what has come through buffalo? weill. has come through buffalo?ight _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call— has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one - has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one for- has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one for the l she's right to call it one for the ages. this is a city that is well known for its massive amounts of snowfall, and this one actually really, really stands out as the governor noted. just give you idea, we had two solid days of white out or you could not see more than several feet in front of you. along with that, we had gusting winds of up with that, we had gusting winds of up to 70 mph and about 120 cm of snow fell, four feet or so here, up to 70 mph and about 120 cm of snow fell, fourfeet or so here, in buffalo and the greater region. some it was an absolutely remarkable convergence of really difficult weather conditions hitting

amy: how many warming centers are there in buffalo? >> the city of buffalo has -- centers open.e very close to a private college, so it opened its doors independently of any collaboration with the city. there were a lot of private citizens who were opening their homes. but as far as any city-sponsored warming centers, i knoof about two. at one point, there were 30,000 people without power. two warming centers, no public transit, no emergency services. 911 was basically suspended. they said out of their own melts publicly, don't even bother calling because we can't help you. i just don't understand how folks pay taxes, work hard trying to do the right thing and still receive this type of treatment. amy: let me ask you something. you are in buffalo bill taylor tour. why would we raise this now with this katrina-like moment in buffalo? in march, new york officials approved record-breaking $850 million and public subsidies to help the buffalo bills build a new football stadium, including $600 million from the state of new york, $250 million from erie county. your thoughts on this an

deadly situation here in buffalo. . a , ., in buffalo.ve - in buffalo. patrick in terms of- precipitation. you have described the snow, so you had snow. had the weather systems been coming in stages or waves? and which one do you dread the most? {eek stages or waves? and which one do you dread the most?— stages or waves? and which one do you dread the most? 0k well i fired the blizzard — you dread the most? 0k well i fired the blizzard is _ you dread the most? 0k well i fired the blizzard is the _ you dread the most? 0k well i fired the blizzard is the worst. one - you dread the most? 0k well i fired the blizzard is the worst. one thing | the blizzard is the worst. one thing that we get here and maybe it�*s a term you�*ve have her debts or not. it's term you�*ve have her debts or not. it�*s a peer point of snow where snow slicks on one end of the lake and cold wind travels along the lake and picks up moisture and deposits it in the form of snow. we often can get one .5 metre or two metres of snow and we know how to deal with that. this wa

behind me, i'm about 15 miles south of buffalo, near where the buffalo bills play. about 2.5 feet of fresh snow that fell on christmas day alone. this is on top of snow that we already have in the season that led to this. fartheto the north in buffalo is where power outages were a situation. unfortunately, a significant loss of life. 27 people have perished in erie county in buffalo because of folks stranded in their cars, or may be stuck at home without power. it has been truly a crippling, paralyzing, and unfortunately, deadly situation here. >> in terms of precipitation, you have described the snow. you have had snow. have the weather systems been coming in waves, and which one do you dread the most? >> ok, by far, the blizzard is the worst. one thing that we get here, and maybe it is a term you may have heard of or not, it is called lake effect snow. that is where moisture comes off lake erie. buffalo sits on one end of the lake, and cold wind travels along the lake and picks up moisture and deposits it in the form of snow. we often can get a half meter, a meter

and that's not unheard of what is on a hurdle for buffalo. the western new york is to have sustained snowfall and wins about 40 miles an hour for 48 hours or more in some areas. so even though we had the people, we had the equipment here, there was no way for it to move forward. just as one example. the governor said that let's say that you had a plow that was able to navigate the street. you wouldn't be able to drive more than a little bit before the white out conditions were such. you couldn't see in front of you and suddenly a car or another vehicle that had been stranded would be in front of you. and then that would have been out of action. they had to wait for the storm to lessen a little bit before they could attack. and that proved to be a deadly combination as we're seeing now. ok, let's get round up. now. some of the other headlines. thank you. news at the co leader of the plot, the kidnap michigan governor gretchen whitman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. prosecutors described adam fox as the master mine of the plan to abdu

>> we are working with the buffalo police department, buffalo fire going car by car making sure peoplecles that are stranded we are getting a number of emergency medical calls. we're responding to those, plows those areas so that emergency first responders can get to people who have medical issues we're hearing from people in other parts of the city, other parts of the region and across the country that have family members in buffalo who have asked us to check the welfare of elderly family members or family members they have not heard from because they could be in homes without power. we have been checking the welfare of individuals in those circumstances. soeufrl likso i feel like our communication is reasonably well we are doing everything we can to get information out to the public and to get to homes where there could be problems where people are without power >> can i give you the last 15, 30 seconds to give a shoutout to the first responders who have been out there tkorg the work, saving lives while their families are at home like you without power. >> our first responders have b

i'll talk with an official from buffalo this hour.tmas, many air travelers are stranded and frustrated right now as thousands and thousands of flights are cancelled including more than two-thirds of southwest airlines flights. we're tracking the airport chaos around the country. >>> and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is speaking out tonight about the difficult and painful conditions out there on the front lines. this as ukraine is responding to a new offer by vladimir putin to negotiate dismissing it as a tactic aimed at avoiding responsibility for his brutal war. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're "the situation room."

earlier we spoke to bruce and rich assistant managing editor of the buffalo news. the major newspaper in the buffalo night were falls area. we asked him how the city is coping. things are still not good. the worst of the snowfall has passed our airport, which is about 8 miles from where i'm sitting. no, i received 50 inches of snow and you know, the region itself is, is buried. we have, we've never seen anything like this. i'm, i'm old enough to remember. a storm that hit buffalo 45 years ago. that's always been known as the blizzard of 77. those of us to are old enough to remember it. never thought we would see anything like it again. it also buried the city. i was 12 years old at the time, co school for a week, which was on a herd of i can tell you now that having lived through this past weekend, this storm that we're experiencing now is worse. well, we had be the people in the equipment here morrow before the 1st. the 1st snowfall, i believe it would have been friday morning. we were prepared. the precision of the forecast was such that we knew this was calling.

i'm, i'm old enough to remember a storm that hit buffalo 45 years ago. that's always been known as the blizzard of 77. those of us to are old enough to remember it. never thought we would see anything like it again. it also buried the city. i was 12 years old at the time, co school for a week, which was on a heard of. i can tell you now that having lived through this past weekend, this storm that we're experiencing now is worse. yeah. and you are certainly folks not unaccustomed to crazy winter weather and just for our non m u. s. id is 50 inches, that would be $127.00 centimeters of snow. how have local authorities or in fact, i guess national and state authorities been responding, do you feel like buffalo's been getting the assistance it needs well we had the people in the equipment here morrow before the 1st snowfall. the 1st snow fell on. i believe it would have been friday morning. we were prepared. the precision of the forecast was such that we knew this was calling. we knew it was going to be a blizzard. we knew how bad it was going to be, or rath

it's soon the buffalo state. he joins us from buffalo, thanks very much. indeed for being on the program was situation where you are right now. then launch is a little south of buffalo, so i've gotten no not it has not been as bad. but when that storm came through, we had very strong wind, 6070 miles per hour. you know those gust blowing snow the big difference here. i live south of buffalo a little bit and we didn't receive as much snow. i think buffalo recorded about 48 inches or somewhere around 48 inches of snow. so that, that was that combined with the extreme cold and the strong winds made into what they referred to here in buffalo anyways as the once in a generational store. well, this weather system has been described as a bomb cyclic. i mean, can you tell us in simple terms versus what does this actually mean? well, a bounce icon is basically a low pressure system and as is moving across the country, it, the pressure deepens and deepens very quickly. so if it deepens, like within 24 hours, a number of mi

behind me, i'm about 15 miles south of buffalo where the buffalo bills play.5 feet of fresh snow that fell on christmas day alone. this is on top of snow we already had in the season that led to this. farther to the north in buffalo is where power outages were as situation. and unfortunately a significant loss of life. 27 people have perished in erie county in buffalo because folks are stranded in their car or stuck at home without power. it has been a truly crippling, paralysing and unfortunately deadly situation here in buffalo. patrick in terms of precipitation. you have described the snow, so you had snow. have the weather systems been coming in stages or waves? and which one do you dread the most? well, the blizzard is the worst. one thing that we get here and maybe it's a term you have there or not. it's called lake effect snow where snow slicks on one end of the lake and cold wind travels along the lake and picks up moisture and deposits it in the form of snow. we often can get .5 metre or two metres of snow and we know how to deal with that. this was a

and that's what buffalo is experiencing right now. along with heavy winds, an arctic cold as city paralyzed by a mega storm. buffalo new york is at the epi center of the blizzard, battering north america. people are stranded in their vehicles and homes as snow pummels the region. the governor of new york gave a sobering assessment of the situation. we have then to a lot of wars together. and this blizzard is the one for the ages. certainly it is the blizzard of the century, and we are here to can talk about our, our collect or collaborative approach to dealing with this crisis that it is a crisis. thousands of homes are without power, and a driving band has been issued. the governor warned that the worst is not yet over and as much as we can see, the skies right now, we know that the storm is coming back. so anyone to declare is victory and says it's over. it is way to really to say president joe biden approved an emergency declaration for new york, offering the full force of the federal government to support the state. thousands of f

behind me, i am about 50 miles south of buffalo, near where the buffalo bills play, and that is abouthristmas day alone, ok? this is on top of snow that we had already had in the season that led to this. furtherto had in the season that led to this. further to the north in buffalo is where power outages were a situation and unfortunately a significant loss of life. 27 people have perished in every county in buffalo because of folks stranded in their car or may be stuck at home without power. it has been truly crippling, paralysing and deadly situation here in buffalo. and these are live pictures from downtown buffalo, in new york. occasional snow showers are expected in the coming hours. the temperature there now is around minus 7 degrees celcius. that's around 19 degrees fahrenheit. and it is not over yet with more snow showers expected two people have been arrested in connection with the death of a woman who was shot dead, at a pub in merseyside, in northern england, on christmas eve. the victim has been named as 26—year—old ellie edwards. she died after a gunman opened fire at the

buffalo police cracking down on looters. mona kosar abdi in buffalo, rob marciano standing by timing out a major rainmaker for new year's eve. >>> news just coming in from the cdc. the u.s. imposing new covid restrictions on all travelers from china, as the country faces a surge of new covid infections, pushing hospitals to the brink. >>> urgent concerns tonight for the health of retired pope benedict. the vatican revealing today the 95-year-old former pontiff is, quote, very sick. marcus moore at the vatican, where pope francis is asking for prayers tonight. >>> growing frustration at the southern border. after the supreme court extended the trump-era immigration policy known as title 42. will carr reporting on the urgent need for more facilities to cope with the crush of people. >>> new details tonight on congressman-elect george santos, already facing accusations he lied about much of his biography. sources telling abc news federal prosecutors are now looking into his financial disclosures. aaron katersky with new develop

new york state police, buffalo police, buffalo fire.a great job, working together, working around the clock, opening up streets. we believe that by tonight, we'll have 100% of streets opened up in the city of buffalo, and it's my hope to be able to lift the travel ban, the driving ban, before the start of business tomorrow. >> let's see if that happens. that would be encouraging. the county executive is taking responsibility for not implementing the travel ban sooner. how do leaders get beyond the blame game right now and make changes to prevent such a deadly incident from happening again? >> you know, it should be all about collaboration. we have to work together with monster storms like this. no municipality is equipped to battle storms like this by them southeasts. it requires mutual aid. governor kathy hochul knew that. governor hochul provided aid and called for aid from communities all across the state of new york. so many communities stepped up. our neighboring suburban communities, cities of rochester and syracuse, the town of a

most in that buffalo region. new york's governor requested more emergency disaster relief from the biden administration. close to four feet of snow in parts of the region means a state of emergency remains in effect. at this hour more than 12,000 people without power in erie county. most of the outages in buffalo where the temperatures were again in the teens overnight. an add20 state's emy resort been saying morning, it is still snowing there. >> good morning. yeah. it's letting up a little bit right now, poppy. we expect these snowy conditions to continue into tomorrow. that's why we heard the mayor warning residents if they violate a driving ban that is still in place for buffalo this morning, they could face a summons. that's because that fresh coat of snow covering a lot of these streets and highways leading in and out of buffalo. those public works folks, they are going to be out in full force again today to make sure they can clear out as much as they can. they certainly don't want to take a step back when

men and women of the buffalo fire department, buffalo police department, have been working days on end to rescue people, putting themselves in harm's way. and i just want to recognize the incredible work they've been doing. in true buffalo spirit, despite everything that's been coming the last couple of days, you have people in the community reaching out to make sure that our first responders are taken care of, restaurateurs making sure they can go out and rescue and take care of people. >> that is really heartwarming. i'm glad you're taking a moment to applaud all those folks. obviously they're angels and we need them. chris, thank you very much for taking the time. we know that it's a dire situation there tonight. and we're thinking of all of you and we really appreciate talking to you. >> thank you, alisyn. i appreciate it. >>> meanwhile, there's also new revelations from the january 6th committee, and they keep coming. so, we're going to bring those to you. and what should lawmakers do now to make sure that our democratic process is never compromised again? my asthma felt anything

jesse outside of buffalo thank you for joining us joining us by phone is the mayor of buffalo byron brown. thanks for being with us let's start right there. heard a report that official fatalities in your city -- give us the latest how things are in your town. >> sad report this morning, an additional seven people that passed away, bringing the death toll in buffalo now to 27. that is very sad and very sobering news. we are making progress today with our plowing we have been able to reach all the stranded motorists and rescue them from vehicles at this point we continue to work with our power company national grid in getting them to locations that they need to get to restore power in our city. at one point, we had over 20,000 homes without power. that number is down to under 4,000 now. and to not have power in their home in these kinds of conditions, very uncomfortable i was one of those people without power. my family and i. and the temperature in our home got to about 40 degrees. there have been some homes without power for about four days, so we are working as hard and as fast as we ca

i love buffalo.or brown, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much, wolf. >>> just ahead, revealing new transscripts from the january 6th select committee, including the witness cassidy hutchinson, and the chief that trump's white house chief of staff burned documents. that's next. what will you change? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something entirely new? ♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the tightness, stinging... the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with

some of the snow reports, buffalo airport updating their totals. inches of snow has fallen at the buffalo airport site and other towns, watertown coming in at 41 inches, hamburger an additional 40 inches. just last month they had a historical snowfall rate as well. we look at the season thus far, we have surpassed our average coming in yearly we see 95. 5 inches of snow since november 13th. we already surpassed that at 101 inches of snow so far from buffalo alone. we are very early in the season, we can see a number of opportunities for snow to fall across the great lakes region. we have to consider our wind reports since december 22nd, we saw hurricane force wind 22, we saw hurricane force winds in these areas, ohio on that map, 74 mile-per-hour winds were reported out of ohio, buffalo, new york, 71 mile-per-hour winds and areas like dunkirk to the south of buffalo 67 mile-per-hour winds, those are sustained winds. the good news is the winds are dying down, looking much better at this time, winds coming out of the west from buffalo at 8 miles per

do you really buffalo has been getting the assistance it needs? >> we had the people and the equipment here long before the first snow fell on friday morning. the precision of the forecast was such that we knew this was coming, we knew it would be a lizard. we know how bad it would be. i think that by friday afternoon,. it would be almost double what saw the airport. that is not unheard of. what is unheard-of is to have sustained snowfall and winds about 40 miles now. even though we had the people and they put in the been here, there was no way for it move forward. the governor said let's say you had a plan and you are able to navigate the streets, he would not be able to drive more than a little bit. before the white out conditions were such that you could not see in front of you. that plywood have been out of action. that proved to be a deadly combination as we are seeing now. >> despite the preparations, you are veterans of their of wild winter weather. so many people died, people trapped in their cars, people stuck where they were. >> they wer

how can buffalo, can buffalo, prepare for the extreme weather events that seem to be happening with evenfrequency? >> well, i just want to say, since 77, we haven't had a business blizzard of this magnitude. can we prepare? and if global warming and the changing environment is the reality, we must prepare for a different type of weather event. this is not something normal for buffalo. in my lifetime, only one time, i'm 58 years old, one time that we've seen it like this. so, now, if this is about to be a reality, yes, we can prepare, and yes we will prepare. we are not gonna make excuses, we're gonna do better. >> buffalo city council president, darius -- thank you very much for coming. still ahead on the readout, joy reid recently spoke with the creator of an amazing new podcast featuring hours of never before heard recordings of nelson mandela. discussing everything from politics to prison. that's next. that's next. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, re

buffalo is literally socked in. no one getting in, no one getting out, except for some essential personnel. and then it takes massive vehicles to do that. buffalo seeing a storm like they have never seen. 27 people so far dead in erie county, new york. and authorities are concerned there will be more. an unprecedented storm, devastating and deadly, hitting western new york. >> we now have what'll be talked about not just today but for generations, the blizzard of '22. >> reporter: parts of buffalo pummelled with up to 43 inches of snow and hurricane-force winds. and the death toll of at least two dozen people in the area. >> this can there's going to be a lot of welfare checks. and unfortunately i have a bad feeling about that. i think that that toll is going to go up. it's just gut-wrenching. >> reporter: erie county, new york, brought to a literal standstill with people trapped in their homes and cars. >> this is the first time in buffalo fire history that they could not respond to emergency calls because of how s

this is blizzard like none other buffalo has seen, and buffalo has seen some blizzards.w, but what this blizzard shows is it's part of an extreme weather -- weather events that we have seen around the country. how can buffalo -- can buffalo prepare for the extreme weather events that seem to be happening with even more frequency? >> well, i just want to say since '77 we haven't had a blizzard of this magnitude. can we prepare? and if global warming and the change in environment is the reality, we must prepare for a different type of weather event. this is not something normal for buffalo. in my lifetime only one time -- i'm 58 years old. one time we've seen it like this, so now if this is about to be our reality, yes we can prepare, and yes we will prepare. we are not going to make excuses. we're just going to do better. >> buffalo city council president darius prigen, thank you very much. and still ahead joy reid recently spoke with the creator of an amazing new podcast featuring hours of never before heard reportings of nelson man della discussing everything from polit

mona with us now again from buffalo. and mona, they still have a lot of work to do, but there are some signs of a return to normal? >> reporter: that's right, mary. buffalo's mayor says all streets could be cleared by the end of the day today, then the driving ban will be over and the airport finally reopened this morning, like you said, signs of normalcy finally returning to buffalo. mary? >> mona, thank you. >>> as it clears up in the east, heavy rain, gusty winds, and snow out in the west. so, let's get right to senior meteorologist rob marciano, and rob, take us through the next 24 to 48 hours. >> reporter: well, land and s giver that is pointed at northern california. here it is, the next wave to come in tonight, have che gs, aswell, high wind h fm seattle down to santa barbara by tomorrow morning. then pushing into the mountains with heavy snow into the sierras. new year's eve night, a warm, wet one in the east. while that's happening, the next system comes into the west on saturday and sunday. that's going to be t

itheiith there people still trapped in their cars in buffalo?— cars in buffalo?ns, it _ cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is - cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is still- cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is still a i cars in buffalo? with the - conditions, it is still a pretty dire situation. there is continuing to be a driving ban in the city of buffalo, either reserving roads for emergency crews which are already having a tough time getting to people who need to assistance or those roads are completely impassable because we have seen four feet or so of snowfall in a short time. and the incredibly strong winds have blown the snow in ways that it has trapped cars on the sides of the road. in terms of people trapped in their cars, that is still a question that is going to continue to be something that is investigated. there are concerns that there are people who have been stuck in their homes for a couple of days now and may not be able to get out, at least not anytime soon. back to you. out, at least not anytime soon. back to ou. , ., �* .,

so has buried parts of buffalo. new york, an emergency crews are struggling to reach trapped residence. some of the dead have been found frozen in vehicles in snow banks. a lighthouse in case in ice, in across the continent, winter storm elliots has less striking scenes of beauty in its wake, tight and frightening sense of devastation, radio. my current state and military police have been called into the hard hit city of buffalo to ensure drivers keep off the roads. a driving ban had been issued earlier, but some was still found dead in their cars. so i won't be boiler standards, a lot of roads that are completely blocked right now that have no access whatsoever . and people are trying to drive into on these roads or trying to get into these neighborhoods. and they can't please, please, you are the mayor bag. i'm begging stay whole. the storm has also cause chaos for travelers during the holiday season. popular budget terriers, southwest airlines cancelled more than 10000 scheduled flight. leaving passengers surroun

the longest blizzard in buffalo history military police called in many roads still closed the incredible efforts to move cars deserted. what our team found as they trekked through a city cut off by snow >>> just in, the major move from the supreme court on immigration the high court keeping title 42 in effect for now. what that means for the surge at the border shelters full. migrant families forced to sleep in the cold thousands more in tents waiting to cross, desperate for food and warmth. >>> coming clean - incoming congressman george santos, who lied on his resume will he face consequences when he gets to washington >>> inside the fight against medical misinformation and children what you need to know. >>> and riding it out. the stories of strangers surviving a historic snowstorm and finding time to help while trying to stay warm it's inspiring america. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >> and good evening. i'm tom llamas in for lester tonight after that holiday deep freeze and deadly historic snowstorm that's still affecting so many americans, it's an airline

most of those in buffalo.overnor katy hochul requesting emergency disaster relief from the biden administration. a state of emergency remains in effect. this paralyzing weather event brought the region to its knees. more than 12,000 customers remain without power in erie county at this very hour. most of the outages are in buffalo and an additional 200 national guard troops have been deployed to western new york to assist with the state's emergency response. polo sandoval has been live all weekend for us. it is still snowing there, polo, how are you and the team doing? >> reporter: we're doing well, you know, but there are people here in buffalo that are certainly having a very, very difficult time. travel is torturous in other parts of the country but buffalo, ground zero of this massive winter storm, it's nearly impossible. plus, it's also restricted right now with a driving ban still in place here in buffalo. they're going to obviously reassess. but the thing is we woke up to snowfall. there was break in th

we were supposed to be in by buffalo but what happened? >> yeah, buffalo is socked in. there's just no way in or out. they have a travel ban in the city itself right now. the snow is just so intense that it is almost impossible to get in. they, officials there are trying to plow those streets right now, at least to get to go this cars and homes from people they haven't heard from. 27 people are dead in this new york county in the fear there will be more. an unprecedented step hitting watched during new york. -- the blizzard of 22. parts of buffalo humbled with about 43 inches of snow and working force winds the death toll of at least two dozen people in the area. this could be a lot of welfare checks and unfortunately, i -- thought the toll is going to go up. it just gut-wrenching. erie county new york brought to a literal standstill with people trapped in their homes and cars. this was the first time in buffalo fire history that they could not respond to emergency calls because of how severe the conditions were. >> county officials sending in specialized trucks to resc

those are the real heroes in this blizzard of buffalo demonstrate yg buffalo is called the city of good neighbors. >> thank you for that. you're absolutely right. >> our pleasure. thank you. >> and much more ahead tonight including breaking news. the first public comment from a congressman elect with a resume that probably overstated and his admission about it which is arguably understated. that's next on top of all the storm related power outages, there is more sabotage at power stations and still no answers yet it's too who is behind it. we'll be right back. ♪ what will you do? ♪ what will you change? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something entirely new? ♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us. at booking.com, finding perfect isn't rocket science. kitchen? sorted. hot tub, why not? and of course, puppy-friendly. we don't like to say perfect, but it's pretty perfect. booking.com, booking.yeah. ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul m

in the quite - buffalo news.ary storm there in new york state but some reprieve today with conditions improving a little. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. it comes after weeks of escalating rethoric between belgrade and pristina. new roadblocks appeared on tuesday, in the majority—serb town of north mitrovica. kosovo is a small, landlocked country which many serbs consider the birthplace of their nation. but they are only 6 per cent, of 1.8 million people that live in kosovo, the rest, 92%, are ethnic albanians. in 2008, kosovo unilaterally declared independence from serbia. many countries — including russia and china — don't formally recognise it as a state. the latest tensions surround conflicting reports about a shooting incident. reports from belgrade allege ethnic serbs came under attack, that claim was rejected by authorities in pristina. 0ur balkans correspondent guy delauney is here nice to see you. do you think what we are hearing from bell green is angry rhetoric or

buffalo is synod in.or a city so accustomed to this lake-effect snow, this has completely socked in the city. they are dealing with feet and feet of no. they're expecting another 6 to 12 inches of snow overnight. the governor said they had 30 to 40 inches just south of there. they are dealing with snow in the hours ahead. they are dealing with trying to dig people out . >> they've asked people to stay off the streets. police and emergency have rescued many stranded motorists in the city of buffalo. in some of these circumstances, some of these people might not have survived. >> reporter: so some of these emergency services personnel have come across very, very disturbing scenes of people who have froze to death in their cars. the snow was so blinding, you literally could not see in front of the car, people who walked outside and goat disor ended, ended up expiring as well. they are still going through either homes, cars and other place that is may not have power. they are concerned about more people who m

the governor of new york says the winds could make this buffalo's worst storm ever.he airport is now closed until monday. and millions are facing blackouts tonight. one mother's story of being forced to hand pump her baby's ventilator waiting desperately for help. >>> plus, the holiday travel nightmare. tens of thousands stuck at airports. why it could be days before they get to fly, and look at this white-knuckle landing in dangerous winds, so when will the cold snap break? rob marciano times it out. >>> also tonight, a deadly shooting in the country's largest shopping mall. frightened customers running for cover, the police chief getting emotional as he described the scene, and what we're learning tonight about the search for suspects. >>> a new attack in southern ukraine. deadly shelling in a key city on christmas eve. we're in kyiv tonight where ukrainians are marking the holiday with empty chairs to remember the soldiers missing or held captive by russia. >>> safe and sound. the 5-month-old twins who were kidnapped now back with their family in ohio right in tim

so, rob, how much longer is buffalo going to be in the crosshairs? >> reporter: well, not much, mary. another 12, 18 hours, the winds have lightened a little bit, but they are still out of the southwest off the water, so there's a threat for snow tonight. maybe another seven to eight inches. here it is on the radar. you're getting it in grand rapids and travers city watertown, off of lake ontario, buffalo, on and off showers tonight. could lead to a total of five feet of snow by the time this is all done. then the next storm comes into the pacific northwest with rain and mountain snow, some heavy at times. could see a couple of feet of snow in places like teluride, colorado. this pushes into the east, and east of the mississippi, it's going to be wet and warm. record-breaking warmth. maybe some flooding, as well, into new year's eve. mary? >> those warm temperatures, some welcome news as we head into the new year. rob, thank you. >>> that deadly blast of winter is causing a travel nightmare during one of the busiest times of the year. thousands of pa

you are used to snow there in buffalo, aren't you, - there in buffalo, aren't you, but it has been extraordinaryblizzard went on for so many hours, didn't i think 36 hours in total. it'sjust been didn't i think 36 hours in total. it's just been pretty much unlike what people are seen before, hasn't it? absolutely. they know people have compared it to the blizzard of 1977 in buffalo. but it is nothing they have seen. electricity, the wind happening, the rain happening, for two days i could not cr my window. it was amazing for it to clear up and you see what happened outside in the two days we couldn't get out. hailing days we couldn't get out. holly paolicelli talking _ days we couldn't get out. holly paolicelli talking to _ days we couldn't get out. holly paolicelli talking to me - days we couldn't get out. holly paolicelli talking to me a - paolicelli talking to me a little earlier in buffalo. a russian air base hundreds of kilometres from ukraine has come under attack for the second time in less than a month. the russian defence ministry says the engels base in the southern saratov region was

in western new york road travel remains treacherous and many areas of buffalo still paralyzed.the city is under a winter weather advisory for another 12 hours or so, cnn's miguel marquez picks up the story. >> an unprecedented storm, devastating and deadly, hitting western new york. >> we now have what we talk about not just today but generations the blizzard of 22. >> parts of buffalo pummeled with up to 43 inches of snow, and hurricane-force winds, the death toll of at least two dozen people in the area. >> this can be a lot of welfare checks, unfortunately i have a bad -- i think this whole going to go up it is just gut-wrenching. >> erie county new york brought to a standstill with people trapped in their homes, and cars. this was the first time in buffalo history that they could not respond to emergency calls because of how severe the conditions were. county officials sending and specialist trucks to rescue the rescuers. >> i couldn't see two feet in front of my vehicle, and we had a rescue -- so we brought in snowmobiles, you tvs, atvs, when fireworks are getting stuck an

we'll take you live to buffalo where the mayor just confirmed more deaths. we'll ask him about that and how emergency crews are grappling with this very storm >>> also morning, the fate of thousands of people taking asylum in the u.s. now in the hands of the supreme court where we could see a decision as soon as today on that controversial pandemic era health policy we have more on that coming up >>> and any moment now, the convicted ring leader behind a plot to assassinate gretchen whitmer is set to be sentenced where he faces a possible life sentence >>> and in ukraine, resistance forces are on the offensive as some analysts say the military's fighting capabilities are running out. we'll take you live to kyiv. >>> but we begin with our top story right now, unfolding across the country, a travel nightmare for millions of people trying to get home after the christmas holiday as a monstrous winter storm barrels east. right now, more than 2800 flights have been cancelled. that's today alone leaving frustrated travelers strand ed i airport terminals. southwest

then eventually in -- it will be back over buffalo. there is hope that when it returns, it will be in a week in state. you there is some, light at the end of the tunnel. forecast calling for temperatures in the 50s come this weekend. something that many people are waiting for after this weekend. >> i'm sure it will be welcome, polo sandoval, thank you so much. for a closer look at what it is still on the front lines. we're joined now by nate martin, commissioner of public works for the city of buffalo. commissioner moncton, what is the situation like on the ground in buffalo now and where did the search and rescue efforts stand? [laughs] -- >> thank you, good evening, i appreciate the opportunity to update buffalo. the conditions are exactly what you just heard, we have been hit with a blizzard, none the likes that buffalo seeing. with those high winds and snow amounts, it has devastated the city. from that standpoint, the storm, the main part of the storm has come through and now we have some closing snow of the storm that we are stil

so, rob, how much longer is buffalo going to be in the cross hairs? >> reporter: well, not much, mary. another 12, 18 hours, the winds have lightened a little bit, but they are still out of the southwest off the water so there's a threat for snowrar. yore gtit i gnd rapids as well. watertown, offhe is all done. then the next storm, rain and mountain snow. could see a up canal of feet of snow in places like tell your ride, colorado. this pushes into the east, and east of the mississippi, it's going to be wet and warm. record-breaking warmth. mary? >> those warm temperatures, some welcome news as we head into the new year. rob, thank you. >>> that deadly blast of winter is causing a travel nightmare, during one of the busiest times of the year. thousands of passengers sleeping on airport floors. a sea of unclaimed luggage. southwest airlines facing system-wide disruptions, canceling more than 60% of their flights today. abc's elwyn lopez is in atlanta tonight. >> reporter: tonight, tens of thousands of americans stranded, unable to get home for the holi

how could this happen in a city like buffalo?n't think anyone has the answer right now because the blizzard of 1977, which was almost entirely windblown snow, was not well forecast. it wasn't a total surprise. this storm had days of advance warning not just from someone like me but certainly from the national weather service, and we assumed fewer people would try to venture out into it. and buffalo is known for being able to handle snow. the city has fewer clouds per capita than a city that gets less snow like where i grew up in the new york area. new yo sanitation department per cata has far more and you have so many abandoned cars. simply cannot get down the street but apparently one of the biggest problems has been so many people wanted out and got into their cars as well as pedestrians and faced the worst possible, most brutal conditions i have personally experienced in my long life. i have never seen anything quite like and as bad as it was here in my house, it was worse in buffalo. john: we have seen extreme weather events