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CNN This Morning

Winter Storm Puts Millions Under Weather Alerts Across U.S.; Plunging Temperatures, Power Outages Hit Across U.S.; 3,100-Plus Flights Canceled as Storm Disrupts Holiday Travel. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't rent a car to go back to Boseman. There's no flights back to Boseman, no other flights to Nashville until I think like Christmas Eve or Christmas or like the 26th, so, stressed.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, oh boy, oh boy. That's the situation at the airport. But then out on the roads, you got people at home, there's no electricity.

Good morning, everyone. It is Friday, December 23rd. Poppy and Kaitlan are off. Sara Sidner is with me. So good to have you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm so happy to be here and not out there. Because, usually, I'm out there and you're in here, so now we get to share a little time together.

LEMON: Yes. But we get to all these stories. It's dangerous and it's getting worse by the minute. We're covering the massive blizzard wreaking havoc ahead of the holidays nationwide.

SIDNER: Plus, living in limbo, migrants braving freezing temperatures for a chance to reach the United States. A CNN report from the border.

LEMON: And one man is responsible. The January 6th committee's final report declares former President Donald Trump caused the Capitol insurrection. What the panel recommends now.

But we have to begin with this, more than 200 million Americans spending the holiday weekend under wind chill alerts as a major Arctic blast plunges temperatures to dangerous levels all across this country. The storm causing the extreme cold is expected to unleash more heavy snow and blizzard conditions on parts of the country, strong winds causing poor visibility, authorities urging people to stay off the roads. More than 650,000 customers across several states are without power right now. That number is expected to rise.

And the storm also creating travel chaos ahead of Christmas. This morning, more than 3,000 flights have been canceled already.

Let's begin with CNN's Polo Sandoval live in Buffalo, New York for us. Polo, good morning to you. Conditions, I would imagine, are worsening there. Still pretty warm but the temperature is going to plunge.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's warm but the rain is finally coming down here, Don. And I could tell you in a few hours, we're going to wish that all we had to worry about is just this wet, soggy mess, that's because temperatures will plummet. A bombing 38 degrees right now but we're going to end the day closer to 18 degrees. And that's not even factor in the wind chill. So, the big concern here in Western New York is the flooding with the -- near the lake and the freezing as well.

These roadways as you can see, completely drivable right now. But what authorities are doing in just the last hour since we spoke to you, they actually are in the process of closing down some of the major interstates around Buffalo basically recommending that only essential travel be done.

There is no driving ban in place just yet, like what we saw during the snowstorm last month when we got about 6.5 feet of snow just south of here. But the big point that officials are stressing here in Western Buffalo, too, Don, is the snow won't be the big issue, as it will pale in comparison to what we experienced last month. It's going to be the flooding and also those freezing conditions.

And that's why New York Governor Katy Hochul recommending that New Yorkers resist the urge to travel out today and especially tomorrow with the blizzard white out conditions and that coastal flooding. In fact, some of the communities just a few miles from where I'm standing right now are under evacuation orders.

LEMON: Yes. The best advice, let us stand outside, our reporters, to tell you what's going on. You stay inside and watch. Polo, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Be safe.

SIDNER: This polar plunge creating some big travel headaches as millions of Americans head home for the holidays. This morning, thousands of flights have already been canceled.

Let's go to CNN's Pete Muntean who is live at Chicago O'Hare Airport, which is always busy but even more so now. What are you hearing from people? I'm sure there's complaining going on there and rightly so.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No doubt, Sara. Folks were simply just trying to get out ahead of the storm yesterday. Today, things will be a bit more desperate as it's going to be more of a challenge simply to find a seat on board a plane. We'll get to that in a second.

Look at the latest numbers from FlightAware, 3,100 flight cancelations so far today.

[07:05:01]

We've seen that go up by 100 cancelations in just the last hour, way worse than what we saw yesterday nationwide, 2,600 flight cancelations in the U.S.

Yesterday, the cancelations were really localized at airports in the west and the Midwest. Now, this is going to be even worse as the storm tracks east. Look at the numbers of cancelations at airports across the country. La Guardia is rising, Denver is rising, Sea Tac, Chicago, of course, where we are, but also we're seeing places like D.C. and Boston rising on the list. 42 percent of all flights have been canceled at Detroit. That is a big hub for Delta Airlines.

The FAA says now the ground game begins. That's really what will determine the delays and cancelations as airports rush to de-ice planes. For passengers, though, it's more of a game of finding a needle in a hay stack. Airline experts say that as passenger levels have gone up now that we're rounding this other side of the pandemic, the number of seats are still down. I want you to listen to travel expert Scott Keyes of Scott's Cheap Flights.

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SCOTT KEYES, SCOTT'S CHEAP FLIGHTS: You hear about how travel volume is down 5 or 10 percent but what many folks might not have realized is that the number of flights in the sky is actually down more like 15 or 20 percent. So, the planes that are actually flying are more full today than they were pre-pandemic.

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MUNTEAN: Airlines say the big challenge for them is not necessarily the snow. They're especially used to that here in Chicago but it's really the cold that makes it really hard for ground crews to work, load bags, push planes from the gate and marshal into the gate. The high temperature forecasted here today in Chicago, 1 degree Fahrenheit and that is not factoring in the wind chill, Sara.

SIDNER: People are tough in Chicago. I know this one sitting next to me has spent lots of time there. But that is brutal, it is dangerous. Be safe out there. Thank you, Pete Muntean.

LEMON: It certainly is, Georgia as well. And Georgia is not used to these temperatures. The governor there, Brian Kemp, declaring a state of emergency as frigid temperatures descend on his state. The city of Atlanta opening up two warming centers ahead of the historic chill this weekend, helping those who are living on the streets.

Straight now to Meteorologist Allison Chinchar in Atlanta for us. Wow, look how breezy it is as well. Allison, good morning to you. It's very cold for the south. How low is it now? How low is it going to get?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, right now, it's 18 degrees. And it's actually flurrying here in Atlanta, not a common sight for folks who live here. But it's actually going to get even colder over the next 24 hours. In fact, this could end up being one of the coldest Christmas Eves on record here in Atlanta.

Just to kind of show you how cold, this is a towel, frozen, rock solid. And that's because the temperatures here dropped so quickly overnight, which also means if there is any leftover rain on the roads this morning, maybe some puddles, those will completely freeze over, making for dangerous conditions on the roadways as well.

But, look, we're not the only ones that are cold outside right now. You have wind chill alerts across much of the country right now. So, yes, it includes portions of Georgia, it includes portions of the eastern U.S., as well as areas of the Midwest.

But, again, we also are talking about the winds. And that's going to be the key issue here. You have got winds across the southeast, 40 to 50 mile-per-hour gusts, even higher off to the north. So, if you have some holiday decorations out, you may want to strap them down and secure them, unlike my sister, who is now having to retrieve her inflatable Santa from the neighbor's yard after the wind picked up.

So, again, also the snow too, keep in mind that wind, any snow that falls is going to blow that snow around reducing visibility in some areas to less than a quarter of a mile. And that's just going to add to any of the travel problems across much of the northeast and mid- Atlantic.

Overall, most of these areas likely to pick up an additional four to six inches of snow. Some areas, however, could pick up as much as a foot.

LEMON: Allison, tell your sister I can totally relate. That has happened. I've had to retrieve it from a tree. Yes, it happens. Listen, be safe out there, thank you very much, all right?

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

SIDNER: A message to migrants, do not risk your life and that of your loved ones trying to cross the river or the desert. That is from U.S. border officials warning migrants of the dangerously cold temperatures on the southern border now.

Let's go now to El Paso, Texas, where CNN's Camila Bernal is standing by for us. I know the temperatures are dropping quickly. It is unusually cold there. How is this impacting the migrant surge on the ground? I do see behind you many, many people just lying on the frigid, you know, ground trying to -- trying to figure out what they're going to do next.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is difficult, Sara and Don, good morning.

[07:10:00]

A lot of the people here are just not used to these temperatures. And these are the critical hours. It's 21 degrees now. It's going to be in the 20s all the way through about 11:00 A.M. local time when the sun comes out. But as you mentioned, there are many of them that just have to sleep out on the street. There's just piles of people.

They're trying to sleep next to each other. You see the Red Cross blankets. This is the only option for the people that are here. Some of them have been able to get on a bus and that way they can warm up for a little bit, but there are many that are afraid to get on the bus because they don't know what could happen to them next. So, again, just piles and piles of people trying to warm up together, because this is their only option.

And if you talked to them, they will tell you that they're doing this for their future, that they're doing this for their children and that this is not the first hardship that they're going through. They have already spent months trying to get to this country and all they want is to be here even if it's freezing, Sara.

SIDNER: I want to ask you, we know that the migrants, in order to be admitted to shelters, have to show U.S. Immigration documents but there are a lot of people that don't have those documents. They don't have the papers. Do you know if they will be allowed into shelters there in El Paso without documents?

BERNAL: So, they will not be allowed in the government-run shelters. So, anything that the city of El Paso has organized, meaning the convention center, there are some hotels and some schools, they will require the proper documentation that you get from border patrol. The only other option is a nonprofit shelter.

And the problem is, the nonprofit shelters, they are overcapacity. The one I'm at now, Sacred Heart Church, they're saying, look, we have capacity for about 130 people but we're fitting about 200 people. So, the people that don't fit into these shelters, they're the ones that are here on the streets. But, again, they're willing to do it to remain in this country, Sara.

SIDNER: Just yesterday, I spoke with a counsel woman there who said she's never seen it with this many people and dealing with this many problems and she's begging for federal help. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

LEMON: So, let's bring in Reporter Taarra Braddock from our affiliate WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio, where the wind chill is reported 12 degrees below zero. Good morning, Tara. I know that we have a bit of a delay here, so we want to be mindful of that. I'm so glad you can join us, and I see you're out on the road right now. How are the conditions?

TIARRA BRADDOCK, REPORTER, WOIO CLEVELAND: Yes, good morning, Don. Conditions are very dangerous out here. I want to flip it around so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. We are on 480 east, which is a main artery here in our area. We are just about 30 minutes from downtown Cleveland.

Visibility isn't that great right now, as you can see, I can barely see the car in front of us. And the wind, that's our biggest issue so far. It is blowing all that snow onto the highway, making it very hard to see, not to mention the snow packed on the ground, making it difficult to get through. So, if you are out here on the roads here in the Ohio area, keep that in mind.

As you can see, if you can see, the car in front of us has his flashers on because they're trying to take it slow. This isn't the only car that we have seen out here with their flashers on. And right now, the temperature is six degrees. And we are really worried about the pavement freezing over and making that black ice which obviously I don't have to tell people how dangerous that is.

And I know a lot of us Ohioans are saying I can drive in snow. These conditions aren't really that drivable. As you can see, it's very hard to get through. We are going around 40 miles per hour and taking it slower as we get onto the highway. It is just very dangerous out here. This is what we're dealing with right now.

LEMON: Tiarra, I mean, even 40 miles per hour, Sara and I were both looking and saying, slow down, you're giving us a little anxiety. So, maybe it looks faster than it feels out on the road.

But I can see the traffic coming from the other side of the interstate. I'm sure a lot of these people maybe driving through Ohio, it could be workers, truck drivers, or whatever. But does it look like people are actually heeding the warnings? There's one car in front of you. I hope that they are, Tiarra.

BRADDOCK: Well, you know what? As with most people, some people are taking it slow, some are taking it fast. I'm going to flip that camera around for you in just one second. You get some people who are taking it a little faster and yet some people are taking it slower, but that's also because of people's comfortability driving in these conditions.

I will say I would be taking it slow because I can't really see too far ahead because of the wind chill and the wind blowing. And also you want to keep this in mind, if you're going through darker parts of the highway with less light, that will make it even more dangerous.

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And we hit some traffic earlier this morning, and as you can see the oncoming traffic in the other lane, you can see a lot more people there, a little less in our area right here. But when you get a lot more people too on that area in the highway, you want to take it slow too because you do not want a pile up. That's the last thing we want out here.

LEMON: Tiarra Braddock from our affiliate WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Be safe out there. We may check back with you throughout the hours here on CNN.

So, I mean, it's -- wow.

SIDNER: Listen, I was like, be careful, girl.

LEMON: Yes. And technology, since you and I have been doing this, can you imagine the technology in order to have to do that years ago. You had to have the giant camera and whatever. She's just flipping her phone around. So, it's a great report.

SIDNER: Why are you aging us? But anyway --

LEMON: Will, no. But, I mean, it shows you --

SIDNER: It's strange.

LEMON: Yes, it shows you what's happening out there.

Most of Michigan is under a blizzard warning as a historic bomb cyclone plows across the region, the biggest threat the state is facing, that's next.

SIDENR: Plus, new evidence in the House January 6th committee's final report points the finger at former President Donald Trump for the deadly Capitol insurrection. More on the major takeaways from a huge report, coming up next.

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SIDNER: Taking a look at the roadways, you can tell people are heeding the warning that this is going to be a frigid and dangerous time because of this crazy storm that is basically going across the entire United States.

Okay. The upper Midwest and the great lakes region are feeling the brunt of the storm, as we speak.

And joining us now from Detroit, which is under a winter weather advisory is Todd Bettison. He is the deputy mayor of Detroit. Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate you.

DEPUTY MAYOR TODD BETTISON, DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Good morning, how are you doing?

SIDNER: I'm doing great. Glad to see you are inside. I have felt the Detroit winter and it doesn't like me and I don't like it. Can you tell me what things are like right now in Detroit?

BETTISON: It's 13 degrees. The roads are clear. We're always in a constant state of preparedness here and we're used to a lot of snow. And so we were ready. We don't have a lot at this point so our roads are clear. I got 50 salt trucks out. They're salting the roads. But we're definitely prepared. And so it is cold we understand the wind chills. And I just want all of our Detroiters to know and just be prepared, right? So take those proper precautions.

SIDNER: Can you give me a sense of what the biggest threats are for people? Because I see people on the roads, there's a lot of snow, like you said, people in Detroit are used to this kind of weather but this is a little bit different.

BETTISON: Absolutely. And that's what I really, really want to stress because of the anticipated wind gusts, the high winds, which definitely creates an issue as far as power, it can knock down power lines. And, of course, that can cause an issue as well. And with these frigid temperatures out there and no power, then your furnace is not going to work. And so, therefore, if a senior apartment building or your home loses power, you're not going to be able to stay there.

So, you have to go to a warming shelter. And so in the city of Detroit, we have got to make sure that we have -- we have two warming shelters open. Our public libraries will be open as well. We partnered with the Detroit Red Cross, the Detroit Rescue Mission, our outreach ministries, and so that we'll be able to take in as many folks as necessary.

And also we look at our most vulnerable population, our unsheltered, our homeless. And so we were already in preparation for this and we're working even weeks in advance to get them off the streets and get them into shelters early.

SIDNER: You have the trucks, you the salt, you have the shelters. I do want to ask about power outages that you just mentioned. Do you put more people on staff to deal with those after the storm passes or how are you going to deal with that with a lot of people possibly without power and in a dangerous scenario when temperatures drop the way they are?

BETTISON: So, we're definitely prepared. And with the public/private partnership between the city of Detroit government, Wayne County and also DTE, which is our energy consumption, they've already brought in extra crews. And so they're prepared. We're working in coordination and the emergency management homeland security falls directly up under my purview. My previous background, 27 years in law enforcement, and so I have a director of homeland security.

So, we are coordinating and we'll be right there on the spot. If a resident loses power, apartment building, we already have reached out, we have those senior complexes and those large apartment buildings. We have those emergency plans here at the city, and so we will respond ASAP. We have transportation set up through DDOT, which is our busing system, where we can actually move large amounts of people to our warming shelters.

SIDNER: Can I just lastly ask you the states of emergency, and a lot of other places are putting them in place, do you see that happening for Detroit?

BETTISON: Yes, absolutely. We're monitoring it right now. So, we're at level one but all of our folks are on standby. And so if we get more snow, we'll, of course, take that in, which we're not really anticipating but we're prepared. But with the wind gusts, we're monitoring it and I do have staff working and I'm getting updates every hour.

SIDNER: I love when I come to Detroit and people are wearing the shirts that say Detroit versus Everybody. It's Detroit versus the weather. Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison, thank you so much for joining us.

BETTISON: All right. Thank you.

SIDNER: More than 650,000 power customers are waking up in the dark this morning, and that is a huge problem, dangerous problem. We'll speak to an expert about how grids nationwide are really being pushed to their limit.

LEMON: Plus, what happens when you send a sports reporter to cover weather?

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He ends up becoming me.

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REPORTER: The good news is that I can still feel my face right now. The bad news is I kind of wish I couldn't. Can I go back to my regular job?

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SIDNER: He's saying what we all want to say, to be honest.

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SIDNER: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Coming up, the January 6th committee has released its final report. We'll break down what's inside with Maggie Haberman in just a bit.

Plus, thousands across the country are in the dark this hour as severe weather is moving through. How the storm system is stressing power grids.

And Santa is for everyone, a look at the growing demand for a wider representation.

LEMON: The House January 6th committee has released its final report placing the blame squarely on shoulders of the former president, Donald Trump, calling him the one man who caused the January 6th Capitol riots and recommends barring him from holding office again. This is an expansive -- it is huge.

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It is 845 pages and it summarizes a year-and-a-half long investigation by the committee, which conducted over a thousand interviews.