Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Israel Resumes Gaza Combat Operations As Truce Collapses; Protester Sets Self On Fire Outside Of Atlanta Israeli Consulate; George Santos' Ex-Constituents React to His Expulsion from Congress; House GOP Push to Vote on Biden Impeachment Inquiry. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired December 02, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:37]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Victor Blackwell.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isabel Rosales in for Amara Walker. Thanks for joining us.

Israeli combat operations against Hamas are entering their second day after the collapse of the week long truce. Israel's military says that they have had over 400 targets in just the first 24 hours since the truce expired. They have been directing most of that firepower toward targets in southern Gaza. They've released fliers telling civilians where to evacuate.

BLACKWELL: Israeli officials say the extended humanitarian truce collapsed after Hamas did not provide the names of the women and children still held hostage. Despite the truce ending, U.S. officials say talks to release more hostages are ongoing scene.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us from Jerusalem. Camila DeChalus is at the White House.

Ben, let's start with you. So first, tell us about what has happened in southern Gaza specifically over the past few hours.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know, as you mentioned is that the Israeli military said they carried four out 400 strikes in southern in southern Gaza. Now that compares to 300 on the last day of before the truce went into effects, it certainly does seem to be more intense than it was before.

Now the according to a statement from the Israeli military they hit the weapons storage compound, and they said a mosque that was being used as a command center by not Hamas, but rather Islamic Jihad. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that as of this morning, at least 200 people were killed and 700 injured, many of the dead and injured they said our children and this -- it's important to keep in mind that even the U.N. says that at least 50 -- at least 40 percent of the population of Gaza is under the age of 15. Now we've also seen that the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military

has ordered the inhabitants of Shejaiya Jabalya and Tofa (ph) which are three areas to the east and north of Gaza City to leave immediately and leave those areas by four o'clock in the afternoon.

Now, it's difficult to see how some of these people can leave these areas and go to South of Gaza since many of them either don't have cars or don't have the fuel to put in their cars.

Now, finally, some aid after 24 hours of nothing getting into Gaza. Some aid is getting through the Palestinian Red Crescent Society says that 50 trucks with food and medical aid entered Gaza through from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. Victor, Isabel.

BLACKWELL: Camilla, let's go to Camila DeChalus there at the White House. The fighting has resumed in Gaza, the administration warning Israel that the South cannot look like what we saw in the north before the truce. Tell us about that.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Victor. President Joe Biden and his top officials have said both publicly and privately in conversations with top Israeli officials that they expect Israel to take more steps to prevent the loss or mitigate the loss of innocent civilian lives in the Gaza region.

Now, these comments are very significant because it signals that Biden is taking a tougher tone when talking to Israel and what it expects. They also say that they expect to not see the same levels of displacement that we've seen in the northern region take place in the southern region of Gaza.

And these comments are coming at a time when Democratic senators are asking the White House if they are open to the idea of putting conditions on the financial aid ascending to get to Israel.

[06:05:02]

ROSALES: All right, Camila DeChalus. Thank you for your time. Joining me now as senior columnist and editor for The Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Katz. Yaakov, thank you so much for joining us.

First of all, Israel has now resumed fighting in Gaza, specifically southern Gaza. Where does that leave talks for the release of more hostages? Israel believes there's 136 of them, 17 being women and children.

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST AND EDITOR, THE JERUSALEM POST: Well, let's remember Isabel, what happened here was that Israel had about a week that everyday it was getting about 10 hostages in exchange. It had agreed to a ceasefire, it had stopped the fighting and it was releasing three times the number of Palestinian terrorists, prisoners who were in Israeli jails.

What Hamas did, even though Israel agreed to extend that ceasefire, make it longer, Hamas refused to give the names and to release more hostages. That's why this fell apart. And the White House was also very clear that the side that violated the ceasefire was Hamas. It was not Israel.

So Israel would have preferred for there to be a ceasefire, would have preferred to get more hostages, but had no choice to go back to the resumption of this offensive to take down Hamas.

ROSALES: All right. Well, hours before Israel said combat operations had resumed the U.S. pressured its ally to shield Palestinian civilians. Here's Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference in Tel Aviv. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We discussed the details of Israel's ongoing planning, and I underscored the imperative the United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the South. As I told the Prime Minister, intent matters, but so does the result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And Yaakov, there's been what really looks to be here a significant shift in the Biden administration's rhetoric. So two questions for you, will Netanyahu whose efforts curb civilian loss of life be genuine? And how far is the Israeli Prime Minister willing to go to accommodate U.S. concerns?

KATZ: Look, I think that we have to recognize what happened here. On October 7, there was a ceasefire until Hamas violated it entered into Israeli communities and butchered and massacred 1,200 people and took another 230, 240 as hostages.

Israel did not want this war. Israel was compelled and forced into this conflict by Hamas. And what Hamas wants is for Israel to attack that civilian infrastructure, for civilians to be killed, because that's part of its strategy and wants the world to see those images and to crack down in Israel and believe that Israel is the side that is the aggressor, while Israel is the side that is actually defending itself.

Now, can Israel do potentially more to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage? From my experience and the knowledge that I have and what I've seen up close in those military bases, Israel goes to links that no other military in the world does.

With that said, there's no question, Isabel, you're right, the pressure from the U.S. is going to impact Israel decision making, because Israel relies heavily on the support and the alliance with the United States.

So if Biden, Blinken and the rest of the U.S. government starts to say to Israel, wrap it up, guys, it's time for this war to come to an end, that could lead to a crisis between Israel and the United States.

But we have to remember, the elimination of Hamas, the removal of Hamas from power in Gaza, is not just an Israel security interest, it is in the interest of the world, is in the interest of the Palestinian people of Gaza, are also held hostage by this violent terrorist group.

So Israel has a mission still to do, which would bring greater stability and safety not just to Israel, but to the entire region.

ROSALES: And Yaakov, we don't have a lot of time here. But I do want to get to that New York Times report that Israeli officials obtained a document more than a year before October 7, laying out Hamas has battle plans. And that plan was stunningly close to reality, even including details about those paragliders who would begin the assault.

Now, the time say that Israel had Hamas's blueprints in its hands, but dismiss it as aspirational. So I'm going to start where your column ended, should the people who were part of these failures be allowed to remain in office?

KATZ: In my opinion, they should not. And I think that we will have to see some of these people be fired or stepped down or take responsibility and resign. But what we're seeing now is we're still in the middle of a conflict and these decisions about the future of some of these officials is going to have to wait till the war is over and the cannons are no longer roaring.

With that said, would it make sense for some people to be replaced in the middle of the conflict in the middle of the war, the people who really failed and messed up? In my view, Isabel, it's possible that some of them should, but at the end of the day, Israel has a war that it has to fight and I understand that these people are still focused on what they have to do.

ROSALES: Yes, we'll see how that plays out. Yaakov Katz, thank you.

BLACKWELL: In Atlanta, protester is in critical condition after setting herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate.

[06:10:04]

A security guard also suffered burns when he tried to stop her. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on what police believe was behind this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isabel and Victor, the incident happened at 12:17 p.m. that's when a security guard here at this building behind me noticed that there was a woman outside trying to set herself on fire using gasoline as an accelerant.

The security guard tried to stop her from doing so, but suffered burns to his wrist and leg and the process. The woman suffered third degree burns to 100 percent of her body, according to police, and Atlanta police Darin Schierbaum said that this was an extreme act of political protest. He also was very emphatic and saying that this isolated protest had no nexus to terrorism.

Now, there was a lot of concern earlier because this building houses the Israeli consulate, but officials say that no personnel from the consular offices here was in any danger at any time. Also, earlier reports indicated that the woman had a Palestinian flag

wrap around herself, but police would only confirm to us that there was a Palestinian flag found at the scene. Isabel Victor, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWLEL: Rafael, thank you so much. Still ahead this morning, difficult day for former President Trump and the courts as several rulings potentially open doors for new legal troubles.

ROSALES: Plus, a historic and to a controversial tenure, George Santos voted out of Congress by his colleagues. We'll discuss the political implications, next.

And a warning for parents with small children amid a rise of respiratory illnesses. But moms and dads need to know about the triple threat of viruses causing. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:05]

ROSALES: Welcome back, no ruling yet on whether or not former President Donald Trump's indictment will be thrown out in the 2020 election subversion case here in Georgia.

BLACKWELL: And a hearing lasting six hours yesterday his legal team tried to argue the indictment violates free speech. Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Isabel, Friday's court hearing was fascinating. This was the first time that we heard from Donald Trump's defense attorneys in this case and they were trying to get the indictment thrown out on First Amendment grounds.

Steve Sadow, the high profile criminal defense attorney argued that when former President Trump began peddling conspiracy theories and claiming that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that at its core, that was political speech, protected by the First Amendment.

The state had a chance to respond to that saying that while it sounds good to allege that this is political persecution, this was very much so about laws that were broken, and crimes that were committed.

STEVEN SADOW, TRUMP ATTORNEY: If you take the facts as alleged in the indictment throughout the RICO count. And when you do that, as applied constitutionally with the First Amendment, you find that it violates free speech, freedom of petitioning, all the expressions that the First Amendment is designed to protect, and therefore, the indictment needs to be dismissed.

VALENCIA: Meanwhile, another headline that emerged from the hearing on Friday was in terms of scheduling. Now, Fani Willis told The Washington Post recently that she wants a trial to start with Trump and his remaining co-defendants in August of 2024. But Steve Sadow, Trump's attorney pushed back saying that that was unrealistic. He said he expects his client to be the Republican nominee for president and that he could not imagine a scenario where Trump could simultaneously run for president and stand trial. Scheduling in this case is clearly something that still needs to be worked out. Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Nick, thank you. Joining us now CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, Joey, good morning to you. Let's start with the free speech argument from Trump's attorneys that this violates his rights. What's your view there?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So good morning, Victor. My view is a very dim one. And here's why, doesn't matter whether you like Trump, love Trump, that's not the issue. The issue is the law. And when you look at that particular argument, it's problematic.

Number one, obviously, we all enjoy rights to free speech. Right. And particularly the president, it's elevated because you have to protect political speech. However, two things of note, Victor.

Number one, there is limitations, as we know, on the nature of speech, obviously, in terms of not being unlimited. You know, defamation, that's a problematic, yelling fire is problematic. But that I think is beyond the point.

Number two, the real reality is that it's not about just speech. If you look at the indictment, it's about conduct, right. The realities are is that not only does free speech, not protect criminal activity. But it's not only an indictment that alleges that you were speaking in there for your guilty, you were acting, it speaks to the issue of so many things, whether it's election in terms of the Georgia case, looking at the actual voting, looking at fake electors, looking at making suggestions with respect to how the election was averted and trying to lie to the legislature, the speaker, etcetera, to have them have your view.

And so my view of it is, is that it will not carry the day the indictment will not be dismissed, Victor and the case will move forward.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about these two losses for the former president, one as it relates to criminal charges, the other as it relates to civil charges. Let's start with the more recent and criminal Judge Chutkan, who's presiding over the DC case, the federal case election subversion. She says that former President Trump does not enjoy absolute immunity when it comes to criminal charges writing this.

[06:20:04]

Trump's four year services Commander-in-Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens. Was this the expected ruling from her and the significance here?

JACKSON: Yes, I think on those two things, number one, it was expected. Number two, it's largely significant because of the precedent that it sets. If you evaluate the 48-page ruling, boy, did she go through chapter and verse in terms of American history, and in doing so made very clear that the -- there's a distinction between a system of government wherein you elect a king, and a system of government where you have a person who is elected president, who certainly powerful position, very important with respect to what they do for our democracy.

But there are limitations to what you can do, and that there is nothing in the Constitution that grants the broad immunity of allowing the president to do as they wish, when they wish, how they wish, particularly violating federal law and saying, Hey, there's nothing to see here. Let's leave that to the impeachment clause. And if they're not impeach, then, you know what, they have broad sweeping immunity for criminal activity, the judge said not at all and engaged in a sweeping rebuke of anything that would be near criminal immunity for any president.

And so I think it was largely a rendition of what the Constitution says. I think it's pretty solid on the law will certainly be appealed. But I think that the elements of her reasoning are very sound with respect to a president being like everyone else in the commission of alleged crimes.

BLACKWELL: Reminiscent of the presidents and kings and plaintiff is not President ruling from some time ago. Let's talk about the civil decision now.

Federal appeals court determined that the civil cases can go on, can go ahead against the former president related to his January 6 activities being sued by Capitol Police, by members of Congress. How tough will it be to prove these cases? Because this does not mean that they win those cases? It's just that they can proceed?

JACKSON: Yes, Victor, that's a very good point. I mean, number one, though, that was a ruling that, you know, I think could have gone either way. I think in that ruling, the court suggested that listen, yes, there's immunity for civil prosecute civil, I say prosecution, it's not a crime.

But with regard to moving forward the case and civil aspects, the court ruling, as it relates to civil cases, there's immunity, right, in terms of monetary damages. However, only as to your official acts, this was not an official act. And so therefore, the court noted that, yes, you can move forward and suing the president.

In terms of the difficulty, as you mentioned, Victor, they didn't reach that is the court whether or not the President on the merits should be held accountable civilly, only that you can try to hold them accountable.

And I think that like any other case, it's a question of proof. What were the President's activities on that day? How involved and engaged was he? What specifically did he do? What led up to this? Was there a connection? And was that connection causal to the injuries that were sustained and occurred?

And I think if based upon all that we've seen, the plaintiffs can prove that. I think that you know what, the President not only will be not immune from civil liability, but will in fact, endure civil liability, and that is he will lose those cases.

BLACKWELL: A lot of developments over the last 24 hours. Joey Jackson, good to have you. Thank you.

ROSALES: Up next, lawmakers voted George Santos out of Congress, how it all played out and what people in his former district have to say. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:50]

ROSALES: It is over to hell with this place, that was George Santos his own words for his short lived congressional career after it indict (ph) on the House floor. Santos became just the sixth person ever expelled from Congress Friday. CNN's Miguel Marquez reports on how his former constituents feel about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ex- Congressman George Santos leaving Congress. Intense to the very end.

Moments before his chaotic exits, CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer spoke to Santos as he watched the vote turn against him and his congressional career come to an abrupt end.

GEORGE SANTOS, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: It's over -- what reaction? The House voted, that's their vote. Sure. They just set new dangerous precedent for themselves. Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and the entire Republican House leadership voted to keep him in power. But in his Long Island, New York District, relieve.

MARQUEZ: George Santos has been expelled today. What was your reaction to that?

RISE HOCHMAN, VOTER, NEW YORK'S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: That was my reaction.

SANTOS: We made it here.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The allegations snowballing since he was elected in 2022. Santos's resume and life story came under glaring scrutiny, claims he was Jewish that his mother was in the Twin Towers during the 911 terror attack, where he went to school, what sports he played, that he worked in finance for well-known banks and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust. All of it lies.

SUE WISNER, VOTER, NEW YORK'S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: My ancestors perished in the Holocaust so he did a horrible thing by lying about that.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): In addition to his largely fictitious resume, the House Ethics Committee found Santos spent thousands of donor dollars on personal expenses, including shopping at high end designer stores Ferragamo and Hermes, paying for rent for Botox treatments, and subscribing to the largely pornographic website OnlyFans.

Santos wearing Ferragamo shoes when he left federal court in October after pleading not guilty to new charges, totaling 23 counts of fraud and money laundering. Today, he departed the Capitol in a Jaguar SUV.

[06:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't say I'm happy because it's sad that, you know, it's come to this, but I am glad they -- I think Congress made the right decision.

MARQUEZ: Robert Zimmerman lost to George Santos in 2022.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRAT WHO LOST TO GEORGE SANTOS: This is not a time of celebration for me, it's a time of reflection about how we move forward. There are a lot of lessons to be learned.

MARQUEZ: For those who voted for Santos, and even some who didn't, they fear Congress has gone too far.

VINCE LENTINI, VOTED FOR GEORGE SANTOS: Shocked, because to me the Republicans caved. They -- you know, they even hurt themselves. We're expelling him before he has his -- a chance to have a jury of his peers decide whether his conduct was criminal.

MARQUEZ: Miguel Marquez, CNN, Great Neck, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Changed the locks on the office. Miguel, thank you. Let's bring in now CNN political commentator and "Spectrum News" political anchor Errol Louis. Errol, good morning to you. Robert Zimmerman saying that there are lots of lessons to be learned. They're not just for, I guess the constituent, but also for us, you know, the media covering these candidates. What are the lessons if there are any now for his party, for Congress as well?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, good morning, Victor. I think one of the lessons is, background checks matter. So-called vetting really matters. You can't take at-face value if someone says they graduated from a particular college, take a couple of minutes to sort of put out an inquiry and make sure they actually did go to that college.

That was one of the many lies that was told by George Santos along the way, make sure that they worked where they said that they worked. Another set of lies that he told along the way. If you can stop this on the front side, that's an important lesson for all of us. The other is, you know, this is -- and this is new for me.

You and I have interviewed hundreds of politicians over the years, Victor, but I don't think I've ever encountered someone like this who right up until the end -- I mean, think about this, right up until the end, he could have raised his hand, even yesterday, and said I hereby resign effective immediately, and put an end to the whole thing, and he just wouldn't do it.

So, you know, that's a new one for me, but we should keep in mind that it is, in fact, possible to find somebody who is for whatever psychological reason unwilling to do the simplest, most reasonable thing that would benefit himself, his neighbors, his community, and in this case, Congress.

BLACKWELL: Yes, new for me too. In New York -- you're there in New York, he's New York's third, the concern from some Republican, if not parallel, certainly a close second concern was what his expulsion would mean for that very slim majority, now a three-vote margin for Republicans.

And in this district that Biden won in 2020, I guess 8 points over former President Trump, what this means for the ability to hold that seat. Is that still as -- I guess, likely as a Democratic pick-up as it was at the start of this Congress?

LOUIS: Well, honestly, the talk here, Victor, is that the local Republicans wanted this to be a special election, and not just a regular election. So just as you say, in 2020, Joe Biden won this district, and he won it walking away, it was between 8 and 10 points. On the other hand, Republicans did very well in the Midterms just last year.

And so, the thinking is that, well, if it's a special election, perhaps without a prominent Democrat on the ticket like Joe Biden, they might be able to hold on to the seat. They the Republicans, as opposed to just a regular election next year.

So I think that there's some talk here that they wanted it to go down this way, and not to have George Santos hang around long enough to turn it into a regular election, because in that case, in this swing district, if Biden is on the ballot, he has proven that he can draw out a lot of Democrats, and that makes it much harder for Republicans to hold on to the seat.

BLACKWELL: Let's look ahead now, next week, the house will vote on whether to formalize -- to authorize an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, again, I said they've got now this three-vote margin, there are 18 Republicans in those districts that Biden won in 2020.

Beyond the numbers, 3 and 18, and the people trying to preserve their seats in Congress. What more do we need to know about this potential vote, and what do you expect we're going to see?

LOUIS: Well, look, what you said is the most important consideration. There are people in other kinds of districts, however, and this is going to be, I think what the question on the floor is ultimately, politically-speaking is, will people who simply want to go on the attack against President Biden do it without any regard for their colleagues who are in swing districts or in trickier situations who might not want this largely symbolic effort to go forward?

[06:35:00]

Because they don't really have any evidence. There's not going to be much substantively there at all. This is just a political gesture. The hardliners though who seem to want to protect themselves in a primary, make Donald Trump happy, get on "Fox News" or whatever other objectives they're pursuing. You know, they're fundraising as well.

They may just force this through just to do it, and it could cost them the majority, but for some of these candidates, for some of these hardliners, clearly, they just don't care.

BLACKWELL: Errol Louis, always good to start a Saturday morning with you, sir. Thank you very much.

ROSALES: Still to come as we enter the Winter months, frigid overnight temps up north are leaving some migrants more vulnerable than ever. Up next, we're going to take a look at what's being done to protect those with nowhere to call home.

But first, have you heard about Chowchilla, we are bringing you the all new CNN film which tells one of the most shocking true crime stories you've never heard. It's about the 1976 kidnapping of a school bus full of children and a driver who were then buried underground for more than 12 hours before orchestrating their own dramatic escape.

That incident captivated the nation at the time and became a turning point in our understanding and treatment of childhood trauma. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chowchilla was a wonderful place to grow up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were little innocent children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never did I think that something like this could happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does a school bus show up missing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not want to go down there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like somebody just took them up off the planet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it a thrill crime?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your guess is as good as mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a mystery, you had no answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They recovered a journal encrypted in unusual writing, never seen anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kidnappers hit this town right in its heart by taking those children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way through it, they thought that they had thought of everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were being buried alive, and I thought to myself --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to die, we're going to die getting the hell out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we got home, I thought life would be OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids were not OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God forgive them because I won't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was possibly the story of the century.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "CHOWCHILLA", tomorrow at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSALES: Welcome back. Respiratory illness is up in the U.S., especially in children. The CDC says that, that is due to an increase in three viruses, COVID-19, the flu and RSV. According to November data, more than 10 percent of doctor visits among children younger than 5 were for flu-like illness, that is about three times higher than the national average for all ages.

BLACKWELL: Hospitalization have been on the rise for months with weekly admission rates for children, up 69 percent since the start of October. Let's turn to weather now, the Pacific northwest is bracing for a wave of rain and snow this weekend with millions under Winter weather alerts and storms expected in the south as well.

ROSALES: Well, other parts of the country have more than enough. New York City has actually gone 650 days, yes, you heard that, 650 without an inch of snow, and that is a record. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking it all for us. Allison, OK, we have too much on the west, not enough in the east, what's the deal?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's incredible, and New York is not the only one, yes, as we mentioned, over 650 consecutive days of not having at least an inch of snowfall. The last time they had that, February 13th of 2022, but they're not alone. Baltimore, Philadelphia, even Washington D.C., all of these areas looking at over 600 days without snow, and those numbers are likely to go up because there's no snow in the forecast for at least the next five to seven days.

However, there is plenty of snow, probably too much snow for some out in the west, all of these areas, eight states under some type of Winter weather alert, and that's because we have a series of storms that are all because of an atmospheric river that is going to funnel a lot of moisture into the Pacific northwest. You can see here, level 3 and level 4.

Now, when you talk about atmospheric rivers of level one and two, it's mostly beneficial, they like to have that. But when you start getting into level 4 and level 5, it now starts to cross into where it's more hazardous than it is beneficial. And unfortunately, that's what we're going to get because of the sheer volume of precipitation. Notice along the coastal areas, you're talking widespread, 4 to 7 inches of rain into the mountains, it's going to be measured in feet, likely 1 to 3 feet of snow, and it's because it's multiple days of these events that will be coming through midweek next week.

ROSALES: Six hundred and fifty six days without an inch of snow, incredible. Allison Chinchar, thank you. Well, this morning, temperatures in parts of northern United States are just above freezing, but that is not stopping Texas Governor Greg Abbott from sending thousands of migrants to northern cities.

BLACKWELL: So now, what are the city's officials there doing to prepare? CNN's Whitney Wild has some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As temperatures dipped into the low teens with wind-chills of around zero this week, many migrants living on the street found Chicago's unfamiliar climate unforgiving. This man said he has been living in a tent, and now feels sick.

[06:45:00]

"Lately, I've been having pain in my chest", he says, "and I need medicine to help me with a fever."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, good, 99.1.

WILD: With help from a translator, Dr. Amanda Braghi(ph) offers care to migrants awaiting placement at a shelter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So a lot of what we're seeing is upper respiratory infections, whether that'd be a different virus where we're seeing a lot of strep throat, also seeing some pneumonia.

WILD: More than 900 migrants are still living at police stations and airports, down from more than 3,000 earlier this Fall. The pace of new arrivals has slowed, but not stopped. We were there as a bus dropped off dozens of migrants at an already-crowded police station. More than 23,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022, much of the influx driven by Texas Governor Greg Abbott who says northern cities should take on more migrants to ease the strain at the border. ANDRE VASQUEZ, CHICAGO ALDERPERSON: We've never been in this situation

like this, right? All this is unprecedented.

WILD: Alderperson Andre Vasquez heads the city's council committee on immigrant and refugee rights.

(on camera): What is your biggest fear?

VASQUEZ: I mean, my biggest fear thinking about it right now, Winter time is the most immediate. The snow is going to hit, If we don't find decompression and really find other spaces for folks to live in and get to work, it's really concerning.

WILD (voice-over): City officials are opening more shelters and phasing in a 60-day limit on stays. Mayor Brandon Johnson says the city is partnering with more than a dozen faith groups to take migrants off the street.

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: We cannot abandon families and asylum seekers and let them go through Chicago's Winter alone.

WILD: Now, the state is funding a massive military grade tent in the Brighton Park neighborhood to house migrants despite fierce opposition from some residents and questions about whether the area, a former industrial site is safe. Alderwoman Julia Ramirez represents Brighton Park.

JULIA RAMIREZ, CHICAGO ALDERWOMAN: When we're thinking about the most vulnerable, whether it's the residents of Brighton Park or asylum seekers, they deserve to have a humane and dignified process to make sure they get shelter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Whitney, thank you so much. Still ahead, it is championship weekend in college football. One spot in the national semifinals now appears to be locked up. And we're introducing the 2023 top ten CNN Heroes. You can vote for your favorite as we're about a week away now from announcing the 2023 CNN Hero of the Year.

The post-pandemic U.S. Math and reading scores for all children fell to new lows. Now black children have been particularly affected with only 17 percent of black fourth graders reading proficiently. And for black boys, that number is even lower. Alvin Irby(ph), a former first grade teacher is tackling that crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, man, how are you doing? We install a child-friendly reading space in the barbershop. We literally ask little black boys what do you like to read? And then those are the books that we distribute to our national network of barbers. Use the opportunity when they're sitting in the chair to just even talk to them about books.

Many black boys are raised by single mothers. So there's this opportunity to support barbers and becoming --

How is the book going so far? Black male reading role models.

I'm just excited that we get to create a safe space for boys to do something that is really life-changing. That's what I really believe reading is, it unlocks potential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Some good work, Alvin(ph), remember, you can vote for any or all of them up to ten times per day every day. When you only have a few more days, voting ends December 5th.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

ROSALES: Hey, welcome back, the Washington Huskies capped off a perfect regular season in dramatic fashion, clinching a berth in college football's 14 playoff.

BLACKWELL: Clinching their berth, yes.

ROSALES: You know what that means.

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes --

ROSALES: Yes --

BLACKWELL: Is with us now. I hear it's a bittersweet moment.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It is, guys, because, you know, this is the last year for the PAC-12, you know, a conference that's been around for more than a hundred years, so many people sad to see it go. But I tell you what, they couldn't have asked for a better final football game, yet, third-ranked Washington taking on fifth-ranked Oregon, two Heisman hopefuls squaring off in quarterbacks Michael Penix and Bo Nix.

And it was Penix starting off on fire, hitting Jalen McMillan here for a big catch, sending him for a touchdown. So, the Huskies jumped out to 20-3 lead in this game, but the Ducks would rally back. Bo Nix, he is going to hit Terrence Ferguson, he takes it in for the score, Oregon scored 21 unanswered points, so they took the lead, but it was the Huskies with back-to-back touchdowns, Penix to Quentin Moore.

Here, Washington, they go back up by 10, the Ducks though, they will just not go away in this game on the next drive. Nix is going to find Traeshon Holden, this was his only catch of the game, but watch him weave through all the defenders, break some tackles, 63-yard touchdown there. So that made it 34 to 31. Ducks needed a stop, and they couldn't get it.

Huskies able to run out the clock, thanks to Dillon Johnson, he rushed for 152 yards, two scores, Washington finishes off that perfect 13-0 season, securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2017. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KALEN DEBOER, HEAD COACH, WASHINGTON HUSKIES: The brotherhood is so strong here, is all they talked about before the game, half-time, you know, just want to showcase what we've built, you know, how hard they play for each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, so Huskies on to the playoffs and shout out to Liberty, their fans storming the field after the Flames capped off their own perfect 13-0 season, beating New Mexico's state in the conference, USA Championship. Liberty, number 24 in the ranks, and so, they're not going to make the playoff, but still a chance to maybe grab a spot in the new year's 6 bowl game, which is definitely a huge accomplishment -- full of scenes there.

[06:55:00]

All right, today, always one of the best in all of sports championship Saturday, will we get some drama? The big matchup is here in Atlanta, top-ranked Georgia hosting eighth-ranked Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma state going to get started 12:00 Eastern in the Big 12 title game. Can Florida state remain undefeated?

They take on Louisville tonight in the ACC title game. The four playoff teams in all the bowls going to get announced tomorrow at noon. All right, finally, we have Tiger Woods out there again for the second round of the Heroes World Challenge in the Bahamas. Like round one, Tiger started off hot, he was 4 under through his first 7 holes on Friday, he did have some rough holes on the back 9, but a great birdie putt here on 17, Woods 2 under for the day, he's now 1 over for the tournament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: Overall, the round was better for sure, and start was better, the middle part round was better. I missed a couple putts there, and towards the end, I would have -- I thought one of my -- kept the round going. I hadn't played in six months, so I -- things are not as sharp as they normally would be -- hey, it certainly is -- there's some -- there's some good in there, and just got to keep -- make sure that the good is more consistent than there has been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, it's definitely good to see Tiger Woods out there playing. Here's -- hoping he stays healthy and is able to compete in the Masters come April.

BLACKWELL: Excellent.

ROSALES: Well, he's a G.O.A.T for a reason.

BLACKWELL: Yes, all right, Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right --

ROSALES: All right, still to come, a mass advertising exodus. The list of major companies distancing themselves from X and Elon Musk, that is growing by the day, following Musk's public embrace of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)