the mayor of buffalo byron brown joins us on the phone. thank you for joining us.h how your city is faring this morning and your level of concern about a real flooding risk because of the elevates temperatures coming. >> we continue to dig out and open up the city. made a lot of progress. we have 100% pass through every street in the city of buffalo. our mains are 100% open and our secondaries are each with one pass. and as it warms up toward the end of the week, reaching it 50 degrees, we expect that there will be some flooding. we've seen these patterns before after storms. at the height of blizzard we went from minus 22 degrees below zero with the windchill, and later this week we're going to be at about 50 degrees. so, there will be flooding. >> mayor, you have seen and heard the criticism of your office's handling this storm. the eerie county commissiony mak pollancars has said this, listen. >> just don't want to see this any more. i'm sick of it. i'm a city resident myself. i live in the city of buffalo. and it pains me to see the other 25 towns and two small

. >>> let's discuss this and more with the mayor of buffalo, byron brown. taking a few moments and joining us. you just heard the erie county executive criticize buffalo's emergency operations, calling it rr how do you respond to him? >> wolf, you know, people worked around the clock in this storm. people went without sleep in this storm. and the only thing i can make of that is that some people are breaking down, some people are feeling, you know, the heat of the pressure of working this relentless storm, this historic blizzard in buffalo. but i'm not concerned about those comments. my concern is for the residents of the city of buffalo. i've just completed hours of touring neighborhoods throughout the city, watching the plowing operations, the plow drivers from the city, the county, the state, the national guard. new york state police, buffalo police, buffalo fire. so many others doing 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

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

in terms of just the heartbreak we've seen here, we've heard from byron brown earlier this afternoon and just describing just the tragic and heartbreaking nature of the job and the duty that the officers are carrying out here in buffalo, and that's going door to door or one stranded car to another, or finding people who sadly did not survive. the storm-related deaths here right now, 25. there is concern here on the grun ground that number will continue to rise. as they're focusing on potential rescue, they are focusing on keeping the streets clear. they're not doing it across the board. it's a calculated approach from city officials. the plow trucks on the streets that lead in and out of some of the medical facilities for example, some of the main arteries as well to allow firefighters and other personnel to actually get to any potential calls, be you as you're about to hear from one of the officials we've heard from here recently, basically stressing that point, that driving ban is still in place. unless it's an emergency or essential, there should be no cars on these streets. >> we

the city of buffalo is beginning its recovery following and historic winter storm, mayor byron brown announced that the travel ban has officially been lifted, but he's still encouraging people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. that request is in place to leave more room for snowplows and emergency workers to maneuver through the city. we've cleared about 70% of streets in the city of buffalo after this historic storm. today. our snow fleet, along with other crews continue their work to clear the roads in the city. there are over 450 pieces of equipment on city streets today provided by the city, county, state and other municipalities from around the state, including new jersey. and as temperatures start to warm up the area is now on alert for the possibility of flooding once all that snow starts to melt. president biden has approved an emergency declaration for the city to help with recovery efforts. sierra is catching a break right now from the rain and snow. currently, no chains are required on interstate 80 or highway 50. but that won't last long, but like tahoe a

buffalo police release thanksgiving video, mayor byron brown calling the looters, the lowest of the low. that is something we can all agree with. still investigating more looted stores across the city. like i said, we've heard stories about people being rescued and first responders saving lives, it boggles the mind how people, we all come from the same sort of d.n.a. >> ashley: that is debatable. >> todd: you have a choice of looting stores during an absolute tragedy combined with juxtaposition of people who do so much good, it is sad, sick and uplifting at the same time. ioc there are people that do this and people that would never dream of doing this, this is the world we live in and not just now, this is how it is for a long, long time. any time there major storm, you hear stories like this, i've covered stories like this, even in the heartland in missouri. it never gets easier. there is a different type of place for people who act like that, but when people are going through tragedy, it is horrible to see this happening. >> todd: it is not like stealing a loaf of bread to feed his k

buffalo mayor byron brown, whom some are calling on to resign, again rejected any responsibility for his response to the tragic storm. >> again, as you know, this was an historic storm, probably the worst storm the city has seen in over 50 years. and perhaps, maybe, the worst storm in recorded history since these storms have been tracked. amy: in south dakota, the national guard was called in to help dig out thousands of people trapped in their homes, many without power, at pine ridge and rosebud reservations in south dakota, which saw at least 30 inches of snowfall. meanwhile, federal regulators are launching an inquiry into the preparedness of u.s. power systems for extreme weather events. climate advocates say the current fossil-fuel based energy system has again revealed its unreliability and are urging for greater investment in sustainable energy infrastructure. in jackson, mississippi, residents are still under a boil water notice after freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst. this is danielle holmes, a volunteer at a water distribution site where drivers waited in long lin

and i want to bring in someone who knows the impact of this storm all too well, buffalo mayor byron browng us, mr. mayor. what is your biggest concern right now. >> life and safety is our biggest concern, chris our crews continue to try to rescue people who are stranded in vehicles. we've been plowing to get to emergency medical service calls. and we've been working closely with the power company in our area national grid, getting this 'em to power stations to restore power. there have been more than 20,000 people in the city of buffalo without power. that number is now down below 10,000 at one time i was without power as well. i know how frightening and frustrating it can be for people going through that circumstances. >> it's unbelievable the pictures that we're seeing but the stories, too i understand you've even had first responders needing to be rescued from the storm there were bodies found in the streets, in cars >> yeah. >> what do you need that you don't have right now, mr. mayor? >> we were prepared for the storm. we have equipment. we have support from the state of new york and

may yorp byron brown said as of friday morning the travel ban will be lifted. they've made a lot of progress, a lot of clearer roads. the work going on behind me, that will continue until all of the snow is clear. one bit of work that is still going on is about the death toll. the medical examiner for erie county has confirmed some 39 deaths as of noon on thursday. we expect that number to rise. listening to what the county executive said about that death toll. >> there are additional bodies that have been received that we believe are believed to be blizzard deaths but they need to have autopsy and additional work done including a 4-month-old that died on christmas day. >> reporter: when it comes to the deaths, there is additional work to be done. that is something we'll be keeping watch on. one piece of good news, authorities are no longer quite as concerned of the issue of flooding. that was going to be an issue because of the fast snow melt as temperatures reach around 50 on friday. today county executives said that's not as much of a concern. we should note

deadly storm and the buffalo police department releasing shocking video of one ransacked store, byron brownlicly condemning and the lowest of the low those looters and still investigating across the city. >> todd: people are sick. banning tiktok on government advice is effective immediately after cybersecurity unit found the ad post too many security risk. i could have told you this. we have told you this. but they are just discovering this, "you are not allowed to download tiktok on devices if you have the tiktok app on the hells mobile device you will be contacted to remove it." partially blocked from state managed devices over concerns the chinese government could use the app to track americans and since her content. one point's $7 trillion on the package, the house passed last week includes a bill pinning the app from nearly all federally managed devices. in speaking of tiktok him at the face of leading account calls out left-wing extremism on the platform finally revealing her identity. runs the lives of tiktok social media account with millions of followers, rachel says she stayed ano

amy: as thousands were left without power, heat, or food, pleading for help, buffalo's mayor byron brownted about losing. >> i want to add people who are out lifting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm, it is absolutely reprehensible. i don't know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror. they are the lowest of the low. amy: for more we areoined by india walton, form buffalo mayoral candidate and longtime community activist. and cariol horne, a buffalo, new york police officer -- former buffalo police officer who was fired for stopping a white cop from choking a handcuffed black man during an arrest in 2006. shield really got back pay fighting back against her unjust fighting. she was arrested sunday night on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice, and harassment as police responded to reports of looting. we welcome you both back to democracy now! cariol horne, talk about what happened and the gravity of the horror of this storm. can you hear me? >> i can hear you. amy: we hear you, too. if you

buffalo's mayor, byron brown is under scrutiny for his lack of engagement with erie county and other municipalitmunicipalities. take a listen to the county executive, followed by mayor brown. >> we have an elected officials call every morning, we had one this morning again with leadership from all of the municipalities, the city of buffalo was not on it today, they generally have not been on it. serious. i'm telling you the truth. mayor is not happy to hear about it but storm after storm after storm, the city unfortunately is the last one to be opened and that shouldn't be the case. it's embarrassing, to tell you the truth. >> i'm curious if you had any communication at all with the erie county executive? >> my full focus as it has been during the duration of the storm has been to serve the needs of the residents of the city of buffalo and get our city back open. >> reporter: so we'll see what comes out of that back and forth. buffalo city hall and erie county offices are open today, and the driving ban as of midnight has ended still a travel advisory in effect but one more sign the

mayor byron brown tells the city is slowly reopening after the deadly blizzard.37 people died in erie county alone and officials fear they may find more victims as the snow melts. athena jones is joins us live from buffalo. and there is back and and forth between the county executive and the mayor about how this storm was handled. what more could you tell us? >> reporter: that is right. a county executive mark polloncars and you've seen him, he's complained that the mayor of buffalo hasn't been engaged with the rest of the county and other municipalities when it comes to planning and coordination. take a listen to what he had to say followed by brown's response. >> i just don't want to see this any more. i'm sick of it. i'm a city resident myself. i live in the city of buffalo. and it pains me to see the other 25 towns and two small cities opened and in times when the city isn't. and i know the mayor is not thrilled to hear it. i don't care any more. i want it done. >> we will continue to improve. we will continue to work to do better. but haste erics from leader

mark poloncarz and mayor byron brown commented to each of their responses in a press conference.'s take a listen to that. >> there's a reason why the state and county have come in and took over operations.mayor o hear that. and we took over to, the mayor is not going to be happy to hear about it, storm after storm after storm, the city, unfortunately, is the last one to be open, and that shouldn't be the case. it's embarrassing, to tell you the truth. >> people have been working around beginning of the storm, some people handle that pressure a lot differently. some keep working. some keep trying to help residents of our community. and some break down. so we don't really know what the county executive is talking about. >> in a tweet later in the day, poloncarz took responsibility for the timing of the drive ban issue, writing in part, quote, i do know if it would have changed anything, but it was my decision, and i bear full responsibility. >> meanwhile, little relief is expected soon for southwest airlines customers. the company has already cancelled more 2300 flights today. abou

here is how mayor byron brown responded. also note he talks about a death toll that is smaller than the county-wide death tol. don't be confused by that. go ahead and take a listen. >> it's horrific, 28 members of our community dead in the city of buffalo. we did an evaluation after the last historic storm, just less than two months ago and did things differently. we will continue to improve. we will continue to work to do better, but hysterics from leaders is not what the public is looking for. >> reporter: it seems unlikely this conflict is going to end soon. but i can tell you we're now in front of buffalo city hall which will be open today, as are erie county offices. you mentioned the driving ban lifted. also, the police have managed to check on all those unanswered 911 calls during the height of the storm. the chief of police describing it as a grueling and gruesome task, recovering a substantial number of bodies. he also said as the snow melts, he expects they could find more bodies. we expect to have a new update at

buffalo mayor byron brown, outraged. >> people who are out looting when people are losing their livesthis harsh winter storm, it's just absolutely reprehensible. i don't know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror. they are the lowest of the low. for some of the pictures that we have seen in social media of these looters, they are not looting foods and medicines. they are just looting items that they want. so these aren't even people in distress. these are people that are taking advantage of a natural disaster and the suffering of many in our community to take what they want. >> cheryl: max gorden with fox weather is live in buffalo with the latest on the ground. max? >> good afternoon. well, people who are calling this the worst storm in a generation, and there's been a lot of snow to fall here. more than 4 feet. maybe even worse than the cumulative snowfall has just been the length of this storm. this storm started up on friday morning, and it has been going on ever since then. really only letting up last night and into this mor

. >>> "outfront" now, on the phone, buffalo mayor byron brown. mayor brown, thank you so much for taking the time out. i know your time is precious. i'm sure that you're tired. can you tell us just right now at this moment what the situation is where you are now? >> thank you. i just finished touring the city with the police commissioner looking at conditions and also going to visit first responders, police officers, state troopers, members of the national guard. we thank them for the work that they are doing. there have been people working around the clock with a major focus on protecting life and safety. we've made a lot of progress today. the conditions improved today. we did not have the same wind speeds that we had been experiencing on friday and saturday where we had extreme blizzard conditions. we were able to reach all of the stranded motorists in the city of buffalo and rescue them literally hundreds stranded in the city. we have been working to respond to emergency medical services calls and working with our power company national grid

about the storm's toll and the situation on the ground in buffalo, i'm joined on the phone by mayor byron brown has been visiting hospitals around the city this afternoon thank you so much for joining us today. can you tell us what the situation is like on the ground, especially in the hospitals? >> the situation has improved a bit today. weather conditions milder than saturday and sunday, when we had extreme blizzard conditions. lightly right now. mado e a lovet of progress by plowing to work with the power company to help the national grid restore power. at one time over 20,000 were without power, now that's just over 8000. we continue to work aggressively with the national grid to continue the power restoration process. we have completed the process of rescuing stranded motorists that were stranded in their vehicles. we have also been plowing to assist emergency medical calls and fire calls. we are now continuing to plow to keep roads open so there is hospital access. we are into the residential streets now, so we made significant progress today. unfortunately the death toll in buffalo has i

john: buffalo mayor byron brown. >> as tough and as strong as the county executive could be in a news he did not say any of this to me on the phone or face-to-face. john: across the country, stranded air travelers spent another long, frustrating day - , especially on "southwest -- southwest airlines. plaques i think the worst part was when they cancelled our flights, they didn't give us our luggage. so, these clothes have been on us for four days. john: the airline again canceled more than 60 percent of its flights far more than any other , carrier. last night, transportation secretary pete buttigieg told judy woodruff that the airline can no longer blame all its problems on the storm. >> right now, i would say meltdown is the only word i can use to describe what is happening across southwest airlines' operations. john: today, the head of the southwest pilots union called for major changes. >> they are using processes and i.t. from the 1990's when we were an airline, less than a quarter of the size. >> i'm truly sorry. john: in a video statement, southwest ceo bob jordan acknowledged

buffalo mayor byron brown blasting those who would take advantage. >> people who are out looting, whenare losing their lives in this harsh winter storm, it is absolutely reprehensible. i don't know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror. they are the lowest of the low. >> jessica: the winter chaos also wreaking havoc at america's airports. travelers were left stranded across the country as thousands of airlines canceled and delayed fights. more than 10,000 flights have been canceled since christmas eve, leaving behind what is being described as "mountains of luggage." >> we literally spent half of christmas day at the airport finding another flight. >> i tried to call. i tried to rebook online. i tried to rebook on my phone. couldn't get nothing from nobody. >> i pay loads of money so i can cut. i know that is terrible, but someone got $100 out of me, so. >> they cannot get a pilot here to fly our plane, and the earliest they could rebook us was the 31st. >> jessica: but no airline got it worse than southwest vehicle today, the acc

mark polloncars explaining publicly that the mayor of buffalo byron brown, hasn't been engaging with calls and take a listen to mark polloncars and then the mayor. >> the mayor will not be happy to hear about it but storm after storm, the city unfortunately is the last one to be opened and that shouldn't be the case. it is embarrassing to tell you the truth. >> he's wrong. people have operated since friday. working around the clock on little sleep. and i'm not going to focus on negativity. i'm going to focus on positivity and working together. that is what the residents demand of us. >> reporter: so there is almost certain to be some kind of after action report. there are a lot of people who are upset with how the city has handled this and the count. so that is something we're waiting to follow and we're also waiting for a 12:00 p.m. press conference where the next update on what needs to be done to clear the snow and the death toll. we talked about the national guard going house-to-house in neighborhoods that have lost power to check on penal there. we haven't heard what they discov

and we just learned from the mayor, mayor byron brown, the trash pickup will resume tomorrow.h getting back to normal. but what is still going on is assessing the number of dead. we got an update earlier today from the erie county executive. executive wide -- 39 deaths confirmed by the medical examiner. but park polencarz said that number is almost certain to rise. listen. >> there are additional bodies that have been received that are believed to be blizzard deaths but they do need to have an autopsy and additional work done including a 4-month-old who died on christmas day that the medical examiner's office is still trying to determine the death. >> reporter: so certainly the work of the medical examiner isn't over, and there are still large piles of snow around, and authorities have said there's still a chance they could find people in cars or people trapped under snow banks just because of how horrific this snow was. now, i can tell you there was some good news also earlier today, in part because of the melt that's already happened and the clearing that's already happened.

. >>> joining me on the phone is buffalo new york mayor byron brown. he just issued a state of emergency for his city. thank you for joining us on this. we appreciate it. you just heard bill california lins talking about the situation you're dealing with there. one of the worst situations we'll be seeing across the country in the next 48 hours. we're being told you have zero visibility and encouraing folks to not get on the roads. what do you want people to know? >> this is not a usual snowfall. it is as advertised. these are blizzard conditions. 59 mile per hour winds. in fact the winds are whipping so hard people can feel their homes moving. we imposed a driving ban in buffalo at 9:30 a.m. this morning. we do not want people driving all day today. we don't the them driving tomorrow, saturday. we have had reports of some people that have gone out not following the guidance and have got stuck in their vehicles. that not only puts them at risk it puts emergency first responders at risk. the wind has brought trees down, which have brought power lines dow

after something like this happen, the erie county commissioner mark poloncarz and the buffalo mayor byron brownissioner is criticizing the mayor in the cleanup, saying the mayor hasn't been in delay contact with other municipalities that seem to be doing better. what are your thoughts on this? and has there been communication from your vantage point? >> yeah, look, i'm just going to tell the truth and the fact of the matter is, when municipalities don't work together, residents suffer. and the county executive has been in contact with me throughout the storm and says that he has not had contact with the mayor's administration. and i just -- at this time, don't want to put politics -- because we're still digging ourselves out of this storm. but we are going to have to do an autopsy after this blizzard and figure out how municipalities can work together to better address disasters like this. as you said the city of buffalo, we're prone to snow and we're prone to extreme weather like this, so we really need to get on the best foot forward for our residents. >> and the mayor, i spoke to him yesterd

same press conference, he also apologized for comments that he made wednesday about buffalo mayor byron brownke a listen to the remarks both from wednesday and then yesterday. >> the reason why the state and the county have come in and taken over our operations, i know the mayor won't be happy to hear, it but we took over a segment, one-third of the city of buffalo because we could get in there and clean it quickly. storm after storm after storm after storm, the city unfortunately is the last one to be opened and that shouldn't be the case. it is embarrassing to tell the truth. >> this is a very, very difficult situation. >> i basically lost my focus. i'll say that. and i do apologize to our community for doing it. >> a lot of finger pointing there. and certainly likely not the last winter storm that the region will have to face. the county executive later said he tried to reach out to buffalo's mayor but has not yet heard back. >>> still ahead here on "way too early," we'll bring you the highlights from thursday night football, plus, he was considered the greatest of all time. and look back

buffalo mayor byron brown will be a guest on or"mning joe." that is just moments away.ay item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. need a backup plan? get plan b one-step. plan b helps prevent pregnancy before it starts by temporarily delaying ovulation—and you can resume your regular birth control right away. i've got this. ♪♪ >>> a full six weeks after the new york post published an article claiming donald trump's daughter and son-in-law want nothing to do with the 2024 presidential campaign the former president is issuing his rebuttal the post november 14th article cites insider sources who say that trump begged ivanka and jared to join him on stage in his 2024 campaign launch but they refused immediately following trump's announcement ivanka issued a statement saying she planned to stay off the campaign trail and to not be involved in politics this time around now trump is responding to the article saying he asked them not t

guest: it is tero -- it is true that werner byron brown -- were in her -- werner von braun helped withilitary developing. i would not qualify him as an ss agent but he served the nazi government. on the other hand i disagree with the notion that the philosophy was picked up by the united states government. i reject that. host: robin in alabama. it -- independent line. caller: good morning. i have a couple of questions. the first is are you just a retired general support given in a third world country like ukraine giving -- getting defensive systems against russia. in the second question is what is your stand on gun violence in america? thank you. host: we are not talking about gun violence and he is a retired colonel that i am sure that he appreciates the promotion. guest: thank you for the promotion. yes and i'm going to defer on the gun violence. on the question of transferring sophisticated weapons to ukraine, i think they would protest that they are a third world country. they are european and quite developed in their economy. it is a fair question about tracking these weapons. and

guest: it is tero -- it is true that werner byron brown -- were in her -- werner von braun helped withilitary developing. i would not qualify him as an ss agent but he served the nazi government. on the other hand i disagree with the notion that the philosophy was picked up by the united states government. i reject that. host: robin in alabama. it -- independent line. caller: good morning. i have a couple of questions. the first is are you just a retired general support given in a third world country like ukraine giving -- getting defensive systems against russia. in the second question is what is your stand on gun violence in america? thank you. host: we are not talking about gun violence and he is a retired colonel that i am sure that he appreciates the promotion. guest: thank you for the promotion. yes and i'm going to defer on the gun violence. on the question of transferring sophisticated weapons to ukraine, i think they would protest that they are a third world country. they are european and quite developed in their economy. it is a fair question about tracking these weapons. and

well the city of buffalo is recovering after a historic winter storm, the city's mayor, byron brown, the ban on driving has officially been lifted in that city. but he's still encouraging people to stay off the roads unless it's absolutely necessary. the goal is to allow for more room for snowplows and emergency workers to do their work throughout the city. we've cleared about 70% of streets in the city of buffalo after this historic storm. today. our snow fleet, along with other crews continue their work to clear the roads in the city. there are over 450 pieces of equipment on city streets today provided by the city, county, state and other municipalities from around the state, including new jersey. as temperatures warm up the area is now on alert for the possibility of flooding. once the snow starts to melt. president biden has approved an emergency declaration for the city to help with those recovery efforts. alright, we have a live look now at sfo as another rainy day moves in some stores. storms are heading our way, and that should could certainly impact travel at the airports.