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Russia Launches Massive Missile Attack on Ukraine Overnight; U.S to Require Negative COVID Tests for Travelers from China; Southwest Cancels 2,300-Plus Flights Today. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Russian missiles, explosions rattling cities all across the country.

[10:00:04]

Ukraine calling it one of the largest missile barrages since the war began. We know power is out in several regions, including parts of the capital, Kyiv. At least three people were injured there and we're going to take you there live in just a moment.

Plus, the U.S. is reinstating COVID tests for travelers coming from China as Beijing sees a surge in cases, the E.U. now considering doing the same thing.

And Southwest Airlines canceling thousands of flights again today. Passengers missing some of life's most important events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE DEMKO, WILL MISS HER WEDDING IN BELIZE BECAUSE OF SOUTHWEST CANCELATIONS: At this point, because I cannot get there, Michael is there without a bride. It is hard to get married without your bride there.

The word I keep say is devastated, because I don't know how else to explain how we're all feeling right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: More on the company's new a apologies and the changes they're making ahead.

Let' begin though in Ukraine. CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is live there in Kyiv. And, Ben, your team could hear explosions on the ground, you've seen the damage firsthand. Walk us through what your experience has been in the last couple of hours.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard around 9:00 in the morning, Jessica, several loud explosions, and later we went to the scene of where apparently some of the debris of those rockets fell. Now, according to the mayor of Kyiv, 16 missiles were fired in the direction of the capital but all of them were intercepted by the air defenses. However, debris fell in several locations. The first location we went to was a house where two men lived, an elderly man and his adult son. Half their house was essentially destroyed. The son told us that they woke up to this massive explosion, windows shattering, walls collapsing and the falling debris caused their car to explode as well. But they fortunately emerged with mere scratches.

Then we went to another location where it is not clear but it appears debris fell, or perhaps it was actually an errant missile falling, massive destruction in that area. A 14-year-old girl was caught under the rubble. We spoke to her grandmother who spoke to the girl while she was still under the rubble on the phone. The girl hysterical, desperately asking for help as soon as possible. Inside of the house, her mother was also wounded. She went through surgery. It seems to be in more serious condition, and a man nearby was injured as well.

Now, clean-up crews came very quickly to try to put the place these areas in order. But it has resulted, for instance, here in Kyiv, 40 percent of the city is without power. The mayor of Kyiv telling residents to stock up on water and also charge, if possible, their cell phones.

Now, in Kharkiv, in the eastern part of the country, two people were killed as a result of this nationwide Russian barrage. Four of the missiles hit their targets in Kharkiv, damaging what is being described as critical infrastructure. In the far west of Ukraine, in the city of Lviv, the mayor says that 90 percent of the power has been knocked out for the moment.

Now, despite all of this, the Ukrainian authorities are expressing a certain amount of satisfaction. They say 69 missiles were fired from Russia and from Russian warships in the Black Sea. 54 of them were intercepted. Jessica?

DEAN: Ben Wedeman in Kyiv for us, thanks so much for that reporting.

And joining me now to discuss what's going on in Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, he's the former commanding general of the U.S. and Army and Europe and Seventh Army. Always wonderful to see you, thanks for being up with us this morning.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has tweeted that Thursday's missile attacks are one of the most massive barrages since the start of the Russian invasion back in February. I'm curious what this tells you about Putin's mindset and also if this is a response to the Ukrainian counteroffensive that it's made progress in recent months?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Jessica, I think it is a reaction to the counteroffensives both in the east and the southeast, but it is also a reaction of President Zelenskyy saying no to the ridiculous proposal from President Putin in terms of a ceasefire. He knows what is going on there. Zelenskyy does.

But in terms of the strike itself, if I can do some analysis, once again, no military targets. These were all civilian targets and there was no massing at any given point, but rather these missiles were fired all over the country in an attempt by the Russians to avoid Ukrainian air defense.

[10:05:05]

They did not do that.

The missiles were from both sea and airborne Russian platforms, fired outside the boundary of Ukraine, fired from ships and long-range air bombers. The majority of the missiles, as Ben just said and the earlier Shahed drones that were attacking the country were all intercepted, the majority of them. Not all, I'm sorry, But a majority of them, which shows how good the Ukrainian air defense and almost as importantly the shared intelligence Ukraine is getting on the launches and even the rehearsal from the launches.

I was receiving some text yesterday from friends Ukraine who were saying that they knew Russian bombers were up preparing for long-range strikes, so they knew the potential of this attack to occur in the future. It is a very interesting back and forth.

DEAN: It really is. And to your point, the intelligence that they're getting is incredible.

You mentioned the majority of those shot down. Ukraine said it is 54 out of 69 Russian missiles were fired throughout the day were shot down. Do you believe that Ukraine could maintain this kind of deterrence? How long can they do this?

HERTLING: It is difficult. Because what you're seeing again, I go back to the Russians are firing those all over the country. If you look at the map, it goes all the way from Kharkiv and Kherson all the way to the western part in Lviv. So, that means you have to have over a country the size of the state of Texas, air defense systems positioned perfectly to intercept these missiles.

So, the intelligence that when they're about to launch is critical but it is also important on where you're placing not only the systems but even the handheld shoulder-fired weapons to shoot these things down and Ukraine is getting good at it. But, again, both sides seem to be using a lot of ammunition during this fight in this very conventional fight and it is difficult to continue on that kind of level of defense and offense.

DEAN: And we know right now 40 percent of Kyiv is without power. 90 percent of Lviv is without power. Is that Russia's goal here? It seems that -- you mentioned they were targeting civilian targets. They really just want to terrorize people, it sounds like, make it miserable.

HERTLING: Yes, absolutely. The goal is to make things miserable for the Ukrainian people. And what is fascinating is the Ukrainian people have proven their resilience, have continued to rebound, rebuilding the infrastructure, getting the power back on in many places. And they're living through it. I give them huge credit in terms of how they're defending against these strikes and even having vehemence and not willing to take Russian attack without any kind of distress. They're actually countering it with a great deal of resilience. DEAN: They certainly are. And I've talked to people this week that say that that will continue, people there on the ground that say they want to be resilient and they will continue to be.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thanks so much for that analysis. We appreciate it.

HERTLING: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Right now, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is building a massive temporary migrant facility in El Paso, Texas, as the city struggles to provide services to thousands of people.

CNN Correspondent Rosa Flores is live in El Paso with more. And, Rosa, we know the city is struggling to handle this daily influx of migrants who are crossing the border. Walk us through this is expected to ease the pressure and also how this compares to other border surges that you've covered in the past. This one sounds different?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, it is very different because the dynamics are different, the demographics are different. And what officials here say is an unprecedented surge in migrants in their city, that is exactly what that is.

In the past, in prior migrant surges, what we saw were migrants who had a connection with other individuals in the United States. They had an aunt, they had one of their parents in the United States. And so the issue in these border communities was a lot easier. It was to get them out of the border area, cities like El Paso and into the interior to connect to family members.

The issue now is that a lot of these individuals who are arriving don't have family connections. They don't have friends. They don't have sponsors. They don't know anybody in the United States, and so they end up stuck in cities like El Paso and other border areas.

So what is the federal government do about this? So, the Department of Homeland Security has been prepared for this surge linked to the lifting of Title 42 and part of that preparation was to beef up their infrastructure, the processing of migrants as they're encountered at the border. That's where this giant tent facility comes in.

Now, we've seen this federal government do this before in prior surges in 2014, in 2019. That's what the federal government does.

[10:10:00]

They try to provide a way for that processing to be swift, to be fast. But, Jessica, as you know, that is just one part of the process. After that, these migrants are then dropped off in communities a lot of the times if they are allowed to stay in the country pending their immigration proceedings, and then that is where you have a situation like you have here in El Paso, what you see around me, a lot of migrants in this particular case living out in the street.

The shelters that you see behind me is a church that transforms into a shelter overnight. I've talked to the priest there. He, of course, says that he has limited resources and the nonprofit organizations who are very active here on the ground too have limited resources as well. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Rosa Flores for us in El Paso, Texas, thanks so much, Rosa.

And still to come this hour, we're going to speak to that pastor whose church in El Paso has been vital in helping migrants with nowhere else to go. We'll get his thoughts on what the federal government needs to do to address the crisis.

Plus, roads reopen across western New York as drivers in Buffalo are allowed back out. But county officials seem to be at odds with the city's mayor over the response to that winter storm.

And with China easing COVID restrictions, the U.S. will soon require negative tests for anyone traveling from there. The reason behind that decision as the world reacts, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

DEAN: New travel restrictions start next week for travelers coming to the U.S. from China, as China relaxes its own COVID restrictions even as it sees cases rise. The CDC says all passengers from China must provide a negative COVID test. Japan, India, Taiwan and Italy all putting similar rules in place. At the Milan Airport, officials saying almost 50 percent of travelers are arriving from China on Monday tested positive for COVID.

CNN White House Reporter Kevin Liptak is with the president in St. Croix and CNN International Correspondent Paula Hancocks is live in Seoul.

Kevin, let's start with you. Why did the U.S. feel the need to institute these new requirements at this point?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I do think this really reflects the growing alarm among American officials at the surge of cases in China and more concerning than the numbers themselves is what federal health officials say is a lack of transparency on the part of Beijing about what is going on, on the ground there, specifically when it comes to genomic sequencing, essentially what variants may be circulating as part of this surge. And that is what led to yesterday's announcement that these new rules would go into effect on January 5th.

Still among them, any passenger traveling from China to the United States will have to show proof of a negative test that was taken no fewer than two days before they departed. It can be either a PCR test or a self-antigen test that's conducted by a telehealth proctor, essentially a test that you take on a webcam. It will apply to flights from Mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, applied at both direct flights from China to the United States but also passengers who are transiting through third countries. And it will apply to all passengers over the age of two.

But, really, I do think you cannot separate this from the growing mistrust between the U.S. and China that has been building over the last several years, specifically when it comes to COVID. You had at the very beginning of 2020 the Trump administration applying restrictions on Chinese citizens coming from the United States.

Now, there is a key difference in this new rule, it will apply to everyone coming to the United States, American or Chinese citizens or anyone else. It will also apply to all adults who are over the age of two. So, U.S. officials really do hope to get a handle on this in the coming weeks. They say that they don't have a set time for when these rules will expire. It goes into effect next week so they could allow the airlines some time to get the infrastructure in place to start checking these tests. But it certainly does reflect the concern in the United States about what is happening on the ground there in China, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, for sure. And, Paula, what is the reaction from China as even more countries consider following the United States' lead?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well we've been hearing from China even before, in fact, the U.S. came out with the official announcement that it was going to be putting these restrictions back in place. And they did say that it was predictable, what was happening within the country, that it was under control, at this point also saying that all parties need to work together scientifically to ensure the safe movement of people between countries.

Now, of course, the irony is not lost on anybody that China has had the most significant zero-COVID policy and for the longest time in the world. It is a very abrupt dismantling of that policy, which is where we are at this point, which is why there are more countries, specifically in the region as well. South Korea, for example, is coming up with its decision on Friday. We know that Japan, India, Italy, Taiwan have already said that they are going to increase restrictions on China.

Now, we also know that there was one -- two flights, in fact, that landed in Italy, Milan's Airport, and almost 50 percent of the passengers that had landed from China did test positive, this according to the local health chief there. So, that is just one example of what many countries around the world are concerned with.

One interesting point I should point out, though, is that the global virus database did point out that China is uploading and sharing more information with them about what is happening within the country.

[10:20:00]

And at this point, they believe the genome sequences shared so far are effectively what is circulating in the world at the moment, and has been since July.

Of course, publicly, though, China has said that it's going to no longer give the daily COVID numbers. It is refining the definition of what a COVID death is. And so, certainly, from that point of view, there is concern around certain countries. Jessica?

DEAN: Right, a lot concern from public health officials. Kevin Liptak and Paula Hancocks, our thanks to you both.

Up next, Southwest flightmare could be easing solution. The new apology from the airline and a possible solution for the travelers out there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

DEAN: Today, Southwest canceled another 2,300 flights but the pilots union expects to be back to a mostly full schedule by tomorrow. It is a small sign of progress. Some passengers also finally reuniting with their luggage, in some cases, after a week. Look at the joy on their faces. This comes as the airline's chief commercial officer announced stranded passengers can now make changes online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN GREEN, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: You know by now, all of the flexibility and planning that we've put in place to deal with the storm just wasn't enough. And so we've extended flexibility for self-service travel changes through January 2nd, and meaning that if you have travel plans with us before then, you shouldn't need to get on a call or stand in a line and you could make any flight changes you need to at southwest.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live at Chicago's Midway International Airport. Adrienne, how is this extension impacting travelers and what is their reaction to all of this?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For some travelers, the extension doesn't matter because they were not able to get where they're needed to be. For example, one woman we heard from was stranded in Baltimore. She was trying to get to her sick grandmother. Unfortunately, her grandmother died on Tuesday and she never made it. She told us that is time that she will never get back. She wasn't there to hold her hand of her grandmother during her final hours.

For some other passengers, a little bit of comfort now that Southwest has outlined how they want people to take steps to file for a reimbursement. First and foremost, the airline does not want people to call because their phone system, as you can imagine, is overloaded. Instead they want you to submit your claim online and that is if you have plans to fly through January 2nd. You can submit your missing baggage information online, you can request expense reimbursement online and you could request refunds for those canceled flights.

We did see some folks celebrating right here in Midway who walked out of the doors with their luggage. Listen in. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK KEANE, SOUTHWEST PASSENGER WHO JUST GOT HIS LUGGAGE: I just haven't had this bag in a week. I've been wearing other people's clothes. I want to wear my wardrobe. It is New Year's Eve weekend and I'm going to go out and I'm going to party like it is 2023.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: And he was one of the lucky ones leaving the airport with his luggage. It is easy to notice if you can see the bags that were once here yesterday have been removed. They are at a secure site here on the airport grounds. I'm told they will be transported to their original destination. Jessica?

DEAN: Honestly, Adrienne, after the last several days, it is just nice to see people with smiles on their faces, like getting some sort of good news, if that is your bag or whatever it may be. Adrienne Broaddus for us at Chicago's Midway Airport, thanks so much.

And this morning, city of Buffalo is bracing for flooding as temperatures jump this week and melt all of that snow from the storm. Mayor Byron Brown tells the city is slowly reopening after the deadly blizzard. We know at least 37 people died in Erie County alone and officials fear they may find more victims as the snow melts.

CNN National Correspondent Athena Jones is joining us now live from buffalo. And, Athena, we also know there has been some back and forth between the county executive and the mayor over how this storm was handled. What more can you tell us?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jessica, that is right. County Executive Mark Poloncarz, who has been -- you've seen him in the press conferences with daily updates, he's complained that Mayor Byron Brown, the mayor of Buffalo, hasn't really been engaged with the rest of the county and other municipalities when it comes to planning and coordination. Take a listen to what Poloncarz had to say followed by Brown's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK POLONCARZ, ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK COMMISSIONER: I just don't want to see this anymore. I'm sick of it. I'm a city resident myself. I live in the city of Buffalo. And it pains me to see the other 25 towns and two small cities opened in times when the city isn't.

And I know the mayor is not thrilled to hear it. I don't care anymore. I want it done.

MAYOR BYRON BROWN, BUFFALO, NEW YORK (voice over): We will continue to improve. We will continue to work to do better. But hysterics from leaders is not what the public is looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so, certainly, that criticism is not going to end. Just today, there is going to be some kind of after-action report, one would imagine. But I can tell you that here in the city of Buffalo, things are beginning to get back to normal. The driving ban has been lift. There is now just a travel advisory.

[10:30:00]

They're still trying to get people to not come onto the roads unless they really need to.

Just last hour, I don't know if you remember this, last hour, behind us, there was a huge pile of snow being removed.