top of the hour here in washington. good morning, everyone. i'm jessica dean. jim sciutto is off today. we're following several major story this is morning. overnight ukraine rocked by an onslaught of russian missiles, explosions rattling cities across the country. ukraine calling it one of the largest missile barrages since the war began. power is out in the capital kyiv. at least tree people were injured there and we'll take you there live in just a moment. plus the u.s. is reinstated covid tests for travelers coming from china as beijing sees a surge in cases. the e.u. considering doing the same thing. and southwest airlines canceling thousands of flights

again today. passengers missing some of life's most important events. >> at this point, because i cannot get there, michael is there without a bride. it is hard to get married without your bride there. the word i can say is devastated. i don't know how else to explain how we're all feeling right now. >> more on the company's new apologies and the changes they're making ahead. let' begin in ukraine. ben wedeman is live there in kyiv and, ben, your team could hear explosions on the ground and you've seen the damage firsthand. walk us through your experience in the last couple of hours? >> reporter: well, we heard around 9:00 in the morning, jessica, several loud explosions and later we went to the scene of where apparently some of the debris of those rockets fell. now according to the mayor of kyiv, 16 missiles were fired in

the direction of the capital. but all of them were intercepted by the air defenses. however debris fell in several locations. the first location was a house where two men lived, an elderly man and his adult son. half of their house was essentially destroyed. the son told us that they woke up to this massive explosion. windows shattering and walls collapsing and the falling debris caused their car to explode as well. but they fortunately emerged with mere scratches. then we went to another location where it is not clear but it appears debris fell. or perhaps it was actually an errant missile, massive destruction in that area. a 14-year-old girl was caught under the rubble. we spoke to her grandmother who spoke to the girl while she was still under the rubble on the phone. the girl hysterical, desperately

asking for help as soon as possible. inside of the house, her mother was also wounded. she went through surgery. seems to be in more serious condition and a man nearby was injured as well. clean-up crews came very quickly to try to put the place -- these areas in order. but it has resulted, for instance, here in kyiv, 40% of the city is without power. the mayor of kyiv telling residents to stock up on water, and also charge, if possible, their cell phones. now in kharkiv in the eastern part of the country, two people were killed as a result of this nationwide russian barrage. four of the missiles hit their targets in kharkiv, damaging what is being described as critical infrastructure. in the far west of ukraine, in the city of lviv, the mayor said

that 90% of the power has been knocked out for the moment. now despite all of this, the ukrainian authorities are expressing a certain amount of satisfaction. they say 69 missiles were fired from russia and from russian warships in the black sea. 54 of them were intercepted. jessica. >> ben wedeman in kyiv for us. thank you so much. and for now joining us, retired general mark hertling, from the u.s. and army and europe and seventh army. wonderful to see you. thanks for being up with us this morning. thursday missile attacks are one of the most massive ber anls since the start of the russian invasion back in february. i'm curious what this tells you about putin's mindset and if this is a response to the ukrainian counter offensive that has made progress in recent months? >> yeah, jessica, i think it is

a reaction to the counter offenses in the east and the southeast. but it is also reaction of president zelenskyy saying no to the ridiculous proposal from president putin in terms of a cease-fire. he knows what is it going on there. zelenskyy does. but in terms of the strike itself, if i could do some analysis, once again no military targets. these were all civilian targets and no massing at any given point, but rather the missiles were fired all over the country and in an attempt by the russians to avoid ukrainian air defense. the missiles were both from sea and airborne russian platforms. fired outside of the boundary of ukraine, fired from ships and long-range air bombers. the majority of the missiles, as ben just said and the earlier drones that were attacking the country were all intercepted. the majority of them. not all. i'm sorry. but a majority of them. which shows how good the

ukrainian air defense and the shared intelligence ukraine is getting on the launches and even the rehearsal from the launches. i was receiving some text yesterday from ukraine who said they were knew russian bombers were up preparing for long range strikes so they knew the potential for the attack to occur in the future. it is a very interesting back and forth. >> it really is. and to your point, the intelligence that they're getting is incredible. you mentioned the majority of those shot down. ukraine said it is 54 out of 69 russian missiles were fired throughout the day that were shot down. do you believe that ukraine could maintain this kind of deterrence? how long could they do this? >> it is difficult. because what you're seeing again, i go back to the russians are firing those all over the country. if you look at map, it goes all the way from kharkiv and kherson to the western part in lviv. that means you have to have over a country the size of the state

of texas, air defense systems positioned perfectly to intercept these missiles. so the intelligence that when they're about to launch is critical but it is also important on where you're placing not only the system, but even the handheld shoulder-fired weapons to shoot these things down and ukraine is getting good at it. but again, both sides seem to be using a lot of ammunition during this fight in this very conventional fight and it is difficult to continue on that kind of level of defense and offense. >> and we know right now 40% of kyiv is without power. 90% of lviv is without power. is that russia's goal here? it seems that -- you mentioned they were targeting civilab targets, they just want to terrorize people it sounds like. make it miserable. >> absolutely. the goal is to make things miserable for the ukrainian people. and what is fascinating, the ukrainian people have proven their resilience, have continued to rebound, rebuilding the

infrastructure, getting the power back on in many places. and they're living through it. i give them huge credit in terms of how they're defending against these strikes. and even having a vehement and not willing to take russian attack without any kind of success. they're recounting it with a great deal of resilience. >> and i've talked to people this week that said that will continue. and people on the ground they want to continue to be resilient and they will continue to be. mark huert ling, thank you so much for that analysis. we appreciate it. >> thank you. right now customs and border protection is building a migrant facility in el paso, texas, as they provide services to thousands of people. rosa flores is live in el paso with more. the city is struggling to handle the daily influx of migrants. walk us how how that is expected

to ease the pressure and how this compared to other borders in the past. this one sounds different? >> reporter: you're right, it is very different because the dynamics are different, the demographics are different. and what officials here say is an unprecedented surge in migrants in their city, that is exactly what that is. in the past, in prior migrant surges, what we saw were migrants who had a connection with other individuals in the united states. that they had an aunt, had one of their parents in the united states. and so, the issue in these border communities was a lot easier. it was to get them out of the border area. cities like el paso and into the interior to connect to family members. the issue now is that a lot of these individuals who are arriving don't have family connections. they don't have friends. they don't have sponsors. they don't know anybody in the united states. and so they end up stuck in

cities like el paso and other border areas. so what does the federal government do about this. the department of homeland security has been prepared for this surge linking to the lifting of title 42 and part of the preparation was to beef up the infrastructure. the processing of migrants as they encountered at the border. this is where this giant tent facility comes in. we've seen this federal government do this before, they try to provide a way for the processing to be swift and to be fast. but jessica, as you know, that is just one part of the process. after that, these migrants are then dropped off in communities a lot of times if they are allowed to stay in the country pending their immigration proceedings and then that is where you have a situation like you have here in el paso which you see around me. a lot of migrants living out in the street. the shelters that you see behind me is a church that transforms

into a shelter overnight. i've talked to the priest there. he of course said that he has limited resources and the nonprofit that is active on the ground here has limited resources as well. >> rosa flores for us, in el paso, texas, thank you so much. and still to come, we'll speak to the pastor whose church has been helping those with nowhere to go. plus roads reopen across western new york as drivers in buffalo are allowed back out. but county officials seem to be at odds with the city's mayor over the response to that winter storm. and with china easing covid restrictions, the u.s. will soon require negative tests for anyone traveling from there. the reason behind that decision as the world reacts, coming up.

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new travel restrictions start next week for travelers coming to the u.s. from china as china relaxes its own covid restrictions even as it sees cases rise. all passengers from china must provide a negative covid test. japan and india and taiwan and italy putting similar rules in place. at the milan airport, officials saying almost 50% of travelers are arriving from china on monday tested positive for covid. cnn white house reporter kevin liptack is live. and kevin, why did the u.s. feel the need to institute new requirements at this point? >> reporter: well i do think this really reflects the growing alarm among american officials athe surge of cases in china and more concerning than the numbers themselves is what federal

health officials say is a lack of transparency on the part of beijing about what is going on, on the ground there. specifically when it comes to what variants may be circulating as part of this surge and that is what led to yesterday's announcement that the knew rules would go into effect on january 5th. still among them, any passenger traveling from china to the united states will have to show proof of a negative test that was taken no fewer than two days before the departure. it could be either a pcr test or a self-antigen test conducted by a proctor, a test that you take on a webcam. it will apply to flights from main land, macau, hong kong and direct flights from china to the united states but also passengers who are transiting through third countries. and it will apply to all passengers over the age of two. but really i do think you could not separate this from the growing mistrust between the

u.s. and china that has been building over the last several years, specifically when it comes to covid. you have at the very beginning of 2020, the trump administration applying restrictions on chinese citizens coming from the united states. now there is a key difference in this new rule, it will apply to everybody coming to the united states. american or chinese citizens or anyone else. it will also apply to all adults who are over the age of two. so u.s. officials really do hope to get a handle on this. in the coming week, they say they don't have a set time for when the rules will expire. it goes into effect next week so they could allow the airlines some time to get the infrastructure in place to start checking these tests. but certainly it does reflect the concern in the united states about what is happening on the ground there in china, jessica. >> for sure. and polo, what is the reaction from china as more countries consider following the united states' lead?

>> well we've been hearing from china even before the u.s. came out with the official announcement that it was going to be putting restrictions back in place. and they did say that it was predictable, what was happening wb the country. that it was under control. at this point also saying that all parties need to work together scientifically to ensure the safe movement of people between country. and china has had the most significant zero covid policy and for the longest time in the world. it is a very abrupt dismantling of that policy which is where we are at this point. which is where there are more countries, south korea on friday, we know that japan and india and italy, taiwan have already said they are going to increase restrictions on china. now we also know that there was one -- two flights that landed

in italy, milan's airport and almost 50% of the passengers that had landed from china did test positive. this according to the local health chief there. so that is just one example of what many countries around the world are concerned with. one interesting point i should point out is that the global virus data base reported that china is sharing more information about them with what is happening in the country and at this point they believe the genome sequences is what is circulating in the world at the moment and has been since july. of course, publicly, though, china has said it will no longer give the daily covid numbers. it is refining the definition of what a covid death is. and so certainly from that point of view there is concern around certain countries. jessica. >> a lost concern from public health officials, our thanks to you both. up next, southwest fl

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today southwest canceled another 2300 flights but the pilots union expects to be back to a mostly full schedule by tomorrow. it is a small sign of progress. some passengers also finally

reunited with luggage. in some cases after a week. look at the joy on their faces. this comes at the airline chief commercial officer announced stranded passengers could make changes online. >> you know, by any now, all of the flexibility and planning we put in place to deal with the storm just wasn't enough. and so we've extended flexibility for self-service travel changes through january 2nd. and meaning that if you have travel plans with us before then, you shouldn't need to get on a call or stand in a line and you could make any flight changes you need to at southwest.com. >> adrienne broadous is live at the airport. how is this impacting travelers and what is their reaction to all of this? >> reporter: for some travelers, the extension doesn't matter because they were not able to get where they're needed to be. for example, one woman we heard from was stranded in baltimore. she was trying to get to her sick grandmother and

unfort unfortunately her grandmother died on tuesday and she never made it. that is time that she will never get back and want there to hold her hand of her grandmother in the final hours. for some passengers, a little bit of comfort now that southwest has outlined how they want people to take steps to file for a reimbursement. first and foremost, the airline does not want people to call because the phone system as you could imagine is overloaded. instead they want you to submit your claim online and that is if you have plans to fly through january 2nd. you could submit your missing baggage information online. you can request expense reimbursement online and you could request refunds for those canceled flights. we good see some folks celebrating right here in midway. who walked out of the doors with their luggage. listen in. >> i haven't had this back in a

week. i've been wearing other people's clothes. i want to wear my wardrobe. it is new year's eve weekend and i'm going to go out and i'm going to party like it is 2023. >> reporter: and he was one of the lucky ones leaving the airport with his luggage. it is easy to notice if you could see the bags that were once here yesterday have been removed. they are at a secure site here on the airport grounds. i'm told they will be transported to their original destination. jessica. >> honestly, after the last several days, it is nice to see people with smiles on their faces. like getting some good news or that is your bag or whatever it may be. thank you so much. and this morning, city of buffalo is bracing for flooding as temperatures jump this week and melt all of that snow from the storm. mayor byron brown tells the city is slowly reopening after the deadly blizzard. we know at least 37 people died in erie county alone and

officials fear they may find more victims as the snow melts. athena jones is joins us live from buffalo. and there is back and and forth between the county executive and the mayor about how this storm was handled. what more could you tell us? >> reporter: that is right. a county executive mark polloncars and you've seen him, he's complained that the mayor of buffalo hasn't been engaged with the rest of the county and other municipalities when it comes to planning and coordination. take a listen to what he had to say followed by brown's response. >> i just don't want to see this any more. i'm sick of it. i'm a city resident myself. i live in the city of buffalo. and it pains me to see the other 25 towns and two small cities opened and in times when the city isn't. and i know the mayor is not thrilled to hear it. i don't care any more. i want it done.

>> we will continue to improve. we will continue to work to do better. but haste erics from leaders is not the public -- what the public is looking for. >> reporter: and so certainly that criticism is not going to end. just today there is some kind of after action report. but i could tell you here in the city of buffalo, things are getting back to normal. drives ban has been lift and there is now just a travel advisory. we're not letting people come on the roads unless they need to. last hour there was a huge pile of snow being removed. that is now gone. city hall which is behind me is opening today as are erie county offices. and with the goal with removing as much snow as possible to make sure that drainage system is clear before temperatures reach nearly 50 tomorrow because they are preparing for expecting rapid snow melt as the

temperatures rise. we've already seen a lot of snow melt as it is. and one more thing. we're expecting to get an update at the press conference at noon about what more there is to be done to clear the snow snt city and the death toll. and police did finish going through all of the checks, those 1100 unanswered 9 1u11 call and we could see that number rise. >> it is sad to continue to hear the death toll numbers. but it is amazing to see the ground there behind you, athena. things are melting. thank you so much. and among the victims of the winter storm in buffalo is 52-year-old monique alexander, she died just 200 feet from her house. >> it is hard. her grandkids were waiting for her to come home. we were waiting for her to come home. i knew something was wrong right

away, though. so, i kind of accepted it instantly. but it is hard knowing that she was outside for so long, too. because there were no emergency responders allowed to come outside. >> another victim abdul sharpu, from congo left his home to get milk and other supplies to help another family but never made it back. his wife is just days away from giving birth and his family has set up a gofundme campaign to help pay for his funeral. and the family of melissa morrison tells cnn the 46-year-old was found dead in the snow near tim hortons. she was a buffalo native and leaves behind two sons. it may be warming up on the east coast, but winter storms are still hammering the west. a large stretch of i-70 in colorado reopening after storms forced a nine-hour closure that left drivers stranded overnight.

let's go to chad myers live in the cnn weather center. what are you watching today and how are things developing out in the west? >> watching denver thaw out a little bit. it is still cold but it is the i-25 and the i-70 corridor that almost shut down and for a while there, i-70 eastbound to the west of denver, nine hours, the road was shut because of semis that had crashed. there is the weather now moving away from denver. moving into parts of kansas and nebraska. we're watching the west though, this is the next storm system that will effect california, oregon, washington and even into nevada. it will be next storm that makes winter storm weather, advisories and even flash flood watches in effect because there is so much rainfall in a place that has been such drought-filled. there is the rain and snow for the west. there is even a little bit of a chance of severe weather across the deep south into tomorrow and into even saturday and as we work into new year he's eve

night, yes, there could be some showers in the north ooft and also the next storm system rolling toward las vegas. an awful lot of rain and snow still to come down in the west. in places that desperately need it. but there could be 10 inches of liquid equivalent. and that is 10 inches. that is ten feet of snow. on top of those mountains. now that is the snow that will melt later on this year, jessica, and that will be helpful for all of those reservoirs that are so desperately low out there, any way. >> that is the silver lining for us. thank you so much. up next, cnn uncovering more lies from republican congressman-elect george santos and now two investigators are looking into his past. dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. that's why aveeno® daily moisture lotion and body wash

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right now forward prosecutors are investigating the finances of gop congressman-elect george santos. he want to know where he got the money to make more than $700,000 loan to his own campaign. cnn's k file has uncovered for false claims including that he was forred to leave a new york city private school when his family's real estate as took a downturn. the school has to record of him attending. let's discuss with bureau chief jassy kucinich. it is good to see you. we're still hearing nothing from gop leadership about these lies, these fabrications. does ken mckarmgcarthy need to

address this next week when they come back in person which is also when he will be running for speaker and that floor vote will happen on january 3rd. >> i mean, it is hard to believe that this conversation will not continue into next week. given the shoes that are continuing to drop about congressman-elect santos. but at the end of the day, this is a numbers game for kevin mccarthy and he does not have the numbers to tell someone, even with all of the falsehoods and the ones he's admitted to and the ones he hasn't yet, this is -- kevin mccarthy is looking at numbers and he cannot lose a vote to become speaker of the house. and let's just be honest here, he has had, he has a long history of not holding his membership into account. which is why he has an ally in congresswoman marjorie taylor green, which is why he has an ally in congressman gossart from

arizona at a time they were under fire from democrats and everybody else. so he is really trying to make sure that he has votes to become speaker and if it means allowing someone who potentially -- who lied to voters and was elected, so be it. >> and it is just simple math here in terms of what he's looking at in the next two days. he has to get to 218 and he has a four-vote margin and there are five people who say they will not vote for him and they're going to vote in -- they will vote for him or against him. and do you have any indications from your reporting that there has been any change in those five people or that we could expect -- what we could expect to see from them in a few days? >> i think i'm just in the refreshing and emailing and just like everybody else, i think

everyone seems to think that we're in a situation for the first vote, there is more than one vote. which personally i've never seen. i guess it hasn't happened since the civil war. so, it really -- we're setting ourselves up for something unprecedented if this does hold or unprecedented in recent times if in fact the members do stay together and force other votes or more votes on the floor. but i've seen and i've heard no indication that this is going to be an easy trip for kevin mccarthy. >> right. and so the fact that we're even having this discussion right now, what does that do to his ability to lead? if he does become speaker? >> right. so this stretches back before even this vote. because of the permission structure he's created for the members when they do step out of line, when me do things that does cause public condemnation,

he really hasn't been someone who stands up to his membership. so you have to wonder how this is going to look when he does have this very fragile majority of keeping people in line. he's shown them that he will do whatever he needs to do to get where he needs to be but at the end of day when you need tough votes, you do need some leadership and we haven't seen that. this is a very interesting speakership to watch because of that, jessica. >> there is no doubt about it. it is a interesting couple of days. jackie. >> thank you for joining us. and just into cnn, a new batch of transcripts from the january 6 committee. we'll be combing through them now and we'll have details for you next. what will you chanange? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something g entirely new? ♪

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committee releasing h donald tr. and steen miller. and these just came do you know and these are not a quick read. but what are you looking for in all of this and what might be in here. >> this is not a quick read. it is a whole team. to mine the news out of transcripts that the committee has released. they've interviewed a thousand people and the plan is to release hundreds of transcripts but this will keep back some with sensitive information. in the list we're seeing donald trump jr., we're seeing stephen miller, kimberly guilfoyle, and

melissa fair gravin and very outspoken after she left the white house and stephanie grisham. these are the people that i would go to first. and we're looking for any new information and we've gotten a lot of new information in a lot of these transcript dumps. new information about what has happening inside of the white house even slightly before the 2020 election up to inauguration day when it comes to donald trump jr. did he have any conversations with his father about the efforts to block the certification of results and when it comes to stephen miller, what was going on inside of the white house, what kind of meeting were taking place and what conversations were there with the justice department and the state level officials. this is go 2ing to be really interesting. and i'm curious to see how much news, the past couple of weeks since they've released report, we've gotten a lot of new information. for example, efforts to offer bla blanket pardons to people on the

hill. and the number of officials who told the former president that he had lost the election. he said he was relying on the advice of his lawyers so these transcripts have provided more news than the final report itself. so our whole team, we're digging into these and see what new information we could learn and join you with that going ahead. >> more to come on this throughout the day. paula reid, thank you so much for joining us. and thousands of migrants have been left at border. and now one church is stepping up with those with nowhere to go. we'll speak with the pastor in charge for the overwhelming need tor resources there. kes wawakinp at 5 a.m. to milk the cows a little easier. (moo) mabel says for you, it's more like 5:15. man: mom, really?

one church in el paso, texas, has stepped up to help hundreds of migs who have nowhere to else to go. the father at sacred hart church started offering a place for people to sleep about two weeks ago and it started with 50 migrants the fir night. now the church is full and there are hundreds more people waiting outside. father garcia joining me now. good morning to you. thanks for about with us. walk us through what you're seeing at your church and what you're trying to do? >> well, we're seeing a increasing number of people, families, sometimes single men and single women but mainly families and they're here. it is hard to know what they're movement is going to be or where they're going to go. i don't know if they have even options. but we're trying to respond as best we can by opening up our parish gym as a night shelter

and we're prioritizing families with children depending on the number of people outside, we prioritize mothers and children and then fathers. we cannot take everyone. our gym has limited space so we're doing best we can. >> and you mention you've been prioritizing women and children and families. what are you hearing from the people who are coming to your door? >> well there are all kinds of things that people have questions about what is going to happen. i think with the title 42 ruling they'll have new questions, many don't know where they're going to go. they're just looking at options. of course, there are other needs. people have also medical needs and it is not only providing a place to stay, but they have other needs. we're seeing people who are sick and trying to respond as best we can. >> and what about your volunteers and the cost of all of this? how is that logistically working?

>> parentally there is a lot of volunteers. there are people from other churches bringing food. but basically we're taking up the cost of everything. of course, ow utility bills will go up and that is what it is. and we've had to hire new staff. so yes, we have new expenses but right now we're carrying those. and we're happy to do it. i think we're responding to a real crisis, a real human need. and we just take it one day at a time, helping people and then figuring out what is going to happen later with some of the expenses. >> and i hear you using the word crisis and humanitarian need and one city council member called it unprecedented for el paso, that they haven't seen this many people there before. give us some context for that. have you seen anything like this before? our correspondent there rosa flores said this is different than other border surges because a lot of people these don't have

a place to go. what are you seeing that make this is different to you? >> well i've been working with migrants and shelters since 2016 and there used to be real large numbers of people being processed each day by i.c.e. but about a thousand or so released today but there were shelters that would take them in and they would move on. this particular situation is unique because the group of people in the streets have never seen this before and they're in a very awkward situation. most of them are from venezuela. so it is unique. there is a great flow of people here through history. but this is very unique. this particular reality now. >> and you mentioned that most of the people you're seeing are from venezuela. what are they saying to you? about why they've come here and what their journey has been like? >> yeah, it is very important because people may not know why and the risks that people take. people from venezuela have to come through the panama, it is

called the pass. it is very dangerous. they see corpses of people that have died and then they go through central america and mexico and they're often kidnapped and harassed and extorted. so the people know, i think they know. so it must be a desperate situation for them to do this. i've talked to people who are professionals and they've led the situation in venezuela are unbearably. the salaries are low. so people are seeing this, their option to flee because they have to survive. >> what are you hoping happens next? >> well, i think the authorities, whether it is local, federal, they have to do something with this -- these groups of families. people who are here, they cannot just be idle. i'm not sure what the action is going to be. we're taking it one day at a time. we've learned that that is all

we can do because sometimes public regulations and the city and different things happen day by day. so we're hoping for best. we're doing what we can and we leave the rest to god. >> father rafael garcia in el paso, texas. our thanks to you. and thank you for joining us today. i'm jessica dean. "at this hour" starts right now. hello, everyone. "at this hour," russia lights up the ukrainian sky with nearly 70 missiles aimed at critical infrastructure. part of moscow's mission to keep ukraine in the dark. plus, southwest apologizes again after canceling 24nouds of flights. passengers are resorting to pay thousands of dollars just to get home. and a rush to figure pout who is to blame in buffalo ami