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Turbulence Hits Flight to Hawaii; Court Hearing in Bahamas for Bankman-Fried; Arctic Cold Air Blankets U.S.; Zelenskyy's Peace Message Blocked; Drone Attack in Kyiv; Flu Shows Signs of Slowing. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 19, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This was a really, really terrifying event for those on board. You just have to imagine what was going through the passengers' heads as this took place. There are some big questions now about how this did come to be if the weather was bad at the time if this was an incident where there was wind shear, changing layers of wind and speed that could have caused this airplane to get rattled around so severely.

The good news is, in most of these incidents, the airplane itself does not get damaged, although there was a pretty significant human toll here.

I want you to listen now to Kaylee, who was on board this flight. And she said her mom was not wearing her seat belt and was thrown up to the ceiling by this turbulence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLEE REYES, PASSENGER ON HAWAIIAN AIRLINES FLIGHT: The plane shook and then like it went into a sudden drop. Kind of like how you would go into a drop on a roller coaster.

My mom wasn't buckled. And so I - I turned to my right and I saw that she was like -- she hit the ceiling and she hit the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: I want you to look at the Flight Aware track now because this can be pretty telling about what the passengers and the crew went through on this flight, Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35 from Phoenix to Honolulu. You can see some of the radar depicted there.

There is some moderate and heavy precipitation in that radar. You can see it a big larger. This is a big zoomed out. And that's the big question here, did this flight fly through some severe turbulence because of a thunderstorm? Was it because of something else? Was it because of the wake of another airplane or was it because of a mountain wave kind of scenario where there is wind hitting the side of the mountain and then pushes the plane up and down. You can even see in some of that flight aware track that the speed was really erratic, too. So, the crew and the passengers went through a really, really big

incident here. Of course, counting their lucky stars that nobody was killed in this.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Is that the kind of weather a pilot might normally fly around to avoid an incident like that?

MUNTEAN: You know, the issue with turbulence is that you really cannot see it.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And so, you know, usually you try and avoid things that are convective, meaning there's a lot of energy, heat in them, usually that means thunderstorms. So you try and fly around that.

It looked, in this case, like simply you couldn't get to Honolulu just because of where this weather was.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Right. It was big.

MUNTEAN: So, yes, I mean, there are some questions there and the FAA will investigate. So will the NTSB. And the NTSB has looked into this big time over the last few years and they say of all of incidents involving airliners, about a third involve turbulence.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MUNTEAN: And most of those end up with passengers or crew getting injured. So --

SCIUTTO: There's a reason they say fasten your seatbelt.

MUNTEAN: That's right. Exactly.

SCIUTTO: Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

Sam Bankman-Fried, once called the crypto king, is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas today. CNN Has learned the former CEO of FTX is now expected to waive extradition challenges and would, therefore, likely return here to the U.S. quickly.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Federal prosecutors, of course, charged him with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy last week.

CNN's Kara Scannell has been following this.

So, what will - what more could we learn? What are we expected to hear at this hearing today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's expected to appear in court. And a source tells me that he's going to waive the fight against extradition. So, as Jim said, that does mean he's likely to return to the U.S. fairly quickly. Now, he was charged with these eight counts last week. He was arrested in the Bahamas last Monday night and appeared in court on Tuesday. At that time he said he was going to fight extradition and he was denied bail. So, he has spent nearly a week in a prison in the Bahamas that has a fairly tough reputation and his next court appearance on this extradition issue wasn't until February.

So, clearly, there's been a change of heart, perhaps some behind the scenes negotiations. So, he's going to appear in court today. If the process moves quickly, which people expect it will, but you never know if there's an unforeseen hitch.

HILL: There's a caveat there, just in case.

SCANNELL: Then he could be on a flight as soon as today to come back to the U.S.

HILL: Wow.

SCANNELL: And then once here, he will appear in a courtroom in lower Manhattan before a federal judge and they will determine whether he gets bail and it's possible if they do decide to do the arraignment that he will enter a plea on these charges.

HILL: All right, keeping you busy on a Monday, my friend.

Kara, thank you. Appreciate it.

SCIUTTO: All right, winter officially begins this week. Much of the country already feeling it. I can tell you, we are in D.C. More than 260 million of us will see dangerously cold weather with temperatures at or below freezing.

HILL: Windchill alerts already in place in several states.

Joining us now with more details, CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

So, we're looking at these cold temperatures and I think for a lot of people, too, the next question is, for how long?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the short answer is, it's going to be here through the Christmas weekend. We are going to have extreme cold. And we're talking about windchills feeling like 50 below zero. Not 50 below freezing, but 50 below zero. We're talking about the northern plains through Montana, the Dakotas. But the big chill will be felt across a large majority of the country. Overnight feels like temperatures -- Thursday night, look at Bismarck, 42 below zero. Glasco, 48 below zero, Rapid City, 51 below zero.

[09:35:02]

And this cold is going to dive very far to the south. We're talking about the potential for snow flurries as far south as Jackson, Mississippi. So, this is part of a huge storm system that's going to be making its way across the country. So, high temperatures, Chicago, you can see only 9 degrees on Saturday. New York City, high degree of 25 degrees on Saturday. And here is this storm that's going to bring the cold. And you can see

all the snow through the Midwest, even into Chicago. We could see blizzard conditions through Chicago. That's going to make travel impossible by the time we get into Thursday and Friday. And then it's really all rain for the I-95 corridor. The bulk of the snow will be well inland across interior sections of the northeast and New England. But you can see, we could pick up 10 to 12 inches of snow around Chicago, even portions of Wisconsin, Minnesota. So, we're talking about big time snow and very cold temperatures. This could be the coldest Christmas across the Midwest as we've seen in the last 40 years. And then some areas will top, top three, top five coldest Christmases. So, this will be one to remember, guys. This is going to be very cold.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I've got to start dressing for it.

GRAY: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I always wait to dress for it, and I'm like, OK, it's actually cold out, I've got to put a hat on.

GRAY: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Jennifer Gray, I'll listen to you.

GRAY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead this hour, the ongoing fight to protect Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Russia, again, fired drones and missiles at the capital Kyiv. Moscow's latest strategy to punish the Ukrainian people by hitting Ukraine's power grid. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:58]

SCIUTTO: Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is publicly expressing his disappointment with FIFA after he says the World Cup's governing body refused to show his video message of peace just ahead of the final World Cup match yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): To all who value peace and life, although FIFA blocked this address from being shown at the stadium before the final game in Qatar, the world still heard our call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joining us now.

Matthew, how is FIFA responding?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, FIFA, as far as I understand it, Erica, have not responded at all. In fact, they had indicated to us that no approach had been made from the Ukrainians to broadcast the President Zelenskyy message before the final, which, of course, took place yesterday in Qatar. But there's that video. The Ukrainians have come out and they're adamant that they have been approaching the FIFA through various different channels. They prerecorded a video address, which you saw a clip of there, from President Zelenskyy and it was just a generic sort of message of peace as the Ukrainians called it. And they've been very critical and are very angry about the fact that FIFA refused to broadcast this message ahead of the World Cup final.

What the Ukrainians say is that they were told by FIFA that it was just too political. That this is a sporting event and that politics should not have come into it. The Ukrainians reject that saying it was nothing political necessarily about the message at all. But, you know, even though the game itself went off very well and it was very exciting. I don't know whether either of you got a chance to watch it, it has left sort of bitter taste in the mouths of the presidential office in Ukraine.

And, of course, it's yet another thing that has sort of darkened the whole reputation of FIFA and the World Cup in general over this period. Workers' rights, gay rights and now this refusal to broadcast a peace message from the Ukrainian president as well.

SCIUTTO: Matthew Chance, thanks so much.

Well, right now, crews in Ukraine are battling damage to critical infrastructure, trying to restore power, heat, other basic services during constant strikes from Russian drones. Officials in Kyiv, the capital, say two people were injured in the latest barrage. They say if -- they did manage to take down 30 of the 35 drones fired.

Joining me now to discuss, Major General James "Spider" Marks, CNN military analyst.

Good to have you back on.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Merry Christmas, Jim. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: To you as well.

You know, a lot of talk, and this has been consistent throughout the wars, how quickly and how advanced are the air defenses that the U.S. and the west are getting to Ukraine to fight this barrage here. The latest discussion is of patriot missile systems.

How quickly can they get in there and what difference will they make? Will they make a difference against the strikes we've seen recently?

MARKS: Well, it sure will make a difference. The patriot is an enhanced capability over what's existing right now in Ukraine.

Look, by improving the efficacy of the air defense capabilities, and as you've described, 30 of the 35 or so drones were shot down, you're going to increase that coverage that will exist and there will be very -- I would say very strongly defended (INAUDIBLE) priority targets are for protection if a structure, power generation, schools, hospitals, et cetera. So those will be protected and the patriots will give that capability.

The key is how quickly can they get in? And that's anybody's guess. There is a large training arm that's associated with it. There's a pipeline necessary in order to get sufficiently equipped soldiers on the ground to work the system. But until they are, you're going to see -- what you're seeing right now, these images, the Russians are going to take complete advantage of the - of the overkill that they have right now in terms of the use of drones and dumb (ph) rockets, artillery certainly is a backup system as well.

[09:45:00]

SCIUTTO: There has been some concern about Putin potentially opening up another front for some time from Belarus. And it was notable that he visited Belarus this weekend. Of course, the Belarusian army has its own issues. But do you have any concern that that may become a reality in the coming days and weeks?

MARKS: Well, absolutely. I mean, if the - if the Russians were to open up this other front just north of Kyiv, this is where the Russians were postured in advance of the invasion on the 24th of February, certainly the Ukrainians have to be concerned about that since all the fighting effort that's taken place has been in that southeast corner. So certainly this is a legitimate concern and it would, you know, disburse the Ukrainian defensive capabilities. But what they've been able to prove on the ground in terms of their engagement against the Russians has been quite remarkable. And we've seen, over the course of the last nine months, that we're not surprised by the Ukrainian capability to engage directly with Russian forces.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARKS: But the Russian forces have not improved their overall force structure. There are absolute (ph) leadership challenges that they've demonstrated their incompetence when they get engaged with Ukrainian forces. So, I think if the Russians were to do that, they would find themselves in a similar situation where the Ukrainians will outfox them, outthink them, outmaneuver them.

SCIUTTO: Yes. There has been some public commentary from Ukrainian officials that Russia is building a new offensive in the new year. A big one. I've spoken to U.S. officials who are skeptical that Russia has the capability to do so. Do you think that that is a genuine potential?

MARKS: I don't. As we've just discussed and as we've seen over the course of the last nine months, the Russian military has not been able to address its fundamental challenges. Look, in order for Russia to present a new type of Russian military into the fight, it's going to be a generational change.

SCIUTTO: Yes. MARKS: I mean they're going to have to create noncommissioned officers. They're going to have to get new kits. They're going to have to get more creativity down to the fighting level. This is a hierarchical military that only exists in a very structured environment. Very high bound. They (INAUDIBLE) have the initiative. They don't have the noncommissioned officers and the leaders to take charge.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MARKS: So, if they were to put additional forces on the ground, you're going to see what we've seen over the course of the last nine months, which is Russian forces engaged with Ukrainians that are going to get slaughtered, which means the Russians are going to have to back up and do what we're seeing now, which is launch long-range missiles and launch artillery to try to achieve their objectives, which is a battle of wills against the Ukrainian people.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes, scorched earth strategy it seems.

Major General Spider Marks, good to have you on this morning.

MARKS: Thank you, Jim.

HILL: Just ahead here, with millions of Americans preparing to gather this week for the holidays, we've got the naughty and the nice, if you will. When it comes to your health, this recent spike that we've seen in respiratory viruses, what you need to look for, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:23]

SCIUTTO: Health officials are telling people there is both good news and bad news when it comes to avoiding respiratory illnesses threatening holiday get-togethers this coming week.

HILL: CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Chen joining us now with those details.

OK, so, let's start off first with the flu, which we've been hearing a lot more about this year. How's that outlook?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, flu numbers actually went down a little bit. So, on Friday, the CDC posted new numbers looking at what happened in the weeks after Thanksgiving. And week to week it did go -- the numbers went down 10 percent. But, and I can say this from having covered flu for a very long time, a one-week dip does not necessarily mean anything. It could go right back up next week. So, a one-week dip does not a trend make.

But let's take a look at the flu season sort of as it has been thus far. Flu is still terrible. Doctors tell me they are getting hammered by the flu in hospitals. There have been at least 150,000 hospitalizations and at least 9,300 deaths. So, this has been a really tough flu season this far. And it's not too late to get your flu shot. And you should get it because it is still quite bad out there.

Erica. Jim.

SCIUTTO: it's tough, Elizabeth, as you know, because it's a triple threat. You've got flu, you've got RSV and you have Covid. Covid not nearly as deadly with vaccinations. The Biden administration still pushing the new Covid booster. And I wonder how many people are taking it. And can you explain to folks watching right now what difference it makes.

COHEN: So, let's take a look at what's going on with Covid right now. If you take a look at a map of the United States, now, when we had this map up, you guys remember, you know, earlier this year, last year, 2020, this map was mostly red. Now it is just a relatively small number of counties are seeing that red, that high level of Covid numbers. But, still, there are some pretty big population centers. So, one in ten people in the U.S. live in a place with high Covid numbers.

Despite that, the booster is not going so well. When you take a look at uptake numbers, when you look at 65 and over, it's only 35 percent. That's tiny compared to elders who got the original vaccine. And as you can see, the numbers just go down, down, down, as you get younger. So people just aren't really hearing this.

Now, I will say that when I talk to doctors they do emphasize that it really is the elderly and the immunocompromised who need to worry the most about this. They are really urging that group to go out there and get a booster.

SCIUTTO: So easy to do. I did it with my family. It took like ten minutes of our lives. It's worth it.

Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

[09:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Argentina! Argentina! Argentina!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Quite a day for Argentina. Euphoria in the capital Buenos Aries. Thousands of fans pouring into the streets after Argentina captured the World Cup title over France.

Man, if you missed the match, it is one of the best sports finals in any sport I've seen.

HILL: It was.

SCIUTTO: I know Erica was watching as well, who had slightly more tears than I did. We'll get to that later.

This is Argentina's third World Cup title, the first since 1986, the age of Diego Maradona (ph). HILL: And that win, by the way, finally as World Cup champions, on Lionel Messi's illustrious resume, the French team is expected to return home a little bit later today after that heartbreaking penalty goal loss. Kylian Mbappe, or as my son always says, Mbappe, with the hat trick, powered the match into extra time, then into penalty kicks, earning him the tournament's Golden Boot Award.

SCIUTTO: Listen, he played great. I mean it was a great - it was a great match.

HILL: It was.

SCIUTTO: Most important thing I think we can all agree, Erica, is that -

HILL: You won.

SCIUTTO: We made a $5 bet. And I won. Although you made a five euro bet, and we're going to make you pay for it right now.

HILL: I did.

SCIUTTO: If you're watching at home to see if Erica follows through.

HILL: I did. I brought it.

SCIUTTO: She is more -

HILL: It's also - I made five euro because I just happened to have it hanging out my wallet from when I visited my sister a couple of months ago hoping I could bring it back with me. But, instead, Jim, here you go.

SCIUTTO: All right, all right, stories, stories, pay up, pay up, pay up.

HILL: Here you go. See, I pay my bets.

SCIUTTO: Look at that. Magic.

HILL: Look at that.

SCIUTTO: And what's interesting about our system is that you converted it into U.S. dollars -

HILL: Into dollars, yes.

SCIUTTO: Which deducted about 10 percent of the value there, just so you know.

HILL: About 30 - yes, you're down about 30 cents because that TV magic, it comes at a price.

SCIUTTO: It does.

HILL: Probably less than you pay to exchange your cash at the airport. But, you know, nothing in this life is free, Sciutto.

SCIUTTO: Respect you for paying up. I appreciate it. I'll get it from you in person. Next time.

HILL: I look forward to it, my friend. A good match.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, we're going to be - we're going to be live in Washington as the January 6th House select committee prepares to hold its final public meeting. What we'll learn about criminal referrals expected against the former president, Donald Trump. That's coming up.

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[10:00:00]