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Boston Faces Winter Storm; New York Faces Winter Storm; Brett Smiley is Interviewed about the Storm in Rhode Island; Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) is Interviewed about Iran; Armed Intruder Shot at Mar- a-Lago. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Saying he doesn't sweat. The photo and caption were on display for about 15 minutes before the staff realized and removed it. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has denied any wrongdoing.

All right, the Department of Homeland Security is backtracking on its own decision to suspend TSA precheck amid the partial government shutdown. The reversal came yesterday after hours of mixed messages. First, DHS announced it would suspend both TSA precheck and Global Entry. The TSA pushed back saying precheck remained operational with no changes for the public. CNN has reached out to Customs and Border Protection for an update on the status of Global Entry. That has got a lot of people talking.

All right, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

All right, breaking this morning, millions of Americans are waking up in a real-life snow globe and a massive winter storm is paralyzing parts of the northeast. We are tracking the latest for you this morning.

Also, Iranian students launch a new round of protests as Tehran faces mounting pressure from the U.S. to curb its nuclear program. A third round of talks expected later this week.

And a Delta flight makes an emergency landing after an engine blows out, igniting a huge grass fire.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news, this morning, a major winter storm on the move in the northeast. We're going to show you a live camera here of -- this is a look at Boston. Burr is all I can say.

Much of the region is now experiencing widespread blizzard conditions. Snow's still falling at two to three inches per hour and will be for at least the next hour. In all, more than 40 million people are facing blizzard warnings across 11 states. This is already the most snow that New York City has seen from a single storm in more than five years. Fifteen inches and counting in Central Park. In Philadelphia, this is the first storm to drop more than a foot of snow in over ten years. Lots of records happening here. In parts of New Jersey they've already gotten more than two feet. All across the region, with the way the snow is falling, more than 400,000 customers are without power. And with that, the storm is also making a mess of travel. Whiteout conditions from this snow and the wind gusts hitting more than 70 miles per hour at times, making roads impassable. A snowplow overturned in Long Island. We have images of it with -- and facing all of this.

We spoke just moments ago with two governors asking residents to please still stay off the roads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): My biggest concern now is really with some of these trees and branches coming down that presents a very dangerous situation on our roads. And to our utilities. If you see downed wires, stay away from them and call it in immediately. That's a really dangerous situation.

And then certainly being out with some of this, really worried about trees and branches. So, we're getting those taken care of. And then the whiteout. You know, just the fact that this wind is making some of these whiteout conditions. And finally, we're still not through it. So, we're digging out while snow is still coming down.

GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): I just urge everybody, I know people start getting impatient, want to get back out on the roads, stay back, let our guys do the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: All right, we have team coverage for you across the region. Boston, New York, Philadelphia.

Let's start with Michael Yoshida in Boston.

What are you seeing there now? Still falling. My goodness

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) strong. This is a pretty nasty nor'easter for this area.

We're right by the harbor here in Boston. And you can see at this point those whiteout conditions, normally there's a very nice clock tower. Some of the buildings further in, in our shop, but you can't see any of that right now. All of this snow really starting to pick up. You can see some of the gear that we have out here, hoping to keep our camera together. It is flapping around. But this is an intense storm.

And it's a storm over the last 24, 48 hours, as we've heard from officials, they've talked about, yes, we've had other storms, even just, what, three, four weeks ago here in Massachusetts that dumped a lot of snow. This will make you forget about that storm because we have these strong gusts. We have this very wet, heavy snow starting to pile up. And as we walk through it, as we look around, this is where they're concerned about the more long-term impacts with power outages here in the state. Checking a short time ago, I think we still had tens of thousands of customers already without power. The worry being these strong winds, as you can see, are going to hit those lines, hit those trees that are caked with this heavy, wet snow. That's going to bring them down.

[09:05:01]

And that's going to cause all the trouble here. The message being, if you don't have to be out here, stay home, stay off the roads, let these crews do their work.

We know across the state of Massachusetts, some 3,000 pieces of equipment at work trying to keep up with this snow. But officials saying, you know, that's going to be a very big challenge during the height of this storm when we're an inch or more an hour.

Obviously, stay home. If you don't have to be out here, don't. And, yes, we'll keep you updated as this storm continues to pound this area.

BOLDUAN: Pound this area. Your hat and scarf are beginning to accumulate the snow and ice. Your photographer doing hero's work, trying to sing, dance and keep the camera from falling over in those gusts of wind. Thank you very much, Michael. Thanks to your whole team.

You can see those whiteout conditions we're talking about here now very much in effect.

Let's go to Bill Weir. He's in New York.

Bill, still -- it's blowing sideways still in New York.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's still coming down, Kate. It's that wind. Up to, you know, 40, 50 mile an hour gusts out on some parts of Long Island. We are here in Dumbo, Brooklyn, just on the Brooklyn side of the East River. There's a bus running today. Non- essential travel has been shut down, including livery drivers.

But here you can see, in New York City -- thank you, sir, I appreciate you.

New York City, it is up to the property owners to do the sidewalks while the city takes care of the streets. And that has created a -- just a nasty obstacle course in the last month since the last storm created these icebergs. Disgusting icebergs on the side of the streets in Manhattan and many of the boroughs here.

This storm is different. This will melt much faster. But it's not over yet. They say we got snow coming down at up to three inches an hour here. This is blizzard conditions. The first in over a decade. In order to, you know, qualify for a blizzard, you need 35 mile an hour winds sustained for three hours. You need less than, I think, a quarter mile visibility. So, this qualifies here as well.

But some intrepid walkers, some intrepid dog walkers out this morning. For the most part with the schools closed, the only action we're seeing are the big sanitation trucks that are plowing the streets, trying to stay ahead of this.

Got about 14 -- a little over 14 inches at Central Park right now. So, we're over -- well over a foot, headed to what may be two feet overall.

But now we're down by the river. This is the Manhattan Bridge. There's a couple subway lines that go over that bridge they have to worry about. There's actually snow clearing subway cars for days like this.

But here we can't even see Manhattan. And you can barely see the Brooklyn Bridge there in these whiteout conditions. In fact, the street lights don't know whether to go on -- go off or on right now given everything that's happening.

But right now we're just in the thick of it, Kate, hunkering down. We'll take a tour of the city this morning and see how other areas are faring. But this is a big one. And, of course, as we know on a -- in climate change, it doesn't mean the end of blizzards like this. It just means more extreme, less predictable. The atmosphere holds a lot more moisture, even in winter. And here we have it.

I'll send it back to you in the cozy studio.

BOLDUAN: Yes, cozy studio. But honestly, watching you, Bill, even still I'm getting chills. You are such a rock star, you and your team. And you're talking about climate change. I've got family in Colorado who are begging that we send it over to Colorado --

SIDNER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Because they need it, and we're getting all of it.

WEIR: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: And you talk about those snowbirds, they are terrifyingly treacherous in New York. We don't need this. But we're in the middle of it.

WEIR: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Bill.

WEIR: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my gosh, I seriously keep getting chills thinking about it.

All right, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. Seriously, those were incredible pictures though with the bridge there, right down there in Dumbo. Wow. Let's take you now to Rhode Island, where we're going to be joining

the mayor, Mayor Brett Smiley, who is with us this morning.

Mayor, can you give us some sense of what you're seeing outdoors right now?

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY (D), PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Yes, we're -- you can't see much given what's happening right now. I'm here at the Department of Public Works headquarters. The windows behind me usually have a view of our skyline. And they are snow-covered, and visibility is a matter of feet right now.

And so, we're at the height of the storm with snowfall rates of two to three inches an hour. Our plows are actually largely on the side of the road right now because it's not safe for them either. So, we're urging everyone to stay off the roads. And as soon as the wind and snowfall rates come down a touch and visibility improves, we'll be back at it. But this is the worst storm in over a decade for us to.

SIDNER: Yes, give us a sense of the residents there and if you are worrying about any certain particular problems, for example, whether you have electricity issues in some parts of your state.

[09:10:00]

SMILEY: Yes, power outages are a prime concern. It's not the extreme cold that we had a month ago, but with that storm it was a light, fluffy snow and we didn't really lose power at all. At this moment right now we've got about 2,000 customers in Providence without power, but over 40,000 statewide. Southern Rhode Island, what we call South County, is bearing the brunt of it right now. Those are the coastal communities that have even higher wind. And so, power outages and then the safety and health issues that come along with it. And so, here in Providence, we've got emergency warming centers set up and we have emergency shelters on standby if necessary.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, it is incredibly dangerous right now. As you put it, not even the snowplows can go out and do their work. Your warning, hopefully, is well-heeded by the residents there to stay off the roads. And I know you have a big rivalry with Massachusetts, but this is not one you want to win to see who gets the worst of it. It sounds like you guys are getting hit really hard.

Mayor Brett Smiley --

SMILEY: No, no, I'm happy to concede to Boston on this one.

SIDNER: What did you say?

SMILEY: Yes, if Boston wants to win the how many inches you get contest, they can have it.

SIDNER: Well, we're looking at pictures of Boston and it looks pretty bad there as well.

SMILEY: Yes. SIDNER: We'll check back in with you to make sure everything goes off OK and you get through this without a scratch.

Mayor, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get to Congressman Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who I believe right now is on the North Shore.

Just very quickly, be our eyes and ears there, what's the situation outside those windows, Congressman?

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Well, you can't see outside the windows because it's a -- it's a whiteout. And, you know, we're used to snow in New England. We can handle it. But I am concerned about the people who are stuck in their homes, the people who try to go out and shovel when the snow is very, very heavy. And frankly, a lot of people around Massachusetts are turning down their thermostats right now because our electricity rates are so high that a lot of people can't afford to heat their homes. So, we're going to tough it out, but it's not going to be easy.

BERMAN: It's going to be a trying day up there, especially on the coast.

Congressman, I want to ask you about Iran, because the U.S. has another round of negotiations with Iranian officials Thursday in Geneva. There's a sense the United States could strike Iran at any moment. You're a member of the Armed Services Committee. What have you heard from the administration, not about the what, but the why they might strike Iran in the next week?

MOULTON: Oh, very easy answer, John. We've heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing about a strategy. Nothing about a plan. Nothing about why they think it's a good idea for us and our troops and our allies to start another war in the Middle East.

I mean, I imagine Xi Jinping over in China just licking his lips right now, hoping that we start a war in the Middle East, hoping that we get bogged down there again, hoping for American casualties. I just don't see a strategy or a plan whatsoever. And that's pretty par for the course with this administration.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about a picture that emerged over the last 24 hours from Milan, where the U.S. hockey team took the gold. Big Massachusetts representation on the U.S. hockey team. A lot of B.U. guys, some people born and raised in Massachusetts. But the FBI director, Kash Patel, and I think we have those pictures, was in the locker room afterwards enjoying the celebration, and a beer, apparently. And there are people raising questions about why he was there.

Now, the FBI spokesperson said he was in Europe on official business, happened to go to the game, and then the FBI director himself put out a tweet that said, "for the very concerned media, yes, I love America and was extremely humbled. One of my friends, the newly minted gold medal winners on Team USA invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment. Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth."

What do you think of his justification for being there?

MOULTON: If Kash Patel loved America, he would hold up the Constitution. He would uphold it with his agency. He would stop firing people when they try to obey the law and it's not in political -- the political interests of Donald Trump. He would actually speak out when Donald Trump pardons hundreds of insurrectionists who tried to overthrow our government on January the 6th. Kash Patel does not love America. He loves Donald Trump. And he's trying to take every political advantage of his position that he can. That's what was going on in that locker room.

BERMAN: On the subject of ICE, Congressman, and I should note, you are running for Senate in Massachusetts as well, you have called to abolish ICE. I want to play for you an interview that Jim Messina, who was the campaign manager for Barack Obama in 2016, an interview he did with Kate Bolduan right here, where Jim Messina, a Democrat, said, be careful of language like that, abolish ICE. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: People do want accountability for ICE. They want people held to action. They want smart enforcement of our immigration laws. What they don't want is to get rid of a federal agency that they think is responsible for keeping our borders safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:15:01]

BERMAN: What's your response to that, Congressman?

MOULTON: The problem is that ICE is not keeping our borders safe. They're making our cities unsafe, especially the blue cities that Donald Trump wants to target. The violence is the point right now with ICE. And I've even talked to ICE officers who are ashamed by their organization, by -- ashamed of what their organization has become.

The bottom line is that ICE was created by George W. Bush after 9/11. It should be put back in the Department of Justice. It should cease to exist. It should cease to exist in the Department of Homeland Security. It's been a disaster. I was on the ground in Minneapolis. I saw it firsthand. And it's clear to me that ICE needs to be abolished.

BERMAN: Finally, Congressman, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump on the issue of tariffs at the end of last week. What do you think should happen to the revenue that has been collected by the U.S. government from those tariffs?

MOULTON: It should go back to the American people. There was a recent study that said about 96 percent of tariff revenue are costs borne by the American consumer. So, it should go back to us, John. That's where this revenue has come from. It's a complete lie by Donald Trump and his administration that this is coming from other countries. It's coming from the American consumer. And it's -- and it's us that it should go back to.

BERMAN: Congressman Seth Moulton, to us live from Massachusetts this morning with the snow outside the windows. Thank you for your time this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: A security breach at Mar-a-Lago turns deadly. New details about the man who was found with a gun and a gas can on the president's Florida estate, and why Secret Service opened fire.

And a major blizzard, as we're talking about all throughout the show, is hitting the Northeast. There are still hours to go. Governors' warning of dangerous whiteout conditions. We have more of our team coverage across the region for you ahead.

And we would like you to meet the four-legged hero who led police to rescue a toddler.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:34]

BERMAN: New information this morning about the incident at Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service in Palm Beach County law enforcement shot and killed an armed intruder who breached the security perimeter at the president's private club and residence. Agents at the scene say this man was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can. Now, neither President Trump nor the first lady were there at the time.

Let's get the very latest on this situation. Alayna Treene at the White House.

Alayna, what are you learning about all this?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think it was very lucky, John, that the president and the first lady were not at Mar-a- Lago over the weekend. Obviously, they spend many weekends in the winter there. This was one weekend when the president had a dinner with governors, and so he remained in Washington.

But to give you a little sense of what we have learned since that shooting yesterday, authorities said that a man, a white man in his early 20s breached the security perimeter at Mar-a-Lago around 1:30 a.m. before he was shot fatally by Secret Service agents and a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Now they say, as you mentioned, that he was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, and that essentially he made it 20 or 30 yards into that secure perimeter when he was approached by these agents and the deputy. Essentially told him to, quote, -- or they said that he had dropped the gas can and then, quote, "raised the shotgun to a shooting position." That is when the deputy and the agents then fired and fatally shot this man.

Now, we are learning as well that he is from North Carolina and was reported missing on Saturday by his mother. Still getting more details, though, about what the motive was.

We've also heard from the FBI director, Kash Patel, saying that the FBI is leading this investigation and that they are going to provide all the necessary resources to carry that investigation out.

We also heard words of support from the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commending the work of the authorities on the ground.

But I want to note, I think the context of this event is so important, of course. We know that there have been other times that the president has been targeted by a shooter. In July 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, when the shooter opened fire at a rally and hit the president in the ear. We also know, of course, that there was a man who had tried to assassinate the president last year -- or, excuse me, in 2024. This month he was actually sentenced to life in prison for doing that. That was at the president's Florida golf club.

And it also comes amid heightened political violence across the country, targeting not just Republicans, but also Democrats. Last summer Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, they were both killed, shot and killed at their home. And then conservative activist Charlie Kirk also killed last year.

All to say, this is something we'll continue to monitor closely. We're also going to monitor whether or not the president does ultimately weigh in publicly on this.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, look, a frightening potential situation at Mar-a-Lago for sure.

Alayna Treene at the White House this morning. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead for us, a historic storm dumping several feet of snow in the northeast. The nor'easter going strong. It's the most snow New York has now had in five years.

Plus, a close call for Delta passengers after a plane sparked this enormous grass fire in south Georgia.

[09:25:00]

What happened there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, a bomb cyclone has frozen travel for millions of Americans. More than 5,500 flights. See, they got real close to me. Things are just glitching. They're glitching all over the place. This snow is causing problems everywhere. Snow is piling up across the Northeast. You're seeing the pictures there in New York this morning. Things are getting slammed in Boston. This storm has dumped the most snow, however, in New York City than we have seen in five years.

[09:30:05]

Here's a look at some of the totals. Fifteen inches and counting in Central Park.