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Northeastern U.S. Reeling From Historic Bomb Cyclone; Source: Official To Present Iran's Response To Mediators; U.K., EU Urge U.S. To Honor Trade Agreements. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 24, 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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[05:32:15]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Audie Cornish. And here are some of the stories we are watching today.

President Trump's approval numbers are slipping ahead of his State of the Union address later today. A new CNN poll found that 68 percent of Americans believe the president hasn't paid enough attention to the country's most important problems. Fifty-seven percent said he should focus on the economy and cost of living in his speech.

Authorities in Mexico say life is getting back to normal after the killing of a powerful cartel boss triggered violence across the country. The kingpin, named El Mencho, died after a shootout with Mexican security forces on Sunday. Cartel members have been setting fires and blocking roads in parts of the country.

Ukrainians marked the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. People across Ukraine paused for a moment of silence earlier to remember their lost loved ones. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised their courage and said, "We will do everything to secure peace and justice."

And a historic bomb cyclone is moving out to sea after battering the Northeastern U.S. with extreme snowfall, hurricane force wind gusts, and blizzard conditions. The storm broke records across the region. Providence, Rhode Island saw the most snowfall -- more than three feet -- in what turned out to be city's biggest snowstorm on record.

The drone footage from Massachusetts shows the storm's fury along the coast where extreme winds hammered cities and took down power lines. The system sparked whiteout conditions and led to treacherous travel and power outages. Now, in Massachusetts, more than 250,000 customers are still without electricity.

And in New York snow-covered streets and frozen bicycles could be found in Times Square after this brutal storm. Officials have urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel as the cleanup effort continues.

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MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK CITY: Frankly, this emergency snow- shoveler program is one that allows every single sanitation worker to be on the plows, to be on the salt spreaders, and to get this city back up and running. It's why they've been able to disperse about 50 million pounds of salt.

And then these snow-shovelers are the ones who supplement the work, frankly, of the department. And what we've seen is here in New York City, as is the law, property owners have to clear the sidewalk in front of their property and have to clear the crosswalk that's abutting them.

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CORNISH: These images are of Central Park. This is now marking the ninth-biggest snowstorm in more than 150 years with nearly two feet of snow.

CNN's Bill Weir was in New York City as the snow piled up and he filed this report earlier.

[05:35:00]

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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A Scandinavian proverb tells us there is no bad weather, just inadequate clothing -- and a few places prove it, like New York's Time Square in a bomb cyclone blizzard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We knew it was going to snow, but we didn't expect it to be like this.

WEIR: Right, right. Is it hampering your vacation -- your holiday -- or is it making it better?

WEIR (voiceover): But while it can be fun for tourists from London --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, let's go, let's go!

WEIR (voiceover): -- and kids sprung from school, this kind of wet, heavy, and sudden emergency can be a nightmare for commuters and the governors and mayors elected to look out for them, especially those still fresh on the job like Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey.

GOV. MIKIE SHERRILL, NEW JERSEY: The entire state of New Jersey, all 21 counties, is under a blizzard warning for the first time in 30 years.

WEIR (voiceover): New York struggled to clear sidewalks during a brutally cold January. So now new Mayor Zohran Mamdani hopes to recruit thousands of paid volunteer shovelers by offering a raise of more than $10.00 an hour.

MAMDANI: And as of today they can now deploy 1,800 New Yorkers per shift. Due to the historic nature of this blizzard we've increased pay to $30.00 per hour. WEIR (voiceover): But places with less manpower and even more white stuff are now at the mercy of the melt, and until it comes, Providence, Rhode Island has to figure out what to do with a record- shattering 33 inches.

GOV. DAN MCKEE, RHODE ISLAND: The number one key for me when this is all said and done is that everybody was safe. And for that to happen we need to continue to have the cooperation from the people who live in the state to stay off the roads and then check with your neighbors.

WEIR (voiceover): Dozens of small towns across the Northeast are wrestling with two wet feet, and Boston will cancel school for the second day as they dig out of the blizzard of '26.

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CORNISH: That was CNN's Bill Weir reporting.

I want to turn now to the Middle East where a source tells CNN that Iran's national security chief is expected to present Tehran's response on the nuclear talks to mediators in Oman today. U.S. and Iranian officials are due to meet in Geneva on Thursday for the latest round of nuclear negotiations.

Now this comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing back against reports that top military leadership are concerned about a potential conflict with Iran, and he says it would be easily won, rejecting concerns about potential casualties and the cost of a major conflict.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Abu Dhabi. And Paula, of course, in the meantime there are these fresh protests in Tehran. You've got this buildup of tension. Can you tell me more about what you're hearing?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Audie, we have been seeing up until Monday some universities seeing students that have been protesting. We will wait to see if that continues now into Tuesday.

We do know though that a source familiar with the talks has told me that Ali Larijani, a key Iranian official, will be in Muscat, the Omani capital, this Tuesday. He will have a revised plan with him, according to this source, and it will be really looking at exactly what the response to the United Nations -- United States will be.

It will be, according to the source, suggesting that Iran still does have this right to enrich uranium, which we have heard recently again from the Iranian foreign minister. It will be suggesting though that there are compromises that could be found -- some willingness to move within limits on that enrichment. And also it will be focusing on the fact that Iran wants sanctions relief and wants some economic relief.

Now, this really is a crucial few days that we are seeing. Oman, of course, is the mediator between the U.S. and Iran when it comes to these talks, but those talks in Geneva on Thursday between the two sides will -- potentially could be make or break. We're hearing from one regional source this Thursday will decide everything -- a war or a deal.

And, of course, highly enriched uranium is the key stumbling block it appears at this point. We've heard from President Trump that he doesn't want Iran to have any capability of enriching uranium. We have heard from the Iranian foreign minister just a couple of days ago that it is Iran's right, saying, "It's a matter of pride and dignity for Iranians."

So what we're looking out for is whether this revised proposal -- revised plan today from the Iranians can bridge those two quite significant gaps between the two sides -- Audie.

CORNISH: That's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. We'll be following those talks later today.

And still to come, President Trump's new tariffs are putting other countries on edge. After the break we're going to get the latest reaction from Europe in a live report.

[05:40:00]

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CORNISH: Welcome back to EARLY START. Time now for your business breakout.

Here's where U.S. futures stand as we await the opening bell on Wall Street in the coming hours. You can see they are kicking off the day in the green.

And here are some of today's business headlines.

[05:45:00]

The record-breaking bomb cyclone that pummeled the Northeastern U.S. is still affecting travel. More than 6,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Monday -- that's according to FlightAware -- and more than 2,000 flights have already been canceled for Tuesday as airports work to return to full services.

New documents are raising questions about what Meta already knows about the risks of its platforms. According to documents released as part of a lawsuit against the company, Meta's own researchers have previously proposed studying whether certain Facebook features could contribute to addiction or additive-like behaviors. Some features, including autoplay and scrolling feeds, are among those that lawsuits claim contribute to youth addiction and harm.

And new global tariffs from the Trump administration are now active. The president announced them after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down other emergency tariffs that he had previously imposed. The move caused the Dow to drop more than 800 points or about 1.7 percent on Monday.

Those new tariffs are also stirring up nerves overseas. Both the U.K. and the EU are calling for the U.S. to honor trade deals already in place. Both deals contained exemptions for some goods that would either pay lower tariffs or none at all.

CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is following the developments from Paris. Good morning, Melissa. And can you talk about the existing deal, right, which was a bilateral trade deal? So what can we expect now in the aftermath of this ruling?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This was a hardly negotiated, very difficult to come to agreement that was hammered out last summer to figure out how the trade agreement was going to work between the European Union and the United States. It was about to be ratified, Audie. The European Parliament was on the verge of ratifying it.

And I think it's important to note that even this had been hardened -- the delay. What the European Parliament had been doing is delayed, since January, its ratification process because if you'll remember the spat about Greenland. In fact, it hardened its trade deal at the time with a clause that meant that should be United States again threaten the sovereignty of European nations then the trade deal would fall. So that is just an important thing to note because of the hardening of the European position.

This latest version of the deal, due to be ratified this week -- that has now been postponed as a result of this latest announcement of the tariffs. And, of course, what keeps being pointed out here in Europe, Audie, is that these latest announcements from Washington sort of penalize those that have sought trade agreements -- and I'm thinking here of the United Kingdom who had managed to get a trade deal under 10 percent -- and benefits adversaries who hadn't sought out such trade deals. I think that's why you're seeing such a great deal of anger here in Europe even as Europeans try and figure out where their position will be.

Now that that ratification process has ended the European Union will take the next few days -- a couple of weeks to work out what its common position is, and for the time being it is unclear whether that will be one of retaliation or further negotiation.

And we've also been hearing another indication of European anger this morning from the head of the European central bank, Christine Lagarde, speaking to the fact that it's like being in a car. You can only get in the car when you know the rules of the road. At this stage it seems that even Washington's allies don't understand what the rules of its road are and that is causing a great deal of anger over here, Audie.

CORNISH: OK. That's Melissa Bell in Paris. Thank you so much.

I want to turn to this. Family, fans, and co-stars remembering actor Robert Carradine who died Monday at age 71. He was best known for his role in the "Revenge of the Nerds" films and as the father of Hillary Duff's character in the "Lizzie McGuire" TV series.

In a statement his family remembered Carradine as a beautiful soul and a beacon of light to everyone around him. They also acknowledged his nearly 20-year battle with bipolar disorder saying they hope his passing can shine a light and address the stigma attached to mental illness.

Now, both U.S. Olympic hockey teams brought home the gold but only one will be attending tonight's State of the Union address. That story is next on EARLY START.

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[05:53:42]

CORNISH: Tributes are pouring in following the death of two-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton who has died at just 43 years old. The basketball star was killed in a car crash near Atlanta on Saturday just days after her birthday. She's best known for winning two titles with the Detroit Shock in 2006 and 2008.

The WNBA posted on social media to commemorate her life saying, "Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time."

Her eldest son, Jelani Thurman, wrote on Instagram, "Our family truly appreciates the incredible love, prayers, calls, messages, and support we've received during this incredibly difficult time."

Kara Braxton is also survived by her husband and young son.

President Trump will have some special guests at tonight's State of the Union address. Members of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team are back on U.S. soil and headed to Washington for the event. They touched down in Miami after their 2-1 overtime win against Canada on Sunday.

The team celebrated in the locker room in Milan with FBI director Kash Patel who shared a congratulatory phone call from President Trump.

[05:55:00]

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I can send a military plane to -- I must tell you we're going to have to bring the woman's team. You do know that.

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Absolutely.

TRUMP: Like I said, I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK?

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CORNISH: A spokesperson for USA Hockey releasing this statement explaining why the women declined Trump's invitation. "Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate." Now, "They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment." And thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Audie Cornish in Washington. I'll be back in a moment for "CNN THIS MORNING" after the break.

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