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Alaska Airline's Missing Door Plug Found; GOP Presidential Candidates Campaigning in Iowa; Congress Announces Spending Deal; Moon Lander from NASA Launches Into Space; Antony Blinken to Meet Top Israeli Officials; 3 Officials Suspended In Maldives For Mocking India's Modi; U.S. President Travels To Charleston In Coming Hours; House Republicans Planning To Impeach Alejandro Mayorkas; Season's First Big Winter Storm Impacts Flights, Roads. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 08, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world, and streaming on CNN Mas. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, the door plug that blew off midflight on an Alaska Airlines plane has been found. Why it could be critical to figuring out what happened.

U.S. Congressional leaders reach a deal on government funding but isn't enough to avert a shutdown.

And for the first time in decades, a high stakes mission to the moon is blasting off from U.S. Soil.

Good to have you with us. And we begin here in the United States where investigators say the missing part of the Alaska Airlines plane that blew off mid-flight has been found. They say a Portland school teacher contacted them after he found it in his backyard on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: We are really pleased that we -- that Bob found this. He took a picture. I can just see the outside of the door plug from the pictures, the white portions. We can't see anything else. But we are going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Investigators had been searching for the door plug since it blew off the aircraft Friday while the plane was at an altitude of 16,000 feet. They even asked for the public's help locating it. Investigators also say that the plane's cockpit voice recorder was completely overwritten and there's nothing on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HOMENDY: The cockpit voice recorders aren't just convenient for the NTSB to use in investigations, or the FAA to use in investigations. They are critical to helping us accurately pinpoint what was going on. And it's key to safety. For Alaska Airlines, they want to know affirmatively what was occurring in the cockpit. Anybody who learned how to fly is taught, aviate, navigate, communicate.

Communication is key. Why? Because the flight crew on the flight deck do not have situational awareness to what is going on in the back. They need to know what's going on in the cabin. So that communication needs to occur. They have to know how quickly they need to land. And if that communication is not recorded that is unfortunately a loss for us and a loss for FAA and a loss for safety because that information is key not just for our investigation but for improving aviation safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: In the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident, some companies are temporarily suspending use of their Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. There are 215 such planes operating worldwide. In the U.S. United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have grounded their fleets for inspection. International companies include Turkish Airlines, which has 21. A Fly Dubai spokesman says the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet in its fleet don't use the same configuration and are not affected.

Geoffrey Thomas is editor-in-chief and managing director of Airlineratings.com. He joins me now via Skype from Perth, Australia. Appreciate you being with us.

GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Hey, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, now that the door plug that blew off that Alaska Airlines has been located by a resident in his backyard, investigators will pick it up and analyze it in an effort to find out what happened, what all will they be looking for when they examine the store plug?

THOMAS: Well, they'll be looking for damage to the door where it was attached to the fuselage and the frame there, and maybe a part that's failed or several parts that have filled. So, this is key. Of course, they've also obviously got the aircraft itself and they would've been examining what was left of the door frame, whether the door came away.

[02:05:03]

So, the two together will piece together the situation and highlight where the problem occurred.

CHURCH: And according to Alaska Airline in the days before the incident, pilots had filed several reports of warning lights indicating a loss of cabin pressure. What more are you learning about that or what does it tell you and should the plane have been grounded at that juncture?

THOMAS: Well, yes, I have heard those reports of the pressurization issues, which would certainly indicate a problem, a leak of some kind, something not quite right. But mind you, that door, all of those doors on only at 737 and on every aircraft have warning lights to say whether they are closed or not and that the pilots would never take off with the door that wasn't properly closed.

So there seems to be some sort of problem with, obviously, with the door, with the linkages, with the warning systems. And I'm sure we're going to find that it is simply, not simply, but it is a part issue, a faulty part, and that may apply to several other aircrafts as well. And that's where I think this is going to lead.

CHURCH: Interesting, and of course, in addition to the door plug being located, the cockpit voice recorder has also been found, but it was apparently completely overwritten. So that won't be useful. But what about the flight data recorder. What could that reveal with this?

THOMAS: Well, the flight data recorder will record a variety of parameters about the flight. It probably will not lead to any helpful information with relationship to this door coming away. The cockpit voice recorder, however, would've given us some excellent insights into how the crew performed, and that's always very useful.

Again, while that's very helpful from that perspective, to learn how they handled it and lessons will be learned from that. It's not relevant, probably won't be relevant to actually what caused the door to come away.

CHURCH: And what does all of this potentially mean for the many Boeing 737 Max 9e plane that have been grounded here in the United States and of course across the globe until they figure out what went wrong?

THOMAS: Look, it will take Boeing and the NTSB a few days, I would imagine, to identify exactly what the problem was. And while they are waiting to find out what the issue is and then a fix, those aircrafts will remain grounded. The NTSB suggests once they do understand exactly what the problem is, it will take between four and eight hours of work to rectify the aircraft and get them back in the air.

CHURCH: Our thanks to Geoffrey Thomas joining us from Perth, Australia. Appreciate it.

THOMAS: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, there's just one week left until the Iowa caucuses where Republican candidates for the U.S. presidency will see if the campaigns are strong enough to take on former President Donald Trump for the party nomination. Polling shows Trump remains the most popular among Republican voters with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley his closest competition.

They spent the weekend campaigning in Iowa along with other GOP candidates. While Trump maintains a large lead over DeSantis and Haley, his current legal battles could spell disaster if they don't go his way. He is due in Washington Tuesday for a hearing on whether he has presidential immunity in the ongoing federal election subversion case. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out of the race late last year told CNN's Jake Tapper that Republicans need fresh leadership going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I ran for president because I think different times call for different leadership, Jake, and I'm hoping that the good people of Iowa that I got to know so well in my campaign, the good people of New Hampshire and South Carolina will look at this moment and recognize that elections are about the future and we need new leadership in the Republican Party. We certainly need new leadership in the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. Congressional leaders have announced a spending deal for government funding, in 2024. President Biden welcomed the news on Sunday, saying that it is a step toward averting a potential government shutdown later this month.

[02:10:03]

The agreement calls for nearly $1.6 trillion in spending, with almost $900 billion of that going towards defense spending. But this deal does not eliminate the threat of a shutdown altogether. It will still need to meet two upcoming funding deadlines and approved bills to keep the government running. CNN's Arlette Saenz has details.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden appear to sign off on congressional leaders new funding agreement Sunday saying the statement that it moves the country one step closer to preventing a government shutdown. But real questions remain. Whether lawmakers will be able to pass pieces of legislation before January 19th, which is that first funding deadline.

Now this agreement was struck by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The two men agreed on a $1.59 trillion top line spending level that includes about $886 billion for defense spending and $704 billion for non-defense spending. There is also an additional $70 billion that could be allocated to non-defense spending that was part of a side deal struck by President Biden and then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last spring.

These overall figures track very closely to the agreement that had been arranged when they came to that debt limit deal last year. A deal that wrinkled a lot of House Republicans and already there has been some opposition expressed to this latest deal that was struck by congressional leaders. The House Freedom Caucus expressing frustration with the figures that are included that it does not include more spending cuts. They said, in a post, that it was, quote, "a total failure."

There is also some concerns that conservatives could use this government funding deadline as leverage to try to force more strict immigration and border policy changes. There is also a real question about whether lawmakers will be able to have the time to write these pieces of legislation, allocate all the funding, and actually get these bills passed with that first deadline coming up on January 19th and a second deadline on February 2nd.

Now, President Biden in his statement said, quote, "congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down the government and fulfill their basic responsibility to fund critical, domestic and national security priorities including my supplemental request. It's time for them to act."

That reference, to the supplemental request is still up for debate right now up in the Senate and in the House. Senate negotiators have been working to try to see if they could reach an agreement on border policy changes. That is something that people have been stressing for before they pass aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Now, these are two issues running on separate tracks, but it really speaks to some of the hurdles and the challenges facing lawmakers in the coming weeks as they are trying to avert that first deadline by January 19th. Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in Wilmington, Delaware.

CHURCH: There is a growing outcry over Lloyd Austin's undisclosed hospital stay with some Republicans calling it unacceptable and shocking. The Pentagon says the U.S. defense secretary is still in hospital but is recovering well. They do not know yet when he will be released.

And this comes after revelations that President Joe Biden and senior leaders were kept in the dark about Austin's whereabouts until Thursday, three days after he checked into the hospital following complications from an elective surgery. Austin later issued a statement saying that he could've done a better job of notifying the public.

And in just a few, minutes the U.S. is expected to launch its first lunar lander to the moon since NASA's final apollo mission in 1972. Details, next here on CNN.

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[02:15:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, a high stakes mission to the moon is set to begin in just moments. A rocket launching from Florida's Cape Canaveral will carry the first U.S. lunar landing in decades. Peregrine is loaded with equipment that will gather date for future moon missions, but it will also carry mementos from other countries, including photographs, novels, and a piece of Mount Everest. And human remains will also be on the flight on behalf of two space burial companies.

Now, this is expected to become the first commercial mission to land on the moon as part of NASA's collaboration with private space companies. And joining us now is CNN's aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien. Always great to have you with us.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Rosemary, a pleasure.

CHURCH: All right, let's just listen in because the countdown has begun. Let's watch this together.

UNKNOWN: T-minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, we have ignition. And lift off of the first United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket. Launching a new era in space flight to the moon and beyond.

UNKNOWN: Two good SRB's hitting peak pressure in the SRBs. Everything looking good. (Inaudible) programs in coming into normal rates for that event. We have good hydraulic pressure on both engines. Good chamber pressure on both engines, everything looking good.

CHURCH: All right, it's looking pretty good, Miles. Let's go back to you. It's the first U.S. moon mission in decades to launch with NASA scientists and human remains on board. What is the goal on the significance as this as we watch these pictures live?

[02:20:02]

O'BRIEN: Well, first of all, it's been 50 years since the United States attempted a soft landing on the moon. That was Apollo 17 teen, you may recall or at least I recall. And so, there is a historical piece to all of this. Putting this into the larger context of why this is happening now, this is part of the overall effort by the United States in its so-called Artemis mission, to put people back on the moon in the next few years.

And this time instead of just planting flags and leaving footprints behind, the idea is to build an outpost there. And so, what NASA did about four or five years ago is gave contracts to about 14 private players to fly payload and landers to the surface, first and foremost, just to get used to doing that so that you have the ability to carry freight to and from the surface if need be.

And also, to put some instruments on the ground to characterize the environment a little better. It's been 50 years since we've been there. The instruments are better. We know a lot more about the surface of the moon. For example, we know now that there is a liquid water ice there. Understanding the radiation environment, the dust environment. A whole host of things is what leads NASA to this moment, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Miles, after the first historic moon landing in 1969, why after all these years are we suddenly seeing a renewed international space race to the moon?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting. A lot of theories about that. And a lot of people (inaudible) -- because of the unique nature of that moon race and the amount of money that was spent in that timeframe, in the midst of the Cold War, honoring the wishes of a martyred president, et cetera, we sort of inserted a piece of 21st century technology in the 20th century.

And so, we were way ahead of our time then and we really weren't prepared to stay there budgetarily or otherwise or technologically. And so, we spend some time on the Space Shuttle, built the International Space Station. And now the push is to eventually go to Mars. And the thinking which I think is pretty sharp and smart is that if you're going to go to Mars, you might want to learn how to live on an outpost on the moon first, which, is a matter of a few days away as opposed to the better part of the year to get there.

So that's what we're seeing right now. This is part of an (inaudible) overall -- NASA to get to Mars and the moon is the first stop. And guess, what a lot of other nations would like to join along including the Chinese, the space program in India has been making noticeable strides recently. And I think a lot of people in the space business say the more, the merrier.

CHURCH: And this rocket is carrying the first lunar lander to launch from the United States since NASA's final Apollo mission in 1972, as you mentioned. What is at stake with this, do you think?

O'BRIEN: Well, you want it to be a success, of course. But this is an untested rocket we just saw. The centaur (ph) rocket -- excuse me -- the Vulcan rocket built by the United Launch Alliance. It has engines, main engines that were built by Blue Origin, the company founded by (inaudible) under Jeff Bezos. Untested engines and an untested rocket. (Inaudible) important right there, there's a lot of risk involved in that.

And that particular rocket is in line to do a series of national security missions for the United States Space Force. As well as to launch Amazon's version of Starlink, which is the SpaceX internet capability in orbit. And amazon hopes to match it with its own program. And, so it's already booked, this rocket is. So, a lot is riding on its success today.

And I will tell you this, Rosemary, you know, to see a brand-new rocket launched exactly on time as predicted is a good sign. Now, it's had several years of delay to get to this point, but the fact that they had a countdown without any huge problems speaks to the success they're having so far. But space is hard. Don't forget that.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Very exciting to watch this along with you. I know you are very excited about all things space as am I. Miles O'Brien, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And, we'll be right back.

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[02:25:00]

CHURCH: America's top diplomat is set to meet with Israeli officials this week as Israel's war against Hamas enters its fourth month. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now in Abu Dhabi. The latest stop in a weeklong high stakes trip as tensions in the Middle East flare. Blinken says one key focus of talks in the region is working to prevent a wider conflict from erupting. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following developments from Tel Aviv.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well after a multi-country tour throughout the region, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to touch down in Israel this week for discussions with Israeli leaders on a number of fronts. This visit comes at a really critical time, not only for Israel's military campaign in Gaza, that continued war there. But also, broader fears of an escalation in the region particularly in the wake of what appears to be a targeted killing that Israel carried out in the suburbs of Beirut, taking out a senior Hamas political leader sparking concerns of a regional escalation.

The fact that those daily skirmishes that we have seen between Hezbollah and Israel could potentially break out into a much more significant war. Israeli officials have been warning that the diplomatic window to avoid a military confrontation with Hezbollah of a much larger scale, that window is closing.

[02:29:54]

And the secretary of state making very clear in Doha on Sunday that he is aiming to try and avoid a broader regional war. Of course, beyond the potential for regional escalation, he will also be meeting with Israeli officials to discuss the next phases of this war in Gaza as we hit the three month mark now of this war started on October 7th when Hamas carried out attacks on Israeli towns and civilians.

But the secretary of state will also be discussing of course the potential for trying to get hostages out, just a number of issues on this agenda all coming at a critical time. And it also comes of course as the secretary of state is saying that Israel needs to do more to protect Palestinian civilians inside of Gaza. And on Sunday, we saw just the latest instance of an Israeli airstrike seemingly taking out civilians. In this case, two journalists, two Palestinian journalists including the son of al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, Wael al-Dahdouh. His son Hamza al-Dahdouh also a journalist working for al Jazeera, 27 years old, killed alongside another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya. Their car was struck by a missile according to al Jazeera while they were traveling in southern Gaza.

Now, the Israeli military has not responded to our request for comment on this incident but they have said in the past that they do not target journalists and they take precautions to try to avoid civilian casualties. Now, the Committee to Protect Journalists says that more journalists have been killed in the first ten weeks of the Israel- Hamas war than have ever been killed in a single country in an entire year.

Al-Dahdouh attended the funeral of his son which happened shortly there after. And he said that he hopes that his son's death would be the last of all journalists being killed in Gaza.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Some officials in the Maldives are now facing consequences after insulting India's prime minister. We'll have a live report just ahead.

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[02:35:31]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Three officials have reportedly been suspended in the Maldives for mocking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In online post, they called him a clown, terrorist, and a puppet of Israel after Modi shared these pictures of a recent trip to promote tourism.

CNN has reached out to the Maldives government for comment.

And CNN's Vedika Sud joins us now from New Delhi with more on this.

So, Vedika, what is the back story to how this all unfolded?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before I get him to what happened on last Thursday, that's when Indian prime minister posted the visuals that you're talking about on social media, we have to go back a bit, the election of the president of Maldives.

Now, this man has a pro-China approach according to analysts and a part of his campaign was India out. Until then, we've seen his predecessors, especially the one he run against putting India first in terms of diplomacy for the country. And now, we have a president who's actually in China as I speak to you on a visit, on a state visit there and that has been seen by many analysts as a snub to India because usually and traditionally, we do see the presidents, once they're elected, making a trip to India first.

Now, coming back to last Thursday, you have the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lakshadweep, which was just off the southwestern coast of India. It's a chain of islands there and he was promoting local tourism through videos, and images that he had put out on social media. And that to a lot of people also could've been, you know, they thought that he was trying to push Indians to travel to Lakshadweep and promoting tourism in that area.

And that wasn't taken away by some people in the Maldives including that the officials that you spoke of and that led to comments by them for which they were suspended. Ever since then they have been a damage control mode, the Maldivian government, there has been a statement from the government as well and I'm going to read from that, Rosemary. It says the government of Maldives is aware of the remarks and social media platform against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal, and do not represent the views of the government of the Maldives.

There, you could see the government distinguishing itself from those comments. Now, now clearly, we all know how important this very small country is. It has about half 1 million people, the location of Maldives is so important in the Indian Ocean region and there has been a battle for influence in the region by China and India. There's been a competition of rivalry there.

Now, we spoke to Michael Kugelman who talks to us more about the geopolitical influence of this area, and how important Maldives is in terms of its location. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KUGELMAN, DIRECTOR, SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE AT THE WILSON CENTER: I would argue that South Asia has really become one of the biggest battlegrounds for India, China competition, and the Maldives is right in the middle of that. For many years, India had by far been the most influential external player in the Maldives. But things have changed in recent years and we had had a leader in the Maldives some years ago, Abdulla Yameen, who took a decidedly pro-China position. But then his successor turned back to India.

And so, now, we have the situation where India I think has to be on its toes in a sense that it knows that it's going to face some challenges to its relations in a country where Beijing is very key to maintain a strong influence as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUD: According to a senior officer in the foreign ministry here in India, the Indian commission in Maldives has taken up this matter and strongly condemned the comments made again in the Indian prime minister. But, clearly, Rosemary, this is not the end of this issue, perhaps was just given the rising tension between the Maldives and India.

Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Vedika Sud, joining us live from New Delhi.

Well, it is a mix of icy sculptures, structures, and snow. The annual ice and snow festival is underway in southern China, and the fun filled event is already breaking its own attendance record this year.

CNN's Leila Harrak reports.

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LEILA HARRAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a winter wonderland, we won't see anywhere else. The Chinese city of Harbin saw a record number of visitors, over the New Year holiday weekend during its annual ice and snow festival.

Well, this eye city features intricate sculptures, and structures, all growing from within, all, of course, made entirely of ice.

[02:40:06]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's quite nice and quite shocking, when I thought for the first time, I thought about it very well in the ice very transparent.

HARRAK: Well, this year, officials say that an average of about 30,000 people entered the park every day. It's nearly doubled pre- pandemic numbers. The festivities have sold out every hotel. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The booking was pretty

difficult. For booking hotels, we spend 2 to 3 days before we found a suitable hotel. Tickets for ice and snow world were sold out online. So we brought them on the secondhand website.

HARRAK: The state media says this year's festival covers 810,000 square meters, nearly nine meters square feet, and features 250,000 cubic meters of ice.

Rather fitting spectacle as temperatures over the New Year holiday dropped to nearly minus 25 degrees Celsius, or minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit. But the cold hardly stopped those itching for fun, after the last two years of holiday cheer were stifled by varying degrees of pandemic restrictions.

Because this is the first winter holiday since the pandemic was lifted, and everyone can't hold back. We've been sealed for several years. So we want to go out and relax to release the stressful feelings from the pandemic.

HARRAK: Harbin's ice festival will shine bright until early March.

In the meantime, the aptly nicknamed Ice City shares its ice, art, and animals with visitors looking for something cool to do.

Laila Harrak, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Very nice.

Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international and Max viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next.

After everyone else, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stick with us.

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[02:45:48]

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers in North America. I'm Rosemary Church.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to travel from Delaware to South Carolina in the coming hours where he will speak at a church in Charleston. The historically Black church, Mother Emanuel AME, was the site of a mass shooting in 2015 when a gunman opened fire on a bible study group, killing nine people.

Biden's visit comes as a key South Carolina Democrat is sounding the alarm for the Biden campaign, ahead of November's presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES CLYBURN, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I'm very concerned and I have sat down with President Biden. My problem is we have not been able to breakthrough that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Clyburn says he's met with Biden to express his concern. His endorsement of Biden ahead of South Carolina's primary in 2020 was widely seen as key to Biden's victory in that key state.

The U.S. Homeland Security secretary is expected to visit the U.S.- Mexico border in the coming hours. Alejandro Mayorkas' visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as House Republicans are planning to impeach him.

More Republicans have become open to the idea of his impeachment amid the recent surge of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border.

CNN's Manu Raju has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Behind the scenes, House Republicans are planning an aggressive push to potentially impeach Alejandro Mayorkas sometime in the next several weeks, potentially in the first quarter of his year. This is according to new reporting from my colleagues Melanie Zanona, Anna Grayer and myself.

We are hearing that House Republicans are growing increasingly confident that they can have the votes to actually impeach Mayorkas. This is a shift from some time ago when there are a lot of Republicans who simply did not know what they believe were essentially a policy dispute with the Biden administration, rises up to that very high bar in the Constitution, high crimes or misdemeanors, and a charge that has not been leveled against a cabinet secretary since 1876, only one other time in history, that was a secretary of war, William Belknap, back then.

Alejandro Mayorkas could be the second because of how House Republicans are going after what's considered a crisis at the southern border. This uptick in migrants crossing the Southern border and what Republicans believe is Mayorkas' failure to deal with it.

Now, whether it shifted here is a view among some of the swing district Republicans. We talked to several of them, saying that they are open to the idea of impeaching Mayorkas. Some of them said they are fully on board, like Congressman Anthony D'Esposito of New York, a freshman Republican who told me that they absolutely should be impeached.

But there is still a very narrow margin for Speaker Johnson to get this through. Johnson will have to contend with a very narrow majority that's getting even slimmer with resignation upcoming as well as his top Deputy Steve Scalise going to be out for health reasons for the next month, so he has to limit his defections, potentially to only one vote if it comes down to it. And one Republican, we are told, Ken Buck of Colorado told us he

believes that going down this path could be a dangerous precedent. He is not opposed to impeaching Mayorkas, but vote counting will be central here. Now, the Homeland Security Department is pushing back on this saying the house majority is wasting, quote, valuable time. They say impeaching him, charging him with a high crime is simply out of bounds and simply does not line up actually happening on the border.

But the House GOP controls majority, and immigration has become a defining issue in 2024. What issue that is unifying Republicans which is why many of them believe it is more likely now that Mayorkas would get impeached and then Joe Biden, where a lot of Americans simply say they have seen the evidence yet to suggest that Joe Biden committed a crime while in office. So that issue is continuing to play out. The investigation into Biden.

But Mark Green, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee tells us that he expects a handful of hearings not to go on and on about the Mayorkas' impeachment, and then potentially an impeachment vote in his committee bypassing the House Judiciary Committee. That is the plan at the moment, taking us straight to the floor. But will they have the votes to get there, that is the main question. This remains a big focus for House Republican as they return to Washington.

Manu Raju, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Nearly 70 million people across the U.S., Gulf Coast and Southeast are at risk for severe weather this week. According to the nation's storm prediction center, tornadoes, damaging wind, flooding and rain could be on the way to those areas Monday and Tuesday. And just days after the season's first big winter storm, another storm is expected to trek from the southwest to the Northeast, this week.

It could deliver heavy snow, blizzard conditions, strong winds, and potential tornadoes along with the possibility of serious flooding.

As for that first big winter storm that hit the U.S. this weekend, CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Hartford, Connecticut, with a look of its aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as forecast has predicted, the storm dumps some of the highest snow totals that we have seen throughout the northeast in a while, in light of several cities reporting the least snowiest year on record. You can imagine, there are many people actually looking forward to this system here.

Here in Hartford, Connecticut, the state's capital. As you can see, according to the national weather service, a little over 10 inches of snow fell since Saturday night. Now, that storm slowly making its way out of the region. You certainly see people starting to head out.

Because of the timing of this storm, transportation officials said that provided them the upper hand in terms of keeping those plows on the road. These are pieces of equipment that have been stored away since the last plowable snow reported here a little under a year ago.

GARRETT EUCALITTO, COMMISSIONER, CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORATATION: Most people will be off the roads including the commercial traffic, so it's going to give us our space, we need to do to do our job. The fewer people on the road, the easier it is to clear the roads from the snow.

SANDOVAL: And, really, one of the biggest impacts was flights for example at the nearby Bradley International Airport, about 20 percent of their flights this weekend were canceled, another 20 percent were delayed. Officials there say that they continued with snow removal operations. But as you can imagine, an event of this magnitude would disrupt operations.

In neighboring New York, some parts of the Hudson valley experiencing a foot of snow, airports there fairly minimal impact.

Reporting in Hartford, Connecticut, Palo Sandoval, back to you.

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CHURCH: Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the woman who plotted to have her boyfriend kill her abusive mother 2015 is speaking out after serving eight-and-a-half years in prison. You may familiar with Blanchard's story which has been depicted over the years in various documentaries and TV series, such as HBO's 2017 "Mommy Dead" and "Dearest", and Hulu's mini-series "The Act" in 2019.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister just spoke with her about life after prison.

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GYPSY ROSE BLANCHARD, RELEASED AFTER SERVING 8 YEARS FOR SECOND DEGREE MURDER: I am enjoying my new freedom.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gypsy Rose Blanchard smiling and free, released on parole after serving eight- and-a-half years of a ten-year prison sentence. Blanchard pleaded guilty to second degree murder in 2016. After she and then boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn hatched the plan to kill her mother Didi. Godejohn admitted to stabbing Didi to death. He is serving a life sentence without parole.

Do you feel that the time you served was justified for your role in your mother's death?

BLANCHARD: You know I did something wrong and I take accountability for that. I acknowledge that. I did my time.

WAGMEISTER: Blanchard's journey from childhood to now released convict is one of trauma, deception, murder, and ultimately, a new marriage and independence. Her harrowing story documented in an upcoming series on lifetime. BLANCHARD: My mother controlled everything I did. I was forced to use

a wheelchair. She started telling people that I had cancer. But none of it was true.

WAGMEISTER: Gypsy was the victim of a rare disorder called Munchausen by proxy in which a caregiver, in this case Gypsy's mother Debbie fakes, exaggerates or induces illness in a child to gain attention.

BLANCHARD: I started to feel like it was either her or me.

WAGMEISTER: Do you think if it were just you, would you have been able to go through with this act of killing your own mother?

BLANCHARD: Absolutely not. I think it is very important for people to understand that I was brought to a breaking point. I could never kill someone. And so, in a desperate situation, I had asked this request of Nick thinking I had no other option out.

[02:55:04]

WAGMEISTER: What do you think your life would look like today if your mother were still here?

BLANCHARD: I would still be under this medical abuse that I was going through. I don't think that there would have been an end in sight for me. I honestly think one of two things would have happened. Either she would have eventually got caught, but too late to save me or I would have been killed from all of the medical malpractices, the surgeries, the medications, all of that takes a toll on a body, especially if you don't need the medications or surgeries.

WAGMEISTER: Despite her mother's decades long victimization, Gypsy says she actually forgives he actually forgives her mom.

Now, if your mother were here today, what would you tell her, Gypsy?

BLANCHARD: I would say that I understand, like I see her in the way that she was not an evil woman, she was not a monster. She was just a sick woman and she would have needed a lot of mental health care. I see her for who she is now, or who she was.

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CHURCH: Hollywood's award season is back in swing. It comes after a rocky 2023 that saw months of strikes as actors and unions fought with major studies to better pay and benefits. The Golden Globes kicked off the season Sunday night honoring the best in film and television.

Allie Wong and Steven Young made history winning for their roles in the Netflix series "Beef". They are the first actors of Asian descent to win in their categories and it wasn't the only historic moment of the night. Lily Gladstone became the first indigenous person to win the award for best actress in a film drama, "Killers of the Flower Moon".

Meantime, Barbie took home the award for cinematic and box office achievement, a new category for films that perform well at the box office but may not be recognized during award season. The film was made by Warner Brothers, part of CNN's parent company.

But it was "Oppenheimer" that dominated the film side, winning five trophies including five best director and best motion picture drama. And, they have it. That's a little wrap there.

And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN news room after a short break.

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