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The Situation Room

Half of U.S Faces Dangerous Storm of Ice, Snow and Cold; Airports, Airports, Airlines Prepare for Arrival of Major Winter Storm; Five-Year-Old Boy Taken by ICE in Minneapolis. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, menacing monster storm. One of the biggest winter storms in years is set to slam half the country with potentially historic amounts of ice and snow. We expect to hear from several state leaders in the storm zone on how they're preparing.

Plus five-year-old held, a child returning home from preschool is among those taken by ice in Minneapolis. What we're learning about the family amid growing unrest over the Trump administration's immigration tactics.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, back in court. Soon, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO in New York, will be back before a judge, as his lawyers fight to keep certain evidence out of the federal case.

Also happening now, Iran armada, President Trump says a lot of warships are now heading for the Middle East, but he he'd rather not use it to strike Iran.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. One of the biggest and fiercest winter storms in years is roaring to life this morning. And nearly half of all Americans will feel its bite. Look at the size of this monster from New Mexico to Maine and southward. Florida is the only State east of the Rockies that will be completely spared. Heavy snow and dangerous temperatures will hamper much of those northern states, both in blue and purple, as you can see. And to the south, the big fear is ice, up to an inch thick. It will be heavy enough to bring down power lines and cold enough that outages could last for days.

BROWN: And right now, cities and states are scrambling to prepare the best they can. And that includes putting salt and ice on the roads before the storm hits. And, of course, people are racing to the stores to stock up on basic supplies, like groceries. As you can see, these bare shelves, I myself experienced that. Minutes from now, we're going to hear from the mayor of Washington, D.C., and across half the country. The message is becoming more urgent, once the storm hits your area, stay home.

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GOV. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA): We are expecting large amounts of snowfall, freezing rain, and sleet. And we also expect Virginia will experience dangerously low temperatures, power outages, and unpredictable road conditions.

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BLITZER: We're covering all the angles of this very, very dangerous storm. CNN Meteorologist Allison Cinchar over in the CNN Weather Center, CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean is following the far- reaching impact on air travel. But let's begin with Allison. What can we expect?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, a little bit of everything, and, in fact, we could be seeing a little bit of everything across multiple cities.

So, here's the overall scope where you see purple on the map. Those folks are just likely to see snow and only snow. Green is rain and only rain, but where you see that pinkish -- kind of like pinkish, lightly purple color, this is where you're going to have a little bit of a mix. You're going to have some areas that have rain, some ice, some snow off and on throughout the next two to three days. This is why you have so many of these winter weather alerts that stretch more than 2,000 miles from New Mexico all the way up to Maine.

So, let's break down the timeline here. When we get through this evening, now you're already starting to see some of that changeover into snow and ice across states like Oklahoma and into Texas. As we transition into early Saturday, it spreads eastward, but also notice those pink and purple colors are starting to expand. You're getting more and more locations that are going to be dealing with it. By late Saturday now, it spreads over into Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, and even into the Carolinas.

The second wave starts to move through areas of Texas and Oklahoma as we get through the overnight hours and continuing into very early Sunday. So, when it's all said and done across much of the South, you could be looking at upwards of half an inch to an inch total of ice that accumulates on things like trees and power lines. And then in terms of snow, where it's just snow, some of these locations could be picking up well over a foot of snow total.

BLITZER: And as you know, Allison, the situation in New York City and the whole New York area and New Jersey up there, it's going to be really, really bad.

The mayor, the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, is now speaking and talking to folks in New York. Listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- and gain the ability to purchase from a licensed retailer immediately upon submitting an application ---

[10:05:03]

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): -- workers are safeguarded and that the most vulnerable among us are being connected with shelter. At 6:00 A.M. this morning, the sanitation department began brining our highways and major roadways. And for those unfamiliar, brining is a process where a salt and water solution is sprayed, making it much harder for snow to stick and for ice to form.

Tomorrow, as the storm nears, we're going to see thousands of DSNY collection trucks and agency partners transformed into the nation's largest snow fighting operation. This is an operation that I trust with every ounce of my being and being the ones that will deliver us the exact kind of city response we need to see this weekend. We are going to see more than 2,000 of those sanitation workers begin 12 hour shifts starting tomorrow evening. They will salt as soon as we see the first snowflakes hit the ground with 700 salt spreaders. And then as soon as we see two inches of snow accumulate, we're going to see 2,200 plows activate across the city.

That, by the way, is likely to occur Sunday morning. And all of this is going to be seen -- overseen internally by DSNY's Blade Runner 2.0 system, which monitors plowing and salting in real time to ensure that every community, every neighborhood, every part of New York City will be met with the services of the city government.

Now, this is a storm that will also bring with it significant amounts of precipitation. It will carry a cold front as well. And that is why we have enacted a code blue now in effect, which it has been in effect since last night. This means that homeless services, outreach workers have been and will continue to canvas the five boroughs so that we are connecting homeless New Yorkers with shelter and bringing them out of the cold. DHS is going to be bypassing the intake operation procedures just to ensure that we are getting people into these shelters as quickly as possible. No one is going to be denied across the city.

And, finally, while we are still waiting to make a final decision on whether school will be in person or virtual, we will communicate that decision to families by noon on Sunday. That is going to be a decision between in-person learning and remote learning. I have to apologize to the students that we're hoping for a different answer for a traditional snow day. That will not be the case. We will also be canceling PSAL activities on Sunday.

Throughout every step of this storm, city government is going to communicate directly to you as New Yorkers. I encourage every New Yorker to join the more than a million who have already signed up for notify NYC. You can do that. By texting NOTIFY NYC to 692692. We will be sending you texts, updates and alerts. And we will also regularly brief New Yorkers over the course of this weekend.

BLITZER: All right, Zohran Mamdani briefing New Yorkers and others on what's going on in New York City. New York City hasn't seen anything like this in many, many years, and they're getting ready with the salt spreaders and everything else. And they said by tomorrow at noon, they'll notify whether the kids can go to school or have a remote learning.

BROWN: Right. And, you know, New York City is just one of many cities, including Washington, D.C., preparing for the storm, including the airports that are in this storm's path, they are scrambling to be prepared as well.

This is the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. And here, you can see snow removal equipment being tested and prepared for whatever the storm delivers. And airlines are issuing travel advisories and canceling flights for tomorrow.

Let's go live now to CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean at Reagan National Airport right outside of Washington, D.C. Pete, how are airlines responding this morning?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Oh, today's pretty manageable for the airlines. Tomorrow is going to be much, much worse. This is going to have a huge impact on travel. No way to put it any more simply than that.

Here is the departures board at Reagan National Airport, and the number of cancelations here are pretty low right now. Nationwide, we're in the hundreds. Just check FlightAware, 400 flight cancelations nationwide today. Not the main event though. Tomorrow, 1,400 cancelations, flights preemptively canceled by the airlines nationwide, some of the worst hit airports. We're talking about Dallas-Fort Worth, 50 percent of flights there canceled, about another 50 percent of flights canceled at Dallas Love, huge hub for Southwest Airlines. Oklahoma City, Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta, all in the path, all seeing preemptive cancelations going into tomorrow.

Here is what airlines are doing. They've issued what are called travel waivers, meaning that you can change or cancel your flight free of charge. Even Delta Airlines is actually preemptively rebooking passengers on different flights to sort of blunt the impact of this. There's also a big operational impact here. The airlines changing where airplanes are trying to put them in spots out of the storm's path, they're staffing up in places where the storm is going to hit really hard. They're staffing up on de-icers. They're getting the equipment in place. The idea here is to make this so the impact is pretty blunted, when this storm moves on, that means they can get things back to normal more quickly.

[10:10:08]

That is the hope, but we will see with the cold temperatures in the forecast throughout next week.

BROWN: Not looking good for air travelers.

BLITZER: I have a quick question for Pete.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Pete, even if you're in an area where there isn't a lot of snow, flights could be canceled because planes coming in, those flights may have been canceled, right?

MUNTEAN: You know, this is always sort of the case, Wolf. There's a bit of a domino effect here. And so what happens is when airlines, airplanes and crews are out of position, that can have an impact far and wide. So this may not impact things in the immediate storm's path only. This could also impact things far and wide. We'll see as things sort of continue here and potentially deteriorate nationwide.

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect they will.

All right, Pete Muntean over at Reagan National Airport, thank you very, very much.

And still ahead, a preschooler taken by ICE in Minnesota with his father, growing outrage this morning from the community, as DHS says, the five-year-old boy was not the target.

BROWN: And done deal, TikTok secures its future in the U.S. The breaking details just ahead.

You're in The Situation Room and we'll be right back.

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BLITZER: This morning, a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father, Adrian, who were taken by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis on Tuesday, are now being held at an ICE facility in Texas. There are conflicting reports about what exactly happened. DHS says the father was the intended target of the operation, but officials say they took the boy with them at the father's request.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER: We conduct legal, ethical, and moral law enforcement missions here in Minneapolis. So, as far as what you're saying with that particular individual, you'll have to be more specific because I didn't detain a five-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: DHS officials say the officers made multiple attempts to get the child's mother who was inside her house at the time to take custody of Liam, but they say she refused. And last night the family's pastor spoke with our Laura Coates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR SERGIO MAEZCUA, PASTOR AND FAMILY FRIEND OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD HELD BY ICE: She was terrified. They were using this baby. ICE agents were trying to use the baby for her to come out of her house, but the neighbors stepped up. The neighbors advise her not to do it. The neighbors were trying to get the baby or the five-year-old to give it to her. And this is a pregnant woman with another 13 or 14-year-old boy as well. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: For more on this, I want to bring in CNN Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez, who has been following all of this very closely. Priscilla, DHS officials say on social media that officers assured the mother that they would not take her into custody, and that she refused to accept custody of the child. We're hearing two very different sides to this story. Can you clarify what you've learned?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is some overlap, however, in that the -- as you heard there from the pastor, the mother was terrified. She has another son she was thinking about. The father said that he would be taken into custody with the son. This is a reality that this family faced in that moment and the reality that other families in the interior have similarly faced over the course of the last year under the Trump administration.

So, we are still trying to get answers on exactly what unfolded here, but what is not in question is that Liam and his father are at a detention facility in Texas. This is a detention facility that has long been used to house migrant families. So, it is designed for that purpose. And I've reported on this facility extensively, just to give you a sense of what it looks like. It essentially has a lot of beige trailers where they have a library, they have a classroom, they have a gym, all of this retrofitted for families.

Now, there have been reports, and lawyers have said, of poor conditions in these facilities. The administration has disputed that, but similarly, setting court documents are trying to improve it.

The reason I mention these details, however, is because, in my reporting, what this case has shown with Liam and his father is that it is a case that was caught on camera. It is not the first case. It certainly won't be the last case. There have been multiple cases over the last year of families living in the United States who have been plucked out of their daily routines, as was the case here with them returning from the preschool, and sent to this detention facility.

And beyond the conditions and the detention setting, it is what is so concerning for attorneys and advocates for the children that are placed in these settings, because they had a normal life until they suddenly didn't. And the age range of children in the Dilley facility, where this family is, is from infants to teenagers. And we know about their time there because they have spoken to attorneys who have submitted their declarations in court. So, it gives us a bit of a picture as to what Liam and his father may be experiencing now while they're in this facility.

Now, the question too is why are they there? Well, we know about their immigration history a little bit from the family attorney, from sources I've spoken with. And, essentially, this is a family, at least the father and the son, who presented themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in December of 2024. They came throughout the time what was known as the CBP One app.

So, what does that mean? You make an appointment to come to a port of entry. It was a way that Biden administration was trying to manage illegal migration. And then if you pass all your vetting. You are paroled or released into the United States and you could seek other immigration benefits.

[10:20:01]

In this case, they sought asylum in the United States.

What we don't know is, is there a point in that process where they were denied asylum, where this administration may have decided that they were not -- they were ineligible? Those are the questions we're still trying to answer as to why the father was the target and why they're now in this detention facility, and we're hoping to get more in that today. But what is not disputed is that the father and his five-year-old son are at a migrant detention facility while all of this is still unfolding and we're trying to plug in the answers (ph).

BLITZER: Are they together at least?

ALVAREZ: Typically, yes. The mother, father, child, they are held together in units with other families

BLITZER: And just one a legal point. If they're seeking asylum in the United States and going through the asylum process, they're here in the United States legally, right?

ALVAREZ: They're going through a process legally. They are allowed to work in the United States. The federal government acknowledges this and will give them a work permit. So, the family attorney has said they did everything the right way. And, frankly, by coming to a U.S. Customs and Border of Protection port of entry and going through the process under the Biden administration and then going through asylum, they were. They didn't cross illegally into the United States. But, again, Wolf, what we don't know is, was there a point in the process where they suddenly became undocumented?

BLITZER: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very, very much.

BROWN: He didn't -- the father, again, just to reiterate, didn't have a criminal record, as far as we know.

ALVAREZ: Not that we know of. And, again, if they are in a family detention facility, they would typically be held together. So, by nature of that, we would assume that ICE would not put them together if there was a deep-seeded criminal record here.

BROWN: All right. Thank you so much Priscilla Alvarez, as always.

So, let's talk a little bit more about the legal angle of this and bring in Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. Hi, Joey. Good morning.

So, as you just heard Priscilla lay out, there are conflicting reports on this five-year-old boy who was taken to this detention facility with this dad by ICE. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke about this yesterday. Let's listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: And I'm a father of a five-year- old, actually a five-year-old little boy, and I think to myself, oh my God, this is terrible. How did we arrest a five-year-old? Well, I do a little bit more follow-up research. And what I find is that the five- year-old was not arrested, that his dad was an illegal alien. And then they went -- when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran.

So, the story is that ICE detained a five-year-old, well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And just to note, there are different accounts of what actually happened from witnesses there and the family lawyer. But he asked the question, Joey, what are they supposed to do? What do you say to that from a legal standpoint?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Pamela, good to be with you. I say that there are rules governing what you should do. And just backing up a bit about these competing narratives, you know, it's really shameful. The reality is that, certainly, facts can be in dispute, but when you have a government that just backs ICE no matter what they do, I think it emboldens them to do whatever they please. And that's a problem, right?

There are rules for a reason. I'm here and you're asking me questions legally for a reason, and that's because rules dictate and govern how we run society. What the vice president says is divorced from the reality of the situation from, again, I wasn't there, nor were you, but from what we learned from people who actually saw it. So, should we not have government officials, even if you're defending ICE, at least defend them with a set of facts that really is related to the reality.

Now, with respect to what they should do, you know, it's not me saying what they should do. It's about the ICE rules. There's guidance in effect, and let's talk about them, since the vice president doesn't want to talk about them.

Number one, Pam, is that the rules disfavor, as we look at the five- year-old there, they disfavor taking children into custody. Yes, you can, but it's disfavored. Number two, because it's disfavored, the rule says that a parent should be given a reasonable opportunity to get a child giver there, right? Now, it doesn't have to be the mom who they're knocking on the door, who's petrified, who's pregnant and has a 13-year-old. It can be someone else. And why do I say that? Because then you look further down the guidance, Pamela, and it says, in the event, right, that you can't or a parent or caretaker would not provide, then ICE is required to converse with local officials, including child services, in order to get their involvement such that they leave the child there. So, when we talk about this, I think it's governed by protocols. And when you see those protocols and they're not followed, it just becomes very concerning.

BROWN: So, from the legal perspective, do you see what they did as a break in those protocols?

JACKSON: I see that it's a tremendous deviation from what the regulations suggest, but why not? Because if you know that whatever you do, you're going to have, you know, the president or the vice president say, hey, we can do -- you know, they follow the rules, the guy was running away.

[10:25:06]

But no one was running away. You know, ICE has a tough job. Yes, they do. But, you know, people have a right to live with their families and have a right to respect the law enforcement officials because they're following governing standards and policies.

So, all I did was look at what the rules said. And when I looked at the rules relative to what I saw ICE do, it seems to be a complete distinction. And so I think if the vice president's going to be addressing the country, I mean, at least factually get it somewhat right, right? We deserve the truth.

And if you don't factually get it right, just look at the policies and say, hey, wait, did my guys follow that? And if not, maybe the issue is retraining. Maybe the issue is talking to them about how to engage with communities properly so people are not scared to death. Maybe the issue is consulting with your local partners and the local officials. I know they're Democrats and it's in the blue states and all the rest of that stuff, but it's dangerous when there's no coordination, Pam. That's a problem.

BROWN: Joey, we got to break in. We have some breaking news. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. I want to go quickly to the mayor of the nation's capital, Muriel Bowser. She's now briefing everyone on this monstrous storm heading right here towards Washington.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D-WASHINGTON, D.C.): -- at least nine inches of snow falling with the potential for more. There is a possibility of freezing rain overnight Sunday into Monday, which will increase hazardous conditions.

So, at the same time, we're also headed into a very cold week. On Monday night into Tuesday morning, we are expecting wind chills to be below zero. So, to make sure we have all the resources we need to respond, I am declaring a state of emergency in the District of Columbia, effective now. We are also requesting vehicle support from the D.C. National Guard to ensure our first responders are able to move around the city during the storm, and that request has been made.

We're also out today to spread the word to the public to get prepared and be prepared. We need you to get inside. We have our outreach teams out all week, getting people into shelter. And let me be clear, we have space for everyone and this is seriously dangerous conditions for people to be outside.

If you still see people outside, call our shelter hotline by calling 311, or by dialing 202-399-7093. We have shelter space available for everyone who needs it.

We also want you to be prepared by charging your devices, locating your shovel, finding your flashlights and make sure you have enough batteries for them. Don't wait until Saturday to get stocked up for groceries and have a plan for your senior family members and senior neighbors.

Also, make sure you are signed up for Alert D.C. You can sign up at alert.dc.gov. And once you're signed up, you'll get updates directly to your phone.

And once we deploy our snow teams, don't crowd the plows. In fact, stay out of their way, stay off the roads and only use the roads if you need to.

So, with the state of emergency, we are requiring motorists who have vehicles parked on snow emergency routes to move them by Saturday at noon, Saturday, 12:00 noon. Vehicles must remain clear of the snow emergency rounds until Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. If conditions show that we need to extend the snow emergency route beyond Tuesday morning, we will make that change and make everybody aware of that. But the snow emergency route is in effect from Saturday to Tuesday at 9:30 A.M.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to continue to monitor this important news conference by the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser. She has just declared a state of emergency right here in the nation's capital. A lot of snow, ice, sleet, rain, everything heading our way right now. And people are going to be told, you got to be really, really cautious.

BROWN: Yes. We've been in Washington, D.C., a long time, Wolf, and we know what a lot of snow and ice can do in this town. I remember years ago covering carmageddon when you had just like lines and lines of cars trapped here.

[10:30:00]

So, her warning is certainly warranted there given what we have in the forecast you're seeing right here that the ice accumulation expected.