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Potentially Historic Winter Storm To Impact Much Of The U.S.; One-On-One With Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey; Rep. Warren Davidson (R- OH) On U.S. Armada Headed Toward Iran. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:25]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking news we will be tracking all morning -- a massive and possibly historic winter storm is already beginning to move in. More than 230 million people are facing weather alerts. The storm is set to stretch more than 1,500 miles from Texas to the Northeast. More than 1,300 flights already canceled for tomorrow.

And here's the timing to keep an eye on. Today, Dallas and -- Dallas to Memphis will begin feeling the brunt of it. Tomorrow, Atlanta, Louisville, Charlotte -- you need to be prepared. And Sunday, Washington, D.C, Philadelphia, New York City -- that's when the effects begin to set in.

But what is -- what are emergency responders preparing for and need to be preparing for? Joining us right now is the former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate. It's good to see you again, administrator. Thanks for coming in.

When you've got a storm system that's going to be hitting half the country, how does FEMA preposition assets, as they always do, to prepare to respond?

Well, it looks like we may be frozen. Administrator Fugate, it's Kate Bolduan. Can you hear me? Yeah, it looks like we need to -- it looks like we need to a little bit of reconnection to get the administrator back up. We will work on that and we'll -- and we'll get back when we sort it out.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the things obviously people are asking about in the midst of all this cold --

BOLDUAN: Yes, sir.

BERMAN: -- like, record-breaking cold, is how can it be so cold in the midst of all the climate change and the warming --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- that's happening around the globe. Let's bring in CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir. Bill, what about that?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does come up and it's used by climate deniers and science denies again and again. Well, here's your global warming as you show pictures of blizzards and ice storms and this sort of thing. But actually they kind of go together and I'll explain why.

It all comes down to the polar vortex. This is this belt that goes around the top around the Arctic Circle and when it's tight and strong typically it holds the cold air in place up in the -- up in the North Pole there. But as that ice in the North Pole melts it's affecting that polar vortex. We're seeing it break down and start to wobble and bring these big fingers of cold air.

Remember a few years ago in Texas they had that deep freeze as a result of that polar vortex coming way down south. We're getting a sense of that here today.

Of course, a warmer atmosphere also holds more moisture. And in hurricane season that means faster, bigger storms that intensify rapidly in the winter months. That can mean these huge blizzards. We just saw one in Russia -- 10 feet of snow in eastern Russia. They are, of course, no stranger to snow in that part of the world but 10 feet of it burying the first floor of some homes there, as well as you can see this.

And so it's the extremes, not just the drier dries or the longer droughts. But the bigger blizzards are all part of a climate that is really wildly out of balance right now. And what we're going to see is a real test of infrastructure with all that ice in the middle of the country.

Of course, as I referenced that one back in Texas a few years ago, that really knocked out power. It created a huge debate after -- over energy streams. They tried to -- some tried to blame the wind turbines but, in fact, it was gas-fired power plants that had broken down due to maintenance now.

So we're going to see examples of this -- a test of our national grid and infrastructure under all this ice right now and adaptation -- you know, figuring out how to adapt to all of these wildly unpredictable weather events on a warmer planet is all part of the cocktail these days, John.

BERMAN: And we're certainly seeing the extremes, and it will tax the systems over the next few days.

Bill Weir, great to see you this morning. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's get back to the administrator -- the former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate. I think we have fixed the technical glitches. Administrator, can you hear me? It's Kate.

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yes, I can.

BOLDUAN: Great. Thank you so much.

With this massive storm reaching from Texas all the way into New England, when you look at emergency preparedness and response if you've got a storm hitting half the country how does FEMA preposition assets to prepare to respond?

FUGATE: Well, FEMA is going to respond as states request assistance and the primary focus here is going to be on the ice. That's where you're going to see the most damage, you're going to see the most power outages. And again, it will be -- you know, the governors are going to lead these responses. They have a lot of resources -- National Guard -- and if they need things they're going to make requests to FEMA.

[07:35:08]

BOLDUAN: Ken Graham, the director of National Weather Service, was on with us yesterday and he said that in his 30-plus years working at NOAA it's only been a handful of times that he's seen watches and warnings stretching, you know, something towards 2,000 miles. And as you mentioned, he shares that his biggest concern is the ice.

Let me play what he said -- and we don't have that. But he basically said that because of what the ice does he feels like people often -- and I agreed with him -- they often underestimate the impact of what ice storms can do.

What is it about ice?

FUGATE: Well, they have the term "catastrophic ice accumulations" in the forecast. They rarely use that. And that's really to communicate to people that, you know, they're forecasting a quarter of an inch or more ice accumulation. That's the point where trees come down and power lines snap.

So they're trying to tell people you're going to deal with power outages but also treacherous, very dangerous conditions outside and the safest place to be is home. But they really want to focus on -- and I think this is what we've got to get people -- you know, we've dealt with snow. We can deal with extreme cold. There are things there you need to get ready. But ice is an entirely different level in these winter storms to get ready for.

BOLDUAN: CNN also has some new reporting, Administrator, that FEMA has now just halted and stopped ongoing terminations and firings of hundreds of disaster workers as the agency is preparing for the storm.

What kinds of questions does this raise for? What kind of test is this for a dramatically slimmed-down FEMA?

FUGATE: Well Kate, it will depend upon these impacts. And by and large in ice storms FEMA has historically provided financial assistance when it has reached thresholds of catastrophic losses to state and local governments. And ice is primarily going to be power outages and roads shut down --

not a lot of structural damage. So unlike a hurricane or earthquake, or even wildfires, damages tend to be more of the response cost. And again, the states will have the opportunity if they find that they need assistance to make those requests and the administration will make decisions about that.

But the -- but again, the key thing here is the initial response is going to be primarily utilities and Departments of Transportations. People should stay home so the emergency services folks don't get overtaxed.

BOLDUAN: And being -- and the hardest thing, of course, to ask as it's bitterly cold and you may be without power is to be patient while they're trying to get on the roads to start getting everybody back online.

It's great to see you, Administrator. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

Let's get back to Minneapolis. Sara is on the ground -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Yeah, I mean, here, Minneapolis is caught in this hellish, bitter vortex but there are still plans to rally today -- to protest the immigration crackdown here. Businesses also are expected to take part in what they're calling an economic blackout to protest ICE. They are telling Minnesotans, you know, across the state to avoid shopping today and stay home from work or school, some of which people are doing just because the weather is dangerously cold here.

But this comes a day after Vice President Vance showed up here saying look, he wanted to come to town to speak with some local community members and some local leaders to calm the tensions here. That is not exactly what he did. Instead, he blamed local authorities for most of the problems because he said they were not cooperating with ICE.

Local authorities have been very clear that is not what they plan to do. They feel like ICE is out of control.

I got a chance to speak with the mayor -- Mayor Jacob Frey here. The mayor of Minneapolis responded to Vance's statements and his accusations, and I spoke with him about that and much more. Take a listen.

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SIDNER: What is your response to Vice President Vance basically laying most if not all of the blame on local authorities not cooperating with ICE, saying that is why there's so much chaos?

MAYOR JACOB FREY, (D) MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: We have, for years, worked with federal agencies to drive down violent crime. We've worked with the ATF, the FBI, the DEA, the U.S. Attorney's Office to, for instance, successfully drive down crime on our north side to where right now shootings are at a record low.

If this was about safety, then there would be a whole lot of opportunity to partner and do it. But this is not about safety. It's not even about immigration. What we are seeing right now is that this is political retribution. It's about causing chaos on our streets. And no, it's not helpful.

[07:40:00]

SIDNER: The administration subpoenaed you; they subpoenaed the A.G.; they subpoenaed the governor.

Do you see that as something that they're looking at that is legitimately a legal pathway where they're looking for something or do you see this simply as retribution, which is what Donald Trump has constantly complained happened to him?

FREY: You don't need to take my word for it; you can listen to exactly what Donald Trump is saying. And he's saying and many of those that work for him are saying this is about some form of retribution.

We would be getting targeted -- in fact, are getting targeted for doing one of the most basic things that we are required to perform as public servants. And for me, that's speaking on behalf of my constituents. That is a responsibility that I have, an obligation that I have that is written into our city charter.

So when I sign that paper and I say that I'm going to faithfully perform my duties as mayor, part of that is speaking for the 435,000 people that I represent and many more that come and go. I take that responsibility very seriously. And if somebody would be investigated for it, of course, it should be deeply concerning not just for me, not just for Minneapolis, but that is concerning for the endurance of our republic. Other countries work that way. We can't here in the United States.

SIDNER: Are you going to respond to the subpoena?

FREY: I'm going to let the attorneys handle what the best legal strategy is on that front.

SIDNER: Let me ask you about the new document that came out that was brought up by a whistleblower who said that the policies of ICE have changed in how they are going to use tactics to get into homes. That they can now forcibly enter a home without a judicial warrant if the person that they are looking for has a final deportation notice.

What do you make of that -- different than they've ever done before or any other agency?

FREY: I guess I don't know enough about the document that you're referencing. I do know about the guidance that we have given to people in the city of Minneapolis in the Know Your Rights campaign that we are running. And what we are telling people is that if they are going to enter a home -- a private residence, what they need is a judicial warrant, which is a warrant that is signed by a judge -- and the administrative warrant is not enough.

SIDNER: ICE is telling their agents that administrative warrant is now enough.

FREY: Yeah.

SIDNER: And you say?

FREY: I'd say that it isn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And so we are hearing that over and over and over again from people here.

And what they're saying in response to JD Vance -- the people who live here, who are regular citizens trying to go about their day including, of course, immigrants who are in fear here -- they're saying if JD Vance really wants to calm things down here in Minneapolis then he needs to have ICE stop its tactics, which they believe are unconstitutional. That is the only thing that is going to calm the chaos here -- Kate -- John.

BERMAN: No, I'll take it, Sara. It's great to have you in Minnesota. Great to have you inside since I think it's about minus-15 and that's even before windchill outside.

SIDNER: Yeah.

BERMAN: We'll come back to you in a second, Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, President Trump says a major convoy of U.S. military ships heading toward Iran. He says he would rather not use them but is not ruling it out. The president has issued a series of threats following Iran's violent crackdown on protests there. This is what he said earlier this week if Iran takes any military action against the United States.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've left notification that if anything ever happens, we're going to blow the hell -- the whole country is going to get blown up. And I would absolutely hit them so hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Congressman Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, always great to see.

The president has said, you know, if Iran strikes U.S. forces he would retaliate. He's also said in the past if they go after the protesters in Iran he might use military force. You're on the Foreign Affairs Committee and you're a veteran yourself.

When would you involve U.S. forces in Iran?

REP. WARREN DAVIDSON (R-OH) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, personally, I would focus less on Iran international politics. I mean, I wish the people well there. I hope they get their freedom. They live in a very oppressive regime. But they really have a lot of economic turmoil going on in their country. Their currency is being devalued, and the quality of life is wrecked for, you know, average Iranians.

And so a lot of the protests really rose out of not that they hate their government because of their ideology; they hate their government because of the results in their economy. And so the idea that somehow America is going to blow things up and be greeted as liberators -- you know, I'm not sure that that's really the role we should play there.

I think we should look at, you know, the effect of our sanctions, for example, are having an impact on their economy and yet the regime isn't changing course. So I think the challenge is how do we communicate that? And I think at the end of the day, once people know the truth, they want freedom. And ultimately that's what prevailed in the Cold War.

[07:45:10]

BERMAN: The Lindsey Grahams of the world -- the Republican senator from South Carolina -- have been more supportive of the idea of U.S. military action for regime change in Iran.

How do you feel about that?

DAVIDSON: Yeah. There really aren't very many regime changes that Lindsey Graham isn't in favor of, you know. So yeah, he and I have a very different outlook of the U.S. role in foreign affairs. I think that we don't have to get into all the wars we're invited to, and we have plenty of trouble that finds our way on its own.

And look, the president's national security strategy rightly pivots towards security in this hemisphere beginning with border security and extending on to the western hemisphere. So I think we really need to pay attention to our own backyard.

And there's some interconnectedness here when you look at Venezuela and you look at Iran, and you look at our currency and how do you protect it so we don't have instability in our own. Our currency is on the ropes. You look at the price of gold and precious metals soaring.

It's to say look, you're destroying the value of the money and that inherently happens when you spend $7 trillion and you collect $5 trillion in taxes. You're structurally destroying the value of the money to the tune of $2 trillion every year in the United States, which is massive.

But China was undermining that with not just the illicit finance with the fentanyl trade but with the oil in Venezuela. So we are police in our own backyard and we are countering China. Iran is part of the interconnectedness with undermining the strength of the U.S. dollar.

So there's some level of attention that needs to be paid there. But as for boots on the ground and regime change wars, I think that's the wrong approach.

BERMAN: There was a war powers vote in Congress yesterday over restricting future U.S. action in Venezuela. It went down. It was actually a 215-215 tie but that means effectively it doesn't pass. You voted against it.

You and I, though, have had interesting discussions where you think that Congress has abdicated its power over generations in the use of military force. So why did you vote against this yesterday, and how would you like Congress to be involved going forward in military action?

DAVIDSON: Yeah. So I think that's the question is the war powers basically just says just abandon everything and get out of Venezuela. I think that would be a disaster and so that's like a wrong-headed approach.

What we should be talking about is well, what should we be doing in Venezuela? And I think the administration is largely doing that right now with great effect. They're not getting on the ground in Ve and trying regime change; they're using leverage over the oil, which has long been sanctioned.

And so they're seizing -- it's been wrongly called a blockade around Venezuela. We're not cutting off all goods and services going into Venezuela. We're seizing oil that has been sanctioned and we're selling it, and the proceeds are going back to the government of Venezuela. So it creates a massive amount of leverage --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

DAVIDSON: -- to change policy in Venezuela. Venezuela hasn't responded by declaring war on the United States, and so tensions haven't escalated there.

So I think look at that approach and I think it makes sense.

BERMAN: Very quickly, last question, Congressman. You're in Troy, Ohio. I think you're going to get a foot of snow maybe this weekend. Are you a snow blower or a shovel guy?

DAVIDSON: Yeah, somewhere between six inches and six feet. You know how the forecasts go. But no -- in all seriousness, I think we're looking at eight to 12 inches here with the forecast and really cold weather. I do think the ice, which is, you know, really heavy --

BERMAN: Yeah.

DAVIDSON: -- and causes big power outages is headed further south. But hopefully everybody stays safe.

BERMAN: So snow plow or shovel for you? DAVIDSON: Snow blower --

BERMAN: Yeah.

DAVIDSON: -- shovel, and ice to trim up.

BERMAN: All of the above.

Congressman Warren Davidson, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I love the attention to detail.

Trump ignites a legal fight with the biggest bank in America. Why the president is taking JPMorgan Chase to court for $5 billion.

And a buck on the lam. More like a buck in a bank. A deer makes a mess after hours.

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[07:53:25]

BOLDUAN: Happening today Denmark's prime minister will be in Greenland to meet with Greenland's premier. Topic number one must be President Trump's so-called framework of a future deal that he announced from Davos about the Danish territory. Still though today details are light on what has actually been agreed to. And CNN has learned that there is no actual document -- no actual document exists yet.

Trump and the NATO secretary general reached a verbal understanding this week. That seems clear.

And here is what we know since then. The framework involved updating a 1951 security agreement with Denmark -- an agreement that already allows for a U.S. military presence in -- on Greenland in perpetuity. President Trump says that this new understanding would allow for "total access" for defense.

Overnight, here's the latest from him.

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TRUMP We'll be able to do whatever we want. We're all going to work together and actually, NATO is going to be involved with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's Minister for Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice & Gender Equality. Thank you so much for being here, Minister.

The president says total access -- some of what he says. The president says the deal will be -- the way he put it -- "much more generous to the United States. So much more generous." He continues though to skirt questions on sovereignty, which was a very central focus for him. What he's now saying now when asked is that "We have the ability to do exactly what we want to do."

[07:55:00]

To this point has Greenland been involved with these negotiations at all?

NAAJA NATHANIELSEN, GREENLAND MINISTER OF BUSINESS, TRADE, MINERAL RESOURCES, JUSTICE & GENDER EQUALITY: No. I think none of us is really -- have a clear perspective of what is really agreed upon. So I think where I see it, we are back to where we were a week ago where we had an agreement. We went to Washington -- Greenlandic and Danish counterparts -- and talked to officials from the U.S.

And I think we're back to that same position that we are willing to look at a lot of different possibilities to accommodate any wishes from the American side, except giving up sovereignty, of course.

BOLDUAN: So from -- in your view, as one of the officials there on the island, nothing is -- nothing changed in Davos?

NATHANIELSEN: Well, there -- a lot of things happened in Davos, I think. And what I took away from what happened in Davos was especially the speech from Mr. Carney, I think was very clear-eyed and had a good perspective on the situation of the world today. I think that was much more interesting.

And I'm really happy that the U.S. seemed to have changed its perspective on getting sovereignty over Greenland and instead going back to the negotiating table. I think that that's the right place to be. I think we can reach a lot of agreements together. I think we can move along with any concerns on your part as well as ours.

But that's where we are right now, and I think we were there a week ago as well.

BOLDUAN: Hmm.

The prime minister of Greenland has said the sovereignty, as you were mentioning, is a red line. The NATO secretary general says sovereignty did not come up in his talks that he had with President Trump. And President Trump, as you mentioned, says that he is not going to use military force and is presenting it as a deal that he is happy with now.

Do you think the end result here -- you said back to where we were a week ago, but does that also mean the end result here is President Trump is backing down from his threats or giving up on what he said his goal was?

NATHANIELSEN: Well, I'm really happy that the discussion of military actions in Greenland, my country, is off the table. I think, of course, that is unacceptable on many, many, many levels and has caused a great deal of concern in Greenland.

But we have been saying all the time that we are willing to discuss an increase in national security for the U.S. in -- by opening Greenland up to some sort of access in one form or other. That is not the issue.

What I really think we should look on in Greenland and in the world is not so much the Greenland case. We will figure out a deal. I'm sure of it. It's much more where is the U.S. positioned in this new world order. Who are your allies? What are your end goals? Where do you see the future is going in terms of trade and prosperity? And I think the world is really looking towards the U.S. to try to figure that out.

BOLDUAN: I want to clarify just one thing. To this point, Greenland has not been party to any of the negotiations and is not part of this negotiated deal?

NATHANIELSEN: Well, there is no negotiated deal yet. We had a meeting in Washington last week. An agreement was made to start the dialogue and we're really happy about that. And that's where we are once again.

Besides that, there's been a lot of speeches and statements in the press. That's not where we negotiate. So we are really happy to go back to the table and start the dialogue and deepening and figuring out what is it the U.S. really wants with, of course, the red lines from Greenland in mind that we do not want to be annexed, occupied, taken by force, sold or bought.

BOLDUAN: Naaja Nathanielsen, minister -- Greenland's Minister of Business, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice & Gender Equality. Thank you very much for coming in today -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning a deal to keep TikTok in the United States has been finalized. The majority will be owned by, as The Wall Street Journal puts it, entities friendly to the United States. Chinese-owned ByteDance will still own a share, and they will still own the algorithm, which will be licensed to the U.S. entity.

The app was spun off to address national security concerns. China has not yet commented. A statement from the join venture group claims safeguards are in place to protect the data of the app's more than 200 million American users.

So new video of a fully grown male deer -- whoo -- crashing through a bank window on Long Island.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Deer crashing through window. Alarm going off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Police arrived to find the animal stuck in the bank after it tripped the burglar alarm. It took five officers to catch the animal. I can imagine why it took so long and so many. Eventually they were able to get him out.

On the subject of bucks -- great transition there -- this morning President Trump is filing a $5 billion lawsuit against the nation's largest bank. Trump alleges that JPMorgan and their CEO Jamie Dimon "dropped him as a client in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riots." Trump says he and his family were placed on a blacklist.