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U.S. Officials Warn Americans to Prepare for Tripledemic; Missile Attacks Reported in Cities Across Ukraine; U.S. Expands Training for Ukrainian Armed Forces; Musk Falsely Claims Journalists Shared His Live Location; Judges Halts End to "Remain in Mexico" Program; No Breaks in University of Idaho Investigation. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 16, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This does appear to be a very large Russian attack on multiple locations across this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to allow comments from Russia to dictate the security assistance that we provide to Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For parents, it's important to understand that this is a highly contagious illness, RSV, and there is no medicine for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are confident that the occupant or occupants of that vehicle had information that's critical to this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: It's Friday, December 16th, 4 a.m. in the Northeastern U.S. where millions are waking up to winter storm warnings. That same massive weather system that spawned a deadly tornado outbreak in the South isn't done with the U.S. quite yet. Some 3 feet of snow has already fallen in the plains where blizzard conditions are expected for the next few hours at least. And in the northeast, the slow-moving storm could bring a foot of snow to parts of Pennsylvania and New England, some places freezing rain. For more on that I'm joined by meteorologist Britley Ritz. It sounds pretty hectic. Take us through what we're expecting.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Quite a few travel delays, Kim, And that is already what's happening across New England. Heavily populated areas dealing with heavy snow. Across upstate New York, that's where the heaviest is at the moment. Rain for New York City on up into Boston which as you know can cause some travel delays in itself. So, the best thing and the best advice I can give you is just slow down as this area of low pressure continues to move on over all across the region.

So, we'll watch this closely here where of course it will bring in the chance for snow. But also, the opportunity for still freezing rain as we move through. And of course, my system has locked up on me here so I can talk about what we expect. We do have some freezing rain all across the mid-Atlantic on up into New York. Several reports of that over the last 24 hours. In fact, 3/10 of an inch for parts of Maryland which of course, can cripple a city in itself. So, then we need to make sure that we're slowing down there.

There you see the reports. All right, so from all the way up into New York down into Virginia. Numerous reports. Again, several of them through Maryland where we picked up about 3/10 of an inch. And what that does is just knock out power. So, you'll see those areas sparked up there, lit up. Winter storm warnings still in effect for much of New England. These are areas that of course will be dealing with snow over the next 48 hours.

So, rain chances will stay on the coast line. We're much warmer there. As we back up and into Saturday, you see the Great Lakes still dealing with scattered snow showers, but as for snowfall totals, the Great Lakes, not so much. Somewhere over toward Ontario and as well as Lake Erie could pick up about a foot of snow, if not a little bit more. Watertown, of course, Buffalo tapping into that.

But the higher elevations through the northern parts of the Appalachians are talking about picking up about 18 to 24 inches when it's all said and done through Saturday. Even though we're not getting a lot of snow across the northern plains and upper Midwest, roughly another 2 to 4 inches, that's going to cause some issue with that area of low pressure. We have a blizzard warning. So, when's over 35 miles per hour expected. And that's why we're focused on the northern plains -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Britley Ritz. We appreciate it.

RITZ: No problem.

BRUNHUBER: U.S. officials are warning Americans to protect themselves by getting vaccinated as the nation faces a triple-demic of viral diseases. Cases of COVID, flu, RSV have put a strain on health care facilities across the country. On Thursday U.S. President Joe Biden announced the White House is resuming the at-home COVID tests program and giving households who order them up to four of the test kits for free. But he also urge Americans to take precautions right now. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Here's what we know. We've seen in each of the last two winters COVID cases rise up. We're seeing -- obviously we're in the middle of probably the worst flu season in a decade and we've got a lot of RSV out there still. [04:05:00]

So, what happens next is very much up to us, Anna. I think if we -- if people go out and get their flu vaccine, if people go out and get their updated COVID vaccines, things will be much better. Obviously, if that doesn't happen, then there's more concern and more risk out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Even with all of that urging, the CDC reports only about 14 percent of eligible Americans have updated COVID boosters. Now this as all but seven states see high or very high respiratory virus activity. Hospitals nationwide report near record level capacity.

Now to the Ukraine where new missile attacks are reported in cities across the country this morning including Kyiv, Odessa and Kharkiv. CNN teams on the ground say they saw missiles and heard explosions as air raid sirens sounded. And then there's this dramatic video from Thursday. Have a look.

This video posted on social media is from the Luhansk region which is occupied by Russia. A local telegram channel suggest an ammunition depot may have been hit. Now neither Russian nor Ukrainians officials have commented on that.

Now to the north, the mayor of Kharkiv reports Russian forces attacked critical infrastructure. Authority say Russian rockets hit a warehouse with no connection to the military.

CNN's Will Ripley is live this hour in Kyiv. And our Nina dos Santos is standing by in London. Will, first to you. Tell us about the latest missile strikes.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So there appears to be a missile attack underway. We have not been given the all clear yet. Not only here in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, but also to the south in Odessa, to the north in Sumi and Kharkiv. There have been three explosions confirmed here in Kyiv, two on the eastern bank of the river, one on the western bank. And we also have reports at least two people killed and five others injured including two children, all of whom are being treated at hospital right now.

You know, it was just earlier this week that UNICEF said that these constant attacks by the Russians on the civilian infrastructure here in Ukraine are putting not only the physical health but also the mental health of every single child here in Ukraine at desperate risk.

And to think about it, you know, we were just at a shooting at a children's soccer tournament yesterday. And pieces of a drone strike when they shot the drones down, they rained down near the football pitch where these kids from all over Ukraine, including some of the hardest hit areas were just playing soccer and trying to, you know, trying to have somewhat of a normal childhood existence. And that is simply impossible when they are living with this constant barrage of Russian attacks. There are thousands of people if not tens of thousands of people who

are sheltering in places right now at underground stations across Kyiv. Some of those images are appearing on social media. At one point some of those underground stations were plunged into darkness. Here at the hotel, we also lost power without power after hearing some explosions in the area near where we are.

And so, this is life in a war zone. This is the reality for millions of Ukrainians. And now after the initial wave of attacks subside, because right now the clear and present, imminent danger is for more missiles to fall from the skies or be launched by the Russians and incoming. Then the danger after that is the darkness and cold that undoubtedly millions of people will now be plunged into potentially for days as a result of this attack. Because the temperatures are really plummeting here, Kim. And so, people have to shelter in place at the moment, then they have to figure out how they're actually going to stay warm and prevent themselves from freezing in the dead of winter even though the official start of winter hasn't even begun in Ukraine. We're still days away from that -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Will Ripley in Kyiv.

And the U.S. has announced plans to expand training for Ukraine's military starting in January. CNN's Nina dos Santos is live in London with the details. So, Nina, walk us through this decision and what it will mean for Ukraine.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a really significant decision here and it culminates obviously in more training for Ukrainian forces to try and repel those barrages of attacks that are increasing, that Will was talking about, just with the onset of winter there about to kick in, in Ukraine. Which obviously each year contends with many frigid days and nights. It is inconceivable to imagine how people would have to deal with that without power if the critical infrastructure is being hit with these barrages of missile attacks from Russia.

And as such, after of course, earlier on the week we heard that the U.S. was starting to ready plans to deploy Patriot air missile defense systems to Ukraine. Now we're hearing that there's going to be a significant upscale in training exercises for Ukrainian soldiers.

[04:10:00]

This is what the U.S. has announced just overnight. That this plan will include training of about 500 Ukrainians per month starting, as you said there, Kim, in January. It will also include live fire exercises and battalion level maneuver training and they'll be adding squad platoon and company level training programs as well. So really significant upscaling of training here.

This is, by the way, something that the U.S. has intermittently continued to do ever since in fact, Russia invaded Crimea and seized that part of Ukraine back in 2014. These training programs are going to be kicking off at the Hammerstein airbase in Germany. Which is where obviously the United States and its allies have been having various contact group meetings to keep themselves abreast of the situation in Ukraine and to try to help Ukrainians with the military they need -- military hardware that they need for the last year or so.

This is how a Pentagon spokesmen describes the plan that the United States has to support Ukraine in rebuffing this onslaught from Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON We're not going to allow comments from Russia to dictate the security assistance that we provide to Ukraine. It's important to remember that Russia is the aggressor here and when it comes to escalation, they could de-escalate the situation today by withdrawing their forces and saving countless innocent lives, but clearly, they've chosen to double down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS: So obviously, from January we're going to see more significant military hardware making its way over to Ukraine. And then when it comes to the Patriot missile air defense system from the United States, that might take a bit longer to actually be effective on the ground. Because military experts say that these need quite large teams to operate and also, they need months of training as well. But this is a joint announcement here this week in terms of hardware and also, the expertise that's needed on the ground amid Ukrainian forces -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Nina dos Santos in London.

U.S. military support for Ukraine, as we mentioned, received a big boost on Thursday with the Senate's passage of a massive $858 billion defense spending bill. And the bill was must-pass legislation already approved by the House. Now goes to the White House for the president's signature. Among the many provisions are measures aimed at bolstering U.S. support for both Ukraine and NATO. House Republicans insisted on including the language to repeal the military's COVID vaccine mandate. The U.S. Defense Secretary had opposed that measure but Democratic negotiators concluded it was the only way to get the bill passed.

U.S. Senate has approved a temporary measure to avert a government shutdown at week's end. Without the so-called stopgap bill funding would have expired at midnight local time Friday night. The measure will now go to President Biden to be signed into law. The funding is only approved through December 23rd but it will buy negotiators more time to hammer the broader, full year government funding deal. They say a bipartisan framework has already been reached.

Twitter's new owner Elon Musk is speaking out about his decision to ban some prominent journalists from the social media site. Musk has falsely accused them of sharing his live location and giving out what he called, quote, assassination coordinates.

One of the journalists is CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, who didn't share the billionaires real-time whereabouts. He and the other reporter suspended Thursday did recently right about another social media account that tracked Musk's private plane. And Musk seems to think that distinction is splitting hairs. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELON MUSK, TWITTER OWNER: As I sure everyone who has been doxed would agree, you know, sharing real time information about somebody's location is inappropriate. And I think everyone on this call would not like that to be known to them. And there's not going to be distinction in the future between journalists, several journalists and regular people. Everyone is going to be treated the same. They're not special because you're a journalist. You're a Twitter user, you're a citizen. So, no special treatment. You dox you get suspended, end of story. So --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elon --

MUSK: -- and ban invasion or frankly clever about it -- oh, I posted a link to the real-time information. Because obviously -- that is obviously simply trying to evade the meaning. That is -- there's no different than paste -- than actually showing the actual information.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is claiming on social media that I and other journalists shared the precise live location of his jet and therefore that's why he kicked us off, because we caused danger to him. Certainly, and my case, I didn't. We had just posted stories about what was happening, him shutting down those accounts but.

Look, I think the bigger issue here is of course, this is supposed to be the guy who's the free speech absolutist.

What is more concerning here though is independent journalists, freelance journalists all around the world, many of whom are covering may be abuses and ongoings at Musk's other companies, Tesla, SpaceX. Think about the chilling effect that might have. Because, as Oliver said, many journalists rely on Twitter to get their work out there, they are particularly if they are independent freelancers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now CNN issued a statement earlier calling the, quote, compulsive and unjustified suspension concerning but not really surprising. Twitter has increasing instability and volatility should be an incredible concern for anyone who uses the platform. We've asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response.

A U.S. federal judge in Texas has put a hold on the Biden administration's plan to end the so-called remain in Mexico program. The controversial Trump era policy allows the U.S. to send certain non-Mexican citizens who entered the U.S. back to Mexico. Previously those migrants were either detained or released into the U.S. while their immigration proceedings played out. CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig explains how we got there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The policy of the United States going back many years through administrations of both parties was that when a person seeks asylum in this country, generally speaking those legal proceedings can take months, years. And people while they were waiting, were allowed to wait here in the United States.

Now in 2019 the Trump administration changed that. They said now a person has to remain in Mexico. That could be potentially very dangerous. Because the northern regions of Mexico where people are waiting tend to be controlled in some areas by drug cartels, could be very dangerous, could be a deterrent. This is something the Trump administration was going for. On Joe Biden's first day in office, he ordered his Department of Homeland Security, take a look at this. Homeland Security came back and said, we're going to get rid of this policy. We're not going to let people wait in Mexico. That led is into the court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And the U.S. immigration court system has hit a new record. Government data shows a backlog of more than 2 million pending cases. Miami-Dade County in Florida leads the way, followed by Harris County, Texas, and Los Angeles, California. The wait times for asylum seekers to get a hearing on their claims is 4.3 years.

It's been more than two weeks since a U.S. college student went missing in France, but one group says it's still holding out hope for his safe return home. That's ahead.

And more than a month after four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their off campus home, some family members are frustrated with the slow pace of the investigation. That's ahead. Stay with us.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A residential fire has killed at least 10 people in France. It broke out in an eight story building in a suburb of Lyon a little after 3:00 local time this morning. Five children are among the dead and more than a dozen are injured. At least four people are in critical condition. A witness told a CNN affiliate EFM TV, he was alerted to the fire by children shouting from a fourth floor balcony. He says residents use the latter to evacuate some 25 people from the second floor of the building but one 170 firefighters were on site. Now the fire is out but police say the cause of the fire isn't yet known.

More than a month after four college students were stabbed to death in their home near the campus of the University of Idaho, some family members of the victims are frustrated. They say they've gotten very little information about the investigation from authorities and fear the case is going cold. CNN's Veronica Miracle Reports from Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KRISTI GONCALVES, MOTHER OF VICTIM KAYLEE GONCALVES: It's sleepless nights. It's feeling sick to your stomach.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kristi Goncalves, a mother in anguish. Her 21-year-old daughter, Kaylee, is one of four University of Idaho students, stabbed to death, in their off-campus home, more than a month ago. Kristi is sharing her frustration, over what she says, is a lack of direct communication, with police.

One example, when law enforcement reached out to the public, for information, on a white Hyundai, seen near the crime scene.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, JOURNALIST: You found out about the white car from a press release?

GONCALVES: Yes. Yes.

MCLAUGHLIN: Did they send you the press release?

GONCALVES: No.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Moscow Police disagree, telling CNN, they sent the release to the Goncalves attorney, adding: Police have been trying to communicate with the Goncalves."

The family and their attorney said they did meet with police, on Monday.

SHANON GRAY, GONCALVES FAMILY ATTORNEY: We are pro-police.

MIRACLE (voice-over): But they also want to hold authorities accountable for what they say, is a lack of information.

GRAY: Trust us has really been the theme. Trust us. We're making the right decision. Trust us. Well, you know, that only goes so far.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Throughout the investigation, police have said they're making progress, and they're not releasing developments to protect the investigation.

GRAY: The time will tell whether that was a wise decision or not a wise decision. But I would be more concerned about catching the individual than I would be about preserving the case.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Either way, a void of information has made it hard for the community to move forward. Some are still fearful.

Which is why Christopher Schwartz started offering free self-defense classes this past month at his studio.

CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTZ, MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR: With the fears that people are having, it was only right to offer it.

MIRACLE (voice-over): The demand for the classes, so overwhelming, all of the spots filled up within 32 hours.

And as students leave town, for winter break, Police remain hopeful that potential witnesses come forward.

ROBBIE JOHNSON, MOSCOW, IDAHO POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think people all over America and, students here at the college, the university, they'll still be thinking about this and able to provide information, if they still have it.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Something a grieving mother holds on to.

MCLAUGHLIN: Are you confident the police are going to solve this crime?

GONCALVES: I have to be.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Veronica Miracle, CNN, Moscow, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. college student who's missing in France was originally scheduled to be back home tomorrow. The American Institute of Foreign Studies says it's still hopeful Kenny DeLand will be found. The organization also says it's visited his home in the U.S. and the residence where he was staying in France.

[04:25:03]

Deland went missing in late November while he was studying at a university in the city of Grenoble. He was later seen on security video at a store about an hour away before vanishing without a trace. Interpol issued a yellow notice this week which is usually done to help locate missing persons.

Michigan's Attorney General says three members of a militia group have now been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their roles in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020. They must serve minimum sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years before they're eligible for parole. Governor Whitmer calls the sentences a powerful signal to other extremists. Two of the plotters told the court they deeply regretted their actions that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE MORRISON, SENTENCED TO MINIMUM 11 YEARS IN PRISON: I regret that I ever let hate, fear and anger into my heart the way I did.

PAUL BELLAR, SENTENCED TO MINIMUM 7 YEARS IN PRISON: I would like to apologize to the governor for the very stupid comments I made. I never meant her any harm. And if I'd known about the plot I should bring the serious think, I would have done where I was at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Two other men, including the alleged ring leader will be sentenced later in federal court and could face life in prison.

The U.S. is sharing more details about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The National Archives released more than 13,000 previously classified documents Thursday, including all of the remaining information the CIA said it has that's directly related to JFK's murder. The 1964 report found Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he shot and killed Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Still the killing has prompted a lot of conspiracy theories. Researchers say it could take days to learn what's in the newly released files.

Well as if inflation isn't bad enough, there was other bleak news about the U.S. economy. Next, stock markets plunge as the Fed makes a gloomy prediction for next year. That's coming up. Stay with us.

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