Winter Storm Pummels East Coast; Dems Threaten Shutdown After Latest Minneapolis Killing

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1:02Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with the powerful winter storm that pounded a large part of the country. For the very latest, we bring in Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen. Craig, tell us it's over. Yes, Nathan, it's basically over. The core of the storm is over. The main precipitation in the form of snow, sleet and ice is continuing over upstate New York and across portions of Maine. Boston is still under a winter storm warning this morning because of leftover ice.

1:44In other words, a little bit of freezing rain and freezing drizzle. Washington, D.C. as well. The New York City area, there's nothing more right now than a cold weather advisory. Same thing on down towards Washington, D.C. The problem here is that whatever we picked up over the weekend is not going anywhere fast. It was approximately a 5 to 10 inch snowfall for D.C. and Baltimore. 10 to 15, as you know, around New York City and 15 to 20 up towards Boston. And there were some sections of New England that picked up over 20 inches of snow, came close to about two feet. So now you've got this ice that's sitting on top of the snow, and it's just going to get harder and harder to move.

2:32So any kind of clearing during the day today or the next several days is going to be very, very tough. All right. Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen, thank you. Of course, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. And travel, particularly through the air, continues to be a major headache this morning. Bloomberg's Lisa Mateo continues our team coverage in New York. Lisa, good morning. Yeah, good morning, Karen. Airlines in the U.S., they are just trying to get their schedules back on track. But it is a tough battle ahead after that winter storm. It caused the most flight cancellations since the pandemic.

3:03Now, according to FlightAware, more than 3 ,600 flights, they were canceled as of this morning. And that's down from the roughly 11 ,600 cancellations on Sunday. You have airlines like United, JetBlue, Delta. They've all said they're looking to get back up and running. But as you've been hearing from Craig Allen, the extremely cold air, icy conditions at airports along the roads and highways, that's going to continue to make travel difficult. U.S. power grids are also being put to the test. More than 800 ,000 homes and businesses nationwide have been without electricity. In New York, Lisa Mateo, Bloomberg Radio.

3:37All right, Lisa, thank you. Well, now we want to get to the latest from Minnesota, where two very different messages are emerging after a Border Patrol agent killed an ICU nurse in Minneapolis over the weekend. Democratic Governor Tim Walz is renewing his call for ICE agents to leave his state after the shooting death of Alex Preddy. What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace, and kidnap its citizens off the streets? Or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government? Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is accusing federal authorities of sullying Preddy's name by saying he brandished a weapon and violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

4:15Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino says the investigation will continue. I wasn't there wrestling that assaultive subject that was assaulting Border Patrol agents. I wasn't there wrestling him myself, so I'm not going to speculate. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and Governor Tim Walz held competing news conferences yesterday. Video shot by bystanders showed Preddy with a phone in his hand as he stepped between an agent and a woman on the street. During the scuffle, agents appeared to find a 9mm semi-automatic handgun on Preddy, then open fire after he was disarmed. Preddy was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

4:50Nathan, after Preddy's killing, more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies are calling for an immediate de-escalation of tensions between federal, state, and local authorities. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce shared a letter signed by chief executives from Target, Best Buy, Land O 'Lakes, Cargill, General Mills, UnitedHealth, the Minnesota Vikings, and Timberwolves. The letter says Minnesota's business community has been working every day behind the scenes with authorities to advance real solutions. And the shooting is reverberating in Washington, Karen. Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are calling for Department of Homeland Security funds to be stripped out of a giant funding package that has to pass by the end of the week.

5:30to prevent a government shutdown. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota says she won't support the bill as is. We must have transparent investigations, not only of the shooting of Alex Preddy, but of course, the shooting of Renee Good. Two people with no criminal record. Senator Amy Klobuchar appeared on NBC's Meet the Press, heard Sundays on Bloomberg Radio. Senate Republicans plan to reject Democrats' demands and pass the bill as is. And while they have shown support for ICE and the Border Patrol before. That support may be wavering. House Oversight Chairman James Comer is suggesting that President Trump send agents to another city and let Minneapolis decide how to proceed on immigration.

6:11Several other Republicans are calling for a full investigation into Alex Petty's shooting. Well, let's turn to foreign policy now, Nathan. President Trump's latest tariff threats could impact trade with Canada and Mexico, and Bloomberg's Monica Ricks explains why. President Trump threatened Canada with 100 % tariffs this weekend if it reaches a trade deal with China that would slash tariffs on Chinese electric cars in exchange for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson slammed it too. We can't let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the U.S.

6:47Besson on ABC's This Week. A deal between Canada and China could mean months of volatile talks as the U.S., Canada and Mexico prepare to review their trade pact this summer. Many goods under that agreement are tariff-free. Monica Ricks, Bloomberg Radio. All right, Monica, thank you. Turning to the markets now, the dollar is weakening, and gold is once again soaring to new heights. Let's bring in Bloomberg's John Tucker with more. John? Yeah, Nathan, gold's smashing through$5 ,000 an ounce. Right now, 5119. It is being fed by President Trump's reshaping of international relations. Gold's dramatic gains underscore its historic role as a gauge of fear in the markets.

7:29Now, fresh from its best annual performance since 1979, it's risen about 18 percent so far this year, largely due to the so-called debasement trade, swelling public debt. That has become another key pillar of gold's rally. In the meantime, the dollar has fallen almost 2 percent in six sessions. There is speculation the U.S. may assist Japan in efforts to boost the yen. This is just adding to worries over Federal Reserve independence and President Trump's erratic policymaking. Silver also spiking to a record it was above$110 an ounce, gaining for a third day. In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.

8:08All right, John, thank you. Meanwhile, Wall Street's focus shifts to tech earnings this week. Let me get a preview with Bloomberg's Charlie Pellett. Meta platforms and MAG7 peers, Apple, Tesla and Microsoft will once again be scrutinized for how well their heavy AI spending is translating into profits. Bob Dahl is the CIO of Crossmark Global. As long as earnings expectations continue to move higher, which they have been, and the Fed is at worst neutral, maybe positive for the markets, stocks are going to be fine. Also reporting this week, defense names RTX, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.

8:45And we'll be hearing from GM, UPS, IBM, and Starbucks in New York. Charlie Pellett, Bloomberg Radio.

8:55Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. There appears to be some movement in the two-week-old strike with the New York City nurses. The New York State Nurses Association says they are close to an agreement on maintaining health benefits at two hospitals. The Nurses Union says Mount Sinai and New York Presbyterian have agreed to keep the nurses' current health plan. Montefiore Hospital System says health care benefits were never on the bargaining table.

9:29The man credited with helping to eradicate smallpox has died. Dr. William Fage led the CDC in the late 70s and early 80s and helped found the Task Force for Global Health. But his real legacy lives on in the fact that he rid the world of smallpox. Editor-at-large for KFF Health doctor Celine Gounder called him a giant of public health. What set Bill Fage apart wasn't just his brilliance, it was his optimism. He believed that even the hardest problems could be solved not through wishful thinking, but through action, through facing uncomfortable facts early, trusting science and sticking with the work even when things looked worse before they got better.

10:12The KFF's Dr. Selene Gounder, Dr. William Feige was 89. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a security agreement with the U.S. is 100 percent ready. Zelensky said Ukraine is waiting for its partners to set a signing date. Speaking Sunday at trilateral talks with Russia and the U.S. in Abu Dhabi, Zelensky emphasized Ukraine's push for European Union membership by 2027 as an economic security guarantee. He also acknowledged fundamental differences with Russia over territorial integrity. Despite brutally cold weather, thousands in Raleigh, North Carolina, turned out this weekend to the state capitol to see Buddhist monks during their Walk for Peace stop this weekend.

11:00Thousands of people were eager to see the monks walk for peace. Just knew that this was something that I felt like I needed to do. I'm going to get all emotional. Digits were in the teens, but fans say the message of peace was important to hear. Global news, 24 hours a day, and whenever you want it. With Bloomberg News Now, I'm Michael Barr, and this is Bloomberg. Karen. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update, and for that, we bring in John Stashauer. Thanks, Karen. It'll be the Patriots and the Seahawks in Super Bowl XVI. New England won 10-7, and Denver a game played in a second-half driving snowstorm.

11:37Broncos had to play without their starting quarterback, Bo Nix. Jared Stidham had an early touchdown pass, but a costly fumble and a late interception. The Seahawks beat the Rams 31-27. Both quarterbacks, Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold, through three touchdown passes. Scotty Scheffler starts the year by winning the American Express Golf by four shots. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. As markets move and headlines break, what matters most is context. A Bloomberg subscription gives you unmatched reporting, sharp analysis, and powerful tools that help you connect the dots.

12:16Visit Bloomberg.com slash podcast offer to learn more. Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. And it's 514 on Wall Street. Good morning. I'm Karen Moscow alongside Nathan Hager and a massive winter storm dumps sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the U.S. And we want to get the very latest with Bloomberg meteorologist Rob Carolyn. Rob, good morning. Is the worst of the storm behind us? Yes, it is, Karen. The storm system now moving off the coast of New England and out into the Atlantic.

12:58The good news is the really heavy snow we were looking at yesterday and last night from parts of the mid-Atlantic states through the northeast has ended. There's some residual snow right now over northern New York State, northern New England. That will continue to fall today. A little bit of light snow over portions of southern New England later on this morning and into the afternoon. But the bulk of the accumulating snow is done, as is the sleet and freezing rain. Still have a little bit of freezing drizzles, some mist this morning down over some of the higher areas in western, north and south Carolina.

13:27So it's still slippery there, but the conditions across the southeast will improve today as the cold front moves offshore and the precipitation heads out into the Atlantic. Rob, can we talk about some of those accumulations? What areas were hardest hit? Well, outside southern New England, that's where we've seen the highest amount so far, Karen. Into the areas to the north of New York City. Boston reporting 16.7 inches of snow at Logan Airport. Central Park was just under 12 inches of snow and sleet. The Washington area, we saw anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of snow and sleet. And the real big problem in the south-central United States was over an inch of freezing rain falling in parts of Mississippi.

14:04The problems around Oxford and Holly Springs really bad. There's also been some icing over northeastern Georgia and the western Carolinas. And what about the dig out and a possible thaw? Are we going to get any relief? There's no thaw in sight, and that includes all of the areas down into Texas, the Gulf Coast, North Florida. We're looking at cold weather advisories and extreme cold weather warnings in effect all the way as far south as Brownsville, Texas, Pensacola, Panama City. and then we have them into the eastern United States as well. It looks like temperatures are going to remain below normal east of the Rockies for the entire week.

14:39All right. Well, Bloomberg meteorologist Rob Carolyn will be sure to keep in touch with you then throughout the week. Thank you so much. Nathan. All right, Karen. Thank you. And along with the deep freeze, deep tensions are settling in in Minnesota after another deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen during immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says he has a message for President Trump after the killing of Alex Preddy. We believe in law and order in this state. We believe in peace. And we believe that Donald Trump needs to pull these 3 ,000 untrained agents out of Minnesota before they kill another person.

15:13That was Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at a news conference yesterday. And for more, we're joined by Bloomberg's Suzanne Lynch. Suzanne, good morning. We've been hearing very different narratives about what happened on Saturday and a lot of video being shared by bystanders. So what do we know about this latest shooting in Minneapolis? Good morning. Good morning. Well, what we do know is that there is growing public disquiet and public outrage about what's happening in Minneapolis now with the second death there at the hand of federal agents. And I think it's significant politically because we are seeing a number of Republicans coming out and criticizing the administration about these actions.

15:52Now, look, it's important to stress it's not a full break with Donald Trump on this issue, but we have heard some voices on the Republican side criticising or at least asking for more clarity on what happened. So we've got people like the New York Republican Andrew Garbarino, the he's the chair of the House Homeland Security Panel, an important committee, has requested public testimony from top immigration officials on this. Other Republicans, you know, who've in fairness have already broken with Trump on some matters, have again expressed their views on this. So the Texan Republican, Michael McCaul, he said we need to get to the bottom of these incidents to maintain Americans' confidence in our justice system.

16:35So really, this is emerging as a serious political headache for the administration. Well, have we gotten any response from the Trump administration, from President Trump himself, to some of these calls from congressional Republicans? Yeah, so on Sunday, the president did a short interview with the Wall Street Journal. Now, he did not say, he did not take a stance on whether he think the federal agents were right in their actions, but he said they were going to get to the bottom of this. And he said everything would be looked into. Now, I think this is an indication that Donald Trump wanted to come out publicly on this and try and perhaps quell some of the growing disquiet over this issue.

17:17Now, whether that will be enough to placate things politically, let's see, because we've had a lot of statements from members of his administration calling out, blaming this victim, this man, for what happened. Donald Trump obviously moving back from that in some way in those comments to the Wall Street Journal Sunday. Well, and to that point, we heard at least at the initial response to this shooting that the person there, Alex Preddy, violently resisted agents, that he brandished a firearm. There's some questions about that as well in terms of what we saw in the video, apparently showing a phone as he stood between agents and a woman.

17:59But what does this mean for the gun debate in Washington, D.C.? This idea that Alex Preddy, as far as we understand, was licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Minnesota. there. Yeah, it's been quite fascinating because the NRA, the National Rifle Association, has come out and called for a full investigation into this incident, arguing that Americans do have the right. And this man, it seems, was lawfully allowed, permitted to carry this weapon and they should not be shot at and targeted for this reason. So you've got this extraordinary confluence now of different political perspectives calling for further investigation into this incident.

18:41The gun rights lobby is not happy. They say that, you know, they're making the argument that just because someone carries a gun doesn't mean that they pose a danger. And that's one of the central premises of this right to bear arms, as they see it in the United States. So, you know, people who carry guns should not be risked being lawfully shot by officers saying that this is dangerous and wrong. So I think this political impulse is also, we can imagine, weighing on minds in the White House as they decide how to handle this. And as you said there, the videos here are the key issue. You know, it's been said numerous times on talk shows over the day on Sunday that, you know, American people, many of whom, by the way, are at home because of the snowstorms, watching this constantly, can see with their own eyes from these videos what happened.

19:28And they're being told something else by members of the Trump administration. So this is inherently problematic now for the White House. So it'll be interesting to see how they come out on this this morning. And to your point about some of the rhetoric we're hearing from the Sunday political shows, more talk about potentially not voting for this massive government funding bill that's supposed to avert a government shutdown by the end of the week. Democrats are saying that they won't vote for it unless it strips out funding for the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the Border Patrol, are we staring down the possibility of a government shutdown at the end of the week?

20:06Possibly. I mean, this is adding to this sense of instability now as we enter the week. So Democrats, as you say there, are demanding that they split off the funding for the DHS and pass the rest of this huge funding package to avoid a shutdown at the end of the week. Now, Senate Republican leaders have indicated that that's not going to happen, and that they still believe they're going to try and pass the full spending package. That includes money for ICE and border control in that. Now, the votes in the Senate are not due to start until Tuesday evening due to this snowstorm. Let's see how this pans out.

20:44But it's undoubtedly another pressure point that's coming to bear here as we enter the week. And in our last minute here, Suzanne, what else should we be watching for in the days to come as apparently this immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis continues. Yeah, I think it was interesting hearing from Donald Trump, as I said, his brief interview with the Wall Street Journal. But he did kind of hint that, you know, these officers would not be in Minneapolis forever, the way he put it. So, you know, are we going to see a move by the U.S. president, by his officials to move out some of these federal law enforcement officials from the city where things are obviously getting and continuing to be so tense.

21:27Now, that could be a move to divert attention to other states. Donald Trump, for example, is talking about California, for example, and some of what he says is the corruption there, for example. So let's see if this is just a diversion strategy by the administration either. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston, and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121.

22:11Plus, listen coast-to-coast on the Bloomberg Business app now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

22:47Thank you.