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Southwest Cancels Thousands Of Flights; Deadly Winter Storm Hammers The U.S.; No Relief For Ukraine's Hard-Hit Front-Line Towns; Passengers Stranded Amid Southwest Airlines Disruption; U.S. President Issues Emergency Declaration For New York; Over a Meter of Snow Buried Parts of Western New York; Interview with Buffalo, New York, Council Member Mitch Nowakowski; In Erie County, New York, At Least 27 of the 49 Fatalities Occurred; Road Travel Made Extremely Hazardous by Massive Snow Drifts; Flooding in the Philippines During the Christmas Season; While Title 42 is Still in Effect, Migrants are Waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border; January 6th Final Report; Evidence from the House Select Committee Yields New Insights; January 6 Panel Recommends Trump Face Criminal Charges; Trump's Legal Team Downplays Findings of January 6 Panel; George Santos, Congressman-Elect Admits to Lying on His Resume; South Korea's response to North Korean Drones; North Korean Drones have Entered South Korea, According to Defense Ministry; Dozens of Rohingya Rescued After Being Stranded at Sea; Christmas Season, Four Energy Substations in Washington State were Vandalized; Confederate Monuments Going Away; Brittney Griner Encourages People to Write to Paul Whelan; West Point Begins Removing References to Confederacy. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 27, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom,--
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, our next available seats for rebooking are for the 31st and beyond. Once again, our next available seats for rebooking customers at this time is for the 31st and beyond.
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CHURCH: These are the scenes playing out in airports across the United States, as massive disruptions at Southwest Airlines leave holiday travelers stranded.
Plus, frigid temperatures and paralyzing snowfall hammered parts of the U.S. this holiday weekend. We will speak to one New York official about the difficulties that remain, as temperatures finally take a turn for the better.
And, no relief for soldiers fighting in Ukraine's hardest hit front- line towns, as President Zelenskyy warns that Russian troops will stop at nothing to gain just a little ground.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.
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CHURCH: And, good to have you with us. Well, it is the travel nightmare after Christmas, thousands of flights have been canceled across the U.S. after the monster Arctic storm that pummeled much of the country over the holiday. And, the Southwest Airlines, in particular, it is an utter catastrophe. Right now, the flight tracking website FlightAware shows more than 2,700 total cancellations in the U.S. on Tuesday, and of those, more than 90 percent are Southwest flights. The company says it's being forced to scale back its flight schedule to get operations back on track and get crews in the right places. Southwest CEO says it is the largest scale event he has ever seen.
Meantime, passengers are stranded at airports, struggling to get answers on when they'll be able to reach their destinations. We've seen incredibly long lines at the airline counters, and tons of luggage piling up at baggage claims. Southwest has said these cancellations and delays could go on for several more days, meaning, it may be the weekend before many passengers can even rebook. And, here is more from a Southwest spokesperson.
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JAY MCVAY, SOUTHWEST SPOKESPERSON: --obviously facing some operational challenges this evening with winter storm Elliott that has kind of moved on to include some challenges with our flight crews being stuck in locations, not where they need to be along with the aircraft. At this point, we're working to accommodate our customers as best we can, and offer the most options that we can to get folks back home or to their vacation spots or holiday celebration spot at this point. This is the main focus right now, is to try to take care of our customers as quickly as we can, and get them out of this line, and with their loved ones or somewhere where they can get some rest. It's obviously been a very long week with the storm. So, that's our primary concern.
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CHURCH: The U.S. Transportation Department is also growing concerned and looking into the matter, calling the massive disruptions by Southwest "unacceptable. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has more on the frustration Southwest passengers are feeling.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wasn't anticipate a nightmare but it became a nightmare. It did.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christmas may be over, but for thousands of passengers, the travel nightmare goes on.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They canceled our flight and they said they can't help us. So, we don't know what to do.
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KAFANOV: Southwest Airlines at the top of the list for cancellations. The airlines ticketing counter at Baltimore's BWI Airport, a zoo, Denver airport's lines for the Southwest ticket counter, even longer.
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JESSICA SOKOLOWSKI, SOUTHWEST PASSENGER: We had to wait in a line that was four hours, and we're still in line, and nobody is giving us any direction on what line to get in. It's a total war show here.
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KAFANOV: And, for those trying to call to rebook, well, good luck getting through.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Calling Southwest, calling the airlines, no one to be found, actually got hung up on multiple times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is that Southwest, they don't give any answer. They don't answer the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no option to rebook anything online. Oh, I've also been on hold for five hours and 43 minutes.
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KAFANOV: Passenger Jason Freed shows us the proof. In a statement to CNN, Southwest Airlines said it is experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of the winter storm's lingering effects on the totality of our operation.
In the wake of dangerously cold temperatures and winter weather across the nation, airlines canceling thousands of flights on Monday.
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MICHAEL JUSTICE, FAMILY'S FLIGHT CANCELED: They were scheduled to fly out on Saturday, and canceled flight after canceled flight till this morning.
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Now, it is standby, hoping they'll get on and get home.
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KAFANOV: Thousands more flights delayed.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just delayed, delayed, delayed, rinse and repeat.
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KAFANOV: At airports across the nation, long lines, chaos, frustrated passengers, and luggage piling up.
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AZIZA MUSTEFA, FLIGHT CANCELED: There is a lack of communication. There is no transparency. There is no honesty. I don't know what's going on. There is no staff. It's OK. There is no staff. We just want them to be honest with us, and I could just go home. But, we can't go home because we don't know where our luggage is. Is it here in Atlanta? Is it in Chicago? We have no idea.
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KAFANOV: Some passengers choosing to look at the bright side.
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JESSICA GRAY, FLIGHT CANCELED: It was like super stressful, but, I mean, just happy that I got to see my family for Christmas. And, hey, I'm off this week. So, I'll be good.
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KAFANOV: Others finding creative solutions for their journeys home.
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JOHN MCCONVILLE, FLIGHT CANCELED: Instead of waiting on a maybe flight and paying through my proverbial nose for a rental car, if I'm able to get one, I will call the friend of mine. I'm driving a car, rental cargo van, down to Nashville, Tennessee.
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KAFANOV: Southwest Airlines issuing a statement on Monday saying, "With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable." The airline adding, "We recognize falling short and sincerely apologize. But, that is cold comfort for the hundreds of passengers stranded here in Denver and across the nation." Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Denver.
CHURCH: Kathleen Bangs, former airline pilot, and spokesperson for FlightAware, joins me now from Washington State. Thank you so much for being with us.
KATHLEEN BANGS, FORMER AIRLINE PILOT, & SPOKESPERSON, FLIGHTAWARE: Great to be here. I wish it were under happier circumstances. There is so many crowd.
CHURCH: Absolutely agree with you. And, of course, we are seeing these long lines of frustrated passengers stranded at airports around the country due to this bad weather, most of them, passengers of Southwest Airlines, and that same carrier has already canceled more than 2,400 flights today. How likely is it that we'll see more Southwest cancellations in the coming hours, do you think?
BANGS: It is really stunning that it looks like we're already over 60 percent of tomorrow's cancellations, which are already almost 3,000, fairly unprecedented considering that the weather has cleared considerably, and these are going to be Southwest Airlines cancellations. We also see that the company has made a statement. Now, of course, everything is subject to change. But, they have made a statement saying that really you can't rebook until 2023, until January 1. So, it's going to be very difficult for people right now that are stranded to actually get to their destination on Southwest. They may have to just switch to another carrier and try to sort this all out later.
CHURCH: That just seems unacceptable, doesn't it? Let's look at that why we're seeing it's mostly passengers of Southwest Airlines that are being impacted by this. What has gone wrong with their company?
BANGS: Well, it's a couple interesting things. And, Southwest has had a great reputation, and know for really outstanding customer service. So, I'm sure this really hurts them hard. But, we have to look at the last worst day of cancellations in 2022, the day that broke the record until last Friday for 2022 was February 3. Not a holiday. A lot of people don't remember it. But, the airlines canceled because of a weather event then. They knew a major ice storm was coming across U.S., airports like Dallas-Fort Worth shutdown, airlines canceled thousands of flights preemptively, and what helped then is that people didn't get stranded.
The problem with what has happened now is we also knew again that a horrific weather event was coming, and it was going to be almost nationwide. But, the airlines didn't really cut too many flights. Southwest cut a few, some airlines had a few cancellations. But, they tried to maintain those holiday schedules for the obvious reason that the one thing passengers won't forgive you is if you don't get them where they want to be. So, that kind of hit them.
They also have a point-to-point network. They're not hub and spoke like American and Delta. They're more of a short haul, short medium haul. And, that means basically that when those pilots leave on a given day, like from Minneapolis, they go to Midway to Kansas City, down to Houston, to Dallas, to Phoenix, switch crews, and then they're off to like Ontario for the night.
The issue with that is it's very difficult once those crews, once those planes get out of position, to rejuggle the whole system. It's a little bit easier in appointing spoke, and that's a different system than how Southwest operates.
CHURCH: OK. That is interesting, because the U.S. Transportation Department says this massive disruption is unacceptable, which of course implies it's avoidable. So, let's look at how Southwest needs to change to try to avoid this happening again.
BANGS: Well, one of the things that Southwest has said, is that that they recognize they've had some technological challenges especially with what appears to be their crew scheduling system.
[02:10:00]
It's probably outdated, and that is going to need some work, because we have pilots, we have crews, we have plenty of temps (ph) ready to fly, and we've got airplanes. We just don't have them in the same location together, and that's definitely a problem that they're going to be looking into solving. The DoT, as you mentioned, has already gotten on board with this. The DoT, just months ago, launched that airline traveler consumer dashboard to try to get the airlines to give better customer service and to give passengers an outlet to find out, OK, what am I owed, if I'm stranded someplace exactly. So, I think we'll look to see more government involvement in getting this issue straightened out.
CHURCH: Yes. Let's hope we do see that, because bad weather, of course, has been the biggest factor in delayed and canceled flights this holiday season. But, we've seen this play out before, and it's becoming a recurring problem in this country. Isn't it, not just with Southwest? What needs to happen within the airline industry generally to improve the customer service? In summer, it was just a nightmare. Wasn't it?
BANGS: Well, one of the things that people forget, though, is it seemed like summer was a nightmare. But, actually, if we look back to pre-pandemic, the levels were about the same for that summer also. So, people tend to have a bit of a short memory on that. But, if we look at like the highest cancellation day so far this year, which was last Friday, we'd actually have to go back a decade to Hurricane Sandy to have seen that kind of impact. But, if we go for the second worst day, there actually wasn't a storm 10 years ago, widespread blizzards, it sort of did the same thing. So, there aren't some weather situations that are just beyond what the airlines can safely handle.
But, the thing I think we do have to remember here is that it has been 13 years that the U.S. carriers have not had a single fatal accident. We've weathered the pandemic. We've weathered hurricanes. We've weathered this storm. We have to at least take pride in that we have the safest form of transportation in the world right now going on with U.S. carriers. So, at least, that continues to be a very bright spot.
CHURCH: All right. Kathleen Bangs, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.
BANGS: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, the severe winter weather walloping the U.S. has now killed at least 49 people nationwide. More than half of those deaths took place in Erie County, New York, which is bearing the brunt of the devastation, and is now being called Ground Zero. Some parts of western New York remain buried under more than a meter of snow, that's around or more than three feet. A few hours ago, the U.S. President issued an emergency declaration for the state which frees up federal resources for disaster relief, and other counties that escaped the worst of the storm are sending staff and supplies to Erie.
Well, in western New York, road travel remains treacherous, and many areas of Buffalo is still paralyzed. The city is under a winter weather advisory for another 12 hours or so. CNN's Miguel Marquez picks up the story.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An unprecedented storm, devastating and deadly, hitting western New York.
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KATHY HOCHUL, GOVERNOR, NEW YORK: We now have what'll be talked about, not just today but for generations, the blizzard of 2022.
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MARQUEZ: Parts of Buffalo humbled with up to 43 inches of snow and hurricane-force winds, and the death toll of at least two dozen people in the area.
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JOHN GARCIA, ERIE COUNTY SHERIFF: There is going to be a lot of welfare checks, and unfortunately, I have a bad feeling about that. I think that's how that toll is going to go up. It's just got wrenching.
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MARQUEZ: Erie County, New York, brought to a literal standstill with people trapped in their homes and cars.
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MARK POLONCARZ, EXECUTIVE OF ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK: This was the first time in Buffalo fire history that they could not respond to emergency calls because of how severe the conditions were.
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MARQUEZ: County officials sending in specialized trucks to rescue the rescuers.
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GARCIA: I couldn't see two feet in front of my vehicle, and we had rescue deputies. We had 00so, we brought in snowmobiles, UTVs, ATVs. When fire rigs are getting stuck, that heavy equipment, you can imagine what happened to the public.
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MARQUEZ: While most major highways have at least one lane clear for emergency traffic, many residential roads are still impassable with vehicles abandoned in the middle of the street.
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HOCHUL: We have had snow plows, major snow plows, and rescue vehicles, I saw them myself in ditches buried in snow.
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MARQUEZ: Officials urging residents, stay home.
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HOCHUL: Stay off the roads so we can continue to rescue people, get them safe, and make sure that the roads are clear so we can reopen our community as soon as humanly possible.
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MARQUEZ: Buffalo under a driving ban, but that hasn't stopped some from taking advantage of the situation. Police have made arrests for looting.
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Videos on social media shows looters at work, merchandise being carried out on foot.
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BYRON BROWN, MAYOR, BUFFALO, NEW YORK: People who are out looting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm is just absolutely reprehensible.
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MARQUEZ: All while thousands of homes and businesses are still without power. One family, who lost their heat, tried to make it to a hotel on Christmas.
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DANIELLE TISDALE, SPENT CHRISTMAS AT BUFFALO FIREHOUSE: You couldn't see anything. You couldn't see a stoplight. So, it's like you kind of just have to drive through the intersection, crime, basically.
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MARQUEZ: Their prayers answered by airport firefighters who were able to rescue the Tisdale's along with dozens of other trapped drivers.
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DEMETRICE TISDALE, SPENT CHRISTMAS AT BUFFALO FIREHOUSE: Those guys were amazing at the firehouse. They treated us with nothing but love, and then welcome us with open arms.
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MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Western New York.
CHURCH: Later this hour, I will ask a Buffalo council member about the damage and casualties and if people are staying off the roads. That's a little later.
Well, still to come, a difficult situation on the front lines. Ukraine's President gives an update on what his troops are facing in the Donbas. Plus, China eases its COVID restrictions even further, and the latest changes could make it easier to visit the country, details on the major policy shift, just ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is describing a difficult situation in the Donbas, as his forces are locked in fierce battles with Russian troops. Among the cities seeing ongoing fighting is Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Mr. Zelenskyy says Ukrainians must be prepared for any possible Russian attacks, and had this update on the front lines.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE (TRANSLATED): Bakhmut, Kreminna and other areas in Donbas that require maximum strength and concentration now. The situation there is difficult, painful. The occupants are spending all the resources available to them, and these are significant resources to squeeze out at least some progress.
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CHURCH: Meantime, Ukraine's security service says it has neutralized more than 4,500 cyberattacks this year. One official says energy and Military facilities and government databases are among the typical targets.
Well, it's just after 10 in the morning in St. Petersburg, Russia, where President Vladimir Putin is hosting the second day of an informal summit of the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States. The group includes Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who Mr. Putin met with in Minsk more than a week ago. CNN's Clare Sebastian is tracking developments for us. She joins us live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So, what's expected to come out of these meetings at the summit?
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. As many of you say, this is an informal summit. It's an annual affair, a group of post-Soviet States, of course, not including Ukraine and Georgia, which dropped out during that war in 2008. But, it's an informal summit, and it's designed to sort of cement the alliance, both economic and security of these countries. Obviously, it takes on an extra significance this year. Russia tends to play the role of a peacekeeper in this group, and that, of course, is tested because of the war in Ukraine where Russia is the aggressor.
Putin did acknowledge sort of security challenges this year. He said challenges and threats in the security sphere, especially from the outside, he said, are growing with every year, and he also acknowledged that there have been "disagreements between some of the members of this particular group", I think, the most dramatic example of which are the very deadly clashes that we saw in September breakout on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Of course, that conflict does flare up over that disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. So, that's one area of this.
But, I think the optics we are taking into account as well, Russia is continuing to present itself as not isolated on the international stage, even as efforts by the West and Ukraine to step up to try to isolate it, and Ukraine, of course, in the last day trying to secure Russia's objection from the United Nations Security Council. So, that is significant to President Putin. And, of course, on the economic sphere as well, he said that trade between - sort of a multilateral trade within this group and growing more than six percent between January and October this year that may be due to some of the displacement of Russian trade from its Western allies. So, critical optics, but also practical alliances here, Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Clare Sebastian, many thanks, joining us live from London.
Well, China is taking a major step to reopening its borders after nearly three years of COVID restrictions. The country has announced that from January 8, it will no longer require inbound travelers to quarantine on arrival. They'll still need a negative PCR test, but the process will be more streamlined. China also says it will call COVID an infection instead of pneumonia, saying that's more in line with the characteristics and danger level of the disease. Even so, these changes come as the virus is spreading uncontrollably, putting huge strain on the healthcare system. And, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now live from Hong Kong with more on this. So, Kristie, what are you learning about China ending quarantine for inbound or international travelers?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, an unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak is still underway across the country, and yet, with this policy change this is very welcome news for scores of Chinese nationals who have waited years, almost three years, to be able to have the chance to travel overseas, to have the chance to reunite with loved ones abroad. It will all begin starting January 8. That is when China is going to lift all quarantine restrictions for international arrivals. International arrivals will still have to take a COVID test to enter China, but no longer have to submit that COVID test through a Chinese Embassy or Consulate in order to get a code.
There is still a lot that remains unclear though. We're not sure how easily Chinese nationals will be able to travel overseas. We also are not sure about how many flights will be allowed into the country. But, the excitement over this new announcement is palpable, and you can see that clearly on the search results of Trip.com, which is a popular Chinese online travel booking site. It announced earlier today that within half an hour of the policy announcement that searches for popular overseas destinations jumped to a three-year high. You're looking at a list of the top 10 searched destinations including Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and United Kingdom, as people across China go online and start planning their vacations to go overseas.
Meanwhile, the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has finally spoken out, addressing the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak that is underway as a result of the easing of China's zero COVID policy. This according to the state-run broadcaster CCTV, which issued the following statement. Let's bring it up for you, saying this, "Xi Jinping emphasized that our country is currently facing a new COVID outbreak situation and new responsibilities. We need to conduct our patriotic health movement in a more targeted manner", an emphasis on the word "targeted" there, because this is a very perilous situation for China right now. As China ends years of its tough zero COVID policy, it is facing an unprecedented wave of COVID-19 infections, cases and deaths, as we've been reporting with hospitals absolutely overwhelmed.
The National Health Commission is now seeing that it may reintroduce certain pandemic requirements including the reintroduction of lockdowns in nursing homes if the outbreak is severe. Back to you, Rosemary.
[02:25:00]
CHURCH: All right, Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.
Well, the winter blast, bearing parts of New York, has yet to subside. I will speak with a Buffalo official about what his city is enduring, and why first responders are struggling to reach those in need.
Plus, new revelations are emerging, as we dig into all the evidence released by the January 6 Select Committee. Details on that, just ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the week after Christmas got off to a bad start for many across the United States, winter weather sweeping parts of the country, caused massive flight delays and cancellations, stranding thousands of passengers. Southwest Airlines logged the most canceled flights on Monday, more than 2,900 in all. Travelers report waiting nearly 10 hours on hold to speak with customer service, in some instances. Southwest has already canceled more than 2,400 of its flights for Tuesday, more than 60 percent of its scheduled flights.
Well, at least, 49 people have now died from the severe winter storm that has hammered the U.S.
[02:30:00]
CHURCH: Most deaths were in the western part of the New York -- of New York State which is still reeling from the disaster. Some areas remain buried under more than a meter of snow, that's over three feet. A few hours ago, the U.S. president approved an emergency declaration for the state. Allowing federal resources to help with disaster relief.
Joining me now is Mitch Nowakowski. A council member from the Fillmore District in Buffalo, New York. Thank you, Sir, for being with us.
MITCH NOWAKOWSKI, COUNCIL MEMBER, BUFFALO, NEW YORK: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So, let's start with the situation on the ground in Buffalo right now, how bad has this blizzard been in terms of damages and casualties, of course, across the city?
NOWAKOWSKI: Yes, the City of Buffalo experienced power outages of 30,000 residents, many who I represent, with so far a total of 27 fatalities and that number is growing. Right now, I'm in my house in Downtown Buffalo where just a few hours ago, neighbors found a body under a snow pile just a block up from my own house. It was truly a horrific scene.
CHURCH: Yes, that is just horrifying. And you and other Buffalo officials have been advising residents to stay off the roads and to allow EMS and other emergency officials to get to those most in need. Has that been happening for the most part or are you still struggling to keep people off the roads?
NOWAKOWSKI: During the beginning of the storm, it was a struggle. And what I want folks to know is that when you are driving during a travel ban, it is really a threat to public safety, where we see instances of cars being abandoned and stuck on roads. And that really presents a huge harm to the community where we cannot have emergency personnel or the department of public works with tows to come down the street.
And I think it's truly a scary time that during a storm where the weather is so bad that EMS workers were abandoning ambulances and were unable to respond to calls. And that is why it is so critical for the community to listen to all updates and to stay off the roads and to really pay attention to the advisories that local governments are giving, especially in the City of Buffalo.
CHURCH: Yes, let's hope people will take heed of that warning. And do you know how many people might still be trapped in cars, homes, or perhaps other locations?
NOWAKOWSKI: We do not know. But with power finally returning to the City of Buffalo, we went from about 30,000 outages to now, I just got a local report, where we are about 4,000 people without power. We believe that as power begins back into the homes and people and the snow is clear through our neighborhoods that we will be going to check on neighbors. And hopefully we do not discover more instances and welfare check for people have deceased.
CHURCH: Yes, let us hope you are right there. And what additional resources does your city need at this particular point? NOWAKOWSKI: Really, at this time, we need folks to stay off the road so that all of the equipment in the City of Buffalo can come and start clearing up those snows and make sure we're not just doing primary and secondary streets, but also those side streets so we can get to residents. And I want folks to really know that during a storm, the most vulnerable often suffer the most. These are folks that need kidney dialysis, senior citizens, those that are living with a disability, and those that need lifesaving treatment every single day.
We've also had instances where people have had to give birth over the phone, help with 9-1-1 operators, you know, that is really a scary thing. And I want to make sure people know that, you know, I even have friends that are living with a disability that have not had home health care aids since Thursday. And they rely on these services just for their safety and for their personal care.
CHURCH: Yes, it is terrifying for all of those people as you say. And certainly, trying to give birth at home via phone just incredible to think that that's even possible, right? Mitch Nowakowski, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
NOWAKOWSKI: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Well, to the Philippines now, and a week's worth of rain caused heavy flooding in that country. Some rivers rose high enough to damage bridges and swamp villages on Christmas day. The floods hit the southern part of the Philippines forcing nearly 46,000 people to evacuate their homes over the holiday weekend.
[02:35:00]
In some areas, witnesses say, the water rose above the chest, and the coast guard said that it had conducted multiple rescues. The bad weather coincided with a busy travel period in the country, of course, with many people caught in the storm as they tried to get home for the holidays.
Well, back here in the United States, where the Supreme Court could rule this week on whether to keep the controversial Trump era border restriction known as Title 42 in place. The policy, which allows border officials to quickly expel migrants to slow the spread of COVID was due to expire last week. But the court's chief justice stepped in to put its termination on hold.
It has left border cities scrambling to house thousands of migrants as temperatures plummet. More than 400 migrants stayed at a convention center in El Paso, Texas over the Christmas weekend. Many were not so lucky, though, sleeping outside in freezing weather. But despite the hardships, a source tells CNN, border agents in El Paso are encountering as many as 1,600 migrants a day. And officials are concerned those numbers will surge even more if Title 42 is terminated.
While the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capital attack has released more transcripts from interviews conducted during its investigation. CNN's Sara Murray reports the latest batch of documents reveal how a key member of the Trump White House found out about the right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- of the entire White House.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Donald Trump's former White House press secretary --
MCENANY: The violence we saw yesterday at our nation's capital was appalling.
MURRAY (voiceover): -- didn't realize the full extent of the violence at the Capital until she settled in to eat a turkey sandwich for lunch on January 6th. Kayleigh McEnany telling the January 6th Committee, I initially went back to my office to eat lunch but I eventually turned up the volume on Fox News. McEnany saying she was still piecing together what was playing out at the Capital. Not nearly sitting by as the attack unfolded.
I, in no way shape or form, would eat a turkey sandwich if I thought Capitol Hill was being sieged.
How White House officials learned of rioters storming on January 6th, just one of the details emerging as the House Select Committee releases new batches of transcripts from roughly 1,000 witness interviews.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS), CHAIRMAN, JANUARY 6 SELECT COMMITTEE: The Select Committee intends to make public the bulk of its non- sensitive records before the end of the year.
MURRAY (voiceover): A separate transcript revealing how the White House crafted a press release in December 2020, calling for the firing of anyone who accepted the election results. Hours earlier, then attorney general Bill Barr had told the associated press there was no widespread voter fraud.
According to the draft press release, anybody that thinks there was a massive fraud in the 2020 election should be fired. The press release was never sent and Barr resigned from the White House later that month. Since then, he has not held back in criticizing Trump's election lies.
WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I was -- from demoralized because I thought, boy, if he really believes this stuff, he has, you know, lost contact with -- he's become detached from reality. When I went into this and would, you know, tell him how crazy some of these allegations were. There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.
MURRAY (voiceover): The trickle of transcript revelations coming after the Committee recommended that the Justice Department bring criminal charges against former President Trump.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): There was a conspiracy to defraud the United States to exchange an honest to goodness presidential election for a counterfeit election.
MURRAY (voiceover): Trump's legal team downplaying the Committee's findings.
TIM PARLATORE, LAWYER FOR DONALD TRUMP: The report itself is not of much value, you know, it's written by politicians for a political purpose.
MURRAY (voiceover): And dismissing its criminal referrals. Even as Trump faces scrutiny from a DOJ special counsel that is now investigating his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
PARLATORE: I mean, the referral itself is pretty much worthless. You know, the Department of Justice does not have to follow it.
MURRAY (on camera): Now, when it comes to the Committee, they have released their criminal referrals, they've released their final report. But so far, they have only scratched the surface when it comes to releasing all of that underlying evidence. They released fewer than 100 transcripts and interviewed roughly 1,000 witnesses. So, we have many days of more transcript's revelations ahead of us. Sarah Murray, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: U.S. Republican, George Santos, admits he lied about multiple parts of his resume during his campaign to become a lawmaker. The congressman-elect from New York confirmed claims that he lied about attending university and his work experience first published in "The New York Times". Republican leadership has been noticeably quiet since the revelations were made.
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Santos says that even though he embellished his credentials, he said -- and I am quoting him directly here, "We do stupid things in life."
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REP. GEORGE SANTOS (R-NY): I'm not a fraud. I'm not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress. I've been around a long time. I mean, a lot of people know me. They know who I am. They've done business dealings with me. And I'm not going to make excuses for this but -- a lot of people overstate in their resumes or twist a little bit or -- and ingratiate themselves. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of that.
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CHURCH: All right. We'll take a short break here.
A rare move by North Korea puts South Korea on high alert, and drones are involved. We'll have a live report from Seoul after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The South Korean president says his country will speed up the launch of its military drone unit which will monitor North Korean military installations. The drone unit already in the works is getting this extra push after North Korea flew several drones into South Korean airspace on Monday. CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Seoul. She joins us now with details.
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So, Paula, what more are you learning about this?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary, that's really the latest development. The fact that the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has commented on this now. We did not hear from on Monday when the drones came across into South Korean airspace. But what he said is he believes this has shown that the military does not have a readiness for this kind of incident. And as you say, he is trying to speed up this unit, specifically for the drones. And he also blamed the previous administration for the fact that this unit was not up and ready before.
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YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I think our people have just witnessed how dangerous it is to have North Korean policies solely relying on the north's goodwill and military agreements.
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HANCOCKS: So, this has been called a provocation by the South Korean side. What exactly happened was on Monday morning, at about 10:25 in the morning, the military started tracking these drones. Now, according to the military, the tracking lasted about five hours.
So, there were five drones that crossed into South Korean airspace, one of them came close to the South Korean capital, Seoul, according to the military. And then four were flying around Ganghwa Island, which is just off of the west coast.
So, at this point, we understand from one of the spokespeople that they say it is a clear provocation and an invasion of our airspace. And what the South Korean response immediately was, fighter jets being launched in the air and also attacked helicopters being sent up in the air. There was one incident, we understand, one fighter jet did crash, but the crew was able to safely eject.
Now, we also know that there were reconnaissance aircraft sent by the South Korean defense ministry into the particular -- into Korean border area. And we understand from the military, some did go into North Korea military -- sorry, airspace as well, and they actually took photos of military installations. So, that, in a sense, was a bit of tit for tat by the South Korean's.
It is fairly unusual for this to happen, but is not unprecedented. We had an incident back in 2017, where one of the drones was actually found crashed and it appeared they had taken photos at that point of a U.S. built missile defense system. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, many thanks.
Well, a boat full of Rohingya refugees has finally reached Indonesia. The U.N. Refugee Agency says, it had been drifting at sea for nearly a month. Officials say all those on board survived the treacherous voyage from Bangladesh where about a million Rohingya are living in squalor conditions after fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar. The U.N. says another boat carrying 180 refugees on a similar route is still missing at sea, with all on board presumed dead.
In the U.S. State of Washington, thousands of people were left without power after four substations were vandalized near Tacoma on Christmas Day. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office told CNN they had not been able to identify a suspect or a motive behind the attacks. Josh Campbell has details.
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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): More power substations in Washington State vandalized Christmas Day. Knocking out power for thousands and impacting holiday plans for many. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department says, deputies found evidence of forced entry and damage at all four stations. Nothing was stolen and there are no suspects at this time.
SERGEANT DARREN MOSS JR., PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It's a good possibility they are related. We are going to be investigating to see if this was coordinated by a specific group of people.
CAMPBELL (voiceover): Roughly 14,000 customers were impacted. This, after vandalism and delivered damage were reported last month at substations in southern Washington and Oregon. And a similar incident just weeks ago at power substations in Moore County, North Carolina, where about 40,000 customers were left in the dark for days with temperatures dipping into the 40s. Schools and businesses were forced to close until power was restored. No motive has been announced and no arrests have been made in those attacks.
MOSS: We are aware of those things and we are going to see if any of this stuff was related to that.
CAMPBELL (voiceover): The FBI issued a bulletin last month to private industry, warning of threats to electricity infrastructure by individuals spousing racially or ethnically motivated extremist ideology, "Create civil disorder and inspire further violence."
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The potential attacks on critical infrastructure are being promoted by the right wing. They see it as a way to show disruption, to show power. They also view it as a way to start a race war. December 25th attack, hitting three or four substations is being done to make a statement.
[02:50:00] MOSS: We don't know what the motives are or anything at this time. But again, just a really terrible way to welcome everybody to Christmas morning.
CAMPBELL (voiceover): Amanda Clark (ph) is one customer who had a rude awakening.
AMANDA CLARK (PH), WOKE UP WITH NO ELECTRICITY ON DECEMBER 25: We woke up at 5:30 and the power was out.
CAMPBELL (voiceover): She says she had holiday plans for 12 people at her home. But with no power, she had to cancel.
CLARK (PH): It's scary, in our small little community that something like that would happen.
CAMPBELL (voiceover): Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.
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CHURCH: And just ahead, the U.S. Military Academy is starting to remove all references to the confederacy on its canvas. We will have a report from the Pentagon.
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CHURCH: Freed WNBA star Brittney Griner was able to spend Christmas with her family after being locked up in Russia for 10 months. And she hasn't forgotten other Americans who are still detained abroad. She took to her Instagram account, and asked followers to write to Paul Whelan, a U.S. marine veteran imprisoned in Russia. Griner says, the letters she received during her detention gave her hope.
Well, any known references to the confederacy will soon be gone at the United States Military Academy. CNN's Oren Liebermann explains what's being done to remove them.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The United States Military Academy, more commonly known as West Point has announced that it will start the renaming process for 13 different items and locations at the school that are named after or, in some way, memorialize or commemorate the confederacy.
Chief among those are commemorations of general Robert E. Lee, the commander of the confederate army during the civil war. So, for example, here is a list of some of what will be replaced or renamed or changed in some way so that it does not commemorate the confederacy. There is a portrait of Robert E. Lee that will come down, a bust of Lee as well at Reconciliation Plaza, as well as a bronze triptych at the main entrance of the science hall there.
That's essentially an image or a display that shows in one of the parts of it, a figure wearing a hood that says Ku Klux Klan, that, too, will be replaced. And certain facilities will be renamed, for example, Lee Road, Lee Barracks, Beauregard (ph) Place. All of this will be a process. The superintendent of the school called it a multi- phased approach. So, this will take some time.
In terms of what will come next or what these names will be changed to, there is a committee at West Point that will go through this process and look at recommending different names that are more suited for being at West Point.
Now, all of this is part of the naming commission that was set up back in late 2020 over the vehement objections, the veto of former President Trump. But the naming commission got bipartisan support and its effort was to look at military facilities and bases that are renamed or, in some way, commemorate the confederacy and come up with recommendations for what to change.
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So, the first part of that, look at military facilities. For example, Fort Bragg was changed to Fort Liberty, Fort Gordon was changed to Fort Eisenhower. The second part of that focused on the military academies. So, West point, the United States Military Academy and others. And then the rest looked at some of the other facilities or roads or names or buildings throughout the U.S. military.
It's works, it's reports, now completed. It's now in the process of changing those names so that it no longer commemorates the confederacy. Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.
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CHURCH: And thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN Newsroom after a short break. Do stay with us.
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