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CNN International: Blizzard Expected to Blast Parts of U.S. and Cause Travel Delays; Republican Candidates Campaign Ahead of Iowa Caucuses. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 26, 2023 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianca Nobilo. And if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.
A source in Washington says a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden administration officials in the coming hours to discuss the next phase of the war against Hamas.
The Ukrainian Air Force says it has struck a Russian vessel carrying drones in Crimea. A Russian appointed official says one person was killed, two others injured and six buildings damaged in the strike.
Now, a blizzard could disrupt travel plans in the U.S. as people head home after Christmas. Parts of the country are being hit with heavy snow, freezing rain and strong winds. More than a million people were under blizzard warnings in Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming on Monday.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on what to expect today.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Treacherous travel conditions as a Christmas Day blizzard set the stage for very difficult driving weather across the plains and parts of the Midwest.
Look at this out of Sioux City, Iowa. On Christmas Day, the plows were out in full force trying to de-ice the roadways and the interstates. That is because they were in the rain-snow mix line. You do not want to be driving on roadways covered with that type of frozen precipitation.
Nonetheless, the worst of the storm is over for Sioux City and in fact, the blizzard conditions are well west of that part of Iowa. You can see that shading of red, that's where the blizzard warnings are continuing right through about Tuesday afternoon for northeastern sections of Colorado.
[04:35:00]
The winds are going to pick up. The snow will reduce visibility for several hours at a time and it is not recommended to travel throughout that part of the country. Extending across Nebraska and South Dakota for the next 24 hours or so. This is the low-pressure system responsible for the blizzard weather, the rain-snow mix and the ice that you saw in the video just a moment ago coming out of Sioux City.
Now on the cold front, the leading edge of the system, weather not cold enough for snow but certainly impactful weather from Atlanta to Charlotte as well as the nation's capital as this cold front advances eastward.
We're anticipating rain showers that could impact the I-95 corridor for instance. But the low-pressure system that brought the wintry weather across the nation's midsection is going to move on, dissipate as it does so and kind of fizzle out in terms of its strength for that part of the U.S.
But along the East Coast, this will be more of a rainmaker so everybody trying to get home from their holiday plans will be impacted by that. And you can see the rainfall accumulation heaviest across the western sections of the Carolinas.
And there's the snowfall totals across the Plains, look at South Dakota, could pick up maybe another 6 to 12 inches of that wind-swept snow as the winds pick up out of the north-northeast and that is going to drive in the colder air and the below-zero wind chills for that part of the country.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Harvard University's board appears to still be backing embattled President Claudine Gay amid calls for her resignation. According to the school's newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, some key members of the university's faculty and top governing body held an extraordinary meeting last week to address all the issues. But no one discussed the controversial issue of the removal of the president.
Gay has been facing calls to step down over her handling of anti- Semitism on campus, allegations of plagiarism and plunging applications.
Police in Georgia say they're investigating a Christmas Day swatting call made on representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's home. A caller to 911 claimed that he had shot his girlfriend at Greene's address and then threatened to kill himself. Police spoke with Greene's security team while they were on their way and determined it was a prank. The conservative Georgia Republican says it's the eighth time now that she's been swatted.
The Republican candidates for U.S. president aren't taking many days off for the holidays, as you might imagine. Crucial votes are coming up in Iowa and New Hampshire in the new year, as CNN's Omar Jimenez explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Candidates for president are celebrating Christmas, but it's hard to imagine that Christmas is the only thing on their minds with just three weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.
Governor Ron DeSantis, for one, is out with a Christmas message. But campaign-wise, the New York Times is reporting that one of his closest advisers has privately told multiple people that at this point in the campaign, it's about making the patient comfortable, a reference to Hospice Care. Now, the Times also reported that the campaign provided a statement from that same adviser denying those remarks.
But the DeSantis campaign is one that has slid from its initial expectations over the past few months or so. And we now are learning that the leading super PAC supporting the DeSantis campaign is pulling its TV ads or canceling its TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire to instead focus on the ground game in those early states. So, there is a separate outside group that is focusing its attention on TV ads.
Meanwhile, one of the candidates that's been surging is Nikki Haley, and she's hoping to keep her momentum going after the holiday, the momentum that she's seen leading into this one as well. That said, poll-wise, she still trails former President Trump, who spent Christmas Eve raging against the legal cases against him at this point. Writing specifically on social media.
Joe Biden's misfits and thugs like deranged Jack Smith are coming after me at levels of persecution never seen before in our country. It's called election interference. Merry Christmas.
He's, of course, facing multiple criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions at the state and federal level for a variety of allegations. But specifically in the election subversion or the undermining case out of D.C.
Trump's team urged a federal appeals court to throw out that case because he claims he has -- he's protected by presidential immunity. The next hearing in that case is on January 9th, a week before the Iowa caucuses. And that's separate even from the Trump team waiting to hear over whether the U.S. Supreme Court will take up their case out of Colorado. Where the Colorado State Supreme Court ruled that he wasn't eligible for their ballot because of the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.
[04:40:00]
Now, because of what happened there, candidates have reacted, including Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy. They've said they don't want to beat Trump in the court system, in the justice system. They want to beat Trump at the ballot box. And now when we get past the holiday here, there's no events for any of the candidates scheduled today or tomorrow.
Really, Wednesday is when things are going to get back going on the campaign trail. And these candidates are going to be trying to make up some ground when it comes to Trump in this final sprint to Iowa. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: A California judge has ruled that X, formerly Twitter, will face a court battle over unpaid bonuses. Staff say that they were told they would still receive their annual bonuses after Twitter was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in October of last year. But those bonuses were never paid, despite repeated assurances from executives before and after the deal closed. The company tried to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that oral promises should not be binding and the case should be heard in Texas. But the judge ruled that California law applies and the case will move forward.
When Apple opens its U.S. stores for business today, one thing that won't be on the shelves is its Apple Watch Series 9 or some other newer models. And that is because the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that Apple's latest watches violate patents registered to another company.
On Christmas Day, the deadline for U.S. President Joe Biden to overturn that ruling came and went. There is a precedent for that sort of intervention. Back in 2013, President Obama vetoed a similar ruling, but no dice this year.
So, for now, Apple can't sell its latest watches in the U.S. until it makes some approved changes.
When it comes to expensive fine dining, sustainability is not usually on the menu. But one zero-waste restaurant hopes to be the first of its kind.
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NOBILO: Welcome back. A London restaurant is trying to shake up the world of fine dining by focusing on sustainability. It serves decadent gourmet dishes while promising that nothing goes to waste in the kitchen. CNN's Anna Stewart takes a trip to Silo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are few industries as indulgent as the world of fine dining. You come with an empty stomach. You leave with a lighter wallet. And for a few sumptuous courses, you forget about the world outside.
But these days it's hard to ignore the green impact of everything we do, including where we eat. So that's why I'm here in East London where one restaurant wants to change how you think about food.
DOUGLAS MCMASTER, FOUNDER SILO: My name is Douglas McMaster and I'm the father of Silo Restaurant.
STEWART (voice-over): An alumnus of restaurants like Noma in Copenhagen, Douglas founded Silo hoping to create the world's first zero waste restaurant. It's a noble and lofty goal that can be summed up in simple terms. It doesn't have a bin.
MCMASTER: Zero waste in one word is nature. There is no bin in the jungle or in the ocean or in a desert.
STEWART: It's a perfect circle.
MCMASTER: Exactly. It's a perfect circle. And that's what we aspirationally want to achieve with Silo.
STEWART (voice-over): When Douglas says zero, he means it. Nothing that comes into Silo comes out as waste. All the raw materials are reused.
MCMASTER: This is every cork we've ever wasted.
STEWART (voice-over): There's no disposable packaging and every part of the produce eventually makes its way onto the table. The result is a high-end menu unlike any other.
MCMASTER: Sometimes we describe our food as supernatural peasant food. A peasant would like, you know, utilize everything.
My pedigree was the world's best restaurants. And so, my nature, my training is of a very, very high standard. I personally believe, seeing the world's best restaurants, that what we're doing is world class. The fermentarium.
STEWART (voice-over): With nothing going to waste, there are big flavors to be found in every nook and cranny of the restaurant.
MCMASTER: Wild!
STEWART: It's like a thousand percent crab.
MCMASTER: Yes.
STEWART (voice-over): And behind every dish, there's a sustainable story to be told.
MCMASTER: Amazake ice cream. Amazake is sake wine before it's fermented into alcohol.
MCMASTER: There we go.
STEWART: LOOK at that. IT'S
MCMASTER: basically rice. Rice that sailed over from Portugal on a pirate ship.
STEWART: On a pirate ship?
MCMASTER: I was in Copenhagen and this boat pulled in. This pirate ship pulled in to this event that I was doing. And it was delivering wine into Copenhagen in barrels. So, talk about pre-industrial food systems. An actual pirate ship sailing over with just the wind and the waves. So, emission-free cargo. STEWART: It's delicious. I love this.
STEWART (voice-over): This eco-friendly movement is being noticed by the food industry. Michelin now has a Green Star award for sustainable restaurants.
Silo got a Green Star in 2021. And in 2023, so did Apricity. A restaurant in London's Mayfair focused on seasonal, low-waste dining.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, table one. Two doughnuts. Follow pate soup to follow two lunch pollock.
STEWART (voice-over): Its founder, Chantelle Nicholson, says going green can go hand-in-hand with high quality.
CHANTELLE NICHOLSON, CHEF AND OWNER, APRICITY: To, I guess, sound a bit cliche, you can have sustainable luxury. I think for me, it's about the notion of a circular economy, which is very much when you kind of distill it down, it's common sense.
You value things to the maximum. So, we're very conscious about where we get everything from, how we cook, our wine list. And then it's all about joy. Dining should be about joy. So, we've kind of done the hard work for you by doing all the thinking and all the bits behind the scenes so that you can just come and enjoy yourself.
STEWART (voice-over): That commitment to sustainability doesn't stop with the food.
Apricity is decorated with upcycled chairs and all-natural exposed walls. While back at Silo, Douglas has taken an even more radical DIY approach.
MCMASTER: So, the lights you can see on the walls in the restaurant are made out of our wine bottles. And these are plates made out of wine bottles.
STEWART: These are your wine bottles.
MCMASTER: Yeah. This is literally what you would see in the street. It's just like crisp packets turned into this.
STEWART: Really? This is just rubbish.
MCMASTER: It's just rubbish. Brilliant, beautiful rubbish.
STEWART (voice-over): Rubbish is not a word we often associate with gourmet cuisine. For Douglas, it's just another way to think differently about the way we dine.
MCMASTER: There's a brilliant quote that sums this up perfectly from Desmond Tutu.
[04:50:00]
And he said, there comes a point where you have to stop pulling people out of the river and instead go upstream and find out why they're jumping in. It's about prevention rather than healing a symptom.
STEWART: Well, I think your work is delicious.
MCMASTER: Thank you. It's the greatest compliment that you could give me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Still ahead, a Christmas bonanza for football fans. The Chiefs, Eagles, Ravens and 49ers all in action. We'll have the results just ahead.
Plus, there's still a chance to end the year more than half a billion dollars richer if you're lucky. Details coming up.
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NOBILO: Apparently, Santa Claus needed some rest and relaxation after delivering all of those Christmas presents and eating all of the cookies. So, he decided to take in the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders.
And check out the special guest on his arm. Pop star Taylor Swift. And she is, of course, dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelsey. If you didn't know.
Neither Santa nor Taylor Swift could bring the Chiefs a Merry Christmas on the field, though. So, a pair of turnovers in the first half resulted in touchdowns for the Raiders.
[04:55:00]
They would go on to upset the Chiefs 20-14.
The Philadelphia Eagles have expanded their division lead with a 33-25 win over the New York Giants. Jalen Hurts threw for more than 300 yards, including this touchdown pass to D'Andre Tryon Swift.
And out on the West Coast, the Baltimore Ravens dominated the San Francisco 49ers. The Ravens intercepted five passes on their way to a 33-19 victory and sole possession of the best record in the NFL.
And the stories in the spotlight this hour for you. It was a special Christmas for hundreds of pups and their new families in Pennsylvania. As for the first time in nearly 50 years, all the dogs at the Adams County Shelter have been adopted and are spending the holidays in their new home. Look at all of those empty kennels. The facility said it adopted out nearly 600 animals this year and reunited 125 strays with their owners. The shelter will now start taking in animals from other shelters across the state. Very good news.
Atlanta Zoo got a rare delivery on Christmas Eve. A baby rhino. Park officials are beyond excited and say the newborn is with its mother and is doing very well. This is the first southern white rhino to be born at Zoo Atlanta. They say the species, classified as near threatened in the wild, is especially vulnerable because they travel in herds, making them easy targets for poachers.
And just in case Santa didn't bring you all that you wanted for Christmas, you can buy almost anything your heart desires if you hit the Powerball jackpot on Wednesday. So, no one picked all six numbers from the Christmas Day drawing, so the jackpot for Wednesday has grown to an estimated $685 million. The cash value is about $345 million. So not a bad way to usher in a prosperous new year.
That does it here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining me. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London, and "EARLY START" is up for you next.
