of snl, was the chris farley, the phil hartman, dana carvey. >> phil hartman was very underrated and very appropriate. he was he was fantastic. absolutely. >> so many of our movies today that are that are chock full of comedy, but all a lot of things that people got their start on saturday night live. it's incredible to see their success now. i mean, you saw it last night with tina fey. it's just it's incredible to see that they got their start on saturday night live, had these moments in our time and then now are massive movie stars. >> you see them all crammed in the celebrities next to each other. it's not you know, it's really jerry seinfeld. it's julia louis-dreyfus next to conan o'brien. yeah. >> and it gave a nice break from politics last night. i agree. a whole three hour special. not talked about what we are donald trump every. >> minute the nba all-star. >> yeah, yeah. >> yes, indeed. all right. that was fun. thanks, guys. and thank you to our panel. thanks for joining us. manu raju cnn news central starts right now.

>> breaking overnight. >> nearly a dozen people have died. a powerful winter storm to blame. it slammed the southeast. kentucky being the hardest state hit, bringing flooding and damaging winds. now a million are preparing for an arctic blast that could bring snow and brutal cold. >> top u.s. and russian officials getting ready to meet in saudi arabia to talk about trying to bring an end to the war in ukraine. left out anyone from ukraine and also europe. that's why european leaders are now holding an emergency meeting about it. >> so what. >> you missed when you went to sleep. the biggest moments from saturday night live's 50th anniversary special and what went on behind the scenes. i'm john berman with sara sidner and kate bolduan. this is cnn news central. >> this morning. a coast to

coast winter storm continues to wreak havoc in the south, midwest and northeast. the weather system that battered parts of california just days ago has now caused widespread flooding across kentucky, indiana, virginia. the storm killing at least ten people. most of the deaths are in kentucky. first responders there carried out more than 1000 rescues. kentucky's governor says it's one of the worst disasters they have seen in at least a decade. parts of kentucky and tennessee saw more than eight inches of rain. the national weather service says in some areas, high waters mixed with snow and ice, making it even more treacherous. and the same system is responsible for at least four tornadoes in alabama. making matters even worse, dangerously cold temperatures are moving into the region this week. cnn's danny freeman is in salem, virginia, for us. give us some sense of what the conditions are, where you are and what you've been seeing as far as this damage. >> sure. sara, i think the big

thing that i would describe, the state of the region right now is it's cold, it's very windy, and everyone is still processing the effects of all of the rain that fell over the weekend and all of the flooding that hit so many impacted areas. like you said, i'm in salem, virginia right now. this is the roanoke river. it's still rushing mightily right here. but where i'm standing, this entire area was covered with water just a number of hours ago. thankfully, the water here and in other places in the region has receded. but again, the damage is extensive in many parts of the commonwealth of virginia and, of course, kentucky. over the weekend here in virginia, governor glenn youngkin, he actually submitted a request for an expedited major disaster declaration. that was because over 200,000 people were without power and at least two areas of virginia had, in his words, catastrophic flooding and historic flooding as well. but we have to talk about kentucky. our neighbors just to the west, because they really experienced quite a bit of the brunt of these storms. sarah, nine people killed in that flooding, over

1000 water rescues over the course of the weekend. and i want you to take a listen to how first responders described, actually a mother and her child who were killed in the flooding in hart county over the weekend. >> and it had rolled. >> over upside down. the rescuers did rescue the seven year old out and rescue her, but retrieve her out of the vehicle, but could not get to the mom because the water was coming up so fast. >> again, sarah. just heartbreaking. so sad right there. that particular story. but that's the exact sort of thing that state, local and government officials have been warning folks in this area. if you see floodwaters, there's still a lot of floodwaters in a lot of areas out there. don't try to drive through it. even just in this area, we've seen cars splashing through some floodwaters to my right here. just because it is so dangerous and it is so easy to get swept up in these flood waters. and like i said at the top, sarah, the weather is cold out here as

well and we're expecting more cold temperatures as the week progresses. so the idea here is to really be careful of that, because even if you happen to be outside of a car and slip into flood waters. the national weather service out in blacksburg, virginia, they note that hypothermia could set in very quickly. just another reason that these storms and this weather has been so intense out here, sarah. >> and we're looking at some of these pictures of cars trying to drive through high waters. don't do that. and that's what authorities are warning people. you could get swept away. thank you so much danny freeman there live for us in virginia, kate. >> and on the heels of that storm, there is another threat moving in very quickly, as danny was talking about brutally cold temperatures reaching from the northern plains to the gulf coast, and some areas could be looking at setting some cold records. cnn's derek van dam is tracking all of this for us. he's joining us now. derek, what are you watching most closely at this hour? >> yeah, here's the. >> deal, kate. >> it will be a one-two punch for some. >> of the hardest. >> hit areas. first, the extreme

cold. >> starts to set in, and then. behind it. >> another winter storm that will. impact some of the same locations. >> that. saw the. >> flooding. we have. >> cold, extreme cold alerts that stretch. >> from the rio grande all. >> the way to the border of. >> the u.s. >> canada border. >> that's stretching over 1250 miles. in fact, over the next week, about 170 million people will see the mercury in the thermometer plunge below the freezing mark. behind this departing storm, there's a lot of energy you saw in danny's live shot. trees were swaying. the wind is very intense. wind advisories across the northeast. but here's the next storm that is set to impact the same regions. look at kentucky. virginia. winter weather alerts with winter storm warnings further to the west. the evolution of this storm takes a very similar path, although i do believe it will be a little further to the south. that's why we're experiencing more snow across this region that saw the heavy rainfall from the first storm that moved through through the course of the weekend. here's the snowfall totals you can see. greatest will be across parts of missouri and into the

mid-atlantic, but into kentucky. several inches of snow still possible. this storm has stretched from the west coast to the east coast. we saw the feet of snow measured in california. and then, of course, the flooding scenes unfolding and the tornado scenes in the warm sector of this system. there were four confirmed tornado reports, with several reports of wind damage and power outages, including this very meteorologist here in the southeast. kate. oh. >> thank you so much, derek. thank you. thank you john. all right. happening now. >> secretary of state. >> marco rubio arrives for talks. >> with russia on ending the war in ukraine. >> the conspicuous absence. >> in these talks. ukraine. >> a new. >> case of bird flu leaves one person hospitalized. new details on how it is spreading. and updates on a new vaccine and an unprecedented nba all star night with a format never seen before and maybe never seen again. who won the actual game? slash games and who came out looking best?

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>> timing of your meeting with putin and saudi arabia? >> no, we have no time set, but it could be very soon. >> like this this month. >> or it will be soon. we'll see what happens. >> now, all of this is of major concern in ukraine, and the rest of europe were shortly. leaders will hold an emergency summit. let's get right to the white house. cnn's alayna treene is there. big negotiations with senior u.s. leaders arriving in saudi arabia. and really, the whole world watching elena. >> that's exactly right. we're told that many of these, you know, senior officials began arriving last night in riyadh. >> where those talks are slated to begin tomorrow, all part, of course, of trying to find this off ramp to the war between russia and ukraine. i note it's almost three years to the day that russia had illegally invaded ukraine. now, just to talk about who is going to be there from the u.s. side, we know that as you saw marco rubio, who just landed today, he is going to be there as secretary of state representing the united states. we also know middle east envoy, who is also helping, as we can see in these ukraine talks. steve witkoff

will be there. and national security advisor michael waltz, now from the kremlin side from moscow. we have that russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and presidential aide yuri ushakov are going to be there, representing the talks from vladimir putin's side of all of this. now, where does saudi arabia come into all of this? obviously, this meeting is being held in riyadh. we are told by a senior saudi official that they plan to have some sort of mediation role. i would note, of course, that they have been crucial. the saudis in the negotiations and talks in the middle east as well. and that conversation around ending the war between israel and hamas. but we also know that they were crucial. and wyckoff told me this himself, that they were crucial in helping secure the release of american prisoner marc fogel, who was held in russia. he said that a lot of the saudis, particularly crown prince mohammed bin salman, was very crucial and instrumental in those discussions. but john, who will not be there, that is the ukrainians. and of course, that is causing a lot of

consternation, both in kyiv but also throughout europe, which are really worried about not having a seat at the table during these talks, we heard secretary of state marco rubio try to address this and kind of tamp down those concerns yesterday. take a listen to how he put it. >> if it's real negotiations and we're not there yet. but if that were to happen, ukraine will have to be involved because they're the ones that were invaded and the europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on putin and russia as well. and they've contributed to this effort. we're just not there yet. >> now, john, he's framing this as kind of a first step in these negotiations that ukraine will have a seat at the table. but again, this is something that's really causing a lot of alarm among the united states allies across europe. and of course, with ukraine itself. >> look, interesting to hear secretary rubio mention that ukraine was invaded, which is something you don't hear a lot from president trump himself. as for the european concern here, there is so much that they're holding their own emergency

meetings today. elena. what does that tell us? >> that's right. they are. they are holding an emergency summit in paris, trying to, you know, figure out their side of all this, because, look, i think it's very clear that some of the rhetoric we've been hearing and the actions as well from both president donald trump, but a lot of his top officials has really threatened what we've seen, be kind of holding the peace and the status quo over the last several years. now, in dealing with russia, they're really, you know, a lot of these european allies are worried about being isolated throughout this process and also worried that perhaps russia will get some big concessions here if they are the only ones, if the united states are the only ones involved in these talks. now, we did hear the elysee palace. they said that french president emmanuel macron, as well as, um, germany, the uk, italy, poland, spain, the netherlands, denmark and the president of the european council, the president of the european commission and the secretary general of nato. all of them going to be participating in the talks. we'll see if we can learn more

from that after their meeting soon in paris. john. >> all right. keep us posted from the white house. alayna treene, thank you very much for your reporting. sarah. >> do you want potentially unvetted, certainly unelected and untrained doge officials to have access to your finances? elon musk government agency is demanding access to irs information and beloved saturday night live characters all return for one glorious night. adam sandler's memorable song, the return of sally o'malley and debbie downer, the bronx beat and tracy morgan. >> welcome to black jeopardy! the only jeopardy! where every single viewer fully understood kendrick's halftime performance. this legendary late night show created some of comedy's biggest stars. it's a sketch comedy show. uh, it's been on for a long time. oh, there he is. what is the living color? >> our thoughts. >> and prayers are with those whose lives were tragically

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>> spin of. >> a wheel. >> with culinary. >> glory on the line. >> it's time. >> to put it all on the plate. >> season premiere tournament of champions sunday, march 2nd at eight. >> this morning. there are alarm bells going off among the staff at the irs elon musk doge team now reportedly requesting access to taxpayer data, and the washington post. the way they are reporting on it is that doge is, quote, seeking access to heavily guarded irs service, irs system, a heavily guarded irs system that includes detailed financial information about every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country. so that's one big story we're watching. also this morning, we're focused in on the department of education and learning more about a letter. the department of education sent threatening the federal funding of any academic institution that considers race in most aspects of student life. cnn's rene marsh has much more reporting on this one morning. rene, what are you learning here? >> good morning. kate. we're

talking about from preschool to colleges and universities, the trump administration's department of education is threatening schools across the country to stop considering race in almost every aspect of student life, or risk losing federal funding. and they're giving these schools 14 days to do this. now, it's all outlined in a letter that the agency sent out on friday night. and it states that if a school treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person, that's a violation of federal law. and this pertains to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic and campus life. so quite broad there. and this is a mandate that the trump administration says is their interpretation of the supreme court's 2023 ruling in students for fair administration admissions, i

should say, versus harvard, which specifically struck down affirmative action in college admissions. now, the administration is trying to use that ruling to justify extending it to all and any race conscious spending activities and programing on school campuses. this will certainly face legal challenges. we're already hearing from democratic lawmakers on capitol hill. um, senator patty murray saying, quote, there is simply no authority or basis for trump to impose such a mandate. in fact, federal laws prohibit any president from telling schools and colleges what to teach, including every student succeeds act that i negotiated with republicans. so already, kate, we expect that this will certainly land in the courts just as the trump administration's other policies have. kate. >> rene, thank you so much for your reporting. john. all right. the trump administration is firing hundreds of faa workers just weeks after the mid-air

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with us now, william taylor, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. president zelenskyy also said over the weekend he rejects deals made behind our backs. why do you think he might be concerned about these u.s. russia meetings taking place in saudi arabia? >> well. >> john, it's been very. >> clear all along that the way to end this war is for putin to stop and for there to be conversations eventually between putin and zelenskyy. so zelenskyy has been very clear that they're not going to give up. ukraine has to keep fighting until there is agreement that russia won't fight again, that russia won't invade again. so they legitimately want to be part of these negotiations. now, there can be other discussions between the united states and russia, um, on different things. but when they're talking about ukraine, ukraine has to be represented. >> ukraine also. zelenskyy also

rejected this proposal from the united states, the treasury secretary, to give the united states a 50% interest in ukrainian minerals. why do you think that proposal did not appeal? >> it didn't appeal, apparently, john, because it didn't look forward. um, it was uh, it was set to hand over or give special rights to american firms in return for previous support, previous military support to ukraine. of course. what, uh, what ukraine wants, what president zelenskyy wants is a commitment going forward that is, from now on, the united states will continue to provide weapons and ammunition so that ukraine can stop the russians from invading their country. >> so to that end, based on your answers to these two previous questions, where do you see currently current ukrainian interests in the interests of the current u.s. administration diverging? are they different?

>> i don't think they're different, john. i think they both want the russians to stop the war. they both want the killing to stop. uh, they both want ukraine to emerge as a sovereign, independent, prosperous country. um, and to that end, they're looking at deals having to do with, uh, strategic minerals. to that end, they're looking at having the europeans provide a security force, not blue helmets, not peacekeeping, but a security force from the europeans with actual troops on the ground. to be sure, again, that the russians don't invade again. so i think those are common views, common interests that the united states and ukraine share. >> the europeans are holding an emergency meeting today in reaction, in response to the fact that the saudi meetings are taking place without them. what do you think the europeans can do can discuss without the

united states? >> i think they can discuss exactly that question, exactly the question of what they can provide to ukraine to ensure that a cease fire works. um, that that a that an a deal, an agreement between ukraine and russia and the united states and europe has a credible force to stop another russian invasion. and that i'm sure, is part of what the europeans are going to be talking about today. how can they provide that force? the british prime minister said yesterday that they're prepared to provide troops on the ground. uh, and the swedes are interested. the french are interested. um, so this is probably what they're going to be talking about today, how they can ensure that a cease fire works. >> do you envision russia ever accepting an agreement that would involve european troops from nato countries, not nato troops? exactly. because they won't be there under nato auspices, but troops from nato countries in ukraine.

>> i don't think the russians get a choice in that. the russians can't say to european nations or the united states or ukraine, you can't have troops on your own soil. the russians don't have that ability. the ukrainians will reject any attempt by the russians to to do that. so, yes, i think the russians won't have an opportunity to say no. um, i think that the ukrainians and the americans and the europeans will agree on some kind of forces on ukrainian soil to be sure that the russians don't invade again. >> it is a crucial few days we are seeing here in saudi arabia and in paris. ambassador william taylor, thank you very much for helping us understand what we might be about to see there. >> all right. the trump administration is now targeting the critical federal aviation administration, or faa, as it's known, in its efforts to shrink the government firing hundreds of probationary workers. according to the employee union, the sweeping layoffs come barely three weeks after the deadly midair collision in washington, dc, which led to intensified

scrutiny of infrastructure issues in the faa and highlighted a shortage of air traffic controllers. cnn's pete muntean is with me now. pete, give me some sense of of the firings. do we know who and sort of more about what their roles were going to be and how this might affect aviation? >> well, sara, this is. >> really. >> uncharted territory for an air travel system that's stressed to the max right now. remember, the faa's air traffic control equipment is aging, and the system that delivers. mandatory pilot safety alerts failed just days after that crash that killed. 67 people over the potomac river. hasn't even been three weeks since that crash. and elon musk doge has had its eye on the faa ever since. now the concern is when these federal workers return from the long weekend tomorrow, they could be barred from faa facilities. now, these are the workers impacted or members of the union called pass. that's the professional aviation safety specialist, part of the afl-cio. and union president dave sparrow

tells me. between 2 and 300 faa workers started receiving firing notices from the trump administration starting late on friday. these are the workers who helped maintain the critical infrastructure that keep the air traffic control system operating, he says. not only were these workers fired without cause, but this was a non surgical move by the trump administration that he says is dangerous to public safety and especially unconscionable in the aftermath of the crashes that have been grabbing headlines over the last month. it's important to note here that these are probationary employees, meaning they've been on the job for less than a year. so the next generation of faa employees and an agency that's had a really hard time keeping up with retirements and attrition. so far, the faa has not returned my request for comment. it's important to note here. also, this does not include air traffic controllers, but no doubt that this could impact them as there is a major shortage of controllers. and we've seen that any hiccup in the air traffic control system can impact their jobs, too. sara. >> you have to wonder if they

were wanting to join when they see what is happened here. there is going to be a visit today. i think musk expected to visit the faa command center today. what do you know about that? >> these are representatives from musk's spacex, which has actually caused some consternation because that's a bit of a conflict of interest, considering the fact that spacex is overseen by the faa and faa grants. the spacex operator launch licenses. this is the tweet from transportation secretary sean duffy, who says that america deserves safe, safe, state of the art travel. and president trump ordered that i deliver a new world class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world. he also says that representatives from musk, spacex and the transportation secretary himself will visit the faa command center in warrenton, virginia, today. he's also making essentially be on the lookout call, an all call for feedback from any high tech american developer who wants to revamp

the air traffic control system. here is the rub, though. one air traffic controller put it to me like this air traffic control and the faa system is like turning around an aircraft carrier with a singular boat, or things don't happen fast at the faa for a reason, because the rules in aviation are written in blood, and safety is paramount. doing major sweeping changes in a quick way may not be a good idea. and it has a lot of people at the faa concerned from top to bottom. >> yeah, there are a lot of concerns of conflict of interest, and we'll see what happens going forward. thank you so much, pete muntean i appreciate it, kate. >> joining us now, democratic strategist, cnn political commentator paul begala. and mark gillespie, founder and principal of bluestack strategies, former press adviser to then house speaker john boehner. good to see you guys tomorrow. let's talk about the faa and what we are, what we were just hearing from pete muntean. and you heard from the head of that union representing these are people who install and maintain air traffic control, communications, the radio, the computer systems, which clearly

are critical for keeping us safe in the skies. the doge effort clearly is not slowing down, but this becomes a political problem when that's the question. i think i've got this morning. >> so i think, you know, you've already seen, unfortunately, terrible accidents with, you know, airplanes recently. i do think that public. >> opinion is one of the. >> biggest factors. that donald trump. >> the president, cares about. >> and so if public. opinion starts to show him that they are not happy with these decisions. >> that's going to be a problem for him. if his approval ratings go down based on. actions that his subordinate elon musk is taking. i do think that largely, americans find that the federal workforce does feel bloated to them. i as someone who worked in the federal government, i know it's not the most glamorous job. so this idea that we are somehow rolling in money and just enjoying the fruits of of american taxpayers, you know, labor is not the case. i do think it's really important for people to remember to remember that as these cuts are being

made, people choose to go work for the government. they choose to go work in these positions. um, it's not because it's glamorous. it's because it's work that they care about. and so to just make these blanket policies and making these rash decisions could really be not only problematic for our workforce and for the safety and security of our airways, but for just our government and our people who are working there. well, and in. >> the fact that it's as it was described by this union leader and. >> these. >> non-surgical firings, when when it comes to the safety of the flying skies is never been more important, as we know. paul, i want to play just as a reminder what the secretary of transportation sean duffy, said right after the dca crash. >> we're going to surge. >> air. >> traffic controllers. we're going to bring in the best and the brightest. that was the direction from president trump. >> i can't. >> flip a switch and make that happen overnight. but it's this process and this plan we're developing right now that's going to a year or two, three years from now, show real results of of putting certified

air traffic controllers, bright, smart, brilliant people in towers controlling airspace. >> these newest firings that we're talking about, they do not include air traffic controllers. we know, though, that air traffic controllers are on short supply. but he's talking about the best and brightest in the next generation. that's exactly what they're that's getting fired is they're calling the workforce. same question to you. then this all becomes a political problem with doge and the thinning out of the federal workforce. when. >> well, when, gosh. >> when you hear. >> pete muntean say the rules of aviation safety are written in blood. oh my god, that's chilling. and it's true. we know nobody wants more accidents in mars, right? that was a tragedy at dca a few weeks ago. but people are going to see it at the low end. things like delays, things like missed flights. but but it's just i have to say, nobody voted for this. nobody stood in line and said, gee, i want donald trump

to fire the people who keep the skies safe. you know, by the way, he just barely, barely won. he didn't get a majority of the vote. so most americans voted against mr. trump. he won by 1.5%, and he won to cut the cost of groceries, gas and rent. okay, i don't think laying off, not laying off, firing a bunch of people who keep the skies safe is going to help anybody buy eggs. and that's his real problem, is that he's the master of distraction. and by the way, my democrats fall for it every time. you know, they should be the largemouth bass, not the donkey. and they chase every shiny object and bite on it. and they know there's a hook in there. keep the main thing, the main thing. democrats, this guy got elected to cut the cost of groceries, gas and rent. why the heck isn't he doing it? >> actually, paul, then let me ask you, this kind of feeds into exactly what we're now, and you can tell me if you think this is real or just a real distraction from. but president trump on saturday threw something out there. and you get to decide, is this a head fake or not? that one sentence insight into kind of what appears to be his

guiding principle or philosophy in the moves that he has made in the first weeks of his presidency when he wrote, he who saves his country does not violate any law, and he's now pinned this to the top of his social media profile. it's not something that is, you know, it's not a missive that clearly he wants to go away or is going to get deleted anytime soon. what do you think of of that, then, paul? >> well, it could have been written by the supreme court in that abominable ruling which kind of repealed the magna carta from 1215, saying, well, he is above the law. i don't blame mr. trump for thinking he's above the law, because in some ways, the supreme court did put him above the law, and then he's got this coterie around him. um, not coterie, this party of, i mean, republican elites, not the walking around folks. a lot of really good people voted for donald trump, and they didn't vote for this. but it is it is, um, you have to go to north korea really, to see this kind of devotion or i guess, closer to home. i hope somebody loves you as much as these republicans

in congress worship donald trump. i mean, it's not just like a healthy like a marriage. oh, i love my wife. it is. it's, you know, it's like a 15 year old boy like, face flushed, heart beating, palms sweaty, obsessively clicking on rihanna videos. you know, it's creepy. and that's kind of the cult that he has built among the republicans in washington and the republicans out in america. i don't think they share that at all. >> well, what do you what. >> do you think? >> i mean. >> republicans in congress, they're the ones that they they have already been dealing with, kind of the the fruits of this labor, if you will, of this phrase. but at some point, rubber does must meet the road when they need to act and do and claim the authority that they were given, which is the power of the purse, and creating law. >> i do think that when it comes to the budget resolution, you're seeing that kind of play out where, of course, members of congress are happy to cut the budget as long as it doesn't

hurt their own constituents, they're happy to make cuts in places, as long as it doesn't hurt programs that their constituents rely on. because at the end of the day, that's who they serve. and that's where you're going to see pushback. and there is already being conversations about medicaid and the conversations about those cuts and how they're going to impact donald trump supporters, people who have pledged their loyalty, as paul so eloquently discussed. um, but that's going to upset donald trump because he don't want to upset those, those voters. and again, as i mentioned before, public opinion is what matters most to him. so republicans will push back on issues that matter to their constituents. and i think largely in the senate, you'll see that retaining of the power and the separation of powers, the house does feel as though, in large ways, they're waiting on the president to give them the go ahead to do certain things. but by by and large, it's the importance of the power of the purse, separation of powers. we all need to remember that. >> yeah. and it's a good point, though. well, while the administration may question polls or try to dismiss polls when they're not in their favor, you do know that that is likely to. when you talk about a

guiding principle, the guiding principle, what donald trump will be tracking in terms of if he changes course on any of the stuff. it's good to see you both, though. i'm still questioning if you can give eloquence to the eloquent moniker, though, paul, to that i'm kidding. >> i'm just kidding. >> i love you so much. i love. >> you so. >> much, kate. >> she's very kind. >> it's what i. >> got it. i need to learn that too. love you guys. thank you so much, john. and for the record, i've never seen a rihanna video. all right, new this morning, we are learning that a woman from wyoming has been hospitalized with bird flu. it's the state's first confirmed human case of the virus. she is believed to have been exposed through contact with infected poultry at her home. let's get right to cnn's meg tirrell. meg, what do we know about this case? >> hey, john. well, we know. >> that this is an older. >> woman in wyoming. >> as you said. >> expected to. >> have been exposed to the virus through an infected flock. >> of poultry. >> at her home. >> she has been. >> hospitalized. and we. >> know that she. >> has underlying. >> health conditions which could make her more vulnerable.

>> to this virus. >> now, this is not an unfamiliar story, although thankfully. >> it's a relatively. >> uncommon one. this is one of just a handful of hospitalizations that we know about because of h5n1 bird flu in the united states. of course, we know that the one person who died from bird flu in the u.s. was a patient in louisiana who also was exposed through a backyard flock. now, the wyoming health authorities say that they are looking closely at this. they don't see any evidence of person to person transmission, which is important. they're also looking at anybody else who had exposure to this patient or to this flock. now, we have been hearing about a handful of cases that have been popping up over just the last week alone. three in the last week there was another in ohio, another in nevada. the ohio case was in a dairy worker, and they had severe symptoms as well and went to the hospital. although we know that they are now recovering. and so there is concern that we're going to keep seeing these cases. overall, there have been about 70 cases in people in the united states. most of those people were exposed either to dairy

cows or to poultry flocks. often they were farm workers. but in a few cases, john, they have been these backyard poultry flocks as well. >> seems to be a lingering issue. meg tirrell, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed, sarah. >> all right. hundreds of high water rescues as life threatening floodwaters sweep across several states, leaving semis and homes underwater. and breaking this morning, doctors giving an update on pope francis. now they're calling it a complex critical condition, as he clinical complex clinical condition not critical as he remains in the hospital this morning. >> taxes suck, but with easy tax return. i'm telling you, it's actually easy. you can file in as little as 30 minutes and get your biggest refund guaranteed, all from the comfort of your own home. have a question? their customer support team is available seven days a week. oh, and if you make less than $50,000 with a simple return,

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virginia sunday. over seven inches of rain fell in some areas, causing rivers to overflow and damaging critical infrastructure. hundreds of roads and bridges are currently impassable, and homes and businesses are flood damaged. at one point, over 200,000 customers lost power, with the 911 center even experiencing outages itself. joining me now, the deputy state coordinator for field operations at virginia's department of emergency management, andy john, thank you so much for joining us this morning. i know it is a busy time as you are in an emergency situation. can you give us some sense of what where things stand this morning. >> yeah. >> good morning, sarah, and thank. >> you for having us on. >> um, you know, we are seeing the transition to recovery this morning. >> in southwest. >> virginia, which. is a good sign. it means we're not. >> actively responding to. save lives and. >> rescue people from their homes. but unfortunately. >> this is where it. >> gets really hard for the. citizens and residents of

virginia as it is really cold this morning. they're going to be out trying to clean their homes. muck muck out the mud and the water, and clear the debris, uh. >> from. the roadways and. >> things like that. so we've got a lot of resources on the ground, whether it's a state resource or local. >> resource. >> uh, helping to get the roads open, uh, looking at the infrastructure, the water systems, the wastewater systems, trying to get those back online. uh, and of course, the the cleanup occurs is still occurring. and unfortunately, as i said, it is really cold this morning. and unfortunately, we've got another winter storm coming in on wednesday. um, so i, you know, i feel for the folks out here in southwest virginia. this is the fifth catastrophic flood that they have faced in the last five years. uh, and so unfortunately, they know too well what this process looks like. >> you had mentioned the water systems. are there still people without running water, running potable water? >> yes, ma'am. we're aware of a few water systems across southwest virginia that, uh, were impacted by the storm. uh, we have a few boil water

advisories that have been issued by our office of drinking water and our logistics department or section out of the emergency management operation center has been pushing a lot of water and meals and other resources out to southwest virginia, to these communities so that they have those commodities that they need. until those systems can come back online. >> the governor described the storms, i mean, in really stark terms, calling it one of the most severe weather events that that virginia has dealt with in at least a decade. do you have the resources that you need to try and help people? as we look at some of these, these pictures, this picture from kentucky, also dealing with major flooding. and in virginia, you mentioned how cold it is about to get as well. >> yeah. you know, we feel, uh, we were very confident in the ability to respond to this storm, to be able to get to where we needed to go to save lives and protect, uh, the individuals in southwest virginia. but as we make our way to recovery, you know, it's

it's, uh, incumbent on us as a as a commonwealth and emergency management department to seek every single resource, uh, that could be made available to support these citizens that have been impacted. and so that is why you saw the expedited requests go to fema, uh, yesterday from the governor. and, uh, you know, we're we're going to seek every single resource that, uh, we can get to support these folks and help them get back on their feet. and, you know, it wasn't just this this storm, uh, this flood, uh, that they've been impacted by. you know, virginia has had a very busy year so far. uh, we had a major winter storm that already came through earlier in the year. we had a pretty significant water outage that affected the city of richmond. uh, of course, you all know all too well the potomac air crash that occurred just a few weeks ago. uh, our state agency and other state agencies did respond to that. uh, and here we are faced with another flood recovery and another winter storm coming in on wednesday. so it wasn't just this storm, uh, that we are seeking support from. it's it's all of 2025

that we've been, uh, impacted by. and, uh, just looking for a little more support there. >> yeah, it's been disaster after disaster after disaster. and it is important to note how cold it is going to get on wednesday as people try to deal with all of this mud and slush and water that has come into their homes. it is a very difficult situation. andy. john, thank you so much for coming on this morning. really appreciate your time. kate. >> an update now. >> on what police in upstate new york are calling one of the most horrific and depraved crimes that they have ever encountered. five people have been arrested, charged with murder for the death of a missing transgender man from minnesota. the five people charged range in age from 19 to 38 years old. new york state police launched a missing persons investigation for 24 year old sam nordquist on february 9th. then human remains believed to be those of nordquist, were discovered on february 13th. captain kelly swift of the new york state police said this about what they found sam was subjected to

repeated acts of violence and torture in a manner that ultimately led to his death. they believe that he was tortured for weeks before he died. investigators, though still working to determine the relationship between nordquist and all of the people now charged. and we also have an important update on pope francis. just in the word from the vatican is this that the pope has a polymicrobial infection of his respiratory tract, adding that tests indicate a, quote, complex clinical picture that will require the hospital treatment to be changed. the pontiff did not lead sunday's prayers as he usually does, though he did send a message thanking doctors and health care workers for their care. the pope is 88 years old. he was hospitalized on friday. we reported this for you after having difficulty breathing and recovering from a series of respiratory issues. and then there is snl. saturday night live celebrated 50 years of pure awesomeness with a star studded show this weekend. the show brought together snl alum, former host, all of, or at least

many of your favorite characters from over the years. there was even a surprise performance from adam sandler, who brought. >> along his. >> guitar to honor some of snl's longtime crew members. >> 50 years. >> of cast. >> members saying, i think our cast is the greatest of all time, but we all know that the first cast was the best and because of them. we got four. years of eddie murphy, eight years of will forte, 45 years of lorne, six years of our boy farley. five of our buddy knows. >> jon was really sweet, actually. people got pretty emotional there, including adam sandler. at the end of that. all right. this morning, all the reaction from the nba all star game or games. actually, it was a new format with this mini tournament. cnn's carolyn manno

here to explain. >> i'll try. i don't have a ton of time. i mean, give the nba. >> some credit for trying to do something different. the reviews are. >> a little bit mixed, but this year's all-star. game in san francisco had a new look. instead of two teams playing the traditional 48 minute game, players split into four squads facing off in a tournament style playoff, and steph curry set the tone early for team shaq. he drained a running three to open the championship game against charles barkley's global stars. and then that shot right there sparked an 11 zero run. later he would connect again, this time from half court. i know it makes it look so easy right. he scored a combined 20 points in both games. he was named the game's mvp for the second time in his 16 year career. and. >> yeah, it's just. >> a. >> celebration of a lot of great things happening in basketball. to be playing with these guys for as long as we have. like, it's obviously our responsibility to come out and put on the show. and i thank them for, you know, helping me do that and our golden state because, you know, a lot of history has happened out here, but the competition and the camaraderie and the legacies that we all create is what it's all about. so i'm i'm happy to