke laws that have been passed by Congress.

Certainly, in the domestic context, they don't. And so, I think it's a question for a lawyer, in fact, whether this withdrawal from the UNFCCC affects U.S. domestic law at all. If the treaty is still U.S. law, then it shouldn't be that hard to rejoin.

BLACKWELL: All right. Robert Kopp, thank you so much for helping us understand it. All right. Still ahead, growing unrest in Minnesota after another deadly shooting involving federal agents and protesters. We have the fallout from Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.

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[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Anger is reaching new heights in Minnesota this morning after Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Hospital, was shot and killed by federal agents during a protest on Saturday. Pretti's family says that he was trying to protect a woman that ICE agents had pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed.

Now, CNN has examined the video of this encounter. First, a warning, it's graphic. It's disturbing. The video shows several federal agents wrestling Pretti to the ground. At least one agent appears to kick him. Another appears to take a weapon away as he's on the ground. And then, less than a second later, the first of 10 shots fired by federal agents. The Department of Homeland Security says this is the weapons that officers took from Pretti. They say that they shot him in self- defense. However, at no point in any of the videos reviewed by CNN can he be seen holding a weapon.

And Minneapolis police say he was a lawful gun owner with a permit and no criminal record. Still, Trump administration officials are calling him a domestic terrorist.

[07:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism. This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. And that's the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Federal judges granted a temporary restraining order to block federal agents from destroying or altering evidence related to the shooting. Minnesota officials requested the order after suing the Trump administration on Saturday.

Live look at the U.S. Capitol. There's been a sudden surge in power outages, mostly in the South. There are now more than a half million customers without power. Allison is watching the storm. Still got some energy left.

CHINCHAR: Yes, and I think the reason you're seeing those power outages surge is because so many more people have now dropped below freezing. So, you're seeing that change over to snow or that change over to ice, and it's starting to accumulate on places. Here's a live look at what we've got for the radar that we can show you. Again, you can see some, hopefully we can see some areas that are dealing with a lot of the snow that's going to be impacting areas of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Rodgers up next.

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