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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Two Deadly Russian Strikes On Civilians In Ukraine; Bomb Cyclone Drops Historic Amounts Of Snow On Southeast; Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar Earn Top Honors At Grammys. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired February 02, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For Ukrainians, it is an extremely dangerous time.

You talked about that attack on the bus. You can see the aftermath pictures there carrying coal miners. Twelve were killed and many more were injured. They were -- they were employees of DTEK, which is the biggest private injury company in Ukraine, already under enormous pressure as it deals with the fallout of multiple attacks on its energy facilities.

There was also the maternity ward in Zaporizhzhia that was hit. Six injured there. Miraculously, no one killed. Everyone had rushed to the shelters.

And then this morning we hear about another attack on railway infrastructure. This is a critical part of what keeps the country functioning during war. A diesel engine was hit in a station in the Zaporizhzhia region. No one was injured there. But that comes just less than a week after a passenger train was attacked up in Kharkiv killing five people.

So it is a very dangerous time and the energy grid, I have to point out, is now so fragile that over the weekend we saw what Ukrainian authorities described as a technical failure that led to rolling outages that spread even to Moldova, which is connected to the Ukrainian grid. So you can see the fragility there.

And under these conditions Ukraine will head back into the second round of trilateral talks between themselves and Russia, and the United States on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi. President Zelenskyy is talking about an intense February for diplomacy. He's saying that, you know, work is continuing at a very intense pace.

But meanwhile, we hear quite a different tone from Russia. The Kremlin this morning reiterating any -- its position that any direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy would have to be in Moscow, which is something that Zelenskyy has ruled out. So that seems like an ongoing effort to slowball even, of course, as they ramp up these attacks.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, OK. Clare Sebastion for us there in London. Clare, thank you. Still ahead, dangerous road conditions remain after a bomb cyclone dropped historic amounts of snow across the southeastern U.S. The latest on the storm's aftermath when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:36:42]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The time now is 5:36. This is your business breakout.

Let's start with where U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, and futures are all off. Let's call it a quarter of a percentage point for Dow futures to almost a percentage point for Nasdaq futures. A big story this week for investors, of course, is Nonfarm Payrolls and the jobs report on Friday, so watch that space. And, of course, the Fed chair announcement.

Let's check some of the other business headlines this morning. The White House says that it will work with the Senate to expedite Kevin Warsh's confirmation as the next Federal Reserve chair. It's already, however, facing pushback from at least one conservative lawmaker. Thom Tillis, a key vote on the Senate Banking Committee, has suggested that the panel shouldn't act on the nomination until the Trump administration's investigation of current Fed chair Jerome Powell is resolved.

Xi Jinping is outlining his vision to raise China's yuan to global reserve currency status. The Chinese president is calling for a powerful central bank and other institutions to make Beijing more competitive in the global financial order. Xi's comments come as the U.S. dollar hit a four-year low.

And the documentary about U.S. first lady Melania Trump has so far performed better than expected in theaters. It's on track to earn about $7 million in its opening weekend. That's considered strong for a documentary by box office standards. It is, however, still far from a financial winner at this point considering Amazon spent $75 million to buy and market the film.

Severe cold is impacting much of the southeastern U.S. as that powerful bomb cyclone moves out to sea. More than 90,000 customers still without power from Tennessee to Florida. Several Florida cities waking up today to record-breaking low temperatures, which caused some iguanas to temporarily lose muscle control and fall from trees seemingly frozen.

Meanwhile, officials in North Carolina are urging people to just stay home as they work to clean up from the storm. The storm is blamed for more than 1,000 traffic accidents, including two fatalities in the state.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports now from Charlotte, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bomb cyclone may have said goodbye to the Carolinas, but its effects will be felt for days to come here. A record-breaking amount of snow fell all across the state. The governor said that every single one of North Carolina's 100 counties had some kind of snowfall.

And here in places like Charlotte it was, again, record-breaking. The fourth-highest amount of snow that has fallen in the history of the city tied with a record set back in 1880 -- 11 inches here.

Now look, there were a lot of people out and about on Sunday enjoying themselves and the snow. But there are too many people doing exactly that -- they are driving. According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation there were plenty of people on the roads, which led to, unfortunately, two fatalities as well as more than 1,000 collisions that were reported to them during the storm.

And there were incidents like a train hitting a semitruck which thankfully, no one was injured, and a 100-car backup that shut down an interstate on Saturday night.

[05:40:00]

Now they warned that roads that look like this right now, part of it might still be packed with now. Some of it's melting. Look, secondary streets could take up to a week for them to get to although they are plowing some of the main roads right now. And a lot of them do look good across the city of Charlotte. But his wet, mushy, slushy stuff -- it's likely going to refreeze, continuing to cause issues throughout the week here in the Carolinas. Things like black ice, slick, slippery roadways, and potentially for some, the inability to get out and around town.

Officials are asking you if you do not need to, please do not drive as they attempt to clean up the streets. If you can on foot, go out and enjoy this rare and record-breaking southern snow.

Dianne Gallagher -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Thank you, Dianne.

A police K-9 helped find a boy with special needs who went missing during the height of the snowstorm in North Carolina. The Gastonia Police Department says that K-9 Bo, who you see here covered in snow, and his handler, Sgt. Rowland, were called in to assist in the search for a 13-year-old. He apparently left home on foot without proper clothing and was at serious risk due to the dangerously cold and snowy conditions.

Well, Bo was given a scent article and began tracking while multiple agencies established a perimeter. Police said the boy was found cold but unharmed. That's a good boy.

And still to come, the biggest night in music gets political. We'll break down the wins, losses, and criticism for ICE from the 68th Grammy Awards, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:46:02]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. And here are some of the stories we are watching for you this morning.

Five-year-old Laim Ramos and his father Adrian are finally back in Minneapolis after being released from a Texas detention center. Federal officers had taken them into custody from outside their suburban home in Minnesota. Officials were accused of using Liam as bait to get his mother to open the door, which the administration denies.

A partial U.S. government shutdown is expected to last through at least Tuesday. That's when the House is set to vote on legislation to fund most of the government through September. Funding for Homeland Security is being handled separately while lawmakers considered possible reforms to federal immigration enforcement.

And President Trump says that he plans to shut down Washington's Kennedy Center for two years for renovations. The performing arts center has been plagued with cancelations and protests. It's part of the backlash against Trump's aggressive rebranding of the institution, including adding his name to the building.

Well, the 68th Grammy Awards ended just hours ago with rapper Kendrick Lamar walking away with the most awards of the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Grammy goes to Kendrick Lamar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Lamar took home five trophies, including Record of the Year and Best Rap Album. That was thanks, in part, to his song "Luther" featuring SZA off his album "GNX."

The award for Best New Artist went to Olivia Dean whose summertime hit "Man I Need" went massively viral. It gave the London native her first Billboard Hot 100 hit currently sitting at number two on the charts.

And the night's biggest award, Album of the Year -- well, that went to Bad Bunny. During one of his multiple acceptance speeches, the Puerto Rican performer took aim at Washington for its immigration crackdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAD BUNNY, MUSICIAN: Before I say thanks to God, I'm gonna say ICE out.

(Applause)

We're not savage. We're not animals. We're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.

(Applause)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Lots to discuss this morning. Let's welcome in entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu, who joins us this morning from Los Angeles to go over the biggest moments of the night.

Let's just start with Kendrick, Segun, breaking Jay-Z's record for the most awarded rapper in Grammy's history. His hot streak -- it just -- it just keeps on going.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST AND TELEVISION HOST: Yeah. Kendrick is your favorite rapper's favorite rapper at the current moment, Rahel. It took five Grammys tonight to pass Jay-Z though. He's at 27 and Jay-Z is at 25. But what is really historic is two-time Record of the Year. He won it last year for "Not Like Us" and then does it again with SZA for "Luther."

So Kendrick is on a tremendous hot streak. This is what happens when you, you know -- add it to his Peabody, add it to his Pulitzer. Add it to all of the other awards that he's acquired. It was a historic night, and Kendrick was at the center of it with five Grammys.

SOLOMON: Yeah. "Luther" was that song that I just feel like you just -- you couldn't go anywhere without hearing "Luther" being played. So, hats off to Kendrick Lamar there.

Obviously, he headlined the Super Bowl halftime last year. This year Bad Bunny is picking up the torch. We're going to hear from him this weekend at the Super Bowl.

We just heard that snippet of him calling out ICE in one of his victory speeches. But it wasn't just him. It seemed like politics was very front and center last night.

But Segun, do you expect more of that from Bad Bunny when he performs this weekend during the Super Bowl?

[05:50:00]

ODUOLOWU: I do, Rahel, because you're right. From Billie Eilish to Bad Bunny, to even Olivia Dean, they were talking about either being the children of immigrants or how can you be an immigrant on stolen land, which was a very poignant quote from Billie Eilish.

But I expect Bad Bunny to make note at the Super Bowl. They've already had and seen threats where, you know, ICE might be at the Super Bowl. What to expect. I love that they were defiant in a very calculated and smart way.

And I think doing the speech in Spanish at the end, right, when he -- when he accepts that award for Album of the Year and speaking in his most comfortable language, in Spanish, obviously it's a record. The first Spanish-speaking album to ever win Album of the Year. First Latin artist to win Album of the Year is really big.

And then to headline at the Super Bowl, it is a great wave of momentum for Bad Bunny. I expect that Super Bowl stage to be as Latin and as colorful, and as high-energy as Bad Bunny always is. And I expect him to thumb his nose and that's not the finger I want to use but we're on TV -- but thumb his nose at ICE and what might happen --

SOLOMON: Yeah.

ODUOLOWU: -- you know, with the people that don't want him to perform.

SOLOMON: It will likely be a talker. We will likely be talking about it on Monday morning and all of the hot takes that come out of it.

Speaking of big moments, Segun, I had to wipe the sleep out of my eyes this morning when I read that Lauryn Hill -- Lauryn Hill performed at the Grammys. This was the first time since 1999. Obviously, I'm a big Lauryn Hill fan.

Um, your thoughts? I mean, this was obviously a tribute. I mean, give me your thoughts about her performance and just, like, how massive that is.

ODUOLOWU: It was an absolutely shutdown moment. Lauryn Hill does not perform as often as we would like her to. But when she was on there and she was bringing up, you know, Raphael Saadiq, Leon Thomas, Bilal, Come Sing With Me. And then when Wyclef comes up with the guitar and they pay tribute to Roberta Flack with "Killing Me Softly" and then switch into their Fugees version.

And when you see everyone at the Crypto Arena just singing along and waving their hands you realize that Lauryn, with that album that she won all the Grammys for 27 years ago, is such an icon. We need more of her. That -- it was the -- it was the showstopper of the night. Respect to Justin Bieber performing in his boxer shorts and socks, but Lauryn Hill shut it down.

SOLOMON: Yeah. She shut it down like only a legend can.

But touche about Justin Bieber because that was quite a performance as well.

Any headscratchers for you last night in terms of winners or snubs? Anything that left you sort of wondering, like, what was that?

ODUOLOWU: Yeah, there's Cher. Look, I -- look, everybody loves Cher. But Cher came out and it was really interesting where she said look, I'm comfortable with a mic in my hand singing but talking about myself, I'm not. That whole thing felt a little disjointed where, like, all of a sudden Trevor Noah is handing her the award and then Cher is walking away. But then she has to come back and she has to announce. It felt a little bit kind of, you know, jumbled.

So that one was a downer for me because Cher is such a massive icon. I thought she deserved a little bit better or a little bit more -- a smoother transition if you would. But then I just felt like there was no Taylor Swift. There was no Beyonce. There -- it was big, but it wasn't super big, right? You know what I mean? Like, there -- I thought the in memoriam went a little too long with all of the different tributes. It was like 20 minutes long. It's great if you're in the audience and you're seeing, you know, Post Malone perform and then you're seeing, like I said, Lauryn Hill and all these artists. But it was kind of long.

SOLOMON: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: Trevor Noah was great as usual. He won't be doing it again. This was the sixth time. He's bowing out. But he went out on a really high note with the live performances.

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

ODUOLOWU: The live performances was great, like Sabrina Carpenter.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

ODUOLOWU: Uh, yeah. She's a good one. She performed --

SOLOMON: For those who haven't watched it, go back and watch some of those live performances.

ODUOLOWU: She puts on a show.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

Segun, always appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

ODUOLOWU: Absolutely.

SOLOMON: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:58:32]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Today is Groundhog Day and sunrise is about an hour away in Pennsylvania. These are live pictures now as those wait to see whether Punxsutawney Phil will predict an early spring.

Karin goes to the home of the furry forecaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARIN CAIFA, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania the star of the show is clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil! Phil! Phil!

CAIFA (voiceover): It's a tradition that dates back almost 140 years. JAY LUNDY, PUNXSUTAWNEY GROUNDHOG CLUB INNER CIRCLE: Well, first of all, we're true believers and we actually believe in Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day.

CAIFA (voiceover): And neither snow nor ice nor wind chills in the single digits stop Punxsutawney Phil's faithful from a festive countdown to the Groundhog Day forecast.

MARCY GALANDO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PUNXSUTAWNEY GROUNDHOG CLUB: Until then he is warm and he is fed well, and he is -- you know, he makes a few appearances over Groundhog Day but some of that time he's just resting and getting fed and staying warm.

CAIFA (voiceover): The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, obvious around town with their top hats and tails, takes care of Phil and promotes the Groundhog tradition year-round.

A.J. DEREUME, PUNXSUTAWNEY GROUNDHOG CLUB INNER CIRCLE: He does a lot of appearances throughout the year. Just different tourist activities, visits some schools, and does some parades. Uh, wherever we're asked to go, really, we'll go.

CAIFA (voiceover): But leading up to February 2, it's a flurry of activity in Punxsutawney's downtown and at the nearby Gobbler's Knob site, home of the Groundhog Day ceremony since it all began, with visitors scooping up merchandise with Phil's furry face, Phil-themed snacks and drinks, and ringing up a midwinters boost during some very cold days.

[06:00:05]

RICK SIGER, SECRETARY, PENNSYLVANIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Punxsutawney, where we're sitting today, has an amazing Main Street and great businesses that get into the act. But it's also really important not just today but year-round. People know Punxsutawney, right, globally because of Groundhog Day.

CAIFA (voiceover): In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, I'm Karin Caifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, that'll do it for us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.