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Confusion and questions: Where investigations stand in the killing of Alex Pretti

By Holmes Lybrand, 9 hr ago, PUBLISHED Jan 26, 2026, 7:48 PM ET

Two days after Department of Homeland Security officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a confused investigation is unfurling. The Justice Department has not opened a civil rights investigation, a crisis coordination center was erected in Minneapolis to investigate protesters and senior administration officials won’t definitively say whether Pretti had been disarmed before the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security’s investigation agency (HSI) is leading the federal investigation into the shooting, officials say, with the FBI acting in a supportive role – including by processing physical evidence.

“We’re in possession of the firearm,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday of Pretti’s gun, adding that the FBI would analyze it at their own laboratory.

Although HSI hasn’t historically conducted criminal investigations into use of force incidents by federal authorities, HSI has assisted, coordinated with and supported such investigations when appropriate, according to former DHS officials. It is unusual for them to co-lead with FBI.

The investigation, one of several being conducted into the shooting, was preempted by public officials in the hours after the shooting airing competing narratives and firm conclusions in the absence of evidence — raising the likelihood that any conclusion it reaches will be scrutinized by a skeptical public.

As of Monday afternoon, a small group of investigators were reviewing public footage of the incident and video taken from as many as 30 body worn cameras that officers —– including several involved in the incident —– were wearing that day.

[Related article Federal agents gather amid tear gas during scuffles at the scene of a shooting involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 24, 2026. Tim Evans/Reuters Videos and witness statements shed new light on moments leading up to Alex Pretti shooting 6 min read]

In the moments before his death, Pretti can be seen in video from the scene moving between a DHS agent and a woman the agent pushed to the ground. The agent sprays Pretti with a chemical irritant and drags him to his knees before several others quickly move on top of Pretti with officers standing over him and pushing him to the ground as he appears to resist.

[A CNN video analysis appears to show a federal immigration officer removing a gun from Alex Pretti just prior to officers fatally shooting him.]

In the confusion and struggle with Pretti, one of the agents, who was part of the melee, can be heard asking “who had a gun” after shots were fired, according to a source familiar. Videos collected from the scene are under review internally.

Investigators have also conducted interviews with the officers and are still in the very early stages of the investigation.

Other investigations into the shooting

Under previous Democratic and Republican administrations, the Justice Department has investigated whether law enforcement officials used excessive force in officer-involved shootings.

In those instances, local law enforcement requests the assistance of the FBI and their expansive investigative resources, and the two work together to meticulously gather evidence, conduct interviews and share information.

Federal officials keep their investigative eye towards violations of civil rights laws, while local law enforcement focus on potential murder or assault charges.

The Justice Department has not launched a civil rights investigation, a department official told CNN, but said it will “if the evidence presents itself.”

The information sharing practice was not followed in the wake of Rene Good’s shooting by an ICE official just a few weeks ago — the FBI quickly cut out local Minnesota investigators, essentially ending their investigation. And the FBI then shifted the focus of its probe to whether Good and those around her committed a crime against the officer, as opposed to his conduct in the shooting, [CNN has reported.]

The FBI can also immediately begin their own independent investigation if there is a continuing concern for public safety, or wait for a referral from the agency whose officer was involved in the shooting.

Four days after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020, Donald Trump’s attorney general at the time, Bill Barr, announced a federal civil rights investigation into Floyd’s death.

The Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility — which investigates potential criminal conduct by CBP officers — is running its own internal investigation into Pretti’s death. A preliminary review of the incident is being drafted by that office and officials are required to officially notify Congress and the public about the status of the investigation, one source familiar with the process told CNN.

The expected initial report could include a basic summary of what took place, such as how many people fired a weapon and how many shots were fired as well as details around body worn cameras filming the incident.

In cases involving use of force, Gil Kerlikowske, a former CBP commissioner who served under President Barack Obama, told CNN that CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility — which he helped to establish — would investigate whether that force was justified under the agency’s guidelines.

The primary purpose of that office is not to bring or refer criminal charges, though findings of criminal wrongdoing can be referred to the Justice Department.

[Related live story People gather at a makeshift memorial at the site where a man identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 25, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans Tim Evans/Reuters Top Border Patrol official expected to leave Minneapolis as Trump sends Homan to the state]

Timelines for the completion of these internal probes could vary widely, Kerlikowske said. He added that as Trump has exerted unprecedented control over the DOJ and the FBI, skepticism about the completeness or independence of any federal criminal probe is warranted.

After local officials said Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was prevented from accessing the scene of Pretti’s shooting to collect evidence in its own investigation, Gov. Tim Walz wrote in a statement Monday that Trump had agreed to allow the state’s investigation to continue.

“The President agreed that he would talk to his Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case,” Walz said in his statement following a call with Trump.

The BCA sued the Trump administration over the weekend and was granted an order from a federal judge prohibiting DHS from destroying or altering any evidence gathered around the shooting.

In court filings, DHS said no evidence has been destroyed.

Minnesota officials have said in court filings they weren’t sure if the federal law enforcement were handling evidence properly — including a gun used in the shooting.

“I have also seen images circulating on social media of the alleged gun that it was used in today’s shooting. It does not appear that the gun was protected according to normal law enforcement processes, and I am concerned about other evidence not being protected,” Drew Evans, the Superintendent of Minnesota’s investigative bureau, wrote to a judge this weekend.

The BCA has also said it was unable to fully process the scene of the shooting after FBI officials left the area on Saturday because it was quickly overrun by protesters who local police were not able to keep back.

BCA agents were on site Sunday, collecting evidence and canvassing neighborhoods as part of the agency’s investigation.

According to court proceedings, HSI also has possession of Pretti’s phone.

Administration officials quickly accused Pretti of breaking the law

Despite continued calls from officials to wait for investigations to conclude before public judgement of the shooting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Patel and others [have made false claims around the shooting] and accused Pretti of breaking the law.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents” and Noem claimed Saturday that Pretti wished “to inflict harm on these officers” and brandished his firearm.

Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino — who has had a very public presence while on the ground in Minnesota — initially claimed Pretti intended to “massacre” federal agents.

Officials have not provided any evidence supporting these claims, and there is currently no evidence suggesting Pretti wielded his firearm during the incident.

“I don’t have any evidence that I’ve seen that suggests that the weapon was brandished,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara [said] in a Sunday interview on CBS.

Bovino is now expected to leave the state as Trump announced he was dispatching White House border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis in the wake of Saturday’s fatal shooting.

Administration officials were left deeply frustrated this weekend over how Bovino and Noem handled the fallout from Pretti’s fatal shooting, sources said. According to one official, Trump spent several hours on Sunday and Monday watching the coverage and was personally unhappy by how his administration was coming across.

Bovino, specifically, only made the deteriorating situation in Minnesota worse with his comment that Pretti intended to “massacre,” officials felt, including some inside the CBP, who believe his presence in the state has contributed to the growing anger from protestors on the ground.

Patel, whose agency is assisting in HSI’s investigation, claimed falsely during a Sunday interview on Fox News that “you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.”

Pretti, according to officials, had a legal permit to carry his firearm.

“You don’t have that right to break the law and incite violence,” Patel added.

When pressed by Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo on how Pretti was threatening Border Patrol officers, Patel punted, saying that the Department of Homeland Security was leading the investigation.

“That’s something that I want DHS and the prosecutors — because they are the ones investigating that case,” Patel said.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, Priscilla Alvarez, Evan Perez, Kaitlin Collins, Shimon Prokupecz, Michael Williams and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.

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“Narco sub” sinks with drugs on board after record amount of cocaine seized from vessel off the Azores

January 26, 2026 / 12:58 PM EST / CBS/AFP

Portuguese authorities on Monday said they had seized a record haul of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Azores archipelago before the vessel sank in the open seas.

The nearly 9-ton cargo of drugs is “the biggest seizure of cocaine ever in Portugal,” a police spokeswoman told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Police said officers intercepted the so-called “narco sub” in recent days some 230 nautical miles from the islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

They were assisted by the navy and air force, as well as the U.K. and U.S. authorities, in difficult weather conditions.

The submersible eventually sank with 35 of the 300 packages of drugs it was carrying, the police said.

Police released a short video on social media showing officers carrying out the operation at sea and suspects being handcuffed.

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Portuguese authorities on Monday said they had seized a record haul of cocaine from a semi-submersible craft intercepted off the Azores archipelago. Portugal’s judicial police

It originated in Latin America and had three Colombians and a Venezuelan on board, it added.

Last March, police said officers had confiscated nearly 6.5 tons of cocaine from a semi-submersible vessel off the Azores while bound for the Iberian peninsula. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the British National Crime Agency and the Spanish Guardia Civil also assisted in that bust, authorities said at the time.

Narco subs, which cannot go fully underwater, are popular among international drug traffickers as they can sometimes elude detection by law enforcement.

Manned semisubmersibles built in clandestine[jungle shipyards]have been used for decades to ferry cocaine north from Colombia, the world’s biggest cocaine producer, to Central America or [Mexico].

But in recent years, they have been sailing much farther afield, crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The journey can be deadly. In 2023, a[narco sub with two dead bodies]and nearly 3 tons of cocaine aboard was seized off the coast of Colombia.

© 2026 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

Mysterious dark matter seen in new high-resolution map of distant galaxies

January 26, 2026 / 2:26 PM EST / CBS/AP

A new high-resolution map of distant galaxies may help scientists understand a mysterious invisible substance that helps hold the universe together.

The ordinary matter all around us — stars, planets and people — makes up just 5% of the universe. For decades, researchers have hoped to demystify what’s known as dark matter, a material that comprises just over a quarter of our universe. Another equally mysterious force called dark energy makes up the rest.

Dark matter doesn’t absorb or give off light so scientists can’t study it directly. But they can observe how its gravity warps and bends the star stuff around it — for example, the light from distant galaxies. By studying these distortions across large swathes of the universe, scientists can get closer to unmasking dark matter and its various hiding places.

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This NASA image shows two massive galaxy clusters previously captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, with areas of possible dark matter in blue. Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach / AP

The latest map, created with images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, is the most detailed yet over such a large patch of sky. The Webb telescope identified nearly 800,000 galaxies, some of which were detected for the first time, NASA said.

The map has twice the resolution of previous attempts using the Hubble Space Telescope and captures hundreds of thousands of galaxies over the past 10 billion years.

“Now, we can see everything more clearly,” said study author Diana Scognamiglio with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The latest map, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, includes information on new galaxy clusters and the strands of dark matter that connect them. Piece by piece, these structures help form the skeleton of the universe. Scientists can study this map to see how dark matter has clumped up over billions of years.

Dark matter doesn’t have much of an impact on your midday lunch order or your nightly bedtime ritual. But it silently passes through your body all the time and has shaped the universe.

“Wherever we see a big cluster of thousands of galaxies, we also see an equally massive amount of dark matter in the same place. And when we see a thin string of regular matter connecting two of those clusters, we see a string of dark matter as well,” said astrophysicist Richard Massey, a coauthor of the study.

As humans, we’re naturally curious to know more about where we come from and that story can’t be told without dark matter, said astrophysicist Rutuparna Das with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“Our home is the universe and we want to understand what the nature of it is,” said Das, who was not involved with the new study.

Earlier this month, a team of researchers discovered a new type of astronomical object dubbed “Cloud-9” that NASA described as a “starless, gas-rich dark-matter” hydrogen cloud and remnant of the universe’s early formation about 14 million light-years from Earth.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, apologizes for antisemitic remarks and cites brain injury

January 26, 2026 / 2:00 PM EST / CBS News

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, apologized for antisemitic remarks he made in the past and said a brain injury he suffered in a car accident 25 years ago led to his bipolar disorder diagnosis.

In a full-page ad in the print edition of Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Ye said the right frontal lobe of his brain was injured in the accident and he wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023.

He also said that in early 2025 he experienced a four-month-long manic episode that “destroyed my life.”

“As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times I didn’t want to be here anymore,” he says in the ad.

He goes on to say that having bipolar disorder made him feel like he didn’t need help.

“I lost touch with reality,” Ye says in the ad. “Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst.”

He says he gravitated toward “the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.”

Last year, he sold T-shirts on his website that bore the Nazi Party symbol. In 2022, he posted the symbol to Twitter, which led to his suspension, and, in a separate incident, said he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people.

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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, attends the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

That same year, he also made headlines for having dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and President Trump (who was out of office at the time) at Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Trump said after the dinner that Fuentes had arrived with Ye and that Mr. Trump didn’t know who Fuentes was.

In Monday’s ad, Ye says he experienced “disconnected moments” that resulted in poor judgment and reckless behavior that he regretted.

“It does not excuse what I did, though,” the ad says. “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”

He has apologized for his behavior before. In an Instagram post in 2023, he issued an apology to the Jewish community that was written in Hebrew.

In the ad, he also apologized to the Black community, which he says “held me down through all of the highs and lows and the darkest of times.”

“The black community is, unquestionably, the foundation of who I am,” Ye says. “I am so sorry to have let you down. I love us.”

If you or someone you know is seeking mental health resources, you can call the National Alliance on Mental Illness HelpLine at 800-950-6264 or in a crisis text NAMI to 62640.

Republican quits Minnesota governor race, criticizing ICE surge

2026-01-26 / Reuters

Jan 26 (Reuters) – Lawyer Chris Madel on Monday dropped out of the Republican race to be Minnesota’s governor, denouncing what he said was a campaign of retribution against the state by federal authorities, after officers killed two U.S. citizens during clashes over tougher immigration enforcement.

The move was a sign of rising tension in President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections over the immigration crackdown, which has led to repeated public clashes and the fatal Minnesota shootings of Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on Saturday. Both were 37.

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“I cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” Madel said in a video posted on X. “The national Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.”

Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, state Representative Kristin Robbins and former state Senator Scott Jensen are among more than 10 candidates remaining in the August 11 primary to be the party’s gubernatorial candidate.

Madel, who successfully defended a Minnesota state trooper in the fatal shooting of a Black motorist, said the scale of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s surge in Minneapolis, nicknamed Operation Metro Surge, could not be justified.

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Demonstrators carry signs condemning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near the site where a man identified as Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents trying to detain him, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 24, 2026. REUTERS/Tim Evans [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

Madel said he supported ICE’s goals of deporting “the worst of the worst from our state,” but the operation “has expanded far beyond its stated focus on true public safety threats.”

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Madel had consistently finished in the top three in straw polls of party activists for the primary.

The ultimate Republican candidate is likely to face Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who last week entered the race and is considered the favorite by nonpartisan analysts.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this month dropped a reelection bid amid a welfare fraud scandal. Republicans last won the state’s governorship in 2006.

Trump has been a fierce critic of Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election, but on Monday said that he was “on a similar wavelength” with the Minnesota governor, who has called for ICE to pull back from his state.

Republicans’ current majority in Congress is also on the line in November, with the U.S. House of Representatives seen as highly competitive while Republicans are seen as having a better chance of retaining their Senate edge.

Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman

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Major winter storm brings warnings about heart attack risk of shoveling snow

2026-01-26 / 2:17 PM EST / CBS News

As large parts of the U.S. dig out from a major winter storm, health officials are renewing warnings about the serious and potentially deadly risks of shoveling snow, which has been linked to heart attacks.

“Snow shoveling is definitely associated with an increased risk of both heart attack and sudden cardiac death, especially in men and those with unknown cardiac coronary heart disease, or with multiple cardiac risk factors,” said Christopher Kramer, a cardiologist and University of Virginia Health and the president of the American College of Cardiology.

Cardiac risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, family history of heart disease, and tobacco use, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, Kramer told CBS News. He said the reason why shoveling snow can exacerbate them “is complex,” involving the type of exercise as well as the environment.

The act of pushing and lifting snow can increase a person’s heart rate and blood pressure even more than activities considered especially taxing, like running, said Kramer. And exposure to the cold only compounds the cardiac strain, as low temperatures alone can cause blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to spike, which are risk factors for heart attacks.

“You have a dual problem, that you’re increasing demand for oxygen because of the workload, and you’re reducing supply because of the constriction of the blood vessels in the cold,” Kramer said. “So, you take someone who’s not in shape, who has a lot of risk factors for heart disease, they’re not getting regular exercise, and they go out on a very cold day and do what turns out to be one of the most vigorous forms of exercise you can do.”

A 2020 report by the American Heart Association listed shoveling snow among the top physical activities that can place stress on the heart, particularly if a person is not accustomed to exercising. An updated warning from the association last month referenced numerous studies on the dangers of shoveling snow for people with and without heart disease.

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A person shovels a sidewalk during a winter storm Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joshua A. Bickel / AP

Three people died while trying to shovel and clear snow in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh County during this latest storm, CBS News Philadelphia reported, citing the county coroner’s office. Their ages ranged from 60 to 84, and all three apparently experienced cardiac-related medical emergencies while shoveling.

The coroner’s report said their deaths were ruled natural and consistent with cardiac events that can occur during “strenuous activity such as snow removal, particularly in older adults of those with underlying health conditions.”

One of the station’s meteorologists, Bill Kelly, urged people in the area to take precautions when it comes to clearing their sidewalks or driveways. He noted they were expecting a layer of sleet and freezing rain on top of the snow.

“If you go out and you shovel that, halfway through, if you shovel often, you’re going to get a fresh layer of sleet and ice on the ground,” Kelly said. “The good news is, smaller doses of exertion. That’s good. But the layer of ice is going to be hard to clean as it gets going.”

In Minnesota, which also saw significant snowfall and extremely cold temperatures, cardiologist Josh Buckler emphasized the importance of staying safe when it comes to temperature drops, physical exertion and heart health.

“I tell all my patients: Be cautious with shoveling,” Buckler told CBS News Minnesota before the winter storm arrived. “There’s some really great data that shows that for every 2-degree drop, after about 0 degrees, the heart attack risk goes up by about 2%. And that risk lasts for about 28 days afterwards.”

A Canadian study published in 2017 found that heavy snowfall of about 8 inches in a particular area corresponded with a 16% increased risk of cardiac-related hospitalizations and a 34% increased risk of death from heart attacks in men.

Kramer said the gender-specific figure could simply be due to the fact that men took on the duty of shoveling most often.

To lower the chances of experiencing a heart attack, he recommends people with cardiac risk factors take breaks while shoveling snow, or better yet, avoid the task altogether.

“If you have these risk factors, pay the kid down the street to shovel your walk. Don’t do it,” he said. “If you have to do it, take breaks.”

Google to pay $68 million over allegations its voice assistant eavesdropped on users

Updated on: January 26, 2026 / 12:58 PM EST / CBS News

Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the technology giant’s voice assistant had illegally recorded users and then shared their private conversations with advertisers.

The preliminary settlement, filed January 23 in federal court in San Jose, California, requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by several Google device owners who claimed their conversations had been recorded without their knowledge. While Google stated that its voice assistant would only register people’s speech when consumers uttered an activation phrase, such as “Hey Google,” the consumers claimed that their devices recorded them even without using such language.

Some claimants alleged the Google devices recorded private conversations about financial issues, personal decisions and employment.

If the settlement is approved, Google will place $68 million in a fund that will pay all consumer claims, as well as court-approved attorneys’ fees and other costs.

Alphabet-owned Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS News.

Consumers will be able to submit claims for up to three Google devices, although how much individuals receive will depend on how many claims are submitted, according to the settlement.

The agreement is similar to an Apple class-action lawsuit that alleged its Siri voice assistant had eavesdropped on private or confidential conversations. Apple device owners are this month receiving payments from the $95 million settlement, ranging from about $8 to $40 per person.

Edited by Alain Sherter

Bettors wagered millions on this weekend’s expected snowfall across the U.S.

By Megan Cerullo

Updated on: January 26, 2026 / 8:05 PM EST / CBS News

Bettors seeking to cash in on the weekend’s snowstorm flocked to prediction markets to wager millions on how much snow would ultimately accumulate across the U.S., with more than $6 million bet on New York City’s totals alone.

Online prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi accepted bets for expected snowfall in different locales across the U.S. For example, more than $1.2 million was wagered on a market at Polymarket, titled “How many inches of snow in NYC this weekend? (Jan 24-26)”.

Based on bets placed through Monday, the implied consensus snowfall for New York City’s total was 11 inches. The official outcome has yet to be determined, and bettors won’t cash out — or notch losses — until totals for the three days between Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 are released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, according to the market’s description on the site.

Polymarket said the market will rely on snowfall data from NOAA’s “New Snow (IN)” daily figures for the New York–Central Park area.

The most popular wager for the Big Apple was in the 10- to 12-inch range. Shares predicting snowfall within that bracket were trading at 90 cents each Monday morning.

The top bettor had purchased more than 8,100 shares, anticipating this outcome at 61 cents apiece. The same bettor had also wagered more than $1,000 on 12 to 14 inches of snowfall. Both bets remain active, meaning they have not yet been resolved because an outcome has not been determined.

Bettors also wagered on snowfall in Washington, D.C., and bet which cities would see snow this weekend, including Atlanta and Seattle.

Kalshi’s NYC snowfall wager

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On Kalshi, another online prediction market, bettors wagered a cumulative seven figures on a similar climate-related question: “Snow in New York City from Jan 24-26?”

More than $5 million had been wagered on Kalshi as of Monday morning, with the market presuming a 99% chance of more than 10 inches of accumulation.

The market, which closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, will rely on data from the National Weather Service to determine which bets pay out, according to the site.

Prediction markets are forums where individuals can purchase and sell shares in the outcomes of a wide variety of future events, including climate events, sports games, political contests and more. The sites track wagers in real-time and provide insights into consumers’ and investors’ mindsets.

Online prediction markets also gained attention earlier this month, when an anonymous trader earned more than $463,000 by accurately predicting that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro would be captured.

The timing of the speculative bet raised questions about the bettor’s identity and potential access to inside information ahead of the U.S. operation to seize Maduro, experts told CBS News.

Experts say such markets are only lightly regulated and are susceptible to manipulation, while the outcome of an event like a snowstorm is harder to control.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

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