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Bomb Cyclone Dumping Up To 2 Feet Of Snow On Northeast; Trump Raises Global Tariffs To 15 Percent After Supreme Court Ruling; Mexican Forces Kill Most-Wanted Cartel Boss "El Mencho". Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:01:48]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, monster bomb cyclone. A historic blizzard slamming the Northeast bringing major cities to a standstill. Seven states are declaring a state of emergency as power outages continue to climb. More than 40 million people are in the storm's path.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Violence erupting in parts of Mexico after the country's most wanted cartel kingpin was killed in a military operation. Americans at tourist hotspots in Mexico told to shelter in place as chaos spills into the streets.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin this hour with the breaking news right now. A bomb cyclone is churning across the northeastern United States. This is New York on a very quiet and snowy Monday morning. The blizzard has delivered more than two feet of snow in four states from Delaware up to Connecticut.

BROWN: The ferocious storm is also unleashing wind gusts of more than 80 miles an hour in some areas like Eastern Long Island. Those hurricane-strength winds and the wet heavy snow are bringing down trees and power lines. More than half a million homes and businesses are without power right now. And the storm has grounded more than 10,000 flights. This desolate scene in Newark International Airport we had -- which had more than 80 percent of its departures canceled today. Look at that. You rarely see that at Newark Airport.

BLITZER: Basically empty.

BROWN: Yes, so let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd in Philadelphia and Gloria Pazmino is in New York with snow up to her knees as you see. Brian, you have faced some brutal conditions this morning must be pretty miserable out there. What's it like?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela the snow here in Philadelphia is a little lighter than it was earlier, that's the good news. But the bad news is that we just got buffeted by a wind gust of about 35 miles an hour. So the wind is still an issue here in Philadelphia. And the streets are still a little bit dicey. We're going to show you kind of the juxtaposition here. This is a heavy wet snow. This is great snow for making snowballs and snowmen, but it is slushy, it is heavy and it's tough to navigate.

And some of the secondary streets here are still being plowed and still a little bit dicey. This is Vine Street. It's still slushy kind of hard to navigate. My photojournalist, Tyler Ryan and I, are going to show you the difference between these secondary roads that they're still trying to get cleared and the main highways. This is Highway 676 which cuts through the heart of Philadelphia. This is like basically the one of the bigger highways that cuts through the heart of the city. Take a look at how smooth that is. They did a really good job starting in the overnight hours and even last night last night before this hit in earnest of priming these highways and getting them cleared.

So that highway they're pretty clear and the highways around this area are clear. But then you see again down these secondary streets, it's a little bit tougher. And authorities here in Philadelphia are being watched pretty closely as to -- as far as how quickly they're clearing these roads because the last major storm that came through here about a month ago. After that for a few days they got thousands of calls basically complaining that they weren't clearing the streets fast enough.

[11:05:07]

So they are under a little bit of pressure to clear these streets. We think from navigating the streets that we've navigated so far all around this area that they've done a pretty good job. They've got about a thousand personnel out here, 800 pieces of equipment clearing the roads all over Philadelphia. I did speak to one plow truck driver earlier today. I said what's the toughest thing that you're up against? He said staying alert and staying away because they're working 13 to 16 hour shifts working to clear these roads here, Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, we're very grateful for them.

BLITZER: All right, I want to go to Gloria right now in New York. Gloria, how are the conditions there where you are? It looks pretty bad.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, you know, it is steadily snowing. It has been doing so since last night and we are expecting a few more hours of snowfall. I am right at Central Park and I want to just show you here as I step over, there is basically snow up all the way up to my knee. That's how much snow we've gotten here in Central Park, way more than 15 inches so far, likely to be a record-breaking snow.

Now, conditions here are cold, it is snowing, but it is right now at that wonderful kind of snow globe effect. So there are a lot of people that are starting to stream into the park and I've seen a lot of interesting things here this morning. People are cross-country skiing, people are snowshoeing, you know, people are trying to enjoy the snow. I also spoke to some New Yorkers who, frankly, are over it.

You know, we are in March, it's been very cold and people were just starting to see that the last storm was finally going away, the snow that was left behind from that. But I speak to -- I spoke to two New Yorkers who woke up this morning looking forward to playing and enjoying the conditions here inside the park. Take a listen.

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DYLAN O'CONNOR, SNOWSHOE TRAVELER: Yes, so I think we find ourselves in the rare situation where we have snowshoes in New York City and there's a bunch of snow in Central Park, so we're like, got to seize the day, get out there, do a little snowshoeing this morning and it should be a lot of fun.

JACOB SCOTT, SNOWSHOE TRAVELER: We're a couple mountain men living in New York City. Finally, we got the opportunity to showcase our skills. Mother Nature gave us a run for our money and we're going to see what she's got.

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PAZMINO: Wolf, Pamela, there is a travel ban that will remain in effect for about one more hour. It is expected to lift at noon. Mayor Zohran Mamdani here in New York City asking people to stay off the roads. There are more than 2,000 pieces of snow cleaning equipment that has been deployed, 2,600 sanitation workers working 12-hour shifts since yesterday to make sure that that cleanup can get underway. But I think we'll be digging out for a while, certainly into tomorrow. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much. Brian Todd, thanks to you as well.

BROWN: And let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam. What does the rest of this day look like for these millions of Americans, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More of the same, Pamela. This is a very heavy, wet snow that people are contending with. So here's some live cameras. This is coming out of Boston on my left-hand side here. And then on the right-hand side, this is Mystic, Connecticut. Both snowy landscapes. But what's interesting about this is that this is a very heavy, wet snow.

And you couple that with 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts, especially near the Cape. And you're going to have downed trees and downed power lines as well. Here's a quick look at the -- what we're calling the two-foot club. Several locations reporting over two feet of snow. I mean, check this out into New York as well as Rhode Island. Yes, 26 inches and counting. And it's not done yet.

This is a monster storm. We've called it a bomb cyclone because of its rapid intensification and rapid drop in pressure. And you can actually see kind of a defined eye to the satellite image. That is a characteristic. These pressure readings and the wind readings of a category one or low-end category two hurricane. Of course, it's not a hurricane, but the winds here are powerful enough to cause some damage. And we've seen that already. We're nearing 600,000 customers without power. And remember, it doesn't necessarily have to be snowing for blizzard conditions to be achieved. But anywhere from Boston southward into New York where blizzard warnings are in effect, yes, you're going to drop visibilities below a quarter of a mile very quickly. Look at this.

Boston is gusting to 61. Nantucket, 74. That is hurricane force. Of course, it's not sustained, but that is gusts and that is significant. And this will bring down trees and more power lines as this heavy, wet snow continues to accumulate. And I just want to point this out as well into Providence, Rhode Island, that area getting hammered with two to three inches an hour right now. Pam, Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Derek Van Dam, thank you very much for that update. We'll, of course, stay in close touch with you.

And still ahead, President Trump's latest global tariff won't apply to Canada, but fees from other duties remain very much in place. The Ontario Premier Doug Ford is vowing to fight until every U.S. tariff against Canada is dropped. He joins us right here in The Situation Room.

[11:10:06]

BROWN: Also a heart-stopping finish for Team USA. The men's hockey team all smiles after their dramatic overtime win over Canada, shattered a decades-long drought to bring home the gold. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[11:15:00]

BLITZER: Happening the U.S. is imposing a universal 15 percent tariff on global imports at least temporarily. The announcement by President Trump came less than a day after he originally issued a 10 percent blanket import tax for international trading partners.

All of this in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 decision on Friday to strike down most of his tariff agenda. President Trump slammed the court's move as a "disgrace," and said he was ashamed of the U.S. justices who ruled against his tariffs including two of his own appointees. Joining us now to discuss this and more, the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford. Premier Ford, thanks so much for joining us. How does this latest move by President Trump to issue a universal 15 percent tariff impact Canada?

DOUG FORD, ONTARIO PREMIER: Well, fortunately, Wolf, first of all, thanks for having me on. Fortunately, it doesn't affect the USMCA deal. We're always concerned about the Section 232, and so far it's not affecting that. So we're fortunate right now, but I think we have to get to a resolution as quickly as possible to really give the American people and the Canadian people the certainty that they need. We're so intertwined and there's millions and millions of jobs depend on that every single day.

If we can get a deal, then we move forward because I'll tell you one thing, my American friends, I have lots of them, they're very concerned. They're seeing inflation going up. And when inflation happens, obviously the cost of goods are going up and people are feeling a real crunch down there. We need certainty on both sides of the border.

BLITZER: That's so important. As a country, as you well know, premier, that shares a border with the United States, a very long border, what sort of challenges has the changing guidance on tariffs created for Canadian businesses and for the Canadian government for that matter?

FORD: Well, it's the uncertainty, Wolf. And let's go to the Gordie Howe Bridge, for example. That's one of the busiest crossings anywhere in North America. And we need to make sure we open the Gordie Howe Bridge. And as I mentioned, you know, follow the money. Why did he make this all of a sudden abrupt change when he actually endorsed the Gordie Howe Bridge and he wanted to expedite it as quickly as possible, which is the right decision.

And there's over 850,000 truck hours per year that cross the bridge. So we need to get that open. We need to make sure that in the auto sector there's certainty, manufacturing sector, there's certainty. Because I always say 9 million Americans wake up every morning to produce a product or a widget or a service for just Ontario alone, not mentioning the rest of the country.

So both sides of the border rely on free trade, fair trade, and it's just beneficial to everyone. That's what we believe in, making sure that we benefit both sides of the border.

BLITZER: I want to play what the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told my colleague Dana Bash about all of this just yesterday. Listen to this.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The Supreme Court remanded it down to a lower court, and, you know, we will follow what they say, but that could be weeks or months when we hear them. So the Supreme Court did not address refunds.

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BLITZER: Do you want to see Canada, Premier Ford, get some sort of refund for all the tariffs ruled illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court? What do you suspect that would look like?

FORD: Well, we'd love to get a refund, like any other country, but I think more importantly, let's come up with a resolution. And there's going to be the midterms. I've never seen so many Canadians all cheering on the Democrats. And I think there's 33 Senate seats up for grabs, 20 of them are Republican. But we saw what happened in Congress. We saw what happened in the Supreme Court. The walls are closing in, I believe, on President Trump right now, and he's feeling the pressure. So a lot of these jobs are border states that are being affected, and he needs those seats. So if it continues on, people are going to be unemployed, and -- which will affect the midterms.

BLITZER: Yes. A lot of Canadians are staying away from the United States right now, not going to Florida, for that matter, and not even going to my hometown of Buffalo, New York, crossing the Peace Bridge from Ontario into Buffalo, at least for the time being. Big picture, Premier, how has President Trump's tariff agenda impacted the relationship between Canada and the United States more broadly?

[11:20:11]

FORD: Well, I always say Canadians love Americans. I love Americans. Spent 20 years of my life down there. I talk to my friends every single day, talk to the governors and the Congress people and senators. It's one person, maybe a few people, but you know, we will never change. We look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship on all fronts. We're always there. We'll always stand shoulder to shoulder with our great American friends and allies.

And we're both each other's number one customer. So I can just pass a message on to the American people, make no mistake about it, Canadians love the Americans, to the exception of yesterday's game.

BLITZER: Yes.

FORD: And just automatically, he should drop all tariffs because the U.S. beat our men's and our women's, and that goes right to Canadians' hearts. And yes, he missed a few teeth, but he got the gold medal. So everyone in the country was watching it, and congratulations to the men and women's team. I guess we've got to do better.

But, you know, that's the camaraderie and friendship. My phone was blowing up yesterday from my American friends. They gave me a little poke, but that's fine. It's good.

BLITZER: Obviously, we love the USA winning, both the men's and the women's hockey teams getting the gold medal, so, so important. It was a great game. I watched every minute of it. And I really appreciated every minute of it. Thanks so much. The Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, appreciate your joining us, as always. Good luck to you.

And let me just repeat what you said. You love Americans. I love Canadians as well, having grown up right along the border. Appreciate it very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Up next, here in the Situation Room, cartel members torching buses, blocking roads, and trapping tourists after a military operation took out Mexico's most wanted drug kingpin.

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[11:26:54] BROWN: Breaking news in Mexico, where this morning President Claudia Sheinbaum is making a plea for peace after a wave of drug cartel violence hit several parts of the country yesterday. Amid the chaos, the government said it had killed the country's most wanted drug cartel boss, known as El Mencho.

Mexico said the U.S. provided critical information in the hunt for him, whose cartel is accused of masterminding efforts to push fentanyl into the United States. The violence spread through several Mexican cities, where officials said suspected members of organized crime fought with security forces and set vehicles and businesses on fire. Puerto Vallarta, a coastal city popular with American tourists, was among the worst affected by the unrest. Here's how some of them described the situation.

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JIM BECK, AMERICAN TOURIST STUCK IN PUERTO VALLARTA: Started off our morning with taxis being blown up and buses being blown up and flames and fire everywhere and smoke, so yes, pretty crazy. And then they put us in shelter in place at the hotels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to see quite directly, a little too visibly, you know, some of the tactics and some of the cars that were being set on fire, some of the looting that was taking place as locales, stores and buildings were being attacked. So it was a combination of a lot of loud noise, a lot of chaos in the streets.

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BROWN: CNN's Valeria Leon has more on the violence and the killing.

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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fire, smoke, and chaos across several Mexican states. Cities brought to a standstill as criminal groups retaliate after Mexico's most wanted drug leader died following a military operation Sunday.

Blocked highways. Drivers forced out of their cars at gunpoint. Trucks and buses set on fire.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, a former police officer known to most as El Mencho, was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Wounded during a Mexican military operation and later died while being transported to Mexico City.

The U.S. played a role in Sunday's operation, according to U.S. defense officials, though it's unclear to what extent.

As fear spread, many Mexicans spoke out, calling for an end to the violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People are aware of this violence, and what they want is peace: to live in harmony and justice, not in war. LEON (voice-over): Blockades were reported across various states, and classes were suspended in at least three states as officials tried to contain the violence and keep civilians off the streets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm tired of seeing this continue every single day.

LEON (voice-over): Under El Mencho's command, the cartel expanded rapidly, challenging rivals like the Sinaloa cartel for control of territory and trafficking routes, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

El Mencho managed to avoid capture for years. His detention and death is one of the most significant blows to organized crime in recent years, and the first high-profile operation under President Claudia Sheinbaum.

[11:29:53]

The fall of El Mencho may mark a major security milestone, but with tourism, foreign investment, and security for the 2026 World Cup at stake, the world is watching how Mexico handles what comes next.

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