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Heavy Snow And Whiteout Conditions Slam The Northeast; Violence Erupts Across Mexico After Death of "El Mencho"; Armed Intruder Shot And Killed Inside Mar-A-Lago. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 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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[07:31:25]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this morning more than 40 million people are under blizzard warnings as a bomb cyclone strengthens and slams into the northeast leaving several emergency declarations and travel bans. The whiteout conditions forcing the cancellation of more than 5,000 flights today alone, halting public transit in many a city.

The heavy snowfall, the powerful winds -- that horrible combination bringing down trees and bringing down power lines, and now the latest numbers are that more than 400,000 customers are without power this morning.

Just look at some of these images. That's out of New York. In New York City, a state of emergency has been in place. Roughly 2,300 snowplows have been deployed and there is a citywide travel ban until noon today. It's also the first snow day for New York City schools since 2019.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is in New York following all of this. Gloria, oh, it looks beautiful and also painful, my friend. How's it -- what are you seeing?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, you know, it is not as painful as the last storm we had a few weeks ago, which was a lot colder, but we are getting a lot more snow. And I was standing on this very spot late last night and now the accumulation is really giving us that wonderful snow globe-type of affect. It looks absolutely gorgeous as the sun is finally starting to come up here in Central Park.

We are starting to see some people starting to venture out because as you said that travel ban is still in effect until noon. That means that cars should be off the roads. There are some exemptions for public workers, emergency workers, essential workers, but if you do not need to get behind the wheel do not do so. Walking -- of course, that is open to everyone.

And I want to get just a little bit not too scientific here, but I do want to measure for us because as I said, we were here late last night, and I want to measure on this one piece of the fountain that has been untouched to see how much snow we have. And this is an unofficial official count of how much snow we've gotten so far because, of course, the snow is still falling. We are seeing more than a foot right now. I'm seeing a little over 15 inches. And this snow, Kate, it's falling from two to three inches an hour during those blizzard conditions.

I also want to talk about kind of the consistency of this snow. This is very heavy, wet snow. In fact, they call it "heart attack snow." That means you should be very careful when you're out there trying to clean this up. It's heavy, it's wet, and it's coming down for the next several hours.

I expect Central Park to turn into a massive playground in the next several hours and that's because, as you said Kate, city schoolkids have a real snow day today. Schools have been closed -- no remote learning -- so that means a lot of very happy children likely to be out here in the next few hours -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: I have already been getting text messages that there definitely are daughters of mine that are very excited to get out in that exact snow right now, begging their father to take them out.

It's great to see you, Gloria. Thanks so much.

J.B., the unofficial official feels like just like the realm we live in.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So my first winter storm live shot for GMA, they sent me out with a yardstick because that's what you have to do.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: You're contractually obligated.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Yes, I am.

BERMAN: And my hands were so numb, I put it in the snow, and it snapped.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Yeah. So I'm on live TV with, like, the snapped yardstick there. It was a sign.

BOLDUAN: You're like --

BERMAN: It was an omen.

BOLDUAN: You were, like, this is an omen.

BERMAN: It was an omen for a successful career.

All right, Delaware is one of the states declaring a state of emergency right now. With us is Joshua Bushweller, the cabinet secretary of Delaware's Department of Safety and Homeland Security. You're safe and sound inside. What's it like outside in Delaware right now? JOSHUA BUSHWELLER, CABINET SECRETARY DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, thank you, John. Yes, I am safe and sound. Unfortunately, it's not the same outside.

So right now, Delaware -- the entire state is under a blizzard warning with conditions, frankly, that we haven't seen in over a decade.

[07:35:00]

In preparation for this storm, Governor Meyer declared a state of emergency yesterday at noon and obviously we're closely monitoring it during the storm. But because of the conditions and because of what we have experienced so far, we definitely do want Delawareans to stay off of the roads unless it's absolutely necessary.

Our state offices are closed. In Sussex County and Kent County we've got level three driving restrictions in place, which means no one can drive with the exception of an absolute emergency. Unfortunately, we've seen some of our snowplows from our Department of Transportation, we've seen some of our emergency personnel with the National Guard in their Humvees getting stuck in these conditions. It is not a good place in Delaware right now because of this storm.

We have tens of thousands without power right now and we're working diligently to try to get that fixed as well.

BERMAN: I was going to ask you about the power situation because you've got tens of thousands without. Can crews even work to restore it like this?

BUSHWELLER: That's a great point and unfortunately because of the conditions we saw overnight last night into early this morning the crews had to be pulled off of restoring the power lines. So we're really mostly impacted in our southern part of the state in Sussex County because of the downed trees and the heavy, wet snow, which was alluded to up in New York City. We're seeing the same thing here. It just creates unbelievable challenging conditions for the workers who are trying to keep people safe as well -- yes.

BERMAN: I'll give you a chance to do one more warning here. People, don't leave. Stay at home if you can. Anything else people need to be aware of this morning as they wake up?

BUSHWELLER: No, I appreciate that. It's really frankly what you just said -- stay home. Unless you have an absolute critical need, an emergency situation, do not travel. Don't go out of your home. Follow the guidance of authorities and do your part to help keep our state safe. You know, together we can get through this safely. Unfortunately we have not had any significant injuries or casualties as a result of this storm, and we want to keep it that way.

BERMAN: Yeah. I've got to tell you, I mean, having walked only really across the street to get here in New York City this morning you can't see a thing. I did -- absolute whiteout conditions. It is not safe to be outside.

Josh Bushweller, thank you so much for being with us. Wishing you all the best in Delaware over the next few hours -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining me now is William Turner, the director of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. We want to check how things are there. How are things and so far, is it as bad as forecasted?

WILLIAM TURNER, DIRECTOR, CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND HOMELAND SECURITY (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, good morning and thanks for having me on.

So we've been activated here in Hartford at the state emergency operations center since 5:00 last night. Our governor declared a state of emergency and our severe cold weather protocols are in effect. And like other states we have that commercial travel ban in place as of 5:00 yesterday.

We've been closely monitoring this overnight, and we really are getting still into the peak of the storm. Fortunately it seems like the winds are, as of right now, underperforming, which is positive as we're dealing with this very heavy, wet snow and the potential for trees and wires to come down. But nonetheless, the rates are falling that are making it very difficult for our plow trucks and public works crews to keep up with.

So we're not out of the woods yet but we are also starting to see those power outages start to tick up as we expected this morning with about just around one percent of the state currently out of power.

SIDNER: Can you give me some sense of what it is that you are warning residents? What are your biggest concerns for residents at this hour?

TURNER: Yeah. So it's the first time in a while that we've seen our partners at the National Weather Service use language like travel will be impossible between certain hours that we're in right now. So --

SIDNER: Yeah.

TURNER: -- again, it's really just reinforcing that everyone needs to hunker down and (audio gap) and have a full travel ban in place only for those commercial vehicles.

We really need the community to do their part and stay off the roads and stay safe so that our public works crews and our DOT workers can get the roads cleared. But understand that the consistency of the snow and the volume that it's falling is going to make it very challenging and it's going to take some time to get the roads opened back up.

SIDNER: Look, the government shutdown is affecting FEMA and there's also been a major cutback to FEMA -- the staffing and the amount of money that FEMA has.

What are your concerns if you need federal help to your state?

TURNER: Yeah. So we actually have two dedicated -- what's called FEMA integration team members here with us in Connecticut. We work closely with our regional office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When it comes to operations even though some staff are not working because of the shutdown, those core staff -- those operational response staff are still in place. We've been in communication with them 24/7 and we haven't noticed any difference in their posture or their ability to support us at this point.

SIDNER: Well, you've given the warning to people to stay off the roads, and we'll just finish with that because we are seeing the pictures from there and it does look ferocious at this hour and it's nowhere near done.

William Turner, thank you so much. I do appreciate you taking the time with us this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Just moments ago a brand-new CNN poll the day before the president's State of the Union address. The blizzard would not keep us from releasing these numbers, though the president might with it did because honestly, it's a doozy, which is a technical term.

[07:40:05]

The president's overall approval rating is at 36 percent. That's a low in this term and an all-time low among Independent voters.

Let's get right to CNN's Washington bureau chief and political director David Chalian who also made it into the office. Well done, sir.

As I said, I've been -- I've been going through these numbers here. This is rough stuff for the president.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, it shows the challenge he has when he goes to address the nation tomorrow.

John, you noted here the overall approval rating, 36 percent. Sixty- three percent disapprove. Look at the disapproval there -- how it breaks out by intensity. I think this is really important to note. Forty-eight percent of Americans, John, strongly disapprove of the president's job performance. That is more than double the amount that say they strongly approve of the president's performance, showing that the disapproval is where the intensity is.

And then you noted that Independent number. To me, John, this is -- this is the headline of this poll. Twenty-six percent job approval for Donald Trump among that critical bloc of Independents in America. That is down 15 percentage points among Independents from just a year ago.

And when you look at some other key demographics -- really, groups that helped Donald Trump to get back into the Oval Office in 2024. Take a look here. He's at 25 percent approval among young people ages 18 to 34. That's down 16 points from a year ago -- a group he made inroads with in '24. And look at the Latino vote. He is at -- among Latino Americans he is at 22 percent job approval rating, down 19 percentage points in approval among Latinos from just a year ago, John.

BERMAN: Yeah, broad-based declines among groups that he needed to win last time around, showing what direction they're headed in right now.

What about policies? What are the voters telling us on that?

CHALIAN: Well, this to me is the challenge for tomorrow night because nearly seven in 10 Americans tell us in this poll that they think Donald Trump does not have the right priorities. So how he uses the State of the Union address to set a course to convince Americans that he is pursuing the right priorities, he's just got a mountain of a challenge here. Seven in 10 -- 68 percent is a big number.

And then the policies themselves -- 61 percent -- six in 10 say that Donald Trump's policies will move the U.S. in the wrong direction. So not only do they think he has the wrong priorities but that the pursuits he has from the policy perspective would put the country in the wrong direction. Again, a pretty substantial majority, John.

BERMAN: It -- so what do people want to hear when he addresses the nation tomorrow night, David?

CHALIAN: Above all else it is the economy and cost of living. Fifty- seven percent of Americans say that is what they most want to hear from him about in this -- in the State of the Union address. Nothing else even comes close to that. So every time you hear the president tomorrow night on foreign policy or on crime and safety, he is not addressing the issue -- the economy and cost of living -- that Americans want to hear from him.

BERMAN: And having looked at the numbers, Republicans want to hear about economy and cost of living more even than Democrats, which is interesting. And foreign policy --

CHALIAN: Nearly two-thirds of Republicans, yeah.

BERMAN: And foreign policy down to two percent, David, on a week when for all we know the United States is poised to strike Iran again, which could happen soon. Interesting to see where the president is focused and what the American people want to see.

A lot in here. Thank you so much for sharing these key points, David -- Kate.

CHALIAN: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: So it is a scary situation that's unfolding in Mexico right now. A wave of violence just erupting in several states there after a military operation killed the country's most powerful cartel leader. Cartel members then burning buses and cars and torching businesses. You see this drone video showing just the smoke billowing into the sky.

Crowds were seen running in panic as well inside Guadalajara Airport over the news. Just take a look at this. Several airlines canceled flights due to the widespread violence there and at other destinations. Some resort towns full of tourists were essentially locked down. The U.S. State Department telling Americans to shelter in place in resort cities like Puerto Vallarta. The cartel leader at the center of this is known as "El Mencho." He's a former police officer who then oversaw the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The U.S. State Department classified him as a specially designated global terrorist earlier this year and the White House now says that the U.S. provided intelligence support for the Mexico operation this weekend.

Joining me right now is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier, and retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons.

Major, let me ask you, how big is this news of El Mencho being taken out?

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): I think it's big news. It's a big national security win right now for this administration that's putting pressure now on Mexico to go after these drug cartel leaders. He was wanted by the United States, but this time provided -- we just provided the intel and, you know, kind of the playbook that we did to take out Maduro.

[07:45:05]

So I think that you're going to see a lot more of this cooperation between the United States and the Mexican government as they -- as this administration -- the Trump administration leans into this very much so, especially in this hemisphere using all those same tools that we used again to take out the Venezuela leader. And you'll -- I think you'll continue to see a lot more of it.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. I mean, you've got the violence that they need to get under control now in response to this, and American tourists that they need to get out of the country safely.

But Kim, the strength and operations ongoing of drug cartels in Mexico is something, as Mike was getting at, that President Trump has been fixated and focused on. The administration has tried to use it as leverage over Mexico's government in many different ways.

What does this now, as you hear cooperation here in this -- driving this operation -- what do you think this now means for that relationship?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, one way to look at this is that the pressure seems to be working. That Mexico took a look at the U.S. action in Venezuela and decided OK, we're going to do after this incredibly violent network Oseguera built from being a policeman to being a Sinaloa confidante and affiliate to something much larger.

But taken another way the Mexican government's top security official had been targeted specifically by Oseguera, so this was also personal. But you can see what the blowback has produced. This is a heavily armed cartel. They've even got things like RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). They've taken down a Mexican helicopter.

So the Mexican government has to weigh the crackdowns against the instability that it can produce across the entire country.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and then some real questions this morning of what the U.S. government is going to do to try to help get Americans out if they are, at this point, telling them to shelter in place in places like Puerto Vallarta -- resort towns that so many people, me included, have been to, and telling them to shelter in place because the violence is happening right outside their windows.

Major, I want to turn, at the same time, to focus also in Iran and the very latest there. I mean, there is another round of talks over the nuclear program set for this Thursday. The United States, as we know, is amassing, like, the most military power in the Middle East than it has in two decades.

I want to play for you what President Trump's special envoy for it seems all things just said about these talks yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: I don't want to use the word "frustrated." It's almost because, you know, he understands he's got plenty of alternatives. But he's curious -- he's curious as to why they haven't -- I don't want to use the word "capitulated", but why they haven't capitulated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: What do you take that -- take from that?

LYONS: Well, it tells me the Iranians are not going for our extreme -- or our demands when it comes to getting rid of their ballistic missiles as well as enriching uranium. Not really willing to make a deal and they're going to try to extend this out.

But I think on our side I'm not sure the military conditions are perfect yet or where we want to be in order for us to launch an attack. And any kind of military operation would have to be an extended campaign. It wouldn't just be this one attack into Natanz or Fordow and to try to take out, you know, one location. I think it's going to be a much more detailed military operation considering the size of the military forces we've established there.

But it just doesn't look like that the Iranians want to agree. And what they're trying to do is they're racing against time. They have to break out and get a nuclear weapon very quickly in order to keep that deterrence.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

And Kim, The New York Times has some deeply-sourced reporting this morning on conversations going on behind the scenes, really, at the White House and within the administration about trying to avoid the U.S. needing to launch or deciding to launch a military operation.

The Times putting it at one point, "Whether both sides [meaning the U.S. and Iran] could agree to a face-saving compromise about nuclear production that Washington and Tehran could each describe as a total victory."

What are you hearing and what could an off-ramp look like? I guess, also, has it been defined what winning looks like before they even start this?

DOZIER: Well, the U.S. has carefully not defined it, and President Trump has kept moving the goal post. First, it was something about democracy and then he started focusing just on the nuclear issue. And then Israel got involved and said hey, remember those ballistic missiles, and that got added.

The asks from the U.S. right now are more than Iran has ever agreed to before. And we're hearing that the Iranian leaders are -- leadership -- they're taking steps such that if Ayatollah Khamenei is taken out, he has confidants in line to step up, and the military is also ready to do the same thing. There is a succession plan. You know, martyrdom has always worked in the past for the Iranian government to stay in power.

[07:50:10]

So, you know, we're in a situation where the Iranians might be misjudging the Trump administration and saying, you know, they want a peace deal. They will blink. They don't really want to blow us up.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you both. Thank you very much for jumping on this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, not all heroes wear capes; some drive trucks. Wait until you see what this moving crew did to save a little girl they recognized who had been kidnapped.

And a Delta flight forced to return to a Savannah, Georgia airport after an engine blowout sparking a grass fire that turned into a wall of flames. We'll give you what happened with this story.

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[07:55:15]

SIDNER: A dangerous and deadly scenario at Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service and Palm Beach County law enforcement shot and killed an armed intruder who breached the security perimeter at the president's private club and residence in Florida early Sunday morning. Agents at the scene say he was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. Neither President Trump or the first lady were there at the time.

CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene is at the White House where the president spent the weekend. Alayna, the president has not yet commented on the shooting or what we saw with this person breaching the security perimeter. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, it was actually lucky that the president and the first lady remained in Washington over the weekend, in the winter months, as you know, Sara, and us covering it so closely. The president is often at his Mar-a-Lago resort on weekends so it's lucky he wasn't there.

Um, look, we haven't heard from him yet. We have heard from the FBI director Kash Patel. He weighed in, saying that the FBI is leading this investigation and sending many resources to the scene yesterday. In the aftermath of all of this we also heard from the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commending the work of the Secret Service agents on the ground.

Now, just to give you a little more insight into what we heard and what we know as of now.

One is that, as you mentioned, it was a white man in his early 20s who went through the perimeter of the president's Mar-a-Lago home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday before he was shot by agents and a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

As you said, they -- the man did appear to be carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, and when agents -- you know, he made it 20 or 30 yards inside the perimeter when the agents, you know, tried to address him and told him to drop those items. They say that he "raised the shotgun to a shooting position." That is when the deputy and the agents began firing.

So there's still more we have to learn. We do know that the man is from North Carolina and was reported missing on Saturday by his mother.

And I do think it's important to note, of course, the context of all of this. We know that the president has been targeted. This is the third instance when he has been targeted by a potential shooter. You know, we had the scene in Butler, Pennsylvania back in July of 2024. September 2024, there was another man who tried to assassinate the president at his Florida golf club. He was actually sentenced this month to life in prison.

And we've seen these scenes of heightened political violence in other cases as well with the Democrats -- you know, with Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman. She is a Democrat. She and her husband were shot and killed over the summer. And then also the conservative, of course, activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed late last year.

All to say this is something many people are worried about. A lot of attention being paid to what has happened there in Florida. I do envision that we might hear something from the president in some of his public remarks, but as you noted he has not publicly commented on what took place yesterday morning.

SIDNER: Yeah. We will wait and see what we hear from the White House on that.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting out there in very chilly Washington, D.C. -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning a moving crew in Phoenix helped find a missing 3-year-old child who was the subject of active Amber Alert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By God, that's her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, that's her.

CHAD OLSEN, PRESIDENT, CAMELBACK MOVING: We're Good Samaritans and do the right thing. I mean, we have core values about community and being proactive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The movers were at a gas station when they recognized the suspect, the child, and the pickup truck from the Amber Alert. They called police and some nearby coworkers helped block the suspect's vehicle from leaving the parking lot. Police arrived and took the suspect into custody. They say the child was not harmed.

New footage of police in New Jersey catching a man jumping from a burning building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you! Let go! Let go! Drop! Go, go, go! Let go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got you, we got you. Come on, come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Wow.

Now, two people made it out, but a 92-year-old woman died in that fire. Officials say it started in a storage container outside the home and was likely sparked by failing batteries.

This morning the dog abandoned by his owner at an airport at the Las Vegas airport is waking up in a new home. The 2-year-old Goldendoodle spent 10 days with animal control whose new owner is now the police officer who rescued him. And he's got a new name apparently -- JetBlue.

Officials say the woman who left him at the airport is charged with animal abandonment and resisting arrest. Police say she did not have proper paperwork to fly with the dog as a service animal, so she left the dog at the counter and went to try to catch her flight. She did not, by the way, make it on the plane. She was stopped before she got on board.