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Parts of U.S. to See Coldest Christmas in Decades; Soon, House Votes on Spending Bill as Government Shutdown Looms; Protecting Yourself and Your Family During Bitterly Cold Temps. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: At the bottom of the hour, a brutal winter storm is moving across the U.S. bringing blowing snow, bitter cold to millions and it is strengthening throughout the day. In the south, tens of thousands without power. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear warned drivers to avoid roads altogether.

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GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): People need to stay home. People need to stay off the roads. If your travel plans change, listen, your family wants your home for Christmas but they want you alive a lot more.

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SCIUTTO: Out west, subzero wind chills blowing through as well. The worst of it will more through today and tomorrow, thankfully. But parts of the country will experience their coldest Christmas Day in decades.

In Memphis, Tennessee, a dangerous amount of ice is now blanketing roads, stranding vehicles. CNN affiliate WHBQ Jeremy Pierre has more.

JEREMY PIERRE, REPORTER, WHBQ: It's definitely not a typical day here at the city of Memphis and it's showing with the drivers, for sure. We're on Walnut Grove, which is very popular for people to get to and from work. And already this morning, we have seen people be defeated by this hill here in front of Hope Church on Walnut Grove in the city of Memphis.

On our way to this area, we actually saw about ten cars that either had been abandoned or wrecked. You can see it right here. Already this morning in this section, we've seen four cars spin out of control. That car right there, that vehicle, that SUV is the lone one that is just stuck. It can't move because of the ice. Not only is this ice on this road hard to drive on but it is absolutely impossible to walk on.

I got a chance myself to see for myself that it is ice, ice for sure. And for the most part, people are having trouble going up the hill, also down the hill, as you see this crashed out car right here. Also with people coming down this hill around here, people are ending up, up that hill.

SCIUTTO: Wow. Goodness. It looks like an ice rink.

Well, Michigan, of course, knows cold weather but this is unusually bad, nine degrees in Detroit right now with a high of 21 today. Add in blowing snow and wind gusts nearing 50 miles per hour, it gets a lot worse.

Joining me now from the other side of Michigan, Lauren Edwards, reporter for CNN affiliate WXMI in Grand Haven.

All right, I'm going to tell you, it looks cold there.

LAUREN EDWARDS, REPORTER, WXMI: You know, today is Festivus. I keep reminding myself of that. I have a long list of grievances and this 50 mile per hour wind is exactly on that list of grievances for today. It is brutally cold out here. It is even cold to even talk to you for the short amount of time that I have. But the wind continues to blow and it hurts. It really does hurt. Even the room, we're staying in our hotel last night, you could just hear the wind pounding against the windows.

But I can tell you we've been out about here in downtown Grand Haven, actually in Grand Haven, for the past day-and-a-half and we've seen the snow build up and the wind pick up. And people driving slowly, which is a good thing. We don't want any more grievances to the list this year. We've also seen just cars coming down with their headlights on. That's a big thing because we've seen some without that. But it is just cold. It's just the way it is.

We woke up, it was nine degrees, now it's ten degrees. I wish I knew the difference, but I don't at all. But we've also seen the two trucks out and the salt trucks out, and people have been really mindful of each other as well, which has also been helpful. But it is cold out here. The lake, I would say, is a few blocks that way, like Michigan, Grand Rapids, is about an hour that way. My soul got lost somewhere in between all of this because it is genuinely cold. And even my photographer Calle Court (ph), she's a (INAUDIBLE), she says this is cold. This is very cold.

SCIUTTO: Wow. Please stay warm. You get an extra points for the Seinfeld reference at the top there. But thanks so much for giving us a sense of just how bad it is. Lauren Edwards there, best to you and your team.

Well, Dallas woke up this morning, this is Dallas, Texas, by the way, to a temperature of 11 degrees, the high is only 23. The cold testing power grid in Texas, which, you'll remember, was hit by widespread outages during a winter storm last year.

Joining me now is Travis Houston. He's assistant emergency management coordinator for the city of Dallas. Travis, good to have you on this morning.

TRAVIS HOUSTON, ASSISTANT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR, CITY OF DALLAS: Thanks for having me on. SCIUTTO: So, first question, we covered it and I have a sister who lives down there, I remember the freeze of February of 2021 and the whole power grid shutdown. Is the grid any more protected today? I mean, do you have any fears that there might be a repeat of that?

[10:35:00]

HOUSTON: I feel like we're in a lot better position now and I also feel that this event has a lot of differences from the February of '21 event. It is going to be under freezing for a lot less time. We don't have the precipitation element this time. And so that makes me a lot more comfortable, but, of course, from our perspective, we're always planning for the worst case scenario and making sure we're able to adapt to that. And so right now, it looks like we're okay, but we're ready to change things if we need to.

SCIUTTO: I wonder about preparations, too, because this is not normal, right? I mean, do you have -- are the homes built to with stand this? I mean, do you have the salt trucks necessary to keep the roads from icing up? Do you have what you need to respond to this?

HOUSTON: In general, I think that we do. You're right, a lot of homes in Texas are not exactly designed for this type of weather. But I think that if people are taking the right type of preparations, like making sure that their faucets are dripping, that their outdoor pipes are covered, all of those things, I mean, that's going to go a long way. And then for our unsheltered guests, we're just making sure that we have a warm place for people to go.

SCIUTTO: Now, I've been speaking to city and state officials in a number of places around the country today, and they've been saying, folks, just stay home. It is not worth going out now. We know it is the holidays. And I wonder are things bad enough there that you're issuing similar warnings?

HOUSTON: You know, I would say that considering the fact that we don't have the precipitation elements, that the roads are fine now, although we do have public works watching it. I think, generally speaking, travel is not really impacted. However, if you are out, you want to make sure that you're bundled up, that you're covering all exposed skin and make sure that if you're out in your car, you have warm clothes and blanket and something in case you break down or something like that, you're not stuck.

SCIUTTO: Travis Houston from the city of Dallas, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

HOUSTON: Thank you, sir.

SCIUTTO: All right. Back here in the Capitol, we are watching Washington where the House is expected to vote on the $1.7 trillion spending bill to keep the government running this morning as a government shutdown deadline looms. The person that might still be able to hold things up, that is coming up.

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SCIUTTO: Happening today, a critical vote on Capitol Hill. In the next few hours, the House is expected to vote on a $1.7 trillion spending bill. Lawmakers hoping to avoid a government shutdown before and then rushing home for the holiday break. The Senate passed the measure today ahead of the funding deadline tonight. That included a bill to extend the deadline by one week allowing enough time for that bill to be formally processed and then sent to the president's desk next week, really just waiting for the House to vote as well.

Joining me now, a member of the House, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. Congressman, thanks for taking the time this morning.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Thank you. Good morning.

SCIUTTO: So, it is through the Senate, it does look like this is going through the House, but one final hurdle, the punitive next speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, expected to deliver an extended floor speech. Could that derail things, delay things?

QUIGLEY: Well, I don't think it can derail. It can delay. And I want people to recognize that he's really not speaking to anyone other than the farthest right of his caucus in an attempt to become the next speaker. He's trying to let them know he will do their biddings or whatever it takes and I think this is just part of that.

SCIUTTO: The January 6th committee delivered its final report last night. It makes the case that there was criminal activity by the former president as well as people around him to overturn this election. Now, it goes to the DOJ to make that decision. It is now up to the DOJ to act here.

In your view, if it fails to hold Donald Trump responsible for this, and, in effect, only the lower level rioters pay a legal price for this, what will that mean for the country?

QUIGLEY: You know, it will be another jolt to our democracy. Obviously, January 6th was a traumatic event for our country, for our democracy, certainly for those of us who were in the room where it happened. We all have different reactions to it.

You referenced with an earlier guest this morning, the president's speech that morning. That morning I walked around the Capitol, rode my bike and walked around. I heard what the insurrectionists were saying. I went into my office and heard the president's speech, and at that moment said, the president is inciting an insurrection. He just sicced 20,000 people on us. So, at that moment, I felt he had committed a crime.

And then from a purely personal point of view, it is funny what we think about, but I actually thought about the line from the recent series, Chernobyl. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt has to be paid. And I hope not just for those who stormed the Capitol but for the single person most responsible that he finally be held accountable.

[10:45:01]

SCIUTTO: One revelation from the final report is that Trump himself called many of the ideas about the election being stolen, those comes from Sidney Powell and others, crazy. Does that establish, in your view, that he knew that he was lying?

Congressman, you froze up there. Yes, we lost Congressman Quigley. We've all lost folks on Zoom calls before. Apologies, we'll try to get him back.

Right now, more than a million homes and businesses are without power, thousands of flights getting canceled, delayed at least. Several cities seeing dangerous road conditions as this massive winter storm rolls across the country. This is a live look at St. Louis, Missouri. So, how best to protect yourself in the weather, that is coming up.

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[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: One measure of the severe weather, the reason we lost our interview with Congressman Mike Quigley is that the power and internet went out in his house due to the cold weather. This is happening across the country, the storm bringing life-threatening cold to almost the entire nation, the elderly and young particularly at risk. The truth is, though, anyone is susceptible.

CNN's Tom Foreman, he is at the magic wall to share some useful tips for how to stay warm and also safe in your home but also how best to prepare yourself if you do leave home. So, tell us what is smart to do?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start with the obvious things you can do. Wrap or cover all exposed pipes, don't forget about those at the back of the washer. Open the doors below your kitchen sink, especially any pipes on the outside wall, let the taps trickle if it's really cold out there.

Find the main water shutoff. So, if it starts thawing and water starts springing, you could shut off water to the whole house until you figure out where it is.

And keep the heat in. Block those drafty windows and doors, put a towel down there or something. Don't just let in and just go opening the door a whole lot. You don't want that heat to get out.

Fireplace and the stoves are pretty much ineffective. Fireplaces don't really warm a move very much. Stoves don't do that. You're running the risk of carbon monoxide. Same issue with generators, got to get them outside of the house, outside the garage, do not put them near the building because of that, space heaters, look out for fire danger.

And have your food, water, flashlights and warm clothes ready, know where they are. Don't wait until the power goes off and then say, I'll try to figure it out.

If you feel you have to go outside in your car, full tank, full phone, plus your emergency supplies in the car and ready to go. Totally clear off your windows and lights. Don't try to sneak along. Drive slowly, brake gently, yes, headlights on, no cruise control. Put that off. Do not pass plows or emergency vehicles if they are going slow. It is going to be more dangerous in front of them than behind them.

Give other people plenty of room because they can't control their cars either. And if you get stranded in the car, stay in the vehicle. You're safer there than if you get out and start trying to move around, unless you could easily see the safe place you're going to.

And last of all, if you yourself want to protect yourself, first of all, stay sheltered. Some of these cold temperatures we're talking about, they can really hurt you and I mean fast. It can get after you quickly. Wear sufficient clothing, plus shoes and boots with good traction. There's an old saying, there is no cold weather, there's just people who don't know how to dress for cold weather. So, put on the warm stuff and keep it on.

Use handrails when you're walking so you don't fall. Do not overexert yourself trying to shovel snow. People have heart attacks all the time and other people just get hurt and they also get all wet in their from too much exertion. That makes them colder.

And most of all, limit your exposure. You cannot be out there as long as you think you can without getting hurt. And I'm a big believer in getting outside and enjoying the elements but these are simple, real rules that can keep you and your family safe. And the last thing you want to do in all of this to get hurt, to suffer from kind of exposure and then have to get to a hospital or emergency room, which is another risk level. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, you just described a lot of conditions that lead to where we see people getting hurt in storms like this, right? Sometimes it's heart attacks while exerting yourself, a lot of times it's slipping off the roads, right, or not having sufficient fuel in the car, if you get caught by the side of the road, you can't keep the car warm. So, these are all good pieces of advice.

Tom foreman, thanks so much.

FOREMAN: You're very welcome.

SCIUTTO: All right. Take a look at some of today's other top stories. Three people are dead in Paris, this after a gunman opened fire at a Kurdish community center there. Investigators have not yet determined a motive. The suspect is in custody. So far, the shooting not yet been designated a terror attack.

Overnight, also overseas, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles. South Korean officials say the missiles were launched into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This marks the 36th day this year that North Korea has conducted a missile launch. And some good news, a Christmas miracle for a family in Ohio. The five-month-old baby who was kidnapped earlier this week in Columbus, there she is, has now been found safe and alive across state lines in Indianapolis. On Monday, twins Kason and Kyair were inside a running car as their mother, who is working as a door dash driving, went inside a restaurant to pick up an order. When she came out, imagine, this, what a nightmare the car was gone along with her twin babies.

Kyair was found abandoned near the Dayton International Airport a few hours later, early Tuesday morning.

[10:55:02]

But brother Kason remained missing until yesterday. The family says they are incredibly relieved and grateful for his homecoming.

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FONDA THOMAS, GRANDMOTHER OF KIDNAPPED TWIN BABIES: This is going to be the best Christmas ever. I'm so excited. It is a miracle. And without everyone aiding us in the search and doing whatever they could, whether it would be just a prayer, a phone call, a text, a message, just to tell us in that they're thinking us and they have Kason in their heart, in their prayers is -- it is just -- I don't know. I'm overwhelmed right now.

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SCIUTTO: Goodness, such good news. I said Kason, it's actually Kason, as the mom said. Imagine her fear in that moment. He is in good health. He was taken to a hospital to be checked out. A 24-year-old woman has been taken into custody in connection in that case. But thank the Lord, a happy ending.

All right, thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, a warm one if you could manage it. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after a quick break.

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