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CNN This Morning

High-Impact Nor'easter Set To Slam Northeast; Seventy Million People Under Winter Weather Alerts; DHS Suspends Precheck, Global Entry Amid Partial Shutdown; Deadly Explosions In Ukraine Investigated As Terrorist Attack; New 15 Percent Global Tariffs Good For 150 Days; Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver Rondale Moore Found Dead At 25; All Nine Victims Identified And Recovered From The California Avalanche; Salsa Legend And Activist Willie Colon Dies At Age 75; Civil Rights Probe Into Eaton Fire Preps And Evacuations; Trump To Deliver SOTU Address To Congress On Tuesday; Trump Underwater In Approval Ratings. Trump: Global Tariffs Will Increase To 15% From 10%; Small Business Owners React To SCOTUS Ruling On Trump Tariffs; Iranian Students Protest As New University Term Begins; Soon: USA, Canada Face Off For Men's Hockey Gold. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired February 22, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:30]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So here's the bad news. A blizzard is literally barreling down on Long Island, New York City in the Lower Hudson Valley, and is actually moving up further north than we had first thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: This massive nor'easter is headed directly for the East Coast and it will hit in just a matter of hours. We have live updates on the extreme weather that is coming.

Now, if the weather doesn't interfere with your flight plans new changes at TSA will. We're learning that starting right now 6:00 a.m. eastern the Department of Homeland Security is suspending precheck and global entry during this DHS shutdown. We have details of that ahead.

Plus, new overnight deadly explosions across western Ukraine now being investigated as terrorism. Who's behind the attack? A live report that's coming up as well.

And more Americans souring on President Trump just days before he delivers his State of the Union address to Congress. Can he change the narrative? We'll discuss.

Welcome to a brand new week. It is Sunday, February 22nd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us.

Live look right now at Philadelphia, today's nor'easter whips up over New England. There are more than 70 million people under winter weather alerts, 35 million under blizzard warnings alone. Blizzard warnings expanded from Delaware through most of New Jersey and coastal southern New England. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, parts of New York state all enter a state of emergency today. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani told New Yorkers to expect a worse storm than last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK: The snowfall will melt, then refreeze, resulting in dangerously icy sidewalks and streets. I am asking all New Yorkers to stay inside and stay off the roads for your safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. Thousands of flights are already canceled today and tomorrow. CNN's Allison Chinchar is joining me now. What are we looking at?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The words from the National Weather Service are a historic blizzard in some areas. So you're talking totals that some of these areas have not seen in years. And what's interesting is the models are still not quite in agreement and it's already coming down.

BLACKWELL: This is U.S. and European models we've been watching all week.

CHINCHAR: Yes. They still don't know. So, there are some places that still could see only say 12 inches and could see possibly 20 inches which is --

BLACKWELL: Only 12.

CHINCHAR: Yes, but that's a large gap when the event is happening right now. So, let's take a look at what we're talking about. Because again this is going to span a large area. Again you can see we have those winter weather alerts all the way down into the Carolinas, all the way up to Maine. And yes some of those include the blizzard warnings where those wind gusts are going to take whatever amount of snow comes down and just blow it around, reducing that visibility pretty much down to zero in some spots.

Here's a look. Again, all rain on the southern end where the temperatures are too warm but you have a lot of these areas where were looking at a lot of snow already across the Great Lakes region and into the northeast.

We zoom down a little bit closer. Again, you can see still rain right now for places like New York, Philadelphia Washington, D.C., but we expect that changeover to happen here in just the next couple of hours.

Here again you can see that closer look. But again, some of these areas already starting to see some snow. And in some cases it's coming down pretty heavy. And this is the front end of the system.

So, here's a look at what we're talking about. So this is, say, around like lunchtime. This is when most of these areas are really going to start to see that transition over into all snow. Prior to that it could be a little bit of a mix of rain and snow but by lunchtime most of these areas, including a lot of the big cities, will see that transition over to entire snow. By the time we get to late this evening, again, look at all this.

Even though the temperature may be hovering around that 32 to 34 degree mark, most of these areas are still going to be looking at snow and heavy snow at times through the evening hours and overnight it's just going to continue as the system itself slides up and down the East Coast.

By Monday morning, you are going to finally start to see an end to places like D.C. and Baltimore, but it is still going to be snowing heavily across New York as well as Boston. But several of these areas are looking at pretty significant totals.

BLACKWELL: We'll talk more about those in just a moment. Allison, thank you. And we're also following a significant escalation in the partial government shutdown. The Department of -- Department of Homeland Security says that it is now temporarily suspending TSA precheck and global entry programs started just at the top of this hour.

[06:05:04]

In a statement to CNN, Secretary Kristi Noem said the agency is making tough but necessary decisions that are focusing on the general traveling public and have suspended courtesy and special privilege escorts.

The disruptions, of course, are likely to increase wait times at security, customs and passport control. The suspension comes as an estimated 63,000 TSA agents continue working without pay.

New this morning, Ukraine says it's investigating a deadly double bombing as a terror attack. The attack happened this morning in the western city of Lviv. Investigators say a police officer was killed, dozens others hurt. The first explosion struck after officers responded to reports of an intrusion at a store. That explosion was followed by another blast.

CNN's Nada Bashir joins me now. What do we know about these explosions and potentially any suspects?

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just in the last few hours, we have had an update, Victor, from officials saying that at least one suspect has now been arrested and detained. But the investigation is still ongoing. And the question remains whether there were other suspects involved still on the loose.

Now, as you mentioned, authorities have described this as a terrorist attack. They say that according to officials on the ground carrying out this investigation and according to that preliminary investigation, at this stage, they believe homemade explosives were detonated at the scene. And as you mentioned, we have had that breakdown from the authorities as to how this actually unfolded and occurred.

Police received an emergency call about an alleged intrusion in the city center. And upon arriving at the scene of this alleged intrusion in a shop that first explosion went off. And then a second blast was reported after a second police crew arrived at the scene.

Now, at this stage, one person is confirmed to have been killed. According to authorities, a 23-year-old police officer. At least 25 others wounded, including six law enforcement officials who are said to be in a serious condition but that investigation continues. Take a listen to these remarks from Lviv's mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANDRIY SADOVYI, LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): Police are working on site. As for damages, many windows were blown out. An investigation is underway. Once it is over, we will clear everything up. We will help people. It was a very difficult night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, of course, one person has been detained. That search continues for potential other suspects involved. At this stage authorities have not given a clear motive behind the attack although they have characterized this at this stage as a terrorist attack. And again, no clear confirmation as to any potential links at this stage with Russia, a potential Russian attack.

We have seen similar ones, of course, in the past. And of course, this comes as we continue to see in Ukraine's capital overnight strikes once again carried out by Russia in Kyiv.

BLACKWELL: Nada Bashir will look for more developments there. Thank you. This morning, businesses and countries are facing tariffs that have jumped now from 10 percent to 15 percent. President Trump announced the revised 15 percent global import duties on Truth Social. Less than 24 hours earlier, he said they would be 10 percent.

Well, that announcement came immediately after the Supreme Court ruled his emergency tariffs were illegal. CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook has more for us.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tariffs have played a big role in President Donald Trump's agenda during his second term, and he is making it clear that he doesn't plan to walk away from tariffs completely any time soon.

Following the Supreme Court's ruling on Friday that Trump violated federal law when he unilaterally imposed sweeping tariffs across the globe, he announced that he would be placing an additional 10 percent tariff on levies already in place using a different law, Section 122. And then over the weekend, he raised that rate to 15 percent.

I want to pull up that social media post for you now. In it, he said in part, I, as president of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10 percent worldwide tariff on countries, many of which have been ripping the U.S. off for decades, without retribution, until I came along, to the fully allowed legally tested 15 percent level.

Now, this new rate could stay in place for up to 150 days, and then after that, he would need congressional approval. During a press conference after the ruling Trump was obviously frustrated, angry by this decision, and he was pressed by a reporter on if he should work with Congress going forward to respond to the bipartisan criticism he's received on that. And essentially, he said that he still doesn't believe he needs to. Take a listen.

[06:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There's -- several Republican have said that.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A few people -- yes, a few people.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Well, why wouldn't you just work with Congress to come up with a plan --

TRUMP: I don't have to.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- to push tariffs through?

TRUMP: I have the right to do tariffs, and I've always had the right to do tariffs. And it's all been approved by Congress. So, there's no reason to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Trump has made it clear that he is not happy with this ruling calling it deeply disappointing and saying that he is ashamed of some of the justices. In the six to three ruling, two Trump appointees, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, as well as Justice Neil Gorsuch, sided with Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices.

On the flip side of that Trump has praised those who sided with him, calling Justice Brett Kavanaugh his, quote, "new hero" on the Supreme Court. He also said that those who dissented, he believes, want to make America great again, using his own campaign slogan to describe those in the judicial branch, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Julia Benbrook reporting, thank you very much. The tariffs will likely be a big part of the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday. We'll discuss what to expect in about 20 minutes.

Next, though, on CNN THIS MORNING, tributes for an NFL wide receiver who was found dead in his hometown in Indiana. Plus, there were delayed alerts during the Eaton wildfires. A new civil rights probe questions whether race played a role. The fire led to the deaths of 18 people from a majority black community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:08]

BLACKWELL: Here are some of the headlines we're following this morning. NFL wide receiver Rondale Moore was found dead Saturday night in Indiana. Twenty-five-years-old, played most recently for the Minnesota Vikings. Authorities in New Albany did not give additional details but they did say that there's no threat to the public. An autopsy is expected later today.

The nine victims who died in last week's Castle Peak avalanche have been recovered from the mountain. Now, authorities say three guides and six female friends, all experienced skiers, were among those killed in the deadliest avalanche in California history.

Five skiers and one guide survived. The sheriff's office says it's investigating whether criminal negligence contributed to the tragedy. There will be a vigil tonight to honor those victims.

And salsa legend and activist Willie Colon has died. According to a statement from his family, he was 75 years old, is a pioneering trombonist, and vocalist, composer. His rich sound blended jazz and rock and salsa into a unique melody and drew inspiration from his Puerto Rican heritage and the rhythms of Cuba, Brazil, and Africa. As an activist, Colon was a member of the Latino Commission on AIDS and the United Nations Immigrant Foundation.

New this morning, there are new questions about the emergency alert sounded during the deadly Eaton fire. Now, Eastern Altadena, a largely White affluent neighborhood, got evacuation orders within an hour of the fire starting. But the people who live in West Altadena which is historically Black waited hours for those notifications.

Nearly all victims were from West Altadena and now there's a state investigation into finding out why. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got a whole community burned down. That needs to be investigated. What happened? What started it, and why did it expand? And why did some folk get noticed seven hours before other folks got noticed?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): February 2025, families were just beginning to mourn those who died in the Eaton Fire. But questions about the late emergency alerts and evacuations in historically Black West Altadena were already swirling.

ZAIRE CALVIN, EATON FIRE SURVIVOR: This is my lot that I bought after college. Yes, this is where my house and then my mother. This is my childhood home.

JONES (voice-over): Zaire Calvin lost his sister, Evelyn.

CALVIN: So, my cousin came and that's where he found her. JONES (voice-over): He says the pain of her loss is made worse by the feeling that during one of the deadliest fires in California history, his community was left to fend for itself.

CALVIN: We were left alone to fight for ourselves. Our community was left to, you know, get itself saved, rescued ourselves.

JONES (voice-over): Residents reported the late emergency alerts, a lack of firefighters and engines, and no one going door to door warning them to evacuate. The Los Angeles County Fire Department says it made every effort to quickly bring in fire resources from across the state, but was overwhelmed and outpaced by the speed and unpredictability of the fire. More than a year later, the state is investigating whether there was potential discrimination in the emergency response in West Altadena.

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: There was indisputably a delayed emergency notification and evacuation of West Altadena. We're here to ask why.

JONES (voice-over): L.A. County officials said agencies have fully cooperated in all independent reviews so far, and that none have found any discriminatory or structural bias in the county's response.

[06:20:00]

Adding that they will fully cooperate with the investigation and that they believe the attorney general will find that emergency responders did the best they could under unprecedented and extreme conditions as they fought to save lives, homes, and businesses.

CALVIN: How do you not see a certain level of discrimination? Because there was a lack of help. So if you didn't have anything in place or you weren't worried about making sure that there was something in place to make sure the community is OK how is that not discrimination?

JONES (voice-over): Calvin says West Altadena has long operated with fewer resources than other parts of town. He says that's why he coaches to give back to the community that raised him and to be a source of normalcy for these kids who are navigating loss and displacement while much of their town is still leveled foundations on otherwise empty lots.

(on camera): How many of these are Black families?

CALVIN: There's Steve (ph), and then Black, and then Black. And then White next door. And then Black, Black. And then there's Fair Oaks Burger.

JONES (voice-over): Fair Oaks is a longtime neighborhood staple. Here, Calvin and his neighbor Randy say you can still feel what this community was built on, Black families fight for home ownership. Like in the 1960s when the construction of a highway displaced thousands of residents, they remember.

CALVIN: It's always -- it's always a fight, especially with us. RANDY VANCE, ALTADENA RESIDENT: It's been a fight for land since they made everybody move from Pasadena to Altadena so they could build the freeway, and we're always the ones that have to suffer from it.

CALVIN: And, you know, as Black people we always get marginalized and we work so hard to be here. And our families worked hard and generationally every single day hard work in being there and being part of the neighborhood and the community and being involved.

JONES (voice-over): Calvin calls the investigation historic but says that what matters most is whether it leads to restoration.

CALVIN: When you go into this, are you really going to make sure that there is an outcome that helps the community?

JONES: What would that look like?

CALVIN: Money, finances, building back, making history, period. Just to build back.

JONES (voice-over): Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Altadena, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Julia, thank you for that report. President Trump will have a lot to cover in Tuesday night's State of the Union, from tariffs, to impacts of the partial government shutdown, to the immigration conversation. Our panel will weigh in, next.

And tonight, on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," Pamela Brown explores the rise of Christian nationalism and its growing political influence. In this view of one nation under God, is liberty truly for all? "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern and tomorrow on the CNN app.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:31]

BLACKWELL: President Trump will deliver the State of the Union address this week before a dissatisfied American public. A "Washington Post- ABC News-Ipsos" poll shows his approval rating is at 39 percent, disapproval 60 percent. Forty-seven percent say they strongly disapprove of the president's job performance.

Joining us now to discuss Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo, and John Thomas, a Republican consultant. Gentlemen, welcome. And, John, let me start with you also from 'The Post." They characterized that 60 percent this way. The last time Trump's disapproval touched 60 percent was shortly after the January 6th, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The president is 16 points underwater on the economy 18 on immigration, 27 on U.S. relations with other countries, 30 points underwater on tariffs, 33 points under on inflation. What does the president have to do on Tuesday night? JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well, he has to refocus the American people on actually quite a few accomplishments he's made in his first term. And he has to focus less on what really has dominated headlines, which has been the stuff of foreign policy. That's just not what midterm voters care about. So, he needs to focus on the fact that Trump did what he said he'd do.

He said he'd end illegal immigration. It's effectively ended. He said he'd bring down consumer prices, a lot of consumer prices, including gas prices are down. He said he'd tackled inflation. He's done it. But he needs to wrap that all around how he understands Americans concerns about affordability and is still working to get that done.

BLACKWELL: You said he's tackled inflation again, 33 percent underwater on inflation. Michael, what are you expecting on Tuesday night?

MICHAEL TRUJILLO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm expecting Trump to be Trump. And that's exactly why his numbers are where they are. The American people are able to see through Donald Trump's misdirection, misleading rhetoric. And I expect more of the same from our president.

BLACKWELL: Michael, if the president is doing such a poor job at these issues that Americans care about, there's another finding here that's a bit concerning, I would imagine, for Democrats on the question of, which party they trust to handle the issues most important, put it up on the screen. It's split. If he's so far underwater on all of these issues, why aren't Democrats performing better?

TRUJILLO: Well, it's a little different. It's an apple to orange comparison.

[06:30:00]

You're comparing an individual like the president to an entire party, where individuals and sort of respondents to a poll are able to sort of take the worst person of that party and imagine that's the entire party there. If you were to compare Donald Trump to Joe Biden, I've seen polling that Joe Biden is ahead. If you were to compare Donald Trump to Gavin Newsom, if there was a vote, Gavin Newsom would be ahead.

So when you actually compare the President to another individual, you're going to see that Democratic politician well ahead of Donald Trump.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Eye roll and head shake, John. What was that?

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Yes, I mean, the truth is the Democratic Party haven't offered any solutions to these problems that Americans are rightfully concerned about. I mean, that's the solution.

The good news for Democrats is they're not in power. So, they're just going to point the finger at Donald Trump. But look, Michael's right. President Trump has to get back on message. And when he's on message, and he has been, like, for instance, going into the close of 2024 cycle, he wins, and the American people believe him.

But he can drift off message, and he focuses on things like foreign policy, which is a huge deal, but not something that midterm voters care about.

BLACKWELL: Well, OK, let's talk about staying on message, because the President comes before the country, comes to this joint session after a significant defeat. His so-called liberation day terrorists have been determined to be illegal by a 6-3 decision from the Supreme Court.

Is this the setting to go and fight that battle again? The President did it in the briefing room. He's done it on social media. Are we expecting the President to do this? And then directly to the faces of the justices who made that decision?

THOMAS: Well, that's the really most interesting thing, is that the justices are going to be mere steps away from the President.

So I have a feeling the President's going to have a few choice words for them. But truthfully, the administration, unfortunately, was anticipating that SCOTUS was going to rule against the admin on this and on tariffs. And so, they've already come up with workarounds specifically shifting tariffs to Section 232 that the courts did show that the President has authority on.

But here's the broader issue. Tariffs or Supreme Court opinions really don't matter to everyday voters, and it's the President's job to focus on saying, I'm leveling tariffs because I'm bringing manufacturing jobs back to Americans and I'm rebalancing trade. He needs to talk about how what he's doing at a tariffs level affects every day Americans. That's the President's job.

BLACKWELL: Well, he may be wanting to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, but the BLS numbers and what we've learned over the last year plus is that many of those manufacturing jobs are not coming back to the U.S.

John -- Michael, let me come to you.

THOMAS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Go ahead. If you've got a note, give it to us.

THOMAS: Yes. Yes. I was just going to say this is the rub that manufacturing jobs, there's a lag. We have seen promises for increased foreign investment into the U.S., but look, to spin up a new plant can take years, sometimes longer than this president has. So that is the rub.

BLACKWELL: Sure. Michael, to you, what are you expecting from Democrats on Tuesday? In addition to their responses, what we hear from the Democratic response. But at the last joint session, March of 2025, they held up signs that said, you know, that's false or Elon Musk steals. There was one congresswoman who held up a sign that just said, that's a lie.

Are you expecting that from Democrats?

TRUJILLO: Well, I think in that instance, the Democrats are telling the truth about President Trump's message.

Look, we're in the middle of an affordability crisis. We're in the middle of a housing crisis. The price of things are just going up when you look at your grocery bill. And that's because of tariffs. Tariffs are taxes. And when 66 percent of the President's own justices, you know, rule against him, it tells you that even the President's common sense on what he thinks tariffs do are wrong.

And so, it was interesting to see his justices tell him he was wrong. It's interesting to see the American people through this polling tell him that he's wrong. And when he goes in front of a joint session of Congress, it's going to be interesting to see how Democrats and a majority of Congress tell him that he's wrong as well.

BLACKWELL: Well, we have heard some announcements from members, Democratic members, who say they're bringing with them as their guests, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. So, we will see some of them on Tuesday night.

Michael, John, thank you for the conversation.

And CNN, of course, will have in-depth coverage and analysis of President Trump's State of the Union Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You can also watch it on the CNN app.

Small business owners are expressing cautious relief after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs illegal. Many of them have been struggling with the tariffs and had to increase prices to keep their businesses afloat.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino finds out how they are reacting to this latest ruling.

[06:34:59]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Victor, I would say that the most common reaction we got from small business owners in New York City was one of uncertainty. You know, even though this historic decision from the Supreme Court on Friday was that the tariffs were in fact illegal, they feel like this issue has not at all been settled.

In fact, we've seen the President say that he plans to increase tariffs potentially to 15 percent. So they're feeling like this is not at all yet resolved.

In the meantime, it's been very challenging for small businesses to stay afloat in the last year. Specifically, toy stores, as an example, they import the large majority of their product from China. So they've had really no choice over the last year from where they get their products from. I spoke to a toy store owner who's had the business in her family for the past three decades, talking about the difficulty of staying afloat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASEY COYLE, OWNER, KIDDING AROUND: Every day, it's something different. Like my husband was very excited yesterday. I mean, I was as well when the Supreme Court made that ruling, obviously, but I keep just saying, I'll believe it when I see it --

PAZMINO: Yes.

COYLE: -- because there's loopholes.

PAZMINO: Yes.

COYLE: It keeps happening.

I'd say most companies are just building in the tariff tax into the cost of the item, which means it's not going to ever come down. Once they see, oh, we can sell this item for $30. It's not going back to $20. It's going to stay there.

So even if things are reversed, I don't see a lot of prices coming back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO (on-camera): Eighty-eight percent of all the toys that are sold in the United States are imported from China. So, she really has not had a choice from where she can get her merchandise in the last year.

And that last point she made, talking about how vendors have raised their prices, she has continued to buy the product in order to stock her shelves. So she's not so convinced that vendors will be incentivized to bring those prices down, which, of course, means that consumers may not see much of a break in prices despite the decision by the Supreme Court.

Victor.

BLACKWELL: Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much.

Next, the latest on U.S. negotiations with Iran. The military is prepared to strike if the President gives the go.

We'll dig into negotiations, next.

And if you're heading out, remember, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/Watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:02]

BLACKWELL: I look at you caught up now on this morning's top stories.

Minutes ago, the Department of Homeland Security temporarily suspended TSA pre-check and global entry programs.

Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement that the agency is making tough but necessary choices. And they're prioritizing the general traveling population at airports and ports of entry. The disruptions are certain to increase wait times at customs and passport control. An estimated 63,000 TSA agents continue working without pay.

Ukraine is investigating a deadly double bombing that killed a police officer and injured dozens. Authorities are calling the strike in Lviv a terrorist attack.

Now, one explosion hit after officers responded to reports of an intrusion at a store. It was followed by another blast that hit a second group that arrived on the scene. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a person suspected of carrying out the attack has been detained.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): Now, weather models still are not in complete agreement of how much snow we're going to get from this system. But more of them are leaning away from the Euro and more into the American model in terms of the National Weather Service offices. They are calling for about six to eight inches of snow in Washington, D.C., more than a foot in Boston.

And some of these areas across New Jersey could end up picking up nearly two feet of snow. The bulk of that starting later on this afternoon will continue through the evening hours and even through the day on Monday.

BLACKWELL: All right, turning now to the Middle East where there are new protests this weekend in Iran. Local media is reporting students at several Iranian universities held demonstrations at the start of a new semester. Some clashing with pro-government groups.

Now, Iran's foreign minister is optimistic that a nuclear deal can be quickly reached with the U.S. to avoid a military confrontation and that a new proposal would be handed to the U.S. and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy soon.

But Witkoff says President Trump is wondering why a deal has not happened already.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: He's curious as to why they haven't. I don't want to use the word capitulated, but why they haven't capitulated.

Why under this sort of pressure with the amount of sea power, naval power that we have over there, why they haven't come to us and said we profess that we don't want to be -- we don't want a weapon. So here's what we're prepared to do. And yet it's hard to -- to sort of get them to that place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier joins me now to discuss.

And let's start right there with the President's pondering about why Iran has not capitulated. What is history suggest is the answer to that question

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (on-camera): Well, Iran historically doesn't capitulate under pressure as a matter of principle.

It instead delays and delays and delays, which is what we're seeing it offered right now. The latest interview that the foreign minister gave to foreign media says we'll get a new proposal to see Witkoff in a matter of days. You would think with the amount of firepower that is sitting in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf that they'd move faster.

[06:45:22]

But the worry is that each side is misjudging each other. The Iranians think that President Trump doesn't really want to pull the trigger. And Trump thinks that putting this kind of military pressure on them will make a change in their historic policy, which it hasn't in the past.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The central question that most Americans want an answer to is whether the U.S. will attack or not. And you think that it's inevitable. Why?

DOZIER (on-camera): A couple of reasons. We haven't had this amount of firepower parked off the coast of Iran and not attacked in the past. So, there's a certain amount of momentum and inevitability to it. Also, you've got the Israelis sort of whispering in Trump's ear saying, you know, according to our intelligence, they're preparing to do X, Y, Z, which gets Trump angry that they're not capitulating and also makes him worried that it will make the U.S. look weak if they don't do something to stop this sort of rebellious action on the Iranian part.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And also, let's remember that Trump ordered the strike in 2025. And so, they know that he will --

DOZIER (on-camera): Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- strike there in Iran. It was pretty narrow and specific. The Abraham and the Ford carrier strike groups are there in the Mediterranean, as you point out.

So what is the assessment, I mean, from what you're hearing now, of how broad or the scope that Iran expects this could be?

DOZIER (on-camera): We're hearing that the administration is considering hitting many of the leadership targets on both the political and the military side in a several days long campaign. And of course, the Iranian regime is also hearing that.

And word from them is that they are preparing a succession plan. Ayatollah Khamenei is preparing to go down as a martyr and they've put in place, you know, if this person gets killed, then this person takes charge, et cetera. And U.S. intelligence has also analyzed that if a lot of the Ayatollah class gets taken out, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also has a succession plan where it would take over, maintain security.

And you have to remember that the IRGC also has itself knit into the Iranian economy, runs most of the major industries. So, they have a lot of levers to stay in power.

BLACKWELL: Kimberly Dozier, thanks for helping us understand it. We'll see what happens.

Next, the Winter Games will soon close, but not before a gold medal showdown on the ice between the U.S. and Canada.

We're live in Milan, next.

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[06:52:44]

BLACKWELL: And just about an hour, the (INAUDIBLE), U.S. and Canada will face off in the men's hockey gold medal game. The stakes could not be higher.

Team USA has not delivered a gold medal in men's hockey since the miracle on ice in 1980.

CNN's Coy Wire is in Milan. He's there with the people. Man of the people.

Coy Wire, good morning.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR (on-camera): Humble men of the people. We have so much action for this last event of these winter games. The men's hockey final, just like the women's hockey final.

Team USA vs. Team Canada. It is about to be on, Victor. These two teams have combined for 27 hockey medals. Overall, Canada has the most. Team USA has third most. It's been 46 years since the U.S. has won it. Canada has it once since 2014. Yes. I think we have the makings for an epic day.

Now, also the makings of an epic day. Jordan Stolz, the Stolz of the show here, the speed skating sensation from Team USA, broke two Olympic records while he was here, and three medals overall.

He learned to grow up skating on a pond in his backyard, and now he's a champ. I asked him if that's fully sunken in yet.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN STOLZ, THREE-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I think after winning the first two gold medals was just a surreal feeling. I mean, you're an Olympic champion, and it's something that you've worked for since you were a kid, pretty much, if you think about it like that way.

WIRE: There's been a lot of talk about quad God at these games.

STOLZ: Right.

WIRE: But hold on, man. Let me see these thighs, dude. Stand up. Stand up. Let me see. Let me see. Oh, God.

Look at this. What the heck? He's got creatures, monsters, growing out of his quads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE (on-camera): All right. Here we are. It's about to be on. Mr. Matt (ph) here representing Team USA. Why is the U.S. going to win today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got heart. We got physicality. They may have us on talent, but we're playing for our country. We're going to play hard. We're going to lay the body (INAUDIBLE) --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our game. It's our sport. We invented hockey. This game belongs to us. We're more talented. We're tougher.

[06:55:07]

WIRE (on-camera): Tony (ph), what do you have to say about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miracles happen once in a lifetime, theirs happened in 1980, that's it, that's all. We invented hockey, this is hockey.

WIRE (on-camera): Let's go, prepare for some drama ahead of the closing ceremony in Verona tonight.

Victor, let's go.

BLACKWELL: Man, they are ready. Coy Wire for us there in Milan.

Stakes are high, 8:10 a.m. Eastern is when we're going to see the two of them go off on the ice. Coy Wire, have a good time there in Milan.

All right, much more ahead in the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend." Highly anticipated trial starts this week in Utah. Wife and mother accused of giving her husband a poison cocktail.

We'll look ahead to that.

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