welcome to our viewers joining us in the u.s. and all around the world. you are watching cnn newsroom. the latest from the alaska airlines investigation. just one week before the iowa caucuses, we take a look at where the top gop candidates stand. millions are at risk of severe weather this week which is contributing to flight delays. live from atlanta, this is cnn newsroom. we begin in the u.s. where

investigators say the missing part of the alaska airlines plane that flew off midflight has been found. it was found in a backyard on sunday. >> we are pleased that bob found this. he took a photo. i can see the outside of the door plug from the photos. we will go pick that up and make sure we begin analyzing. >> investigators have been searching for the door plug sent to blew off the aircraft friday while the plane was at a altitude of 16,000 feet. investigators also say the planes cockpit voice recorder was overwritten and there is nothing on it. >> cockpit voice recorders are

not just convenient for the ntsb or faa to use investigations, they are critical to helping us accurately pinpoint what was going on. it is key to safety. for alaska airlines, they want to know affirmatively what was occurring in the cockpit. anybody that learns how to fly is taught 88, navigate, communicate. communication is key. why? because the flight crew on the flight deck does not have situational awareness of what is going on in the back. so that communication needs to occur, they need to know how quickly they need to land.

if that communication is not recorded that is a loss for us and the faa and safety. that information is key not just for the investigation but for improving aviation safety. >> in the meantime a cell phone believed to be from one of the passengers was found on the side of a road in oregon on sunday. the man says it did not have a lock and he could see eight emailed baggage receipt for alaska airlines. the phone has been handed over to alaska airlines. they announced they are canceling more than 100 flights today and warns of war to come. i spoke with jeffrey thomas, managing director of a airlines

ranking website. >> this is key. they obviously have the aircraft itself and they are examining what is left of the door frame. so the two together will piece together the situation and highlight where the problem occurred. >> according to alaska airlines in the days before the incident pilots filed several reports of warning lights warning of loss of cabin pressure. should the plane have been grounded at that point? >> i did hear about those reports which would certainly indicate a problem. a leak of some kind. mind you, that door and all of

those doors on the 737 and every aircraft have warning lights to say whether they are closed or not and the pilots would not take off with a door that was not properly closed so there seems to be some sort of problem with the door and the leaks as well as the warning systems. i am sure we are going to find it is a part issue and that may apply to several other aircraft as well. that is where i think this will lead. just one week left until the iowa caucuses where the republican candidates will see if their campaigns are strong enough to take on donald trump for the party nomination.

polling shows trump remains the most popular among voters with ron and nikki haley the closest competitions. they spent the weekend campaigning in iowa. while trump maintains a large lead, his current legal battles could spell disaster if they do not go his way. he is due in washington tuesday for a hearing on whether he has presidential immunity on the ongoing subversion case. mike pence who dropped out of the race last year tells us that republicans need fresh leadership going forward. >> i ran for president because i think different times call for different leadership and i am hoping the good people of iowa up that i got to know so well, the good people of new hampshire and south carolina, will look at this moment and realize elections are about the

future and we need new leadership in the republican party and the white house. >> larry is the director at the center of politics at the university of virginia. he joins me now from charlottesville. we are counting down to the first big test for gop presidential hopefuls with just one week to go before the iowa caucuses, what do you expect to happen given what polls are revealing now. >> we have all learned to be suspicious of polling in the last five or six years, having said that the reliable ones seem to be pointing to a substantial trump victory. occasionally you have a surprising upset in iowa. we have had it a number of times with candidates that were way behind to begin with. i do not think that will happen

this year and most of the focus seems to be on which candidate gets second-place. will it be former south carolina governor nikki haley or florida's governor. >> donald trump has been for out in front of all of his rivals, how inevitable is it that he will be the gop candidate and if he is, will he beat joe biden? >> you worked it all into that one question. i do not think i can answer what will happen over the entire year, i can just say donald trump is the heavy favorite for a third consecutive election but again you have upsets. it is possible that if one of the candidates opens trump in iowa or new hampshire we could be in for a surprise but at this moment trump is a

substantial favorite. can he beat joe biden? there are so many unanswered questions. personally i would favor biden, while trump is popular among republicans he is unpopular among democrats and he is consistently unpopular with independence. it depends on the time, date and issues prevailing at the moment. independence tend to get irritated with trump the longer they focus on him. >> ron and nikki haley seemed content to fight for second- place rather than take on trump directly. what is that about? >> it is down to three

candidates, it is not as difficult for a candidate to overcome trump, the reason why these two candidates are having more trouble than they would have had in 2016 is because trump has been president. he has the aura of incumbency. >> in the meantime trouble ahead for trump with his former deputy chief of staff defying the former president by talking to prosecutors about january 6 and how trump was not interested in taking additional steps to curtail the capital riot because he was angry at what he described as a stolen election. what could it signal for the former president? >> trump has been in trouble for a long time. this is just more on top. for most of us, thinking back

to that horrible day, it was obvious to all that trump was not concerned in the slightest for quite some time about the violence taking place in the capital. he was taking satisfaction from it. what the prosecutors have been able to do so far, they have been able to show that the trump we thought we were seeing ungenerous six was the trump that was president. that has already hurt him and it will continue to hurt him and he needs to worry about what happens in the court room. the question we have is when will the trials take place? will we see any of them completed before the republican convention with the general election? some days i think we will and others i think we will not but it matters. >> always a pleasure to chat

with you and get your analysis. thank you. congressional leaders announced a spending deal for government funding in 2024. president biden welcomed the news saying it is a's app toward averting a potential government shutdown later this month. it calls for 1 .6 trillion in spending with 900 billion going toward defense spending but it does not eliminate the threat of a shutdown altogether. lawmakers need to meet to upcoming funding deadlines to keep the government running and conservatives are still using the bills as leverage to impose tougher legislations. the pentagon says the u.s.

defense secretary is still in the hospital but is recovering well. they do not know yet when he will be released. this comes after revelations that president biden and senior leaders were kept in the dark about his whereabouts until thursday. three days after he checked into the hospital for a elective surgery. austin saying he could have done a better job of notifying the public. next, anthony blank and is in the region speaking with officials amid heightened tensions and the continuing war in gaza. ukraine says russia has intensified aerial and grounund attacks s in recenent weeks s a there e are no signsns of momos slowing dodown. detatails after r the break.k.

america's top diplomat is set to meet with israel's officials this week as the war enters the fourth month. anthony blank and is now in abu

dhabi, the latest stop in a weeklong trip as tensions in the middle east flare. he says one key of the talks is working to prevent a wider conflict from erupting. we are joined live from paris. good morning melissa. what is expected to come out of the trip? >> reporter: this is his fourth trip in three months. we have seen him come time and time again to urge that the escalation of the tensions in the region but this time it comes in admits to increased fears of the spread of the conflict. specifically, that ace second front may open up to the north in lebanon. it is specifically since

israel's assassination of the hamas top official, the first strike since the 2006 conflict. we saw the initial response over the weekend and specifically that attack inside israel, a successful strike, the fear that the idf may be drawn further still into cross- border violence. this is what anthony blank and had to say. >> this is a conflict that could cause more insecurity and suffering. from day one, among other priorities, we have been focused on working to prevent the conflict from's writing. >> reporter: it is expected the secretary of state will be in israel later today where he

will speak to officials not just about the spread of the conflict but the next phase of the conflict and also about the endgame to all of this. we have been hearing that some of the noises we heard from some of the right-wing members of benjamin's coalition about the mass immigration of palestinians is not israel's wish. the question of where and how this finishes looms large in the conversations that will take place between anthony blank and in his israeli counterparts. it is important to remember amidst dire warnings, we have been hearing over the weekend that on average there have been 10 palestinian children that

lost one or both legs every day since october 7. a important reminder i think of what this has meant for survivors in gaza, something top of mind for anthony blank in before he sits down with israeli officials. >> many thanks. japan's foreign minister made a surprise visit to ukraine meeting with the president on sunday. they say tokyo is determined to keep supporting ukraine and announced new deliveries of defense equipment. the president thanked japan calling the country a important and strong partner but also stressed the significance of europe's continued aid speaking remotely at a conference. >> europe needs joint defense

production. a day after deadly missile strikes pounded a eastern ukrainian town. among the latest in a string of ramped up attacks by russia. >> reporter: as the new year begins, russia's assault on ukraine continues. at least 11 civilians including five children killed by missile strikes in the east of the country. the buildings they were in reduced to rubble. >> two houses have been destroyed to the ground, 154 private houses and 15 apartment buildings have been damaged. search operations are ongoing.

>> reporter: ukraine says russia has stepped up attacks, killing 120 civilians and wounding 500 more since december 29. the u.s. claims russia has used missiles procured from north korea to attack northeastern ukraine. moscow has not commented and ukrainian authorities said they have not come to a final conclusion about the missiles origin. >> most likely it was supplied by north korea or it was produced with blueprints supplied by russia. >> reporter: russia's president celebrating orthodox christmas as he continues his assault. meeting the families of russian soldiers killed on the battlefield. >> you know that many of our

men, russian warriors, even now on this holiday, defend the interest of our country. i want to assure you we will always have you back. >> reporter: the russian army is suffering catastrophic losses as it tries to push forward, ukraine's ground forces releasing this video showing russian troops retreating after losing several tanks and armored vehicles in a failed assault. cnn cannot identify the location and date of the video. >> russia tried again to bring ukraine to its knees with airstrikes. large scale attacks. combined attacks aimed at overloading our air defense. >> reporter: russia's

leadership shows no signs of backing off as ukrainians cure up to defend their land and what could be another year of tough and protracted warfare. straightahead, the first big winter storm of the season in the u.s. left its mark. the impact is next. we have the latest updates on prices when we return. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. the power goes out and we still have wifi join the millions of people takto do our homework.acy and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. welcome back, nearly 70 million across the u.s. are at risk for severe weather this week. according to the nation's storm prediction center, tornadoes, wind, flooding and rain could

be on the way monday and tuesday. just days after the first big winter storm, another storm is expected from the southwest. it could deliver heavy snow, blizzard conditions, strong wind and potential tornadoes along with the possibility of flooding. as for the first big winter storm that hit the u.s. this weekend, we are in hartford, connecticut with a look at the aftermath. >> reporter: as forecasters predicted, the storm dumped the highest snow totals we have seen in a while, in light of certain cities reporting the least snow year on record. here in hartford, the state's capital, according to the national weather service, a little more than 10 inches fell since saturday night. now the storm is making its way

out of the region. you start to see people heading out. transportation officials tell us that provided them the upper hand in terms of keeping plows on the road. these are pieces of equipment that have been stored since the last allowable snow was reported a little more than a year ago. >> it will give us our space we need to do our job. >> reporter: one of the biggest impacts was for flights, 20% of flights this weekend were canceled, another 20% were delayed. as you can imagine, a event of this magnitude will disrupt some operations. some parts of the hudson valley experiencing more than a foot of snow. reporting in hartford. back to you.

there is more flight delays and cancellations across the u.s., more than 400 flights have already been canceled and more than 300 delayed. the site says there were 15,000 delays on saturday and sunday and more than 1300 cancellations. officials say it is because of winter weather and the grounding of the 737 max nine planes. the u.s. secretary is expected to visit in the coming hours. the visit to eagle pass comes as republicans are planning to impeach him amid the recent surge of migrants across the border. we have details on the migrant crisis. >> reporter: it was a year ago monday that president biden went to the border along with his homeland secretary by his

side. at the time they were talking about 600 million in funding for border infrastructure and a increase of 600 patrol agents. the department of homeland security caused this trip eight operational visit. they also say they will meet with customs and border protection personnel including border patrol leadership and local officials. as divided republicans and democrats are on immigration, most agreed that urgent changes are needed at the border. that is what a local sheriff told me and that is what the denver mayor said on sunday. >> we have folks arriving in denver with court dates set for 2029. if you can decide who has a

valid claim and send them to interior cities with work authorization while they wait to hear the claim we can put them to work while we solve this. >> reporter: meanwhile officials are planning to meet in washington to discuss curbing the influx of migrants in the u.s. high level officials visited mexico city earlier this month. both democrats and republicans seem to realize the border crisis is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. some members of congress are taking steps to come up with a agreement for that goal. there is no agreement yet but it is tied to a package that would include funding for ukrainian and israel. in a interview on sunday the texas governor said he is confident his state will prevail against the lawsuit filed. he

says in his view, the federal government is not enforcing immigration law, the state of texas is obligated to do so. >> the law prohibits the mass allowance of people getting out and wandering the country, for years before they have to go to court, the biden administration is not enforcing that. they must hold the biden administration responsible. >> reporter: last month the white house press secretary said the law does not make the communities in texas safer. civil rights organizations fear it will lead to issues in cities where the population of latinos exceed 40% of the

population. the historically black church in charleston was the site of a mass shooting in 2015. when a gunman opened fire on a bible study group killing nine. joe biden's visit comes as a democrat is sounding a alarm for the biden campaign ahead of november's presidential election. >> i am very concerned, my problem is, we have not been able to break through the and aga wall. >> he says he met with biden to express concerns. his endorsement of biden ahead of 2020 was seen as biden's key

to victory in that state. snow and sleet is making the search for survivors more difficult after a deadly earthquake in japan. the prime minister of bangladesh takes a fourth straight term, hear why critics are slamming it as a one-sided election.

japanese officials report at least 168 deaths are confirmed from the new ewers day earthquake. more than 300 other people are still missing one week after the quake. weather conditions and difficult terrain are complicating rescue operations. tight living quarters and shelters are becoming a breeding ground for the flu and

covid-19. in recent days at lee firefighters have been able to rescue at least two elderly women trapped in their homes. mark stewart joins me now with more from south korea. what are you learning? >> reporter: it is hard to believe it has been one week since the earthquake struck japan and there are moments of hope among all of this devastation including the rescue of a woman in her 90s, she was trapped in her home stuck under furniture. fortunately crews were able to get to her, she was waiting for five days to be rescued and she was rushed to the hospital. according to one doctor, the woman was able to speak but does have injuries. people in japan are trying to

cling onto these positive moments. along with the infrastructures we talked about, whether they be damaged roads, power outages, even water is in short supply. so there is a task right now to repair the infrastructure so that damaged areas can be serviced with supplies. over the weekend a grocery store opened in one of these areas, there was a line and there was a limit on rice which is a staple in the japanese diet. the hope is that some of the forecasts for bad weather or subsiding. there are reasons to believe things may be better. the infrastructure issues and the weather are proving to be difficult. >> that is a real problem and with so many buildings destroyed people are struggling

to find alternative housing, what is being done to help? >> reporter: that is really a struggle, what did do with so many people. in this area, many of these homes were flattened, they were older structures. we heard from one couple in their 80s, they are at a place now but only for three months then they will have to find another place to go. they are not alone. so many families and individuals are struggling with similar circumstances. as you mentioned, there are shelters, perhaps not as many as needed but the problem is it is close quarters and people are getting sick which includes catching covid-19. officials have been suspended in the maldives for marking the indian prime

minister. in a online post they called him a clown, terrorist and puppet of israel after he showed these photos of a recent trip to promote tourism. we are joined now from new delhi with more on all of this. what is the back story on how this unfolded? >> reporter: i want to start with images posted by the indian prime minister while he was on a trip. this is off the southwest coast of india, it is a chain of islands. he tried to promote local tourism to which a lot of indians responded that it could be the alternative to maldives. the highest number of tourists there is from india. there were reactions like you

mentioned from officials within the government of maldives, after which they were suspended. a statement was issued and here is what they said. the government is aware of derogative remarks against foreign leaders and high-ranking officials, they are personal and do not represent the views of the government. in his campaign the president was elected in september or october of last year and mentioned a part of his campaign would be a out india policy, until then his predecessor was known to be close to india and had a india first policy. the president of maldives is in china, he has more of a alignment with china than india which is seen as a snub to

india. usually when a president is elected, the first stop is india and this was not the case. we talked to analyst michael about the importance of the region of maldives. the significance of it geopolitically is huge. here is what he had to say. >> i would argue south asia has become one of the biggest battlegrounds for india and china competition. for many years india had been the most influential external player in the maldives but things have changed in recent years. >> reporter: the indian high commission has taken the comment seriously and have taken it up with the government. there is more on this in the

coming days we are reporting on. >> thank you. the prime minister of englandãhas taken sunday's general election securing a fourth consecutive term. she took at least 152 out of 300 seats. critics say the election was one-sided as the main opposition party boycotted the vote after their demands to resign were rejected. human rights groups have raised concerns about the government becoming a one party system. election officials say turnout at the polls was low with only 40% of the 120 million eligible voters taking part. the u.s. just launched its first lunar lander to the moon since 1972. details on the historic flight is next.t.

we have ignition and liftoff

. launching a new era in spaceflight to the moon and beyond. >> 19 minutes ago a rocket launched from cape canaveral carrying america's first lunar lander in decades. it is planning to touchdown on february 23. it is loaded with equipment that will gather data for future missions but also carrying mementos from other countries including photos and novels and a piece of mount everest. this is expected to become the first commercial mission to land on the moon as part of nasa's collaboration with private space companies. earlier i spoke with someone who explained the significance of the mission. >> it has been 50 years since

the u.s. attempted a soft landing on the moon so there is a historical piece to all of this. this is the overall effort by the u.s. and its so-called artemis mission to put people back on the moon in the next few years. instead of planting flags and leaving footprints, the idea is to build a outpost. what nasa did five years ago was give contracts to fourth team private players to fly payloads to the surface to get used too doing that and also to put instruments on the ground to characterize the environment better.

it has been 50 years, the instruments are better, we know more about the surface of the moon. we know now that there is water ice there. a host of things leads nasa to this moment. >> after the first historic landing in 69, why after all of these years are we suddenly seeing a renewed international space race to the moon? >> there's a lot of theories about that. because of the unique nature of the moon race and the amount of money spent in that era, we were way ahead of our time and we were not prepared to stay there budgetary lee or technologically. so we spent time on the shuttle

and built the international space station and now the push is to eventually go to mars. the thinking is if you are going to morris, learn how to live at a outpost on the moon first which is a matter of a few days away as opposed to a year. a rocky of 2023 psalm months of strikes as actors and unions fought for better pay and benefits. the golden globes kicked off the season sunday night. actors allie wong and stephen young made history winning for best actress and actor in a limited series for their roles in beef. the first actors of asian descent to be victorious in their respective categories. it was not the only historic moment of the night. lily gladstone became the first

indigenous person to take the award for best actress in a film drama, killers of the flower moon. barbie took home the award for cinematic and box office achievement, a new category for films that perform well at the box office that may not be record ninth during a award season. the film was made by warner bros. it was oppenheimer that dominated, winning five trophies for best male actor, male supporting actor, director, original score and motion picture drama. emma thomas one of the producers praised the crew while accepting the final trophy. >> it was a incredible experience making this film. this is the smallest portion of

the many people that made the film what it is. i love hearing everybody talk about their work. what is clear is what we do is collaboration and that is something i find to be magical. thank you for spending part of your day with me, cnn newsroom continues next with max foster. to duckduckgo on all your devie

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and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. ♪ ♪ join the millions of people taking back♪ ♪eir privacy ♪ ♪