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Southwest Fined $140 Million For 2022 Holiday Service Meltdown; Delays, Cancelations Kick Off Holiday Travel Week; Strong Winds, Heavy Rain Batter Northeast; Oil Prices Jump After B.P. Shuts Red Sea Shipments Amid Attacks; U.S.: Navy Ship Shot Down 14 Drones Over Red Sea; CDC: Respiratory Virus Activity Is High And Still Hasn't Peaked. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 18, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:16]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Southwest Airlines got hit for a record fine for the disastrous 2022 holiday meltdown. The Department of Transportation today slapping the airline with the government's largest ever civil penalty, $140 million.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This thing was a doozy. Nearly 17,000 flights canceled, more than two million passengers were left stranded during that 10-day long debacle.

CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, is on this at Reagan National Airport.

Full disclosure, I was part of that meltdown. It was experiential journalism.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I saw it from the inside. Two out of the three here, right?

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: So the DOT citing Southwest for numerous violations of consumer protection laws. That's how they described it. What is Southwest saying?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Southwest is really trying to spin this as a win for customers because in that $140 million fine, $90 million is going to a fund that will pay customers who are late three hours or more for their flight with $75 vouchers.

But $35 million of that $140 million fine, that will go directly to the federal government.

But let's look back a year ago, almost exactly to the day, December 1st, 2022. That's when it really kicked off this Southwest scheduling crisis that started with a winter storm in southwest major hubs, in Chicago midway, in Denver.

And then caused a behind-the-scenes meltdown of Southwest Airlines' scheduling system. We are talking 16,900 flights canceled, two million people stranded.

I just spoke to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He says this is all because Southwest did not properly communicate with its customers, did not give the best possible customer service.

And that they did not give refunds quick enough, even though Southwest has already given $600 million in refunds and reimbursements to customers.

And the big thing here, Buttigieg tells me, is that this is really to send a message to other airlines.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Things like that are unacceptable. We want to make sure that airlines understand it's going to be worth investing to prevent that. Otherwise, you can face tough penalties and fines from this department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Here's the statement from Southwest Airlines. It's calling this "a consumer-friendly settlement," which differs in the rhetoric from the Department of Transportation. They are calling this an order that Southwest pays all this money.

SANCHEZ: Interesting distinction there Pete.

We're going to get an update on this strong coastal storm that's striking the northeast in just a moment. But how is it impacting the first day of holiday travel?

MUNTEAN: You know, these holiday travel periods are getting longer all the time thanks to remote work.

Here's the latest from the FAA. The ground stop in Boston is now over. There was a ground delay program in place for flights going to Boston because of the extreme wind there.

Also, we could see ground stops, according to the FAA, in places here like Reagan National Airport and Newark, which is a major hub for United Airlines.

These are the latest numbers from FlightAware, 529 cancellation so far today, 2,400 delays.

Let's put it into context. The weekend was relatively good for airlines when it comes to cancellations. But 200 cancellations in total on Saturday and Sunday, but about 10,000 flights delays. The big difference here, especially when you look back at Southwest, that was a snow event capped off with frigid cold temperatures. Thankfully, though, this is mostly rain this time around.

[13:35:00]

KEILAR: Ah, that does help. Maybe some people will not be taking a four-day road trip from San Antonio to D.C.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Speaking from a little experience.

KEILAR: Speaking from a little experience. Hey, we survived it. We joke about it still. But it was rough.

Pete Muntean, thank you.

And so this coastal storm we are talking about, it is not just affecting holiday travelers. There are more than 6,000 customers who have lost power across the northeast this morning.

Rain or snow, whatever. Rain does this as well.

CNN affiliate, WCVB, reporting wind gusts near 100 miles per hour in parts of Massachusetts. The storm toppling trees in a lot of neighborhoods there.

SANCHEZ: And people in Charleston, South Carolina, just beginning to dry out from Sunday's flash flooding.

Let's get a look at where the storm is now from CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers.

So, Chad, what's in the forecast?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's still getting windy in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts and even a coastal surge on the Long Island Sound.

Now 775,000 people without power, customers without power. That's more than people because, usually, there is three or four customers as you take a look at how many people live in a household.

There you go. High wind warnings of up to 60 miles per hour still right now. The storm will move away this evening and the winds will die off. There will still be some gusts through the Great Lakes where there has been some snow in the early morning hours.

I know how we've talked about how bad on the east coast this was. There was quite a bit of difficult driving across difficult parts of Chicago earlier today.

But this is what Patterson, New Jersey, looked like. People being removed from the cars. Still 40 million people with flood alerts going on right now because it is still raining, and because the wind is still pushing the water, the salt water on up into these estuaries.

But look how this rainfall came down here in parts of the low country of South Carolina. This is Horry County, South Carolina -- Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle, Murrells Inlet, all of that.

Up to 10 inches of rainfall, plus the storm surge pushing that water backup into Surfside, back up into Charleston. This was a saltwater flood for Charleston.

Some of these numbers are as high as they have been without a tropical name to a storm. So this was a big wind event, pushing all that water on up into Charleston as well.

I hate saltwater floods because they do so much more damage than freshwater floods. Nothing is savable really when you get saltwater in electrical wires. It just has to all be pushed away.

SANCHEZ: Yes. A tough cleanup for those folks.

Chad Myers, from the Weather Center, thanks so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, oil and gas prices spiking after oil giant, B.P., pauses all shipments through the Red Sea because of security concerns. Much more on the escalating tension in the Middle East in just moments.

Also a major recall. Quaker Oats recalling more than 40 different types of granola bars and cereal products because of a possible contamination. We have details for you on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:42:15]

SANCHEZ: Energy prices got a jolt today after oil giant, B.P., suspended all shipments through the Red Sea, the latest major company to halt operations there because of increased attacks on commercial ships by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

This morning, the "USS Carney" responded to another merchant vessel that came under fire in the southern part of the Red Sea.

KEILAR: Over the weekend, the U.S. military says the destroyer shot down 14 drones targeting commercial ships in this, of course, critically important waterway.

We have CNN's Jim Sciutto here with us now on this.

What can you tell us about these attacks, how the U.S. is responding, and the ramifications of this economically?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Well, it seems that Austin, from the Biden Administration, wants to internationalize this. Does not want to become purely a U.S. versus the Houthis conflict here because the Houthis are, of course, backed by Iran and the U.S.is loathe to create a U.S.-Iranian conflict here.

As it has been since the start of the war in Gaza. They do not want this war to expand.

The U.S. has been the principal first responder, if you want to call them that, in these attacks. And they're shooting down a great deal of the missiles and drones, et cetera.

But some get through and the risk is so high that you have shipping companies just saying we are out, right? I mean, major ones, like Maersk is not going through there, a big container ship company. B.P. is not shipping its oil through there.

And that's impacting the amount of oil going to the canal. It's an effective blockade, right, not just for a lot of the oil and products going through there but for the Israeli port in the southern part of the country.

So they have not figured out a solution. Shooting down a lot of missiles is not stopping the Houthi's from firing the missiles and some get through.

But it seems that part of Austen's goal on this Mideast trip is to get the allies together and say, OK, we will respond to this together.

But among the allies, there are differences in how they want to respond. The UAE is for more forceful military action. Saudi Arabia favors diplomacy. Diplomacy is not working right now.

And you and I, we will start to feel the costs, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: It's going to be expensive.

SCIUTTO: No question. I mean, I read that the oil transport through the canal is down to one-third of normal volume. That's a big deal because a lot of oil that comes through the Persian Gulf, going to Europe, say, is going to go through there.

Your option is to drive around -- is to sail around the southern tip of Africa to get to Europe, which is, of course, much more costly. It takes a lot longer.

I mean, this is -- it's effectively an expansion of the war in Gaza, right, with big economic consequences.

SANCHEZ: Something like 20 U.S. warships in the region but it does not appear that they are really deterring actions like this.

SCIUTTO: No. I mean, they can shoot some down. Not deterring. It seems to be in the Houthi's interest and Iran's interest, imagine that, right, to sort of like stand back and say, well, we are not controlling us but it serves our interest.

[13:45:01]

It is messy and it has real regional and global implications.

KEILAR: It certainly does.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: Jim, thank you so much. Obviously, we are keeping an eye on this very important development here.

And now to some of the other headlines we are watching this hour.

A man serving a life sentence in Texas for continuous sexual abuse of a child is back in custody after nearly a day on the run.

Authorities captured Robert Yancy early this morning about 30 miles from the prison from where he escaped on Sunday. Texas authorities say two other people have been arrested in connection with Yancy's escape.

And in Russia, jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, failed to appear at several court hearings again today. Navalny's team has not seen or heard from him in 10 days, raising further concern about his well-being.

Navalny supporters say his arrest and incarceration are politically motivated to stifle his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And a major food recall from Quaker Oats. The company is recalling more than 40 granola bar and cereal products because they could be contaminated with salmonella.

The affected foods include the Classic Chewy Granola Bar Variety Pack, the chocolate-covered Chewy Dips bars and protein cereals, and even granola bars that are included in some Frito Lay stack boxes.

The products were sold in all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, and Saipan.

And if you are tired from everyone around you being sick, we have some bad news for you. We are not even at the peak of respiratory virus season. So how much worse can it get? We will have that after a quick break.

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[13:51:10]

KEILAR: So if you're not under the weather right now, there's a good chance that you know someone who is. Because respiratory virus levels are high across so much of the country right now.

And the CDC warns the number of cases hasn't even peaked yet.

SANCHEZ: Now Covid-19 still accounts for most hospitalizations, but hospitalizations for flu and RSV are rising faster.

Let's discuss with Dr. Leana Wen. She's an emergency physician and former Baltimore health commissioner.

Dr. Wen, great to see you as always.

So just how bad is it this year? Put it into context for us. And how much worse can it get?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, the good news is that we're not where we were last year at this time, which was much worse. Last year, there was an earlier season and we were also seeing this triple- demic of RSV, Covid and flu, which we are seeing again this year.

It appears that the level of RSV this year has probably peaked. But we're seeing an increase in flu. We're seeing an increase in Covid.

And it probably is going to get worse coming into the holiday season when people are gathering more, going indoors and so forth.

But that said, this is not that much out of the ordinary compared to before Covid. It is now that we have an additional virus to contend with.

So people should take the steps that we have been talking about all long to try to reduce the risk of infection, including opening windows and doors, getting fresh air in, making sure that we wash our hands really well.

And if people have not yet gotten the flu shot or if you're a particularly vulnerable persons, you have not gotten your Covid shot or a flu shot if you're 60 and older, for example, make sure you do it now ahead of the holidays.

KEILAR: Let's give people some reminders about what they need to do. What symptoms can be treated at home and at what point might you be looking at some symptoms that make you say, all right, I need to seek medical care here?

WEN: Yes, first of all, I want to remind people that there are more than 200 viruses that can cause similar types of symptoms, of feeling under the weather, fatigue, headache, cough, runny nose, fevers.

Whether they are adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, influenza, other coronaviruses. So we're dealing with a whole panoply of viruses here.

People should get tested for flu and Covid if they are going to be able to seek treatment.

So there are people who are eligible for Tamiflu or Paxlovid, these antiviral treatments. They should be sure to get tested.

Everybody else, probably less important that they get tested. Because otherwise, we should be testing all the time because people just have runny noses all the time. So most of these symptoms can be treated at home.

But the things that probably should count medical attention would include shortness of breath or chest pain, a very severe cough and high fevers that don't go away.

And also individuals at the extremes of ages. So newborns and elderly individuals, as well as people that are immunocompromised or chronic lung and heart problems, they should seek medical care sooner.

And also seek medical care sooner if you're eligible for the antiviral treatments. Because the sooner that you can get the treatments, the more it can help to prevent severe disease.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Wen, hospital beds for kids are nearly full in some parts of the country. How do you think that the health systems are going to cope if that trend continues?

WEN: Last year, at this time, we were seeing something similar. Except it was actually worse already.

At the end of November, the heads of children's hospitals were calling on the Biden administration to declare a state of emergency because of how terrible the situation was. And during the peak of Omicron, beds were also full.

So we're seeing something not unlike what we have seen in previous years. And again, the numbers are not as bad yet as those previous two seasons.

And I know that hospitals are all getting their preparedness plans ready to try increase capacity.

But I would say that also puts the onus on us as well as individuals. Because so many people who have not been vaccinated, for example, are able to do so.

[13:55:00]

The vaccination rates for the flu lag well behind what they were last year. And when you look at the updated Covid shot, only a third of people 65 and older have gotten that vaccine. That includes nursing home residents. Only about a third have gotten the updated Covid shot.

So there is a lot that we as individuals can be doing to try to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed as well.

SANCHEZ: Important to protect yourself, especially when so many people are sick.

Dr. Leana Wen, thank you so much.

WEN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, has former President Trump's rhetoric crossed the line? Some of the things he said before but, this time, there is a disturbing line between his words and the same language that has been used by certain dictators in the past.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just a few minutes.

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