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Official: Couple Hundred Cars May Still Be Stranded In Buffalo; Winter Storm Forces Thousands Of Flight Cancellations, Delay; Migrants At The Border Struggle To Find Shelter Amid Bitter Cold; Soon: Pope Francis To Celebrate Midnight Mass At Vatican; Top 10 Space Stories Of 2022; City Of Denver Pauses Shoveling Fines As Temperatures Plummet. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 24, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm quoting her here. Charmingly threatening, which I think is the perfect description. Let's take a look at one that we all particularly like. It's one where you put out a tweet and it says I did a bad thing. Yes. So --

ERIC SPIEGELMAN, FILM PRODUCER: I can (INAUDIBLE) if I ever found -- if I ever found something that could be attributed to P-22, I would take a picture and make it like he took the picture and explain what it is that happens.

SIDNER: So, just out of curiosity, are we going to have one that's like the ghost of P-22? Do you think? Or is that an idea or a possibility that you'll keep going?

SPIEGELMAN: You know, this pops crossed my mind. I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know. I mean, this is a cat that meant a lot of things to a lot of people. And I've tried to be very thoughtful and respectful of that. And if I ever -- if I ever felt that it would be appropriate, I think I would. But this account, I've tried it. I've tried very hard not to make this mine. Like I meant -- I tried to make this what I really honestly thought would be the voice of this cat. And it really belongs to everyone else.

You know, so if that were ever -- if ever felt appropriate, maybe but I mean, I'm not going to -- I'm not planning anything.

SIDNER: All right. Well, we'll wait and see but we're just looking at these iconic pictures. Eric Spiegelman, thank you so much and bless P- 22.

SPIEGELMAN: Absolutely. We'll miss him.

SIDNER: All right. I'm Sarah cider in for Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much for joining us. It is about one o'clock Eastern time. We have breaking news for you. A deadly and dangerous winter storms wreaking havoc across the United States and we're learning of new life-threatening situations that are unfolding as we speak in upstate New York. Officials there say there are hundreds of cars that are still stranded in Buffalo.

This is after more than two feet of snow fell there in just the last 24 hours. Search and Rescue is having to move extremely slowly and then sometimes getting stuck itself because of these blizzard conditions. New York Governor Kathy Hochul says that first responders are going to have a hard time reaching some people who are in need of help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): It is absolutely dangerous for anyone to be on the roads and that includes our emergency vehicles. So, our National Guard, our first responders, our ambulances, our fire trucks are all getting stuck in the snow as well. In fact, almost every fire truck in the city of Buffalo is stranded. It is stuck in snow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: We did hear from one of the commissioners there who said that those trucks by the way, some of them are still stranded but there is some movement there right now. More than 100 million people are under Windchill alerts. The arctic blast is extending from Montana down to Florida. It's also a mess as you might imagine for travelers trying to make it home in time for Christmas.

Thousands of flights canceled again today. It could still be days before airlines are able to return back to normal because of all the back out there were about 6000 or so flights that were canceled yesterday. We have crews tracking the latest conditions on the ground and in the skies as people travel this holiday weekend. Let's start now though with CNN's Polo Sandoval who is live in hard-hit Buffalo. What can you tell us this hour?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Sara, the message is coming from officials in and around Buffalo to folks that are in and around Buffalo is if you're not already with your families for Christmas, then this is going to be a remote celebration. It's best to stay in place remain sheltered because these winds, they have not stopped since yesterday morning. Looking over downtown Buffalo. The fact that this truck here with the plow is out on the street.

That is actually called progress. You see overnight they had to pull back these plow trucks because visibility was down to zero. However, snowfall greatly reduced not the winds though. So, a lot of this that you see right now is basically a ground Blizzard effect where all that snow on the ground is getting kicked up and swirling around. However, it's at least enough progress. It's allowing those plows to get back on the street to clear out some of the snow that may be blocking some of those streets.

And that's one of the reasons why officials saying that the ability for emergency responders to do their job is slim to none right now because of the weather. Many of their police, ambulance, fire vehicles were even stuck at one point. And as of the last update, they're still working to clear those out so they can get back on the road. So, not only is the recommendation for folks to remain at home, the rest of today and into tonight's and then see where things stand tomorrow but also say off the streets so these plow trucks can do their job.

And also, for first responders to be able to move around and finally New York Governor Kathy Hall did announce that there will be just over at least 50 National Guard members that will be coming here to Buffalo today.

[13:05:08]

In Humvees, the goal will be to have them available to transport dialysis or chemotherapy patients to their treatments. Those life- sustaining treatments that they need. Everybody else should remain at home today. And we'll see where things stand tomorrow, Sara.

SIDNER: I just saw vehicle going on driving behind you. And I don't know if that was somebody that was, you know, allowed to be out there on the roads. But there is a ban on driving right now because you have so many cars stuck. Polo, I just heard that gust of wind. Is it actually -- can you even tell if it's snowing or if it's just snow being whipped up with 50 mile an hour winds there?

SANDOVAL: It's hard to tell, Sara. The only thing is, I do keep an eye on the radar. And you do see some of that lake effect snow that makes the challenge for some of these snow removal operations just a little bit more complicated. But at the end of the day, though, at ground level, to answer your question, it is impossible to know if this is just fresh snow that's falling or this is what's being kicked up.

And that's why measuring the snow at the end of this event, it's going to be very hard because where do you measure it? It gets kicked around and also all the vehicles, hundreds of vehicles that are still stranded. It's nearly impossible to pull those vehicles out because as soon as you can shovel that snow from under the vehicle, well guess what, the wind is going to just blow that snow back into position here in Buffalo.

What is often been described right now is ground zero of a massive winter storm affecting people in many states.

SIDNER: It has been deadly and it is still very dangerous. I hope that the people stranded in cars have enough gas to keep their heaters on. Polo Sandoval, thank you. Thank you, Tom, your photographer. And your producer, Nicole. I know it is rough out there. We appreciate you being on.

Thousands of travelers are also being left stranded in the United States airport. CNN's Carlos Suarez is at the world's busiest Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport. We have all been there whether it is -- they used to say in the south, if you have to get to the south, you have to go through Atlanta. Carlos, can you give us a sense of what things are like now? Because it sort of changes it seems like throughout the last few hours.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's exactly right, Sara. Things are busy out here but they don't seem to be too bad. At least that is the sentiment out here. There's not a long line at the ticket counters or at one of the busiest parts of the airports usually the backdrop offsites, we've been here the entire morning. And the line really began in the morning. But as you can see from this one location, it's pretty much empty, folks have been showing up the entire day, making sure their bags get onto their flight.

Just on the other side of this location is a security checkpoint, where just a few minutes ago, I was able to talk to an agent who told me that right now, the wait time to clear security, at least at that location was anywhere between half an hour to 45 minutes which really isn't bad. The one part of this airport that does have a pretty significant amount of folks, at least that are trying to make do with the circumstances is the rebooking counter at this one Delta terminal out here rather.

The folks in this line are most likely not going to make it to home to the holidays, or at least the expectation is a bit low. At last check, 171 flights out of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport had been canceled because of the arctic weather across the U.S. Now when you take a look at the numbers across the country, while you can imagine those numbers are significantly higher. At this hour, we're talking about well over 2100 flights across the U.S. that have been canceled, and nearly 5000 other flights we're told had been delayed going into Christmas Eve.

And of course, Christmas day on Sunday. We talked to a number of passengers in that rebooking line who told us they're just trying to make do, they still have some hope that they can get home in time. But of course, they're dealing with a reality that is -- they're probably not going to make it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL IRIZARRY, STRANDED TRAVELER: Flight was booked for 9:40 this morning to go to LaGuardia, New York and went to get my thing for my bag. And it was canceled.

You anticipate something like this is going to happen, you know, so you just got to do the best you can to try to, you know, use the services that are available to get home.

SUAREZ: Do you think you can make it?

IRIZARRY: I hope so.

COLIN, STRANDED TRAVELER: My hope is I make it in time. My grandparents are home, my whole family is there. So, I'm the last one to arrive, just hoping to make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: And so, Sara, a number of the folks that we talked to, their flights were really heading to about three states. Texas, Illinois, and upstate New York which as you saw from Polo's live shot. Well, it's still pretty bad out there. Sara?

SIDNER: Carlos, I know you're in Miami, born and raised. I don't know how you're standing that cold there in Atlanta of all places. I hope you stay warm.

SUAREZ: Earlier today you said (INAUDIBLE) which is way too cold. It's like 15 degrees outside. I don't even have the kind of like gear for this type of story but here we are.

SIDNER: They don't sell it. Gracias --

(CROSSTALK)

SUAREZ: Not in Miami. No, they don't (INAUDIBLE)

[13:10:04]

SIDNER: All right. Let's head over to meteorologist Allison Chinchar who is live in the CNN weather center for us. Allison, we talked about this just a bit earlier, give us -- give us some hope for better temperatures. Just give us some hope.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I do. I have some. Yes. I can provide it. Maybe not necessarily today but at least down the road, we will have those temperatures beginning to warm back up. Here's a look though, for today still expecting those frigid temperatures across the northern tier of the U.S. We do still have lake effect snow, really for much of the rest of today. And even into the very early hours of Sunday as well.

The heaviest bands right now coming down across portions of Michigan, northeastern Ohio, as well as Upstate New York. Here's a live look at Watertown, New York, there's one of the plows again. We've been seeing them kind of come through, some emergency vehicles there as well. They're trying to clear the roads. The problem is they no sooner clear them that more snow comes right back down.

So, it's that never-ending process really. Now, once we get into tomorrow, a lot of that lake effect is going to come back down. However, then we have this next system that will be sliding down and diving through portions of the Midwest and into the Mississippi Valley region. That's going to be very fast. So, we're not expecting a tremendously high amount of rain and snow with it.

But still, it'll be on top of what's already fallen. Widespread likely, two to six inches of additional snowfall. The exception to that will be across areas of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, where as much as one to two feet of extra snow is expected to fall in the next 24 hours. Now we talked about hope. Let's get to that. Take, for example, Denver, Dallas in New Orleans, all finally expected to rebound today with temperatures back above the freezing mark.

But for some other cities, again, you're talking about New York, D.C., Louisville, even around Cincinnati and St. Louis, it's likely going to be at least Monday before the temperatures rebound there to get back above the freezing mark. But they'll jump up above the freezing mark. And then really by the time we get to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, it's not that we're just above freezing, but we finally actually get those temperatures above normal for a change. So, if there's any precipitation that comes through, it'll actually be in the form of rain rather than snow. But as for Christmas day itself, several areas likely going to have that white Christmas there, Sara, but including those areas of the Midwest or that next system will be sliding back in as well.

SIDNER: All right. We'll wait for the warm to get here. Thank you, Allison Chinchar. I appreciate it. The bitter cold is extending all the way down to the southern border where thousands of migrants have been outside in the frigid weather overnight because they're having difficulty finding shelter. El Paso is frankly overwhelmed. The government run shelters they're in El Paso, had they've opened new things like the convention center, hotels and some unused schools.

But those shelters do not accept migrants who don't have documentation from Customs and Border Protection. That is the law. And so, the charities are having to take the brunt of this. CNN's Camila Bernal is in El Paso, Texas for us. Kamila, can you tell us we're seeing the pictures from overnight where it was just terribly cold and people are out in the streets. People are up and about? Have you been able to talk to anyone about, you know, why they made this journey? Why now?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I actually just talked to a mother who came with her two-year-old baby and she told me, look, I needed to come here. I was desperate. There was no future for my child in Venezuela. That's where she's from. And she was freezing. She had a sweater on. She told me I just got here today crossed over from Mexico. She said it took her five months to get from Venezuela all the way here to El Paso, Texas.

Those are the kinds of stories that you're hearing every single day. They're all very similar. They all bring their children because they believe that their children are going to be able to have a better life here. It's a little bit sunnier. So that has been helpful in terms of the weather and in terms of how hard it's been over the last couple of days, especially at night. There's even a bus here that we've shown earlier because that is the only way they can warm up for a little bit.

So, a lot of the migrants go into the bus, get a little bit warm and then come back out. They're afraid, they don't want to get on the bus. They don't want to go anywhere else because they feel like they may get taken by immigration, by authorities. And they really want to stay here. It is Christmas. So, a lot of them are thinking about that. It's emotional. And there's a lot of locals who are coming here who are bringing them something to eat who say look, I've been touched by all of these migrants by seeing all of these images.

These for example, our donations, you're seeing one of the migrants here. They look through all the donations, they try to figure out what fits them and that's essentially what they choose. But these are all brought by the locals. Next to them, you see some of the locals giving out coffee and chocolate and Pan Dulce. So, you're seeing humanity, you're seeing people being extremely generous, especially because it's Christmas. So many of the people here, the locals have told me it's Christmas and I am so blessed. And I want to bless these migrants as well. But the situation is extremely difficult.

[13:15:01]

These are people, who are desperate, who have gone through this journey, who are suffering through the cold because again they want to be here and time and time again, they told me that it's about their children and it's about their future, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much joining us there from El Paso where the temperature is just two degrees above freezing.

Now to the frightening moments experienced by some shoppers after a gunman opened fire at the Mall of America last night. Video posted to social media shows shoppers scrambling for cover the moment that gunshots went off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, babe, did you find the purse that you want?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: When you see that, it just reminds you of -- there's so many Americans that have gone through this. It really is a tragedy in this country. 19-year-old was killed in that shooting after police say that there was a fight, some sort of altercation inside a Nordstrom store. Police do say that they are working to identify a suspect in this case and so far, the motive is unknown.

According to an NFL insider, several New York Giants players were inside the mall at the time of the shooting. A spokesman for the Giants tells the Associated Press that all of the players have been accounted for. Minnesota's Governor Tim Waltz condemned the violence tweeting, the violence at Mall of America last night is absolutely unacceptable. We are in touch with local officials to provide the support and resources they need.

The Mall of America as you probably know with the largest shopping center in the United States with more than 500 stores and dozens of attractions.

Still ahead. As you get ready to gather for the holidays. Health experts are out with a warning about all of the respiratory viruses that are out there now. We'll ask a doctor how to safely celebrate this year with family and friends especially for those who are celebrating with elderly folks.

And on this Christmas Eve we are of course tracking Santa Claus with the help of NORAD as he rushes to deliver gifts around the world right now. He is -- looks like he's over the ocean. Is that the Indian Ocean? Well, I don't know which ocean that is but it's definitely looks like -- ah, Seychelles. Nice. Maybe he'll take a little break there. We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:20:16]

SIDNER: This year's flu season hit hard and early straining resources across the country. So, the Biden administration says it's stepping in to help state struggling to keep up with the patient surge. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains how the health department is now offering up a vital medicine from the National Stockpile.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: In light of this year's intense flu season, the Biden administration is offering up access to the Strategic National Stockpile. They're calling states and saying if you don't have enough in your own stockpiles, you can have access to the National Stockpile. Now, it's not known, it's not been said that there's any kind of big national shortage of Tamiflu, which is an antiviral use to treat flu.

But some pharmacists have said that they've had trouble getting access to the generic version. So, let's take a look at what flu is looking like in the United States. All of these states and red and orange and purple. That means flu is at very high or high levels. There are only five states where flu is not at a very high or a high level. So far this season, there have been at least 150,000 hospitalizations with the flu and at least 9300 deaths.

Not only has the flu season been severe, but it's been very early. The numbers were very, very high in November and continue to be high in December. And there may be some places, hospitals or pharmacies that weren't quite ready to be seeing this kind of demand on medications this early in the season. Back to you.

SIDNER: And our thanks to Elizabeth Cohen. There is also a serious new health warning for parents. The CDC says it is seeing what could be a surge in strep A infections particularly among children. The concern being this could lead to more severe disease and your typical strep throat. Let's bring in Dr. Anand Swaminathan. He is an emergency medicine physician. Thank you for being here on this Christmas Eve.

What can you tell us about what the CDC is saying about this strep throat?

DR. ANAND SWAMINATHAN, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: I think it's really important for us to be following these strep A cases. But right now, it's actually pretty rare to see invasive forms of strep A, even with the warnings that are coming right now. Some of this increase in cases might be due to the fact that we have been a little bit more lacks with our public health kind of mitigation strategies.

So, things like really good hand hygiene can help to prevent this. Masks can help as well, especially in public settings, like in school. And I think if we bring those back, we can actually stem this tide. So, if parents out there are worried about group A invasive strep. The first thing to know is that this is pretty rare. We're not seeing a ton of cases yet, important for us to follow. But some simple measures can really reduce risk.

SIDNER: OK. There is another thing that I know a lot of parents have been worried about, and rightfully so that there's a shortage of common medications for kids and for everyone really. Cold and flu and RSV being, you know, a huge problem. And there's demand for things on the shelves. But things like Tylenol are also in some places hard to find. What is happening out there?

SWAMINATHAN: I think a lot of this stems from the fact that our infectious, the respiratory infection season came much earlier than was anticipated. We see RSV really picking up a couple of months ago, flu came much earlier than we've seen in the past. The good news is that RSV is really starting to precipitously decline and even influenza while it's at high numbers, right now, we're seeing a drop over the last two weeks. That's reassuring.

We may see though another peak in January, we don't know about that yet, which makes it really important to go out and get flu shots. Flu Shots have been pretty good amongst the pediatric age groups, not as good amongst adults. So, it's going to be important for people to get those flu shots. I think that what we're seeing with the shortage in medications is similar to what we're seeing in hospitals.

And it's interesting because the data, the numbers tell us that the flu surge, if we don't have a second peak in January, actually looks pretty similar to years prior to COVID. And so, what we're really seeing in terms of the medications and in terms of hospitals, is the impact of respiratory infection season on a broken healthcare system. A system that's really been breaking for the last couple of decades, but it's been really expedited over the last three years with COVID.

Unless we fix that broken system, all of these problems are going to recur every year as respiratory infections surge. So, every winter we're going to see similar shortages, similar shortages and beds and nurses and doctors, unless we start to really address and fix the problem.

SIDNER: Yes. That is a really, really good point. I know, having covered a lot of hospitals during COVID and going in that there was an exhaustion level. There was a space issue. There was a medication issue.

[13:25:00]

I mean there's 1000 things that you can point to the show that there's a -- there's a real crisis going on when it comes to -- when it -- when it comes to caring for our physical health. Let's talk about what's happening right now, even as the flu sort of eases off, as you mentioned that those numbers are starting to come down a bit over the country. But overall hospitalizations are still at a critical level, around 79 percent of Americans, by and large, aren't going to skip the fan are not going to skip the family holidays.

But there's -- look at that, 79 percent of hospital beds are now in use. And because we know that people are probably going to try to get to their families and friends, being that we've been kept away from them for so long because of COVID. Are there things that people should be doing to keep themselves safe, to keep their kids safe? And to keep the elderly folks in the family safe. Grandma and grandpa?

SWAMINATHAN: It's a really critical question; We can understand the exhaustion of last couple of years of not seeing family and rushing to see family now. And there's still things that we can do. So, if you haven't gotten vaccinated, it is still extremely beneficial, extremely protective against the bad outcomes for COVID, for getting hospitalized, for having death. And if you're vaccinated, getting boosted is critically important.

And those booster numbers are really lagging across the country. That's particularly important to older age groups. But it's important for everybody, because if we get boosted of those who are very young who are healthy get boosted, it makes it less likely that we can track and then less likely that we pass it to somebody else. And it also helps to take the strain off of the healthcare system.

So, getting boosted is really important. If you are gathering, it's not too late, test before you gather. That markedly reduces the risk of infecting others. If you can improve ventilation in your house, that's great. That probably were a little too late to start adding in ventilation, but testing and then if you're going out in public, put on a mask. Honestly, the masking that we saw a couple of years ago really should be making a comeback now to protect ourselves and then just as important, protect us from giving it to others.

So, if you're older, if you're younger, go get a booster, put a mask on in public.

SIDNER: I want to talk to you quickly about a new study from Health and Human Services that found nearly six percent of the estimated 130 million people who go to emergency rooms in the United States every year are -- and this is from their -- look at this misdiagnosed. What do you make of that? What do you think of that?

SWAMINATHAN: There's a lot of suspect conclusions in this report. And honestly, many experts have looked at this and said this is statistical malpractice. If you look at something like the mortality number, they quote. They really derive this from a single study done in Canada with 500 patients where one patient had a death, they then extrapolate that 230 million visits. That's not how epidemiology works. That's how statistics work.

There's a real problem in the way this report was put together. And when you boil it down, they said 99.7 percent of critical diagnoses are made in the emergency department. What they don't really visit, even though they think we should make that last point, three percent of diagnoses, they don't talk about the harms of trying to make those diagnoses of the cost. Not just in terms of dollars and resources.

But in terms for the patient, overdiagnosis, which leads to worse outcomes. And so, this report really has -- is problematic. And when you look, the authors either they don't really have the critical thinking to understand these problems or they really were blatantly seeking to undermine public confidence in emergency clinicians, which is very problematic, especially as you said, we are being stretched so thin in the hospitals.

So, I really think that these authors should be looking at a retraction of this data. And the -- really didn't do anybody a service in the way that they derived the numbers that they published.

SIDNER: Interesting that the Health and Human Services, you know, the way that they looked into this. We'll have to wait and see if they have any response to what you said and the call for a retraction Dr. Anand Swaminathan, thank you so much for joining us and have a wonderful holiday.

SWAMINATHAN: Thank you. You too.

SIDNER: till ahead. We're live in Rome. Roma, at the Vatican as Pope Francis begin celebrating today's Christmas Eve Mass.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:39]

SIDNER: Pope Francis marking Christmas Eve with a traditional Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. It's one of the many ways the Vatican is celebrating the holiday this year.

They also have installed dozens of Nativity scenes that represent regions around the world.

CNN Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, is joining us now.

Delia, tell us what we should hear from the pope in his message this year.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, Mass has just gotten under way. This is an international Mass. We saw children bringing up flowers to one of the Nativity scenes.

The children from India, from the Philippines, from Mexico, from the Democratic Republic of Conga, which is one of the countries, Sudan, that the pope will be visiting in January.

The pope had to cancel that trip during the summer because of his ongoing knee problem. He has put it back on schedule. The pope had to use a wheelchair. You will probably see him sitting down for most of the Mass.

He has a problem with the ligaments in his right kneed. He doesn't want to have an operation. He said had a bad experience with anesthesia for his last operation last year for his intestinal problem.

So He is getting injections and carrying on. As he likes to say, you don't need two legs to be a pope, just one head. As far as his Christmas message, he will be giving a homily later on.

But he has already given a message to people this Christmas, asking people to spend less and donate to Ukraine.

That is something the pope has been talking a lot about this year, making donations. This year the Vatican is focusing on donating thermal underwear for the winter to people in Ukraine.

They have set up a Web page, one-click donation. Find it at Eppela.com. Make a donation.

The thermal items will be taken in trucks by a cardinal from the Vatican to the Ukraine to make sure the Ukrainians can help survive this winter and war -- Sara?

SIDNER: Delia Gallagher, thank you so much in Rome. And merry Christmas to you.

[13:34:58]

Still ahead, from furniture to beached boats to human remains. The historic drought impacting Lake Mead is uncovering stunning discoveries. We speak to someone who was recently there about what they found, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: 2022 was a history-making year for NASA, from the first planetary defense mission to a mission designed to get Americans back to the moon.

Kristin Fisher has a look at the top-10 space stories of 2022.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kristin Fisher with the top-10 space stories of 2022.

(voice-over): Coming in at number 10.

ANNOUNCER: Three, two, one.

FISHER: The first private mission to the international space station.

ANNOUNCER: Godspeed, Axiom One.

FISHER: Texas-based startup, Axiom Space, brokered the trip for private citizens not affiliated with any government space program to launch on top of a SpaceX rocket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is looking good on Falcon 9.

FISHER: And spent 15 days conducting experiments alongside professional NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. Ushering in a new era for commercial space flight.

(on camera): Number nine may look and sound like basic boot camp for soldiers or sailors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

FISHER (voice-over): But these are Guardians in the U.S. Space Force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is still the United States military. This is not space camp.

FISHER: 2022 marked the first ever Guardian-only basic training led entirely by Space Force instructors, a major milestone for the first new branch of the armed services in more than 70 years.

(on camera): Coming in at number eight, the United States becoming the first country to announce a ban on anti-satellite weapons tests.

[13:40:00]

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them.

FISHER: The U.S., China, Russia, and India have carried out these types of tests in the past, which involves firing a missile from earth and striking a satellite in space, creating massive debris fields.

(voice-over): This year, astronauts aboard the International Space Station repeatedly dodged debris from Russia's most recent test of this type of weapon.

The truth is out for our seventh space story of the year. In 2022, Congress pushed for answers. For the first time in over 50 years, a public hearing on Capitol Hill about UFOs or UAPs.

REP. ANDRE CARSON (D-IN): UAPs are unexplained. It's true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. And any threats they pose need to be mitigated.

FISHER (on camera): The hearing did not answer if UAPs are classified U.S. technology, the work of a foreign adversary or extraterrestrial life.

The deputy director of Naval Intelligence did confirm the authenticity of two videos taken by Navy pilots. And he described the UAPs in them as some kind of real physical object that gets very close to military pilots and bases.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Is this one of the phenomena we can't explain?

SCOTT BRAY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE: I do not have an explanation for what this specific object is.

FISHER (voice-over): At number six, Moscow threatened to pull out of the international space station after the U.S. sanctioned Russia for invading Ukraine.

The former head of Russia's Space Agency, Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, threatened to end its three decades-long partnership with NASA, even going so far as to release a video implying Moscow might abandon a NASA astronaut that Russia was responsible for bringing back to earth.

(on camera): The bluster prompted a bitter Twitter war between Rogozin and one of NASA's most-famous former astronauts, Scott Kelly, who later this year, celebrated Regozin's outer and the space station's ability to survive despite the conflict roughly 250 miles below.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have a guy like him that behaves like a child on Twitter and threatens nuclear war, I was really, really happy to see him go.

FISHER: Our fifth space story of the year also came to the aid of Ukraine, SpaceX's Starlink satellites.

ANNOUNCER: Ignition. And liftoff.

FISHER: When Russia knocked out cell phone and internet service to much of the country, an Ukrainian government official begged SpaceX's Elon Musk for help. Musk responded with a tweet that would forever change the battlefield.

(voice-over): "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route."

Since then, Starlink has become an indispensable took for the Ukrainian civilians and the Ukrainian military.

But after months of providing the lifesaving Internet service for free, documents obtained by CNN showed SpaceX told the Pentagon that it could no longer continue to fund terminals in Ukraine indefinitely.

Musk later backtracked, saying his company will continue to fund Starlink service in Ukraine.

(on camera): But the debate laid bare the dangers of an entire country being too dependent on one billionaire.

Coming in at number four --

(NOISE)

FISHER (voice-over): Hear that? That is what the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy sounds like. In 2022, scientists were able to capture an image of it for the first time.

The image, which was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, a global network of synchronized radio observatories, confirmed the presence of a super massive black hole known as Sagittarius A, some 27,000,000 light years away from earth.

(on camera): Number three is the world's first planetary defense mission.

(voice-over): After billions of years of being at the mercy of killer asteroids and comets, in 2022, earthlings struck back. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the first time, out technology allows us to

do actually do something about it.

FISHER (on camera): NASA's plan was to try to ram a refrigerator-sized aircraft, called DART, into an asteroid named Dimorphous to see if he impact would push the asteroid slightly off course.

Dimorphous posed no threat to planet earth. But if the test worked, it would mean this type of technique could be used to deflect a future killer asteroid that is headed for earth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- planetary defense.

FISHER (voice-over): After spending six months barreling through space --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have impact.

(CHEERING)

FISHER: -- the bullseye hit was captured by telescopes all over the world, which later confirmed the tiny dark spacecraft was successful in bumping that asteroid off course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I think that earthlings should sleep better. And I definitely will.

[13:44:58]

FISHER: Coming in at number two, the James Webb Space Telescope finally delivering on its decades-long promise by beaming back its first images to earth.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tomorrow, when this image is shared with the world, it would be a historic moment for science and technology, for astronomy and space exploration, for America and all humanity.

FISHER: It's the culmination of over 30 years' worth of work, carries the hopes and dreams of astronomers all over the world, seeking answers to some of humanity's most existential questions.

Are we alone in the universe? And where did that first light in the cosmos come from some 13 billion years ago?

NASA leadership explaining the moment they first saw the kinds of images that Webb was capable of producing from its perch about a million miles from earth.

THOMAS ZURBACHEN, NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR: A sense of awe. And frankly, got emotional.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just moved me, as a scientist, as an engineer and as a human being.

FISHER (on camera): And this is it. The first image taken by the telescope released by NASA. It's called Webb's first deep field.

And all of these lights, they're not individual stars. Each one is an entire galaxy. Each galaxy is filled with billions of stars. If you zoom in, you can see that distinctive spiral shape.

Webb took spectacular images of planets a little bit closer to home. Here's Jupiter and Neptune as you have never seen them.

Finally, the Pillars of Creation where baby stars are born. It is part of the nebulous and 6,500 light years away. It was first made famous by the Webb's predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, in 1995.

Finally, our number-one space story of 2022.

(CROSSTALK)

FISHER: For the first time in over 50 years, NASA launching a rocket capable of carrying astronauts back to the moon.

(voice-over): The Artimis rocket is NASA's first spacecraft since the Space Shuttle, designed to launch people into orbit.

Years overdue, billions overbudget, it was rolled back from the launch pad to the safety of its hangar to escape Hurricane Ian only to be rolled back out to the launch pad in time to take a direct hit from Hurricane Nicole.

But just five days later, NASA making the gutsy call to give the third launch attempt a go.

The Orion spacecraft separated from the Artemis, or SLS rocket, beginning a nearly 26-day, 1.4-million-mile odyssey to the moon and back.

The spacecraft traveled further into space than any spacecraft designed to carry humans had ever flown while beaming back spectacular images of the moon and our home.

Orion's final test it's heat shield. Successfully protecting the mannequins from the blistering temperatures of reentry into the earth's atmosphere.

And blazing the way for Artemis 2 when four real astronauts will be on board.

ANNOUNCER: Splashdown. The latest chapter of NASA's journey to the moon comes to a close. Orion back on earth.

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: What a year for exploration and innovation and discovery for all of humanity.

FISHER (on camera): Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:52:33]

SIDNER: Shrinking shores, beached boats. It's the new reality for Lake Mead as extreme drought grips the United States' first national recreation area.

Water levels have fallen around 170 feet since 2000. The shoreline now just a fraction of what it once was.

That is a big concern for Hoover Dam and the 1.3 million people it provides with hydropower. If the water level drops another 100 feet, the dam's turbines won't be able to operate.

The falling water has drastically changed the landscape so much so that forgotten relics once lost to the depths of the lake are beginning to resurface.

Joining us now, associate writer for CNN digital Elizabeth Wolfe is here.

You have a piece on CNN.com chronicling the fall of Lake Mead.

Elizabeth, welcome.

ELIZABETH WOLFE, CNN DIGITAL ASSOCIATE WRITER: Hi, Sara. Thank you.

SIDNER: All right. So what were you able to find when you visited the lake? People are finding all manner of things. Some of them pretty bad things, let's just say.

WOLFE: Yes. As you mentioned --

SIDNER: All right. That was Elizabeth Wolfe. She was just about to tell us something amazing. She has written a piece.

We will go to break and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:52]

SIDNER: People in Denver watched their temperatures plunge 47 degrees in just two hours as the winter storm moved through the region.

As the snow piled on, one resident asked his local station about the city rules for shoveling the sidewalk. He did get an answer and a welcomed surprise.

Rob Harris, from our affiliate, KMGH, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB HARRIS, REPORTER, KMGH (voice-over): We got a call from Kevin Delaney. He was worried he could be fined by the city because he can't go out and shovel his walk today. So we came to tell him the answer. My photographer, Dalton, and I

realized, we're bundled up, we have shovels in the car, we thought, when we give him the answer, we'll also help him out.

KEVIN DELANEY, DENVER RESIDENT: It's not good for me at my age to be here shoveling. It's kind of an issue for me.

I don't have any young people in the house. It's just me and my wife. And she's at work.

It would be nice if they were a little more lenient on older people.

HARRIS: Normally, the city of Denver expects snow to be shoveled by the day after it falls. If city inspectors see un-shoveled walks, they will leave a notice with a 24-hour deadline. If they don't, they can face fines of 150 bucks.

But we checked with the city. That will not be the case with this storm since it's so cold outside.

A city spokesperson tell us they expect the right and safe time will be as temperatures rise later this weekend.

Thankfully, we have the sun, no winds and plenty of layers on. We knocked out Delaney's shoveling for him while we were out there.

(on camera): How do you feel, Dalton?

DALTON, PHOTOGRAPHER, KMGH: I'm tired.

HARRIS: I'm sweating. Seeing as how it's negative seven, we should get out before my sweat freezes.

(voice-over): Delaney has lived in Colorado his whole life. Even he was blown away with how cold it got.

DELANEY: It was 50-some degrees and, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, then crazy cold. I was like, oh, my.

You never know when it's going to be this high. I have had times where I couldn't walk out the door.

(CROSSTALK)

DELANEY: Yes.

HARRIS: I'm Rob Harris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And thank you to Rob Harris and the team for going out there and doing that. That was really sweet.

We continue to watch cities across the country and during the bitter cold. It is dangerous out there. All jokes aside. This is a live look at the Windy City. There's Chicago. Chicago is used to dealing with this sort of weather for the most part. Ten degrees at this hour. And the windchill, by the way, makes it feel like negative 11.

In neighboring Michigan, the city Constantin, it's eight degrees but also feels like it is 11 below.

If you thought the south would be given a break, as it usually is, Hotlanta no longer hot. The teams are dealing with 20-degree weather. The windchill is seven. That is absolutely outrageous for Atlanta.

[13:59:58]

Just ahead, when we can expect warmer temperatures to return.

Also, we want to go to Santa. He's on the move. It's Christmas Eve, of course. He has to be gone quickly. He's delivering presents to kids across the globe despite these insanely cold temperatures.