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Protests After Woman Shot Dead By ICE Agent; Anti-Regime Protests Intensifies In Iran Amid Government Crackdown; Trump's Venezuela Pitch Met With Skepticism From Oil Executives; Flu-Like Illness Activity Now At Highest Rate On Record. CDC: Flu at Highest Level in U.S. Since 1997; Four Astronauts to Return from ISS Weeks Early; New Maps Show California has No Drought Indicators. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired January 10, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:30]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Saturday, January 10th. Good morning. Good to be with you. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Hundreds of protests are planned across the country today in response to the shooting of Renee Good. It sparked outrage and demands for accountability.

A medical emergency in space. NASA moves quickly to bring astronaut crew home as soon as possible. I'll be joined by a former International Space Station engineer to discuss this new mission.

Also, President Trump is pushing a plan to have American oil companies rebuild Venezuela's crumbling energy infrastructure. But top industry leaders have not committed and some say the country is uninvestable without major changes.

All new police broke up protest in Minneapolis. Late into the night, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a hotel they believe was housing federal agents.

Police declared it unlawful, an unlawful assembly. They said that there were no longer peaceful at that moment. CNN was there and it appeared some protesters breached the doors of the hotel.

Now the anti-ICE protesters were demanding answers after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good. Minnesota lawmakers, they want answers, too. Both Minnesota senators sent a letter to U.S. attorney U.S. attorney General Pam Bondi Friday.

They're urging the Justice Department to coordinate with local authorities as they investigate the shooting. Now state officials say the Justice Department has backed out of working with the state. And now they say the FBI won't even allow state investigators to access case materials or evidence. And a new video revealed yesterday could be a key piece of evidence in

the case. Kyung Lah walks us through a new 3D model of the shooting and how it only raises more questions about that split second decision to use deadly force.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time, we are seeing the fatal Minneapolis shooting from the ICE officer's point of view footage taken on his own cell phone. It's a critical angle of many cameras on the street that captured Renee Goode's fatal encounter with ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

Using surveillance footage, bystander video and Ross own phone, CNN synced multiple perspectives of the shooting and mapped this incident in 3D space. Taken together, they show the fullest picture yet of what happened.

A home Surveillance camera captures a moment Renee Good pulls up in a maroon colored Honda SUV four minutes before the shooting. Twenty seconds after she arrives, her passenger and wife Becca, wearing a white beanie, gets out of Good's car. Good then parks the SUV perpendicular in the road.

Here's how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described what Good did.

KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ICE officers and agents approached the vehicle of the individual in question who was blocking the officers in with her vehicle and she had been stalking and impeding their work all throughout the day.

LAH (voice-over): Available video doesn't show any possible contact Good may have had with ICE before this confrontation. What this video does show is that for a few minutes, while she is perpendicular to the roadway, several vehicles drive by. Even large SUVs are able to drive around her as she moves back and forth on the street. And that includes this light colored SUV. It slowly drives around Good's car from the rear and stops.

Agent Jonathan Ross is recording video from his cell phone as he crosses in front of Good's car, recording as he sees her up close. She looks calm and you can see both of her hands as she talks to the officer.

RENEE GOOD, FATALLY SHOT BY ICE AGENT: That's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you.

LAH: Renee Good's wife Becca, who had been the passenger in the car, approaches. Cell phone cameras on the street start recording as Ross walks around Good's car with Good's wife following.

BECCA GOOD, RENEE GOOD'S WIFE: I say, go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead. LAH: Renee Goode backs her car up as the agent walks around the front

of the vehicle. At the same time, on the other side, two more agents approach. One tries to open the door as Good backs up. Goode's vehicle starts moving. From Ross's cell phone video, you see Becca, the woman in the white beanie, trying to get into the car again.

[06:05:00]

You also see Renee Good turning the steering wheel to the right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car.

LAH (voice-over): She then accelerates. Slowing this down again and matching the exact time of these two angles. This angle appears to show the vehicle moving close to the agent, but in this angle, he does not appear to be in the path of the vehicle when he fired.

GOOD: Oh, my God. What the fuck.

LAH (voice-over): Seconds later, Becca Good runs to her wife, followed by the agent who fired his weapon. He briefly looks into the driver's side of the car and then walks away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame, shame.

LAH: What we cannot see in Ross's cell phone video is if the SUV made contact with the agent because the camera angle jerks up to the sky. But DHS says it's still supports the agency's position releasing this statement. Quote, the footage corroborates what DHS has stated all along, that this individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to federal law enforcement.

The officer was in fear of his own life, the lives of his fellow officers, and acted in self-defense. The American people can watch this video with their own eyes and ears and judge for themselves. The shooting itself is not visible. You do though, here. Three gunshots. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BLACKWELL: All right, thanks to Kyung Lah for walking us through that with that 3D model. Let's now get to CNN senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, good morning to you. Of the new angle that we're seeing, this is from the cell phone video of the ICE agent Jonathan Ross. What's the most valuable new element that you learned? Again, a lot of questions from this new video.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But did you learn or see something that gives you another degree of clarity?

KAYYEM: Yes, I mean, I think a couple of things. It gives us the before, this is the piece that we didn't have before. All we had seen was the interaction at the moment of the shooting. So it does show a reasonable approach by law enforcement if they viewed her as blocking the street and access to whatever mission that they wanted.

I think the other piece that's one side, so yes, she was engaged in something that the law enforcement ICE might have viewed as impeding their efforts. But I think on the other side, it shows someone who was trying to avert getting into or hitting any ICE agent with the steering wheel moving.

This is why, look, there's going to be more videos. There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to see other images as people come to see what they have in their cameras. What it tells me is that any prejudgment by the government about whether this was a reasonable use of force, because that question is different than whether she was impeding law enforcement, should not have been made a few minutes after the shooting.

BLACKWELL: Juliette, some law enforcement experts have found it problematic that ICE Agent Ross was recording on his cell phone anyway. Like, do you find it problematic? Yes, we are learning elements from the video, but that he, while this was happening, has his phone up recording this interaction?

KAYYEM: Yes, yes. I mean, I don't know how you. I mean, this is sort of a shock. This is my shock at this stage. If you are in a law enforcement or ICE enforcement effort, you need to be 100, that, you know, 100 plus percent engaged in what that is -- in that you are interacting with the public, you are on public streets. Your personal cell phone is not a part of your standard operating procedures.

I wonder if he was doing this to post later on a personal feed or just for, you know, any other personal reason which would suggest that his mind frame was not on what his mission should be, which is deescalate any encounter with the public, especially if that person is unarmed and not the subject of a law enforcement effort. It wasn't like they were going after her with a warrant and she was trying to evade.

So that is -- it is exceptionally troublesome and shows, I think, whether his focus was on actually what he was doing and to deescalate the situation.

BLACKWELL: So let's talk about the investigation now.

KAYYEM: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The FBI is now not allowing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensions to participate in the investigation. Also not sharing the case information or the evidence.

[06:10:05]

First broad question here is do you trust an FBI exclusive investigation into this?

KAYYEM: I would normally, I will be honest with you. I thought the statements by the White House, J.D. Vance, and particularly Secretary Noem would sort of prejudge what the investigation might result in, which was very, very problematic. All Secretary Noem needed to do was say, this is a tragedy. We are

going to investigate it because, you know, this does not happen and should not happen. Instead, they created a narrative that I worry will be absorbed by FBI investigators.

On the other hand, the FBI has been relatively quiet on this, and that is good news. I mean, in other words, we're not hearing from the FBI about prejudging. It is unique to not allow state and local investigators concurrent jurisdiction and concurrent investigation. And I think that adds to a sense that the department is or the administration is sort of, you know, circling around a narrative. And they're going to and that's how this is going to result. Is -- is

it a sort of, you know, prejudgment?

I think the federal government would better off having some state and local, giving state and local access because then there would be more validity to whatever their ultimate judgment is regarding this agent.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you are right to point out that we've not heard from the FBI director, Kash Patel, aside from a single statement. We've not heard much from the attorney general, Pam Bondi. But there are a lot of questions in Minnesota and across the country about the validity of the investigation, considering the president yesterday said that state officials are crooked and that's why they can't be involved in the investigation.

All right, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for starting with us this morning.

The crisis in Iran intensifies as anti-government protests appear to be gaining momentum and spreading. Groups of protesters across the country are demonstrating, they're setting fires, expressing their anger at the government.

It started over economic concerns. But as a near total internet blackout takes hold, other grievances against the Islamic regime are taking hold. President Trump has also weighed in. He's issuing his own threat to Iran's leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So Iran's in big trouble because that's a very dangerous place right now. And again, I tell the Iranian leaders, you better not start shooting because we'll start shooting, too.

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BLACKWELL: Let's go now to CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks with the latest. Paula, good morning.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. Well, unfortunately, the shooting has already taken place. We know that there is a crackdown by authorities on these protests which are gaining momentum and are larger than we have seen in recent years. Now, one of the NGOs and human rights groups within the country says

they believe at least 65 people have been killed at this point. We know that hundreds have been injured. We can't independently verify these figures, but there are raising concerns of a potential brutal crackdown on protesters, more so than we are seeing now because of this Internet blackout which was put in place by authorities late on Thursday night.

Now we are also hearing from the exiled Reza Pahlavi. He's the eldest son of the late shah who was deposed back in 1979. He's trying to position himself as an alternative to the Islamic regime. And he has been very publicly calling for nationwide protests. Let's listen.

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REZA PAHLAVI, SON OF IRAN'S DEPOSED SHAH (through translator): I ask all of you today and tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, this time starting at 6:00 p.m. to come into the streets with flags, images and national symbols and to reclaim public spaces as your own.

Our goal is no longer merely to come out into the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize city centers and hold them on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, it is unclear how many within Iran will actually hear that message, given the fact there is that internet blackout. And it's also unclear exactly how much support he still has within the country. We have been seeing, though chants on some of the social media posted videos saying this is the last battle, Pahlavi will return.

We also have heard from the supreme leader in response to what we heard from the U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he will intervene if peaceful protesters are killed. He has blamed the U.S. for trying to stoke these protests. He's talking about rioters and foreign mercenaries and also says that Trump should focus on the problems of his own country.

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There are concerns, though, that this crackdown could intensify in the coming days. And we're certainly seeing no signs that the anger and frustration on the streets of Iran in 100 plus cities across the country is going to wane anytime soon. Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Certainly not. And seeing some remarkable pictures there. Paul Hancocks force. Thank you.

President Trump hosted oil executives at the White House. He's calling for a massive investment to rebuild Venezuela's oil infrastructure. Why some CEOs claim it is uninvestable.

Plus, President Trump accused credit card companies of ripping off Americans. We're going to break down his latest appeal to cap credit card interest rates.

And flu season is reaching record levels. While we're seeing the worst numbers in the U.S. in 25 years.

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BLACKWELL: President Trump is pitching a big comeback for Venezuelan oil. Yesterday he asked U.S. oil executives to back an expansive new drilling campaign and he claimed the price tag to do that would be a staggering hundred billion dollars. But big oil is not sold on the idea.

CEOs told the president that Venezuela is currently uninvestable. They say the country lacks the legal framework and security to protect their assets. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more from the White House.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump sat down with executives from major oil companies today to try and convince them to reinvest in Venezuela. This is all part of the United States larger plan to rebuild Venezuela and its oil infrastructure. He said that they were going to invest $100 billion. But those oil executives seemed rather skeptical.

In fact, the head of Exxon who was there said that Venezuela in the current state is uninvestable. Now afterwards we heard from both President Trump and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on that meeting. Here's what they said.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We just had a great meeting with the oil executive. We sort of formed a deal. They're going to be going in with hundreds of billions of dollars in drilling oil.

CHRIS WRIGHT, ENERGY SECRETARY: Tremendous interest. Remember the United States moves in Venezuela were less than a week ago.

HOLMES: So on the one hand you have President Trump saying they sort of made a deal and this idea of $100 billion or hundreds of billions of dollars invested into the Venezuelan oil infrastructure.

But when I talked to Secretary Wright, he was not as definitive. He said essentially that there had not been commitments but that there was tremendous interest, saying that the capture of Maduro had just happened less than a week ago.

But we talked to these oil executives before the meeting. They said the United States was going to have major concessions and make major agreements, particularly when it came to things like security and lifting sanctions. That it was unclear the United States would be able to do for them to actually want to reinvest in Venezuela.

A quick note, some of these companies still say the country of Venezuela owes them billions of dollars from when they were forced to leave the country about two decades ago. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

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BLACKWELL: There's more fallout after the takeover and rebranding of the Kennedy Center, the latest well known group to pull the plug on its half century run there.

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[06:26:50]

BLACKWELL: Our new details this morning about the traffic stop in Portland that led to two people getting shot there. Investigators say the driver of the vehicle believed to be linked to the Tren de Aragua gangster tried to ram a federal agent. The agent then fired hit the driver and the passenger. They survived and are in federal custody.

President Trump is calling for a cap on credit card interest rates. His proposal would limit rates to 10 percent for a year. The president says credit card companies are ripping off the American people. It's unclear whether the president can do this without congressional approval. Critics warned banks could respond by tightening credit and making it harder for people to get new cards.

The Washington National Opera is now cutting ties with the Kennedy Center after more than 50 years. The Opera board voted to leave after months of turmoil over the venue's Trump era changes and what both sides call a financially strained relationship.

The Opera says it will scale back its spring season and move upcoming performances to new venues around D.C. with details expected soon.

The flu is at its highest level in the U.S. in nearly three decades. Hospitalizations are rising. Pediatric deaths are especially high this season. CNN's Meg Tirrell has details.

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MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Flu activation across the United States in the most recent update from the CDC. We do see that activity possibly may be coming down a little bit, but the CDC warns it's not clear that the season has peaked yet because those declines could be potentially due to delayed reporting.

What we do see is that hospitalizations are still rising from the flu. 44 jurisdictions are currently reporting high or very high levels of flu activity, with five reporting moderate levels of flu activity. The CDC has said that this is a moderately severe flu season. Of course, we know that there is a lot of additional activity because there is a new strain of the flu known as subclade K that's been identified and it arose in the United States after the flu vaccine had already been designed.

So there was a bit of a mismatch between the flu vaccine and that strain. However, experts point out, and some data have shown that the flu vaccine still does provide protection against the flu, particularly against severe disease. And so experts are still recommending that folks who haven't been

vaccinated can still benefit from getting a flu shot. The CDC estimates that so far this season there have been 15 million illnesses with the flu, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths.

We also saw in the most recent data from the CDC an additional eight pediatric deaths from the flu, bringing the total so far this season to 17. The CDC says elevated flu activity is expected at least for several more weeks. Of course, flu isn't the only respiratory virus going around this time of year.

We are also seeing activity levels rising for RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19 as well, although if you look at hospitalizations for those three different respiratory viruses, by far flu is contributing the most to that severe level of disease.

[06:30:03]

So folks are saying be careful out there, get vaccinated if you haven't been. Antivirals are available, of course, for flu and for COVID. So, getting tested early in the course of the illness is always recommended.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: All right, Meg, thank you. Joining us now is Dr. Andi Shane; chief of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Thank you for your time this morning.

We're going to talk about the kids specifically with this new total of pediatric deaths. But 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths overall this season. Is it the basic numbers or the speed of the trajectory that's most concerning about this flu season?

ANDI SHANE, CHIEF OF PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES DIVISION, CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA: Yes, thank you. Good morning, Victor. There are a number of things that are quite challenging. The first is the flu season seemed to start a little bit earlier than we normally see, certainly in the southeastern part of the country.

And then, as was mentioned, this subclade K, which is a new strain that probably is not included in the current vaccine. And then just in general, a number of other respiratory viruses circulating, all these three things coming together has probably resulted in the intensity and the numbers that we're seeing.

BLACKWELL: OK, so, this subclade K that you say is not probably included in the current vaccine, make that plain for us. Does the vaccine that I got a couple of weeks ago and many others hopefully got this season, does it offer any protection from the most severe symptoms?

SHANE: Yes, so, absolutely. What we've seen time and time again is that the flu vaccine absolutely prevents severe illness, prevents hospitalizations and prevents death. While it's not a perfect vaccine, you may have some mild symptoms if you're exposed to flu. What we do know is that the vaccine is very safe and really does prevent the severe consequences of flu.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the children. Seventeen children have now died this flu season, eight of those reported in just the last week. Those children added to the CDC numbers yesterday. When should parents know that the DayQuil kids is not enough?

I mean, what are the symptoms they should be looking for to say, we now got to go to a doctor. We've got to go to the pediatrician. Call urgent care.

SHANE: Yes, so -- and really -- and I think if a parent is concerned, that the first thing that they should do is seek medical attention. The two things that we worry about the most with children who have flu are dehydration and pneumonia. And so, if a child is having a hard time staying hydrated and drinking, that would be an indication to call one's pediatrician as well as pneumonia, which is often manifest by cough and fever that is not responsive to antipyretics.

BLACKWELL: Are you wearing masks in public?

SHANE: Me personally? Yes, I am certainly. When we take care of children in the hospital --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

SHANE: And when we're -- when we're in healthcare settings, I think that anyone who has symptoms or is concerned that they might be developing symptoms should wear a mask. And intimately, I do decide to wear a mask in public when I think that I may be exposed.

I, like many other people, want to keep ourselves healthy so that we can do what we need to do to take care of children and others.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Shane, I've heard more medical experts over -- I don't know, the last six weeks or so, after the decision on the Hepatitis B vaccine, the changing of the children's vaccine schedule, recommendations say that people should not listen to the CDC, that you should listen to your local doctor, listen to your state.

How do you assess the threat of this flu season as compared to the response from the CDC? Are they responding in a way that matches the risk that we're seeing with this season?

SHANE: So, I think really what the most important thing is, is for us to understand what's happening. And so, surveillance is really critical. And making sure that we continue to understand what is happening in local and state districts and states, and making sure that, that information is processed and disseminated in real time as much as possible.

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And that's the one thing that CDC can do to help us understand exactly what's happening. Yes, absolutely, we're concerned about vaccine schedules. We recommend as pediatricians, as parents, as scientists and clinicians, that everybody six months and older, receive a flu vaccine.

It's the best way that we know that we can protect ourselves and our children and those who we love from having severe complications from influenza.

BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Andi Shane, thank you so much for being with me. Next, a first for NASA had an emergency mission to the International Space Station. Four astronauts will be brought home early. We'll explain why?

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BLACKWELL: Four astronauts are heading home from the International Space Station weeks ahead of schedule. That's because one of them experienced a medical issue on board. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the SpaceX crew 11.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, what is happening here is really quite unusual. The idea of bringing a crew back from the space station a full month before they were supposed to come back at the earliest. And the cause behind it is a health issue.

We first heard about this when there was supposed to be a spacewalk earlier in the week, and that was canceled because of this health issue. Now, who the health issue is with, and what exactly it is, we don't know. We do know which crew we're talking about.

Crew 11 arrived in early August at the I.S.S., there was a Japanese astronaut there, a Russian cosmonaut and two Americans, Zena Cardman, who is the commander, and Mike Fincke, who is the pilot of it. He has a lot more space experience than she has, but they're all imminently qualified here.

So, it's not really clear which of these four might be sick because NASA ordered the return, maybe it's one of the Americans, but we just don't know. We do know that there are a lot of medical treatments available on the space station, because everything that can go wrong anywhere on earth can go wrong up there.

You can have a toothache, you might break a bone, you might -- there was some concern years ago about somebody getting maybe a blood clot, all sorts of things. And a lot of astronauts suffer with sickness from being in space early on. But we just don't know.

We know that a couple of years ago, a crew came back on normal time, and the whole crew was taken to a hospital, one staying longer than the others, but also there, we did not find out why that happened or what the issue is because essentially, what NASA does is, they treat this as a learning environment where they can say, look, we need to find out what went wrong.

Who it happened to is less important than finding out better ways to treat it and having them back in a full hospital. We have more tools to figure out what's going on. We're told that whoever is not well is in stable condition. Again, there's a lot we don't know, but we do know they're coming back early. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's a lot we don't know. Let's try to get some answers here. This is what has a lot of people wondering what's happening, and what goes on when someone gets sick in space. Don Platt, Florida Tech professor and former I.S.S. engineer, joins me now.

Don, good morning to you. I've really never --

DON PLATT, PROFESSOR, FLORIDA TECH: Good morning --

BLACKWELL: Considered what happens if an astronaut gets sick when they're away for months at a time. What must this be beyond to have this mission to return them early?

PLATT: Sure, yes, it must be fairly significant. It's certainly more than simply a headache or something like that. This is probably something that has come up in the last week or two, and it's definitely raised concern with the NASA doctors to the point where they feel that this crew member would be much better treated here, back on the earth.

Now, there's a number of possibilities for that potential illness. But as we've said, NASA won't really let us know too many details due to private patient privacy.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and we may never know, right? Who specifically had the illness, and what the illness was. But what are the capabilities on board to deal with medical issues without going to this step?

PLATT: Sure, well, they have some basic ultrasound capabilities. They have a variety of different pharmaceuticals. They can treat a number of illnesses, as you head also mentioned, there was a blood clot a few years ago, and they were able to actually use pharmaceuticals that were on board the station to treat that astronaut in space, and did not have to return them back to the earth.

So, there's some basic medical tools and certainly some medicine that they can treat. Typical illnesses and ailments with.

BLACKWELL: And how much do we know about the obviously medical testing before these astronauts go up? But how much they prepare to be able to treat themselves and one another?

PLATT: Sure. Well, there's a significant amount of training now, not every mission has an actual MD doctor on board, but these crew members go through an amazing amount of training. They have a background, often times from the military, where they may have been a medic or had that type of military-related medical training as well.

And so, they're well-versed and have direct communication back with the earth and with doctors here on the earth to check each other out, and to recognize when something is going wrong and have the basic understanding of what to do next in that case.

BLACKWELL: And so, talk to me about that relationship and communication with the doctors here on the ground that the assessment was that, we need to get this crew back. And how much can they do, obviously, they can't do a physical examination because they are thousands of miles apart?

[06:45:00]

But how much can they do in this interim period before the return?

PLATT: Well, they can do a little bit more than you would expect with, say, like a telemedicine visit here on the earth where you're talking to a doctor over a computer link, say, for instance. Say -- they do have some different kinds of medical instrumentation on board so that they can do things like EKGs and basic analysis of what's going on with the body.

And then there are encrypted links, so basically, a secure link back to the ground where astronauts can talk with doctors without anybody else being able to hear the conversation.

And so, then, they can go back and forth and try to better understand symptoms and also maybe have another crew member help with an exam, and to gather as much information as they possibly can before they make such a harsh decision as ending a mission early and having to bring that whole crew home again.

BLACKWELL: And how much does an incident like this, like the blood clot that Tom Foreman discussed inform how you and others, outfit the I.S.S. prepare and resource these crews for future missions?

PLATT: Sure. Well, we then have another data point, if you will, of things that can potentially go wrong in space. And so, we can have an understanding of the different kinds of tools. And of course, we're getting more and more very small portable medical devices that can help in the future with determining illnesses and issues that a crew member may have.

And then, significantly, of course, as we move forward with going on to Mars, we won't be able to just sort of turn around and come back home. So, we're going to have to do a lot of work to get to the point where we're enabling a crew to safely fly all the way to Mars and back again.

BLACKWELL: All right, Dr. Don Platt, I thank you for your time and expertise. California hits a historic milestone. It's had no indication of a drought for the first time in a quarter of a century. So, what fueled this turnaround, and can it last?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: And we also have a tornado watch valid until 10:00 a.m. this morning. We'll take a look at where this line is expected to move through as we finish out the rest of the day.

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[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: For the first time in 25 years, new maps show there are no dry areas in California. That's according to the U.S. drought monitor. After years of extreme dryness, record storms and back-to-back wet Winters have erased drought conditions across the state, and no portions are abnormally dry.

Experts say the turnaround is remarkable, but they warn the state's water challenges are not over with climate swings becoming more extreme. This morning, a rough stretch of weather is moving into the southeast. Heavy rain from Louisiana to Virginia, 2 inches to 6 inches in some spots, with risk of flash flooding and even isolated tornadoes.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking it all for us. And I heard you say something pretty striking before we went to break.

CHINCHAR: Yes, the tornado watch that's in effect through this morning. Usually, you get most of your tornado watches, you know, later in the day, like afternoons --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

CHINCHAR: And evenings. It's not very common, especially this time of year, to get them this early into the day. So, let's get right to it. So, let's start with the flood watch because the fact is, this storm is not moving all that fast. So, having that prolonged period of time means a lot of rain can fall in a very short period of time.

So, here's a look at where we have the biggest concern for the flooding. This is a live look at the radar. And again, you can see we've got heavy rain from Maryland all the way back through Louisiana right now. The biggest concern, however, is going to be the severe weather component of this.

All of the red shaded areas you see here that's under a tornado watch that is valid until 10:00 a.m. this morning. So, you've got several more hours to go. And it's very possible that some areas to the east of it could be added into a new tornado watch as the system progresses eastward.

So, again, keep in mind, if you live in portions of Georgia or even extreme eastern Alabama, just because you are not in a tornado watch now does not mean that maybe the case for the remainder of the day. We also have an active tornado warning right now across portions of eastern Mississippi.

There's also a severe thunderstorm warning just to the west of that, as this very strong line of storms continues to move through the state and starts to make its way into Alabama, and will continue to push eastward. So, here's a look at that system. Again by tonight, the southern half of the line begins to fall apart.

That's good news. That means by tonight, we're really going to lose a lot of the severe aspect of this. Now, the -- most of the rain at that point now is focused over portions of the northeast. And that's where it's going to continue through the overnight hours and into very early tomorrow morning. So, even say 6:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., you've still got some pretty heavy rain across portions of Boston and even into areas of, say, like New York as well. Then you've got this colder aspect of it, those temperatures are going to cool down once the system moves in. That means you could end up getting some snow on the back end of the system.

Here's a look at the severe weather component for this. Again, you can see this is where we have the best chance for the severe storms as we go through the morning and even into the early afternoon. The biggest threats here are going to be damaging winds, and yes, the potential for a few tornadoes as that system continues to move eastward.

Now, one thing that's really kind of fueling a lot of this is the extreme temperatures. Take a look at this. All of these dots represent record temperatures. And so, it's that heat that's right there right along the cold front as it slides through that's really fueling a lot of these severe thunderstorms.

It's also providing the heat that's needed for the moisture. So, you're getting a lot of intense moisture. That's why we mentioned 2 inches to 6 inches of rain could fall in some of these places. But it is going to be a roller-coaster of temperatures going up and down over the next few days.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thanks for watching it. And ice hockey arena set to host some of the biggest events at next month's Winter Olympics is officially opened in Milan. Members of the public were welcomed to the arena for a test event featuring Italy's best teams.

[06:55:00]

Now, delays at the venue have been some of the biggest concerns ahead of the games. Seats 15,000 fans, but will only host 4,000 while work continues. Organizers say the rink is safe despite being slightly smaller than NHL standards. It's set to host the ice hockey gold matches in just weeks.

There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND, including more protests planned over the deadly shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. We'll dig into the new cellphone video that's raising more questions.

And be sure to tune in tonight for a CNN original film, "I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT". It features candid interviews with the Chase family, friends, co-stars and of course, Chevy Chase himself. It airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. And you can watch it right now on the CNN app.

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