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60 Percent Of U.S. Is Under Wind Chill Alert As Storm Barrels East; House Passes $1.7T Spending Bill, Avoids Gov't Shutdown; January 6 Committee Releases Final Report After 17-Month Investigation. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Kristin Fisher, and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin with this monster winter storm. Its core is hovering over the Great Lakes and its trailing arctic air is causing widespread power outages and dangerous travel conditions just two days before Christmas. Life-threatening wind chills have permeated all the way to the Gulf Coast. Over 70 million Americans are experiencing below- freezing temperatures. That includes the entire state of Texas.

This video is from Kentucky where the governor has just confirmed three people have died as a result of the storm. And this from our affiliate WHBQ in Memphis, Tennessee, their high today, 16 degrees. It's usually around 52 this time of year. The city is now enforcing rolling blackouts to reduce the strain on their power grid.

And damaging winds have knocked out power to over a million customers nationwide. And look at this. The storm system causing heavy flooding in parts of New England. Just a harrowing sight for a region expected to hit freezing temperatures later tonight.

And the FAA is having to issue ground stops at airports that were previously untouched by the forecast. We're going to have much more on that in a moment. But first, we're going to go straight to Chicago now where CNN's Omar Jimenez is at O'Hare International Airport. There's widespread flight cancellations everywhere, but what's the status? How bad is it at O'Hare?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at O'Hare, look, this is one of the world's busiest, so obviously, with a system like this that really came over the Midwest and plains, this is a place it's going to be affected pretty heavily. So, we talked about the total numbers across the country. You've got one of the 4000 cancellations, over 4500 delays.

If you just take a look at the board up here in -- at O'Hare, you can see that it lines up largely with the -- what the airport has said. They've seen more than 420 delayed -- cancellations at this point and that their average delay in arrival time is around 35 minutes, which of course, when you think about delays and arrival times, you think about how connections could get disrupted. And then, of course, that could lead to cancellations.

We were just talking to a couple a few minutes ago who they had plans to do a big family trip all the way to New Zealand. But, of course, they had to get from Texas up here to Chicago, that Chicago's leg was delayed, they got here, that flight was canceled, they're being rerouted through LA trying to continue on.

There's a line downstairs of people who check their luggage in to go for a flight, sat here for hours, and now we're trying to figure out where their luggage actually is.

And those are sort of the snippets of what people are dealing with, of course, just days ahead of the Christmas holiday. And, of course, the holiday stretches all the way to New Year's. People are trying to get to either warmer places because we are well into the negatives outside.

I'm inside where I don't need a jacket. But well into the negatives outside, so people trying to get to warmer places but more importantly trying to deal with family members in this very important stretch of the year.

FISHER: Yes, holiday travel is always such a mess, Omar. This storm making it so much worse for so many Americans. Thank you so much. Glad you get to stay inside. But we're going to go outside now to CNN's Polo Sandoval live in Buffalo, New York. I mean, Polo, wow, whiteout conditions where you are. What's it like?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristin, our viewers can google the image Buffalo in winter and they'll probably find this image. This is exactly what's happening right now for so many residents.

We -- I'm about 40 yards away from the camera and I'm walked over here so I could just show you demonstrate what the biggest concern is for authorities right now, which is low visibility for those who decide to try to brave the streets in and around the city of Buffalo. I'm going to slowly walk towards our colleague Tom Jurich behind the camera here.

As we are in a relatively safe place for us to be able to show you this since there is little to no traffic already for hours. We've counted perhaps three vehicles that have passed by here. So, it's certainly telling that people are heeding the warnings from Erie County officials with a driving ban that's in place here basically recommending that only essential traffic due to emergencies be happening right now.

[14:05:04]

But I have to tell you. I've covered many hurricanes, I've heard covered tropical storms, covered winter storms, and it seems that these two are intersecting today here in Buffalo. These are conditions that are going to continue into tonight and potentially into tomorrow. We do have that lake-effect snow.

And look, this is not a massive snowmaker, believe it or not. It's the winds that are whipping around all -- I mean the snow that has fallen, and then adding to that, that flash freezing that we will continue to see throughout the night as temperatures continue to plummet, Kristin. Back to you.

FISHER: Polo, that was incredible. I was not expecting that at all. I did not know that you were going to be in this shot. I couldn't see you at all. And you just came walking out of that blizzard. I mean, it really does show you how low the visibility conditions are where you are.

SANDOVAL: Right.

FISHER: Are you seeing anybody out on the roads right now, or are you the only one?

SANDOVAL: No, I'm the only one. That's all the reason why we felt safe and confident enough to be able to walk down the street because if a car were to come up, it'd be very difficult for us to see it or for them to see us. So, we're obviously keeping a close eye on both streets here.

But I have to tell you, we have seen, like I said, perhaps three vehicles in the last hour or so, we've seen some local officials obviously on patrol. But aside from that, it seems that people are certainly getting the message to stay at home. And it's not just for the next few hours but potentially into tomorrow.

Real quick. Power outages is a big issue right now here in Erie County, New York. In fact, two warming centers that were set up by authorities even lost power because of these high winds, and with it the risk of downed power lines.

And so, they are in the process of relocating some of those folks who are warming up in those warming centers to other locations. But aside from that, county operations here, they're basically frozen, no pun intended, until the conditions could get better and until utility crews can get back out there.

We recorded a wind gust of about, close to 80 miles an hour here in Buffalo earlier today. Certainly, you're not going to get crews in those conditions. So, they want to wait for things to calm down, which may not happen until tomorrow evening -- night, maybe even on Sunday on Christmas morning.

FISHER: Well, Polo, I'd say I wish you could get to one of those warming centers but I know it's not going to happen. Stay warm. If that is at all possible.

SANDOVAL: I'm warm under here, believe it or not.

FISHER: OK, good. All right. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

With me now, Toledo, Ohio Mayor Wade Kapszukeiwicz. Mayor, Ohio is facing flash-freezing conditions with sub-zero wind chills. We saw what it's like where Polo is, what's it like right now in Toledo? WADE KAPSZUKIEWICZ, MAYOR OF TOLEDO, OHIO: Well, actually what Polo was going through in Buffalo is if nothing else, an interesting lesson in science and geography. Buffalo and Toledo are both on the exact same great lake. Buffalo is on the far eastern tip of Lake Erie, we're on the far western tip. Unfortunately for the folks in Buffalo, that means they get the lake effect snow and we don't as much. We get snow but not nearly. Since we're on the west side of the lake, it's not nearly as bad.

So, snow, we feel like we've caught a little bit of a break here. We probably have only had an inch or two of snow. Now, we are dealing with 60-mile-an-hour winds. Temperatures that have dropped dramatically. This time yesterday, it was 45 degrees here in Toledo.

Right now, it's four below zero with wind chills. It's as low as 30 below zero in some places. And so, we were dealing with our share of issues as well, but nothing like the folks in Buffalo who have to deal with that lake effect snow.

FISHER: So, well, that's good for folks in Toledo. I mean, we saw that you know in Buffalo where Polo was, there's nobody out on the streets, you cannot drive in those conditions. But what about where you are? I mean, people obviously want to travel to see their families for Christmas. Are the roads safe? Is it safe to do that?

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: We have in Toledo three different levels of snow merging -- emergency one, two, and three. Three is the highest level. That is when folks are not allowed on the roads on the emergency personnel.

Right now, we're at a level two, which -- you know that's a level where we encourage people not to get out in the roads when -- you know, we know there's only two days of Christmas shopping left. But we really think it would be better for everyone if they were to stay in.

It's not at that level three yet, but we could be moving in that direction. You know, we have reports there -- we have 30 -- I'm sorry, we have about 20 different active cases of power outages. Most of them have been addressed. Those that haven't will be addressed if think you know by 3:30 or so. Fortunately, they're only affecting hundreds of people in Toledo not thousands.

But they're -- you know the issues with cold temperatures are real. You know we have 30 different warming centers just in Toledo where people can go get a warm meal, get out of the elements, especially the unhoused population.

[14:10:08]

And our police are only responding to emergency situations now that we want them to be able to focus on making sure that downed branches and limbs are cleared away. And that the logistics of getting through a storm like this are attended to.

So, it appears that the counties just to the east of us were hit a little worse. Some of the counties like Ottawa and Hancock and other counties just to the east of Toledo are in a level three emergency which is absolutely no one on the road except for emergency vehicles.

The Turnpike -- the Ohio Turnpike, which actually cuts through the northern part of Ohio, including Toledo, it is restricting the travel of some kinds of vehicles. So, it's real -- it's real hair, but we believe that just the East is a little worse than we are though no one -- no one enjoys 30 degrees below zero and 60-mile-an-hour winds which is what we're facing throughout hours.

FISHER: Swear. So, I won't. Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, I know you've got a lot to get to, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us and walk us through what you're seeing in your city. Thank you so much.

KAPSZUKIEWICZ: All right. Thank you.

FISHER: So, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is live in Atlanta. The South also getting pummeled by these temperatures, power grids in places like Memphis are under tremendous strain. I have to say, Derek, it looks a lot nicer where you are than where Polo was, but I know it's cold.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes. You can see -- you can see how my breath freezes on the way out, right? But Polo's live shot was just absolutely incredible. Completely different story for us in the southeast. Of course, we've got the arctic air, but it's -- the sun is out. But that sunshine is completely deceiving. You know, we're monitoring the temperature here as a -- as a good weatherman should do. It's 20 degrees here in Atlanta.

To give you an idea of how cold it is, we brought out a wet towel a couple of hours ago and it's frozen solid, but that gives you any indication of how cold it is out here. Any water that was on the ground, that flash freeze that occurred here, 35-degree temperature drop in eight hours in Atlanta, that froze that water on the roadways. And I could see that myself driving into the CNN Center today.

But in Memphis -- in terms of Memphis, the mayor just a couple of hours ago, you know, talking about how the city and the county, Shelby County was going to have mandatory rolling blackouts just because of the strain on the grid. Thanks to this arctic outbreak, of course, that's been paused, but they are asking people to conserve energy. Temperatures in Memphis right now at 10 degrees, but if you factor in the wind, it's negative nine.

Now here in Atlanta, this temperature drop was dramatic. And for people who aren't prepared for that, we're talking about frozen pipes and the potential to lose power, of course, not being able to heat your homes as well. So, a 35-degree temperature drop in eight hours is quite impressive. And, Kristin, that cold front is moving to New York, could bring the first flakes of the season to the Big Apple in the next hour or so. Kristin.

FISHER: Fantastic. A 35-degree drop in just eight hours. That's wild. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.

VAN DAM: Yes. FISHER: All right. We've got some breaking news now. The House has just passed the $1.7 trillion spending package to avoid a government shutdown. It will now head to President Biden's desk for his signature. And we've got CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju Joining me now. So, Manu, walk us through what just happened. What's the breakdown on this vote?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Marking it end of a very busy 117th Congress. The House just gave final passage to a government spending bill to fund the government for an entire year of $1.7 trillion. A bill that is more than almost three months late past the initial deadline.

A bill that encompasses more than 4000 pages. It was unveiled just a couple of days ago. Now, is on its way to President Biden's desk in the aftermath of this vote. It was a bipartisan vote, although not many Republicans voted for it. The final breakdown 225 voted in the affirmative, 201 no votes, one member voting president -- now present.

Now, there were nine Republicans who voted for it. There were a mix of members who are retiring, some have lost their primaries. Some who are members of the House Appropriations Committee voted for this package. There was one Democrat who voted against it, that was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. One Democrat, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan voted present. But it still was enough to get this bill over the finish line.

Now, Republicans in the House and the Senate were badly divided over this proposal. Republicans are still in the minority here in the House for another couple of weeks. On January 3, they take power. The majority -- the Minority Leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy, urged Congress to wait, urged Senate Republicans to wait to punt this issue into the new Congress when they would have the power to shape this legislation going forward.

But Republicans in the Senate disagree. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader believe it was better to cut a deal now. Other Republicans concerned that if they wait until next year, the narrow House majority would have a difficult time passing this bill and could lead to a government shutdown. So, we saw a serious division within the ranks.

[14:15:08]

Interesting here that nine Republicans in the House voted for it. That is half the amount of Republicans who voted for it in the Senate. 18 Republicans in the Senate voted for it yesterday, even though there are 50 Republican senators and more than 200 House Republicans. But nevertheless, enough bipartisan support on both sides to get this bill done, end this legislative session, and now on to Joe Biden's desk, Kristin.

FISHER: Getting it done just in time for Christmas. Manu Raju, thank you.

So, the final report from the January 6 committee lays the blame for the Capitol attack firmly on former President Donald Trump and it concludes that he should be barred from holding office again. More takeaways from that report straight ahead.

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FISHER: The January 6 committee says former President Donald Trump should never be allowed to hold office again. The panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans has released its final report on the January 6 Capitol attack and how Trump and his allies sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The 845-page report follows a year-and-a-half-long investigation, more than a thousand interviews, multiple hearings.

[14:20:06]

CNN's Paula Reid has been following it from the very beginning and she joins me now. So, Paula, I mean, this report, it places the blame for the insurrection squarely on Donald Trump. It says none of the events of January 6 would have happened without him. Was there any ambiguity in those findings?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, no ambiguity, Kristin. And what's really interesting about this report is that it really just takes us a few steps back. It doesn't just focus on the violence on January 6.

I mean, their evidence that they lay out in support of this pretty bold conclusion begins before the election even happens. I mean, they argue that these false claims of a victory that this was all premeditated that the former president was being encouraged to say that he won, even if he didn't.

Another really interesting finding is, after the election, this report really gets into a lot of detail about the efforts to pressure state officials. In fact, that this investigation uncovered that the former president and his associates engaged in more than 200 attempts to pressure state officials. They also allege that Trump spearheaded this effort, especially to pressure officials in states that had GOP-led legislatures, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.

Now, it moves on to just talk about how these false election claims really spurred many of the president's supporters to the Capitol on January 6 with violence unfolded. And it was interesting to read about what witnesses, people who were inside the White House that day, Kristin, what they told investigators about their observations of the former president as he watched this unfold on TV.

And many of them expressed their disgust at the fact that he was not only not calling for help for those in the Capitol but also using his time and energy to tweet against the former vice president.

Now, the recommendations here by the committee, including that Trump should never hold office again. And they also want to see reforms to the electoral counting process, which is something that looks like up on Capitol Hill, it might happen. FISHER: So, you just said 200 attempts to pressure state officials. But what does the report say about how the election and state officials were targeted?

REID: As we reported, we know there was that -- for example, that January 2 call between the former president and the Secretary of State of Georgia, where Trump rattled off a litany of false election claims, and was pressuring the Secretary to find him just enough votes to help him win the state.

Now, we know, of course, a call like that, that's now under investigation by a special grand jury in Georgia, as with things like this are so significant. Because it's not just something that's included in the report but this is a specific aspect of this alleged scheme that could have criminal consequences.

It's also a reminder that again, this wasn't just confined to what happened on Capitol Hill on January 6. This was something that allegedly took place over months and spanned out across the entire country.

FISHER: Paula Reid, thank you for walking us through all of those 800- plus pages. We appreciate it. Thank you so much.

So, a state of emergency has been declared for New York as the state gets battered by these high winds snow, even flooding. We have a live update on the conditions there. And the winter storm, not just impacting travel, it's now impacting last-minute holiday and gift deliveries. Details ahead.

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[14:27:49]

FISHER: This massive winter storm sweeping across the country has pushed temperatures in many states below zero. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is one of those cities dealing with this sub-zero weather, strong wind chills, and a snow emergency. Cyreia Sandlin is a reporter for CNN affiliate WISN in Milwaukee and joins us now. So, Cyreia, just bring us up to speed. What are the conditions like where you are?

CYREIA SANDLIN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kristin, we are in the heart of Milwaukee's historic third world. It is absolutely frigid outside, negative two degrees. Now, the good news is we did not get as much snow as anticipated. But the bad news is, the cold and the wind are the serious problems.

Now, I want you to take a look over my shoulder here. This is the Milwaukee River. You can see that part of it is frozen and covered in snow but not all of it is frozen. There's some steam rolling off the river right now. That is because the water temperature is actually warmer than how cold it is outside.

Now, by the time this is all said and done, we're going to have 86 hours straight with wind chill below zero. The cold and wind are a brutally dangerous combination. You know, we've been driving around outside all day trying to find people, people that are working, those first responders, and everyone's got on multiple layers like I do because this cold weather is just so dangerous.

Now, we've had a lot of airport cancellations as well. We've been at Milwaukee's airport for the past few days. 20 cancellations alone today. Some people stranded at the airport for days and unfortunately, we are not finished yet. Christmas morning, it could be negative at 22.

It's going to be cold this weekend. So, we are still under that winter storm watch right now. So, we're kind of just waiting for things to get better. But again, the good news, we did not get as much snow as anticipated. But it's the cold and wind, I mean it almost just -- it feels like a slap in the face. It's just so bitterly cold right now.

FISHER: And that's crazy. You're right that you point out you can literally see steam coming off the river. That just shows you how cold the air temperature is. Cyreia Sandlin, thank you so much.

So, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency as this massive storm begins to move across the state. Blizzard and wind chill warnings are in effect throughout New York as our coastal flood warnings.