tv CNN Newsroom CNN December 26, 2022 11:00am-12:00pm PST
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♪ hello. i'm pamela brown. welcome to "cnn newsroom." the historic storm the new york governor called the blizzard of the century has now killed 25 people in the buffalo area. and a top erie county official says that number is likely to rise. he said the conditions have been so severe, their own rescuers needed rescuing. intense winds created whiteout conditions as 43 inches of snow dropped in just 24 hours. listen to what one family with four young kids faced, after they lost power and went in search of a heated hotel room. >> it was very intense. we tried to keep it together for as long as possible. because we didn't want to fight.
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it was like looking at a white piece of construction paper. you couldn't see anything at all. like absolutely nothing until you were probably about a foot away from even cars. with their bright lights on. you just couldn't see anything. not yellow traffic signs, not traffic. you couldn't see anything. you couldn't see a traffic light. you have to drive through the intersections praying. >> imagine how frightening that must be with four young kids. state police say they've been involved with five rescues on sunday. helping a man with less than 4% left on his mechanical heart. and local officials are expecting at least another six inches of snow today. the governor has declared a state of emergency for erie county. and areas on red in the screen, to help first responders navigate still impassible roads. cnn's polo sandoval is there.
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polo, the new york governor upd. how many people are without power? >> reporter: pamela, about 23,000500 households in the bark in the area. officials saying about half of them are back online. so that is progress. and it is badly needed progress here in buffalo. the streets in and around the city, they're still covered with snow. now, you can intel some of these intersections have clearly been plowed. that is because the plowing operations right now are really focused on making sure they can carve a path throughout the area for first responders to get the calls. but still, you will see civilian vehicles out and about. you might be able to see one about now. what we're hearing from officials is basically a pleading for folks to abide for the travel restrictions -- the driving ban in place since friday night. they want to make sure the plows can continue to carve the paths
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and also to access the neighborhood where is people have been stuck in their homes since friday. as you're about to hear from new york governor kathy hochul, it seems that the worst of it may be over when it comes to the storm, but that snow's still going to fall. >> the storm is coming back. we're expecting another 6 to 12 inches in the south towns, the southern part of erie county, a little bit south of here. they had 30 to 40 inches of snow overnight. so anyone who declares victory and says it's over. it is way too early to say this is at the completion -- maybe the severity is downplaying now and right now it's not as bad as it has been the last couple of days. but it's still a dangerous situation to be out. >> reporter: and as we wrap things up here from buffalo, pamela, we do have to mention just the heartbreak of all of this. at least 25 storm-related deaths confirmed. these were people found dead in homes, in cars. even on sidewalks, law enforcement personnel basically
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going door to door. and finding some of these individuals in their homes. that is just absolutely heartbreaking, particularly for the first responders that have been working for three days now and are tasked with this duty. >> and as we reported earlier, that death toll is expected to rise. polo sandoval, live for us in buffalo, thank you so much. joining me now is darius prigen and steven mcnally, state police. councilman, what are you hearing from your constituents? how are they doing? >> you know, people are very frustrated. many people have not seen a storm of this size since the blizzard of '77. so, you have a lot of younger people who have never seen this amount of snow or devastation. so, i'll be very, very honest, they're not doing well. tempers are starting to flare.
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people are upset that their streets -- we haven't been able to get to their streets yet. but it's just an overwhelming amount of snow right now. >> yeah. understandable that frustrations are boiling over. superintendent, erie county. officials saying they're seeing many abandoned cars, tractor trailers, buses. what are you seeing with your road conditions? are roads even passable? >> i've been out and about, pamela, in the last three days, there's hundreds of vehicles abandoned or stranded. i'm not talk on the sides of roads. those are on city streets. those abandoned vehicles will have to be towed so the streets can be cleaned. it's a laborious process. and focused basically getting to the power generation stations to make sure the utilities can get the power back on in the city. while we've been doing that we've been going door to door
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and car to car, checking on fellow new yorkers. unfortunately, as you mentioned there's been 25 storm-related deaths so far. unfortunately, realistically, that number is going to climb. >> that is so tragic? superintendent, what do you say to those who defy the ban in multiple locations in erie county? >> it's a very selfish act. to be honest with you, in the beginning we asked people to stay off the roads, now, i'm telling you, stay off the roads. just bill the selfish act of going out. if you're not an essential employee, if you go out, you're impeding the removal of vehicles, plows, first responders. if you do get stuck, that has to go to you, for those searching for fellow new yorkers. just by staying home, you join the team. that's how new yorkers work. join our team, be a part of the
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cause just staying home and helping us. that's what you can do. stay home. >> i want to ask you, and bring you back in, council president, in terms of government support, do you feel like your town is getting what it needs, in terms of support through this? >> well, you know, it's very difficult. i do think and i have seen all levels of government, from state, of course, our governor has say residence here. she's from buffalo. we've seen the county. out. we've seen the city tirelessly out. the problem now, it's not just clearing the streets of snow, it's not as simple as just pushing the snow down the street. in some areas, it's now having to truck that snow to another site. and whether the bigger trucks can get down side roads in order to truck that snow out. so, we are seeing, and i'm very grateful, all levels of government that are participating, you know, you just had on -- we have on our
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state. and of course, the state troopers and everybody from the county to the city. but it is just overwhelming. i have been out, you know, there were certain emergencies that we had to go out for, it is still devastating, thank god, the wind is not as high. so you can see better. but it's still very dangerous situation, because of black ice. and people sliding still. into snowbanks. and so the call is if possible, unless it is an emergency, or you're essential to stay home, and if you can't, there should be somebody with the proper time of vehicle to get out to hospitals. because we know that the hospitals are overwhelmed right now and understaffed and need those essential workers. so, by working together, the people who need to get to wherever they are, this city and state and county is working very hard together. it's the only way we're going to make it through this.
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>> absolutely. well, best of luck to both of you, as you lead your communities through this difficult time, darius pridgen and steve mcnally, thank you. thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed across the country again today. the hardest hit appears to be southwest airlines which has cancelled more than half of its flights. in a statement to cnn, southwest airlines said, quote, it is experiencing disruptions across our network as a result of the winter storm's lingering effects on the totality of our operation. cnn's carlos suarez is at atlanta's airport. all right. carlos, i want to bring you in here. how are things stacking up today? >> reporter: well, pamela, it has been a terrible day of air travel across the u.s., as you mentioned, southwest airlines has confirmed, in a statement to us, that they are experiencing some pretty significant delays. according to flight aware, they have cancelled over 50% of their flights across the u.s. because
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of all of this cold weather. here in atlanta, the airport has seen well over 200 flights that have been cancelled, and things, while they're not a whole lot better at the delta terminal behind me, this line has been growing the entire day. the folks that are currently standing in this line have been here for several hours, one woman just told me a few minutes ago, she got here around 9:00 this morning, and she's yet to see a gate agent, a ticket agent, to see if they can get on a new flight. when we're talking about the overall number of cancelled flights across the u.s. getting into today. that number now stands at 2,900 flights that have been cancelled. well over 4,000 other flights that have been delayed. that number was about 3,000 just yesterday. things are a bit hectic on this side of the airport terminal, just on the southwest airline side, they've got an entire line dedicated to passengers whose
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flights have been cancelled. we caught up with one woman who finally sat down on the plane, she was hoping to take off, then she told everyone on that plane they had to get out, that's because there wasn't a pilot. here's what she told us. >> we got in our flight yesterday, in our seats, seat belt on. then we were getting ready to depart and they were like, never mind, everybody get off the plane. >> we've never been told to get off the plane like that. they said get off the plane, we waited an hour, the pilot will be here. there's no transparency, no staff, it's okay if there's no staff, we just want them to be honest with us, i can just go home. but we can't go home because we have no idea where our luggage is. is it here in atlanta, chicago? we have no idea. >> reporter: and pamela, making things more frustrating to cus customers, if their flight was
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in atlanta, customers have told us they're waiting on the airline to give back the baggage. one man here since saturday told me his family, they're at a hotel right now but they're still waiting on delta to give the entire family their bags back. >> what a mess. what a way to spend the holiday weekend. my goodness. carlos suarez. thank you for bringing us the latest there. and now to mississippi where the entire city of jackson is now under a boil water advisory. the city issued a notice after its water system lost pressure due to line breaks likely caused by the weather. cnn's martin savidge is following the developments. martin, jackson's water system has been plagued by troubles for years now. we've been reporting on that here at cnn. what's the latest? >> reporter: yeah, it's still a very fragile system, pamela, that's the problem that you're seeing here. as you mentioned extreme cold that everyone has been experiencing manifested itself in the south and in mississippi, as other states, have bust water
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lines and appears to be water mains. they've been pumping water into the system but people at home are not seeing it come out. it's barely trickling. so christmas day, what did people have to do? go out and stand in line or search of water just to have water to drink and use for their meals. this is a problem, as you point out, that jackson has been dealing with. back in august, you may remember, the system suffered almost a partial collapse. that was after floodwaters got into the water filtration system. boil water orders were in place from july to september. they're in place right now and no one knows how much longer. the money is starting to come in to fix the problem. for instance, that latest budget bill that was just passed in washington has about $600 million that will go to the jackson water system. but it's going to take time. in the meantime that system still teeters on the brink. and it doesn't take much, in
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this case, cold weather has once again forced the residents to suffer. pamela. >> so unfortunate for them. and as you said, until there's a more permanent fix, this will likely happen. martin savidge, thank you. bus loads of migrants were dropped off in front of vice president kamala harris' home when it was just 18 degrees outside. now they're slamming governor of texas for the stunt. >> and president zelenskyy said russia will make the last days of 2022, quote, dark and difficult. much more on that situation in ukraine. just ahead. better luck next time. but i haven't even thrown yet. you threw good money away when you bought those glasses. next time, go to america's best - where o pairs and a free exam start at just $79.95. can't beat that. cat beat this, either. book an exam today at americasbest.com
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well, the supreme court could rule as soon as tomorrow on whether the trump era border restrictions known as title 42 can stay in effect. on christmas eve three bus loads of migrants were dropped at the front door of vice president kamala harris' d.c. home, it was 18 degrees outside. it's unclear who is responsible, but they're blaming texas governor greg abbott. let's bring in priscilla for more. >> reporter: the groups on the ground assisting migrants arriving from texas for months,
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now, abbott began this effort back in effort where he sent buses of migrants to d.c., later expanding to new york city and chicago. and over 8,700 migrant have come to dary.c. or through d.c. sinc then. we've reached out to governor abbott's office and have not received. but groups were in position christmas eve to receive those who came from ecuador, cuba and peru. they said they were supposed to go to new york city but it got diverted because of the weather. now, these are migrants who have been processed by border authorities and are going through immigration proceedings. during that time, they can be released in the united states and move about. but this is something that the white house has long called a stunt saying, quote it is a cruel, dangerous and shameful stunt. they said they're willing to work with republicans on comprehensive immigration reform but, quote, these political
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schemes accomplish nothing. as you mentioned there, pam, the white house is keeping a close eye on the supreme court to see what they say about what is the future of those board restrictions known as title 42. pam. >> priscilla alvarez, thank you so much. i'm bringing in an organizer of the aide network, and she's also the immigration director for the group moms rising. claudia, you've been very busy, your group was notified that the migrants will be headed to d.c. tell us more learning this is happening over a holiday weekend. and what services you provided once they arrived? >> like you mentioned earlier, we were expecting them to go to new york. once we got short notification that they're making their way to d.c. instead, we assembled volunteers sitill here in town because many have left for the holiday season. we were able to get our group of volunteers ready. we provided food and warm
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shelter for the migrants. many of them showed up with very thin blankets or t-shirts or barely even long sleeves. we also provided them with jackets and shoes. you'd be surprised some people showed up without shoes on and getting dumped in 18-degree weather on side of the road. >> interesting about the kids as well. i'm curious from what i understand, an ngo that was at the border notified your group and other groups that the buses were headed up your way. since there is no coordination with whoever is behind this, and of course, the white house is pointing its finger at the texas governor, what would have happened, had you not been given that heads-up, by the group at the border? >> you know, there's been times where we haven't gotten any heads-up on a change of dropoff. only recently did the governor of texas start dropping off migrants in front of the vice president's residence. i can tell you back then that people were left freezing for
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over an hour. back then, temperatures were only in the 50s. imagine this weekend, when temperatures were 18 degrees. and no one would have been there to welcome them and receive them and move them to a safe and warm shelter. like i mentioned, many of these people had only t-shirts on. they were lucky if they had a coat or long sleeves on. the blankets that you saw some of them using in the images were also very, very thin. once they got to a center, they donated those blankets back to us as we gave them coats. because the coats are better than the blankets that they had. that a few of them had. >> i'm just curious, in terms of the long term because it's great that you were able to provide them with clothes and blankets and food and a respite center, but what do you do in the long term? >> right. well, we're always hoping that the governor of texas will work with us, with work with the border communities and the work they're facing right now.
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we ask that the governor for humanity and compassion. what happens we get what is completely cruel. and could have been avoided had they dropped off the migrants at the respite center directly, instead of exposing them to that 18-degree weather in front of the vice president's house on, frankly, a busy road. >> how is your organization preparing for the possible end for the title 42 ruling and just waiting for the premiusupreme co make a zwrigs. >> decision. >> right, while we're waiting for that decision, we have to make sure we have enough clothes to clothe everyone making their way to washington, d.c. we want to make sure they receive a warm welcome, and that we have places ready to receive them. >> claudia tristan, thank you so much for coming on and sharing the experience had you with your group and helping take on the migrants that were bussed up to d.c. thank you so much. we're following two
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developing stories overseas. first, china sends dozens of aircraft into taiwan no fly zone escalating the already high tensions. and south korea scrambles together fighter jets and helicopters after north korea drones enter the country's airspace. we're going to have details on that, just aheadad. stay with us. will you make something g better? ♪ will you create something entitirely new? ♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us.
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well, several areas across ukraine, including the capital of kyiv, are experiencing an emergency power outage, due to russian attacks. the government-owned electricity company says the devastating damage has led to limited usage of the main power grid. and furthermore, ukrainian military officials are warning
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of possible retaliatory strikes. after three russian soldiers were killed during a drone counterattack. cnn's melissa bell is following these developments from paris. what more are you learning about this incident, melissa? >> reporter: well, this is something that happened overnight, pamela. this was a drone intercepted by russia over this air base. now, just to be clear, this is an air base that is well within russian territory. we're talking about an air base some more than 300 miles, maybe 400 miles to the ukrainian border to the east. it's strategically important for russia. it's the air base fch they hold nuclear capable launchers and air base from which they launch strikes on ukraine. what happened in the early morning hours, this drone was intercepted killing the three servicemen as the debris fell down. it was not the first time it happened, pamela. it was on the 5th of december that this very same air base was struck. it's, of course, a huge
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embarrassment to russia that drones should be making it this war. ukraine tends neither to confirm or deny these sorts of attacks, and yet, we've been hearing from ukraine's air force that these kind of things are the direct consequence of russian aggression. so the great that ukraine may be at least alluding to some sort of responsibility without doing so outright. the fear across ukraine there would be retaliatory strikes as we saw after december 5th, that's what happened last time. it comes amid the power outages not used kyiv, lviv and zaporizhzhia, as a result, the electricity company, nine russian strikes against critical infrastructure. volodymyr zelenskyy, theukraini president, warning that the next few days are going to be cold and dark. >> yeah, looking at the power there. it feels like the 20s there. our hearts go out to people
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going through this. melissa bell, thank you very much. the week of drills is exacerbating the tensions with taiwan. taiwan says 47 chinese aircrafts have crossed the median line on the taiwan strait into its airspace on sunday. cnn pentagon correspondent oren leberman joins us live. h oren how is the u.s. interpreting the drills. >> reporter: china and taiwan, see this done repeatedly, with larger numbers of aircraft io t self-identification zones. and there's another group of aircraft that doesn't quite cross that median line of the taiwan strait. for china, this serves a few purposes. first, it is an open statement of their military capabilities and sort of an open threat that one day they'll use the militaries if they decide to take taiwan from china's perspective to reunify with
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force. but another, to reset a baseline for activity around taiwan. before house speaker nancy pelosi visit to the island, the u.s. is used to seeing a level of activity since then, that level has been raised intentionally by china as they try to set a new bar for what is china's military activity around taiwan. china said the exercises were isn't response to provocative actions or provocation by the united states. it's certainly worth noting that president joe biden just a few days earlier signed the national authorization act that had steps to boost taiwan's capabilities. pamela. >> oren liebermann, thank you. south korea is scrambling pilots in helicopters after north korean drones enter the country's airspace. the south korea defense saying its military fired at the drones but cannot confirm whether any were actually shot down. cnn's paula hancocks is joining
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us. >> reporter: north korea sent drones across the border into south korean airspace. now, we understand from the defense ministry that there were five north korean drou drones i. they believe one was in the vicinity of the capital seoul and the others were flying around the island off the west coast of the peninsula. the military says they did fire at the drougnes but not confirmg whether they managed to hit from them had. we're hearing from the defense smith minister saying this is a clear prof provocation of our airspace. some of those, they do confirm went into north korean airspace and filmed military installations there. two main airports in and around
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seoul has takeoffs postponed for an hour. that was deck tate dictated by military as this was going on. also, one of those south korean jets that was scrambled to d to with this did crash, we once from the defense ministry there were no casualties in that accident. this is not unprecedented, but it is unusual. the last time it happened was 2017, at that point, the ministry said they found a crushed drone in airspace. and building intelligence on a u.s. air missile in the country. similarly in 2014, there was a crashed drone found as well. now, they were fairly crude drones with, effectively, a camera strapped on to them. we don't know if the technology has improved. we haven't heard from the ministry of defense at this point. exactly what these drones look
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like. but it comes at the end of an historic year for north korea. never in their history have they fired so many and tensions high. >> our thanks to paula. the death toll is climbing in the western states. from the storm. but first, check out this video from outside of austin, texas, a car wash in lakeway, completely covered inin icicles over the weekekend. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. tastes great in our iced coffees too. which mas waking up at 5 a.m. to milk the cows a little easier. (moo) mabel says for you, it's more like 5:15. man: mom, rlly? ♪ ♪ a bunch of dead guys made up work, way back when. ♪
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shooting to those gunned down from sandy hook. cnn's jean casarez has a look at the top story of 2022. ♪ >> reporter: mass shootings, explosive revelations in court, and the pardoning of thousands of americans, the most gripping crime and justice stories of 2022. number 10, an inmate and his jailer together and on the run. >> a manhunt is under way in alabama. >> reporter: police say lauderdale county alabama assistant director of directions vicki white helped casey white escape, walking him out the door on the day she was set to retire. the two were not related but may have had a clandestine romantic relationship authorities said. >> she was a long-time trusted employee at our jail and she just exploited the system. >> reporter: on the run for 11
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days, the fair were eventually spotted in indiana. >> 5-1 in pursuit. >> reporter: police gave chase which ended in the car crashing. vicki white shot and killed herself. casey white was charged with escape and taken back to jail in alabama. number 9 -- thousands of vikzs for marijuana up in smoke. >> no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. >> reporter: president joe biden pardoning americans convicted in federal courts of simple marijuana possession. >> it's time that we right these wrongs. >> reporter: biden also ordered a review of how marijuana is classified under federal law which could be a first step toward easing criminal penalties. number 8 -- an author facing a decades' old death threat attacked. >> salman rushdie is still in surgery right now after he was stabbed.
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>> reporter: the award-winning author was stabbed multiple times as he prepared to speak at new york's chautaugua institution. >> there was a lot of screaming. >> reporter: the suspect, the 24-year-old, was held down by the crowd until arrested. rushdie was hiding after his novel of satanic verses were condemned by the supreme leader in 1989. rushdie survived but reportedly lost use of an eye and hand. matar pleaded not guilty. number 7, actors johnny depp and am amber heard battle it out in a courtroom over definite familiar nation. >> again. >> reporter: dep sued over a op-ed penned by heard, saying she was a victim of domestic violence. heard countersued. >> she threw a large bottle, and it made contact.
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>> reporter: depp testified he was the one physically and emotionally abused. both denied the claims. >> we have a verdict. >> reporter: the gyre found liable for defamation of a public figure, a difficult thing to prove and awarded depp $15 million in damages. they also found depp deflamed heard in a statement made by this is lawyer, and awarded her $2 million. heard appealed but later settled the suit. number 6 -- brutal killings in a college town. >> there's still no suspects in the killing of four college students at the university of idaho. >> reporte ethan chapin -- stabbed in their sleep. >> this incident has shaken the community. >> reporter: the case remains unsolved.
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police have not identified a murder or suspect. >> every day, you wake up and think today is the day. we're going to hear something. >> reporter: number 5 -- the life of a man who killed 17 in a florida school spared. >> life in prison without the possibility of parole on all counts for parkland killer nikolas cruz. >> reporter: he pleaded guilty to killing 17 people and injuring 17 others at the marjory stoneman douglas high school in 2018. jury was split on whether he should receive the death penalty which means he will not be executed. >> you don't know me, but you tried to kill me. >> reporter: cruz now in prison with no possibility of parole. >> you stole him from us. and you did not receive the justice that you deserved. >> reporter: number 4 -- it is being called the deadliest human smuggling incident in american history. >> human tragedy in san antonio.
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>> reporter: 53 migrants died after being left inside an abandoned truck in the texas heat. others found alive but barely. >> they were suffering from heatstroke, heat exhaustion. >> reporter: two men were arrested and charged in connection with the transportation of migrants resulting in death. if convicted they could face the death penalty. number 3 -- alex jones must pay. >> connecticut jury's massive judgment against alex jones for spreading lies and conspiracies. >> reporter: families of victims of the sandy hook shooting and an fbi agent who responded sued jones and his company for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. >> the whole thing was fake. >> reporter: for years, jones called the 2012 shooting, where 20 elementary school children and six educators died a hoax. in connecticut, 15 plaintiffs awarded more than $1.4 billion. and in a separate trial in
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texas, two parents got nearly $50 million. jones has filed for personal bankruptcy, and his company has done the same. >> i'm just proud what we were able to accomplish was just simply to tell the truth. >> reporter: number 2 -- an average of nearly two mass shootings every day. >> communities across the country have been rocked by more deadly gun violence. >> reporter: data compiled by the gun violence archives shows there were more 600 mass shootings where at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter, in the u.s. in 2022. >> we begin today with the tragic shooting in buffalo, new york. >> reporter: ten killed in a racist attack at a grocery store in a predominantly black neighborhood. >> police in highland park are responding to a shooting at the city's independence day parade. >> reporter: seven died. and dozens were injured on july 4th outside of chicago.
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>> we are learning more about the suspected gunman who murdered five people and injur ed dozens upon at will be lgbtq. >> i saw the outline of a man with a rifle at the entrance of the club, probably just about 15 feet from me. >> reporter: and now number 1 -- children killed at school, law enforcement failures and demands for accountability. >> the scene is still unfolding there at robb elementary in uvalde, texas. >> reporter: police respond quickly. >> shots fired inside the building! >> reporter: but for over an hour, they wait. not going into the classroom to confront the gunman. >> as you stand there today, was this the right decision? >> from benefit of hindsight where i'm sitting now, of course it was about the right decision. >> reporter: law enforcement eventually entered the classroom and killed the gunman but not before 19 children and two teachers were mortally wounded.
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a texas house committee described the series of failures and an overall lackadaisical approach by authorities. >> mind blowing, because they had a lot of time. >> reporter: robb elementary will now be torn down. and 21 families will never be the same. >> she was the sweetest little girl who did nothing wrong. ♪ >> our thanks to jean casarez for putting all of that together. well, china is battling an unprecedented surge in covid cases. the country's top health short says it will stop releasing daily case counts immediately, a move that is raising eyebrows nationwide.
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china says it will now rename covid as an infection instead of pneumonia. the company's top health authority will also seize all remaining parts of its zero covid policy that sparked country-wide protests. restrictions on inbound international flights will also largely be done away with. cnn's selina wang explains the new strategy as the country faces a surge in cases. >> reporter: china's leader xi jinping is calling for a targeted strategy as china faces an unprecedented covid outbreak. this is one of the first public statements xi has made about the covid situation ever since the country abandoned his signature zero covid policy and it comes
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as information about the china covid outbreak is getting more opaque. the health commission announced it will no longer publish daily case numbers. health authorities haven't said y but it was after widespread criticism after how unreliable the data was. they reported less than 63,000 covid cases brgs you reports from bloomberg and "the financial times" showed that leaked documents showed very different internal estimates, that almost 250 million people may have caught covid in the first 20 days. if correct, that estimate which cnn cannot independently confirm, it would mean this is the largest covid outbreak to date globally, but that information, again, was not made public. china has only also reported a small handful of covid deaths for the whole month, yet when they visited a crematorium in beijing, body bags were piling up. that has played out across the country. the medical system is under a huge amount of pressure. even the capital beijing which
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has some of the best resources in the country, doctors say they're overwhelmed with elderly patients with covid symptoms. a doctor at beijing united family hospital said there was no preparation for this wave of covid cases, no stockpiling of medicine. fever and cold medicine are nearly impossible to get at drugstores. beijing has just announced it's going to start delivering paxlovid in the coming days. this is a big deal because it's been hard for people to access anti-virals. in mid-december, an online health care platform started selling paxlovid, but mee immediately sold out. selina wang, beijing. >> thanks for that report. this just in. southwest airlines has now canceled more than 60% of its flights. we'll speak with a union rep for southwest airlines flight a atte attendants. stick around. we'll be right back. will you make something betterer? ♪ will you create something entitirely new?
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