Millions Brace For Catastrophic Ice, Heavy Snow

26:09I want to show you now, these are some of the pictures of non-U.S. NATO troops from the U.K. and Canada and France and Romania and Croatia and Denmark who are no longer with us. They made the ultimate sacrifice. They lost their lives while fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. More than 1 ,000 non-U.S. troops who were part of the coalition in Afghanistan killed fighting in this U.S.-led war. Now, while in absolute terms, the U.S., of course, lost by far the most troops of any NATO country in Afghanistan, some NATO countries with much smaller populations than we have lost almost as many troops in relative per capita terms, such as the U.K.

26:49and Denmark, which had similar casualty rates per capita as the U.S. This is how British Prime Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to President Trump's comments today. I will never forget their courage, their bravery, and the sacrifice that they made for their country. There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries. And so I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling. And I'm not surprised they've caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured, and in fact, across the country. Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana.

27:34He was the Secretary of Interior in Trump's first term. And more to the point in terms of this segment, he served as a Navy SEAL for more than 20 years and trained U.S. sailors in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Thanks so much for being here. And as always, we salute your service. Well, and also I was a deputy and acting commander of the combined joint special operations force in Iraq. Okay. So in my experience, I've had NATO brethren with me, and I absolutely salute our partners, the special forces, NATO, because they did sacrifice. But the president's point, too, is let's look at Canada, for instance.

28:11Canada doesn't have a warship. And remember when Ukraine first began. Germany surged forward everything they had available. I think it was 10 Humvees and a couple of Patriot missile batteries that weren't full. So NATO itself relies on the U.S. Everyone needs to do a shore. But I absolutely recognize and honor the commitment of the soldiers, the individual soldiers that are out there. And I fought with them, with the snipers. I fought with them in Special Forces. They're friends of mine, and I certainly appreciate their sacrifice and honor their sacrifice. I don't think anyone really takes issue with President Trump thinking that our NATO allies should do more to spend on defense, which he's done pretty successfully, actually, in the first term and now, or questioning whether NATO countries are doing enough in terms of with Ukraine, etc.

29:05But I think it's the specific question about whether troops from these other countries pulled their weight, heeded the call. They were there for us because that's the only time Article 5 in the NATO convention was ever invoked after 9-11. And then, of course, serving on the front lines. In addition to Prime Minister Starmer, the Tory opposition leader, Kemi Bandanatka called the comments a disgrace. Prince Harry said UK troops deserve respect. In fact, even Trump's ally, Nigel Farage, called the comments wrong. In terms of these specific comments, do you think President Trump made a mistake? President Trump is President Trump.

29:49And the mold was broke. If the point is that is NATO doing their share, is NATO viable without the United States? No. We supply the logistics, the overwhelming force. The second NATO ally, the largest physical force on the ground, the number of troops, is Turkey. But Germany, and you look at the NATO, in recent discussions about Denmark, the entirety of the Denmark army could fit in the stadium over here. And Canada doesn't have a warship, and defending the Arctic without a warship is problematic. But listen, I've had, you know, I was a commander, acting commander of the combined Joint Special Operations Force in Iraq.

30:36I've seen the sacrifice. I've written letters home. I've trained and know my brothers in the SBS in Canada with the Joint, you know, combined Special Forces groups. So they're good people. Overall, it's the political side. I think the leadership needs to put more, I'd say, resources behind them. A lot of times their equipment is lacking. You know, we had to give ammunition. We had to give weapons and systems to our allies because their country did not give. I don't think anybody takes issue with that. But I would love you to just take a moment to educate the American people because I don't think, because we spend so much time honoring the troops, our troops in this country, We don't necessarily take the time to like even understand the fact that as Mark Ruta, the NATO Secretary General, said to President Trump the other day privately, according to The Atlantic, for every two Americans that didn't make it home, there was a non-American, non-US NATO troop who also didn't make it home.

31:39When I did the book, when I wrote the book The Outpost, there were troops from Latvia who were in that incredibly dangerous, forward-facing, front-line outpost that I called when I was writing the book. Because in addition to the 50-plus U.S. soldiers, there were three Latvians there. Well, remember the first Gulf War. It wasn't just NATO. Right. We had troops from Saudi. We had troops from El Salvador. We had troops from worldwide. Because I think when you have a combined message and a combined force, you're much stronger. And a short story is that we were in a NATO meeting, and Belgium comes to the table and says, you know, what do we offer?

32:21And say, well, you know, the U.S., you're the meat and potatoes. You know, to a degree, you know, Brits, you're the turnips. You know, we are the spies, which is so true in the context. But you never should dismiss anyone who raised their hand to fight for their country and volunteer. Most of these forces are volunteers. To be a part of an allied force, you've got to respect them. And I deeply appreciate their service. And believe me, I've been with special forces at the highest level. And the Brits are tough. There's a family of special forces fighters there. We all get along. We all respect each other.

33:05and on any day will serve and will fight for each other. All right. Former Navy SEAL and Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke, thanks so much. Great to have you here. Really appreciate it. More reaction plus the proposal from a potential 2028 Democratic contender, likely not to go over so well with people in power here in D.C. What is it? Well, Rahm Emanuel is here to explain. Next.

33:28Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for$15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Default terms at mintmobile.com. I'd serve five tours in Afghanistan. Many alongside my American colleagues, we shed blood, sweat and tears together.

34:07Not everybody came home. There's only one worse thing than working with allies. That is working without them. That's ex-Special Forces Colonel and British Parliament member Al Carnes joining a chorus of condemnation after President Trump suggested that non-U.S. NATO troops, quote, stayed a little back, a little off the front lines during the 20-year war in Afghanistan after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The House of Commons notes that there were 457 deaths of U.K. armed forces personnel, just the U.K. Here now, former Chicago Mayor, Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, considering a possible run for the White House in 2028.

34:44Rahm, what was your reaction to the president's comments seeming to diminish the sacrifice by non-U.S. NATO allies in Afghanistan? Well, the first thing that came to mind was just years ago, he insulted American soldiers at their gravesite. He called them suckers and losers. He said John McCain, a POW, he was not a hero. This is from a guy who avoided his service in Vietnam, calling for his own boon spur, which is a lot of questions about whether that's true. So, you know, America used to be admired. It used to be respected. Now we're derided and we're repudiated. And I'll just give you one quick story, Jake.

35:26When we were with President Obama, first trip, Ramstad, Germany at the hospital. We were walking through and giving medals to soldiers that had been wounded. There was a Polish soldier, no arms, no legs. I said to the president, having represented Polish constituency in Chicago, I said, say, Gene Dobre, which the president said, and this young man with no arms and no legs had a smile. We put a medal next to his pillow. That is not how you treat people, let alone from a guy who avoided his own service. President Trump's also escalating tensions with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who pushed back against Trump's claims that Canada, quote, lives because of the United States.

36:04Today, President Trump posted on social media, quote, Dear Prime Minister Carney, the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada's joining what will be the most prestigious board of leaders ever assembled at any time, unquote. Canada is now pivoting to China as the U.S. becomes a less reliable ally in Canada's view. You're thinking about running for president. Do you agree with Prime Minister Carney that what's going on right now is a rupture, not just a transition? As a famous chief of staff once said, never allow a good crisis to go to waste. What Prime Minister Carney is saying, we've got a crisis here.

36:40I'm going to make the most of it for my country. And while I think there's a lot of risk being associated with China, he's creating his own leverage as it deals with the United States. It used to be an ally, used to be a partner, used to be a great investor on both sides and benefit both sides. I have an alternative if this is how you want to play. I think this is really reckless. One of the great things for America's security is two oceans and no real conflicts on the north or the south of the border. The president of the United States is making an asset become a liability at our own peril. We are now isolated in the world rather than leading from the front of the world with many people following us.

37:16On Wednesday, you outlined a host of ethics reforms and proposals. One of them got a lot of notice. You said mandatory retirement age of 75 across all branches of federal government, including the president. That, by the way, would bar you from serving as a second term as president if you're elected in 2028. Why 75? Well, a couple things. One is, first of all, I think Washington needs a good power washing. People sitting on committees that are trading stock, Supreme Court justices and other court members hearing cases and having taken free trip from them. The President of the United States just got a free plane from a foreign government.

37:55Clean the place up. And as part of that, 75 across the board, up and out, you're done. You have served. You can't do the military that way. Can't do private sector jobs that way. And don't worry about my future. Well, we should be focused on in Washington, if you go there? The American people's future. My future's fine. And don't worry about it. It is the future of this country that gets lost in all of Washington's special interest politics that you would sit there, fair question, or would affect me. I'm good, Jake. And the hits or whatever, for me, it's really the American people you have to worry about and their future.

38:29And that's what they're asking you to focus on. And it gets blocked with all the special interests in Washington. Big news today on the vaccine front. I want to play you something that the chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said on a New York Times podcast about making the vaccines for polio and measles and others optional. What we are doing is returning individual autonomy to the first order, not public health, but individual autonomy to the first order, as opposed to what was sort of more of a heavy-handed authoritarian thought of the vaccine schedule that led to mandates.

39:11What's your reaction? I'm looking right now, I'm actually texting a lawyer for a malpractice lawsuit against these guys. And my dad was a pediatrician in Chicago. The idea that you're going to take polio shots and other types of vaccines, there are essential immunizations away from children without the government direction correctly and a recommendation about the well-being of that child. We have eradicated many diseases because of these vaccine programs. This is malpractice of rule number one, and anybody with a medical degree, two coupons of Kellogg and 25 cents knows what they're talking about is dangerous for these kids.

39:51And I say that as my dad going on rounds with him as a pediatrician. He's rolling over in his grave listening to this right now. Rob Emanuel, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you. Thanks, Jake. Parts of this country are starting to feel conditions change right now as this massive winter storm sets in. Our meteorologists are getting updates on the models. We're going to tell you who's going to see what and when. That's next.

40:21Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're following breaking news tonight. States are declaring emergencies left and right as a major winter storm gears up to drop crippling amounts of ice and snow across 2 ,000 miles from Texas to New England. Even a small amount of ice can have big impacts. What about a large amount of ice? Well, possibly catastrophic. Accumulations will make travel impossible, bringing down trees and power lines. Many southern states in the United States, including Georgia, are telling residents to prepare for potentially days of power outages in frigid temperatures. Meteorologist Chris Warren has all the details.

40:56Chris, what's the latest forecast? Well, Jake, it does look like this is going to come in a couple of waves, and we're starting to see the first one take shape in Texas. Here's the apparent area of low pressure, but out ahead of it, already seeing rain changing over to sleet and freezing rain in Texas with snow in parts of the Panhandle. moving into Oklahoma with the rain again. We can still see in Dallas, this is going to be a cold rain. Colder air is dropping down from the north and as the system progresses, the rain changes over to freezing rain. So instead of seeing ponds or puddles on the road, the rain is going to hit stuff and freeze.

41:31So that's the freezing rain. Here's tomorrow morning at eight o 'clock in East Texas into the Ark LaTex, Shreveport, Bossier City. This moves off heavy rain at times here on Saturday and then the next wave is moving. So you're getting a little bit of a break in Dallas and then here it comes again. This is 11 o 'clock tomorrow evening with ice throughout parts of Texas. More rain on Sunday which could come in the form of thunderstorms as well with ice and extreme cold behind it. For Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the snowfall. Some spots a foot to a foot and a half but the big story in the days to come will be the ice.

42:08I mean as big of a deal as a foot and a foot and a half of snow is in Oklahoma. This right here, this ice will be crippling. People could be without power for several days. This system continues across the south. Here's Atlanta. You're in the ice throughout parts of the overnight Saturday into Sunday. Could see a changeover to rain with some storms rolling through on Sunday. And then to the northeast, after we see all of this ice to the south, to the northeast is where the snow is going to be. So the ice again still crippling. Here comes the snow as the ice is happening in the south. Snow ongoing for several hours here on Sunday.

42:46And as long as you don't get a big changeover into rain or sleet, the snow here in the northeast is going to pile up and pile up in a big way as well. And you can see with that, the darker purple colors showing where there could be more, Jake, than a foot and a half of snow. All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much. Let's bring in CNN's Ed Levandera. in Dallas and CNN's Pete Muntean, who's at Reagan National Airport just outside D.C. Ed, we all remember when the Texas power grid infamously failed during that deadly February 2021 snowstorm, leaving millions of Texans without heat and sub-freezing temperatures.

43:20The storms are going to really put the new Texas power grid to the test. How are crews in Texas preparing? Well, Texas Governor Greg Abbott says that the power grid here in the state has never been stronger. Other energy grid officials also saying that they do not anticipate any grid collapse because of the demand for heat that will exist over the next several days. So, but that does not mean that there will not be power outages. Clearly, with the amount of ice that is expected to blanket many parts of the North Texas area into East Texas as well, that is an area of serious concern. and obviously the roadways as this winter misery is set to kick off here in a few hours.

44:04The roadways here are actually pretty quiet for a Friday afternoon around rush hour, but really kind of speaks to the fact that people are already heeding the warnings and starting to figure out how to get to a safe place. Throughout the day, we have seen crews all over the area preparing pre-positioning trucks and material all around the area to try to keep the roadways as manageable as possible. But that will only become much more difficult as the temperatures continue to drop. It has been raining and drizzling throughout much of the day. So all of that will continue. And we brace for the worst of it to come starting early tomorrow morning.

44:41Jake. Pete Muntean at Reagan National. The storm has not hit yet, but it's making major impacts on air travel. Tell us more. Well, if you've not gotten out of an airport already, Jake, it only gets more maddening from here on out. In fact, we can assuredly say now that Saturday and Sunday are going to be the two worst days for U.S. air travel we have seen in the last year. Thankfully, today has been relatively calm, and we've seen only a few flights here at Reagan National Airport end up in red here on the departures board, although the numbers are getting higher, and we will see some major airline hubs on this list tomorrow.

45:20Dallas-Fort Worth, a huge hub for American Airlines. They're only going to operate at about a few percent of normal. Just check FlightAware. They have about 72 percent of all flights there canceled tomorrow. Oklahoma City being hit hard. Memphis being hit hard. Nashville being hit hard. And then Dallas Love, also a huge hub for Southwest Airlines. Here's what airlines are doing right now. They're trying to reposition their planes out of the storm's path, than bring more employees in to the places where this is going to be the toughest. We're talking de-icing crews, baggage crews, folks below the wing, although they will be the ones out in the bitter cold that will linger after this snowstorm passes.

46:05In fact, here in D.C., the highs not really expected to crest above 30 degrees Fahrenheit next week. It is going to be a long, hard run here for airlines and travelers in the U.S. We are only at the beginning of what is going to be a really tough stretch, Jake. All right, Pete Monteen and Ed Lavendera, thanks so much. The wintry mix is set to soar across western and northern Texas into early evening. Joining us now from the Texas Department of Transportation is Adam Hammons. Adam, we all, of course, remember the ice storm in 2023 causing major travel and power issues. What lessons were learned from that?

46:38How is Texas better prepared this time around? Yeah, of course, that really did hit us hard, right? It was a long period storm. It was for a long period of time and it affected the entire state of Texas. It was really affecting us a lot for a long period of time. And that's a little bit different where we are now. But from that storm, we do look at lessons learned, look at what we did and see what we could do better in the future. And that's with every single storm. And so from that one, particularly in the sense of how long that was, we have increased our material supply throughout the entire state, both in local individual areas and across the state.

47:15That'll give us that supply of brine materials, granule materials to help us treat those roads and respond to the roads across the entire state. With rain also possible in this forecast, are there concerns about pre-treating these roads too far in advance? Yeah, sure. We've been treating the roads since Wednesday and we've been treating with what's called a brine solution. It's kind of salt and water. And that does last several days. And with some spotty showers, it doesn't have too much of an effect on that brine. But sustained rain can wash that away. So that is why our crews are out there throughout the state treating before, during, and after the storm.

47:57We have lots of crews out there. They're doing a great job in the cold, out in the elements, out on the road, treating those roads on those interstates, highways across the state. And again, this is really hitting a large part of our state as the storm moves in. And so that's why we're out there. And that's why we're also encouraging people to stay home if possible. That's the main message to Texans right now is to stay home this weekend if possible. How many snow plows and treatment trucks are available right now to you? Do you have enough equipment? Will resources be repositioned to certain specific areas?

48:32Yeah, of course, we're well prepared for the storm. We have nearly a thousand pieces of winter weather equipment. That is snow plows and steel girders. That is those brine trucks. and we're well prepared for that. If the need arises, we can work with our state partners to get some more. We can also work with our contractors to get more equipment. But like you said, we can also mobilize crews from other parts of the state. We're a very large state here in Texas. The southern border is seeing a little bit less impacts over the next few days. So from the far area, we did have a crew come yesterday.

49:06Actually, Wednesday, they drove up to North Texas to help respond to that storm. We're looking at potentially the northeastern part of the state to have the larger impacts, but we are prepared throughout the entire state because we know that ice can accumulate in a large part of the state, and we're going to respond where those big challenges are going to be over the next few days. All right, Adam Hammonds with the Texas Department of Transportation. Thanks and good luck to you. A big crowd of protesters taking to the streets in Sub-Zero Minneapolis today to protest the immigration actions in their city.

49:35That protest now moving indoors to the Target Center Arena. We're going to go to Minneapolis next. And from protests in the U.S. to protests in Iran, I'm going to be joined live in studio by the son of Iran's former leader, who's calling on the U.S. to help take out the Iranian regime. That's ahead.

49:57Internationally, hundreds of businesses are shuttering as demonstrators are swarming streets across the Twin Cities and below zero temperatures today. United under the slogan, an ICE out of Minnesota protesting against the federal immigration enforcement in their state. Police arresting some demonstrators at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A spokesperson says the protests there had been prearranged and police only took action when things got out of hand. This afternoon, former NAACP leader Nakema Levy-Armstrong is out of custody. She was detained Thursday for her role in Sunday's anti-ICE protest inside a church in St.

50:33Paul. All of this showing how the divide between Minnesotans and federal officials is only growing deeper, even as the Trump administration says that by the numbers, their immigration efforts are working to drive down crime. CNN's Omar Jimenez reports from Minneapolis.

50:51The temperature's around negative 20 degrees right now, even colder with wind chill. Where this food is going is, for the most part, to people who are too scared to come outside right now because of the increased federal immigration enforcement presence here in Minneapolis. My assistant came and said, Pastor, a lot of people are racist. I said, 20, 10, 2 ,000. I'm like, what? Wow. 2 ,000. Sergio Amesqua's Minneapolis church has a predominantly Latino congregation. He says services don't look like they used to. How many people are we talking? We have around 500 to 600 people in the normal days.

51:26Yeah. Right now, we get 100 or 80 if we're lucky. It's a sense of community that's been disrupted, and one he says has been part of driving down violent crime in the city after spikes in 2021 and 2020. If you look at the police department right now, it looks way different than 2020. They're really working with the people of Minneapolis, and that's making the difference. Whatever the exact formula, Minneapolis has seen results. Now, even though homicide rates are still up in the city compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice, murders and the number of gunshot wound victims both down more than 15 percent compared to 2024 and much lower than the 2021 peak.

52:07And it's similar to nationwide decreases for what's expected to be the third year in a row, according to FBI data. The Trump administration is already tying the trends to increased immigration enforcement. despite this Minneapolis operation not starting until December of 2025. We're enforcing the immigration laws and getting very violent criminals out of our country. And number two, because we're enforcing our criminal laws. It has nothing to do with crime going down because that was already happening. Mary Moriarty is the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis. Your concern is this dynamic of fear is going to make it harder for you to prosecute cases.

52:46Yes, that's already happened. We've had witnesses who are immigrants who are afraid to come to court because ICE is around this building, the courthouse. That means that witnesses that we may need to prosecute a violent crime are not going to be available to us and have not been available to us. The at times chaotic dynamic has even been criticized by police chiefs in the area. Can we find a way to make sure that we can do these things without scaring the hell out of our community members? And to start the year, as Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O 'Hara announced drops in crime, he worried about the increased presence of federal agents.

53:25The greatest risk to me is that there would be unrest or that there would be a tragedy. The next day, Rene Good was shot and killed during a confrontation with ICE agents. It led to even more agents deployed to Minnesota. More anger. More fear. Sometimes when I get an Amazon package at home, my 12-year-olds run to me, Dad, Dad, Daddy, ISIS here. And I'm like, what? So it was just an Amazon package. He sees that fear as he delivers those meals. In el nombre de Jesús, I mean, most people need that. They're alone all day, looking up in the window. So we give food, but we also give them food for their soul, you know, and let them know that we're going to get through this.

54:12Omar Jimenez, CNN, Minneapolis. And our thanks to Omar Jimenez in Minneapolis. My next guest is among the former FBI officials who told the New York Times that the Bureau's director, Kash Patel, is making the United States less safe. He's going to lay out exactly how ahead.

54:35I just can't say how thankful I am to be a small part of this and lead the FBI. FBI Director Cash Patel this morning touting the arrest of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged cocaine distributor Ryan Wedding, who was on the FBI's most wanted list. Patel is now nearly a year into his controversial tenure leading the FBI, a bureau he'd never worked for before. He, of course, had floated conspiracies about the FBI before his nomination. The New York Times wrote a really powerful story, the New York Times Magazine. They spoke with 45 former and current FBI employees about how Kash Patel's drastic reshaping of the bureau's priorities are troubling him, troubling them, with many fearing that, quote, the FBI has become a weapon of the White House and that the firings and the diversion of resources to immigration enforcement have left the country vulnerable to attack, unquote.

55:27Former FBI section chief of the intelligence division, John Sullivan, joins me now. He's also a Democratic candidate in the race for New York's 17th congressional district. Thanks for being here. Appreciate it. So the first employee quote in the piece is from you. Yes. About Trump's decision to nominate Kash Patel as FBI director, you say, quote, I assumed Congress would see how uniquely unqualified Kash Patel was for the job. I assume the Senate would do its due diligence and decide not to confirm him, unquote. When it comes to what's going on right now, how much of the blame do you place on Congress and the Senate?

56:05I place all of the blame on Congress and the Senate. I think when we look at what's happening right now, whether it's, you know, the diversion of resources off of key cases that are so important to protect Americans and our national safety, what we're seeing right now, particularly by Republicans in Congress, is that they're not willing to hold Donald Trump and Kash Patel accountable. They're not willing to call them out and actually conduct the oversight that's absolutely necessary so that we can continue to protect the American people. All right, let me play the old advocate. President Trump would say, look, the border was a real problem.

56:35There were a lot of people coming in that shouldn't be here, especially and including a lot of dangerous people. and so shifting resources to that is perfectly reasonable. How do you respond to that? I think the border is a key area of concern, but the FBI, you have to understand what we're seeing right now is not normal. The FBI was always an organization that followed the facts and followed the evidence. As an executive who worked in the criminal division, who worked on transnational organized crime, who's worked on child trafficking and human trafficking, there are key concerns that we have to address, but going after individuals here in our cities and our towns based on nothing more than skin color is not how the FBI should be conducting investigations.

57:14So earlier today, Director Patel said that in 2025, the FBI was responsible for 67 ,000 arrests, which would be a 200 % increase. Now, a senior executive quoted in the New York Times Magazine article said, quote, they're bullshit numbers, unquote, because the FBI is claiming ICE arrests as their own. An FBI spokesperson told the New York Times Magazine, quote, this story is a regurgitation of fake narratives, conjecture and speculation from anonymous sources who are disconnected from reality. They can whine and peddle falsehoods that they want, but it won't change the fact that the FBI under this administration worked with partners at every level and delivered a historic 2025.

57:49Anyway, what do you think about this claim of 67 ,000 arrests? I think the piece speaks for itself. I think that what we're witnessing now is the FBI is claiming statistics and arrests that are being conducted by multiple agencies at once. That's not historically how the FBI would identify and conduct those investigations and identify successes would be FBI led investigations. So at the confirmation hearing, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked Kash Patel point blank about whether he was going to fire anybody at the FBI who had worked on former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations into President Trump.

58:23Here's a part of that exchange. No one will be terminated for case assignment. I'm not going to accept that answer, because if you can't commit that those FBI agents will be protected from political retribution, we can't accept you as FBI director. All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution. They deserve. Have all FBI employees been protected against political retribution by Kash Patel? No, he is lying. And he continues to lie. I think what we witnessed after, you know, January 6th insurrectionists were pardoned by Donald Trump putting criminals back on the street. But then the manhunt began inside of the FBI for employees, folks who worked for me, who worked on January 6th cases, to identify those individuals, making them feel less safe going to work every day, doing their jobs.

59:15That then put the American people at jeopardy, because what those individuals then spent part of their day was trying to find another job because they were worried about their safety and security. On September 10th, when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, Kashpatel stirred some confusion on social media. He posted first that the subject for the horrific shooting that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody. About an hour and a half later, he posted the subject in custody has been released after an interrogation. From your perspective, what was going on here with Kash Patel and his, honestly, his kind of bizarre focus on social media?

59:50Yeah, this leadership from podcaster Dan Bongino to Kash Patel have been really focused on social media and kind of getting clicks and likes. But what they haven't been focused on is the actual work. I have led so many FBI command posts after major events like Charlie Kirk's murder. And what you need to do is be able to speak with your boss's superiors and say, we're looking at this individual or this individual. We're still figuring out all the key cases and pieces that bring it all together. And know that that information isn't going to leave the room. But what you have in a director and a conspiracy peddler that Kash Patel is, is he runs out of the room and immediately starts tweeting about what's being discussed kind of in a working group setting.

1:00:29Let me just read this from this excerpt. He and Bongino start talking about their Twitter strategy. And Cash is like, I'm going to tweet this. Salt Lake, you tweet that. Dan, you come in with this. Then I'll come back with this. They're literally scripting out their social media and not talking about how we're going to respond to resources of the situation, unquote. Really weird. I do recommend people read the story. How are you feeling about how and whether the Bureau is going to survive this episode, this period? Yeah, I'm very concerned. And it's part of why I'm speaking out. It's not something I ever thought I'd be doing when I was working in the FBI, sitting with you here today.

1:01:00But I really believe in the mission and the oath that I took to uphold and support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Every man and woman who's working in the FBI right now took that same oath. And they feel the same way about that mission. And so I am putting my faith not in the leadership of the FBI or the political appointees, but in the men and women who are going to work every day doing everything possible to protect this country. All right, John Sullivan, thank you so much. Thanks for your service at the FBI. As tens of millions of Americans brace for a massive winter storm, CNN has learned that FEMA has abruptly stopped the ongoing terminations of hundreds of disaster workers who could be needed for cleanup and recovery efforts.

1:01:34That reporting is next.

1:01:42We're back with some brand new video. Snow is beginning to fall in the Texas panhandle. It's the beginning of what is about to become, at least according to forecasters, a monstrous winter storm set to impact two-thirds of the United States with dangerous snow and ice. Let's check back in with CNN's Brian Todd in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside D.C. Brian, Alexandria is expecting a good deal of snow and ice. How are crews preparing? Well, Jake, they're preparing with real urgency. As we've been told all along here, this is a very dangerous and multi-layered storm approaching the east coast of the United States.

1:02:14It requires a complex set of operations to counter it, and this is where places like this come in. Check out the sheer size of this place behind me. We're at this place called the Megadome. It is a salt depot here in Alexandria, Virginia, run by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Just check out the sheer size of this place. That is a hangar, basically, that a passenger jet can fit inside of. You've got 33 ,000-plus tons of rock salt in there in that mountain of salt right behind me. And that's just one of the layers of countermeasures that they use to try to counter this storm that's coming.

1:02:48The first layer is actually the brine that they put down. Now, the brining operation is done. That was done all throughout today and yesterday. They get the brine, it's salt and water combined from these containers behind me. Then they start laying it down on the streets. And again, as I mentioned, they've already done that. That's the first layer of operation. When the brine comes down, it looks like this on your street, these streaks that we all see on our streets as we go home and kind of move around our neighborhoods ahead of these storms. Now, the brine, according to a state official who I talked to, is just there as kind of a placeholder.

1:03:18It's there to keep the snow from sticking to the streets in the first couple of hours of the storm. And this official told us it's there to buy us time so we can get these other elements out. The second part of that operation is the rock salt that I just showed you. And that's where they load it onto the truck. So they see that chute right there. The trucks come under that. They get loaded up there. And then they deploy out. this is where they're going to deploy first. This is the beltway. This is 495, the beltway around Washington, D.C. They got to deploy here first and clear these main arteries.

1:03:52Then they do the secondary streets and the neighborhoods. They can't even start doing the plows, Jake, until the snow has accumulated about two inches. So that's just kind of the complexity of the operation it takes to counter this kind of storm. All right, Brian Todd in Alexandria, Virginia for us. Thanks so much. CNN's Gabe Cohen is here live in studio. And Gabe, you have some new reporting on how this storm might be impacting staffing for FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yeah, look, Jake, the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security's overhaul of FEMA, that is already well underway.

1:04:22We've been reporting on it for months, but they have been ramping it up here in recent weeks. We have been seeing these terminations where they have been letting go basically every FEMA disaster worker whose contract has been expiring. We're talking about roughly 300 or so staffers so far in January, and it's raising a lot of concerns about having enough staff to be able to respond to disasters like the storm that we're expecting in the next couple days. But yesterday, something changed. Secretary Kristi Noem goes to FEMA, first time there for a briefing on a storm. She gets briefed on this winter storm that's coming this weekend.

1:04:55And then in the afternoon, an email goes out across the agency letting them know that they are halting all of these terminations. At least for now, they're not going to be letting staffers go. We don't exactly know. Was it optics about letting disaster workers go during a storm? Was it a matter of the positions that are being lost? But we do know this administration is taking the storm very seriously. FEMA has opened up its response center that they operate. They have been deploying crews across the country and stationing a lot of generators, meals, water bottles, preparing for the worst here.

1:05:28You also have some interesting reporting on guidance that FEMA was given about messaging for the storm. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable. So I've learned that Homeland Security officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ICE in their public messaging and post social media posts when talking about the storm. The concern is obviously the connection between the immigration enforcement that's happening across the country, particularly in Minnesota. And what they are worried about here is that by posting something like, watch out for the ICE, that it's going to become an opportunity for a meme, for internet fodder, for public ridicule against the Department of Homeland Security.

1:06:11So they're asking FEMA staff, if you can, don't use the word ice. Try to use the term freezing rain. But part of the problem here, as I talk to agency officials about this, is they're saying what we're talking about is ice. And what we're talking about is saving lives. Yeah, no, when you say freezing rain, that makes me think, oh, I'll put on a raincoat. It doesn't make me think ice. Right. And what we're largely talking about, and I'm not a forecaster, but this is largely an ice event. And a lot of states that I've talked to are saying what we're preparing for is destructive ice that could damage power grids, you know, cut power to a lot of homes and wreak havoc on roads.

1:06:43And it is pretty remarkable that Homeland Security is saying, please try to avoid using that word. Because they're afraid of means. Meanwhile, lives are on the line. Another incredibly idiotic story. Thanks so much. President Trump says the U.S. is moving a, quote, armada toward Iran just in case he decides to take military action against the regime, the son of Iran's former leader, joins me in studio next.

1:07:13And our world lead, President Trump says a major convoy of warships is headed toward Iran. He says that while he'd prefer not to use the warships to strike the country, he's not ruling it out. Since massive protests against the current regime started in late December, thousands of innocent Iranian citizens have been killed, many more arrested. Iran has also been shut off from the rest of the world after the regime cut off the internet. CNN's Jemana Karadzha takes us inside what it's been like on the ground in Iran and in the dark. It was 8 p.m. on Thursday, January the 8th. Just as these incredible images were emerging from protests in Tehran and other cities, Iran went dark.

1:07:57Under the cover of the digital darkness it imposed, the regime launched one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the Islamic Republic.

1:08:26This protester spoke to us from an undisclosed location after leaving Iran. Kirosh is not his real name, but for his safety, we're not identifying him. He's one of the countless Iranians who joined the protests.

1:08:53Another guy, just two steps, she was near me. And a guy who was like four meters forward. Kiarash took to the streets again after a day spent in Tehran's largest cemetery, where scenes like this played out. Surrounded by grief, anger and chaos, he searched through the dead for the body of Nassim, a family friend who was shot in the neck. I saw two layers of dead bodies. In my eyes, I can say minimum 1 ,500 up to 2 ,000 just in one warehouse. And small bags. I realized that, oh my God, these small bags, they're children's, many of them.

1:09:46His harrowing account is consistent with other testimony and verified visual evidence collected by CNN and human rights organizations from various reported protest sites across the country, pointing to a widespread coordinated armed attack by regime forces, turning the streets of Iran into something that resembled a war zone.

1:10:12They were shooting at us from the top of the building and the Ashrafi Esfani bridge. They were aiming with lasers and the shooters were shooting people in the face. They massacred people. We started hearing gunshots and feeling tear gas from behind. In Iran, we call this the scissor. They sent forces to the back of the protests to start hitting people from the back and the front. From 12 a.m. Thursday night onward, the type of injuries changed. The live rounds started. I've never seen anything like this. The sound of heavy machine guns in the city is something you only see in movies. This is a regime that has never tolerated dissent, one with a long history of crushing protests violently.

1:10:55But this was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. The regime has long used the narrative of a foreign plot to justify its crackdowns. This time, it had an exiled opposition and a U.S. president urging a revolt. I think that the regime has never been closer to a fall, to a complete regime change. They are doing it for survival, but also to prevent more protests in the coming years. The aim is to traumatize a generation. The world may never know the real scale of the loss and pain as a scarred nation slowly emerges from the night Iran went dark. Jumana Karachi, CNN. And our thanks to Jumana Karachi for that report.

1:11:49And my next guest is Reza Pahlavi. He's an Iranian opposition figure and the son of Iran's former leader, the late Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. His father was deposed in 1979 and fled the country following the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution. Thanks so much for being here. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Mark. So you have called on the Iranian people to rise up and oppose this regime. A lot of Iranians are doing that. A lot of them are being killed by the regime. Are you confident that this uprising will work? Jake, first and foremost, I must say that unlike previous campaigns and as a continuation of it, this time the people came to the streets because they have had it with this regime.

1:12:31It's a true revolution. But the regime, unfortunately, has started waging war against its own citizenry. Defenseless people that were shot by military weapons, they are chasing them now in hospitals, finishing the job of wounded people, raiding women in their homes. The amount of brutality that has happened has been unprecedented. But the resolve of my compatriot is still there. It started from the bazaar in Tehran and quickly spread to the four corners of Iran. Millions of people came out. Millions of people started protesting death of the dictator, asking for their liberty. And this is a movement that will ultimately succeed.

1:13:08We had a stumbling block, which was the regime panicking, cutting us from the world by shutting down the Internet, making communication impossible. But the news has trickled out. And as of yesterday, when I spoke to a few of our political prisoners, they were telling us the amount of casualties that we thought would be not as much as was originally reported. But Tehran alone had over 15 ,000 people killed. And I think across the country is well over 20 ,000, maybe even more than that. Obviously, it's the fault of the regime. And we all hope that the Iranian people get the government they deserve and democracy and freedom.

1:13:41Obviously, it's the fault of the regime, all these deaths. But do you feel any responsibility having called for this uprising? Well, they called me to step in. Millions of people chanted my name, asking for my leadership, for my return. And it is in support of the movement that we called for maximum togetherness, so that they are not spread as a crowd. And it started pushing back elements with the regime. As a result of it, we started to see some initial refusal to go back to work. There were members of the police force who didn't show up to work, some military elements. Even the regime killed a few policemen who refused to engage with the people.

1:14:15So we already see the momentum shifting. The regime panicked and as a result created this blackout. But the momentum might have slowed down in terms of people be able to continue beyond the street. But we know that once the regime is hopefully targeted in terms of its force of repression being neutralized, if indeed, as President Trump announced, there will be some retaliation for them doing what they did to the people, that will give people another opportunity to then finish the job at the end. People are committed to do that. Millions of people have died and you know the biggest message that they wanted me to convey To our viewers is that they are not fighting this fight for themselves are fighting for humanity and liberty all around the world That's the Iranian people who are unlike this regime has always been anti-western anti-american principle Iranians want to have The best of relationship with America and we had it before and you know that there are a lot of Iranians who hate the regime who are also critics of yours.

1:15:12And I want to give you an opportunity to respond to some of their criticism. One of them is that you say you want to unite the Iranian people, but you weren't able to keep a coalition of like-minded Iranians together at Georgetown. That group quickly disbanded. Why do you think you're going to be able to unite the country? Well, first of all, you have right causes and the wrong players. But when I was in Munich three months ago, we had a conference that had the widest spread and diversity of representation of its kind as part of the unity movement. We have people from the left, people from the right, Republicans, monarchists, socialists, representative of ethnic groups, representative of religious minorities, athletes, artists, that were all gathered there.

1:15:53And the principle is very simple, Jake. What are we united on in terms of the core principle? Ending the regime. Well, but there are four key principles that you said like-minded. How do we define it? First and foremost, it's Iran territorial integrity, which is very important. Number two is separation of church from state as a prerequisite to democracy. Number three is, of course, equality under the law of all citizens and individual liberties, and all of this so we can conduct free elections so it's the Iranian people who determine the outcome. I'm stepping in as a leader of transition at their call.

1:16:28My job is to make sure that we can see this through. We have a plan for the post-regime collapse to stabilize the situation, allow maximum defections, keep most of the bureaucracy intact for the country continuous functioning, and then prepare the grounds for the election of a constitutional assembly, where whatever opinions people may have, they'll have a chance to debate it and be presented with a constitutional project, and then be ratified by referendum. On that matter of continuity in government, last summer, July, you announced that more than 50 ,000 officials from the military, from the Iranian government, had submitted to a Google forum that you set up that they wanted to defect from the current regime.

1:17:07Did you verify those numbers? Do those names? Is the number still 50 ,000? And where have those defectors gone? What happened to them? It's more than that. Two days before the internet shutdown, we have over 100 ,000 people, new applicants to a platform that we had created a few months before, adding to the numbers that had already started joining. Among them, you find members of the military, paramilitary, police forces, but also a lot of people who are in the civil bureaucracy, working in the ministries and so on and so forth, diplomats and others. And we're beginning to see signs of more and more people, you know, refusing to go back to work or literally defecting.

1:17:46It is very important because it's part of our process. You see, one of the lessons learned from debaithification in Iraq was really a bad example of how you manage a change of regime. And in the case of Iran, you don't have the problem you saw happen there in the We are trying to be inclusive as much as possible of all those who can survive regime change and have a place in the future, except for the people who have their hands sold with the blood of the Iranians and they will have a count in the court of justice at some point. But the majority of them can survive that change and have a place for them tomorrow.

1:18:17So lastly, sir, President Trump's position vis-a-vis the Iranian people, he keeps threatening that he'll take action if the Iranian regime keeps killing innocent Iranians. They keep killing innocent Iranians. At one point, he said, oh, I was told the killing stopped, but it hasn't. Unfortunately, it hasn't. Do you think what he's doing, his position, separate and apart from the nuclear strikes, has been helpful? Is it beneficial? It's the expectation of a nation, because a lot of people took courage in the words of a president who said, I'm not going to be another Barack Obama. I'm not going to throw you under the bus.

1:18:52And people took that very seriously. And in fact, a lot of people now are hoping that in this totally unfair conflict where the regime is massacring them and they have no choice to defend themselves because they're unarmed, something is going to tilt the balance in their favor. And the best way to do that and save lives at the same time is to strike the regime when they are the most vulnerable and at the same time their instrument of repression. We're talking IRGC. We're talking instances that is collectively their instrument of repression. but there can also be additional aspect to that economic isolation of the regime.

1:19:29And I think a lot of governments now in Europe are considering bringing even more sanctions on the regime. This is a time to act. I think the expectation of the people who have bravely gone to the street, many of them have died, that they haven't died in vain. They expect the world this time, beyond just condemnation, behind resolution, actually take steps to put the pressure on the regime. So just to be clear, you're saying that you think it's time for the U.S. and the West to act beyond just words with economic sanctions that are tougher, but also military strikes against the Revolutionary Guard.

1:20:01There's no other way to help unarmed people that are facing this level of brutality that the regime has exerted against them. The only chance is to see a cavalry that arrives. We can hold the fort up to a point. At some point, we need to get that air cover. And that will change the balance in favor of the people. So hopefully Iranians will be able to liberate themselves. All right, Reza Pahlavi, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Appreciate it. We have an update next on the troubling surge in measles cases in South Carolina. That's next.

1:20:35Our last lead start and our health lead, the state of South Carolina, has now reported more than 700 cases of the measles. On top of that, nearly 500 people are in quarantine, meaning they may have been exposed and they do not have immunity. In our world lead, free climber Alex Honnold is about to attempt a new unbelievable climb, and this time it's going to be carried live on Netflix. The challenge is to climb the tallest building in Taiwan, a 101-story skyscraper, without any ropes or safety nets. Taipei 101 is the 11th tallest building in the world, 101. Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, and Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino.

1:21:20That's Sunday at 9 a.m. and noon Eastern, only on CNN. Aaron Burnett Outfront starts now. Stay safe, stay warm. I'll see you Monday.