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CNN This Morning
Neighbors Mourn Woman Killed By ICE Agent In Minneapolis; Farmers Impacted As Healthcare Premiums Spike In 2026; Iran Protests Intensify Amid Government Crackdown; Parallel Investigations Into Portland Shooting Underway; United States Economy Added 50,000 Jobs In December; Delta Celebrates 100 Years With Sale Of Rare Memorabilia. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired January 10, 2026 - 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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[07:00:29]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Saturday morning, January 10th. Good to have you along. I'm Victor Blackwell.
A woman killed by federal immigration official in Minneapolis. And today, there are demands for answers. They are growing as protests are planned across the country.
A push to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent and spend billions to bring down mortgage rates. The White House is pushing for an economic reset, but a new government report shows the job market is one of the worst in decades.
And they are no longer just a basketball school. All eyes turned to the college football playoff title game after the Hoosiers punched their ticket with a resounding win against the Oregon Ducks.
All new, police broke up protests in Minneapolis into the night. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside a hotel. They believed that housing, federal agents were there.
Police declared it an unlawful assembly. They said they were no longer peaceful. CNN was there, and it appeared that some protesters breached the doors of the hotel. The anti-ICE protesters were demanding answers after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good.
Now, a new video shows her final moments. And now from the ICE agent's point of view. A warning here, the video is disturbing.
ICE agent Jonathan Ross held up his phone, start recording as he approached Renee Good's SUV. Now, she looks calm, and you can see both her hands. The agent continues to speak with Good's wife, Becca, as she approaches him. Good starts to back up her car as Ross walks around the front of the vehicle, and at the same time, two more agents approach.
Moments later, Good turns the steering wheel to the right away from the agent, and then, starts to accelerate. And then, you hear gunshots as the phone falls to the ground.
CNN's Omar Jimenez went to Renee Good's neighborhood as mourners gathered on Friday.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the memorial site here, it's been a mix of somber reflection and protests that have flared up over the course of today, in large part, anger at the presence of federal immigration enforcement here in Minneapolis.
You can hear some of it behind me, but over the course of the day, for the most part, it's been pretty somber reflection coming to what has been a steadily growing memorial site. Full of flowers, candles. You might notice some other names as well. Those are names of folks who have died, either in ICE custody or ICE-related deaths.
To this point, I should note, not all of them from this Trump administration. And you can hear, this is -- this has been throughout the day where the protests have sort of swelled in loudness and noise, and then, all of a sudden, gets back quiet again. It's not the only thing we have seen.
There were protests at the state capitol, in St Paul, Minnesota as well, but some of the most contentious ones have been in the face of federal law enforcement at a federal building, miles from where I'm standing right now. That's where we have seen a lot of the federal agents actually take people down and take them into custody. That's when pepper spray has been deployed in a more consistent basis. There were barriers that went up there as well over the course of the day, in part, because of that dynamic.
But here, this is Renee Goods neighborhood. She actually lived, not too far from where the shooting actually took place. And obviously, while everyone has been going through sort of the minute -- second by second, really, details of the latest video from this incident, there is -- there is a family at the center of this, and we actually are getting a little bit of insight into how they are reflecting right now.
We got a statement from Becca Good, the wife of the -- of Renee Good. And the statement was released to Minnesota Public Radio. I want to read part of it. It says, "On Wednesday, January 7th, which is the day of the shooting, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles, they had guns.
Renee leaves behind three extraordinary children. The youngest is just 6 years old and already lost his father. I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him as Renee believes that there are people building a better world for him. That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.
So, even in this moment, in this political firestorm, and what is likely a time of grieving, clearly, they are reflecting and finding some form of, if not forgiveness, but a way forward here. No doubt, though, there is a lot of tension here in the city of Minneapolis over the presence of federal immigration enforcement. [07:05:04]
Some of which we have seen play out in person, but for the most part, at this memorial site, it's been somber reflection. Victor?
BLACKWELL: Omar Jimenez, thank you.
The co-owner of the Swiss bar where a New Year's Day fire killed 40 people is now speaking. Jessica Moretti called the blaze an unthinkable tragedy and offered an apology to the victims.
The Swiss prosecutors order her husband, who owns the bar with her, to be detained. They think he is a flight risk. The couple is under investigation for homicide and negligence. Meanwhile, grieving families have begun filing formal legal complaints over this deadly disaster.
In the Philippines, the search continues for at least 27 people who are still missing after a massive mound of garbage buried workers at a waste sorting facility.
So far, one person is confirmed dead, seven others injured. A warehouse that was sitting at the bottom of the landfill collapsed from the slide. Rescue crews are still searching through the waste for any signs of life.
A federal judge Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from freezing $10 billion in social assistance and child care funds. The funds were frozen by the administration in five democratic-led states, after a widespread probe into alleged federal funding fraud in Minnesota. The funds support critical services like child care and job training and homelessness prevention. For now, the money will continue to flow as the legal battle moves forward.
This week, a bipartisan effort in the House pushed an extension of health insurance subsidies to the Senate, but it's not likely it will go far there.
Now, despite the fact that millions of Americans are dealing with sticker shock from insurance premiums. Among those hard-hit, farmers. The Affordable Care Act expanded coverage and lowered cost for farmers across the United States and to the point where one health policy organization estimates that 27 percent of farmers relied on it in 2023.
Now, they are unsure of a path forward.
Joining me now, Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union. Aaron, good morning to you. Thank you for your time. Tell me about what you are hearing from your members about the severity of these premium increases in 2026.
AARON LEHMAN, PRESIDENT, IOWA FARMERS UNION: Yes, we are hearing some massive increases in health care costs for our members to the point that some of our members are trying to decide whether it's even worthwhile to continue their coverage. Other members have had double their costs for health care coverage. Our family has experienced more than a doubling in cost of our health care premiums.
BLACKWELL: And so, what do you do?
LEHMAN: Well, it's -- it just caves in the family budgets of these farmers. And farmers have to tighten their belts in all sorts of ways just to figure out how to get by. That might mean that we don't replace or fix some aging equipment that needs to be updated. You delay bringing new things onto the farm, new innovations onto the farm. It makes it much more difficult to explore new markets for what we grow, and even farmers are struggling to try to bring the next generation onto the farm.
So, a lot of farmers put off bringing the next generation onto the farm, which is very harmful. The average age of the -- of the Iowa farmers over 57 years old. So, it is really hurting our farm operations and our rural communities.
BLACKWELL: And talk to me about why the ACA was so crucial for rural communities. When I showed that 27 percent figure, it was pretty surprising when I found it. Talk to me about the importance of ACA.
LEHMAN: Yes, it has been so important for farmers to be able to find some affordable coverage. And, you know, farmers are very vulnerable to all sorts of variabilities. Right? We've had trade tensions that have hurt our markets. Our input costs have gone up. Our USDA programs have been cut drastically this year. All these things are putting pressure on farmers.
So, having the stability of affordable coverage is extremely important. What we are also hearing is, is that if more people in rural areas can't afford coverage, they are still going to have to go to the rural hospitals when they have to have care, and our rural hospitals and clinics are already struggling to provide coverage for people who don't have health insurance.
[07:10:06]
That's only going to get worse and make our rural health system even more stressed.
BLACKWELL: You know, I'm -- think I'm going to surprise some people in urban and suburban areas when I share that the Bureau of Labor Statistics found a few years ago that farming is one of the deadliest jobs in the United States. Rate of 23 work-related deaths per 100,000 workers in the agriculture sector, seven times the national average.
That is shocking.
LEHMAN: It is. You know, farming involves a lot of physical labor. They are often working around dangerous equipment. It's the -- part of the nature of the job of trying to grow food for our neighbors and for our communities is extremely dangerous. We also know that our rural health care system has challenges. Right? We have -- we have difficulties accessing care that is nearby, and it's difficult to attract the health care professionals to our rural communities. So, we are already under a stress situation regarding rural health care, and another stressor of making coverage unaffordable for so many farmers in rural residents, it's just going to make the situation worse.
BLACKWELL: I've got one more for you here. News outlets, MinnPost, they spoke with the Iowa Concern hotline, which helps farmers struggling with their mental health. And in the fall, operators say that they saw four to five times the typical numbers of calls.
The CDC also reports that suicide rates in rural areas are considerably higher than they are in urban areas. You talked about the financial stress. Talk about the psychological stress of this moment for the farming community.
LEHMAN: Yes, it has been an extremely stressful time for our farmers, and we are hearing it from the concerns hotline, we are hearing it from the suicide assistant hotlines that are available. We are encouraging our farmers to reach out to one another, to reach out to the resources in their community, because farmers are feeling it. Right? They are having family budgets that are feeling this pressure.
Again, we are having so much stress with the marketplace that we are selling into because of trade chaos. The normal support networks that we have through our USDA programs have been cut. And so, all this is leading to a lot of stress for our rural families. So, we are encouraging people to -- another, to be strong, to be good neighbors, but we really need to do a better job of supporting our farmers in our rural communities.
BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see if there is something that comes out of Washington that offers some relief for those that you represent, and people on ACA across the country.
Aaron Lehman, thank you so much.
Deadly anti-government protests have rocked Iran for more than a week. Now, President Trump is threatening that the U.S. may get involved. What Iran's supreme leader says about the president's possible involvement?
Plus, a high stakes meeting at the White House with oil executives. President Trump is urging them to invest in Venezuela. We'll explain why its oil is so important to the U.S.
And later, we'll break down the December jobs report. What it means for inflation and your paycheck.
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BLACKWELL: This morning, at least 65 people have been killed in Iran in protest across the country in defiance of the government. That's according to a U.S.-based human rights group. They say that number includes protesters and law enforcement or security forces, as well as government affiliated civilian.
But CNN cannot independently verify those numbers. But just hours ago, demonstrators gathered in Tehran to keep protesting against Iran's regime, as growing anger as the Iranian government plunged the country into a near total Internet blackout.
The son of Iran's ousted former leader has also publicly called for more demonstrations this week. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh brings us the latest.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Iran is facing its biggest internal crisis in years as anti-regime protests spread like a wildfire to every single one of its 31 provinces.
Here in the city of Mashhad the birthplace of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, protesters take down the Islamic Republic's flag and tear it to pieces.
Dozens of protesters have been killed, 100s injured and 1000s detained, according to activists and human rights groups. But that did not appear to deter Iranians who poured onto the streets of Tehran and other cities. The regime shut down communications with fears now growing that they Are once again using the blackout to unleash an even more brutal crackdown. President Trump has repeated his threat to hit the regime hard if they kill protesters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): This is the last battle, Pahlavi will return.
KARADSHEH (voice over): Chance for the return of the monarchy, something we hadn't heard during previous waves of protests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): Long live Shah!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (text): Long live Shah!
KARADSHEH (voice over): Some of the demonstrators appear to be heeding the calls of this man, Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran.
REZA PAHLAVI, EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE (text): I invite you to come out and protest. This Thursday and Friday at 8:00 P.M.
KARADSHEH (voice over): The 65-year-old came to the United States when he was 17 and remained exiled there after his father, the former Shah, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
[07:20:07]
For years, the exiled crown prince has sought to present himself as a man who can lead Iran's opposition and rid the country of the repressive theocratic rule.
In a Washington post op-ed this week, Pahlavi said he doesn't see protesters chanting his name as a claim to power. Instead, he sees himself as a unifying, transitional leader who would help guide the country from tyranny to democracy. But he is a divisive figure. While he does have the support of many Iranian monarchists who are nostalgic for the days of the Shah, it is unclear just how much support he really has inside the country.
Many Iranians say Pahlavi hasn't set foot in the country in decades. He is too disconnected from the people who have been on the front lines of the battle for freedom and democracy.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
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BLACKWELL: President Trump is not backing down when it comes to his plans to revitalize Venezuela's oil industry. The president emerged from his meeting with big oil executives yesterday, touting that they had "sort of" a deal, but Trump's energy secretary, Chris Wright, did not sound so definitive.
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CHRIS WRIGHT, UNITED STATES ENERGY SECRETARY: Tremendous interest. Remember, the United States moves in Venezuela were less than a week ago.
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BLACKWELL: The oil industry companies, the leaders say that they would need security guarantees and legal protections. ExxonMobil CEO says the current -- the nation is currently uninvestable.
And while the Trump administration insists stability is coming, the industry warns that real progress is likely years, not months away.
CNN's Brian Todd walks us through why Venezuelan oil is so important to the U.S., and how we got to this point.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Following the dramatic capture of Nicolas Maduro, President Trump put it bluntly, America was taking over the running of an underperforming oil power.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been horribly run. The oil is just flowing at a very low level.
TODD (voice over): Why are Venezuela's oil reserves so important to the U.S.? Analysts say it's not just that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, sitting on over 300 billion barrels of crude, but it now has the potential to eventually reclaim its status as one of the world's top oil producers with a type of oil that fits America's needs and capabilities to a T. CLAYTON SEIGLE, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Venezuela's particular kind of crude oil, which we call extra heavy, is a perfect match for the sophisticated oil refineries that the U.S. energy companies have invested in and built in the Gulf Coast.
TODD (voice over): In the hours after maduro's capture, President Trump made this claim about Venezuela's oil trading history with America.
TRUMP: It was the greatest theft in the history of America. Nobody has ever stolen our property like they have. They took our oil away from us, they took the infrastructure away.
TODD (voice over): Experts say it's not true that Venezuela stole America's oil. The oil itself, they say, was always Venezuela's. But one analyst says part of Trump's claim is correct, that Venezuela did expropriate some of the assets and infrastructure of American oil companies in Venezuela.
SEIGLE: There were two major rounds of expropriations. One of them was in the 70s and another one was in the early to mid-2000s under Chavez, the former strongman.
TODD (voice over): It was under Hugo Chavez, analysts say, that Venezuela's status as an oil power began to spiral.
BOB MCNALLY, PRESIDENT, RAPIDAN ENERGY GROUP: A communist dictator came in, nationalized the resources, kicked out most of the U.S. companies, and then, invited the Russians and the Chinese to come in. And then, he didn't organize and plan and run the wells well. So, he ran the system into the ground.
TODD (voice over): Then, Maduro ran it further into the ground, to the point where now, Venezuela produces less than one percent of the world's crude oil.
TODD: How long will it take to revitalize that decaying operation as President Trump has promised to do?
Well, despite Trump's promise that U.S. oil companies are ready to race back into Venezuela, CNN has learned that they have been hesitant to commit to that. Experts say those companies will want to see some real political stability there first, and that could take years, if not decades.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BLACKWELL: Oregon authorities are investigating a shooting by a border patrol agent in Portland that wounded two people. The Department of Homeland Security says they are tied to a violent international gang.
CNN's Nick Watt has the latest on the investigation.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, federal authorities had been saying that this pair who were shot here in Portland had a connection with Tren de Aragua, this transnational criminal group. Portland police have now confirmed that.
They say that the woman has been arrested for prostitution in the past, and they say there is some nexus between the pair and a shooting here in Portland last summer. The exact connection still unclear.
He, the man who was driving the car who allegedly weaponized his vehicle, according to federal authorities, and tried to hit an officer, he was shot in the arm, the woman shot in the chest. Both of them have undergone surgery and are expected to recover.
Meantime, there are parallel investigations going on here. The FBI and the ATF investigating what they call an assault on federal officers. The Oregon Department of Justice investigating to make sure that these federal officers, they say, did not act out with their legal authority in conducting this traffic stop and in discharging their firearms. There is, the police say no video that they know of, of the incident.
[07:30:00]
Now, the police chief also said that he wouldn't condemn that use of force. He said, we have to trust in the system.
Now, meantime, there are protesters gathered outside the ICE building here in Portland. This has been a scene of protest for many months now. Some arrests last night, which the chief described as pretty minor offense. It's just basically not obeying orders from the police to move off the street.
And the protesters message is the same as it has been for many months, and it's now a message being echoed very strongly by politicians here in Portland, the mayor and others, they say, get ICE out of Portland.
Now, we've seen clerical collars, we've seen Halloween-style costumes, we've seen cursing and the bird thrown at vehicles going in and out of the ICE facility. No violence. If there is violence, perhaps President Trump decides to use that as a pretext for trying to get National Guard back here into Portland. Victor?
BLACKWELL: Nick Watt, thank you.
This morning, we are tracking two major financial announcements. Maybe? President Trump is pushing a proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent for one year. He also says the administration plans to buy up to $200 billion in mortgage bonds to help steady the housing market.
Question is, will either of those actually happen? And new jobs data shows the U.S. added 50,000 jobs in December.
CNN's Matt Egan has a closer look at what those numbers tell us.
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: The latest report confirms that the job market remains in a fragile place, and that 2025 was a lousy year for job growth. It ended on kind of a mixed note. The good news is that the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped in December to 4.4 percent.
The bad news, however, is that job growth that remains very soft, with a weaker than expected, 50,000 jobs added last month. And when you look at the trend, you can see how job growth has really slowed down this year. In fact, there were three months over the last seven, where the economy lost jobs, and in particular, October was revised sharply lower to show the economy lost 173,000 jobs.
Of course, some of that was driven by the government shutdown. And also, the fact that a lot of federal workers who took buyouts, they came off the federal payrolls. But still, this is the worst month for the job market since late 2020.
And when you zoom out and you look at the year in total, the economy added a little less than 600,000 jobs in 2025. Might sound like a lot, but that's down from about 2 million in 2024.
In fact, if you exclude recessions, this was the worst year of job growth for the United States since 2003 when George W. Bush was in the White House.
And when things are going well in the job market, you want to see broad based job growth. But that's just not happening. In fact, virtually, all of the job gains last year came from one sector. That's private education and health services, and really that's all health care, and the demand that's being driven by America's aging demographics.
If you took this sector away, the U.S. economy would have lost jobs last year and some of the very economically sensitive parts of the economy, they are losing jobs, including transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing has lost jobs eight months in a row.
And so, look, bottom line, job market, it's not imploding right now, but it's clearly not firing on all cylinders. Back to you.
BLACKWELL: All right, Matt, thank you very much.
Joining me now, Abha Bhattarai, economics reporter for The Washington Post.
Good morning to you. I'm going to get back to jobs in a moment. But first, what the president posted on social media that's getting a lot of attention overnight. And let's put it up. Here is what he said. "Please be informed that we will no longer let the American public be ripped off by credit card companies that are charging interest rates 20 to 30 and even more percent."
Affordability, all caps, exclamation point. "Effective January 20th, 2026, I, as president United States, am calling for a one-year cap on credit card rates of 10 percent"
Now, he is not taking this through Congress. Can the president, just by executive tweet, change the credit card agreements for hundreds of millions of cards?
ABHA BHATTARAI, ECONOMICS REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: You know, it's unclear whether he can, or whether he even will, in the end. But this really gets at a fact that a lot of Americans are taking on more credit card debt. They are falling behind, especially lower- and middle-income Americans, as it becomes more difficult to afford things.
And it also gets to the president's sort of obsession with low interest rates. It's no secret that he is been, you know, sort of hammering the Federal Reserve to lower its borrowing costs.
[07:35:04]
They have sort of acted cautiously on their own terms. And so, this is a way for him to take control into his own hands.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Speaking of lowering interest rates, he also announced something this week about trying to lower his mortgage -- lower mortgage rates by buying $200 billion in mortgage bonds. He said he would tell his representatives to do that. We don't know exactly who that is, but the probability of that and the effectiveness if it can happen.
BHATTARAI: You know, that's also very unclear. There is so many questions there how exactly would this happen? What would the government do with these mortgage bonds once it has them? There are a lot of unanswered questions.
And so, I think we just really don't know.
BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's talk about jobs then, 50,000 jobs added in December, 584,000 for the year, weakest year of job growth outside of a recession since 2023.
Your latest right for the post highlights that more workers are stuck in part time jobs and a warning for the economy. What does this tell us about the larger health of the job market, and what's the warning?
BHATTARAI: Well, you know, it's been a very disappointing year in the job market, and I think that is no surprise to most Americans. Even if you have a job, things don't feel very secure or great right now. There isn't a lot of churn, people are not hiring.
If you are looking for a job, things are really tough. The number of people who have been unemployed for six months or more has been rising steadily this year, and we are also starting to see more people working part time because they can't find full time work. They are sort of stuck working far fewer hours, making far fewer wages than they would like to -- which is a real warning sign in the economy. I mean, it shows that there just aren't enough jobs. There isn't enough hiring to sustain demand. And then, in addition, we are also seeing that more people are taking on multiple jobs. Nearly 9 million Americans have more than one job at the moment, including folks with two full time jobs. And that really speaks to the affordability crisis right now, people are feeling stretched thin, and they are having to sort of pile on multiple sources of work to make ends meet.
BLACKWELL: Yes, I learned from your story, the number of part time workers who say they would prefer full time positions jumped sharply in November to an eight-year high. Interesting detail there.
So, we're about two and a half weeks out from the next Federal Reserve meeting, and I know that they take into account more than just a single month job report. Right? But how much do you expect this will influence and what's the wisdom, the common wisdom now about what they will do with the interest rate at this next meeting?
BHATTARAI: So, economists are generally waiting, expecting that the Fed is going to continue waiting for a while. It's going to hold tight before it lowers interest rates anymore. And I don't know that this job report really changes the picture in a big way.
I mean, it sort of tells policymakers what they already knew, which is that the job market is meh, it's cooling. It's definitely slowing. There is not a lot going on there, but it's really hard to, you know, it's not falling off a cliff, and it's not really clear what comes next. And so, I think they are going to be cautious for a bit longer.
BLACKWELL: That's an interesting headline, Job market: meh.
Abha Bhattarai, thank you so much for joining us. Have a good morning. Enjoy the Saturday.
Next, owning a piece of aviation history from one of the nation's largest airliners. We'll take you inside Delta's monthly surplus sale and show you what's up for grabs.
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BLACKWELL: Hey, if you've ever wanted to own a piece of aviation history, now is your chance. Delta Airlines is celebrating 100 years by opening its doors to collectors. The monthly surplus sale in a warehouse just outside Atlanta, features everything from vintage Delta signs to custom engine blades.
Danielle Nottingham takes us inside a sale where aviation fans are lining up for hours.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.
DANIELLE NOTTINGHAM, CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS (voice over): Eager collectors line up for hours to be the first inside Delta Airlines' monthly surplus sale.
HOLDEN THOMAS, CUSTOMER: I'm from Atlanta. So, I've always been really like Delta. Grew up flying Delta jet, so, it's exciting to see this.
NOTTINGHAM (voice over): Just a dozen are allowed to enter at a time.
Once inside, they find a room full of memorabilia, including vintage signs, airport terminal chairs, and replica airplanes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was one 747 cards.
NOTTINGHAM (voice over): Some stumble upon hidden gems, like this peloton from Delta's employee gym, or blades from a Delta airplane engine.
JACK MCCORMACK, CUSTOMER: In the three years I've been coming here, they've had blades off and on, but they have never had them customized like this.
NOTTINGHAM: The most coveted item is the galley cart. None were available this month, but others had their eyes on the golf clubs.
LUIS RIVERA, CUSTOMER: Yes, the centennial golf balls.
NOTTINGHAM: The golf balls. Golf ball. (INAUDIBLE) the golf ball.
RIVERA: Hundred-year anniversary golf balls.
NOTTINGHAM: Do you come here often?
RIVERA: Yes.
NOTTINGHAM: You do. What do you like about the sale?
RIVERA: I like seeing a part of Delta history, being able to own a little bit, because both my, pretty much my whole family, works for Delta.
NOTTINGHAM (voice over): Proceeds from the sale raised more than $275,000 for the Delta Flight Museum last year.
Manager Judy Bean, lovingly calls the event supporters, jet heads.
JUDY BEAN, MANAGER, DELTA SURPLUS SALE: For the people that are the collectors. Yes. AvGeeks, jet heads. That's a loving term. That's, you know, we -- because we couldn't do without them.
NOTTINGHAM (voice over): And for these jet heads, it's a rare chance to own a piece of the hometown airline that shaped the city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[07:45:05]
BLACKWELL: All right. Danielle Nottingham, thank you. A grandmother in Arizona is helping to pay for her grandson's cancer treatment bills with Minecraft videos. She is 81 years old, and she is behind a fast-growing YouTube channel, GrammaCrackers, has gained more than 100,000 subscribers in just a month.
Her grandchildren first showed her how to play Minecraft, and soon, she became hooked and started posting videos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUE JACQUOT, STARTED GRAMMACRACKERS YOUTUBE CHANNEL: I was never really curious about it. But when you have grandkids that come to you and they want to interact with you, you do it.
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BLACKWELL: Yes, you do. Now, she is planning to use the ad revenue from her YouTube channel to help pay medical bills for her teen grandson who is recovering from cancer. Good work there.
College football, national game -- title game, I should say, is set last night. Indiana showed why it's the top ranked team in the playoffs. We've got the highlights from the Peach Bowl next.
And Allison, you are tracking some active storms this morning.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we've got a tornado watch that's in effect until 10:00 A.M. So, we'll break down all those details and who's likely to be most impacted.
BLACKWELL: All right. We'll be back.
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[07:50:39]
BLACKWELL: Evacuations have been ordered in Juneau, Alaska. The threat of avalanches continue through today. Rain and snow from an atmospheric river, they are fueling the high risk of avalanches. The person who captured this video says he saw five avalanches in less than two hours yesterday.
Local officials are telling hundreds of people in the danger zone to be ready to leave at a moment's notice, Juneau chalked up about four feet of snow in just the last five days of last year that helped make it the snowiest December on record for Juneau.
This morning, a rough stretch of weather is moving into the southeast. CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking it all for us, and it's going to be a rough day. Is it just today?
CHINCHAR: It's really just the first half of the day. The storm as it kind of moves to the east, it's going to include, it's going to kind of weaken. So, it's really the morning hours that are going to be the most dangerous with this particular system, especially in terms of the severe component. Now, the flooding aspect that could linger into the afternoon hours. Here is a look at the best potential for severe weather. In this case, we are talking damaging winds, and, yes, even the potential for a few tornadoes, all of this green and yellow shaded area you see right here.
Here is the line in question. Again, you've got rain from Maryland all the way down through Louisiana. So, it's a very long line of sometimes very heavy rain. But the biggest concern, at least imminently, is going to be for the areas you see highlighted in red. That's where we have the tornado watch. That is in effect until 10:00 A.M. today.
You can see it covers portions of western Georgia, a good -- a good chunk of the state of Alabama, and then portions of Southern Mississippi. The line itself is going to continue to slide off to the east. We've had often on some warnings. You've got a couple severe thunderstorm warnings out there right now. No tornado warnings at the moment, which is good news, but we've had them off and on for the last three to four hours as that line slides through.
Now, the thing is, it's not moving very fast, so that means it's got a lot of time to dump a lot of rain. So, you also have the flood component of this. You can see the dark red shaded areas. That's the flash flood warning.
Basically, what that means is, already they have had a significant amount of rainfall, and it's still raining. All of the green shaded areas mean it has the potential to have some flooding as we go through the rest of the day today. And that's because you can see that system continue to slide off, but through the afternoon and evening hours, the southern end of it is really going to weaken rather quickly.
BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you.
The Indiana Hoosier storybook season rolls on college football's number one seed remains undefeated after dominating the Oregon Ducks in last night's semifinal.
CNN's Andy Scholes was there to watch it all unfold.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Victor, the dream season rolling on for the Indiana Hoosiers here at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Before this season, Indiana was the losingest team in college football history. But now, thanks to head coach Curt Cignetti, they are 15 you know and a win away from their first ever national championship after absolutely dominating Oregon here in the semifinals.
And it was just a sea of crimson here at the Peach Bowl, as it seemed to be 90 percent Hoosiers fans, and they got to explode out of their seats on the very first play, D'Angelo Ponds intercepting Dante Moore's pass, taking it back for a pick six.
Now, Oregon battled back with an impressive drive, but after that, Indiana just hitting the ducks with an avalanche. Moore fumbled twice in the second quarter as the Hoosiers defense was all over him. And Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza, meanwhile, just as sharp as ever. He threw three touchdowns in the first half with just one incompletion. It was 35 to seven at halftime. Mendoza finished with five T.D. passes. The Hoosiers roll 56 to 22, punching their ticket to Miami.
And I caught up with Mendoza on the field after the big win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: How was it going to go to the national championship game?
FERNANDO MENDOZA, INDIANA QUARTERBACK: I love it. I mean, what a great honor. It's my hometown. It's all other players in our team's hometown. Through a five what a great. Miami, just what a great city. What a fantastic city known for its football. Great opportunity to play the national championship. God is good.
SCHOLES: I mean, 15-0. What makes this team so special?
MENDOZA: It's the synergy that we have. The locker room is truly special. We are so tight, not only on the field but off. God bless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: And Mendoza is from Miami. And now, the Hoosiers are heading there to January 19th, with the national title on the line against the Hurricanes. That's going to be a home game for the Canes. But Victor, these Hoosier fans are coming, and the ticket prices are reflecting that.
[07:55:01]
The cheapest ticket to get into the natty is going for around $4,000. And if that holds, it will be the most expensive college football ticket ever.
BLACKWELL: 4,000 for the nosebleeds.
All right. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.
Hey, "FIRST OF ALL" is coming up at the top of the hour. There is distrust in Minneapolis that the federal government alone can conduct a fair investigation into the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent.
I'll speak with a former top official in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, plus, a mother who is also an ICE observer who says, what happened to Renee Good could have happened to her.
And listen, I can vouch personally, do not sleep on this flu. Cases are surging. I'm just back from it. What communities of color disproportionately feel and what we all need to know.
And remembering Dr. Janell Green Smith, the subject of her life's work, is connected to her death in a heartbreaking way. A member of her family is with us. Those stories and conversations you will not see anywhere else, coming up after a short break on "FIRST OF ALL".
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