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CNN This Morning

Severe Winter Weather Conditions Threatens Large Parts of U.S.; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Interviewed on Numerous Flights Cancellations and Potentially Dangerous Driving Conditions Throughout Country Due to Winter Weather; Record Low Temps Put Millions Under Alerts Ahead Of Holiday. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 23, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: See the mix. And you saw some kids of different nationalities hanging out like it just didn't matter. And you've got to love that as well.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I love it. And that was really good. I learned ASL when I was a kid. I'd forgotten a lot of it. But I loved the signing Santa. It's about communication and it's about representation so that people relate. I love that story, Ryan.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I've got to be honest with you, when I look back on some of this, did you ever look back on your pictures as a kid and then people would comment to me and say, look, that was a white Santa, like you didn't really think about it then and now you're like it seems a little odd that these black kid are there with a white Santa. But whatever.

SIDNER: It's all good.

YOUNG: It works.

LEMON: To each his own.

YOUNG: Yes, absolutely.

SIDNER: I was scared of Santa.

LEMON: These are my stockings. There's a --

SIDNER: Can you see, he's got the cutest things.

LEMON: You can't really see my phone. There's a black Santa and white Santa stocking that we found.

SIDNER: True story.

(LAUGHTER)

SIDNER: Ryan Young, you're the best. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Ryan. Be well. Merry Christmas to you.

SIDNER: CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

LEMON: So glad that you could join us this morning on the eve before the eve of Christmas. Good morning, everyone. Poppy and Kaitlan are off and I'm here with the lovely and smart and talented Sara Sidner.

SIDNER: I was wondering where you were going with that. You almost said something else, but we're good.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: It's good to have you here. We're going to catch you up on the five big stories from CNN this morning.

More than half the U.S. population is under winter storm and windchill alerts as a major storm moves across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff. Please take this storm extremely seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More than 820,000 power customers across the country are in the dark, thousands of flights have been cancelled. Our reporters are standing by.

SIDNER: And the January 6th committee has released its final report giving us a look into the 1,000-plus interview it conducted in a year- and-a-half. The committee found that, quote, one man was responsible for the January 6th attack. That man, former president Donald Trump. They recommended barring Trump from being able to hold public office ever again.

LEMON: For the first time in public Vladimir Putin has called his invasion of his country a war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our goal is not spend the will of military conflict but on the contrary to end this war. We have been and will continue to strive for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Putin has been calling the invasion a special military operation. Putin's critics say that using the word "war" to describe the conflict has been illegal in Russia since March.

SIDNER: And overnight North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles. South Korea officials say the missiles were launched into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. This marks the 36th day this year that North Korea has conducted a missile launch. LEMON: And former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is out on bond. A New

York judge released him on a 250 million bond after his first court appearance on American soil. He was extradited from the Bahamas earlier this week. Bankman-Fried faces eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for his failed crypto exchange company. He will be under house arrest.

SIDNER: This morning, a severe winter storm back blizzard conditions and subzero temperatures is sweeping across much of the United States. More than 200 million Americans are under winter chill alert and heavy snow and ice are making the roads really dangers, leaving some drivers stranded in the code. More than 3,000 flights cancelled this morning. Hundreds more are delayed. And more than 820,000 customers are now without power.

LEMON: CNN this morning is covering this storm from New York, Chicago, and Denver, and our Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is standing by as millions face the dangers on the road. But first I want to get to CNN's Polo Sandoval live for us in Buffalo, New York, this morning. Polo, good morning to you. It looks like the wind is picking up. The rain and the temperatures are going to drop.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's remarkable how fast things changed. When we first started CNN this morning in the 6:00 a.m. hour, temperatures in the area were upper 30s, lower 40s, zero wind, and look at the difference now. Basically, the storm system is beginning to move closer to the eastern shore of Lake Erie. That's why we're beginning to feel it. And as you look over my shoulder, you could see the roads are still relatively drivable. That's because the temperature has not plummeted as much as it expected to later today.

But the National Weather Service here in Buffalo reporting the Dunkirker community about an hour's drive south of here recorded an eight degree temperature drop in only six minutes. So that gives you some insight and some perspective into how fast things will change and how fast conditions will deteriorate.

[08:05:01]

I have to tell you, we were here last month when we saw record snowfall. This is not going to be so much a snow event as it will be just a freezing and a flooding event. The intersection that you behind me, if you take a left here, you eventually end up on the lakefront. That's where a bulk of the coastal flooding concerns are right now, and that's why there's even a mandatory evacuation order just south of here. And that's where the biggest concern is right now. Is it necessarily the flooding -- I'm sorry, is it necessarily the snow but the flooding in some of those coastal communities that could potentially see up to two feet of flooding in some of those low-lying areas. And also these roads, these streets, they are going to quickly freeze. That's why some of the interstate in and around Buffalo have already been closed to non-essential traffic. And this is just the start, Sara and Don.

SIDNER: How does your face feel, Polo? Because I can see that wind just whipping you up. (LAUGHTER)

SANDOVAL: I have a hardy south Texas face.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDOVAL: We've been through some pretty hot temperatures down there. This the complete opposite, so I'm a little bit more vulnerable, but I think we're going to be all right. We are staying safe. We're staying off these streets right now which is exactly what authorities hope that the rest of the folks around the area do as well.

LEMON: Polo Sandoval, Buffalo, New York, be safe. Thank you, sir.

SIDNER: And those dropping temperatures create some big travel chaos, as might imagine, at airports as millions of Americans are heading home or for a visit for the holidays. This morning thousands of flights have already been cancelled. Let's go live to CNN's Pete Muntean who is standing by live at Chicago O'Hare airport. I imagine the frustration grows throughout the day as more and more flights are canceled. Is that's what's happening at this hour?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The frustration grows and the number of cancellations grows, Sara -- 3,240, that's what we're seeing across the country in terms of cancellations according to Flight Aware. That number goes up and up by the moment. It's really dwarfed yesterday where we saw only 2,600 cancellations nationwide. This is really changing as this storm is moving east. Yesterday, the delays and cancellations were primary focused in the Midwest and the west. Today it's going to be the airports in the east that will be the big concern. LaGuardia ranks the top as the number of cancellations go. Seattle, we see Chicago still in top spots, here in O'Hare and at Midway. Detroit, 42 percent of all flights have been cancelled. It's a major hub for Delta Airlines.

Also, we're going to see some cancellations climbing in Boston and in D.C. the FAA says what will drive delays and cancellations is really the ground game that airports are playing right now, how quickly they can de-ice planes and get them on their way.

I want you to listen now to United Airlines head of network operations Joe Heins. He told me that it's really not the snow that is causing all of these delays and cancellations. It's more the biting cold. The high temperatures here forecast at Chicago O'Hare, United's biggest hub, only one degree Fahrenheit today, and that's not factoring in the windchill. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE HEINS, UNITED AIRLINES VP OF NETWORK OPERATIONS: Winter operations like this, temperatures, wind, snow, it's going to drive delays. We know the challenges. We have experience around winter storms. There's only so much you can do. We'll operate. We'll operate slowly but we will operate safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MUNTEAN: One of the big things that airlines say, their big tip is to download their app. That is the way you can you get up-to-the minute information about your flight status, delays, and cancellations, and how to get on a new flight. One of the big challenges now is that there's simply not all that many seats if you get booked on to a new flight. Passenger volume is up, but the number of seats remains still pretty low.

One other interesting delay that's coming into the mix here, we're hearing from HPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service, they are putting into place some contingency plans about delayed shipments for Christmas, those presents arriving on your doorstep. But the big question now is whether or not those things will be delayed. They say that could be a possibility, Sara.

SIDNER: Kids, Santa might be a little late, better start warning them now and check with your airlines, as you said. Pete Muntean, thank you, as always.

LEMON: Let's discuss what's going to happen to our infrastructure, our transportation system. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is here. Good morning to you, sir. It's going to be very stressful out there, as you know, so we're glad to have you here. More than 3,200 flights have been canceled. Major highways are closed, bus and train service also affected as this storm threatens to make travel impossible in some areas today. Your top concern right now?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Well, the top concern is always safety. On the aviation side, our national aviation system is operating, but it's operating under enormous strain. And what you have is multiple issues across the different areas of the airspace. In the northwest, we actually have another storm coming in, bringing in snow that is affecting Seattle, Portland, and airports in that area. On the east coast from Boston down toward Atlanta, wind is the main issue. And then as your correspondent Pete reported in the middle of the country, it's really about that frigid temperature that you're seeing.

[08:10:02]

That limits the ability of ground crews to operate. They make it look easy. You see that they've got a lot of winter weather gear, but there is still only so long that these workers can be on the ground servicing those aircraft before it's a safety issue and they need to get back inside.

So all of that contributed yesterday to cancellation rates, around 10 percent. Of course, that means 90 percent of flights did go, but just to put that in perspective, I consider anything above about two percent to be a high rate of cancellation, and today, as was reported today, we're already above the number of cancellations we saw yesterday.

So the aviation picture, you'll going to see a lot of disruptions. Encourage people to stay in close touch with their airlines, watch that app, see what's happening to your flight. But from a safety perspective, the thing I'm most worried about is the roadways. You have got a lot of drivers maybe not used to driving in winter conditions. Maybe you're traveling to a place you're not used to driving to visit relatives. And I just want to urge everyone, I know we all want to get to our loved ones for the holidays, but please, please pay close attention to what local authorities are saying. And if they're saying it's not safe to drive, it's not safe to drive, no matter how much you want to be quickly to your loved ones. Make sure you get there safe.

LEMON: Yes, follow their direction. I'm glad you're stressing the roads, because that's how most people travel is on the roads. And it's not necessarily air travel, although that is very important.

Listen, the president, President Biden, Secretary, is urging Americans to stay off the roads in places where the weather is bad, as you just have as well. The cancellations that you mentioned likely to push some families to drive even more and to drive home for the holidays instead. How important is it for people to heed the warnings that the president is giving and that you just gave here on our air as well?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, lots of things are so important to us around the holidays, our traditions, our loved ones. But of course, the most important thing is to be safe, to be alive and well for your loved ones, and that means making smart choices when it comes to driving conditions and road conditions. If the indication from the forecasts and local authorities is that you can drive but you need to do it with caution, take those steps. We've got recommendations on our website. You can see that with local authorities, too, about how to make sure your car is equipped for winter weather, that you are using a car seat in a way that's safe with the blanket and jackets on the outside of the straps, not the inside, just those kinds of steps that will make it safe.

But if they're saying don't drive, don't drive. The president indicated just how serious this is. We're seeing things like I-90 actually closed outright in parts of South Dakota and Minnesota last I saw. That is not a step that authorities take lightly, closing an interstate. So you really want to make sure that you're paying attention to those local warnings because these temperatures that we're seeing, especially in the middle part of the country, that can turn an ordinary fender bender into something much more dangerous.

LEMON: Listen, I know you're the transportation secretary, but I also want to talk about infrastructure because the two do connect. I had on just moments ago Craig Miller, who is professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and he talked about the stress on our power grids, and he talked about the lines, possibility of lines snapping in the cold weather, and then the stress, that workers can't get out there in the middle of it, it's going to take some time, it has got to warm up a little for them to be able to get out there. And then the stress it puts on the system once it comes back on, because everyone has their power on and surge and what have you. Can you speak to that and offer people some advice?

BUTTIGIEG: I don't want to get too far outside of my expertise, but definitely this is another area where you want to pay attention to what local authorities and local utilities are saying. Just as we have extraordinary transportation workers across aviation, logistics, and shipping, who are even in these extreme conditions helping you get to where you need to be, helping packages get to where they need to be, it's also true on the utility. When you do have these outages, it is just absolutely extraordinary what these line workers and others go through in order to quickly restore power. So important to listen to any local announcements about how to make things a little bit easier for them. And of course, everybody's priority is to keep things up and running, keep things safe and have everybody under as normal conditions as possible so that we can make the most of these holidays.

LEMON: As a former mayor, I knew you would know how to answer that question, because you had to deal with it in that role as well. Thank you, Secretary Buttigieg, appreciate it. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

BUTTIGIEG: Thank you. Same to you. Take care.

SIDNER: Let's go now to CNN affiliate WHBQ reporter Jeremy Pierre, who is live for us in Memphis, Tennessee. Jeremy, windchills clocked at negative 18. That's not normal for Memphis. How are things going there?

[08:15:00]

JEREMY PIERRE, REPORTER, WHBQ MEMPHIS: It's definitely not a typical day here in the city of Memphis, and is showing with the drivers for sure. We're on Walnut Grove, which is very popular for people to get to and from work. And already this morning, we have seen people be defeated by this hill here in front of Hope church on Walnut Grove in the city of Memphis.

On our way to this area, we actually saw about 10 cars -- 10 cars that either had been abandoned or wrecked. You can see it right here. Already this morning, in this section, we have seen four cars spin out of control. That car right there, that vehicle, that SUV is the long one that is just stuck. It can't move because of the ice.

Not only is this ice on this road hard to drive on what is absolutely impossible to walk on. I got a chance myself -- to see for myself that it is ice for sure. And for the most part, people are having trouble going up the hill, also down the hill, as you see we just crashed our car right here. Also, with people coming down this hill right here, people are ending up that hill, for sure.

So, I've been in contact with several sources and with local hospitals. Thankfully, no one has shown up to a hospital this morning due to injuries because any of the car crashes that have happened are as -- being spun out of control here in the city of Memphis. But definitely not a typical day. It's cold, extremely cold, not what used to be in this part of the neck of the woods, the mid-south area. And definitely not a typical driving day for anyone that has to go back to work and go from work.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That was --

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I mean.

LEMON: Memphis, this is not your weather.

PIERRE: Back to you.

SIDNER: No.

LEMON: Yes.

SIDNER: Yes -- no.

LEMON: Stay home -- just stay home.

SIDNER: And also, Jeremy, do not walk on that road. I was so scared during you, trying to show us. It is -- you can actually see the ice, right? If your cameraman will show us that shot again right next to you, you can see the ice on the road. Don't do it, Jeremy.

PIERRE: You can see -- you can see the ice. Look. I'm touching it. You see how slick my hand is right here.

SIDNER: Yes, that's wild.

PIERRE: It is -- just slide -- slick and sliding, so.

LEMON: Yes, that's the right word.

SIDNER: We all know about this.

LEMON: Jeremy, that's the true thing that anybody has said on this show all morning. Thank you, Jeremy.

SIDNER: Jeremy Pierre.

PIERRE: Yes.

LEMON: Now that is a good report.

All right, we went ahead now to Denver where temperatures plummeted overnight and wind chills are 13 degrees below zero right now. That's where we're going to find CNN's Lucy Kafanov. Lucy, good morning to you. How are people holding up after some record drops in temperature there?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, good morning to you. I mean, not a great morning considering how painful it is to be standing out here. We did consider trying to find some folks to ask them how they're holding up, but thankfully most people seem to be heeding the advice of authorities and staying out of this terrible bitter cold.

Now, Colorado unlike Memphis is used to its cold winters. We're used to snow We're used to the temperatures dropping but, of course, the swiftness with which this arctic blast came barreling through was just remarkable. We're talking about a 75-degree temperature swing from roughly 50 degrees on Wednesday when I was on air to minus 24 degrees Thursday morning. And those numbers don't do justice to how it actually feels to the human body to the skin outside.

Wind chills of negative 60 -- approaching negative 60 In some parts of Colorado, that's the kind of condition that can cause frostbite to exposed skin within minutes. Folks being urged to stand indoors -- to stay indoors. Colorado's Governor activated the National Guard to help with extreme cold weather conditions.

Now, we did see this massive Denver Coliseum opened up and converted into a 24-hour warming center to get folks out of the cold but there was so much demand on that they have to open up two more emergency warming centers to keep people out of those freezing uncomfortable painful conditions. Most of the city is hunkering down, we are seeing some car traffic. And there is, of course, good news on the horizon for us. We're expecting these cold wind chills until about 11:00 a.m. local time but then the temperatures will finally start climbing above zero.

We've had nearly 35 hours -- consecutive hours of temperatures below zero. But we couldn't be back to 50 degrees by Christmas. Good news for us. Not so good for you guys as that storm moves your way, Don.

LEMON: All right, Lucy Kafanov, thank you very much. She does look like warm -- she does look warm.

SIDNER: I mean listen, she's ready.

LEMON: She's ready.

SIDNER: She's ready for the weather.

LEMON: Next, we're going to speak to a federal weather prediction official about this historic storm and what states don't typically get so cold can expect.

SIDNER: Plus, the January 6 committee has released its final report and it places the full blame on one man. The new evidence revealed overnight.

[08:20:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: The U.S. is in the middle of one of the worst winter storms. In years, historic temperature drops and hurricane-force winds are leaving almost a million customers without power now and destroying holiday plans. But how do these storms form, and what can we expect as this one moves across the United States? Let's bring in Greg Carbin. He's the chief of the forecast Operations Branch of NOAA's Weather Prediction Center. Thank you so much for joining us.

GREG CARBIN, CHIEF, FORECAST OPERATIONS BRANCH, NOAA WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER: Yes, good morning. How are you?

SIDNER: You're in the prediction business. I tried to stay away from it. Can you give us a sense of how things look right now and how long this is expected to last? CARBIN: Yes, Sara. Right now, we're looking at a major, major storm, as you've heard all morning long, essentially expansive in nature. It extends from the north and Canada all the way down to the Gulf Coast in Florida. And this system is what we call a cyclone bomb. The pressure in the center of the storm has dropped dramatically over the past 24 hours and will continue to do so today as it drifts slowly. The center drifts slowly into Canada but its impacts are basically nationwide.

Another storm system affecting the Pacific Northwest we heard of earlier. And it's really hard to find where the worst weather is. It's just about everywhere from coast to coast this morning.

SIDNER: So, you're talking about it being everywhere from coast to coast. Is this what you expected to happen? I know there was warnings that this was coming. It's dropping so quickly, we just watched our reporter Polo Sandoval go from 38 degrees to you know, at least 10 degrees lower with a bunch of snow and wind. Is this what you expected to happen?

CARBIN: Yes, actually. The forecasts for this event are quite remarkable, especially the cold air outbreak which was highlighted in Climate Prediction Center outlooks over two weeks ago, there was a signal in the atmosphere that there was a growing pool of arctic air across the polar regions, and that that air was going to spill south across the Canadian border into the plains and then eventually to the East Coast. We are just minutes away on the east coast here from getting the arctic cold frontal passage, and we will see temperatures drop 10 to 20 degrees in about an hour. One of the big concerns is we've had a lot of rain overnight, and some of those roadways will quickly freeze up once that cold air starts to come into the East Coast.

And, of course, it's across the rest of the country as well. 67-degree wind chills down across parts of the Great Plains. Right now, we've got a lot of rain and high winds across parts of the Northeast, possibly taking power out and also causing major delays as far as the air traffic system goes.

SIDNER: Yes, it sounded like a summer thunderstorm in New York this morning. And the roads are slick, so it's going to be pretty dangerous out there to drive or walk. Can you put this into context for us? We always have a very bad habit in the news business of saying this is the worst storm ever but how does this storm stack up with other storms that we've seen in the past?

[02:25:04]

CARBIN: So, what's very interesting is the atmosphere doesn't exactly repeat itself but occasionally gets very close. It's almost like fingerprints, no one day is exactly alike. However, this system has some similarities to a major blizzard that occurred across the Midwest back in 1978. So, over 40 years ago, we had a very similar situation occur with a very deep cyclone located over the Great Lakes and causing similar problems. The forecast in that event were not great. And in fact, that gives you an idea of how far we've come in the forecasting and the science of meteorology that we're able to foresee this event over a week in advance.

SIDNER: I mean, when you're looking at -- so, we're looking at some of the pictures, that's Memphis, Tennessee, we were just talking to a reporter there. And it is the ice, isn't it that is the most dangerous of all?

CARBIN: The ice and also the low temperatures that we'll see across parts of the South. They're just not used to that. And we'll see two to three days of below-freezing temperatures, areas that are vulnerable, areas that don't have well-insulated homes are going to have some problems over the next couple of days until this airmass begins to moderate somewhat. It does look like a late Christmas present for parts of the south and southeast. We will see a moderation trend and temperatures will come back above freezing right after Christmas in those areas. Parts of the Northern Plains, parts of the Great Lakes, it's going to be a while. And they're going to see incredible snowfall, incredible blizzard conditions, especially across parts of western New York over the next few days.

SIDNER: Greg, come on, they're -- so, it's going to last a long time. This is not the Christmas present that we had all hoped for. But we do appreciate you predicting this so that we can all plan. Greg Carbin, thank you so much for joining us.

LEMON: So --

CARBIN: Thank you. Stay safe. Happy Holidays.

LEMON: Thank you, you too.

So, in this frigid weather, workers are out there braving the elements and risking their lives as well. So, joining us now is Gareth "Ox" Lea. He and his wife own a tow truck company. There he is standing in front of his truck. It's called Ox & Son Towing. It's located in Great Falls, Montana where they experienced record-breaking cold temperatures yesterday alone. I am told that Ox received more than 400 calls from people seeking help with their vehicles.

Ox, thank you so much. Thank you for your service because we definitely need you year-round, but especially at this time. We were just looking at some video of people slipping and sliding in Memphis. You've been getting tons of calls around the clock. What kind of calls are you getting? By the way, just quickly, these live pictures we're looking at or it's just video?

SIDNER: These are live, yes.

LEMON: Those are live pictures, OK, from Memphis. So, we're looking at people spinning out there. What are the conditions like? What are you experiencing? What are folks saying to you?

GARETH "OX" LEA, OWNER, OX & SON TOWING: Right now, it's minus 17 with a real feel of minus eight. So -- I mean, it's frigid cold. We do have some snow up here but it's not the snow that's the problem, it's the -- it's the arctic temperatures we got going on right now. I mean, mainly jumpstarts and lockouts and stuff people turn to warn their cars up on that. It's just -- it's just definitely cold up here right now. But if you're not prepared, you know, it can be bad.

LEMON: Say that again, Ox.

LEA: It's just -- it's just -- it's just definitely cold up here. And I mean, if you're not prepared for that, you'd be really bad but --

SIDNER: Your -- you guys -- I don't know if it's frozen but if you can hear me, Ox --

LEMON: No, he's there.

SIDNER: Yes, OK. You're in Montana. You guys get a lot of cold temperatures. You get -- it's so beautiful there. But do you think this is -- does this feel different to you than say some other storms in the past few years?

LEA: Ma'am, I've been here 20 years and this is the worst I've ever felt.

LEMON: Wow.

SIDNER: Wow.

LEMON: So, how do you prioritize in the calls that -- look do you got a big fleet? I'm sure. But some calls are more important than others so you know -- are more urgent I should say. So, how do you prioritize, Ox?

LEA: The ones broke down on the side of the roads with no heat. The people who slid off into the ditch. The people aren't waiting to get their cars jumpstarted or you know towed to a body shop that is still safe and warm so just -- you just got to -- basically, it's prior -- like you said prioritizing from who's in the most danger to why you can put off to get to you next, you know.

LEMON: Do you -- do you save any lives, Ox, so you ever get to like life-threatening conditions? I imagined -- I imagined, yes.

LEA: God, yes. But nothing that you know is worth mentioning, sir.

LEMON: Well, we're glad you're out there, Ox. We want you to be safe as well. Just because you're driving the big Tow Truck doesn't mean that something can't happen. We -- you're always in a precarious situation, so be safe. And again, we appreciate what you do. Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas.

SIDNER: Merry Christmas.

LEA: Merry Christmas, guys.

LEMON: Thank you. Yes, he's a good guy, man. And so --