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New Day Sunday

President Biden Calls For More Vaccine Mandate; Significant Severe Weather Forecast In Oklahoma And Texas Today; Taiwan's President Says The Island Won't Be Forced To Bow To China. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 10, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:09]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Boris Sanchez.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett in for Christi Paul this Sunday.

SANCHEZ: Good morning, Laura. Donald Trump is back on the attack. The former president taking the stage in Iowa and taking aim with no shortage of targets, including some former allies.

JARRETT: And despite promising signs in the fight against COVID, one of the nation's top doctors has a warning for the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: This is not the time for people to let down their guard. There are more people gathering indoors, cold weather is coming, schools are in place, so it is an opportunity for this virus, and we should think of the virus as the enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Plus, a frightening situation in the sky, an erratic passenger forcing an emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport. We have details on what happened.

JARRETT: Plus nearly two feet of snow, whiteout conditions, and extreme cold, dozens of runners getting stranded during a 50-mile run in Utah. We speak to the organizers of that race.

SANCHEZ: Sunday, October 10th. We are grateful to have you with us. Great to see you as well, Laura. Good morning.

JARRETT: Good morning, Boris. So great to be with you. A lot to cover this Sunday morning for sure.

SANCHEZ: That's right. First, last night, Donald Trump riling up a crowd in Iowa, taking aim and lashing out, going after seemingly everybody, Democrats, the media, even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a former ally. Trump urging Republicans to unite against President Biden's economic agenda. He also took aim at the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection, calling it the unselect committee. I'm not sure what that means, Laura.

JARRETT: I'm not either but, of course, he continued to rehash his lies about the 2020 election saying the quiet part out loud, apparently frustrated that McConnell didn't help him with his attempted coup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mitch McConnell didn't have the courage to challenge the election. He's only a leader because he raises a lot of money and he gives it to senators. That's the only thing he's got. That's his only form of leadership. He should have challenged the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: "Challenged the election." Trump also blasted McConnell for making a deal with the Democrats on this temporary fix for the debt ceiling crisis even though the national debt rose by nearly $7.8 trillion during President Trump's time in office. There was no outcry from Trump when he was president and McConnell voted three times to increase or suspend the debt limit. Yet now with Democrats holding a slim majority in Congress, Boris, it seems Trump and other Republicans accuse McConnell of being the one that's caving.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Of course, Democrats are facing their own challenges. The debt ceiling fix, that now expires in early December and, of course, still no consensus over President Biden's economic agenda.

Let's get to CNN congressional reporter Daniella Diaz. She joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Daniella, some of these attacks on Mitch McConnell from former President Trump, very sharp, sharper than many I've seen before. Have we gotten any response from the minority leader?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Not yet, Boris. But, you know, he chooses when he responds to these things. This is not the first time the former president has attacked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell so we'll see how he responds. We're not really expecting this to affect him in any way. Mitch McConnell has always done what he thinks is best for the Republican Party and -- to try to win back majority in the Senate. And that's what he's going to continue to do.

But, look, former President Donald Trump did not mince any words against McConnell. And McConnell is not only facing criticism from Trump on this decision to reach an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this week to increase -- or suspend, excuse me, the debt ceiling until early December. But he's also facing criticism from conservatives in the Senate and his own party.

You know, senators like Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, these senators were incredibly disappointed this week that McConnell blinked and decided to reach an agreement with Schumer to suspend the debt ceiling until early December. But -- McConnell defended this. He said that he did this because he didn't want the nation to default on its debt, but he said he's not going to help Democrats again.

But take a listen to what former President Donald Trump said last night about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This bill is a sinister combination of job killing tax hikes and woke fascism that will destroy our nation and to think that we had 11 Republicans go along with an extension, headed up by Mitch McConnell.

[06:05:10]

Can you believe that, Mitch McConnell?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: So not only are Republicans having some infighting here about what happened this week with the debt ceiling, but Democrats are also squabbling because they cannot reach an agreement for a price tag for this economic bill that they're debating. So bottom line here is lots of squabbles and tension here on Capitol Hill. Boris, Laura.

JARRETT: There's always plenty of tension on Capitol Hill. Daniella, thank you for staying on top of all of it for us.

President Biden faces the challenge of trying to unite his party around his sweeping economic agenda but his poll numbers -- they're sagging. Can the president turn things around and get his agenda through Congress and can he help Democrats in the midterm elections?

White House reporter Jasmine Wright joins us live from Wilmington, Delaware, this morning. Jasmine, good morning to you. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe, he's running again in Virginia, of course, and he now seems to be distancing himself just a bit from President Biden. Listen to this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JARRETT: So, Jasmine, how does the president turn things around before November?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. Well, the president really -- he -- he needs a real win to show the country that Democrats can govern successfully. But he starts the week kind of in a tough spot. He starts the week as Daniella just mentioned with his party unable to find consensus, to push forward on his economic agenda. He faces stalled legislation on voting rights, police reform, immigration reform, all big campaign promises from then candidate Joe Biden. And, of course, that debt ceiling crisis looming as it was only pushed back a few weeks with that short-term agreement. And, of course, the potential looming government shut down.

All of these things, Laura and Boris, are contributing to weakening approval numbers for the president. So asked on Friday by White House press secretary -- she was asked about these sinking numbers and she kind of blamed the pandemic, the ongoing pandemic. She said that the Delta variant and COVID have led to longer problems than this White House expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a really tough time in our country. We're still battling COVID and a lot of people thought we would be through it, including us. We still have a quarter of the country who have -- less than that, 20 percent of the country who have decided not to get vaccinated. No question, that's having an impact.

And, of course, as the president has said, the buck stops with him. That's far and away the biggest issue in the minds of the American people and it's impacting a lot of issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So we just heard White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying that it's impacting a lot of the things that they want to do. But if I answer your earlier question, Laura, about whether or not the president can turn this around in time to help out Democrats like Terry McAuliffe whose election is just in the beginning of November, just a few weeks away, I go back to my first point which is that the president needs a drastic win and without it it's difficult to see how he changes things around in time. Laura, Boris.

JARRETT: Yes. And to be clear, you know, McAuliffe and Biden are very close allies, very close friends, so to hear that little bit of distance creeping in shows you that he's facing a tight race. Jasmine, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Jasmine, thank you so much.

Let's get some perspective on all of this from Daniel Lippman. He is a White House reporter for "Politico." Daniel, you saw the speech from Donald Trump last night, kind of the playbook of 2024 laid out with his attacks on a number of different targets. What did you make of the speech? There weren't very many surprises, but it seems like it's more of the same from Donald Trump.

DANIEL LIPPMAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Yes. I think it's more of an indication that he is full steam ahead towards 2024, and that he's not going to go away, much as McConnell and a lot of people in the Republican Party want him to. They want to have a fresh face, a Ron DeSantis or Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley, but there's not -- there's not going to be space in the media ecosystem and among Republican primary voters who are still pretty loyal to Trump. And so Trump's going to play the -- his greatest hits and repeat his election lies for as long as Republicans will let him.

SANCHEZ: And, Daniel, Trump seems to have this kind of weird obsession with Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor of Georgia. Here's a sound bite from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Maybe she will be running for president. I'd like that. You know. Let's run against Stacey Abrams. I'd like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Trump always needs to have a foil, right?

[06:10:02]

Somebody to lash out against. But this thing with Stacey Abrams, it comes up over and over again. She's given no indication that she's even going to run for president. Why is he bringing this up?

LIPPMAN: That's a great question. Well, she is a rising star in the Democratic Party so it's not out of the question in, you know, eight years that she could be in the Democratic primary field. I think he likes to kind of build her up because of how much he hates Brian Kemp. And he has said that he -- you know, the governor of Georgia, you know, said that he would prefer Stacey Abrams as the governor instead of someone he considers a weak Republican.

SANCHEZ: We should note the president is still under investigation in Fulton County in Georgia for some of the calls he made to local officials there after the election trying to sway them. I do want to ask about the comment we just heard Jasmine Wright play from Terry McAuliffe, running for governor of Virginia. He admits that President Biden in this stage could be an issue for Democrats, during that virtual meeting he thought it was private. He sort of said what I think a lot of Democrats are thinking privately.

How important is this Virginia governor's race in the grand scheme of things? Is it going to be a litmus test for where Democrats stand?

LIPPMAN: Well, these off year elections are always a big test, and Virginia is -- has really turned blue in recent years, where Republicans don't have a good shot at the presidency and they don't hold, you know, many seats in Congress, and they don't hold the seats in the Senate. But Biden's approval ratings on Afghanistan, on COVID, on how he hasn't been able to get his reconciliation package through, that's been a drag on McAuliffe.

And so I think if you ask Biden if he was dragging McAuliffe down, he would probably say yes too. And so there is some agreement on the accuracy of that. But I think there is real concern that it could make the party look bad if McAuliffe loses. He's a huge fundraiser, a big shot in the Democratic Party to lose in a state that Democrats have banked on to be a very strong state for them. That would be very embarrassing to the party.

SANCHEZ: Yes. A state that's been shifting blue over the last few elections, right? One more question, Daniel. Actually, Laura wanted me to ask you about some of your reporting this week regarding the high- ranking Capitol police officer that apparently sent a letter to congressional leaders, the scathing letter, about the response to January 6th. What can you tell us about that?

LIPPMAN: Yes. So this letter was sent to congressional leadership. It details how this whistleblower is charging top officials who are still at the Capitol police of mishandling intelligence, that indicated that January 6th was going to be violent, and also he accuses one of the members, Yogananda Pittman, of lying to Congress about how widely that intelligence was shared. And so, I think, you know, we should expect this to be discussed among, you know, Republicans as they try to, you know -- as they try to investigate January 6th and Democrats because, you know, we need a Capitol police that actually functions. And there are still people who are in leadership there that this whistleblower says did not perform their jobs in -- on January 6th in terms of protecting their fellow members and also senators and congressmen.

SANCHEZ: Really fascinating reporting. We appreciate the analysis as always. Daniel Lippman, thank you.

LIPPMAN: Thank you.

Don't forget to watch STATE OF THE UNION today. We were just talking about the governor -- former governor and candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee in Virginia. He's joining Dana Bash this morning, so is Dr. Anthony Fauci, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Nick Clegg, all starting at 9:00 a.m. right here on CNN.

JARRETT: She's got a great lineup there. Definitely want to watch that.

Still ahead, terrifying moments on board for passengers on an American Eagle flight after an erratic passenger forced pilots to make an emergency landing.

SANCHEZ: And despite promising signs in the fight against COVID, health officials are still making a full-court press, asking people to get vaccinated. And Pfizer wants to hear if its vaccine is going to be approved for kids. Could getting them vaccinated be a game changer? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:35]

SANCHEZ: A sigh of relief at LaGuardia International Airport this morning after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday afternoon because of an unruly passenger.

JARRETT: Yes, pretty scary. Officials say that passenger has been taken into custody for questioning. CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval has more on this. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that plane was wheels down safely yesterday afternoon at about its scheduled arrival time. But the landing itself, it was anything but routine. All you have to do is look at some of these dramatic images that were captured by passengers after American Flight 4817 landed safely at New York LaGuardia yesterday afternoon. It was flying from Indianapolis here to New York City when towards the tail end to the flight, according to investigators, there were several people aboard that flight that reported one of their fellow passengers was acting strangely, erratic, as a way to describe it. At one point even suddenly reached for their luggage. Well, the crew aboard that plane then relayed that information down to first responders on the ground that scrambled into action waiting for the safe landing of that airplane.

It was long -- it was not long after it landed that the pilots then moved the aircraft from the active runway onto the taxi way and that's when that emergency evacuation took place. The goal there was for first responders to board the aircraft and make sure that there was no immediate threat. And as we see some of these pretty dramatic images it's important to remember that it's still unclear as to whether or not that person that is seen in that video being held down by authorities is in fact that passenger in question.

[06:20:00]

We also haven't been told if there have been any criminal charges that have been filed in connection to this. What we do know is that 76 passengers and six crew members are safe this morning as this investigation gets under way.

It's important to point out that this is also happening just days after the Federal Aviation Administration released brand new numbers of incidents involving unruly passengers now over 4,600 this year to date. And that is, according to authorities, the highest weekly increase in two and a half months.

The issue of unruly passengers has been something that certainly been heavy on the minds of U.S. authorities that have been trying to obviously cut down on that. But in terms of this latest incident that took place on Saturday afternoon, we can tell you the investigation is just getting started.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Polo, thank you for that. Joining me now to talk about all of this and more is CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mary, good morning. Nice to have you. Take us through --

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Good morning.

JARRETT: Take us through the protocol here for the pilot. You get word from a flight attendant that the passengers are scared. They don't know exactly what's happened, but they see a guy doing something weird with his luggage, we're told. Is that enough for an emergency landing?

SCHIAVO: Well, it is, of course, after approximately 2015 when the information intelligence picked up and even in a published article by Al Qaeda, about bombs and other IED devices to be used on planes, but also to be used in common things, cell phones, toiletries, handheld electronics. And so people forget that's why we have all these rules about what we can and can't take on board.

So when the pilot got information that somebody was acting erratic and at one point going for luggage at a time in the flight when they're supposed to be seated, intelligence information from as long ago as it 2015 says it could be related to a terrorist plot. So the pilot has to react, has to do the right thing, and in this case the response was very much like the underwear bomber response in 2019 -- or excuse me Christmas day, 2009, at Detroit.

I was there. It was the same response. They went to a far part of the airport. They had an emergency evacuation to get all the people off. And they couldn't bring the plane next to the terminal because if the plane has an explosive on board then everyone in the terminal is in danger too. So unfortunately pilots have to react in this day and age. And the intelligence after 9/11 is now we have to go back to looking for bombers but in small devices.

JARRETT: And we're certainly glad that everyone is OK and it's certainly better to be safe than sorry in a situation like this, of course. And we don't know this individual's motivations, but we've all seen the viral videos of folks on planes during COVID just losing it, flipping out for various reasons.

The FAA now says there have been more than 4,600 reports, you heard it in Polo's report there, 4,600 reports of unruly passengers just this year alone. In your mind are there any new safety measures, some low- hanging fruit here that could be done to keep everyone safer in the sky?

SCHIAVO: Well, yes, and everybody, I mean the airlines, the CDC and now even airports, there was a call that went out asking airports to limit consumption of alcohol to -- so passengers getting on board don't have alcohol in their systems. And you would think that incidents would be going down because there was a study about 15 -- 20 years ago that showed a lot of air rage incidents were related to alcohol, but with the mask rules and on many flights no snacks either -- no alcohol, no snacks, no taking your masks off, you would think that they would go down. Instead they're going up.

But there have been a lot of efforts to look at how to basically get the passengers ready for flight in a better frame of mind before they ever board. But the unprecedented air rage, people have to think about why a lot of the rules were in place and you get a situation like yesterday. You don't know if you're dealing with a potential attacker because of the intelligence information that has been out there since 2015 or someone who is just air raging. JARRETT: Yes. It's really hard to know and hard to know whether the alcohol was actually maybe taking the edge off for everyone else who is on the plane on these flights, but that's no longer an option on most of them. All right. Mary, thanks so much for your perspective this morning. Appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Though case rates and hospitalizations are down, health experts say the unvaccinated are still holding us back. The renewed effort to get more people vaccinated as the FDA nears approval for a vaccine for kids. Details on COVID, all the headlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:29:04]

SANCHEZ: After weeks of a troubling Delta variant surge across the United States infection rates are finally on the decline though experts say there's still a lot of work to be done.

JARRETT: Yes. Hospitalizations, new cases and deaths continue to fall nationwide. And for the first time in two months new COVID infections have dipped below 100,000 per day.

SANCHEZ: A lot of green on that map, but just with 66 percent of all eligible Americans fully vaccinated, officials are still trying to get the unvaccinated on board. The NIH director, Dr. Francis Collins, is urging those that are still hesitant, especially evangelical Christians, to look at the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Christians of all people are supposed to be particularly worried about their neighbors and this is also a really critical situation where if you're not vaccinated you may be the one spreading this virus to somebody vulnerable who can't necessarily resist it.

[06:30:00]

So once again let me make a play right here. If you are a Christian or if you're anybody who has not yet gotten vaccinated, hit the reset button on whatever information you have that's causing you to be doubtful or hesitant or fearful, and look at the evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: So, let's look at the evidence and dig a little deeper. Here with me this morning is Dr. Anand Swaminathan. He's an emergency medicine physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey.

Dr. Swaminathan, good morning. Nice to see you. Let's pick up there where Dr. Collins left off. He talks about a reset for those who still haven't gotten their shot. But based on everything we know right now, it seems to me that requiring the vaccine to live and work in this society is the real reset we need. Take a look at this.

The White House put out this chart this week, and it shows the number of unvaccinated people, it dropped from 95 million to 67 million people just after President Biden announced his vaccine requirements for federal workers in July. So, I wonder in your mind, where else should we be mandating this vaccine that we aren't already right now, planes?

DR. ANAND SWAMINATHAN, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: I think it's clear that mandates work as the information you showed. We see with health care workers, these mandates have been extremely well taken up. People were very worried that all these health care workers were going to quit. And then we see in big systems, less than one percent of people are declined to take this.

So, these mandates clearly are effective. Private businesses, we definitely need to have a bigger push. Travel, absolutely. If you're going to get on a plane, if you're going to get a bus, a train, you have to be vaccinated. I think that is a requirement that can really serve to protect so many people, especially as the holidays start to approach.

And we think about groups gathering. That's one way that we can limit the spread further. And then I think we also have to be looking towards children, kids over 12 that have already have an emergency use authorization. We have to start requiring that in schools. There's a long history of requiring vaccines in schools. We just have to kind of push that and expand it to COVID vaccinations as well.

We also have to work on equity issues, which we're still lagging behind him. And we have to really play up, as Dr. Collins is playing up here, the duty that we have to one another. We have a duty to protect each other. That's all you really have to be stressing right now.

JARRETT: Well, you mentioned kids, let's talk about that. Because the other big headline this week was Pfizer submitting their paperwork to the FDA so that younger kids, talking about kids five to 11 can finally get their shots. This should potentially open the door to some 28 million children which is amazing. But in your mind, will it actually be a game-changer because, of course, children are not the ones whether -- to decide whether they get the shot. Their parents decide for them. And we know that the numbers for older teens are not so great.

So, what do you say to a parent who maybe got vaccinated themselves, maybe someone who isn't an anti-vaxxer, but is a little bit weary about giving it to their kid?

SWAMINATHAN: This is a big concern. Just as he said, that 12 to 17 group need to have bigger pushes in that group. For that younger group, I think we need to already be starting with a lot of the messaging. Pediatricians need to be talking to their patients about this. And all of us who are on these kinds of media spot needs to be talking about our experiences. I have a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old at home. Both of them will be

lined up to get vaccinations as soon as they are available. We know these vaccines are safe. We know they are highly effective. And we know kids are really getting more affected by this pandemic as time goes on.

We're seeing cases and hospitalizations surge in kids. We've had over 600 deaths in pediatric populations. And it's not just about getting hospitalized and dying, but it's also about missing school. It's about long COVID. These are things that we don't even fully understand the impacts of yet. And this is a highly effective way to protect our children, along with all of the other public health -- things that we can do in terms of masking and ventilating and avoiding gatherings. This is another way.

And the fact that this is coming near the end of October, again means safe holidays. It means that families can gather safely indoors. That should really be one of the big pushes. Let's get back to how holidays used to be.

JARRETT: Yes, that certainly is the hope for everyone, of course, this fall in winter. Dr. Swaminathan, thank you so much. I appreciate it, sir.

SWAMINATHAN: Thank you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Some potential for severe weather later today. Courts of Oklahoma and Texas could get hi. We'll have the latest after the break. Plus, dozens of runners had to be rescued after getting stranded in a severe weather storm during a race in Utah. We'll hear from the race organizers after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

JARRETT: Welcome back. Right now, officials are warning of a potentially significant severe weather event for parts of Texas and Oklahoma. The Storm Prediction Center says a level four out of five moderate risk of severe storms is expected late this afternoon and into the overnight hours. It could bring hail, a few strong tornadoes, and damaging winds to certain areas. Alison Chinchar is live from the CNN Weather Center this morning. Allison, how bad is this going to get?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, we're keeping an eye. This was the same system that brought snow to California just a couple of days ago and made its way across the Intermountain West. Now, really focused on the central portion of the U.S. The northern portion of this front is bringing showers and some thunderstorms right now to areas of the upper Midwest.

[06:40:02]

But along the southern edge of that front, we have a separate low- pressure system and that's the one that we're going to have to keep a very close eye on as we go later on into the afternoon and especially the evening hours tonight.

Here's a look at the target point area. This includes places like Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, even around Little Rock and Shreveport, Louisiana. As you mentioned, very large hail, several tornadoes, some of which could be EF2 even larger, and also some damaging winds out of this.

The tornado threat is particularly concerning with this because of how many larger cities are incorporated in this risk. You're talking again, basically from Oklahoma City, down through Dallas. And remember, folks, for a lot of those people that were the Oklahoma game that played yesterday, those people have to come back to Oklahoma City. So, you're going to have a lot of travel along Interstate 35, likely at some point today where people are going and coming from the game.

One of the key components to this particular severe storm is not only the warm temperatures, a lot of these areas are 15, even 20 degrees above normal. But look at all that Gulf moisture that surging in. So, that's going to be fuel for a lot of these storms that are really going to fire up later on this afternoon.

Speaking of which, again, once we get to about that 3:00 to 5:00 pm.. timeline, you're really going to start to notice a lot of the showers and thunderstorms begin to fire up. Then once we get to later into the evening, look at that strong line stretching from Oklahoma City down through Dallas. That's when you're really going to start to see a lot of those damaging winds really begin to pick up. And then it continues to slide off to the east Little Rock and even around Shreveport. That focus, however, it's going to be into the overnight timeline.

Then tomorrow, because this doesn't just end tomorrow, it just shifts a little bit. So, the main concern for tomorrow is going to be areas of the Midwest around the Great Lakes region of Michigan, stretching back down into Arkansas. So, Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, all of those areas likely going to be dealing with some similar areas of severe weather.

That's the focus for the central portion of the U.S. out into the West, guys. This is where we're looking at that next system to come in. It's going to bring rain obviously the coastline but then some pretty significant snow to areas of the Intermountain West.

Take a look at all that snow that's going to be out there. This is through Wednesday. So now you're talking in the lower elevations in the valleys, likely just a couple of inches. But once you start to go up in elevation, Boris and Laura, now you're starting to talk about feet of snow potentially.

JARRETT: All right, Allison, we know you be staying on top of it. We'll check back with you in just a little bit. Thanks.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: This more morning, dozens of runners are feeling pretty lucky after being rescued from the Northern Utah Mountains. Some of that severe weather that Allison was talking about forcing officials to suspend a 50-mile race in the mountains north of Salt Lake City. An official there telling CNN there were whiteout conditions between 12 to 18 inches of snow and force search and rescue teams to go for several hours to get the runners safely off the mountain.

According to a press release, a few runners had to be treated for hypothermia, and fortunately, it seems like they're OK. They were released at the scene. One person was treated for a minor injury.

We also have some good news this morning. After four days of intense searching in Texas, a 3-year-old boy has been found alive and healthy. Christopher Ramirez was reunited with his mom after being found in the woods about five miles away from his home. Official see a local tip help them find the boy, but they still aren't sure how he was able to survive on his own for several days. That remains a mystery. He was taken to the hospital for observation. They believe he's in good shape and thankfully, he'll be fine.

JARRETT: Wow, that's amazing. All right, a historic 100 game winning streak is over. Alabama is stunned as part of a wild college football Saturday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

JARRETT: A massive upset in college football. Alabama's 100 game winning streak against teams outside the top 25 is finished this morning.

SANCHEZ: Coy Wire joins us now. Coy, rough lost for the Crimson Tide. They have the longest such streak in college football history. The last time they lost to an unranked opponent was 2007.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The tide got rolled. Good morning, Boris and Laura. That was Nick Saban's first season in Tuscaloosa by the way. Since then, he's of course built Bama into one of the greatest sports dynasties ever. And he never lost to a team coached by one of his former assistants until now.

Unranked Texas A&M coached by Jimbo Fisher. The 12th man is bringing it in College Station. Ranked seventh just two weeks ago, but then two straight losses. Their sophomore quarterback Zach Calzada will remember this game forever. He started the season as a backup. But against Bamas mighty defense, he was making perfect passes like that touchdown to Ainias Smith.

He got injured there with three minutes to go but he was not going to miss this opportunity. He comes back into the game after a big A&M defensive stop. Calzada sacrificing his body again for a huge first- down run. To set up the game-winning field goal by set small. That's it 41-38, Jimbo Fisher on his 56 birthday no less, handing Bama their first loss since 2019, the first time a former Saban assistant has beaten him in 25 tries.

Number four Iowa hosting number three Penn State. A big 10 showdown featuring the most magical tradition in college football. After a year without fans, 70,000 inside Kinnick Stadium bringing back the wave for the patients at the Children's Hospital next door.

And after trailing most of the game, their team given the home crowd something else to smile about, Spencer Petras to Nico Ragaini to give Iowa the lead. Penn State on a fourth down trying to keep hope alive, but the Hawkeyes' Matt Hank is picking off backup quarterback to Ta'Quan Roberson for that ball-hawking defense's fourth interception of the day. Look at this scene. Iowa holding on to win 23-20.

And history at the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma freshman quarterback Caleb Williams leading the number six Sooners to the biggest comeback ever in the Red River rivalry with Texas. The 19-year-old who didn't even play as a high school senior because of the pandemic putting up big numbers after starter Spencer Rattler got bench. 300 total yards, three scores, and his last was the best, a 52-yard missile to Marvin Mims making a magnificent toe-tapping touchdown to tie it at 41. Incredible.

10 seconds left now. Coach Lincoln Riley calls a run and Kennedy Brooks hits the afterburners. 33 yards for the game winning touchdown. OU overcoming a 21-point deficit winning 55-48 for the largest point total ever in the 121-year rivalry.

Finally, you can bet on this. Mookie Betts with the best throw you'll see all postseason. The Dodgers All-Star scooping up the ball and right-center spinning and firing an absolute laser to nail Wilmer Flores at third ending a sixth inning giants rally. LA wins game two 9-2 tying the series with San Francisco at one to one as they head back to Hollywood The Braves also evening their series against the Brewers that a game of peace, shutting down the brew crew 3-0 three nothing. In Milwaukee, sports are fun.

SANCHEZ: I love this time of year, Coy. College football, baseball, the NFL, NBA just around the corner. I love it. Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: Good to see you.

SANCHEZ: Great to see you.

JARRETT: Thanks, Coy. And a quick programming note for you here. Tonight at 10:00 p.m. is the season premiere of "THIS IS LIFE." In this episode, Lisa explores historical events that changed America but are rarely found in history books. You definitely won't want to miss that.

SANCHEZ: Right now, Afghan evacuees are headed to the United States as flights have resumed from Ramstein Air Base. We'll tell you more about these flights next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Today, several flights are expected to arrive in the United States carrying nearly 1000 Afghan evacuees. Flights from Ramstein Air Base in Germany resumed yesterday. If you recall they had been stalled for weeks after officials confirmed cases of measles amongst some of the evacuees.

The U.S. is expecting daily flights from Germany carrying approximately 1000 Afghans. And the flights will continue until just about all 9000 Afghans have left.

JARRETT: Also today, Taiwan puts its military on full display in an extraordinary show of defiance toward Beijing. This parade marks the anniversary of the Chinese revolution and showcased some of the island's most advanced weapons.

SANCHEZ: Yes. It comes just one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful reunification, a loaded term. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says they will not bow to pressure. CNN's Will Ripley is in Taiwan with the details.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Laura, this may not match the massive scale of military brains in mainland China, but for Taiwan, this is an extraordinary site. Four kinds of domestically produced missiles rolling through the Capitol in front of Taiwan's Presidential Palace, an ominous sign of escalating regional tensions.

Taiwan's military has never played a more prominent role, at least in recent history, as it has this year. And while the overall atmosphere is festive, this island is increasingly concerned about the behavior of mainland China, provocative behavior.

More than 100 planes entering Taiwan self-declared air defense identification zone in just one week this month. And Windows aerial incursions come new propaganda videos from the Taiwanese Air Force vowing to defend their national sovereignty. And the weapons that they plan to use to defend their sovereignty on display here.

Taiwan is vowing to up its national spending on defense by billions of dollars. In 2020 alone, reports say that they bought $5 billion of weapons from the United States including F16 fighters and Patriot Missiles. And they're also developing their own weapons here on the island, increasingly calling on the support of the United States and other democratic regional allies to come to Taiwan's defense.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen spoke in front of the presidential palace laying out the situation as a fight for the future not just of Taiwan, but the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TSAI ING-WEN, PRESIDENT, TAIWAN (through translator): We came to eat a quota. At this moment, free and democratic countries have been alerted to the expansion of authoritarianism. And Taiwan is on the forefront of the defense line of fellow democracies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Defending that future comes at a cost. Taiwan is having to up its military spending, even as they struggle to get a volunteer military force after phasing out most mandatory conscription here on the island. Will these weapons -- will the help of the United States be enough to defend against the threat from an increasingly assertive mainland China, as President Xi Jinping vows to, in his words, reunify the mainland with Taiwan.

Beijing has long claimed his self-governing island as its own territory for more than 70 years since the end of China's civil war. Taiwan points out that they've never been ruled by the communist party of China. And they say they plan to keep it that way putting their military on full display here. Boris, Laura?