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6 Million-Plus Under Winter Weather Alerts as Arctic Blast Takes Shape; Ukraine Says, Russia Launched 132 Drone Attacks Overnight; Democratic Lawmakers Say They Received Bomb Threats on Thanksgiving. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 29, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You were live in the scene of newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

This morning, more than 6 million people are under winter weather alerts. A surge of frigid air is expected to blanket much of the country, bringing the season's coldest temperatures to millions across the Northern and Central U.S. This is a live look over the Adirondack Mountains from Earth Cam (ph). That is absolutely beautiful.

In the Great Lakes, the National Weather Service warns some areas could get paralyzing amounts of snow, heads up for that, potentially causing headaches for travelers trying to get home after Thanksgiving.

Allison Chinchar joins us now. Allison, I could look at that picture of the Adirondacks all day. That was just absolutely breathtaking. But my goodness, it is frigid out there. I mean, it's cold all over.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what, Jim, I know you've got all those holiday, ugly Christmas sweaters tucked in your closet. You're just going to have to bring them all out this week. It's fine, perfect timing.

Yes. I mean, you see scenes like that, and that wasn't the only place that had snow. Look at just these totals from the last 24 hours, portions of New York, Vermont and Maine, all picking up at least a foot of snow. But some areas this weekend could be measuring it in several feet. We're talking three to more than five feet of snow could fall in some of these areas through the end of the weekend.

You're starting to see some of these lake effect bands already beginning to take place, not just in the Midwest, but also into the northeast. And its Lakes Ontario and Erie, that's where the biggest concern is for some of those extremely high amounts of snow that we've been talking about.

You've got alerts out in place in several states here, but it's the lake effect warnings that are of greatest concern. In fact, the National Weather Service Buffalo office saying that for some of these areas around Watertown and the southern suburbs of Buffalo, yes, they could be looking at three to five feet of snow before it's all said and done. Again, that's likely going to cause major travel concerns along the roadways for a lot of these states going forward. And the reason for that lake effect is the combination. Those lakes are still very warm, but the air above them is about to get really cold.

Now, that cold air is in place already across the Northern Plains, Fargo, the current temperature, zero. That feels like with that wind chill, minus 16. Minneapolis, it feels like it's minus two right now. But that cold air is going to continue to spread eastward and even pretty far south in the coming days. When I say south, I mean, all the way down to the Gulf Coast. That's where you several of these freeze alerts in place. Yes, as far south as Northern Florida going to be looking at those bitter cold temperatures. In fact, 70 percent of the U.S. population is expecting temperatures at or below next several days.

And the unfortunate part too is it's not going to go away any time soon. Take Atlanta, for example, this is the next seven days. Every single one of those days, Jim, is going to have a temperature below normal. So, again, even though you get maybe a little bit warmer, you're still not going to get back to where you should be this time of year.

ACOSTA: Yes, it is cold out there. All right, everybody bundle up. Allison Chinchar, thank you very much.

Millions of Americans are flocking to department stores and malls today to snag the best Black Friday deals they can find.

Meena Duerson is joining us now. I guess this is one way to stay warm. You could just go shopping. What are you seeing out there?

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, it's actually quite a busy day at the mall. I think a lot of us are used to doing our shopping online these days, but, you know, there's a huge amount of people who are still heading to the mall and heading to the store to get there, get a jump start on their holiday shopping.

So, we're out here, we've been talking to a bunch of people this morning. I think we have a little sound from somebody that we spoke to earlier this morning who got a little of their -- got an early start.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of clothes. I have a lot of sisters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything, Christmas shopping, just to get it out of the way.

DUERSON: How are you guys feeling about shopping in general this season? Are you feeling like, you know, decent about things this year, about spending money? Like, how are you feeling, you know, going into this season?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're looking for a lot of deals this year. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's one of the many reasons we want to come out today. You know, just trying to find a good deal, especially for larger -- we have larger families. So, you know, one gift adds up for a family member.

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DUERSON: Yes. So, we're seeing a lot of people who are telling us they're really -- they still enjoy coming to the mall. They still like touching the items. They still want to try stuff on. You know, we're talking to people who really enjoy coming with their parents. They want to shop in person. It's a family activity. They still trust the deals that they see in person maybe more than things that they're seeing online.

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And, you know, it's a way to get out of the house. It's something to do. And it's something that -- you know, they only have a few weeks left until Christmas. So for a lot of people, you know, this is a little condensed holiday season and this is like a kick-start to that this weekend.

ACOSTA: All right. Meena Duerson live for us at the mall, thanks so much, Meena. I appreciate it.

You might want to check your fridge this morning. More than 10,000 cartons of eggs sold at Costco across parts of the southeast are being recalled over possible salmonella contamination.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now. Jacqueline, what do people need to know?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Jim, there are so many Costco shoppers out there who will want to know about this. So, this recall is impacting five states, like you said, involving more than 10,000 cartons of eggs. The supplier, Handsome Brook Farms, issued this recall of its organic pasture-raised 24-count eggs sold under the Kirkland Signature brand. And these eggs were distributed to Costco stores in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

What shoppers should look for, the recalled a cartons contain the best by date of January 5th. They also have that UPC number that you see there on the screen. So, that's what you want to look out for.

And, Jim, the supplier said that these cartons were not supposed to be sent out to retailers. So, this does seem to have been a mistake. The concern here again is the possibility of salmonella contamination. That's why this recall is happening. If you do have these eggs at home, take them back to the store. Do not consume them. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes, please be very careful right now. All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much.

Coming up, a very important story to bring you coming out of Australia. Australia is becoming the first country in the world to pass a social media ban for children under 16. I can hear a lot of parents out there paying attention right now. Could this be a blueprint for other countries across the world? The reaction from social media is ahead.

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ACOSTA: All right. New overnight, Ukraine says Russia launched 132 drone attacks, but most were shot down. At least eight people were injured. These latest strikes come after Russia again pounded Ukraine's power grid yesterday. A million homes were plunged into darkness, and rolling blackouts covered much of the country as the war grinds into its third winter.

President-elect Trump has named his choice to serve as special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, retired General Keith Kellogg, a national security adviser in the first Trump administration. Months ago, Kellogg laid out his peace plan for the war, which may now become the diplomatic road map ahead.

And joining me to talk about this, CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger, who is also the White House national security correspondent for The New York Times and the author of New Cold Wars. China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West.

First, David, what do you think of General Kellogg in that selection there?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SEUCRITY ANALYST: Well, it's an interesting choice because, Jim, at that, at the beginning of the invasion, now nearly three years ago Keith Kellogg was very much in the, we can't let the Russians do this or gain from the war camp. Like many Democrats and Republicans, but mostly Republicans, he's now moved to a, we need an armistice or some kind of cessation of fighting on the way to a bigger peace plan.

Now, I actually think this makes sense but what they're going to have to get over Jim is the thought that, at the end of the day, the Russians will have gained maybe 20 percent of Ukraine, because you can have an armistice, but if it's like the one in between North and South Korea from 1953, you know, the North gained territory from it.

ACOSTA: Right. I mean, it's all pointing in that direction in terms of Trump's picks for his foreign policy team. I mean, I guess Senator Marco Rubio might lead you to believe otherwise, but it does seem as though the incoming president is going to put some pressure on Ukraine to give up territory.

SANGER: Well, the outliers here, of course, were Senator Rubio, who also took a pretty hard line, and Mike Waltz, the new national security adviser. The fact of the matter is that the president has indicated pretty clearly here that what he's interested in is a deal. He's not interested in sharp lines around what were the territorial boundaries of Ukraine. And that's a difference.

And, you know, in many ways, Jim, it's a deep ideological difference, because President Biden, and he repeated this in a statement yesterday after the pounding attacks on the Ukrainian grid that you were describing, basically said, we're with Ukraine all the way and Russia cannot emerge from this a winner.

And in an armistice, Russia may well end up getting, you know, a good bit of territory, not what they wanted, which was the whole country. And the fear, of course, that's what comes later.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, that leads me to this question. Couldn't the Ukrainians just do what they want? I mean, do they have to bow to this pressure if it comes from the Trump team to put down their weapons and give up territory for peace?

SANGER: In a word, Jim, no, because they need the American support, the American weaponry.

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Europe, NATO could continue to supply them, and I'm sure that through the summer, they could probably make it through. But the fact of the matter is they are running out of people. That's the main problem. They are running out of new troops out here. And eventually they will run low on ammunition.

But, you know, what's happened here is what happens in so many wars that Russia gets into, that Russia or before that, the Soviet Union, they start slow and then they build up mass.

ACOSTA: And Kellogg was part of some multiple investigations of the first Trump administration, apparently listened in on Trump's phone call pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate the Bidens. He was on Trump's January 6th call to his vice president demanding that Pence block or delay Congress' certification of the election law. He's very much a Trump loyalist.

SANGER: He's a true loyalist. And if President Trump says, I want a deal, he'll do a deal, you know, along the way.

There are some concerns that he comes from sort of a older school here of foreign policy and a very military background, and that maybe you want an experienced diplomat here who has been involved in longstanding diplomatic enterprises like this. But, clearly, President Trump wanted a loyalist, as he has wanted in so many other jobs.

ACOSTA: Yes. We're seeing that across the incoming cabinet.

All right, David Sanger, thanks as always. Good to talk to you. I appreciate it.

SANGER: Great to be with you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Now, to the Middle East, where the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding for now. Thousands of people who fled the south are trying to get back home despite warnings from both the Israeli and Lebanese militaries that it may just be too soon.

As for Gaza, no let up there. A photojournalist captured the moment when an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Nuseirat, an area of the enclave where several refugee camps are located. Reuters reports at least 40 Palestinians died in Gaza following airstrikes overnight, most of them in Nuserat. On Israeli television today, when asked if he's ready to end the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not ready for that.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins me now from Tel Aviv. Jeremy, let's start with those pictures from Nuseirat. What can you tell us about that attack?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very dramatic images, Jim, of these massive explosions happening in this Nuseirat area of Central Gaza. And this is notable for a couple of reasons, first of which is that the main fighting in Gaza over the last several weeks now has concentrated in Northern Gaza.

This Nuseirat refugee camp is in Central Gaza. And yesterday, it appears that Israeli tanks entered a part of that city. Today, they withdrew from at least a portion of that city, according to local officials, but the fighting, still appears to be ongoing.

According to Al-Awda Hospital, at least 31 people were killed and brought to that hospital, 127 others were indeed injured. And it just shows that, you know, 14 months into this war, the fighting is still very much continuing and so is, of course, the dying, not only by bombs and bullets but also as we are seeing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continuing to worsen. In the northern part of the Gaza Strip, UNRWA has said that 82 of 91 U.N. trucks that they have tried to send to Northern Gaza have been denied entry by the Israeli military.

In Central Gaza, we are also watching as the humanitarian situation is worsening due to a lack of supplies that are getting into the Gaza Strip, bakeries shutting down now in Central Gaza. But before they did, long lines at those bakeries triggered stampede several times this week. Today, there were two women who were killed in a stampede in Central Gaza, just showing the absolute desperation that is playing out in the Gaza Strip. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes. Jeremy, what do we know about reports of ceasefire violations on the Lebanon-Israel border?

DIAMOND: Well, today is the third day of this fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Violations of the ceasefire have been claimed on both sides at this point, but, nonetheless, it is still holding up. What is potentially complicating this ceasefire and what could present a risk going forward is the fact that the Israeli military, the Israeli government have made very clear that they themselves will enforce violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah, meaning that not only are they a party to the ceasefire agreement but they're also trying to play the role of enforcing it, meaning going after Hezbollah targets when they feel like Hezbollah is violating this agreement.

And, indeed, I spoke with a senior Israeli official who laid out for me some of the different criteria that they have for carrying out attacks when they believe Hezbollah is violating the ceasefire.

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The first of which is if they believe that there is an imminent threat or if there is a time critical target, meaning a target that they fear might disappear, go out of view of Israeli intelligence and therefore feel like they have to act. In Southern Lebanon in particular, the Israeli government believes and is insisting that they have the right to act against any threat that they perceive, but they are also, they say, going to work through this new U.S.-led monitoring mechanism.

But, clearly, there are going to be instances where they feel and decide that they are going to act unilaterally and without notifying that U.S.-led monitoring mechanism, and other times where they will go through the process that is laid out in this ceasefire agreement.

So, this truce holding so far, but there's no question about it that there is the potential in particular with these actions by the Israeli military, with also some of the violations that are being claimed by Hezbollah for this truce to break down at some point. And also given the fact that over the next 60 days is implementation phase, you're going to see Israeli troops remain in Southern Lebanon, withdrawing progressively over that time. And, of course, with that comes a series of risks as well. But, again, for now, Jim, that truce is holding.

ACOSTA: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks, as always, for the reporting. I appreciate it.

Coming up bomb threats on Thanksgiving, disrupting family time for at least five Democratic lawmakers, it's just the string -- latest in a string of incidents targeting both sides of the aisle.

And next, checking back in with the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, now that Donald Trump is president-elect. That's coming up.

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