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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Catastrophic Ice, Snow, Extreme Cold Threatening Millions; ICE Denies Allegations Five-Year Old Was Used As Bait To Capture Father; FBI Agent Who Initially Investigated Fatal Minneapolis ICE Shooting Resigns; 5-Year-Old Boy Currently Held With Father At Texas ICE Facility; Trump Privately Frustrated ICE Crackdown Optics Overtaking His Message; States Of Emergency Declared Across 15 States & D.C.; Thousands Of Flights Canceled Due To Massive Winter Storm; Former Olympian Turned FBI "Most Wanted" Fugitive In U.S. Custody. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUILHERME PEIXOTO, DJ PRIEST: No one can look to this like a solution for the problems, but it's important that you can use, think our talents to make Jesus be present on the society.

May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit come upon you and remain with you all! Amen!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Thanks so much to David Culver for that great piece, and thanks so much to all of you. AC 360 starts now.

[20:00:34]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, from New Mexico to New England and all points in between, nearly a quarter billion people get ready for the kind of winter storm they'll talk about for years to come. From sleet to ice to a foot or more of snow, we'll tell you who's getting the worst of it, where and when.

Also, tonight Minnesota, new details on this little boy and his dad now in custody as mass protests about this and other cases set off today in the Twin Cities.

And later, one of America's most wanted, a former winter Olympian turned alleged drug kingpin. Well, he's in custody tonight.

Good evening, John King. I'm in for Anderson tonight, and he's off. And if he's like, more than 230 million of Americans. So, he's getting ready for this. A winter storm stretching 2000 miles across the country. Look at that, packing deadly cold, damaging ice and the kind of snowfall that some places have not seen in years, 15 states already have right here at the District of Columbia. Meteorologist, Chris Warren joins us now. And Chris set it up for us. We're already seeing impacts and what's in store for the rest of us this weekend? CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, right now, the snow and ice is happening in Texas and Oklahoma and this system is going to be with us for the weekend. Really coast to coast system with the parent low still just offshore of the west coast. This is what is essentially the first wave of a series or a couple of waves, I should say, that's going to go across from here, Texas, all the way up to New England.

But right now, it is rainy in Dallas that's going to change over to ice and snow. And you can see the footprint that's expected from the panhandle of Texas all the way up to Maine, several inches, even a foot or more over about a 1,500-mile stretch.

We'll take a closer look, where we're going to see it first tonight into tomorrow and lingering even into Sunday, 12 to 18 inches, a foot to a foot-and-a-half in Oklahoma. And then here in the Northeast for the second half of the weekend, especially on Sunday, going to be a big snow day in New York and just go up the Hudson River valley a bit. There could be a couple feet of snow when it's all said and done.

So, let's take a closer look at the timing. I mentioned a couple of waves here. So, here's the first one that's developing right now. This is the forecast radar. So, the radar is likely to look like through time. And the pink color is ice snow to the North, this is Saturday evening, Saturday night, overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. Snow in the northeast, possibly thunderstorms in the South. That's right, thunderstorms possible there.

And then, John, this is really what's going to be the probably the most dangerous part of this is the power outages. They're going to come with the ice weighing down branches and power lines with dangerously cold temperatures outside. It could last for days.

KING: You have my attention, Chris Warren, thanks. We'll check in with you later in the program. We'll also have much more on this storm ahead tonight.

Right now, though, we turn to the story that has moved thousands of people just today. Look at these pictures to brave subzero weather on the streets of the Twin Cities.

They covered several blocks of Downtown Minneapolis, turned up at the airport where many were arrested and rallied at the arena where the NBA's Timberwolves play. They are to turn a phrase Minnesota angry and saying so loudly over what the administrations immigration crackdown is doing to their community.

Take a look. This the front page of today's local newspaper wall to wall coverage, almost including two photos that have now been seen by millions. A protester being held down by two men, while a third fires chemical irritants directly into his eyes.

And at the top, a little boy named Liam, just five years old. He was with his dad, who just brought him home from preschool Tuesday afternoon when federal officers stopped them. Then with an officer beside him and his mom on the other side of that door, you see a standoff. A board member from Liams school who witnessed it says Liam was used as bait.

ICE officers dispute that. She also said that Liam's dad was yelling for his wife not to open that door. A pastor tells CNN that Liam's mother, who is pregnant and also has a teenage son, was, "terrified" of the agents outside her door, fearing she would be detained as well.

In any case, Liam's mom never opened that door. Her son and her husband were taken away. They're now being held at a facility in Texas, and from the beginning, the administration has been trying to recast what appears to be, at its core, a gut-wrenching story of family separation. The administration, though, trying to make it something more palatable, even if it means suggesting that Liam's parents were trying to abandon him.

As a top ICE official did today while playing up the heartbreak, he says his own officers felt over it all.

[20:05:20]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCOS CHARLES, ACTING EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ICE ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL OPERATIONS: Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door. Let me say it again. They saw the young boy and they refused to open the door and take him back.

This is the human side of the job that my officers do. I know for a fact that they were heartbroken to see the child's own family leaving behind, fortunately, Conejo Arias eventually requested that his child stay with him. We do everything in our power not to separate families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: In a moment, we'll be joined by one of the local school officials who responded to the scene and who knows the family well. She's also seen how federal agents have been handling other immigrant families and their children. We'll also talk about what seems to be the real heartbreak in this case, Liam and his family appear to have entered this country lawfully to request asylum. That's according to the family attorney, who says they've taken the proper steps ever since arriving in 2024.

Now, The White House keeps saying this is all about getting the worst of the worst. Period. But your eyes don't lie. We have seen for months now people detained while checking in at immigration offices for court proceedings, at court proceedings, even some on the verge of being sworn in as U.S. Citizens. It's been happening enough that the New York Democratic Congressman, Dan Goldman, confronted the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, over this practice last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAN GOLDMAN (D-NY): Immigrants with ongoing asylum applications are legally in this country. KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: There are individuals in this country that have applications that --

GOLDMAN: And they are legally here because it's a lawful pathway, right

NOEM: It's a lawful path.

GOLDMAN: Okay, so, if your department then deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law, correct?

NOEM: Joe Biden left us with -- million cases --

GOLDMAN: I'm not asking about Joe Biden. I'm asking you a specific question. If your department deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law, is that correct?

NOEM: It was greatly violated when they allowed -- people to come in and granted asylum application --

GOLDMAN: I'm asking you, I'm asking you. Why are you filibustering? Why can't you answer the question? It's a simple question. If your department. Deports anyone with an ongoing asylum application, you are violating the law. Isn't that correct?

NOEM: The asylum program was broken under the last --

GOLDMAN: Mr. Chairman, I will reclaim my time. She's not answering the question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Again, according to the family's lawyer, Liam's dad and mom were in the middle of the asylum process. He also said he could find no record. This is important. No record of Liam's dad having committed any crimes in Minnesota and the DHS has so far accused him of no crimes whatsoever beyond being, in their words, an illegal alien, which again, may not be the case. And in any case, it is nothing at all like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look at this one after one. Boy, these are rough characters. These are all criminal, illegal aliens that in many cases, they're murderers, they're drug lords, drug dealers. They're the mentally insane. Some of them who are brutal killers they're mentally insane. They're killers, but they're insane. These are just in Minnesota.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: CNN anchor, senior national correspondent, Sara Sidner joining us now from Minneapolis. Sara, fantastic reporting on the scene. Tell us what you're learning tonight about Liam Ramos and his dad and how the Minneapolis community reacting to all of this. SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, there's a lot of just sheer anger at what they're seeing, but also sorrow looking at the picture of this little boy, five years old, with an ice agent's hand on his little backpack and knowing what transpired.

Liam and his family are originally from Ecuador, and according to the attorney, they presented themselves to Border officers in Texas in December of 2024 to apply for asylum. And then they did so, they went on the app. They went through all of the machinations that you have to go through, putting in your name, putting in your information. And they were here seeking asylum, according to the attorney.

What you have DHS saying is that, they are still referring to Liam and his father as illegal aliens. They said they were going after his father and that his son happened to be with him. And here's where things kind of diverge from what we're hearing from people who were there to witness this. Several witnesses, including school officials who happened to be going home from their duties at work.

[20:10:22]

What you're hearing from DHS is something a little bit new in which they're saying that Liam, they say, Liam's father said that look, take him with me. Because, you know, I don't want him to be left here, but you also have DHS saying at the same time that he was being abandoned and that is why they why they had to take him into custody.

That is being heavily disputed by those who are on the ground because, as we now know, Liam's mother was just a few feet away in the home of the driveway where they had nabbed his father and him, and the mother was completely distraught, completely beside herself.

She wanted her child. She wanted to have him with her. But she is pregnant and she was waiting for their seventh grader who had not yet come home, terrified that she too would be picked up by ICE, leaving both children without their parents.

And you can imagine with what has been happening with ICE on the ground here in Minneapolis, how afraid all immigrants are expressing that they are. They have zero trust in ICE, saying to them, we are not going to arrest you. And that is why she did not open that door. No one, no one was planning on abandoning this child. That is a fact the family wants out there.

KING: Sara Sidner, grateful for your live reporting. Thank you so much.

And joining us now to continue the conversation, one of the officials, Sara, just referred to, the Columbia Heights School Superintendent, Zena Stenvik, who arrived on the scene after Liam and his dad were taken.

Superintendent, grateful for your time tonight. I want to start. I want to play a little bit more of what an ICE official said in Minnesota today and get your perspective. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES: Arias fled from law enforcement on foot, abandoning his child in the middle of winter in a vehicle. One of our officers stayed behind with that child while other officers apprehended his father. After conducting the arrest, my officers stayed with the child.

My officers did everything they could to reunite him with his family. Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door. Let me say it again. They saw the young boy and they refused to open the door and take him back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Superintendent Stenvik, you arrived on the scene after Liam and his dad had been taken. You've obviously spoken to a lot of people about this since Tuesday afternoon. Is that your understanding of what happened?

ZENA STENVIK, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: You know, I think it's really important that we do not normalize groups of eight or more masked and armed agents roaming our neighborhood and terrorizing our children. That was the scene.

So, when I arrived to the scene, I saw the still running car in the driveway and, community members that I know, school officials that I know crying out, I asked, where's the child? I'm here for the child. Where is the child? And they said, they took him and everyone was in disbelief. I immediately went to the side yard where another adult who lives in the home was and talked with that person, and they told me that they talked to the agents and begged them to let them take Liam.

Other people were shouting, the school officials are here, the school officials are here. They can take the child. Don't take the child, so it does confuse me a bit when there are statements about making every attempt to not separate Liam from the rest of his family. That just doesn't make sense to me.

KING: I'm going to guess and I think it's a pretty safe guess, that one of the things you try to teach children in good times and troubling times like this is to tell the truth, always tell the truth. The Vice-President of United States framed the choice that the ICE agents had here is either taking the child with them or letting him freeze to death. To the best of your knowledge, is that anywhere close to the truth?

STENVIK: Here in Minnesota, we're used to the cold weather, and we never let our children freeze to death. That would never, ever happen.

KING: What are your conversations like with parents and with children as this plays out? Are you having different conversations now about how to deal with ICE, how to deal with authorities? When this happened, you mentioned sometimes they're not clearly identified, but are your conversations with parents and with children different in the last week to ten days than they were, say, if we were having this conversation a year ago or occasionally something like this would happen, but not on this scale.

[20:15:06]

STENVIK: I'll tell you, one year ago we began working with a pro bono law firm who came in and offered informational sessions for our families on know your rights. And so, we were under the impression that someone would potentially come to school with a signed judicial warrant and present that and then we were trained on how to handle that and what to do lawfully and legally. That's not at all what we're experiencing right now.

ICE is -- they're in groups and in dark, blacked out cars wearing masks all over the, you know, our street corners. They're following our busses, they're circling our schools, they're driving back and forth, in front of our schools. They're out back of our high school during dismissal time. Every week just keeps getting worse. And life for us, there's no semblance of normalcy anymore.

So, for us as school officials, routines for children is one of the most important things that they need. A sense of normalcy and it's been challenging. We're working our best to provide you know, regular school as much as we can. But the children are aware because they see abductions and these apprehensions happening on their way to school, on their way home from school, they see it from their windows. Just the other day, they saw at our high school during passing time, they saw ICE vehicles come onto our school property and come back towards our loading dock.

So, we're having to talk to children who should never have to be so afraid about, you know, getting home safely to school and ensuring them that when they are in our schools, they're safe.

KING: Superintendent Zena Stenvik grateful for your time tonight. We'll continue this conversation, obviously, this is going to be with you for a bit longer, with at least a bit at that. Thank you for your time, very much so.

STENVIK: Thank you.

KING: Up next for us here. Thank you. Next a closer look at the conditions where Liam and his dad are being held right now. And live reports from two places where the coming winter storm could hit the hardest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:21:29]

KING: More now on the five-year-old Minneapolis boy taken into custody on Tuesday. Again, the Department of Homeland Security says the family had entered the United States illegally and that the boy's father was the target of this operation.

Family's attorney, though, says that's' just not true, that the family was pursuing a legal pathway and following the rules as it did so. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is with me. She's been digging into this story and the family background.

So, the DHS is using the term illegal alien. If you apply for asylum, that's not what you are. You're allowed into the country until you get your hearing and the case is disposed of. What do we know? Do we know who's telling the truth?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me walk you through it. Because really, it's a great example of how complicated the U.S. immigration system is and why there's these technicalities. So, the family attorney says that the family entered the United States in 2024, December of 2024 to request asylum.

They did that through an appointment on a CBP One app. That was an app that under the Biden administration, allowed migrants to make an appointment to present at a legal port of entry if they cleared their vetting, they would be released into the United States, and then they could apply for immigration benefits. Again, this was a program under the Biden administration.

Now, they did that. They applied for asylum and the process, as best we know it, was and is ongoing. And here's where the technicality is. When you apply for asylum and you are going through the legal steps to obtain it, it is a process. It takes multiple steps. You may be in front of an immigration judge. So, they had not obtained that status yet. The federal government knew about them, was aware of the process, was part of that process, but they had not obtained that legal status, which gives way for the administration to call them that illegal alien.

Now, we have similarly been digging into any types of criminal records because, recall the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration generally has said they're going after the worst of the worst. There is some acknowledgment that in that process, there are others that are going to be swept up in it, who may not have a criminal record.

And that appears to be the case as of now, with Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. Homeland security officials have not shared that he has any criminal history, according to a source, I spoke with, there doesn't appear to be records internally of any criminal history. Ecuador has said there was no criminal history in his origin country and public records have shown there's nothing there.

Now, I did ask the Homeland Security spokesperson about this. She said, the law requires those in the country illegally. I'm quoting here claiming "fear to be detained pending removal." So, there you have it. Now, they're in detention.

KING: All right. So, we'll continue to ask about that. You know, something about this facility. You've done reporting on this facility in Texas. The government says it's a great place, everything's fine. They're in safe hands, safe place. What do you know about it?

ALVAREZ: So, family detention has always been very controversial because it's the idea of putting children in this detention setting, even if they are with their parents. Of course, John, you'll remember this actually started under the Obama administration. Was there under the first term of the Trump administration, paused under Biden, came back under Trump.

So, I have been reporting over all those years on this facility, and there's always been concerns about advocates and attorneys about the conditions within the facility. So, this is what the Senior ICE official described for your viewers to understand as to what career they're providing there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES: You get top notch care. They have medical care, the food is good. They have learning services. They have church services available. They have recreation. They have, special caregivers to see to the needs of the children and the mothers or families that are there. It's better, honestly, it's better than, social services.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:25:16]

ALVAREZ: But even so, John, what is always distressing for the children, especially now in this administration, is getting plucked out of their daily routine, as happened with this preschooler, and then suddenly finding yourself in a detention facility in Texas.

KING: Yes, we hopefully get to ask the family at some point whether they think it's better than social services. Priscilla Alvarez, appreciate it.

Also on this breaking news and more breaking news tonight and more evidence of turmoil within the administration over its tactics and its decisions.

Sources telling CNN an FBI agent to investigate it, or at least try to investigate the ICE officer who shot Renee Good, has resigned. Shortly after opening the Civil Rights investigation into the officer, the agent was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into assault on the officer.

Joining me now, the Hennepin County attorney, Mary Moriarty, and John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE Director during the Obama administration.

Mary Moriarty, I want to start with you. Your office is currently investigating Good's shooting. What do we know about -- do you know anything at all about this resignation? And what does it tell you about the administration debate within the administration over how to go forward?

MARY MORIARTY, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: Thank you. I just heard about and read about the resignation, as I think many people did. It tells me that a professional investigator, an FBI agent who was a career agent as opposed to a political appointee, thought that it was appropriate to do a complete investigation and send it to the Department of Justice. But people who didn't know as much as she did about the investigation decided to order them to stop the investigation. And the only thing I can think of is that was for political reasons and I think it's hard to understand.

And I think the public should be disturbed that there isn't an investigation, as there should be as there is in Minnesota. Any time a state peace officer takes the life of a person, there is a complete and thorough investigation, a decision about whether charges are appropriate and transparency.

KING: What can you tell us, Miss Moriarty, about timetable for your investigation, the Hennepin County investigation?

MORIARTY: So, we are doing the investigation in tandem with our state law enforcement agency, the bureau of criminal apprehension, the BCA, as you know, we ordered or we created a public portal so that people could submit evidence because we were not receiving evidence and we -- I'm guessing were not going to receive any evidence from the feds. And we received substantial information there that is helpful.

So, the BCA continues to investigate and interview witnesses, and our hope is to gather all of the evidence that we think we can gather and then be able to make a decision about whether charges are appropriate or not, and then announce that publicly with transparency, so that the public understands exactly what happened here.

KING: John Sandweg, in terms of the five-year-old boy and his dad taken into custody, what are the protocols for children being taken into custody with their parents, and what is the training when you handle a situation like this? Obviously, it can be a tense situation. The agents are in a tough spot, but you had all other people there saying, leave us the child. What are they supposed to do?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Yes, John, I think the problem really with this case goes back to what were they doing there in the first place. There really is absolutely no good law enforcement reason to target an asylum seeker like this. The only reason you would go after someone like this is already in, you have to understand, he's already in deportation proceedings. At this point, there's no evidence that he failed to appear in court or that he was ordered deported and failed to leave the country. He had a court hearing coming up.

So, the only reason you would ever go get him is if you later found out there was something we missed in that initial vetting when he crossed the border and he was paroled in the United States. There was a criminal history or something that said he's a public safety threat. But now you arrive on the scene and you say, were taking him into custody no matter what. You've got a problem on your hands. You have a five-year-old child there. The problem is you can't necessarily easily hand him over to a neighbor or some Good Samaritan just because of the danger to that. You need to give it to a legal guardian.

But of course, the mother is not going to come out because you have a zero-tolerance policy on arrest. In every other administration, really, even during the first Trump administration, what ICE would do is leave. They would not take the father into custody. You don't, there's no law enforcement value there, you know, and you have this -- you've created this dilemma where you're separating the child or ripping the child away, putting them in detention facility, away from his siblings and his mother.

Again, John, I think that's the big issue, though, this is a situation that was created once you arrived inside and you arrested that father.

KING: You took a lot of flak. The Obama administration took a lot of flak for the high level of deportations. Then we didn't see, obviously, public scenes like this. There were some families separated. That was a controversy. But I want to ask you, it's been three full days since this happened. So, if the government actually has something that the dad actually did violate something, that he had violated some law that he was not simply waiting for his asylum process to play out, they've had three full days. I assume if you were in the government and you were dealing with something like this, you would release that material, would you not?

[20:30:16]

SANDWEG: I'd release the kid, John. I'd release the father, like, very quickly, but absolutely, of course. There was some basis here, right?

KING: Right.

SANDWEG: There's some reason from a law enforcement perspective, you know, again, that we were detaining this child with his father, I would do it. But, I mean, of course, I would announce that to the public. But again, John, I just want to say one other thing. The only reason this is happening is because of stats, right?

This administration has put ICE under this relentless pressure to rack up stats. And the reality of the situation is an asylum seeker is the low-hanging fruit. He's an easy target. You know where he is. He doesn't -- he's not going to run. He's not going to be out there hiding.

The criminals are hard to get, John. There's a few of them that they can grab easily, but generally speaking, tracking those criminals requires working with these communities, gaining information, working with your state and local partners to get evidence from their investigations about where these gang members and other people are.

We don't want to do that anymore because it's slow and it results in lower numbers. Instead, we're grabbing asylum seekers off the street and creating situations where now we have a five-year-old in detention stripped away from his siblings and his mom.

KING: And Mary Moriarty, I just want to drill down on this point again. If the federal government had some evidence of criminal activity by the dad, and they were trying to get him off the streets before what happened on Tuesday, wouldn't your office get a BOLO, Be On the LookOut, or some sort of a notice that you got a bad actor in your community, can you help us? Did you get any such document?

MORIARTY: They don't communicate with us, but I think it's very telling we haven't heard that from the administration. I think you're absolutely right. And I think we need to talk about the reality of what happened here. We say detention, which sounds, you know, not as bad as it's an actual cage. It is in a jail.

And this is a five-year-old child. And I would ask anyone in the administration, would you be OK with your five-year-old child being in a cage, essentially, with his father, when his father was not engaged in any criminal wrongdoing and, in fact, relied upon the government to be here seeking asylum? So this goes back to the administration's repeated insistence that they're, you know, they're only after the worst of the worst. And that is why they're here in Minneapolis.

And here we have yet another example of a peaceful person relying on the government, going about his own business, and ICE comes in and, you know, takes he and his five-year-old child and puts them in a cell. That, I think, is just reprehensible.

KING: Mary Moriarty, John Sandweg, grateful for your time tonight. Thank you.

Next for us, some brand-new reporting on how President Trump's viewing all this. And the reception this crackdown is being met with in the Twin Cities. And, yes, those polls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:36:58]

KING: CNN learning tonight behind closed doors, the president privately frustrated that he is perhaps losing control of his immigration messaging as chaotic scenes like what you're seeing right there play out on the streets of Minneapolis. Perspective now from CNN Senior Political Commentators David Urban and Ana Navarro.

Ana, I want to begin with you, and I want to play, I want you to listen a little bit of the president and the vice president this week as we've been watching everything unfold in Minnesota. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whenever you have a law enforcement operation, even if 99.99 percent of the guys do everything perfectly, you're going to have people that make mistakes. That is the nature of law enforcement.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be too rough with somebody or, you know, they deal with rough people. Are they going to make a mistake? Sometimes it can happen terribly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Not often, Ana, the president and the vice president, this administration, not often it uses the words mistake. Do you think that is genuine or is that public spin? Do you see any evidence are actually going to change the strategy or the tactics? ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's a very different hymn that they were singing after the murder of Renee Good, where they were saying that basically ICE could do anything they wanted with immunity. I think that has led to a lot of this performative cruelty that we are seeing play out in the streets of America, this feeling that ICE has that they can get away with doing anything, that all they have to do is meet their quota of people they have to detain and deport, and that then they will be OK.

And I'm glad to hear them changing their tune. But the fact is that what's happening on the streets is not changing. Today, they doubled down. They detained a two-year-old girl in Minneapolis who is now in a detention center with her father. If they wanted to change -- to prove that this was a mistake, John, they could release Liam Ramos.

That would take out so much steam. That would be such a show of good intention. And yes, we made a mistake. His mother is in Minneapolis. His school officials are in Minneapolis. They're willing to take custody. Why is that child still in that detention center?

KING: David, you know the president, and you speak to people inside the White House, the administration. You also know that when he won the election, he had a mandate to be tougher on immigration, to be stronger on immigration. When you watch this and when you talk to them, in the polling, it's crystal clear the American people think this is going too far. Do they feel that way?

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, John, look, I think it depends on who you talk to inside the White House, right? You know, clearly, the president and vice president felt that way. The president did a press conference the other day and talked about the, you know, getting the worst of the worst. You heard the vice president's remarks, trying to turn down the tone.

His tone, as a matter of fact, was not as combative as usual. So I think they do understand that. But, you know, there is also this -- it's incumbent also on, I think, cities across the United States to cooperate with ICE. I think in cities where you see that aren't sanctuary cities, you don't see this going on.

[20:40:03]

You see ICE and law enforcement getting along, cooperating. You don't see this type of protesting, antagonization, interference with, you know, law enforcement operations. It's just not happening. And so, I think the president is frustrated with what's going on in Minnesota, in Minneapolis, in large part, and sees it on the screen.

He's a smart guy, watches lots of things, and knows how it's being received in America. You're right, John, this was a huge win for him on immigration. The border has been effectively shut. You know, 2.5 million people were flooded across every year in the Biden administration, 60 percent of them, you know, illegally, and they're still here in the hinterlands in America.

And so, this administration is faced with a very tough conundrum of, what do you do? How do you get those people out? Where do you get them? Are we going to let them stay here? Clearly not. And how do you police it when the police won't help you?

KING: So -- and I know you're not a fan --

NAVARRO: Well, here's the problem, though, John --

KING: OK.

NAVARRO: -- and David, with what David just said. You can't ask police to help ICE grab U.S. citizens, which they've been doing. You can't ask them to help them grab political asylees. It has been long held U.S. policy that anybody applying for political asylum with a pending political asylum claim is here legally.

The problem is that everybody was pretty much on board with Trump, and he did get big numbers on this issue and the campaign because he was promising to go after gang members, after the worst of the worst, rapists, murderers. And it turns out that we are seeing U.S. veterans detained. We are seeing U.S. citizens dragged out of showers practically naked into the freezing temperatures. We are seeing children being detained.

Americans are, by far, a good, decent people, and they just don't have the stomach to see the images of cruelty that are coming out on a daily out of cities that are practically militarized and taken over by ICE. You are seeing the head of ICE in Gestapo costume. And it's not me making the comparison, it's some of Donald Trump's staunch supporters making that comparison.

Look, I live in Miami. I have a lot of friends who are staunch Trump supporters, MAGA through and through, who are telling me lately he has gone overboard. This has gone too far. Se le fue la mano. And I hope that they are listening to those supporters. I hope they are listening to the manosphere and all of those people who have the radio shows.

America does not have the heart to see cruelty played out in our streets.

KING: David Urban --

URBAN: Yes, you know --

KING: -- Ana Navarro -- go ahead, go ahead, David.

URBAN: -- Ana, I was just going to say quickly, you know, Ana and I first met many years ago, probably about 20 years ago, working on comprehensive immigration reform, trying to solve this issue.

NAVARRO: Yes.

URBAN: And John, this is going to face America until Democrats and Republicans come together and figure out what we're going to do. We have 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. Obama couldn't get rid of them all -- NAVARRO: But David, nobody has more leverage to do something about

that than Donald Trump who has complete and absolute control over his party.

KING: Trump had a mandate after the election. He could have done some of the other pieces, like a guest worker program --

NAVARRO: Yes.

KING: -- like other things. He could have done that right after the election. He chose to do something else.

URBAN: Well, they're going to try -- there's a big mandate to get these folks out of the country who are criminal aliens. The DHS every day, as you're saying, is posting --

NAVARRO: But, David, these aren't criminal aliens. These aren't criminal aliens.

URBAN: Ana --

NAVARRO: We're talking about a five-year-old.

KING: I'm going to end the --

NAVARRO: How can we call them criminal aliens?

KING: I'm going to end the debate for now, but hopefully we can actually have a conversation about policy going forward as we go. David, Ana, appreciate --

URBAN: We'll be back.

KING: -- your time. Thank you. Yes, you will be. I guarantee that.

The latest on that monster winter storm about to hit millions across the United States. That's coming up. Plus, after more than a decade on the run, the former Olympic snowboarder turned FBI most wanted fugitive, now in custody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:48:12]

KING: More now on that massive storm. You see it right there about to slam half the country, more than 230 million Americans in its path. In Texas, it is bringing back not so good memories of the snow and ice storm five years ago that crippled the state's power grid.

Let's see how it's going right now in Dallas. That's where we find CNN's Ed Lavandera. Ed, what are conditions like now and how prepared is Texas this time?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I can tell you just in the last couple of hours, the conditions really starting to change. The wind blowing out of the north much stronger. Temperatures are starting to drop faster and we are pushing toward that freezing mark. And once that happens here in the next couple of hours, this is a part of the country that will not see temperatures above the freezing point until early next week.

City officials all across North Texas are really bracing and urging people to be prepared to remain close to their homes indoors for the next 72 hours. And where we are, John, is interesting because to the north of us in Oklahoma, they're going to see immense snowfall over the next few days.

But somewhere between where I am and the Texas-Oklahoma border, there's going to be a line where that snow converts to sleet and slush and ice. And that is what's going to be so miserable here for the next few days and a great deal of concern about just how much -- many problems and havoc that ice is going to react and cause for people over the next 72 hours as well. John?

KING: Ed Lavandera, thank you. Stay safe, my friend.

Now let's get the impact on air travel, and it is already quite significant. CNN's Pete Muntean standing by for us at Reagan National Airport. Pete, which airports are going to be hit the hardest, and just how bad do you think this is going to get?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: John, things only get more maddening for air travelers from here on out. Sunday is the worst day now for air travel in the last year in the United States. The second worst day tomorrow.

[20:50:14]

Just check FlightAware, got about 2,900 cancelations nationwide tomorrow, 3,900 on Sunday. These are airlines posting these mass cancelations ahead of the storm. The strategy right now is airlines trying to move planes out of the way and bring in employees where it matters most. We're talking de-icing and folks in the operations center to keep things moving.

The big problem here, though, is the fact that the storm is going to hit so many major airline hubs. We're talking Dallas-Fort Worth, where nearly eight in every 10 flights have been canceled come tomorrow, Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma City. The list goes on and on, and we are not going to be out of the woods anytime soon.

The big thing here for airlines is to try to be able to reset quickly when the storm passes on, but the problem will be the bitter and lingering cold. That is the big issue that airlines will have with so many workers out working on the ramp. The wind chills here next week will be in the single digits. It's going to make it very, very difficult for airlines to get back to normal when the storm even has passed, John.

KING: There's a few days ahead for you as well. Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

Shifting gears now, take a look at this. That's the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding in U.S. custody today. The FBI most wanted fugitive had been on the run for more than a decade before turning himself in to authorities in Mexico.

More now from CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Today, we are announcing a capture of another FBI's most wanted top 10 fugitive Ryan Wedding.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding now in custody after being on the run for several years.

PATEL: Without getting into operational sensitivities, Ryan Wedding was apprehended last night in Mexico City.

KAYE (voice-over): Mexico's security secretary said in a tweet on X that Wedding turned himself in to Mexican authorities before being handed over to the FBI. Wedding had a $15 million dollar on his head.

PATEL: Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is. He went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narcotrafficker in modern times. He is a modern day El Chapo. He is a modern day Pablo Escobar. And he thought he could evade justice.

KAYE (voice-over): If Wedding did think that, he was proven wrong. An international manhunt nicknamed Operation Giant Slalom stretched across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Colombia. Wedding, who used aliases such as El Jefe and Giant, was believed to have been hiding out with the Sinaloa cartel and allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking, money laundering and multiple murders. Those murders, authorities say, included government witnesses.

AKIL DAVIS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI LOS ANGELES FIELD OFFICE: We've arrested 36 people for their role in this organization. We've seen mountain of drugs, cash, weapons. We seized the Mercedes Benz, estimated over a $15 million. We seized dozens of motorcycles worth approximately $40 million, and other valuable artwork and jewelry.

KAYE (voice-over): Officials say Wedding's operation made him a very rich man with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. These are pictures of the drugs authorities say they've seized as part of the investigation. Wedding was born in 1981 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and was raised in a family of skiers. He made the Canadian national snowboarding team at 15 and went on to compete in events around the world.

He gave up competitive snowboarding soon after finishing 24th in the parallel Giant Slalom snowboarding event in 2002. After his sports career ended, Wedding enrolled at Simon Fraser University and moved to Vancouver, according to Rolling Stone. The magazine reported he took a job as a bouncer at a club and from there, entered the drug underworld.

Over the last decade or so, authorities believe Wedding has moved an average of 60 tons of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico for distribution in the United States and Canada. Others allegedly involved in his criminal enterprise helped him by laundering money, providing intelligence, assisting in murders, and training hitmen.

CHIEF JIM MCCONNELL, LOS ANGELES POLICE: This is a significant blow to a criminal network that has endangered communities across borders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (on-camera): And John, Wedding is being transferred to U.S. custody. He's due to appear in federal court on Monday. The State Department is still offering a $2 million reward for information leading to additional arrests. And if you're keeping track of the 16 defendants in this case, now at least 13 are in custody, including Wedding.

Others were arrested in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Michigan, and Florida. And if convicted, Wedding would face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. John?

KING: Randi Kaye, fascinating reporting. Thank you so much.

[20:55:00]

Up next, another quick look update on the storm. And yes, your question, just how bad might it get?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: An update now on that brutal winter storm expected to stretch over more than 2,000 miles. Let's go back to Meteorologist Chris Warren in the Weather Center. Chris, history is a word we're hearing a lot. Tell us why.

WARREN: This is a big one, and it's going to be a high impact winter storm. Winter storm warnings in pink. This is where hazardous winter weather is happening or is expected to happen. And this is the most continuous winter storm warnings over counties, over 1,400, most on record since at least 2008.

These cities could, could see a foot of snow. And some of these, it's been a few years to almost 30 years. Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, Philly, Central Park, Boston, all have a chance at seeing a foot of snow. And then here is the ice.

Let's just focus on the hot pink color, the darker pink and the purple colors here for ice accumulation. In that zone that's damaging or crippling, tree damage, numerous power outages, and then the purple color widespread tree damage and long lasting power outages. And you can see the extent of this could see more than an inch in some areas. And then John, after the ice comes the brutally cold temperatures.

KING: You have my attention. I hope everyone at home is listening closely as well.

Chris Warren, thanks you. Everybody have a safe weekend. The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts right now.