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More Than 1,000 Flights Canceled Today, 3,400 Yesterday; NY Gov. Sending Additional Help To Western New York; Major Winter Storm Brings Heavy Snow, Frigid Temps; Fire On Board JetBlue Plane Forces Evacuation Of 160-Plus Passengers; How The Elf On The Shelf Became A Global Christmas Tradition; At Least 22 Deaths Blamed On Brutal Winter Storm; Pope Appeals For End To "Senseless" War In Ukraine; 2022 Year End Top 10 International Stories. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired December 25, 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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[07:00:34]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Buenos dias. Merry Christmas and welcome to this special edition of CNN This Morning. It is Sunday December 25. I'm Boris Sanchez.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Merry Christmas to you and everyone out there. I hope it has been a very magical Christmas morning so far. I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for spending this holiday morning with us.
Just ahead this hour, it started as one family's idea and it grew into a global brand. The inside story behind elf on the shelf and what's next for one of the world's biggest Christmas traditions. And the holidays are a big source of joy for so many but they can also bring up sad feelings or painful memories. We have some tips to help you cope with the holiday blues just ahead.
SANCHEZ: That's all coming up. But first let's get you caught up on this morning's news headlines with Whitney Wild.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Boris and Amara. And good morning and Merry Christmas to you. If you're celebrating, we began with the brutal weather storm keeping its grip on most of the country. At least 22 deaths are blamed on the storm and more than a quarter of a million people are without electricity.
The weather is causing severe travel headaches across the country. More than 3,400 flights were canceled yesterday, another 1,200 have been canceled so far today. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is sending more help to hard-hit Buffalo. Hochul says she will ask that the federal government declare -- request of the federal government declaration of emergency.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Buffalo, New York, what is widely considered as ground zero of this massive winter storm driving around is not only treacherous, it is still prohibited, especially for nonessential reasons. And this is one of the reasons why. This is a scene that repeats itself. According to officials, not only here in Buffalo, but throughout the region, you have vehicles that have basically been abandoned.
And so what authorities are going to do through the evening and also into Christmas Day, they will continue working around the clock, making sure that anybody that needs rescuing gets the attention they need. The mayor of the city of Buffalo on Saturday afternoon estimating that there could be as many as 200 people still stranded in and around the city.
On Friday night, they rescued roughly 65 individuals. And sadly, on Saturday, the mayor confirming the death of an individual who was found unconscious on a sidewalk here in Buffalo. And he says he shared with CNN what is a grim prediction that when everything is said and done, that that death toll could potentially rise.
And that's what's feeling concerns and a call for people to wake up Christmas morning at home. Sheltering in place, since any potential relief insight may not come for quite some time. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Buffalo, New York.
WILD: Polo, thank you. More migrants arrived last night outside Vice President Kamala Harris' residence in Washington, D.C. Initially, two buses pulled up outside the Naval Observatory, but several more arrived later in the evening. A local group was assisting getting the migrants to shelters.
It's not clear who is responsible for sending the migrants to the Naval Observatory. Earlier this year, CNN reported that Texas Governor Greg Abbott had sent buses of migrants north, including to a location outside Harris' home.
This winter storm is disrupting real travel as well in Canada. Passengers traveling from Ottawa to Montreal and -- Ottawa and Montreal onto Toronto via -- on the Via Rail were stuck for nearly an entire day after nine trains were damaged by falling trees. Another seven trains were just outright canceled.
Weather warnings are up from British Columbia to the west of the Canadian Maritimes in the east. Authorities have a simple warning for residents and it's the warning we've been telling you for a couple of days. Now, stay inside if the weather is this bad.
That winter storms still impacting parts of the U.S. with snow and brutally cold wind chills. CNN Meteorologist Britley Ritz is tracking that from the Weather Center. Good morning to you Britley. When is this going to lead up and how cold is it now?
BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's awfully cold now, although we are starting to notice that warming trend, Whitney, and it's going to really warm up into mid to late next week. So there's hope.
All right, here we are at 9 degrees in St. Louis, though, it feels like 10 below zero. 18 in Buffalo and it feels like one. So it's the wind, that's the kicker here. When that's factored in, you get the windshield or the feels like temperature if you will.
[07:05:03]
Wind gusts in Buffalo at 35 miles per hour. Many are still under windchill advisories from the Upper Midwest down through the Ohio Valley. Down through the Appalachian, part of the Alleghenies under wind chill warnings for later today as temperatures feel like 35 below. Hard freeze warnings too, by the way, in place across the deep south and toward Florida, or temperatures are expected to be into the upper 20s this morning and there we are at 25 degrees in Mobile.
Some of us even colder, Atlanta 19 where it feels like 6 degrees. This afternoon, again, some hope into warming up. We will be above freezing in Atlanta but not by much a whopping 36 degrees with some sunshine. So at least the sunshiny. There's the warm up. Above normal temperatures come into play Wednesday and into Thursday, all across the Lower 48.
However, we're still dealing with snowfall. Watertown, New York showing that snow falling pretty heavy. The bands coming in off of Lake Ontario as well as Erie. We can expect more snow to fall on top of the 30 inches plus that we've already seen in Buffalo. Whitney?
WILD: Sheesh, Britley Ritz, thank you.
RITZ: Yes.
WILD: All right, five people are in custody in connection with a deadly shooting at Minnesota's Mall of America. Investigators say they arrested three 17-year-olds and two 218-year-olds who will be charged with second degree murder. They say at least one-person shot and killed a man Friday night inside in Nordstrom after some sort of altercation. Investigators say they don't yet know why the shooting happened.
A fire on board a JetBlue flight forced more than 160 passengers to evacuate shortly after landing at JFK's -- at New York's JFK Airport last night. One passenger describes how the captain jumped into action.
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SEAN WEED, PASSENGER: The captain came flying out of the cabin. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and was doing like an O.J. Simpson over the seats and passengers. The guy was amazing and put the fire out.
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WILD: In a statement to CNN, JetBlue said, the flight from Barbados was evacuated due to reports of a customer's malfunctioning electronic device or battery. Fire officials say passengers were evacuated using the emergency slides and that five people had minor injuries. The FAA and the NTSB are now trying to figure out how this all happen and investigating the incident.
An Arizona judge has rejected Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's lawsuit attempting to overturn her election defeat. The judge said there just wasn't clear or convincing evidence of misconduct and the judge affirmed the victory of Democratic Governor-elect Katie Hobbs
Lake lost to Hobbs by about 17,000 votes. The ruling marks a major defeat for Lake, who built her candidacy on her support for former PresidentTrump's, lies about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
And finally, hundreds of surfing Santas hit the waves of Cocoa Beach, Florida, on Saturday. They braved the water despite very cold temperatures, as Britley showed you just a few seconds ago. The Santas hold this annual event on Christmas Eve to raise money for two charities. One of those charities helps people with transportation costs for cancer treatments. The other helps preserve the history of surfing on the East Coast.
You need a wetsuit or two or three for that type of frigid weather. Well, at least I would.
All right, we'll see you back here and 25 minutes past the hour. For now, sending it back to Boris and Amara.
WALKER: Still ahead you've likely heard of elf on the Shelf but do you know how this now global holiday tradition began? We're going to be joined by the co-CEO of "Elf on the Shelf" for the inside story behind one of Santas most recognizable helpers.
And the holidays may not be the most wonderful time of the year for some of us. We've got some advice for dealing with the holiday blues when this special Christmas morning edition of CNN This Morning continues after the short break.
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[07:11:51]
WALKER: It started in the 1970s with an elf called Frisbee and it sparked a global sensation. The book, "The Elf on the Shelf", describes how Santa really knows who's been naughty or nice. Yes, he depends on those little elves. Around 20 million copies have been sold worldwide since it launched in 2005. And it has become a tradition for many families including mine.
Christa Pitts, co-CEO of "The Elf on the Shelf" joins us now to talk more. Great to see you, Christa. Merry Christmas to you.
CHRISTA PITTS, CO-CEO, THE ELF ON THE SHELF: Merry Christmas to you, too. Thanks so much.
WALKER: You know, I am a big "Elf on the Shelf" fan. I just started a couple years ago because my kid, my eldest daughter is four years old, and it's so special. And this is something that started within your family. Can you just start off by telling us about your family's "Elf on the Shelf" origins story?
PITTS: Sure, sure. I'm happy to. So as you mentioned, my mother had an elf when she was young. And that elf came with her to our family when my siblings and I were growing up. We had that very elf in our home. And the "Elf on the Shelf" was born from the fact that Frisbee, as you as you rightly pointed out, was his name, would fly back and forth to Santa every single night between Thanksgiving and Christmas and give the report, good or bad, happier, sad, whatever it may be. And so that's really where the "Elf on the Shelf" as people now know it began.
WALKER: I have to tell you, first of all, you must take some responsibility from some of the quarreling that goes on between spouses because I promise you my husband and I have had a little bit of, you know, tit for tat over who needs to move the elf because, you know, half the time we forget to move the elf. And, you know, neither of us wants to get up and think of a creative idea. So I'm sure you can take a little bit of responsibility for that, right? Some of the quarreling, you know, that you've caused them in the fighting?
PITTS: I try not to cause fights, although I will say I get a lot of, oh my gosh, I love you. No, no, I really don't like you at all. So it's a mixed bag. When the elves fly back from Santa and they park themselves in a new spot in the house, there have been some super creative elves. I mean, I've been blown away with what I've seen, but you know, the outtakes on the personality of their family. And I hate to say it, but my elf is fantastic. But Bill Belvedere, he's a little bit boring, actually.
WALKER: Well, so I mean, tell me why -- did you expect it to catch on like this? I mean, wildfire, not just here in the U.S., but really around the world. Why do you think it's caught on to be such a popular tradition for so many families now?
PITTS: You know, I have to say I believed in it from the beginning. And my sister and I both did and it's because we grew up with it.
WALKER: Yes.
PITTS: So when we experienced it, it was the magic of being, you know, six, seven, eight, nine years old and what that feels like when you are leading up to Christmas and it feels like every day last 95 days, right, and you're just trying to get to that place where the magic is captured.
[07:15:04]
And I think what resonates with families is that the "Elf on the Shelf" is a member of your home. Like I said, it takes on your personality, you get to name it, when you bring it in to be a member of your family. And then it resonates with every family no matter how they celebrate their holiday season.
We've got all sorts of various, you know, religious groups or backgrounds, but it's what this season represents, right? Innocence, logic, joy, happiness, and, you know, a little bit of fun along the way.
WALKER: And the elf is perfect to bribe your children, right? I mean, half the time I'm saying, hey, guys, the elf is watching, stop fighting. Eat all your dinner or the elf is going to tell Santa you've been naughty. So it's great all around, you know, for the magic and also for some of the bribing. What are some creative or, I guess, the more creative ideas you've seen on social media or even online because I've Googled shelf on the elf ideas, please?
PITTS: Yes, yes. You know, we have been blown away with the creativity that elves show in homes, I mean, all across the globe. So one of the things I really appreciate it is when the elves start missing their home at the North Pole, they might sneak into the icebox. I've seen it happen a couple of times, they get that freezer feeling, which is always fun.
And, of course, you see a lot of signs spelled out, you get a lot of letters that go back and forth to Santa using the elf as their vehicle. So there's some really creative ideas. I've seen lots of movie nights, holiday movie nights with popcorn and, you know, soda pop and all of those fun things. So, yes, I'm amazed. My elf like I said, he just flies back and forth to Santa. He's very busy, but not quite as creative as some of his friends have to say.
WALKER: Have you heard from people around the world? And, you know, I guess, were there any countries that really surprised you that you were hearing from?
PITTS: Yes, you know, it's amazing. We hear from all over the world. Children call us. They write us, they send us pictures. They send us emails. Certainly, we are able to facilitate those conversations on behalf of Santa Claus, which is really -- it's fun and it's touching. We had one young lady write us, not from America. I believe it was from Spain. She was asking if Santa could send Chris Pine to her home. We talked to them that was not going to be possible.
WALKER: I should ask the same thing to my elf.
PITTS: But I can't blame her for asking.
WALKER: I think a good idea. I'll have that request too along with millions of other women. Really pleasure to have you on. What American -- what an amazing tradition. It's also American too --
PITTS: Thank you.
WALKER: -- for many of us to have in their homes elf on the shelf. Yes, Christa Pitts, thank you.
PITTS: It's such a pleasure. Thank you.
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[07:21:14]
WALKER: Good morning, everyone. Merry Christmas and welcome to this special edition of CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, December 25, need I tell you? I'm Amara Walker. SANCHEZ: Great to be with you Amara. Merry Christmas to you. I'm Boris Sanchez. Thank you so much for spending part of this special holiday morning with us.
WALKER: The holidays may be filled with good cheer, but they can also bring on stress and sadness for some. We have some tips on coping with the holiday blues coming up. But first, let's get a look at your morning headlines with Whitney Wild.
WILD: Good morning, Boris and Amara. And good morning to you at home. A dangerous and deadly winter storm is keeping its grip on most of the country. At least 22 deaths are blamed on the storm and more than a quarter of a million people are without electricity.
The weather is causing travel headaches across the country. More than 3,400 flights were canceled yesterday, another 1,200 have been canceled so far today. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is sending more help to hard-hit Buffalo. Hochul says she will ask that the federal government declaration of emergency.
Pope Francis is calling for an end to the war in Ukraine and his Christmas message just a short time ago, the pontiff appealed to those who have the power to, quote, put an end -- put an immediate end to this senseless war. Pope Francis also called for an end to the use of food as a weapon. He says the war has put entire peoples at risk of famine.
Christmas Day is here. Merry Christmas to you if you're celebrating and all around the world, holiday celebrations are underway.
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WILD: In Bethlehem, midnight mass was held at the Church of the Nativity, that was built in the fourth century. According to the Bible, that West Bank town is the birthplace of Jesus. There were other Christmas Eve celebrations earlier in the day, parades and drumming. Just take a look.
The Taliban is further restricting rights of women in Afghanistan. The group has informed non-governmental organizations that female employees are no longer allowed to come to work. Any organization that doesn't comply will lose its license to work in the country.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken expressed his concern that the ban could disrupt the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid and call the decision, quote, devastating. Meanwhile, the Taliban used water cannons to break up a group of women protesting the group's decision earlier this week to ban women from attending universities.
From Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the death of the British monarch, 2022 has been a year of major developments around the world. CNN's Clarissa Ward has a look at the top 10 international stories of the year.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As 2022 comes to a close, so does a very difficult year, largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. At number 10, more than 150 revelers died in a crowd crush on Halloween festivities in Seoul, South Korea.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You have to warn you, the video you're about to watch is graphic. It is a horrifically chaotic scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems as if this Halloween party, this event was on this very narrow street. We thought these stretchers were for potential survivors and we've now realized in the last few minutes they are for the bodies.
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WARD: Number nine, in the U.K. there seem to be no end in sight to the political chaos with three prime ministers in less than three months.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What a morning. Just moments ago, Boris Johnson announced he is resigning.
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[07:25:03]
WARD: Johnson forced to resign after a series of scandals including violating his own government's strict COVID-19 lockdown.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Ask not for whom Big Ben tolls it tolls for Truss.
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WARD: The shortest term for a PM in history caused after her fiscal plan proposal sent the country's currency plummeting. Conservative MPs opting instead for former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.
Number eight, 2022 was the year of political comebacks. Both former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and ex-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed us that time out of power can be a springboard for unlikely political rebounds.
Supporters partied like it was 2003. Lula, who served two terms as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011, be conservative populist Jair Bolsonaro. Meanwhile, Israel's fifth election in under four years saw a triumphant return for Netanyahu. Standing trial for corruption on charges he has long denied.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a story about the astonishing success of the far-right of Israeli politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WARD: Number seven, Ayman al-Zawahiri, America's most wanted terrorists killed in a U.S. drone strike in downtown Kabul. Less than a year after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a promise by the Taliban to never again provide sanctuary to terrorists.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These types of incidents happen everywhere in the world --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But they really don't.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, United States will find you and take you out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WARD: Number six --
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BERMAN: This morning, the death toll from the flooding in Pakistan has increased to more than 1,300 people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's just a steady flow of people. The water levels here are still rising.
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WARD: Pakistan is responsible for less than 1 percent of the world's emissions, but it is paying a stiff price for global warming. More than 1,700 people were killed as a result of the floods. Another stark warning of the perils that lie ahead as global temperatures rise and natural disasters increase and intensifying.
Number five --
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We are back with CNN's breaking news coverage of the health of Queen Elizabeth II. Is there any news that you have heard?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're not hearing anything. It's gone very quiet, which is quite eerie.
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WARD: Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch, whose role spans seven decades died at the age of 96. Britain bid farewell to the monarch with an outpouring of emotion. Majestic funeral steeped in tradition, and a send-off reflective of the broad popularity she managed to retain over her remarkable reign. The coronation of King Charles III is due to take place in May at Westminster Abbey.
Number four --
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Chinese leader Xi Jinping cementing his grip on power. She emerges from the Communist Party Congress stronger than ever securing a third term as party chief surrounded by his loyalists.
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Expect to see Xi Jinping double down on what he's been doing. So more communist party control over Chinese society, more crackdowns on dissent, more tensions with the United States, more aggression and intimidation of Taiwan.
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WARD: China's President facing one of the greatest challenges of his reign, as protests erupted across China in a rare show of dissent.
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WANG: I'm at the center of a protests in Beijing right now. They're chanting that they don't want COVID tests. They want freedom.
No protests of the scale with demands for political reforms have been seen since the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests in 1989. This is a police state that does not tolerate dissent.
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WARD: Number three, unprecedented demonstrations continue across Iran ignited by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini in September. She was arrested by the Iranian morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code for women.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women at the forefront of the protest, burning the headscarf they've been forced to wear for decades.
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WARD: Activists and experts say the ongoing protests are now a national uprising of one of the biggest challenges to the regime since its founding. Meanwhile, the crackdown continues to intensify. U.N. officials say more than 14,000 people have been arrested, while Iran admits more than 300 have been killed in the unrest.
Number two, 2022 saw the world slowly emerge from the COVID pandemic only to inch towards a global recession.
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[07:30:00]
JULIA CHATTERLY, CNN ANCHOR: Gas prices are rising once again after Russia said it will reduce flows of its last natural gas pipeline to Europe.
WARD: Factors including Russia's war in Ukraine and China's continued COVID lockdown have disrupted supply chains and spurred inflation worldwide. Globally, the year will likely end with more than 45 million people at risk of famine. Higher food prices having a deadly impact on nearly 20 hotspots around the world.
Number one, on February 24, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sending troops into the country from three fronts and bombarding cities with missiles and long-range artillery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is calling this a, "Special Military operation".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we pan up, there's another salvo being fired right now, So, you can see in this area, the Russians firing artillery rockets towards Ukraine. And at the same time, we've also seen a move in heavy, heavy armor.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're watching history unfold before our eyes. The largest invasion in Europe since World War II. President Zelenskyy has ordered a general military mobilization. CNN's Matthew Chance had an up-close encounter with some Russian forces.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They have taken this airport. You can tell they're Russian -- I've spoken to them already. You can tell they're Russian, they've got that orange and blank band.
WARD: Life for Ukrainians changed overnight. Scenes Seems reminiscent of the second World War.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wake up and you find out that the world is no longer the safe place you live i.
WARD: The U.N. says almost 8 million people have fled the country since then. Many more have been displaced internally. And at least 6,500 Ukrainian civilians have been killed with more than 10,000 injured since Russia invaded the country in February. Despite recent battle field successes by the Ukrainians, the war wages on. And in each newly liberated territory, there is grim evidence of what Ukraine says are Russian war crimes.
Ukraine is now bracing itself for a cold winter. Russia has been targeting the country's power infrastructure in the hopes of freezing out a population that has already seen nine months of unending destruction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILD: That was CNN's Clarissa Ward reporting. Boris and Amara, back to you.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN NEW DAY WEEKEND ANCHOR: The holidays are a joyous time of the year for a lot of folks. But for others, they can bring up painful memories or negative feelings. We're going to be joined by a psychiatrist with some tips on coping with your feelings during the holidays after this short break.
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[07:35:00]
SANCHEZ: Christmas is meant to be full of laughter and festive fun. That's certainly most of the messaging you'll see in holiday ads and movies this time of year, right? For the majority of Americans, it is a happy time. But look, Christmas isn't for everyone for several. So, if you're feeling stressed or a bit lonely or blue, our next guest has some great advice.
Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst. She's also the host of the podcast, "How Can I Help?" which is on iHeartRadio.
Dr. Saltz, thank you so much for sharing part of your holiday with us. We appreciate your expertise. There are a lot of sources of stress over the winter holidays, right? What are the main ones?
DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST AND PSYCHOANALYST AND HOST, "HOW CAN I HELP?" PODCAST: Well, the main ones, honestly are this disconnect just as you kind of mentioned between people's expectations that it should be all joyous and all jolly and they should feel great. And they should be loved and loving and with everyone that they want to be with. And the reality, which is people are often spending more than they have and feel very stressed about the whole presence and competition as it were for the holiday. Making everything the best. Getting the wonderful food. Getting all the presents.
So, financial stress is a big one. Social stress for many people. Who do they have to be with? Did they have to be with family maybe they don't get along that well with or that stress them out, or are they, as you mentioned, alone and they're feeling lonely and concerned about that? Social anxiety this time of year for people who have more social anxiety or the holiday parties, et cetera.
And a lot of people's health behavior, kind of, goes downhill which adds to their stress. So, difficulty sleeping, drinking more alcohol, eating in unhealthy way, that can also ratchet-up the stress. And of course, this time of the year, the days are short. The light is less and a lot of people do struggle with depression at this time of year that is specifically seasonal. So, all of those conspire to mean -- you know, close to half of people feel pretty stressed out at this time of year.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And you also have some specific advice for folks that are going through a difficult time through the holidays. You say, don't try to please everybody. Stay health. Use de-stressing techniques. You mentioned, it's the thought that counts and remember what really matters. Let's dig deeper into some of these. You mentioned de-stressing techniques. What do those -- what does that mean exactly?
DR. SALTZ: Well, today if you find that you are feeling a high stress level, then there are specific things that only take a few minutes that you can do that actually would really help reduce your stress today. Those range from things like what's called paced deep breathing, which is deep abdominal breathing into a count of five and out to a count of seven. So, that exhale is longer which helps bring down your pulse and your blood pressure and calms your body.
Progressive muscle relaxation where you tighten every muscle group and then relax it, helps relaxation. Here's a quickie that sounds really, kind of, odd but it actually really works. Put your face in a bowl of cold water, not colder than, like, 50 degrees, for about 30 seconds. This initiates what's called the diver's reflex which brings down your blood pressure and shunts blood away from unnecessary parts to your brain and to your heart which actually quickly interrupts upsetting emotion and stress.
So -- and also, actually, vigorous exercise, 30 minutes of really aerobic heart rate up exercise. All these things can quickly, on this day, reduce your stress level.
SANCHEZ: Something you mentioned earlier that I found really interesting was the competitive aspect of the holidays that a lot of folks get caught up in. We also get caught up in the gifts, the parties, the lights. All these things that, sort of, scream it's the holidays. But your point is to focus on what really matters, right?
[07:40:00]
DR. SALTZ: Yes, people do get caught up in the perfectionist and outdoing each other. Outdoing themselves from last year. But then they mis the point of the holiday and the point that actually can make them feel good which is a review of the year. What do you feel grateful for that you do have in your life? What do you plan to enhance emotionally for yourself? And then next year, who matters to you in your life? Relationships that you feel appreciative for.
For many people it's religious observance. You know, what about your faith really soothes you and energizes you and thinking about that. But the people in your life and appreciating the holiday with them is often really the most valuable emotionally part of the holiday. So, focusing on the good in that. And, as I said, that it's the thought -- that if you did anything for anybody, it is the thought that counts instead of thinking about, like, how great it was or how much money you spent.
SANCHEZ: Right. And for some folks, obviously, the holidays can bring out feelings of sadness and loneliness. Maybe it reminds them of someone that they lost of something difficult that they attach negative feeling to, that they attach to a certain holiday.
DR. SALTZ: Yes.
SANCHEZ: How do you go about recognizing and then dealing with those uncomfortable feelings?
DR. SALTZ: So, holidays are a classic time if you've lost somebody in -- even in the past few years that you will probably miss them the most. And so, knowing that that's normal and expectable actually goes a long way, believe it or not. And sometime reminiscing about that person with people who also knew them can actual make you feel better. So, that's something I would suggest.
If you're feeling lonely which, by the way, is a growing public health issue, think about picking up the phone and talking to somebody that you do feel that you really could connect with or a zoom call, even if you can't be with them on this day. Sometimes volunteering on a day like today to help people who are actually in more need than you are, and meeting and being with people who feels similarly, who are also having some of the same struggles that you're having can make you feel less alone.
All of those things are really good coping tools. But, let me just say, that if you are really feeling depressed, if you're really feeling hopeless, helpless, lonely, and it's ongoing, today is a good day to resolve. To reach out to a mental health professional. Make an appointment and evaluate whether really what you're experiencing is depression which is treatable and you should get treatment in the new year.
SANCHEZ: And it's something a lot of people experience. And there's no shame in asking for help, especially when it comes from a professional. Dr. Gail Saltz, thanks so much for giving us the gift of your time. We appreciate it.
DR. SALTZ: Thank you very much for having me.
WALKER: 2022 marked a major milestone for NASA. As the space agency launched a historic mission designed to get Americans back to the moon. With that and more when we take a look at the top 10 space stories of the year. That's coming up.
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SANCHEZ: 2022 was a history making year for NASA.
WALKER: We were all mesmerized by some historic launches and stellar views of our universe. CNN's Kristin Fisher has a look at the "Top 10 Space Stories of 2022".
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kristin Fisher with the "Top 10 Space Stories of 2022". Coming in at number 10
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one.
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FISHER: The first private mission to the International Space Station.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go falcon. Go dragon. God speed. Axiom 1.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FISHER: Texas space startup Axiom Space brokered the trip for four
private citizens, not affiliated with any government space program to launch on top of a SpaceX rocket --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is looking good on Falcon 9.
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FISHER: -- and spend 15 days conducting experiments alongside professional NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts. Ushering in a new era for commercial space flight.
Number nine may look and sound like basic boot camp for soldiers or sailers.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exercise, position wrap.
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FISHER: But these are guardians in the U.S. space force.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is still the United States military. This is not space camp.
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FISHER: 2022 marked the first ever guardian only basic training, led entirely by space force instructors. A major milestone for the first new branch in the armed services in more than 70 years.
Coming in at number eight, the United States becoming the first country to announce a ban on anti-satellite weapons tests.
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KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: These tests are dangerous and we will not conduct them.
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FISHER: The U.S., China, Russia and India have all carried out these types of tests in the past which involves firing a missile from Earth and striking a satellite in space, creating massive debris fields. This year, astronauts aboard the International Space Station repeatedly dodged debris from Russia's most recent test of this type of weapon.
The truth is out there for our seventh space story of the year. And in 2022 Congress pushed for answers. For the first time in more than 50 years, a public hearing on Capitol Hill about UFOs or UAPs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: UAPs are unexplained, its true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. Any threats they pull need to be mitigated.
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FISHER: Though the hearing did not answer if these UAPs or classified U.S. technology, the work of a foreign adversary or extraterrestrial life. The deputy director of naval intelligence did confirm the authenticity of two videos taken by navy pilots and he described the UAPs in them as some kind of real physical object that gets very close to military pilots and bases.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this one of the phenomenon that we can't explain?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not have an explanation for what the specific object is.
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Fisher: At number six, Moscow threatening to pull out of the International Space Station after the U.S. sanctioned Russia for invading Ukraine. Dmitry Rogozin, the now former head of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, threatening to end its nearly three decades long partnership with NASA. Even going so far as to release a video implying that Moscow might abandon a NASA astronaut that Russia was responsible for bringing back to Earth.
The bluster prompted a bitter Twitter war between Rogozin and one of NASA's most famous former astronauts, Scott Kelly, who later this year celebrated Rogozin's ouster and the space station's ability to survive --
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-- despite the conflict roughly 250 miles below.
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SCOTT KELLY, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: And when you have a guy like him that, you know, behaves like a child on Twitter and threatens nuclear war, I was really, really happy to see him go.
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FISHER: Our fifth space story of the year also came to the aid of Ukraine. SpaceX's Starlink satellite.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition. And lift off for Starlink. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FISHER: When Russia knocked out cellphone and internet service to much of the country, a Ukrainian government official begged SpaceX's Elon Musk for help. Well, Musk responds with a tweet that would forever change the battlefield. Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals on route.
Well, since then, Starlink has become an indispensable tool for both Ukrainian civilians and the Ukrainian military. But after months of providing the lifesaving internet service for free, documents obtained by CNN showed that SpaceX told the Pentagon that it can no longer continue to fund Starlink terminals in Ukraine indefinitely. Now, Musk later backtracked saying that his company will continue to fund Startlink service in Ukraine. But the debate laid bare the dangers of an entire country of being too dependent on one billionaire.
Coming in at number four.
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FISHER: Do you hear that? That is what the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy sounds like. And in 2022, scientists were able to capture an image of it for the very first time. The image which was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope which is a global network of synchronized radio observatories confirmed he presence of a super massive black hole known as Sagittarius A, some 27,000 light years away from Earth.
Number three is the world's first planetary defense mission. After billions of years of being at the mercy of killer asteroids and comets, in 2022, Earthlings struck back.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And for the first time, our technology allows us to actually do something about it.
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FISHER: NASA's plan was to try to ram a refrigerator size spacecraft called DART into an asteroid named Dimorphos to see if the impact would push the asteroid slightly off course. Now, Dimorphos posed no threat to planet Earth, but if the test worked, it would mean that this type of technique could maybe be used to deflect a future killed asteroid that is headed for Earth.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the name of Planetary defense.
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FISHER: After spending six months barreling through space. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have impact.
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FISHER: -- the bull's eye hit was captured by telescopes all over the world which later confirmed that the tiny DART spacecraft was successful in bumping that asteroid off course.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think that -- should sleep better. Definitely I will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
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FISHER: Coming in at number two, the James Webb Space Telescope finally delivering on its decades long promise by beaming back its first images to Earth.
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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Tomorrow, when this image is shared with the world, it will be a historic moment for science and technology. For astronomy and space exploration. For America and all of humanity.
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FISHER: It's the culmination of 30 years worth of work carrying the hopes and dreams of astronomers all over the world, seeking answers to some of humanities most existential questions. Are we alone in the universe? And where did that first light in the cosmos come from some 13 billion years ago? NASA leadership describing the moment they first saw the kinds of images that Webb was capable of producing from its perch about a million miles away from Earth.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A sense of awe and, frankly, got emotional.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just moved me as a scientist, as an engineer, as a human being.
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FISHER: And this is it. The first image taken by the telescope released by NASA. It's called Webb's first deep field. And all of these lights, they're not individual stars. Each one is an entire galaxy and each galaxy is filled with billions of stars. If you zoom in on some of them, you can even see that distinctive spiral shape. Webb also took some spectacular images of planets a little bit closer to home. Here's Jupiter and Neptune as you've never seen her. Finally, the Pillars of Creation where baby stars are born. It's part of the Eagle Nebula, some 65,000 light years away and it was first made famous by Webb's predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995.
Finally, our number space story of 2022.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hydrogen burn-off igniters.
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FISHER: For the first time in more than 50 years, NASA launching a rocket capable of carrying astronauts back to the moon. The Artemis Rocket is NASA's first space craft since the space shuttle designed to launch people into orbit.
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Years overdue, billions over budget, it was rolled back from the launchpad to the safety of its hangar to escape Hurricane Ian, only to be rolled back out to the launchpad just in time to take a direct hit from Hurricane Nicole. But, just five days later, NASA making the gutsy call to give the third launch attempt a go.
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FISHER: The Orion Spacecraft then separated from the Artemis or SLS Rocket beginning a nearly 26-day 1.4 million mile odyssey to the moon and back. The spacecraft traveled further into space than any spacecraft designed to carry humans have ever flown while beaming back spectacular images of the moon and our home.
Orion's final test, its heat shield. Successfully protecting the mannequins on board the Artemis 1 mission from the blistering temperatures of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and blazing the way for Artemis 2 when four real astronauts will be on board.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Splash down. The latest chapter of NASA's journey to the moon comes to a close. Orion back on Earth.
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: What a year for exploration and innovation and discovery for all of humanity.
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FISHER: Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.
WALKER: Thank you everyone for spending part of your Christmas morning with us. I can't wait to run home and make sure that my kids are happy about the gifts that we got them. SANCHEZ: I'm sure that they're going to be thrilled, Amara. I'm still waiting for mine. It must be lost in the mail. I'm sure, supply chain issues, right?
WALKER: Yes, I sent you a few. Hopefully it gets there on time, by 2022.
SANCHEZ: Merry Christmas from all of us at "CNN This Morning" weekend. We are grateful to share these weekend mornings with you. Stay tuned though because "Inside Politics Sunday" is up next.
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