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A massive winter storm sweeping across the US triggered what is shaping up to be one of the worst air travel meltdowns since the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing some major airlines to cancel more than half of their scheduled flights.

More than 16,000 US flights have been canceled through Monday, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware, as the storm pushed into major population centers and snarled airline networks nationwide. Airlines scrapped more than 10,300 US flights on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware.

Sunday marks the highest number of cancellations since the pandemic, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. There were 22,751 flights scheduled for March 30, 2020, with 12,143 cancellations.

Carriers with large hubs in the storm’s path were hit especially hard. American Airlines canceled more than 55% of its Sunday schedule, while JetBlue Airways scrapped more than 70% of flights. Delta Air Lines cut more than 40%, and United Airlines canceled nearly 38%, according to Cirium.

Major airports across the eastern half of the country were effectively shut down. By 10 a.m. New York time, more than 80% of departures were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport, while Washington Reagan National topped 90% cancellations, Cirium data show. Boston Logan, Charlotte Douglas and Chicago O’Hare were also among the hardest hit.

Weather impacts stretched well beyond the Northeast. Texas and parts of the South were among the first regions hit, with freezing rain and ice snarling operations at major hubs including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration show multiple airport closures across the South and Midwest as of Sunday as ice and snow made runways unsafe, contributing to cascading disruptions throughout airline networks.

The storm is expected to continue battering the East through Monday. New England could see as much as 18 inches of snow, according to the US Weather Prediction Center, with up to a foot possible in New York City. Some of that precipitation may fall as sleet, increasing the risk of heavy icing on roads and runways.

Airlines had begun rolling out contingency plans ahead of the storm. Delta is allowing passengers to rebook flights without fare differences across 41 airports in the South and Southeast, including Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Charleston and Memphis, through Jan. 28. United Airlines is waiving change fees and fare differences for travelers affected at 61 airports, including Boston, Newark and New York’s LaGuardia.

(c) Bloomberg

{Matzav.com}

UPDATE: According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, a suspicious item was discovered in the South Terminal Area, prompting the closure of TSA checkpoints for concourses G, H, and J, as well as the curbside roadway.

Miami International Airport was temporarily evacuated a short while ago after a reported bomb threat.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz compared President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations to the capture of Anne Frank during a Sunday press conference, as he pressed the White House to pull ICE and Border Patrol agents out of his state.

Walz made the remarks while calling on Trump to withdraw federal immigration authorities from Minnesota following the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti a day earlier, an incident that has intensified opposition to recent raids.

The governor said children who are in the country illegally, as well as children of illegal immigrants, are living in fear and reluctant to attend school because of the enforcement actions, warning that history will render a harsh verdict on the administration.

“Allow our children to go back to school. We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside,” Walz said. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.”

Critics have argued that the analogy breaks down on several fronts, noting that Frank was a German citizen before the Nazi regime stripped Jews of their citizenship, and that the United States is not deporting immigrants to death camps.

Frank and her family were hiding in the Netherlands to evade Nazi occupation forces before being discovered and arrested in 1944. She died the following year at age 15 in a concentration camp, and her diary, later published after World War II, became one of the most widely read personal accounts of life under Nazi persecution.

Walz has previously used similar rhetoric, having described ICE last year as President Trump’s “modern-day Gestapo.” He is not alone among Democrats in invoking Nazi-era comparisons in opposition to the administration’s immigration policies.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker drew a similar parallel last October, likening Trump’s ICE raids to Nazi stormtroopers seizing Jews and other targeted groups.

“This is how authoritarian regimes do it. They create these kind of fake ideas that there’s an enemy out there and it could be sitting next to you at one of these tables. So just somebody sitting at your table that you don’t like might be one of those enemies,” Pritzker said at the time. “So let’s round them up, let’s make sure they are the subjects of the laws that we’re passing, because we don’t like who they are. That is what authoritarian regimes do.”

{Matzav.com}

Gov. Tim Walz: We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that efforts to block construction of a new ballroom at the White House are futile, arguing that the project is already underway despite a lawsuit recently filed to challenge it.

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the ballroom is being built without public money, calling it “a GIFT (ZERO taxpayer funding) to the United States of America.” He put the price tag at $300 million and said the project is being paid for entirely through private contributions.

Trump said the legal challenge was filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and faulted the organization for acting only after construction had begun.

“Why didn’t these obstructionists and troublemakers bring their baseless lawsuit much earlier?” he wrote.

He also dismissed arguments about preserving the East Wing, saying it has undergone multiple changes over the years and no longer resembles the original structure. Trump wrote that the East Wing was “changed, built and rebuilt over the years” and that “it bore no resemblance or relationship to the original building.”

The ballroom project was publicly announced on July 31 by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said the administration plans to build a 90,000-square-foot space designed to host roughly 650 seated guests while maintaining the White House’s classical architectural style.

The White House currently lacks a formal ballroom, and the new structure is slated to replace the existing East Wing.

Since returning to office, Trump has moved quickly to alter the appearance of both the White House and surrounding federal landmarks, putting a distinct stamp on the executive complex.

Among the changes previously unveiled is a proposed monument known as the “Arc de Trump,” which is intended to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.

Trump has said the arch, modeled closely on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe, will serve as a gateway for visitors entering Washington from Arlington National Cemetery via the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Inside the White House, Trump’s aesthetic preferences are evident in the Oval Office, where gold-colored elements now feature prominently, reflecting a taste for grandeur.

He has expanded those design touches to include gilded trim along the ceiling and doorways, and even the cherubs set into the door frames were redone with gold finishes.

Beyond the Oval Office, the administration has also rolled out what it calls the “Presidential Walk of Fame,” lining the West Wing colonnade with portraits of former presidents.

One of those portraits, depicting former President Joe Biden, includes his signature produced by an autopen, a device that mechanically reproduces handwriting. Large gold-framed mirrors have also been installed along the same walkway.

Trump has also highlighted renovations elsewhere in the building, including changes to the Lincoln bathroom, which he said did not align with the historical period it was meant to represent.

“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art-deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” Trump wrote in an Oct. 31 Truth Social post.

{Matzav.com}

MONSEY: A plow truck caught fire on Nissan Court. The Monsey Fire Department responded and quickly extinguished the flames. The Ramapo Police Department and Chaverim of Rockland were also on scene.

Harav Dov Landau shlit”a gives a bracha to the family of the last hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili hy”d: “Hashem should help that they find him quickly.”

[Video below.] A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in Minnesota appealed Sunday for demonstrations in the Twin Cities to remain nonviolent after two recent fatal shootings involving federal agents in Minneapolis, unrest he said was unprecedented in his experience.

Sam Olson, the ICE field office director based in St. Paul, addressed the situation during an appearance on Fox News, urging protesters to respect boundaries while agents are working in the field. “When we’re out there, we have no problem with the public watching what we do, filming what we do, talking to us while we do it, but there is that line, though, when they start to impede and get in situations where, frankly, we don’t want them to be, we can’t have them to be, kind of in our workspace,” Olson said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

He warned that tensions escalate once those limits are crossed. “That’s when we have issues,” he added.

Olson’s comments came shortly after a second deadly encounter involving a federal officer in Minnesota, intensifying scrutiny and sparking additional protests.

In the latest incident, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse, leading Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to publicly back the agent’s actions as self-defense.

The shooting was the second fatal episode this month in the state involving federal law enforcement officers, adding to mounting anger and unrest.

Pretti’s parents spoke out Saturday following the shooting, saying they were “heartbroken but also very angry,” and accusing authorities of spreading “sickening lies” about what happened.

During his television interview, Olson described the shooting as “unfortunate.”

He emphasized the gravity of such incidents for law enforcement officers, saying, “No officer wakes up in the morning and hopes to have to use any type of force, let alone deadly force, and now this happened.”

Olson went on to blame heightened confrontations on the streets, adding, “Again, this happened because of kind of what we’re seeing around here with a lot of these agitators, these vigilantes kind of surrounding the officers on the street.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Vice President JD Vance accused far-left activists of fueling turmoil in Minnesota after a second fatal shooting involving a federal agent, describing the unrest surrounding the incident as deliberately manufactured.

The shooting occurred when 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse, was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a protest tied to a federal immigration enforcement action. Authorities said Pretti, who was legally carrying a handgun, attempted to interfere with the operation and resisted arrest.

Following the incident, Vance placed responsibility on what he described as coordinated activism aligned with local officials, arguing that their actions set the stage for the deadly confrontation between Pretti and federal agents.

“This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” Vance wrote on X. “It is the direct consequence of far left agitators, working with local authorities.”

Vance’s comments came as established far-left networks ramped up organizing efforts across the country, often converging around unrelated causes but mobilizing rapidly after high-profile incidents.

In Minneapolis, protests and tensions escalated after the shooting, prompting several state and local leaders — including Gov. Tim Walz — to demand that the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration withdraw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the city.

Walz said he contacted the White House “after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning.”

“Minnesota has had it,” Walz said. “This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”

A day later, Walz reiterated his call, saying, “Minnesota believes in law and order. We believe in peace,” while again urging Trump to remove what he described as “untrained agents” from the state.

The White House rejected those demands, signaling no intention to pull federal law enforcement from Minnesota.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded on X, arguing that the priority should be enforcing immigration law rather than removing officers. She said the focus must be on expelling “dangerous criminal illegal aliens” rather than sidelining federal agents.

“The Democrats have their priorities completely upside down. They will not keep the American people safe,” Leavitt wrote.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Pretti approached agents while armed with a 9 mm handgun and two magazines and then “violently resisted” attempts to disarm him, leading one agent to open fire.

However, video recorded at the scene and accounts from witnesses appear to show Pretti holding only his phone before being pepper-sprayed and restrained on the ground, casting doubt on parts of the official narrative.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she sympathizes with Pretti’s family and pledged a full investigation into the shooting.

“We can’t have individuals that are impeding law enforcement operations and then showing up with guns and weapons and no ID and confronting law enforcement like that,” Noem said. “It is one of the reasons that we see situations like this unfold.”

Pretti was struck multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. State officials later confirmed that he had a valid permit to carry the firearm.

Minnesota Democrats disputed the White House’s assessment, saying the federal enforcement action itself inflamed tensions and put residents at risk, including people who were not targets of immigration operations.

{Matzav.com}

A young vibrant Lubavitcher Rebbe Zt’L seen exiting his vehicle in a snow storm. Circa 1969. Also seen is the Rebbe’s personal secretary and driver, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky ‘שיחי.

[Video below.] New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed Sunday that he has been in text contact with President Donald Trump since a White House meeting last November, describing the exchanges as confidential and centered on issues affecting city residents.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Mamdani said he obtained the president’s phone number during that meeting but declined to share details of their messages. “He gave me his number. I’ll say that the conversations between the president and I are private, and I’ll keep them there. But they are always back to the question of New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

When asked how frequently the two communicate, the mayor avoided giving specifics and emphasized that the outreach is about results rather than personal rapport. “I think it’s less about the maintenance of a personal relationship, it’s more about delivering for the people of the city,” he said. Mamdani added that he had made clear during the campaign that “where the president is looking to pursue policies that will hurt the city, I’m going to be there on the front lines,” while remaining open to collaboration when federal actions benefit New York.

The remarks reflect a softening in relations following months of sharp rhetoric between the two during the 2025 election season and the transition period.

Earlier this month, Axios reported that the texting began after Trump and Mamdani swapped phone numbers at their November Oval Office meeting, characterizing the dynamic as notable given earlier clashes, including Trump labeling Mamdani a “communist.”

Despite the outreach, criticism from the White House and Trump allies has continued, particularly targeting Mamdani’s political views, even as the mayor has pursued cooperation on affordability measures and federal assistance for the city.

Before the November meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to Mamdani as a “communist,” and CBS News reported that Trump had threatened to cut off federal funding to New York City.

Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, was sworn into office on Jan. 1 after winning the November election. His initial policy push has focused on easing living costs, with proposals that include universal child care, rent relief, and fare-free bus service.

During the campaign, he also called for higher taxes on wealthy individuals and large corporations to help pay for parts of his platform, proposals that would require approval from state lawmakers rather than action by the mayor alone.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Legal fallout from the deadly shooting involving federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis could ultimately be handled in federal court, regardless of whether charges are initially brought by state authorities, according to Alan Dershowitz.

Speaking Sunday on Newsmax’s “Sunday Report,” the Harvard Law School professor emeritus explained that state officials are permitted to investigate and even prosecute such cases, but defendants who are federal agents have a key procedural option. “The state has the power to investigate, and they could actually prosecute even if the federal government doesn’t want to,” Dershowitz said. “But then the defendant can remove the case from state court to federal court, where the case would have to be tried.”

Dershowitz added that federal officers have the right to seek removal of a case from state jurisdiction, pointing to President Donald Trump’s own attempt to move his New York case into federal court. “If you’re a federal agent, you can remove your case from state court and have it tried in federal court,” he said, noting that Trump’s request to do so remains unresolved.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, now a senior political analyst for Newsmax, also weighed in, placing blame on Minnesota officials for what he described as poor coordination with federal authorities. He argued that local law enforcement should have been responsible for managing crowds and ensuring the safety of federal agents on the scene.

“They have not cooperated at all in doing what local police generally do, which is provide a protection, a shield of protection around federal agents doing their job,” Santorum said.

Santorum emphasized that joint planning between different levels of government is standard practice and said federal officers should not be tasked with managing volatile crowds. “There’s usually coordination between the state and the municipality and the federal government,” he said. “ICE agents and Border patrol agents should not be doing crowd control.

“That’s just not what they do. That’s the job of the local police.”

He argued that the lack of cooperation worsened the situation and said local leaders should have taken steps to calm tensions rather than allow them to escalate.

Later in the discussion, Santorum said immigration enforcement had once been less politically charged, accusing Democrats of exploiting the current situation for political gain. “It’s unfortunate because you go back to the Obama administration, to all the Clinton administration, you know, border enforcement and arresting and deporting illegal immigrants was something that was not a partisan issue,” he said.

Dershowitz returned to the legal framework governing federal authority, stressing that federal agents have a constitutional right to operate anywhere in the country and criticizing resistance from state officials. “The Constitution is the Constitution, and federal officials are allowed to come into any state to enforce federal law,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Here are some preliminary snowfall totals through 2pm: JFK – 6.0″ LaGuardia – 7.1″ Manhattan 7.2″ Sheepshead Bay 8.0″ Newark – 8.0″ Allentown, PA: 9.2″ AC Airport, NJ: 5.9″ Philadelphia, PA: 7.4″ Reading, PA: 8.4″ Trenton, NJ: 7.2″ Wilmington, DE: 5.5″ Data from FlightAware now shows more than 30,000 U.S. flights have been disrupted by […]

Federal court action has halted the Trump administration’s effort to revoke the legal standing of more than 8,400 relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who entered the country from seven Latin American nations.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a preliminary injunction late Saturday barring the Department of Homeland Security from terminating humanitarian parole protections for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Those individuals were admitted to the United States through family reunification parole programs that were established or updated during President Joe Biden’s administration, allowing relatives to live in the country while awaiting immigrant visas.

After President Donald Trump took office, his administration sharply expanded immigration enforcement, allocating roughly $170 billion for immigration agencies through September 2029, marking an unprecedented level of funding.

The reunification initiatives permitted U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor family members in the seven countries, enabling them to reside in the United States temporarily as their visa applications moved through the system.

On December 12, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would shut down the programs, arguing they conflicted with Trump’s enforcement priorities and had been exploited to allow “poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process.”

The department planned to end the programs on January 14, but Talwani first stepped in with a 14-day temporary restraining order while she weighed whether a longer injunction was warranted, a decision she finalized Saturday.

In her ruling, Talwani said the agency, under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, failed to substantiate claims of fraud or to address whether affected individuals could realistically return to their countries of origin after selling homes or leaving jobs.

“The Secretary could not provide a reasoned explanation of the agency’s change in policy without acknowledging these interests,” Talwani wrote. “Accordingly, failure to do so was arbitrary and capricious.”

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the decision.

The case was brought as a class action by immigrant rights groups challenging the administration’s broader effort to roll back temporary parole protections for large numbers of migrants.

Earlier in the same litigation, Talwani had blocked the administration from ending parole for about 430,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, though that order was later lifted by the Supreme Court and ultimately overturned by an appeals court.

{Matzav.com}

El Al said it is rolling out a series of measures intended to help passengers navigate the uncertainty of recent days, including the launch of a complimentary flight cancellation option designed to provide greater flexibility.

The new program, titled “Flight with Peace of Mind,” will be offered to customers purchasing new tickets beginning Monday and will remain in effect for the next two weeks. Under the plan, passengers may cancel their booking for any reason up to 48 hours before departure and receive a full credit voucher.

According to the airline, the policy will apply at no extra cost to flights departing from and arriving at all El Al destinations through March 17, with the exception of LITE fares and bonus tickets.

In parallel, El Al said it is bolstering staffing and capacity at its customer service centers, which operate 24/7, in response to a surge in passenger requests to modify existing reservations. The airline cautioned that customers may still experience extended wait times due to the volume of inquiries.

“El Al will continue to operate in order to be the air bridge to and from Israel and to offer flexible and accessible solutions to our customers and the general public,” the airline said.

{Matzav.com}

A serious and embarrassing affair shook the Military Police after it was discovered that an IDF soldier allegedly staged the kidnapping of a Palestinian detainee under his supervision in order to extort ransom money from the detainee’s family. According to an Army Radio report on Sunday, the incident began with the arrest of a Palestinian […]

Israeli officials said Sunday that the IDF is conducting a wide-ranging operation in northern Gaza aimed at locating the remains of Ran Gvili, with forces carrying out extensive searches at a cemetery based on intelligence assessments.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office emphasized Israel’s commitment to returning Gvili for a proper Jewish burial and said his family is receiving ongoing updates about developments in the operation.

The Israeli announcement came after a Hamas spokesperson said the group had passed along all information it claims to possess regarding the whereabouts of the abducted and deceased Ran Gvili to mediators, describing the move as part of broader efforts to advance a ceasefire arrangement.

Hamas asserted that it acted with what it called full transparency in its handling of abductees and the deceased, claiming it transferred information and remains promptly and without delay. The group alleged this was done despite what it described as Israeli violations and Israel’s failure to honor commitments.

According to Hamas, attempts to recover bodies and abductees were carried out under extraordinarily harsh conditions, at times nearly impossible, and were undertaken with assistance from mediating parties.

The organization also urged mediators to apply pressure on Israel to fulfill its obligations under the agreement framework.

Hamas concluded its statement by saying the information it provided included all details it had regarding Gvili’s location, pointing to current IDF activity at one of the cited sites as proof of its claim.

The Hamas statement was released ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for later tonight, which is expected to focus, among other issues, on the possible reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions.

At the same time, families who lost loved ones are pressing the prime minister to resist outside influence. Yehoshua Shani, the father of the late Ori Mordechai and head of the Gevurah Forum, cautioned that the involvement of advisers from Qatar and Turkey constitutes an unacceptable opening for terror elements and said Gaza must remain under full Israeli security control.

“Two years and four months have passed since the start of the war. We have paid an extremely heavy price – the entire people of Israel have paid,” Shani said. “These are days that demand courage, strength, and the ability to make the right decisions. Do not agree to the entry of Phase B before the complete disarmament of Hamas and before the return of Ran Gvili. Any attempt to whitewash reality through advisers – Qatari, Turkish, or otherwise – is unacceptable. Terror cannot be allowed to enter through the back door wearing suits and ties.”

He added, “Our sons who fell will not serve as a bargaining chip for the return of a terror regime in Gaza. The Gaza Strip must be under full Israeli security control, and we call on the government to stand firm on this with courage.”

{Matzav.com}

An 86-year-old Holocaust survivor who was barred from speaking at a Brooklyn middle school last month is set to meet with Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jewish leaders and community officials are criticizing the planned meeting as a hollow gesture amid mounting concerns over antisemitism and City Hall’s posture toward the […]

A senior US delegation headed by Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu focused on moving ahead with the next stage of President Trump’s 20-Point Plan for Gaza, including detailed coordination on how Phase 2 would be carried out. Joining Witkoff were Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor Aryeh Lightstone, and White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum, Arutz Sheva reports.

Following the meeting, Witkoff released a summary stating that the talks centered on “the continued progress and implementation planning for Phase 2 of President Trump’s 20-Point Plan for Gaza, which the United States and Israel are advancing together in close partnership,” along with discussions on wider regional developments.

In his remarks, Witkoff underscored the depth of cooperation between the two governments, noting that “the United States and Israel maintain a strong and longstanding relationship built on close coordination and shared priorities.” He described the conversation as “constructive and positive,” saying both sides shared a clear understanding of the next steps and the need for ongoing collaboration on key regional concerns.

Diplomatic officials familiar with the discussions assessed that Witkoff’s comments suggest progress toward an agreement on reopening the Rafah Crossing, even though Hamas has not yet returned the body of the final fallen hostage, Ran Gvili.

{Matzav.com}