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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Powerful Winter Storm Slamming The Northeastern U.S.; China Reviewing Implications Of U.S. Tariff Ruling; Team USA Beats Canada In Overtime To Win Men's Hockey Gold. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 23, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:34:10]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Audie Cornish, and here are some of the stories we are watching today.
This massive winter storm has officially intensified into a bomb cyclone in the Northeastern U.S., meaning even heavier snows and higher winds are ahead. Snow has already been falling at a rate of about two inches per hour in New York. That's according to the National Weather Service. And parts of New Jersey have already seen more than a foot of snow.
Arson attacks have spread through Mexico after the killing of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord known as "El Mencho" in a military operation on Sunday. Stranded tourists describe chaos on the streets. Officials say members of organized crime groups sparked the violence.
[05:35:00]
And the White House is praising the quick action of Secret Service agents who shot and killed an armed man who got onto President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Authorities say the man was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can and refused orders to drop the weapon. The FBI is now investigating the incident.
And we're going to get more now on the winter storm that is lashing the Northeastern U.S. at this hour. CNN's Gloria Pazmino reports on that from New York City.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a travel ban in effect here in New York City that will not lift until noon on Monday. The mayor of the city New York, Zohran Mamdani, asking New Yorkers to stay off the roads. Not only will it be dangerous into the later evening hours, but he is also asking people to stay off the roads so that emergency workers and sanitation workers who are in charge of the cleanup can get to work.
Also importantly going into Monday morning the mayor announced that the city's schools will be closed, and students will have a full snow day. That means no remote learning, which is what they had to do less than a month ago when we had the last storm. So that is certainly very good news for New York City kids who will be able to enjoy the snow.
Going into the evening conditions are expected to significantly deteriorate. The snow has started to pile up here in Central Park, the wind is picking up, and it is very cold. That means it's very dangerous to be outside for extended periods of time. The city increasing resources and outreach to make sure that vulnerable homeless New Yorkers can be brought into shelter.
Now we are -- you know, here in New York a lot of people are very much over winter -- kind of done with the snow -- but there are also some who were out here willing to enjoy it. Take a listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: I am so ready to be done it's not even funny. You know, with our first snowstorm that happened a few weeks ago, my flight to Mexico got completely canceled, so I've had enough --
PAZMINO: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: -- you know. Now that they're labeling this as, like, a true blizzard --
PAZMINO: Yeah
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: -- I don't even know what to expect of this.
PAZMINO: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: I'm just headed to the gym. I'm not thinking about the cold too much.
PAZMINO: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: I love the snow too, so --
PAZMINO: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: -- it's beautiful to be outside today.
PAZMINO: Now the city has deployed more than 2,000 pieces of equipment to clean up the snow, 2,600 sanitation workers who are working 12-hour shifts to help with the cleanup. They've also opened up warming centers and deployed warming buses for those vulnerable New Yorkers. And the travel ban expected to lift at noon on Monday when much of the cleanup will begin.
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
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CORNISH: Still ahead, after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping emergency tariffs, President Trump has announced plans for new temporary global tariffs. We're going to tell you how other countries are reacting to that news.
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[05:42:33]
CORNISH: In the coming hours, EU lawmakers will meet to discuss whether to suspend work on a trade deal with the U.S. Now this comes after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's emergency tariffs on Friday.
The administration quickly scrambled to announce temporary new global tariffs, this time under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The White House says this gives the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 15 percent, but here's the difference -- for only 150 days before congressional approval is needed.
As for potential refunds on the tariffs already collected, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN that we'll have to wait and see what happens.
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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The Supreme Court remanded it down to a lower court and, you know, we will follow what they say but that could be weeks or months when we hear them. So the Supreme Court did not address refunds.
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CORNISH: Beijing also keeping tabs on the U.S. tariff ruling and how it could impact China's interests. Our Mike Valerio has details.
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of the first takes from commenters across China certainly seems to convey that from their point of view D.C.'s hand has absolutely been weakened by these emergency tariffs being taken away by the Supreme Court. The White House is certainly trying to counter that train of thought.
But notably, we have a prominent political pundit, Hu Xijin, writing the following over the weekend. He wrote, "Trump has one less card to play while China holds all of the cards."
And digging a little deeper into that, what essentially he was trying to get with that statement -- get to with that statement is that while this primary tool issuing these sweeping tariffs has certainly been limited by the United States Supreme Court, China's main trump card of access to a whole suite of rare earth minerals -- that is still maintained by Beijing without any kind of restrictions.
So the main question that Beijing now is confronting -- or is confronted by is whether or not the United States is going to try to levy new tariffs in a different way towards China. And what we mean by that is the possibility of U.S. trade authorities saying that a certain Chinese company or Chinese sector could be in potential violation of trade rules and then able to be hit legally with a new set of tariffs by the United States.
[05:45:00] To that end, let's listen to what the White House says about that part of the equation.
JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We try to resolve the unfair practices we identify and if they're not resolved you can take actions like tariffs or other things to try to resolve them.
MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS MODERATOR, "FACE THE NATION": Yeah.
GREER: We have tariffs like this already in place on China and we have open investigations already.
VALERIO: Now important to keep in mind is that the United States may not want to rock the boat so to speak because President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are due to meet here in this town, in Beijing, in just over a month with the president landing here on March 31 and meetings with Xi that have to deal with the trade truce happening on April 1 and April 2. The last time they met was October of last year in South Korea, hammering out that trade truce.
And speaking of South Korea, and Japan, for that matter, both of those nations -- neighbors here in the region -- have trade deals with the United States that were hammered out under the threat of that trade cudgel of those emergency tariffs. So the question also arises what's going to happen to those trade deals with South Korea and Japan?
Even though the Supreme Court has said the authority under which the White House acted to launch those tariffs, the White House was not able to use that authority legally in that sense. So far, the White House and administration officials are saying these trade deals with South Korea and Japan remain in place and we have not heard from Tokyo or Seoul that either capital is willing to renegotiate their trade deals, at least at the moment.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.
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CORNISH: And the president is set to deliver this State of the Union address to a dissatisfied U.S. public on Tuesday.
A new CNN poll shows 68 percent of Americans believe the president has not paid enough attention to the country's most important problems. Sixty-one percent of those polled also say President Trump's policies will take the country in the wrong direction.
Now, when asked about the topic they would most like Trump to address, 57 percent chose the economy and the cost of living. No other topic -- not immigration, health care, crime, foreign policy -- polled even a quarter of that score.
And the Winter Olympics have come to an end after more than two weeks of action-packed competition in Italy. We're going to have a look at Sunday's closing ceremonies as well as a recap of the thrilling men's hockey final after the break.
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[05:52:00]
CORNISH: And a major winter storm is slamming the Northeastern U.S. with heavy snow and gusty winds. This is a live look from above the Statue of Liberty in New York City. This is courtesy of EarthCam. Right now, New Yorkers are expecting between 12 to 18 inches of snow.
Meanwhile, more than 40 million people are under blizzard warnings. That's across 11 states. Right now, roughly 250,000 customers are without power from Virginia up through New England.
This is a look at this massive and, frankly, dangerous storm from space as it officially reaches bomb cyclone status, which means it has rapidly strengthened.
And Hollywood's biggest stars came out for Britain's biggest night in film.
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Clip from Warner Bros. Pictures "One Battle After Another."
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CORNISH: And the BAFTA for best film goes to "One Battle After Another." That film took six awards, including best adapted screenplay and best director. But it was not a clean sweep because actor Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for best leading actor but that went instead to British actor Robert Arymayo for his portrayal of man with Tourette Syndrome in the film "I Swear." The leading actress award went to Jessie Buckley from "Hamnet."
And the Olympic flame has now been extinguished, and the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina have bid farewell to the 2026 Winter Games. The grand finale of Sunday's closing ceremony illuminated the historic Verona Arena. Thousands gathered to celebrate the unity among athletes and nations.
Norway was the clear leader in the year's medal count with 18 golds. The U.S. came in second with 12 gold medals, marking the country's most successful Winter Games ever. The last gold medal for the U.S. came in a hard-fought overtime win over its fierce rival in Canadian hockey.
CNN's Coy Wire has more on Sunday's thrilling showdown.
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COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: For the very last event at these Winter Olympics we got an overtime classic in the men's hockey gold medal game. Just like the women's final the USA versus Canada, and just like that women's game it's the USA coming out in overtime.
The Americans withstood a barrage of shots from their neighbors to the north -- 42 shots on goal -- but Connor Hellebuyck saved 41 of them, setting a new Olympic record for a gold medal game involving NHL players. And in overtime it was Jack Hughes. The New Jersey Devils star hammering home the game-winning goal laying it all on the line, blood on his face, teeth missing, an American legend is born.
The first Olympic men's hockey gold for Team USA in 46 years. I caught up with some of the fans who were over the moon.
[05:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Oh my goodness gracious me. That was incredible. That's all I can say.
WIRE: Who was the star of the game for the U.S.?
(Fans screaming)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Jack Hughes. Jack Hughes. No one else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: USA! Whoo!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 3: The first time since 1980. Gold medal, USA all the way! Whoo!
WIRE: Man, take me through that golden goal moment. What's going through the mind as you hear the crowd roar.
TAGE THOMPSON, 2026 U.S. OLYMPIC HOCKEY TEAM GOLD MEDALIST: Oh, it's crazy. I think every kid dreams about that moment. Going into intermission after the third there, I was just looking around the room and just thinking someone's going to be the hero.
WIRE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: It was a pretty special feeling. Obviously, you know, Jack comes through for us there and, you know, makes our dreams become a reality --
WIRE: Yeah.
THOMPSON: -- of being gold medalists.
WIRE: How do you put into perspective when you think about the first gold medal for American men's hockey in 46 years? Did that, like, sink in yet?
THOMPSON: No. It's crazy. Every kid grows up watching "Miracle." You know, every USA hockey player dreams of this moment and now we're sharing that exact feeling that they had. It's pretty special.
WIRE: So with that and with the closing ceremony also on Sunday in Verona, that's a wrap from the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games.
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CORNISH: And thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Audie Cornish in Washington. I'll be back for "CNN THIS MORNING" right after the break.
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