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Police: Around 40 People Killed in Swiss Resort Fire; Mamdani Publicly Sworn in as New York City Mayor; Donald Trump's Sweeping New U.S. Travel Ban Now in Effect

Aired January 01, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:29]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: I am Paula Newton in New York. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Heartbreak in Switzerland and beyond today. The Swiss President says his country has been plunged into sorrow, this after a fire ripped through a crowded bar inside a ski resort packed with New Year's revelers. Swiss authorities say around 40 people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured, some of them severely. We believe it is likely, most of the victims are young people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUY PARMELIN, SWISS PRESIDENT (through translator): This tragedy was -- happened in a place which was dedicated to fun and good cheer and it is ironic in this respect that it should have happened there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Nada Bashir has been following this story and has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice over): What began as a night of celebration turned into a nightmare. As crowds rang in the New Year, a deadly fire tore through a packed bar in the luxury alpine resort of Crans-Montana in Southern Switzerland. Swiss Police say around 40 people were killed and over 110 injured, many of them severely. Adding it will take several days to return bodies to families.

BEATRICE PILLOUD, PROSECUTOR (through translator): There are quite a few circumstances to be clarified through initial investigations. I would like to point out that as things stand, we are treating this as a fire and there is no question of any kind of terror attack at this stage.

BASHIR (voice over): The fire broke out just after 1:30 in the morning, inside a bar called Le Constellation. Two witnesses told CNN affiliate, BFM-T.V., it may have been caused by sparklers placed in champagne bottles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People shouted "Fire! Fire!" And at first, we thought it was a joke. Then suddenly, there was a very large cloud of black smoke. We could not breathe anymore, and in our heads we knew we had to get out. But there was a crowd and we couldn't leave, so we tried to hide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There were people screaming and then people lying on the ground, probably dead. They had jackets over their faces. Well, that's what I saw. Nothing more.

BASHIR (voice over): The bar is located in the heart of Crans-Montana, an exclusive resort town known for skiing, fine dining and nightlife.

On Thursday morning, authorities closed the area to the public and declared a state of emergency. They added the investigation would look into whether safety standards were met.

Swiss Confederation President Guy Parmelin described it as one of the worst tragedies to have faced his country, saying on social media: "What should have been a happy occasion on the first day of the year in Crans-Montana has turned into a tragic loss that touches the whole country and far beyond."

Few could imagine the first day of 2026 would begin this way. For a resort known for sweeping Alpine views, authorities are now focused on finding answers and preventing another tragedy.

Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now let's bring in Stephen Mackenzie, he is an independent fire and emergency planning consultant.

Stephen, thank you for being back with us.

I mean, look, so many people asking the question, how could this have happened, especially given dozens dead and over a hundred not just injured, but critically injured.

When you are looking at the details here, a confined space, perhaps sparklers being used because it was New Year's, everything that you've learned so far, I mean, what does that tell you about what it would have been like in there when the fire started?

STEPHEN MACKENZIE, INDEPENDENT FIRE AND EMERGENCY PLANNING CONSULTANT: What we've got is another perfect combination of collective factors leading to a tragic life loss event and many, many injured.

We've just seen in the past ten minutes potential footage of the promotion, females with the champagne bottles with the sparklers being lifted up on, some gentlemen shoulders and bringing them in close proximity to the ceiling tiles. The ceiling tiles appear to be combustible, and it has led in this cramped basement area with a low ceiling to a rapid fire spread.

[16:05:17]

Many of these revelers and partygoers were quite young. It will take time to respond to the fire, to react to the fire, and to initiate evacuation.

By this time, this fire appears to have motored on, and it appears there have been challenges with getting to the final fire exits and evacuating and we can see in another social media post, there was a crowd crush incident where persons at the front have fallen and the ones falling on can't see them, so there are people piled high and then we've got others trying to break their way out the upper level to escape the ferocity of the fire.

The fire temperatures in what we call the hot gas layer in the smoke can range from anything above 200 degrees Celsius, start setting fire to your hair and your clothes. Anything above 800 is untenable and temperatures can exceed a thousand degrees Celsius.

Therefore, the fire investigators will be working slow and they will be working sure for the sensitive operations of persons recovery, notifying next of kin and next stage forensic investigations to map out the timeline of what happened from the initiating event to the fire growth to untenable conditions to each and every life loss incident.

And our thoughts are with all the families, the community, the responding emergency services, a horrific incident to respond to.

NEWTON: Yes, the description just of the trauma that the first responders were going through, just overwhelmed by what they saw when they arrived on the scene.

Stephen, as you have pointed out before, there are a litany of these kinds of incidents at nightclubs where young people, a lot of young people that it is crowded, they do not necessarily know where the exits are. It is difficult to get to those exits given what you just described, but potentially how hot the fire would be.

How important is it that forensically they really understand the tick tock of this? Because clearly it is going to paint lessons for people not just in Switzerland or Europe, but beyond. MACKENZIE: Yes. I mean, the fire community, we track all the historic fire incident cases. We lobby the legislators, we lobby the politicians, we try and implement best practice in ever improving fire safety practices until we have another life loss incident of this magnitude. It is only then that politicians wake up and we change legislation.

We really need to be looking at large occupancy clubs and nightclubs and venues and sporting venues again, to look at how we can incrementally improve fire safety and we know from the 2003 Station Nightclub fire, which was on stage, pyrotechnics setting fire to acoustic tiles, which resulted in 100 dead and 230 injured.

We know this and we see it time and time again, so there will be questions for the federal authorities about is the legislation robust? Is the guidance adequate? Do we need to actually license these facilities and actually prove independently that they are safe to be occupied? And then that's going to be the line investigation of this facility that catered for 300. Were there more than capacity, et cetera. So it is a very complicated exercise that we need to look at in its forensic detail and learn the lessons.

NEWTON: And, and so important, given there were so many revelers, young people out all over the world on New Year's Eve, and everyone wants to make sure that they are all safe going forward.

Stephen Mackenzie for us, grateful to you.

Coming up for us, a historic day for one of the faces of the U.S. Democratic Party. Details ahead on Zohran Mamdani's inauguration.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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NEWTON: A message of affordability for the New Year. On the first day of his new job as Mayor of New York, here is what Zohran Mamdani had to say from the steps of city hall just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: I stand alongside neighbors who carry a plate of food to the elderly couple down the hall. Those in a rush who still lift strangers' strollers up subway stairs, and every person who makes the choice day after day, even when it feels impossible to call our city home.

I stand alongside over one million New Yorkers who voted for this day nearly two months ago and I stand just as resolutely alongside those who did not.

I know there are some who view this administration with distrust or disdain, or who see politics as permanently broken and while only action can change minds, I promise you this, if you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And his historic inauguration featured two leaders of the progressive movement, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Now, just after midnight, Mamdani was sworn in at a private ceremony inside a former subway station. Gloria Pazmino joins us from New York. You were at the inauguration. You covered his entire campaign, and he did not back away from any of the expectations that he set for himself during that campaign.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Paula.

I would say that what we saw in the last hour was an absolutely, unapologetically progressive, unapologetically left speech from the new mayor, Zohran Mamdani really doubling down, not just on his proposals like universal child care, but also on his political identity.

He said today that he had been elected as a Democratic socialist and that he would govern as a Democratic socialist and that was one of the moments of this speech that stood out to me, because much has been made about that label, that political label, the Democratic socialism, and whether or not it is something that is actually actionable here in New York City, some of Mamdani's critics have accused him of trying to bring socialism into New York, trying to bring communism into New York. That's what some of his fiercest critics say.

But he said here today, he is not going to back down from any of those proposals, nor that identity. Part of the speech that you played there was Mamdani talking about the identity of New York City, right, and its working class people. Those who live here every single day, who really struggle to make ends meet in what is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

He said that his administration was going to be focused on them to make sure that they can live here in this city, and that this city is not just a place for the wealthy.

Now, there was also a mention of President Trump during Mamdani's speech, and that is going to be a very important political relationship and dynamic to watch as this administration begins, because the federal government and what happens here in New York City are closely tied together.

And we saw that Mamdani and Trump had a pretty positive meeting in the Oval Office last month, but we know that that can change quickly.

[16:15:11]

Take a listen to Mamdani talking about the one thing him and President Trump actually have in common, and that is some voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAMDANI: Few of these 8.5 million will fit into neat and easy boxes. Some will be voters from Hillside Avenue or Fordham Road who supported President Trump a year before they voted for me, tired of being failed by their party's establishment.

But in our administration, their needs will be met, their hopes and dreams and interests will be reflected transparently in government. They will shape our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: So a very ambitious and complicated agenda lays ahead for the Mamdani administration. He wants to create universal child care. He wants to make busses fast and free here in the city of New York. He wants to give rent stabilized tenants a rent freeze, and he wants to pay for all of it by raising taxes on the city's wealthiest residents. That is a controversial proposal, something that he will need the support of from the Governor of New York, as well as the State Legislature and we will see if he is actually able to deliver on those promises, whether by taxing the rich or by finding a different revenue stream to pay for some of those initiatives.

Today was really a celebration for Mamdani and his supporters, people who have really been inspired by his campaign, his candidacy, everything that it has meant to a lot of people here in New York City, especially working class people, immigrants, Mamdani, himself an immigrant from Uganda, someone who was raised right here in Manhattan.

You know, his identity, who he is, I think is something that a lot of New Yorkers have identified with in this moment even though that there are also many who were not willing to support him.

There was a lot of symbolism that we saw during the ceremony today, including the moment when Zohran Mamdani was taking the Oath of Office using a Quran, the Holy Book in Islam using his grandfather's and his grandmother's Quran, also a historic moment as the first Muslim mayor elected here in the city of New York.

So I think there are a lot of people who are rooting for him, want him to succeed. The next four years will bring the hard work of governing a complicated place like the city of New York -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, with implications beyond the city itself.

Gloria, we look forward to your reporting on his tenure as mayor. Appreciate it.

And we continue to follow that tragic news out of Switzerland. Britain's King Charles has now offered his sympathies to the victims of the deadly New Year's party. A fire, we remind you, broke out at the upscale ski resort in Crans-Montana. It happened during a party at Le Constellation bar around 1:30 in the morning.

Now, right now, officials believe about 40 people were killed. More than a hundred others have been injured. They believe most of the victims are likely young people.

Again, so much grief that that community is grappling with at this hour. Stay with us. we will have more news in a moment.

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[16:20:06]

NEWTON: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I am Paula Newton.

A sweeping new U.S. travel ban largely targeting African countries takes effect today. Citizens from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Syria and Laos join 12 other nations whose citizens are already barred from entering the United States. Nineteen countries now face a total ban and 20 nations face partial bans.

The White House defends the move, saying it will "protect the U.S. from National Security and public safety threats."

Now Mali and Burkina Faso have joined a list of countries imposing reciprocal travel bans on Americans.

With more now on this travel ban and how it is impacting Africa, here is CNN's Larry Madowo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's expanded travel restrictions that came into effect on 1st January 2026 have been criticized by some as an effective Muslim and African ban.

Many of the nations with full restrictions are Muslim majority nations -- Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, the Palestinian Authority. In Africa, almost half of countries on the continent now have full or partial restrictions for travel to the United States, 67 percent of the nations with these restrictions are from Africa.

So those that cannot fully travel to the United States include South Sudan and Sudan, Sierra Leone, which was surprising and some major nations are on the partial restrictions list, such as Nigeria and Tanzania.

President Trump has said that he intends to permanently pause migration from all third world nations, and these restrictions track with that. The United States says these nations' citizens pose National Security and safety threats to the United States. The main issue is that some of them have serious deficiencies in their vetting according to The White House, either because they have no functional governments because of terrorism, widespread fraud, citizenship by investment schemes that mask who or where somebody originally is from, and they just don't feel like they can trust the documents issued by these governments.

The big complaint also is that some of these nations citizens have high visa overstay rates. They go to the United States and overstay their visas, and sometimes their countries don't accept them when it is time for them to be deported.

And so the United States is pressuring these nations to accept their citizens and if they do not, then they will be either included in the partial or full restrictions list, and this travel ban will affect a lot of people from these nations, some of whom were hoping to go to the United States because of the World Cup, which is very popular in the rest of the world. This means also citizens hoping for reunification with their families through asylum cases, through immigration to the U.S., those have all come to a stop.

Students who have even ongoing programs in the United States have been affected by this as well. So it has far reaching consequences for many.

Larry Madowo, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And we want to return now to our top story, where at least 40 people have died, 115 injured in that terrible fire in that Swiss resort town. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now with an update from Crans-Montana.

Nic, grateful to have you on the ground there.

I mean, the enormity of this and the profound grief which must just now be -- the enormity of it, as I say, taking hold in this community. Authorities gave a very lengthy press conference a few hours ago, but it is clear that they are dealing with a lot on the ground, not just the fact trying to find care for those that are injured, so many critically, but also dealing with a very complicated scene there after the fire.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and I think that's the sense that you get here on the scene as well. La Constellation bar literally up the street behind me there, Clayton Nagel, our P.J. is just going to zoom in and you can see some sparkling lights there, that light display behind that is a white fence and its behind that, that the police teams or forensic teams, the recovery teams, the investigative teams have been focusing their work.

A couple of hours ago, a colleague was telling me the lights were still on behind there. You could see the silhouettes of those forensic teams working away. The lights went off a little while ago, and it does seem that those teams have completed what work they can do on the ground there, outside the bar, inside the bar for the night.

But the clear message from the authorities is this is going to take a long time to begin to answer the questions of why and how, but the most pertinent question for them, for the president of the country, for the police officials, for the medical officials involved here as well, is to help the families who still have unaccounted loved ones to try to give them the information that they need, are their loved ones in a hospital or have the unfortunately passed away?

[16:25:12]

And this is a process that the Police Commander for the Valais Canton of which Crans-Montana here is part Valais Canton has said is something that could take days, but is their priority. And I think the idea that there are people in hospital whose identity is not understood or certainly not understood in the past couple of hours, does give you a sense of the grievous and tragic nature of what has taken place here, that these injuries and the fire consumed so much, so quickly.

And again, that point about how did it happen? Why did it happen? How was how was it so many people were there, all of those things are sort of taken a secondary place, but they are, of course, hugely important as the investigation moves forward.

NEWTON: And that investigation taking on an international character, we are awaiting to hear from countries where a lot of these young people were not from Switzerland, but perhaps from Europe. It has been heartbreaking, Nic, just to hear the stories of loved ones calling people that are missing and not having them answer their mobile phones.

I mean, this is quite an operation for the Swiss and they concede they are looking for help wherever they can get it.

ROBERTSON: it is huge. As a rescue recovery worker, a police official, what does one do? What is the protocol when a phone rings? Is that phone still associated with a person? Is it lying at the bedside of somebody in the hospital, or did it end up scattered as people fled?

It is so hard for in a situation like this for police to begin to piece together the personal details, and do the most difficult of things, which is, take the living and help match them to the injured and the deceased and for the families going through this, this is what we heard the federal president of Switzerland talking about earlier on today at that press conference was just the tragedy, and the mourning and sorrow that there is about the situation at the moment.

So, you know, I think, the sense that I get standing here tonight and it is something that's sort of hard to communicate is the quiet here. Last night, this would have been bustling on any other night during this period, New Year's period at the beginning of the ski season, the snow is around us here. It is all over these vast mountains, this would have been just a place buzzing with excitement and keenness for tomorrow.

It is not that. It is silent. It is chill.

NEWTON: Yes. Nic, just so sad. I am glad you're there on the ground, though, to help us make our way through the story. Nic Robertson for us on the scene. Appreciate it.

And that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Paula Newton. Thank you for watching. Stay with CNN. "Intelligent Future: Abu Dhabi" is next.

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