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170+ Million People Facing Frigid Temperatures Across U.S.; Title 42 Leaves Door Wide Open for Expelling Migrants; Heating Homes Will Cost 35 Percent More This Winter; Concern Growing About China's Current Wave of Covid Cases. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories this hour. The final report from the January 6th select committee is now public. The 18 month investigation included over 1,000 interviews and documents, including emails and texts and phone records.

Plus, more than half the U.S. population, some 170 million people are under wind chill and winter weather alerts. More than 2,900 flights have already been canceled for Friday as people try to make it to their holiday destinations. We'll have more on both of these top of the top of the next hour.

Now the number of flights canceled across the U.S. has been steadily going up over the past few hours. Right now, more than 2,900 flights have been canceled for today. Airlines are giving out weather wavers so travelers can change flights without paying any penalties. Here's what a couple of travelers had to say to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They canceled the flight as everyone got boarded because the wings froze is what they said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little crazy at Midway. Everybody was trying to get out before the storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, it's not just air travel being affected by the frigid weather. Amtrak has delayed or canceled passenger service for some of its routes in the Midwest and Northeast. And for people traveling by bus, Greyhound is warning customers traveling in the Midwest that their trips could be delayed or even canceled over the next few days.

States of emergency have been declared by a number of governors as the once in a generation storm bears down. CNN's Omar Jimenez reports from Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's not just snow, it is wind and cold as part of a huge winter system descending onto the U.S. just days before Christmas.

Over this week, more than 80 percent of the country's population will see at or below freezing temperatures. Some places way below like Denver, where the temperature dropped nearly 40 degrees in just an hour hitting negative 15 by Thursday morning, or Wyoming where a State Trooper took this video, zero visibility and temperatures 60 degrees below zero. Elsewhere, parts of the Midwest are doing what they can to keep up.

JIMENEZ: One of the biggest concerns in a winter system like this is the roads and this dome is part of what it takes in a city like Chicago. You're looking at 50,000 tons of salt inside that crews come in and out of over the course of the day to try and help keep these roads somewhat manageable.

JIMENEZ (voice over): The city has about 400,000 tons of salt and more than 300 vehicles in its arsenal to fight back on this second official day of winter.

COLE STALLARD, COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF STREETS AND SANITATION: The goal is to keep up with it but we're going to be fighting that wind. If you can have a conversation with those young drivers, you know, every one of those first time drivers, kids coming home from college, trying to get home, just have that conversation with those young drivers because this is a little different type of event.

JIMENEZ (voice over): Cold temperatures and snow are nothing new to places like Chicago, Minneapolis, and Buffalo.

BYRON BROWN, BUFFALO, NEW YORK MAYOR: Some meteorologists are calling this a once in a generation event.

JIMENEZ (voice over): Even Atlanta is forecast to have windchill in the negatives, Friday.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Communities across the state are about to see temperatures that they haven't experienced in a decade or more.

JIMENEZ (voice over): The message is the same even for places used to dealing with bad winters. It's the combination of snow, wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour and the demand to get home for Christmas. That could mean disaster especially on the roads where AAA estimates the majority of those traveling this holiday week will be driving.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not like a snowy day, you know when you're a kid. It'll be dangerous and threatening. This is really very serious weather alert here.

JIMENEZ: Now you can see the snow but you can also see me. The fear for officials here is that as this snow subsides in the overnight hours and basically just lays on the ground with it, very pretty like it does behind me, the wind is going to turn things ugly pretty quick. And whipping around in winds that are supposed to pick up in the overnight hours and through Friday that, again, officials fear can reduce visibility significantly, especially on the roads that people might be taking to try to get home for Christmas.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Weather and life threatening conditions reaching all the way through America's southern border. U.S. border officials are warning migrants to stay away. Below freezing temperatures are expected in the region throughout the next several days. Authorities stress no one should risk their lives or that of their loved ones by being exposed to the elements. This as many migrants are sleeping out in the cold in camps along the border as they wait to find out about the future of Title 42, the Trump era policy allowing the U.S. to expel migrants in the name of COVID prevention.

[04:35:00]

The policy was set to end this week but the Supreme Court has put that on hold for now. One woman says the policy has impacted her efforts to reach the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We already experienced a very ugly process in Mexico. We were imprisoned for seven days in Tampico. There they separated us. Prison conditions there are horrible. They treated us like we were criminals. They didn't give us food. We suffered a lot. We did not want to turn ourselves in and risk being returned to us and not having money to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, CNN meant one family -- one migrant family who experienced exactly that, turning themselves in only to be sent right back to Mexico. Ed Lavandera has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Jason Virguez and his wife Zulema walked across the Rio Grande with their two children last week, the family felt like they had finally escaped their lives in Venezuela's socialist nightmare. They were overwhelmed with tears of relief and joy. They survived an often terrifying two and a half month journey traveling from South America into Central America and Mexico.

LAVANDERA: Did you think reaching this point was going to be so emotional?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): He says, they never thought the journey from Venezuela would be so painful.

Zulema tearfully said they took this risk for their children. The family stepped across the Rio Grande, thinking they had reached the mountaintop.

Where are you?

The family is now in Mexico City. Jason says the day after the family turned themselves into U.S. border agents, they were flown to South Texas and bussed across the border to Matamoros. He says Mexican officials then drove them and a bus full of migrants to Mexico City. It took just five days to get pushed back down the mountain.

LAVANDERA: This has to be very confusing for you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): I don't understand it, he says. We were all scared on the airplane. We didn't know what was going to happen, and we didn't even get a chance to ask for asylum.

LAVANDERA: There are still hundreds of migrants lining up at the border wall to get into the United States. But getting in is far from guaranteed. The Department of Homeland Security reports that over the last week here in the El Paso area alone, 3,400 migrants have been expelled under Title 42.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sitting down following instruction.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Thousands of migrants keep turning themselves into border authorities. The public health restriction known as Title 42 is still being used to quickly expel migrants. It's a confusing system and difficult for those migrants to figure out who stays and who goes.

Jason and Zulema now have to figure out what to do next.

LAVANDERA: When I saw you crossing into the U.S., you were crying. Have you lost faith?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): I'm an optimist, he says. I hope to touch someone's heart. My wife and son are depressed. We just want an opportunity.

Right before Jason, Zulema and their children crossed the Rio Grande last week, they were so hopeful, they snapped this family selfie. Jason says his family will not forget touching U.S. soil, even if it was just for a brief moment.

LAVANDERA: He says it was a strong blow to be sent back to Mexico, but that he doesn't want to give up and that he wants to do whatever is necessary to give his wife and children a better life.

LAVANDERA: As Title 42 remains in legal limbo at the U.S. Supreme Court, many families like Jason, Zulema and his two children will face a similar fate. So, the question becomes, what will they all do when they have a greater sense of desperation of reaching the United States.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: Now a report said the economy grew at a faster rate than expected. Most people would think that's good news. Coming up, why investigator's negative reaction to the report sent stocks tumbling.

An unprecedented wave of COVID is spreading across China with people filling hospitals and crematoriums overwhelmed by bodies. Why experts warn this could mean new trouble for r the U.S. and the rest of the world.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday amid investors' concerns about a stronger than expected GDP report for the third quarter and it could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise rates more than expected in 2023. The main three indices fell with the Dow dropping more than 700 points before rebounding to end the day about 350 points in the red. The new trading day gets underway in five hours' time. Here's where U.S. futures stand right now. Little have moved really but the Dow slightly up.

Meanwhile, the European markets are up and running. And this is how they look. All pretty positive across from Paris. And across Asia it was red across the board but not hugely so.

A drop in U.S. stocks on Thursday was due to in part an updated third- quarter Gross Domestic Product report from Commerce Department. It said the GDP grew at an annual pace of 3.2 percent between July and September well above the 2.9 percent estimate from one month ago. The stronger than expected reading was due to increases in exports and consumer spending.

The U.S. labor market continues to be tight though. Jobless claims for the week ending December 17th came in at 216,000. That's an increase of about 2,000 but less than analysts had predicted. Continuing claims drop by about 6,000. Unemployment has fallen pretty steadily over the past two years for a peak of more than 800,000.

The winter storm impacting more than 170 million Americans is going to be expensive as well. While households will need to crank up the heat. The bill they'll eventually get will heat up their wallets. A new report estimates the average heating cost this winter will be more than 35 percent higher than last winter. Here CNN's Matt Egan with a breakdown of the rise in heating costs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Cranking up the heat is going to unfortunately be a lot more expensive this winter. You know, even before this storm, experts were warning about sticker shock when it comes to heating your home. That's in large part because natural gas prices have soared. And natural gas is the most popular way to heat homes. So, if you look on the screen we see natural gas, if you rely on natural gas to heat your home, the government is estimating that it's going to be 25 percent more expensive this winter than last winter. Heating oil, 45 percent.

Now, the key, though, is that that is just sort of the base forecast.

[04:45:00]

If temperatures are colder, then you're going to see even higher costs here. 10 percent colder winter would mean natural gas, home heating costs, 37 percent more expensive. Heating oil, 52 percent more expensive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The former CEO of the bankrupt crypto company FTX is now free on a $250 million bond. Sam Bankman-Fried appeared before a judge in New York on Thursday. The judge agreed to a bail proposal presented by prosecutors and lawyers. The terms include bond and electronic monitoring bracelet and being on House arrest at his parents' home in California. He's accused of stealing billions of dollars from customers of his defunct crypto trading platform, eight charges and all. Arraignment will happen at a later date. Two of his top lieutenants, the former co-founder of FTX and CEO of Alameda Research also facing several charge of fraud in connection with that case.

Now after nearly three years of stringent COVID lockdowns, China relaxes its zero-COVID strategy and health experts warn that the rest of the world should brace for the arrival of new variants that could prove more dangerous than previous ones. The warning comes as hundreds of health professionals from across China are traveling to Beijing to assist medical centers as an unprecedented wave of infections ripples through the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Chinese counterpart by phone on Thursday. Talking about the current COVID crisis in China. A State Department spokesman says they discussed the COVID-19 situation and the secretary underscored the importance of transparency for the international community. Blinken said he wants to see China get this outbreak under control in part to keep new COVID variants from developing.

Live now to Hong Kong with CNN's Kristie Lu Stout. It is a frightening for the world but particularly for China right now.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and we don't have a true picture of just how bad the situation is inside the country. So, concerns are rising about the true toll, about the actual scale of the COVID-19 infection inside China because the official figures are not reliable, especially now. China is carrying out less COVID testing because it is in the process of unwinding its draconian zero-COVID policy.

And not only that, China recently redefined and narrowed the definition of what constitutes a COVID related death. According to official figures this month, China has reported eight COVID related deaths. That's all, eight. A remarkably low number that doesn't match the mounting evidence that we've been seeing and collecting and erring here on CNN of a surge of infections and a surge of deaths across the country.

Hospitals as you see here in Chongqing, China are overwhelmed. Hospitals in Beijing as well. In fact, there are reports of medics from other cities and other provinces being sent to the Chinese capital to help out with surging cases.

In Beijing our CNN crew on the ground there went to a crematorium that's absolutely overwhelmed. They found yellow body bags piled up on top of each other there. There are also reports of pharmacies are selling out of fever and cold medications and people are scared.

I want to show you this statement that we got from the president in Beijing. Her name is Fairy Zang.

And she tells CNN this, quote: In the past five days, she says, I have many symptoms. I couldn't buy any medication to treat sore throat, coughing or fever. None of the medicines are available, she tells us.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now calling for all countries, including China, to be transparent. To share information about the COVID-19 outbreak. He says you need to do this because of public health concerns, economic concerns but also concerns about a possible new variant emerging.

America's top diplomat says this, quote: Any time the virus is spreading or is moving around, there's the possibility that a new variant develops. That variant spreads even further and it comes and hits us or other countries around the world. Unquote.

Secretary Blinken also spoke with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the phone earlier today to discuss Ukraine, other issues. Also discussing of course, the COVID-19 outbreak inside China emphasizing the need for transparency and for trying to be transparent with other countries. There was a response from China's ministry of foreign affairs in the last couple hours. Saying this China has, quote, always shared relevant information with the international community and will continue to do so. Back to you --Max.

FOSTER: All right, Kristie in Hong Kong, thank you.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on overall life expectancy in the U.S. It fell in 2021 to 76.4 years. That's nearly 2 1/2 years less than it was at the beginning of the pandemic and the lowest it was for a quarter of a century since 1996. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the pandemic and drug overdoses were main contributors to the drop. However, heart disease and cancer were also factors.

[04:50:00]

Now still ahead, remembering Ronnie Hillman. The NFL and Denver Broncos are paying tribute to the former star running back who died on Wednesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Now to sad news in American football. Ronnie Hillman, a former Super Bowl winning running back for the Denver Broncos has died after a battle against cancer. His family says he passed away on Wednesday. He was diagnosed with a rare and highly aggressive cancer in August. The National Football League and the Denver Broncos paid tribute saying they are deeply saddened. Hillman led the Broncos to two Super Bowls winning the championship in 2016 after a stellar season as their leading rusher. Hillman was 31.

The NFL has a new streaming home. The league announced on Thursday that YouTube TV will carry all out of market games starting next year. The league signed a multi-year exclusive deal with Google. Terms of the deal were not disclosed although "The Wall Street Journal" reports YouTube will pay an average price of roughly $2 billion a year for the seven-year package.

[04:55:00]

Scoring the NFL games is a major win for YouTube as the NFL Sunday ticket package has been exclusive to DirecTV since it launched back in 1994.

The retro vibes live on the latest offering from Netflix. "That '90s Show." The official trailer dropped on Thursday with some of the beloved stars from the hit series "That '70s Show.".

I(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA JO RUPP, ACTOR: I have to make a shopping list. The kids are going to want snacks.

KURTWOOD SMITH, ACTOR: Don't feed them, Kitty. That's how it started the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am going to get Fritos, Tostitos, Doritos all the -itos. I am back baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Now this sequel focuses on Red and Kitty Forman played by Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp taking care of their granddaughter and her friends. Other original stars from "That '70s Show," including Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis also appear in the trailer. They make special guest appearances as their original characters in one episode. "That '90s Show" debuts on Netflix January 19.

And before we go, plastic bag maker Hefty, a lucky few people a new way to discreetly take food home from parties. The "Snack Scarf" was designed with a secret storage bag pockets to tuck away leftover goodies. Hefty says the bags won't leak. They're strong enough to hold heavy snacks whilst keeping the wearer warm. Unfortunately, they already sold out. So, you can have one.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans next here on CNN.

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