♪ good morning, everyone. it is saturday, december 31st. the last day of the year. happy new year's eve. good to be with, i'm amara walker. >> and i'm martin savidge in for boris sanchez, and you're in the "cnn newsroom." we begin this hour with major

news out of the vatican. the former pope emeritus benedict has died at the age of 95. >> with sorrow, we inform you that the pope emeritus benedict xvi passed away, today, this morning, at 9:34 in the mater echess yamon tia mona stare. >> he was the first pope to resign, rather than stay in office for life. he was a controversial at times member of church. >> let's go to barbie nadeau in st. peter's square right now. barbie, i'm curious, there were a lot of people already in the square and then the news breaks. so what's the reaction? what are people talking about there? >> reporter: yeah, you know,

it's a mixed reaction, because a lot -- some people didn't know. some people here in rome enjoying a day. the square is empty behind us right now, they're doing a security check because pope francis is going to be coming out here in the next hour or so to visit the nativity scene there. we've got a lot of pilgrims pushed off the square. they're coming back. but the mood is very solemn. especially for folks of pope benedict. he was very popular on the conservative side of the catholic church. very different site of pontificate. pope francis enjoyed a different relationship than him. he lived in a monastery. and benedict during that time, he continued to write, he continued to give interviews, he continued to visit people. so it's an unprecedented time. usually when you have a paper funeral, you then have a conclave to elect a pope.

of course, we don't have that. he will be lying in state in st. peter's basilica on monday. that will be open up to the public. then be given a funeral in st. peter's square on thursday morning here in rome, and we can expect that to be a very solemn event. he will have been involved in how his funeral was played out. he was a simple man and we're being told that the funeral will reflect his style. >> all right. we look forward to more reporting on that, thank you very much. >> and this morning, we are also mourning the loss of an american icon barbara walters. the pioneering television journalist known for her very powerful interviews and national broadcast career that spanned more than 50 years. she passed away at the age of 93. walters was notoriously competitive in pursuit of big name interviews including presidents, world leaders and almost every imaginable celebrity. and she never shied away from asking those tough questions.

>> anybody you don't want to interview? >> that i don't want to interview? >> yeah. >> you know, you and i would have said, would you interview bin laden. why would you give him space in a moment, wouldn't you? >> in a second. >> you have to try as much as possible to be objective. now, this is fading in news. i was brought in the school of you don't give your opinion. you do the interview. and if you do the right kind of an interview, you will get the person to -- >> the audience -- >> let the audience judge. >> be a conduit. >> the audience will know how you feel. but there's almost, i'm sure i'm going to go home tonight and say why did i say that to larry, and i'll call you at 3:00 in the morning. but, no, there's almost no interview that i wouldn't do. >> and former colleagues are already paying tribute to walters. oprah winfrey posting this on instagram. without barbara walters there

wouldn't have been me nor any other woman you see on evening or daily news. she was indeed a trail blazer. i did my very first television interview with her in mind the whole time. such a powerful role model, grateful to have known her. grateful to have followed in her light. >> in her final years, she was also very sharp and witty creator of the talk show host "the view" before retiring in 2014. along the way she inspired generations of young women to pursue journalist. and she spoke about that at her retirement. >> no offense to you guys out there, if i had a legacy, i said this before and i mean it so sincerely, i hope that i paid a small role in paving the way for so many of you fabulous women who are here tonight. i can't tell you how much pressure it gives me when some small or young woman comes up to me and tells me of her dreams. that's my legacy. [ applause ]

>> and what a wonderful legacy to have. she is survived by her daughter jackie who she adopted in 1968. i was a person who always watched everything she did. >> yeah, definitely looked after her in so many ways. well, barbara walters inspired a generation of female journalists as we were just mentioning including our own chief international editor christiane amanpour. we spoke to christiane a short while ago about the impact that walters had on her career. >> here's a part of that interview. >> reporter: historymaking, pioneering, you know, achievements will be forever etched in the history of our profession on mt. rush more if you like. i was very confidence of the pecking order and pyramid of the hierarchy. she was a friend but she was so much way ahead of me that all i could do is really admire her, take all of her, you know,

mentoring and do with it what i absolutely could. she was incredible. she was inspirational to me, even before i became a journalist, before i even started cnn more than 40 years ago, i had seen her incredible reports because they traveled overseas, not just in the united states. we saw her in the uk. we saw her all over the world, when i was growing up. so, she was the very first iteration of what one could be. there was this woman on television, highly successful, groundbreaking, pioneering. and i thought, well, wow. that's something to aspire to. >> i always love to hear what people are like behind the scenes and christiane says that walters was incredibly kind and incredibly generous. and i would like to think that she has a bit of a kindred spirit in christiane, she says. we're following breaking news as well out of kyiv, where there are reports of explosions in the center of the ukrainian capital. >> better go right now to cnn senior international

correspondent ben wedeman who joins us live from kyiv. what have you been hearing, and what have you been seeing, ben? >> reporter: yeah, two hours ago, martin, we were on the roof of this hotel when we heard a series of very loud explosions. we saw some smoke rising from various parts of central kyiv. and to the south of here. we also saw contrails of outgoing air defenses. now, at this point, according to the mayor of kyiv, one person was killed and 16 others were wounded on the strikes on the capital. it's still not clear whether these missiles, these russian missiles, were intercepted, or some of them actually hit the ground. at this point, we don't have final information on this. in addition to the strikes in kyiv, there were strikes in the southern city of mykolaiv where six people were injured. in venecia and zaporizhzhia as

well. and the air raid alert has not gone off in kyiv. it's believed there may be more russian missiles and perhaps drones on the way. this is not a complete surprise. day before yesterday, the capital and other parts, in fact, many of the main cities of ukraine, came under heavy missile bombardment. and there may be more to come before we enter 2023. >> yeah. >> martin, amara. >> yeah, i've heard from friends in kyiv, and they said they had been expecting this and tragically it's come to fruition. thank you, bern. stay safe. >> thanks, ben. this morning, we're learning more details about the man arrested connection to last month's murder of four university of idaho students. 28-year-old bryan kohberger has been charged with four counts of first degree murder as well as felony burglary. after authorities tracked him down to pennsylvania, where he is being held without bail. now, he became the focus of the

investigation after his white hyundai elantra was seen in idaho, year the area of the killings. here's cnn's senior law enforcement analyst andrew mccabe with how they likely found him. >> we also know they found him. it's incredibly well-choreographed ballet, if i may. that would cross multiple fbi field divisions. would involve multiple surveillance teams who were following him in certain areas and handing him off to new teams. that surveillance ends up in pennsylvania what we know as a very rural area. >> there are still, though, so many kquestions and it's unclea whether he knew his victims but his dna did match to the genetic material that was reportedly recovered from the crime scene. authorities are still searching,

though, for the weapon that was allegedly used in the killings. cnn's correspondent jean casarez is live in monroe county, pennsylvania where that suspect was arrested. and, jean, what are authorities saying today? >> reporter: good morning, marty. it's been a busy 48 hours. and i can tell you that the defendant is housed right here at the monroe county correctional facility. and he has been given the chief public defender for monroe county which is here in northeastern pennsylvania. so, i'm sure that attorney is prepping for the extradition hearing on tuesday, that will be the next court appearance. and why northeastern pennsylvania, this very rural area? we heard yesterday in the press conference, this is kohberger's home, this is the area where he is from. now, i want to take you all the way across the country to pullman, washington, which is close to the idaho border. but that is where he was, a doctoral student, working toward

his ph.d. first semester in at washington state university. it is very close to moscow. but we do know that about 48 hours ago, the wheels started turning for that arrest warrant. and then the criminal complaint to be filed. with also know that that surveillance, agens he drove ba home here to eastern pennsylvania took place. and that the philly fbi actually surveilled him for the last four days, until everything was in place in idaho. and then they made that arrest. his background is very fascinating, because he just got his masters degree in may from desales university right here in northeastern pennsylvania. he'd gotten his bachelor's degree and then he got his masters, in criminal justice. his ph.d. was toward criminal justice. cnn has also confirmed that when he was in desales, right here, about 20 miles away, this

university, that he actually wanted to participate in a research project that had to do with when people commit a crime, the emotional and psychological inferences that are in their mind-set before it happens. so this is going to be very critical for prosecutors to show his state of mind. and this is something that we have learned, but right now, he is awaiting that hearing on tuesday. it's in his hands if he voluntarily goes to -- back to idaho, to face these charges, or if he will fight that extradition, marty, amara. >> so much we still want to know. thank you so much, jean casarez, live for us there in pennsylvania. well, thousands of people will pack times square tonight to ring in the new year. >> and while there is no credible threat to the celebrations, law enforcement agencies, you can bet, will be

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that's new zealand, very excited to welcome the new year with a massive fireworks display over auckland harbour bridge. >> however, not to be outdone, australia joining in the refvely with their own light show down under. tens of thousands, of course, people out there in sydney harbour enjoying the summer weather near the famous opera house to ring in january 1, 2023. of course, here at home, new york's times square synonymous with new year eve celebrations, no port-a-potties, you should know. if you're going. >> nope. >> yeah. >> you're on a role.

hundreds of thousands expected to welcome in the new year in the city. cnn's gloria pazmino joining us live from times square. hi, gloria, i know you're a native new yorker. you are so excited, i can tell. what can people expect? and please include should people bring diapers? wear diapers or not? >> reporter: happy new year's eve, martin and amara. listen, i know this is a controversial opinion, but as a new yorker i find times square very charming. and tonight is going to be one of those nights. and really, we are so excited because for the past two years, the celebrations here have been severely scaled down, because of covid. but this year, all restrictions are lifted. and we are expecting a big turnout. big crowds are going to start lining the sidewalks, where i'm standing right now. as i said, no covid restrictions, but there will be a lot of security. every year, the nypd makes sure

that this event is safe and fun for everybody. so that means, you know, bag screenings, security screenings. do not bring umbrellas or large backpacks or blankets or chairs. you want to make sure you have as little as possible on you to get through that screening. and of course, the big star of the show is that crystal ball, more than 11,000 pounds, it's made up of waterford crystal, and it will go up at night, and come down right as the new year rings in. 2023, it will be an iconic celebration. the only way it can be done right here in new york city. >> okay, gloria, no port-a-potties, though, we were saying. you will probably have access to a toilet because you're part of the media. but what about the thousands of others who are showing up? what's your best advice to them? >> reporter: i have none. my advice is just come prepared. you're right. i am very privileged tonight. i will have access to a

bathroom, thank god. but if you are just coming here to watch, it could be hours until you get to a bathroom, so take that into account. >> leave it there. gloria pazmino, have a great time. happy new year. >> happy new year, gloria. right on tap for both the east and west coast this weekend, and most importantly for tonight's new year's eve celebration. >> yeah, those warming temperatures have triggered flood watches for over 25 million people. serious stuff, so let's bring in meteorologist allison chinchar in the weather center. allison, were the flood warnings and concerns? >> it's really on both coasts. you've got two systems here. the brand-new system to the west coast, going to bring rain for san francisco, los angeles, all the way to san diego. and heavy mountain snow in intermountain west. the second system, bringing rain all the way down to florida today. and yes, that is going to impact

a lot of those eastern cities. here we take a look at 6:00 tonight, good news for places like cleveland and atlanta. finally starting to dry out there. if you have outdoor plans, that's good news. a lot of other locations, d.c., boston, philadelphia, and yes, even new york, still have a chance to have some of that rain in the general vicinity at the time the ball would drop tonight. so, here's a look at the new york city forecast specifically. you've got the heaviest rain likely between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. tonight. the good news is, temperatures will be on the mild side, into the 50s but, yes, can't guarantee that that rain will be ending in time for the ball to drop. but the good news, at least it should be lighter at that point than it was prior to earlier in the day. other areas also looking at rain in the forecast, but a lot of good locations, too. dallas, houston, also looking at st. louis for some of your dry locations. >> allison chinchar thanks very much. we will see what the weather

brings for 2023. >> and don't forget, anderson and andy, they are back for another global celebration. we're talking worldwide. join us live for that team, and those two, this evening, from times square, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. in the meantime, we'll be right back. we don't even need an eight-time all-star to tell you abouout it. wait what? get it before itit's gone on the subway app! the unknown is not empty.

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january 6th committee winding down, but not before releasing more transcript of witness testimony. the latest transcripts include ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas. >> now, what is notable about

that transcript, she expressed regrets to mark meadows, details now from cnn political correspondent sara murray. >> reporter: martin and amara, it was another day of revelations from transcripts released by the january 6th committee. this latest batch includes the january 6th committee's interview with ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas. now, previously, we had talked about text messages that thomas exchanged with mark meadows who was the former white house chief of staff which encouraged meadows and donald trump to try to continue contesting the 2020 election results. she offered something of a maya culpa when she talked to the january 6th committee saying, quote, i regret the tone and content of these texts, i would take them all back if i could today. that said, she still stood by her belief that there was fraud in the 2020 election, seen though she couldn't cite any specific evidence. there was another big name that came out in the transcripts.

that's with the interview of tony ornato, he served as deputy white house chief of staff in the trump white house. he came up in cassidy hutchinson testimony when she talked about how irate donald trump got when he was told he couldn't go to the capitol january 6. when tony ornato was asked about this, he said he couldn't recall donald trump's anger or what went down in the motorcade. there was a lot he couldn't recall on january 6. he cited the fog of war and said it was a very excited day and i don't remember the details. even know ornato cooperated with the committee, the committee said multiple times they did not view ornato as a credible witness. and the last was jared kushner that revealed that donald trump in on his mind after the 2020

trademarks, specifically, he wanted to trademark rigged election, jared kushner said out to make that happen for his brother-in-law. the committee has a few more days to release the transcripts, the final piece of work, before it expires january 3rd. back to you. >> sara, thank you. so from transcripts to tax returns. we're talking about six years' worth of returns from donald trump's time in office. here to help us sort through some of the findings, former u.s. attorney michael moore, a partner with moore hall in atlanta. and retired tax attorney peter faber, he advised wealth in and high-profile clients over his 50 years as a tax attorney. welcome, both, gentlemen. peter, i'll start with you, the trump return showed that he had large losses before and throughout his presidency that he carried through to practical eliminate his tax burden. that doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary, right, as long as the losses are legitimate? but were there any red flags to

you regarding his taxes? >> there are many red flags, but there's nothing unusual about people who are heavily invested in real estate having large tax losses. so that did not alarm me. but there are a number of red flags on the returns that the irs should be looking at very, very carefully. >> like what? >> for example, there are a number of purported businesses that show little or no income, but heavy expenses. are these real businesses? or are they just cover-ups for hiding nondeductible personal expenses. the irs should take a hard look at those so-called businesses. >> what about the losses and whether or not they're legitimate? >> that, the irs, again, would have to look at. it's very common for people in real estate business to have large tax losses. that results from incentives that congress has put into law, to encourage real estate investment. and you can argue about whether that's good policy.

but it's certainly consistent with the law and it's not surprising. >> and to you, michael, is there a there there? >> maybe, i think is the question. and it really seems right now to be just a lot of smoke and not a lot of fire. there's a difference between tax avoidance which is legal. that is to maximize your edeductions over the tax code, versus tax evasion which is not paying taxing and lying about things in your tax forms. but remember that trump and his team really have an army of tax preparers that have put these together. he's not there sitting there himself. he'll say i relied on tax advice. i relied on these people. at the end of the day, there's nothing unusual about the complicated tax returns. it may be different because it's a president we want to look at closely. >> but a fine line between tax returns and evasion. i'm definitely not a numbers

person, but it came to the quote-unquote loans to his children. even numbers, $18 million in interest paid to his daughter according to tax returns to ivanka trump, and his sons, even numbers. to avoid possibly avoid the gift tax, if that were the case, we don't know that it is, would that constitute tax evasion? >> that could constitute tax evasion, to the point they provided false information, for the tax returns, it could. if they've maximized or utilized a loophole or some part of the tax code to allow them to lawfully take a deduction or claim a deduction, that's tax avoidance, that's legal. maxing out your 401(k), including retirement benefits, paying certain things at a certain time of the year. those things are tax avoidance issues. while, you know, they may look out of the norm for people who don't look at thousands of pages of tax documents doesn't necessarily mean it's illegal.

what's unusual, how we got the tax documents, what they're claiming they received for it now, and we don't want congress or politicians counting up whether or not a loss is reflected accurately or not. that's something that the irs does in an investigative basis. >> let's talk about the irs, and, peter, you know very well, you're an expert on this. there are a lot of techniques that are employed, especially for the wealthy and people with a lot of assets. what do you make of the fact -- it seems like the irs really dropped the ball on this. it has this rule of mandatory audits for presidents. every year. but the audit for president trump's taxes didn't take place until more than two years into his presidency. what do you read into that? >> well, not only that, but they only initially assigned one revenue agent to audit what is an incredibly complex series of tax returns.

the irs has specialists in partnership taxation, and international taxation, and the taxation of complex financial instruments. they should have assigned a whole team to audit trump's tax returns. they should have done it promptly, and they should have voted significant resources to the audit. the irs has the big guns here, they need to be prepared to shoot them. >> and, michael, back to your point, i'm glad you made that point there's a difference between tax avoidance and evasion. evasion would be a crime, correct? >> right. >> what was also interesting was the number of foreign bank accounts that trump has. and i think it was 2017 that showed that u.s. federal income taxes he paid a little over $750. but that same year paid over $1 million in taxes to foreign countries. >> right. >> could there be any evasion going on there? >> well, i thought that was probably the most interesting part of the tax returns and that is to see the number of foreign investments and foreign accounts

and business transactions. >> right. >> for somebody in a big of president, you're looking for conflicts of interests. loans that are reported or not reported. when you run for government office, you fill out a form that lists all of the your assets, liability, your accounts, and those kinds of thing. or if in an office you hold you may be in debt or subject to a creditor. that, to me, was an interesting point. and they could look to see, in fact, if there was a business transaction conflict with the presidency. in some decision that he was making. the fact that he's paying larger tax obligations to a foreign country doesn't necessarily 19 there's anything criminal. because he may be taking advantage, simply, of the tax code as it relates to the united states. there's nothing particularly nefarious in that. but the idea there may be some indication about conflicts that might arise with his tend nure

president is the most fr interesting. >> could there have been a way to paying taxes in foreign countries than the u.s. wouldn't that lower your tax burden in the u.s. if you paid a significant amount in another country? >> it would. but as michael points out there's nothing nefarious about, if you have a business based in the u.s. but doing business in, say, france, it's going to pay income tax on the income earned in france. and in order to avoid double taxation of the same income, you get a credit for the french tax against the u.s. tax. >> okay. >> that's the way international taxation is structured around the world. and it's perfectly legal and okay. >> thanks for breaking this down for us, peter faber, and to you, michael moore, great to see you. happy new year to you. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> thank. and still to come, as buffalo works to recover from that historymaking deadly

blizzard, the stories of people going to extraordinary lengths to help others. the stories emerging are amazing. that includes two pastors who opened their doors to more than 100 peoplele. we're going to hear from them, next. all are of - ahhhh. listerine. feel the whoa! [ music playing ] when we first arrived at st. jude, it was just claire and i. she was still recovering from her brain surge. and side effects of that surgery meant that shead to relearn how to walk and how to speak. ♪ [ male announcer ] you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. two months after we arrived, my three-year-old came to visit, and claire lit up. she was quiet before. and i thought it was just because cancer's hard,

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ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. if we didn't open up our doors and would have kept them closed and went on life as normal. we would have had all these dead bodies. >> dead bodies. >> in our own neighborhood. >> you just heard from pastors al and vivian robinson who helped rescue more than 115 people during the historic winter storm in buffalo, new york. >> wow. >> that is amazing. >> remarkable stuff, the couple who are both pastors of spirit of truth urban ministry put out a message on social media, anyone without power in need of a hot meal and of course a warm place to stay. well, of course, dozens of people arrived at their church to find refuge. >> we want to thank the pastors

both for joining us this morning. it's good to be with you. what a wonderful and inspiring way to sort of talk about what was a tragedy, but also what was the wonderful human spirit that arises. if you can, vivian, explain to us what happened. >> my husband and i went shopping earlier that day, you know, normally -- like a normal family. and then as we were laying in the bed, just relaxing and look at the posts on facebook, i realized there were so many stories and i looked at my husband, i said, we're going to have to open up the doors of the church. he said, let's do this dance. so what makes it so unique is, we live here as well. so not only that we opened up our hearts and our church, we opened up our home, because we live right here. so it was just a blessing to serve everyone in our home. you know, we did not expect it to turn out the way it did.

>> i just saw the pictures of people inside. a lot of people arrived. how did people get there? especially, we were talking about whiteout conditions, it happened so quickly. >> well, the reason that people kept coming a friend of our, bill class, he has a snowmobile, he assembled a team of four snowmobile drivers or operators to come down to this area which was hardest hit. we would just use our iphones and follow the dot on our iphones because we couldn't see in front of ourselves at all. that's exactly what he did, he went to the houses that my wife got off of social media and we just simply delivered people back to the church. it just fell into place. everything just fell into place really smoothly. >> and then on top of that, the people that came, we had the first couple that came in, it was a pregnant woman and two young men that were like frozen. it was like the snow was stuck to their bodies. and this woman that was

pregnant, you know, that is still pregnant, but her, her baby that they were not going to make it. so they were the first that came into our homes that was at 1:00 a.m. and then after that, a mother was trapped. she called her stister, their cr got stuck. and then they called their children, it was a whole family that was stuck. she had arrived. she had like rings going around her ankles with blisters. blisters going around it. so it was like we were constantly receiving people, and a man, a strong man, i've never seen so many men cry and beards that -- their beards were frozen and ice and snow stuck to their bodies. these were people that actually walked to the church before the rescue people were able to even get here to rescue the other people. >> that's right. >> and you mentioned that, of

course, this is human intervention. but divine intervention seems to have been at play here as well. >> yeah. >> power stayed on, even though you don't have a generator, and so many others lost power. >> that's right. my wife and i asked each other, you know, we're christians, and we're very strong in our faith of jesus christ. and my wife said, you know, we still have electricity, but no one else has. i wonder why the lord chose for to us keep the electricity on. we're happy, praising god. hours later, we found out exactly why we still have power. and it was divine intervention, make no mistake about it. >> what the two of you did literally saved lives, right? i mean, just seeing what people went through to just even get to your church. i want to hear more about those tears. you said grown men crying. were they crying out of gratitude, the trauma that they went through? what were they telling you?

>> they -- when they came into this door and went -- and each person that came in, i embraced them, i kept giving them blankets, towels. because, you know, they were saying, i am alive. this church saved my life. they thought they were dead sitting -- you know, we had truck drivers that were traveling from detroit, michigan, people just getting off from work, sitting in their vehicles for up to 18, 19 hours, with no direction and unfamiliar with the area. and i mean, i have never seen so many weep and so happy that their lives were spared. because they truly, truly thought they were going to die. >> we had the love of christ. >> sorry, al, i didn't mean to enter interrupt you. >> no, no, that's fine. >> we heard so many powerful

stories from people in buffalo, who took in strangers, rose to the demand. what is it about the people that live there in that city that makes them so aware of the other humans around them? >> well, we in a village of lovejoy, it's like a neighborhood in the city of buffalo. here, especially in this neighborhood, we're really, really strong in our faith. honestly, these people are just giving. it's natural. it's in the air. it's what's normal for the people to show that light of christ. they just show it off and showcase it by pouring into others constantly. and it's rather beautiful. especially when you see things come together the way that they have come together, during this catastrophic disastrous storm. people weren't expecting this. we were just thinking it was another snowstorm in buffalo. and when that wind started winning up, that's when it all changed. we buckled down, we got together, they knew who to call, who would be able to help.

protocol. we went right into protocol and got into action, really. >> and just incredible. if we can just put up those pictures again of people huddled inside. we have about 30 seconds, pastors. if you can just tell us, as we look at the pictures of people huddled inside your church, what was it like to be together. did you tell stories? was there laughter, was there singing? >> we had -- it was like one big family. >> a celebration of opening up the gift of jesus christ that morning, christmas day was incredible. >> we brought out games. they played spades. they can throwing, and it was one diverse holiday. and the people were just enjoying themselves. even people that was low in oxygen, they were sharing oxygen. baby pampers when they were running low.

it's like, it was one big family. just look at -- they were playing -- >> xbox or ps 5 or one of those things. they were celebrating life. they were celebrating being alive for that christmas 2022. >> what a way for your church to truly serve as a refuge especially for the weary. appreciate your time, pastors, al and vivian robinson. happy new year to you. >> thank you so much. happy new year to you, too. >> god bless you. > we'll be right back. it's where businesses meet great remote talent and remote talent meets great opportunity. ♪ ♪ this is how we work now ♪ not flossing well? then add the whoa!

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migrants are experiencing on the streets of el paso, texas, this morning. >> officials there are raising the alarm on the safety and public health after a packed makeshift camp without running water or proper shelter has sprouted up on a busy street. rosa flores shows us how dire the situation has become. >> reporter: amara, martin, the situation in el paso is still very dire. el paso city officials are concerned about the safety and public health of the migrants that continue to live on the street. just take a look around me and you'll see that there are hundreds of migrants that are on the street, a lot of them with children. if you see blankets against this fence, those blankets, they lay out on the concrete sidewalk and that's where they sleep for the night. the temperatures have gone up a little bit because the sun is out, but when night falls

mothers that i have talked to tell me it's very difficult for them to keep their children warm. now, these migrants are here because the catholic church turns into a shelter overnight, but there are only about 120 to 130 slots, and as you can see, there are more than 120 or 130 people. but the priest there said that he is doing what he can with the resources that he can. now, the buses that are out here, these are provided by the city so that some of these migrants can recharge their cellphones and get out of the elements overnight, even if it's just for a few moments. now, again, city officials are very concerned about the public health out here. they say that these conditions are ripe for covid, rsv and the flu to spread. here's what they say. they're saying to make sure that these migrants are safe. >> we have people living out on

the streets, it generates a lot of garbage. we are cleaning it up at least three times a day. we have provided porta-potties, hand sanitizing situations. >> reporter: one of the big questions, why are so many migrants sitill here? there are several answers. some don't have friends or family that can receive them in the united states. some don't have means to buy bus tickets to get out of the area. and then there is another factor. word has spread that there are interior immigration checkpoints along the border, and there are. whenever cars cross these checkpoints, and i can tell you by experience, because i have crossed many of them, they are between 25 and 100 miles from the border, you have to declare your citizenship. so i have to declare i am a u.s. citizen so i can cross through. so word has spread that some migrants have been apprehended at these checkpoints.

indeed, the border patrol chief here from the epidemic sector tweeted more than 100 undocumented migrants have been stopped at these checkpoints, detained and processed under u.s. law. and so amara and martin, that's what these migrants are also worried about. they are worried that if they do get on a bus, they might be detained just down the road at an immigration checkpoint. >> that's why we are seeing so many people on streets. thank you so much, rosa flores. southwest airlines is working to get back on track after a week-long catastrophic travel meltdown. >> thousands of canceled flights left thousands of passengers stranded in airports. cnn's adrienne broaddus has more. >> reporter: good morning, martin and amara. leadership at southwest saying there is no way to apologize enough. on friday we met passengers who were relieved following so many days of stress, finally they were able to see on the flight

information board planes boarding and departing on time. there were a few delays, but nothing like we saw over the last week where southwest had more than 15,000 cancellations. but i will tell you that relief was also met with hesitation. i met a woman who said she was traveling from chicago, illinois, to memphis, tennessee, to ring in the new year with her family. when i check her luggage, she didn't want to drop her bags. why don't you want to check your bag? >> because all these bags are lost. >> reporter: are you scared? >> hell, yeah, i'm scared. you seen all them bags on there that they lost. i get the memo, i don't have no bag. it's not right. i been watching the news. now they want us to give them our bags? is that crazy or what? i will try to have some fun new year's eve. no, i ain't gonna let them spoil my day. >> reporter: a lot of plans were spoiled.

a traveler told me she never made it to new york for the holiday, but somehow her bags ended up in new york. she received a call friday morning, she says, from southwest letting her know her luggage would be shipped to her home in phoenix via fedex. martin and amara. >> good news. that is our time. thanks for watching, everyone. have a fun new year's eve. be safe though. >> there is much more ahead with the next hour of "newsroom." phil mattingly is standing by. have a happy new year. tastes gr iced coffees too. which makes waking up at 5 a a.m. to milk the cows a little easier. (moo) mabel says for you, it's more like 5:15. man: mom,m, really? it's the subway series menu. 12 irresistible subs. the most epic sandwich roster ever created. ♪ it's subway's biggest refresh yet!

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good saturday morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm phil mattingly in washington. we begin this hour watching several major stories unfolding. catholics around the world mourning the death of the pope emeritus, benedict xvi, passing away at the age of 95. he was the first pope to resign his post in nearly 600 years. stunning the catholic faithful when he stepped down in 2013. his death days afternoon the vatican announced his health had been deteriorating. much more on that in a moment. plus -- >> i'm hugh downs. >> i'm barbara walters and this is "20/20." >> tears also being shed this morning for a pioneering tv journalist, barbara walters, the legendary interviewer died at the age of 93. she became the first female anchor of an evening news program in 1976, and