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Russia Hit Ukrainian Cities with 120 Missiles; Southwest Airlines' Safety Issue Put into Question; Fires Killed 11 People in Cambodia; U.S. Impose New Travel Restrictions; Pope Benedict's Health Weakens; CNN Saw Firsthand Russia's War in Ukraine. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 29, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Alison Kosik.

Ahead on CNN Newsroom, relief is still days away for many Southwest customers as we enter day eight of the airline meltdown. I'll talk to an aviation expert about the federal ramifications.

Plus, we'll have a live report on a deadly fire at a casino in Cambodia that's left seven people dead.

And Pope Francis says Pope Benedict is very sick and asks for everyone's prayers. The latest from the Vatican.

We begin with what Ukrainian officials are calling a massive missile attack on cities across the country. The Ukrainian air force says Russia is attacking from various directions with air and sea-based cruise missiles.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Kyiv. Ben, what's the latest? What are you hearing?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing from Ukrainian officials is that at least 120 missiles have been fired so far today from Russia to Ukraine, hitting basically every major metropolitan area in the country, including of course, Kyiv where we heard just a few minutes ago a distant thud. Lviv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, and other cities as well.

Now, here in Kharkiv there doesn't appear to have been any major damage. One house was damaged from falling debris from a downed missile. There was also some damage to an industrial enterprise and a playground. But in other areas it appears that the damage may be more severe.

In the western city of Lviv, the mayor says that 90 percent of the power has been knocked out there. There they have suspended the trams and trolleys. In the city of Kharkiv there were also reports of explosions there. The metro, the subway has been suspended. So, it does appear that this seems to be a nationwide attack by the Russians on the -- on Ukraine. Now, this was not unanticipated.

Several days ago, there was an attack on the Engels 2 air base well inside Russia. Ukraine did not claim responsibility, but it was assumed that it was done by that. And it was only a matter of time. It was widely believed, that before the Russians took revenge for that. Alison?

KOSIK: All right, Ben Wedeman live for us in Kyiv. Thanks very much for your reporting.

Now to the travel fiasco for Southwest Airlines, passengers are facing another day of cancellations today as the carrier struggles to get back on track. A pilot's union representative says it looks like the flight schedule will be mostly full by Friday.

The airline has canceled more than 2,300 flights for today, but that number drops to only 39 cancellations by Friday. Airports are filled with long lines of Southwest passengers trying to rebook as piles of luggage continue to grow.

While other airlines were covered from last week's winter storm fairly quickly, Southwest has not. On Tuesday, Southwest accounted for 84 percent of cancellations among all airlines in the U.S. On Wednesday, that number jumped to 91 percent. And for today, it's at 99 percent.

CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo joins me now from Charleston, South Carolina. She's a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Thanks for being here.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Thank you. Good be with you.

KOSIK: So, these cancellations continue to snowball at Southwest Airlines and this mess incredibly still has days to go before people actually get to where they need to go. I'm curious what your take is on this. What happened here? Is this just bad luck because of the weather which wound up colliding with bad planning, or is there more to this?

SCHIAVO: There's more to this because Southwest has been having problems for several years. In the last two years, they've had several major mess up snafus because of computer problems.

[03:05:00]

And then recently, also in the last few years, they've had several citations or violations from the Federal Aviation Administration. And while initially they said it was weather, eventually they put out a press release that said the real issue is that their computer infrastructure could not keep up with their operations. They didn't know where their planes were, they didn't know where their pilots were.

So, at that point, once they admitted that, it turned into, you know, what I would consider, and hopefully the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation consider major safety issues, something that has to be resolved, and it's simply not the weather at this point. It's far more.

KOSIK: You mentioned that there were citations and violations, you know, already in the past, but clearly, it hasn't made an impact with Southwest Airlines because they've had these issues before. They -- they're having them now. Even if the airline's chief operating officer said that the company's outdated scheduling software became the main culprit of these cancellations.

So, they know the issue. They've had the issue in the past. They've been issued citations and violations. but there hasn't apparently been any change, so what leverage does the federal government really have?

SCHIAVO: The federal government actually has a lot of leverage. The question is whether they're going to use it and not just one area of the federal government, not just one branch.

For example, the United States Department of Transportation and its Federal Aviation Administration needs to address this very promptly as to the effect on safety and the effect on the national aerospace system. Not only has Southwest said they could not keep track of their planes and pilots.

And since aviation, including navigation and maintenance and safety really is a giant computer program. Everything runs on computers. And so, the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration really looks in -- needs to look into whether they're able to run a safe operation and whether they're even able to be a big major national aviation operation.

And of course, they also have a few international flights. So that's first and foremost. The other body of government that needs to be looking into this. Of course, United States Congress and U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and they really need to evaluate whether it's time to re-regulate the airlines.

In the past, they have punted. They said, we're going to do a passenger bill of rights. It has really never a materialized. Because once the airlines were deregulated decades ago, all of that customer service, you know, customer amenities, what you do for customers when they have been stranded, dumped, overbooked, et cetera, was really left to the airlines.

And even this week, the United States Department of Transportation has said, well, we'll wait to see if the airline does the right thing. That's ridiculous. At this point, Congress needs to say the right thing does not serve the United States. It does not serve the passenger. And it could have a ripple effect around the world. So it's time for Congress to look at the law and whether it's time to get tough and re-regulate the airline operations.

KOSIK: Do you see Congress really reregulating the airline industry?

SCHIAVO: Well, they should, but what they're going to do is what they always do is they're going to tinker around the edges. They'll say, well, we're going to get tough and we're going to make them, you know, give passengers more rights.

Well, you know, the airlines are not the Constitution of the United States. It is -- it is the, you know, the government that can return some of the rights to the passengers. And so in the past when we've had meltdowns and we've had other airlines meltdowns and other airlines have done so in the past.

Congress has said that they're going to act. In fact, at one point they did pass a passenger bill of rights, which basically said you can't be stuck on a tarmac for more than three hours. And at that point you have -- you're allowed to be, you know, off aircraft. Or the government will find the airlines, but the fines go to the government, not to the aggrieved passenger.

So, that's usually what Congress does, but it has really gotten to the point where you cannot conduct business or you cannot conduct your lives in the United States and rely on the airlines. And that's really ridiculous for a, you know, a major nation, nation of the size of the U.S. to be at the mercy of underperforming airlines.

KOSIK: Mary Schiavo, thanks so much for being here.

SCHIAVO: Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you.

KOSIK: With COVID cases surging in China, the United States will soon require all travelers from that country, including Hong Kong and Macau to test negative for COVID-19 before flying to the U.S. They're the latest officials to announce such a restriction joining the likes of Japan, India, Taiwan, and more who have similar measures in place.

The new U.S. restriction begins on January 5th requiring travelers to be tested no sooner than two days before their flight. They'll have to show proof of that negative test before they can board. This applies not just to Chinese citizens, but citizens, but anyone who's been to China within 10 days of their flight.

[03:10:00]

Meantime, Chinese officials maintain everything is under control with the country's response to the rising COVID cases.

CNN's Selina Wang has more from Beijing.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As China finally abandoned zero COVID and starts to open up, other countries are putting in place restrictions on travelers from the country. The U.S. will require all travelers from China to show a negative COVID test result before flying to the U.S.

Before we got this official announcement, Beijing responded to potential travel restrictions from the U.S. by defending its COVID policy, accusing western media for hyping up China's COVID policy change and by urging countries to work together.

This is what else the ministry of affairs spokesperson had to say. Quote, "China has always believed that the measures taken by countries to prevent the epidemic should be scientific and moderate and should not affect normal people to people exchanges."

Now, the irony here is that since the start of the pandemic, China has had some of the strictest border controls in the world, but now that the country is finally easing up and cases are surging, other countries are getting nervous.

In addition to the U.S., Japan, India, Taiwan have put COVID testing requirements in place. In fact, Taiwan and Japan say if the traveler from China tests positive for COVID upon arrival, they'll have to quarantine for several days.

Now, China has stopped reporting daily COVID cases on a national level, it's severely narrowed its definition of COVID deaths. Only reporting a handful of COVID deaths for the entire month. But Beijing says, look, everything is under control. Yet we know that hospitals are overflowing with elderly patients, and crematoriums across the country are overwhelmed. Fever and cold medicine are scarce.

The big concern from some countries like the U.S. is the lack of data from China that could help detect new variants. GISAID, the global consortium that maintains a database of COVID sequences has said however, that China has ramped up the amount of data it's submitting, and that all the genome sequences shared so far closely resemble the variants already circulating in other parts of the world since July.

But the U.S. says the data shared from China isn't enough. And look, it's not as if China has totally thrown open its own borders. China's border still remains largely close to foreigners, apart from a limited number of business or family visits.

Selena Wang, CNN, Beijing.

KOSIK: In Buffalo, New York drivers are once again allowed to get behind the wheel and try to go about their lives. The driving ban was lifted a few hours ago, almost a week after the winter whiteout began. And all state highways have since reopened. Police and National Guard troops have been doing welfare checks in neighborhoods that lost power. And other emergency crews are checking on people who called 911, but could not be reached during the height of the storm. Authorities are reporting at least 37 blizzard related deaths in Erie County.

Victims trapped by fire jumping to their deaths to escape flames. Still ahead, we'll have heartbreaking eyewitness accounts about this fire in Cambodia.

Plus, the former pope who's been referred to as, quote, "God's Rottweiler" is said to be very. We're live in Rome with the latest on Pope -- Pope Emeritus Ben -- Benedict.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik. Catholic leaders including Pope Francis are urging the faithful to

pray for former Pope Benedict, who is reportedly very sick. He became pope in 2005 and resigned only eight years later. A decision that shocked the world. The Vatican has not shared any specific details about his current condition.

But let's bring in Barbie Nadeau who's live for us in Rome. Barbie, I know Pope Francis has called for prayers and the Vatican isn't really giving out many details. I'm curious though, at least if the former pope is alert.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, we're hearing lots of mixed reports from people who had seen him recently saying that he was serene but frail. But saying that then other reports that he hadn't really been speaking for the last few days.

It's really hard to understand exactly his condition, but he is 95 years old and he is very frail. He resigned 10 years ago, saying that he didn't think that he had the physical or mental capability to continue being the pope.

One of the things though, about this particular situation. We're an unprecedented territory here because he's a retired pope. It's, you know, if he were the active pope, we would be expecting a lot of updates and information from the Vatican press office.

But because he's a retired pope and in effect a private citizen who lives inside Vatican City, it's not clear how many updates we're going to get and how often they're going to be or if we're not going to get one until there's actual news report, Alison.

KOSIK: Pope Francis has been asking the faithful to keep Benedict in their thoughts. How's the church thinking of him during this delicate time?

NADEAU: Well, you know, the leaders of the church obviously are coming together praying for his, you know, praying for him. I'm not sure that we could say they're praying for a recovery for him so much as praying for serenity. And as the Pope said, to be accompanied in prayer through the end.

You know, as we said, a 95-year-old man in frail condition, you know, we might expect that this, you know how -- we don't know how much longer he might last, but there isn't a lot of hope that he's, you know, going to recover necessarily from this. We know that he's not in a hospital, he hasn't been taken to a hospital. He's in the monastery where he's lived inside Vatican City for the last 10 years.

And this is really just about an elderly frail man who is, as the pope himself said, Pope Francis himself said, you know, nearing the end, Alison.

KOSIK: OK. Barbie Nadeau in Rome. Thanks so much.

A huge fire has killed at least 11 people at a casino in Cambodia with some people so desperate to get out, they leapt to their deaths. That's according to a rescue worker who spoke to CNN after flames engulfed the structure on Wednesday night. He says he saw two people die when they jumped from the building while other people suffered broken legs.

[03:20:01]

The casino, which contains a hotel, is located near the Thai border. So emergency crews from both countries rushed to help. The death toll is expected to rise as emergency crews are still searching hotel rooms for more victims.

Let's bring in journalist Manisha Tank. She is live for us in Singapore.

These details are horrific. Are we getting any details though from officials about what they think may have caused this blaze?

MANISHA TANK, JOURNALIST: Yes, so Alison, so far, we don't know exactly what caused it, but rescue workers who have been on site have been telling us they suspect it started in a lower restaurant and then it spread from there.

I've been having a look at the building. It's a pretty impressive facade and I think many of you will be familiar with the kind of layout that you used to in a big hotel like this. We know that 700 Thais were rescued, that gives you a sense of the number of people that may have been in the building. They've already been taken to Thai hospitals.

To put it in context, even though this hotel, the Grand Diamond Hotel and Casino is in the town of Polpet, which is just over the border in Cambodia from Thailand, most of the people who go there to gamble are Thais. It's also a very popular stop off point for those people who are making their way to Siem Reap.

That is where the beautiful home -- the beautiful temples of Angkor Wat are located. So, it's a big transit town. It's a very important business town as well, in terms of that trade between Thailand and Cambodia.

But I wanted to give you that context because you can imagine that this hotel would've been very busy when this happened. Rescue workers also tell our teams over in Thailand when they arrive, pretty much the fire engulfed the whole building already. Pictures coming out overnight. You have scenes of the dark night sky, bright orange, amber, intense flames rising up (Inaudible) upwards.

And also, I think it's, we have to point out that this is really a race against time when it is a situation like this. People also lost their life already in this (Inaudible). And we know that at least 11 people have died through smoke inhalation. This is something that creeps through every crevice in the building and it is absolutely toxic.

People came out this morning. Onlookers, obviously this blackened (Inaudible) smoke rising, obscuring the sun to see what was happening. But you can imagine all of this blackened smoke really pushing out any sense of positivity this morning. This is what the pictures were as people woke up in Southeast Asia and for this town, which is incredibly popular with many of these tourists.

I also just want to share that (Inaudible) we know that Cambodian authorities, and you mentioned this, are working with Thai authorities. This is because this is very popular with the Thai. The rescue workers were shouting out to try and help in the Thai language. My fear is, and the fear of people around is that death toll will go up. We're going to be monitoring the situation very closely, but rather sad news to wake up to here in Southeast Asia today.

KOSIK: So heartbreaking. Manisha Tank in Singapore, thanks for your reporting.

It's been 10 months since Russia invaded Ukraine and CNN correspondents have been there to cover all of it.

Coming up, Clarissa Ward recalls the frightening first days of a war that many did not believe what happened.

And a silent protest against Iran. Coming up, a female chess player omits a very notable item of clothing during a tournament.

[03:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik. More now on our top story this hour. Explosions and air raid sirens are being heard all across Ukraine, and what Ukrainian officials say is a massive missile attack from Russia.

In cities throughout Ukraine, air defense systems have been activated. Officials say Russia launched at least 120 missiles at Ukraine, targeting essentially every major metropolitan area.

Ukraine's air force says Russia is attacking from various directions with cruise missiles launched from the air and sea. In Odessa, energy providers have implemented emergency power outages to avoid significant damage if the facilities are hit.

CNN's Clarissa Ward was among the team of correspondents in Ukraine when she witnessed the opening salvos of the Russian invasion. Now, as the year draws to a close, she looks back at those harrowing early days of the conflict when it appeared Moscow might actually topple Ukraine's leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Once we had a sense that the invasion was imminent, we made the decision to try to drive to Kharkiv because it is a city that is very close to the Russian border. There had been a lot of troop buildup just beyond that border. We were getting ready to go to bed when I noticed on Twitter that

President Putin was speaking again, which is very unusual at that hour of the night.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): A decision has been made a special military operation.

WARD: And so, we all rushed up onto the roof, and sure enough moments later, we could hear explosions across the night sky.

It's been a few minutes now. We have been hearing a steady stream of loud strikes. It's not clear exactly what they are targeting.

And it wasn't just in the city of Kharkiv where we were, but in cities across the country, which I think had not been anticipated, particularly in the capital of Kyiv.

On the very first day of the war, we saw people flooding into metro stations in Kharkiv carrying all the belongings that they had or could possibly grab with them.

This is an actual subway car here, and if we can pan in, you can see dozens of people are squashed in. They're sitting on the seats there in the dark. There are children here.

One of the really iconic moments for us that we will never forget was the scene on the bridge from the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. There has been a steady barrage of artillery since we got here just over an hour ago, and a never ending stream of people just desperately trying to cross to safety.

President Putin has said his army is not targeting civilians, but the exodus from Irpin tells a different story.

[03:30:04]

Everyone steps in where they can, including us.

What happened? What happened?

We saw people who were clearly traumatized, who were confused, who were discombobulated. There were many elderly people, people who were living alone. They were carrying their pets. They were carrying babies. And we stood there and watched the scene unfold.

And you do feel as a journalist a little bit impotent in that moment because beyond wanting to tell their story, you wish there was more that you could do to help these people.

(CROWD CHANTING)

WARD: Within western liberal democracies there was outrage, anger, and a broad determination to try to respond strongly and in unity.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: This war will be a strategic failure for Putin. When we act together, we are stronger and we really can make a difference.

WARD: China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, other countries had a slightly different perspective on Russia's invasion. They were less willing to condemn it. President Putin made it very clear that he viewed the situation in Ukraine as an existential threat to Russia. The fact that they were so focused on Kyiv, the capital, I think made it clear that for President Putin nothing less than regime change in Ukraine was going to satisfy him.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): According to our information, the enemy has marked me as target number one. My family is target number two. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.

WARD: I think there was initially a question as to how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would meet the moment as it were because of his limited political experience, his background in show business. But what we saw very quickly was the metamorphosis of Zelenskyy into a wartime leader.

He quickly made it known to the public that he was not going anywhere, that he was not going to try to leave the country. He was not even going to try to leave the capital of Kyiv. And he started posting these videos.

ZELENSKYY (through translator): So, I am here. We are not putting down arms. We'll be defending our country because our weapon is truth. And our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this.

WARD: They were made selfie style on his cell phone, just really capturing the sense of the moment and so, so many people around the world were sort of transfixed by this incredible moment and the way in which President Zelenskyy met the moment.

(CROWD CHANTING)

WARD: Nobody really knows how long this war will go on for. There are parties in Ukraine who have said that they believe that it could be over by next summer, but there are also those who say that you shouldn't discount President Vladimir Putin, for whom this has become sort of an existential quest.

And while Russia may be really struggling on the battlefield, and it may be impossible for them to turn this around, I think there is also a sense that they understand that they cannot afford to lose. And so the question becomes, does this transform or degenerate into a stalemate, a protracted stalemate that could go on many months if not years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward there reflecting on her past 10 months covering the war in Ukraine.

We'll be right back. [03:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: A female Iranian chess player who's ranked number 10 in her country did not wear a hijab when she took part in an international tournament. Sara Khadem played in the world rapid and blitz chess championship in Kazakhstan.

According to the Iranian news outlet Jamaran on Tuesday, it also shared a picture of her without the head covering. Hijabs are mandatory for women under Iran's strict dress code. CNN reached out to her Instagram page for comment.

Joining us now with more on this is Nada Bashir. She joins us now. So, Nada, what statement is she trying to make here?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, Sara Khadem is the latest in a string of notable sports women in Iran who have apparently, shown solidarity with the protest movement by removing their mandatory hijabs. And of course, we know that the hijab has been a poignant symbol throughout this protest movement.

We've seen many women removing their hijabs, cutting their hair, even in a show of protest, not only against the regime's severe restrictions on women's rights, but also now against the regime entirely. And it is a brave show of defiance because of course we do know that in Iran this is something that is punishable often for brutal means by the morality police.

But she is the latest in the string of sports women who have done this. We remember back in November we saw Parmida Ghasemi an archer competing in Tehran. She removed her hijab or rather let her hijab fall off during an award ceremony, notably in the stance of solidarity with the protest movement.

And back in October, many will remember the notable rock climber ElNaz Rekabi who was competing in Seoul in South Korea without her hijab. Now Sportswomen are mandated by the regime to keep their scarves on while competing overseas when representing the country. And so of course this is a significant moment of defiance by these sports women.

But what is the concern now is what response they will receive once they are back in Iran. Of course, Sara Khadem was competing in Kazakhstan. We have seen sports people in the past facing pressure and repression by the regime. Some now of course have been speaking under duress when denying taking instance of solidarity with the protest movement.

Even Elnaz Rekabi saw her family home being demolished weeks after competing in Seoul. So, there is significant concern over how she will be met by the regime upon her return to Iran. But of course, this comes amid an ongoing protest movement nearly in its fourth month. And of course, we are seeing now reports of mass executions taking place, detainees facing the death sentence. Alison? KOSIK: A brave move from this woman. Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much. The daughter of Brazilian football legend Pele, shared a photo on Instagram of her family at the Sao Paulo hospital where Pele is receiving treatment.

Along with the photos, she wrote this.

[03:39:57]

These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes there is a lot of sadness and hopelessness. Others, we laugh and talk of funny memories. And what we learn the most from all of this is that we must look for each other and keep close. That's the only way it's all worth it with everyone together.

The family spent Christmas in the hospital after Pele was admitted last month for a respiratory infection and a reevaluation of his chemotherapy for colon cancer.

Now to U.S. football where Miami head coach Mike McDaniel says Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion on Sunday. That's the second one for the Dolphins quarterback this season. His status for this week's game against the New England Patriots is uncertain, and the Dolphins are planning to start Teddy Bridgewater.

McDaniel says Tagovailoa is doing better than the day before, but it's hard to extrapolate beyond that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE MCDANIEL, HEAD COACH, MIAMI DOLPHINS: I'll do what the medical experts advise me to do, and I'm quite certain they're not going to advise me in the wrong direction when it has to do with his health. His health is the first foremost and only priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Tagovailoa played the entire game against the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday. McDaniel says he can't pinpoint exactly when he might have been injured.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Alison Kosik. For our international viewers Marketplace Europe is up next. For those here in the United States and Canada, I'll be back -- I'll be right back with more news.

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Nearly a week after that deadly blizzard began blasting Buffalo, New York, the city's ban on non-essential driving has finally been lifted. Major state highways in western New York have also reopened, but Buffalo remains under a travel advisory with many roads still smothered by snow.

Crews have been trying to clear at least one lane in every city street for emergency responders, but they've been hampered by hundreds of abandoned vehicles trapped in the snowbank.

Meantime, the death toll has grown to 37 in Erie County and could still rise. City leaders in charge of the emergency response are coming under fire.

CNN's Miguel Marquez brings us the latest from Buffalo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Buffalo digging out. Officials here responding to criticism they should have done more.

MARK POLONCARZ, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, ERIE COUNTY: Thirty-five-mile per hour wind gust for three hours straight with less than a quarter mile visibility. This was an extreme blizzard, maybe the category five of blizzards.

MARQUEZ: Casey Maccarone's mother, Monique Alexander (Ph), died in the storm on Christmas Eve. The Buffalo native who had been through many snowstorms here thought this one was the same.

CASEY MACCARONE, MOTHER DIED IN STORM: We were waiting for her to come home. I knew something was wrong right away, though.

MARQUEZ: A simple decision on any other day, life threatening in this storm.

MACCARONE: My kids, they lost their grandmother, and that was her most important role in her life was being a good grandmother. And now they just have memories.

MARQUEZ: In Erie County alone, at least 37 killed in extreme weather in an area accustomed to major snowstorms. For every person who died dozens of stories of those who stepped up and saved friends, neighbors, even strangers.

CRAIG ELSTON, OWNER, C&C CUTZ BARBERSHOP: This is something I always do. I help everybody. There's people out there. There's people freezing their death in a car.

MARQUEZ: Craig Elston was open for business when the extreme conditions started up.

ELSTON: Well, if you need shelter from the 707 Philmore, you can get warm, heat and electricity.

MARQUEZ: He ended up hosting up to 40 people over two days at his C&C Cutz barbershop.

ELSTON: We got to come together and a lot of times people are selfish. So, at that moment I was just thinking about clearly, none of all this stuff, right? I was just thinking about just keeping people warm. It was really that simple.

MARQUEZ: Then there was Sha'Kyra Aughtry who heard a man she didn't know screaming for help. SHA'KYRA AUGHTRY, HELPED SAVE FROSTBITTEN MAN IN BUFFALO: His hands

had big ice balls on it, and with him having those ice balls on his hand, we brought him in my house.

MARQUEZ: Joe White, who is developmentally disabled, lost in whiteout conditions. Aughtry didn't know, but she saved him.

AUGHTRY: We got to get some help. He has gangrene on his hands. How I'm going to -- he's going to lose his finger.

MARQUEZ: The airport is now reopened as Buffalo comes to grips with a brutal year.

POLONCARZ: The tragic story is the losses of individuals in our community, and it is heartbreaking. It's a gut punch. 2022 has been a horrible year for our community in so many different ways, I can't wait till 2023 starts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: What is incredible in talking to these families of victims who died in this storm and people who survived the storm and rode it out is just how quickly the conditions changed. Just how bad it was, and just how rapidly their loved ones were lost in the storm and how quickly people could have died if they were out in it for any period of time.

Two concerns for authorities right now, moving snow as quickly as possible now out of the drains, especially throughout the city because they're concerned about higher temperatures in the days ahead and tons of meltwater, possibly creating some flooding. And then going house to house and figuring out if anyone else is in need or anyone else has expired.

Back to you.

KOSIK: And that warmer air is affecting not just buffalo, but also what looks like more than half of the United States.

CNN meteorologist Tom Sater has the forecast.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sometimes in the winter months wishing for warmer weather is not always the best thing. Look at the snow pack across North America from British Columbia into the Central Rockies. This is just the beginning. Wait till you see what's coming in the forecast for them.

[03:49:54]

Upper Midwest, Ontario. But of course, we've all been focusing on areas such as Buffalo. A year ago, 9.3 inches were on the ground. They picked up a hundred this year. That's six feet above average. There is definitely going to be some flooding going on in this massive melt.

Earlier today is what it looked like in Watertown, one of the better cleared areas. But when authorities say, watch your sewer drains on your roads, keep them from getting ice jammed. Well, how can you find them?

This is looking pretty good, but in most locations the plows have pushed the snow up five, six, even seven feet high. Some areas they can't even find their car. And then you throw rain into the forecast. Not only does that aid the melting process, it accelerates it.

Average high in Buffalo's 34 degrees. Look at they're 20 degrees above average by say seven, got up above freezing or, and everybody is. Earlier today, every city in pretty much in north -- or in the U.S. except for Minot, North Dakota was above freezing. Temperatures will not only be above average. There'll be much above 20, maybe 25 degrees warmer than normal.

Here's the warm front. But mountain snows the first in a series of storms have moved in. See the water vapor? This fire hose we're talking about, this atmospheric river. The winds were also accompanied this. They weren't only category one winds. They were category two knocking out power, hundreds of thousands in parts of Oregon up to upstate New York -- or Washington state that is.

So that system has moved into the desert southwest, and the watches and the warnings are in place, but now it really starts to kick in. Here we go with a series of storms that are moving in. The first one that already moved in. Here comes the second one. This is Thursday into Friday. We've got another one, Friday into Saturday, a fire hose into San Francisco, maybe 10 inches of rain through all of this.

Here comes the next one. That's Monday into Tuesday, and there's another one back behind that. So massive flash flooding, landslide threat. This atmospheric river is going to cause not only heavy mountain snow and travel problems, but I think we're going to see unbelievable amounts of rain in parts of California.

That's the next story to talk about, but first, we'll be watching the melting in Buffalo and areas of the northeast.

KOSIK: Benjamin Netanyahu will soon be sworn in for a record sixth term as Israel's prime minister. It's a stunning political turnaround for a man who has already led Israel longer than anyone else. But first, parliament will vote on his new cabinet. That's set to begin in the next hour.

Analysts expect it to be the most right-wing government in Israel -- Israeli history.

Elliott Gotkine is covering this for us and joins us live from Jerusalem. Elliott, good to see you. I'm curious who is expected to actually make up Netanyahu's cabinet, and what are some of the new prime minister's first priority?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Alison, one of the really interesting things about this is not that Netanyahu is being prime minister, as you say this is the record sixth time for him. It's that for the first time he's going to be the most left-wing minister, the most left wing member, if you like, of that coalition government because his new partners include people who have, or have in the past or still do express views that are homophobic or racist or anti-democratic.

So, it's interesting for Netanyahu that this time round for the first time he is on the left of his current government. In terms of the agenda, this is something that they published yesterday, the kind of principles of their government, their plans.

Now, they're not sacrosanct, they're not legally binding, but this is what the new government says that it will do once it is -- once it is sworn in later today. They say, for example, that today will promote and develop all of the land of Israel in their words. And they specify the Galilee in the north, the Negev in the south, and also, Judea and Samaria, aka, the West Bank.

So, we could see more settlements being built on the West Bank, settlements being unoccupied land being considered illegal under international law. And we could see a bit of a spending binge on infrastructure there.

One of the other plans they outlined was to restore, in their view, in their words, the proper balance between the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. And there are concerns that because Israel lacks a Constitution or a bill of rights, that by diluting the power of the Supreme Court. In other words, giving parliamentarians lawmakers the power to override any laws that might be struck down by the high court will be giving the new government too much power.

One thing I should say, they also included in these plans, presumably with a nod to international concerns about what they might do is that they say that the status quo of religion and state will be preserved, and that includes for holy places this reference to concerns that one of the members of the government or several, including Itamar Ben- Gvir, the new interior minister has advocated in the past for a change to the status quo on Temple Mount as it's known to Jews or ?aram al- Sharif.

Some to allow, for example, Jews to prey there, which they're not currently allowed to do under the status quo. And this is something that could have been an explosive issue here. The new governments saying that they're not planning to make any changes there.

Ultimately, Alison, Netanyahu soon to be prime minister again, has said that the buck stops with him. He's been on a bit of a charm of -- charm offensive doing interviews on international U.S. media. And we even had an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal penned by one (Inaudible).

[03:55:01]

He's said to be finance minister in the beginning and also to be in charge of a civilian matters in the West Bank. Him -- he's been trying to allay concerns as well about changes to the Supreme Court's oversight here. Alison?

KOSIK: All right, Elliott Gotkine in Jerusalem, thanks for all of your great reporting. An amazing opportunity right now to witness a planetary parade in the sky. From now through the end of the year, you can see all of the planets in the solar system after sunset. Yes, I'm talking about Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They should be visible to the naked eye and you'll need binoculars or a telescope to see Uranus and Neptune. Mercury, though is fading quickly from view.

Today is one of the best remaining chances to see them all, assuming skies are clear, of course.

The final mega millions drawing of the year is now up to a cool $640 million. No winner coming from the drawing on Tuesday, and that means there's one more chance to head into 2023 with millions of dollars in your pocket.

The cash prize comes out to about $328 million. The full jackpot that's going to be the largest mega millions prize ever offered in the final week. And it's only the fifth time in history. The Mega millions jackpot has topped $600 million. The final drawing of the year will be held on Friday night at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

I may just buy a ticket for once. And before we go, celebrate the new year this weekend with CNN international. We'll feature special coverage from across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the United States, and even the Metaverse as the world welcomes in 2023 with New Year's Eve live.

Starting in Asia, New Year's Eve live will follow the sunset as celebrations peak in major cities across the globe, beginning at midnight in Sydney. That's 9 p.m. in Hong Kong, or 8 in the morning Eastern Time.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Alison Kosik. CNN Newsroom continues with Bianca Nobilo, next.

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