shimon is trying to get someone to speak. do you have someone, shimon? >> reporter: where do you live? you are trying to get home right now. you are coming from the u.s. open. >> reporter: i don't know if you can hear her. y you were on the subway train. >> i have been waiting here for more than an hour. you are starving and your feet are all wet. >> reporter: what are you going to do? >> there is a ban on vehicle right now. >> reporter: you are trying to get home, you live in queens bridge, if the bronx. >> reporter: they may not run the train tonight, what are you going to do? >> get a hotel if there is anything available. >> i heard this open and i was excited about it and ended up -- >> reporter: a disaster. she's trying to get home to the u.s. open. i saw other folks here who were at the u.s. open. the thing of what's happening is the u.s. train were running. people come here and they are stuck. that's what's been happening. i don't know if people know what they're going to do. i think the nta needs to figure out what they're going to do. it is chil

. >> we also have shimon prokupecz in new york city. so, shimon, to you first. the very latest from what you are seeing there? and we understand the rain may be easing a little at this -- at this hour. >> yeah. the rain actually has stopped. i was just -- i am actually under -- underground right now in the times square subway st station just checking out what's going on. i was just upstairs before we came on air so the rain as eased. people are on the streets in manhattan just trying to figure out how to get home. there are thousands of people stranded all across the city at subway stops. i am literally here underground now. people are sleeping, laying on floors, sleeping on benches. they are prepared to spend the night here because it seems, at least till now, there won't be any subway service here at least through the morning. at least until the morning because the subway system. the water needs to be pumped out. there is still a lot of subway stations where there's flooding, a lot of water. and it's not very clear if it's safe for some of the trains to even c

shimon joining us there from new york. many thanks for bringing us up to date on the situation, john. >> from new york city let's go out to brooklyn and cnn's matt varelas is there. what are they going home to? what's the latest on the damage and the flooding in your area? >> reporter: well, good morning. and i can tell you right now what a difference a few hours makes. i mean, behind me right now you'll see one of the major thoroughfares here in brooklyn, the brooklyn queens expressway. pockets of this roadway were filled with flooding, so much so that you had a lot of cars that were stuck in the roadways, that were stuck with flooding. you had nypd vehicles that were going through trying to check up on people. right now there is a traffic ban in the city where officials are saying they suggest that unless you're an essential vehicle you stay off the roads. most people have done that. you'll see certain pockets where there are cars driving on the roads. as i've been saying, there's been very limited service on the mta. yo

is shimon still there? or is he gone? do we still have shimon?sk you because the governor gave the information about checking on mass transportation. you said you were there at 59th street at the columbus circle and that trains were just waiting there. are people taking shelter in those subway stations? are people stranded? what are you seeing? >> yeah. people are stranded. it appears that most people are coming from work. and so, most of them are just trying to find a way to get home. some are just sitting, patiently, on the subways car -- the subway cars hoping the train moves at some point. and then, upstairs outside the station, there are people lingering. trying to figure out how they are going to get home. i mean, it's so significant when the subway just completely shuts down across the city. i mean, almost every subway line is shut down. and that is so, so significant for this city. and usually, when you get flooding, okay, maybe one station, two stations. and so, maybe one or two lines would be affected but the fact that every line, at th

>> and, shimon, have we seen any kind of pickup in the level of service down? of the mta said they were hoping to restore it by the end of the day. it was only five lines running this morning. >> so, this is the 7th avenue line. it certainly has picked up burks it's limited because it's not going into brooklyn which a lot of people need to get to brooklyn to get home. there is definitely an uptick in service, but it's still not 100%. limited service is what the mta is saying. >> all right, shimon prokupecz, limited service. let's hope it gets less limit and had more active as the morning goes along. >> a little delayed, but hopefully it's moving somewhat so people can get home. >> one thing that's been clear if you've been out in this, this is an historic weather event. just how historic are we talking? let's go to cnn meteorologist allison chinchar. allison. >> yeah, that's right. i mean, it really has affected so many different areas. this wasn't just for one city or two cities. looking at the map, you can see how widespread a lot of this rain was. basically

let's begin with shimon prokupecz in the midst of the protest on the mall. shimon? >> reporter: yeah. certainly at this point it doesn't seem the capitol police, washington, d.c. police and other police that are here need to worry about being outnumbered. there are more police officers present around the capitol. you'll see behind us, these are capitol police officers in riot gear. there are more officers just behind the fence here. clearly outnumbering the protesters that have come to the rally. this is the police talking to us about something. there are certainly more officers here. i have to tell you something, fred. you can feel the tension from the police. they're taking nothing for granted. they're not chancing anything. they stopped someone with a knife, arrested the person, removed him. they have been going through the crowd, sometimes looking for specific people. certainly the police are not taking chances. there are more officers on the perimeter as well. police blanketing the area, they're concerned, don't want a repeat of january 6th. this is supposed to

shimon prokupecz in new york. thanks so much. >>> at least one confirmed death has been reported in new jersey. an elderly man was pulled from his car after it was overtaken by floodwaters in passaic. firefighters were able to rescue two other people from that vehicle. the mayor urged residents to stay off the roads. >> there is no way that we could have predicted how bad this storm would get. the intense rainfall, the concentration of water which could result in trees coming down, many people have the impression that the winds are what causes trees to come down, but truly the saturation of the ground, it dislodges the roots. and we were getting reports all over the city where fire were responding. but i've said this before, cars can be repaired, property can be replaced, but the loss of life cannot and today as a city, as a community, we are dealing with the loss of life in our city and potentially more and we know that this storm has devastated our state all over, so again, i want to xhebcommend the efforts fire

let's go to shimon prokupecz. it looks quiet there. but i suspect nothing happening is notable in least preparations today. >> reporter: certainly very notable. it is all over, jim. the police have gone. as you can see there were police officers with me all day, they are all gone. the protesters, the rally protester, they are gone. and some people hanging out. some people just talking. i actually got a chance to talk to. so rally-goers and it was very interesting to hear what some of them have to say. of course, they believe there was no insurrection, people were just merely going in the capitol, perhaps maybe trespassing, but none of them, certainly the ones who were here, felt it was a serious, as serious as it really was. take a listen to what one of the people who was attending here, when i was asking questions about that day, take a listen to what he said. >> it's a public building. i mean people have to say, i think the most severe charge that any of them have is trespassing. >> it is -- >> it is a lie. >> due believe the video?

shimon? >> yeah. and, don, you know, i have been out here now for the better part of an hour and i have been talking to some of the people out here who are trying to figure out how they're going to get home because it doesn't appear that the subway is going to restart anytime soon. so, some are making arrangements trying to get family members to come pick them up. there are some city buses that are running. so some folks are trying to get on those to see how far they can -- can get. interestingly enough, i have just spoke to a -- a grubhub delivery guy who's been working for the last several hours. he said he's made it actually quite a lot of money the last several hours. he's been out here delivering in the pouring rain. and he lives in the bronx. so he is trying to figure out how he's going to get home. so now, basically, it's just a lot of people standing around trying to figure out how it is that they are going to get home. if they can even get home tonight. the other thing is, you know, the mayor

shimon, how is the president planning to honor the day?> reporter: yeah, certainlying it will be a busy day for him. he'll be here at ground zero at the world trade center site with other dignitaries, other presidents and first responders. so he will be here. and then go to pennsylvania and then also wind up ending his day over at the pentagon. all of these are the sites where one of those planes went down, of course. and it is going to be a very solemn day here. 20 years, most people remember where they were on this day, 20 years ago. and now so many remembering leading up to this, i was down at the reflection pool before i came up for the live shot, you could start to feel some of the sadness and some of the solemn, the quiet around the pools, the reflection pools where many of the names are etched in stone along the pool, family gathering there already and some of the first responders. it is a solemn day here tomorrow and a day to remember what happened 20 years ago. >> shimon, thanks for that. >>> and just this past month the u.s. ende

cnn's shimon prokupecz is live in foley square where some are protesting the new mandate.happening behind you there, shimon. >> reporter: just protesting vaccines in general. i have been out here talking to some of the people who kind of just live in their own reality and really feel that the government is trying to control them by using these vaccines. one person compared it to naziism. all believing that this is some kind of conspiracy by the government to try and control people, and so it's presenting a real problem for officials here in new york, and that is why they say we need these mandates, school teachers, they say they need to be mandated to get vaccin vaccinated. as you said, the courts taking up issue, there's a hearing at the federal appeals court on wednesday about whether or not the city can enforce that, and then the governor of the state also having issues with health care workers who say there are some who don't want to get vaccinated so she says that she's going to call in the national guard to try and help with some of the understaffing, staffing issues

shimon prokupecz has been monitoring for us all day. shimon, how is this being assessed?porter: this is not the way the police expected it to go. when i talked to the police chief this morning before the rally, he said he expected it to be over 1:15 or so and it was going to be peaceful. that's the case. they're taking the stage down. the event organizer, just after 1:00 came out. he spoke to the people who were here. he said, it's time to go home. let's exit together. they actually thanked the police officers for being here. he said, thank police officers as you walk by because there were so many police officers here. there's still capitol police. hundreds of them still out here because there's still stragglers and obviously for them, the concern was also post-rally. what happens afterward? but most people have left. even some of the police officers who were here on this side, they have now left. so things, peaceful. things went as well as the police had hoped and certainly as well as they expected. i don't know how the event organizers feel. in listening to them address

let's go to cnn's shimon prokupecz who is live up on capitol hill for us right now. you got the opportunity to speak to members in that crowd. and there were some very interesting moments. is that right? what can you tell us? >> reporter: certainly, jim, some very, very interesting moments. certainly people who believe that this insurrection just didn't exist, that this was just people trespassing, people who just don't believe that when have seen before their very eyes. i had the opportunity to talk to one of the attendees, and he was talking about how no officers were assaulted, how this was a bunch of people who were just trying to go in and essentially protest, and asking him all sorts of questions, you could just tell he was living in his own kind of reality, take a listen to some of what i asked him. >> it's a public building. i mean people out there, people are in this town all the time and i think the most severe charge they have is trespassing. >> destroying property, assaulting an officer? you don't believe the video? on video, there is assaulting of a poli

cnn's shimon prokupecz is live outside of the capitol with our top story. shimon, months after being taken down, the fencing around the capitol is now back up. >> reporter: yeah, it is back up, boris. and most people waking up this morning who were out here for a run saw a much different capitol hill fencing going up overnight and into the morning. the construction workers are done now. the fencing is here. they've bolted it down. they've used these concrete barriers to sort of help keep it down. but it is also meant to protect against any vehicles, cars that may try to enter the capitol. of course authorities here on high alert, concerned of possible threats of unrest with the rally that is expected on saturday. there is so much concern here that this entire area now around the capitol, the perimeter of the capitol, is basically fenced in. it is still open, people can go in today. but i suspect that is going to change probably by tomorrow. certainly by saturday people will not be allowed to enter the capitol grounds. but the fencing stretches all the way t

so we are going to go to shimon prokupecz live in a subway station right now.t are you seeing down there? are any of these lines even running right now? >> reporter: so, i'm just under ground from where you are, kaitlan at 42nd street in times square. it's just been packed here all night. i've been here since i would say around midnight. and it just stayed this way. let me show you what's going on here so you can see for yourself. many of the people -- this train here i just want to tell you has been here since 9:45 last night. this train pulled into the station and has not left. and there are people who have been here since 10:00 p.m. last night. these people sitting here you can see one woman she took her shoes off just to get more comfortable. there's no way for many of these people to get home. the subways are their life. this is the way they get home. many of them coming from work. this woman here, she's a nurse's aide. she was coming from work. trying to get home. and this is the way folks get home here. most of the people can't afford cab. can't afford a

shimon prokupecz is in new york. what are you hearing ahead of the president's trip this morning? >> reporter: well, some indication, erica, is where we're getting some indication from how some of the residents here feel came yesterday when the mayor and other local leaders were in and around queens visiting with the residents, touring some of the damage. they're not happy. they feel that the city, local leaders let them down. they feel like there should have been more warning. certainly they feel like these are areas the city should have known was prone to flooding and should have dunmore. this area where i'm at, this is in woodside queens. we're like in a back alley surrounded by about two dozen homes. burr but it's kind of an interesting area. there is a ramp that goes down to get into this back alley, and you can see how water can really fill up here. there are only two drains maybe. so neighbors here, the residents here say they need better infrastructure. they need better drainage. that is all part of infrastructure. that is something that they want to address with the presi

cnn crime and justice correspondent shimon prokupecz is working the story. there's new warning from department of homeland security. give us the latest. >> reporter: yeah. that's right. the warnings coming from online chatter according to the department of homeland security in an assessment, intelligence briefing that they just released saying there's the potential of violence and a lot based on what law enforcement is seeing for weeks and months. continued chatter online chat rooms threatening violence and why the fence is back. for weeks and months officials said there was a potential the fence would come back and now because of the rally officials on the capitol decided to bring back the fence and the tsa say they're ramping up security and the national guard. it is not clear how the national guard is going to be used but remember in the days after the insurrection they were behind the fences. national guard was all over here on capitol hill. we'll see what they do when they come here. also outside the supreme court where also there's going to be more fen

but today is not about the officers as pete and shimon showed you. today is a protest about rioters, in support of the rioters. let me breakdown where things stand in the riot investigation. believe it or not, more than 600 people have been charged so far. it is a massive probe. they made arrests in 44 states and d.c. of the 600, only a few dozen are in jail, right? and today's protest and demonstration is supposedly in support of rioters that are in jail. keep in mind, it is a few dozen out of 600. why are those people in jail? most of them charged with violent crimes, things like assaulting police, taking an aluminum bat to a police officer, things like that. and judges heard the evidence, weighed in after hearing from the defense and the biden justice department and decided in a few instances, few dozen rioters that are in jail, judges decided they're too dangerous to release. don't want to run the risk of them coming back to d.c. and participating in another violent event. >> marshall cohen, thank you so much for that update and to the gentlemen

shimon prokupecz reports now. >> reporter: a peaceful end to the rally so much of d.c.capitol police, washington, d.c. police concerned over the level of chatter and threat. the protest came to an end with no incident. it lasted just over an hour. some police officers still remain here. you can see here along the capitol some of them are now sitting, i don't know if you can see that in the distance. for the most part, this went as well as police had expected. they said it would last just over an hour and that's exactly what happened. the event organizer, the rally organizer, at the end spoke to the crowd, told them it was time to leave, that they should thank the police for being here, told them to wave at the police officers as they left. he was saying that one of the reasons why perhaps they didn't have a bigger turnout was because of all the police presence, people being afraid to come here because of so much attention on the security and the police. the other thing that they were talking about was kind of blaming the media, perhaps, that the attention we were giving

let's begin with shimon prokupecz. what do you see? >> reporter: yeah. you can see here out of -- i want to let the police car go by. so this is where the rally is going to take place. we don't know how many people are here who are part of the rally. it is a lot of media people. so far we are an hour away. obviously the security here is very, very tight. you can see police officers here from the washington, d.c. police with the riot gear. they're ready. everywhere you go in this area you see police. there's hundreds of officers outside the perimeter. also what authorities have done here is they're using the dump trucks parked along the street here and what it is is to prevent let's say if the crowd is really large and people try to come this way or leave from here this is supposed to prevent them. a crowd control method. something we didn't see on january 6. this kind of presence we didn't see on january 6. many of the officers out here were here. they said they hope nothing happens. >> that is indeed the hope. pete muntean, let's go to you. on a lovely

shimon prokupecz is outside the memorial there.k us through some of the ceremonies that we'll see tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, so, like you said, the president will be here, former presidents, many, many dignitaries, former officials from new york city, first responders, and of course and most importantly, perhaps, the families, the families who lost so many loved ones 20 years ago and in many ways, certainly, if you were here 20 years ago, as i was, you don't forget that day. and you're still reminded and it's really difficult to even think that it's been 20 years and so for the families, it's going to be a very somber, sad day to think, you know, despite the fact that this has been 20 years, they will never forget and they will never forget how they felt that day, so we're going to have a reading of the names, a lot of first responders will be here. you know, last year, because of the pandemic, many of the family members were not able to gather here, so this year's going to be even more special because so many of them are going t

shimon, great to see you there.hank you for showing us what is happening as this develops throughout the morning. >>> the justice for j6 rally is presenting a dilemma for republican lawmakers seeking to distance themselves from the bad memories of the deadly insurrection on january 6th. not a single member is scheduled to appear at the rally. this is probably a tricky spot for them, right? a lot of their constituents are sympathetic to the insur insurre insurrectionists. >> none of them are scheduled to speak or promoting the event. but at the same time, none of them are condemning it either. in fact, there are several members of congress who expressed either public support or sympathy for the insurr insurrections. ralph norman of south carolina is slated to speak at a local justice for j6 rally at his state capitol and two congressional candidates who are republicans speaking at the event on saturday. it puts gop leaders in a tough position. they don't want to seem like they're sympathetic to the rioters or pro ins

. >> cnn crime and justice correspondent shimon prokupecz is live outside the capitol.alisyn, and also threats against congress members so they're dealing with that. they say they're in an enhanced security posture. they're hoping for a peaceful event, obviously, but they're prepared. they said they're going to be able to handle whatever it is that occurs and that also the washington, d.c., police, they're also going to be fully activated, because one of the concerns here is that there's going to be clashes between some of the other groups that they think are coming in and these groups are going to start fighting with each other, so that is one of the added concerns in all of this. of course, the national guard will be here. the big thing, what's causing all of this concern is chatter. it's the intelligence that the washington police here, that law enforcement all across the country has been gathering. here's the capitol police chief talking about that. >> we would be foolish not to take seriously the intelligence that we have at our disposal. how credible it is, how li

. >>> let's begin with cnn's shimon prokupecz. you've seen the fences go up, you've seen the protections go into place. tell us about it. >> reporter: so, overnight as you said, john, these fences were placed really just entire -- the entire perimeter of the capitol now fenced in with these fences. and also what they've done here, john, is they've put these barricades, these jersey barriers, concrete barriers. a lot of the parts of the capitol here as well, and that is obviously to protect from vehicles. obviously there is some concern someone may try to drive a vehicle through here. so they've done that. and really, john, i just want to show you, eddie here is going to show you a perspective of this how far the stretch is. it goes for blocks now. and it turns the corner and goes around onto independence. really, the entire perimeter now of the capitol now fortified because, as you said, authorities here not taking any chances. even though people will not be here, they don't expect members of congress here. obviously it will be a

. >>> next, i want to go to shimon prokupecz is assessing what's been going on in the subway stations. last time we checked in with you there were people there since 10:00 p.m. last night because they simply had no way of getting home. are there any more lines running than there were about an hour ago? >> and there are people who have been here since 10:00 p.m. are still here. i just met another woman here on the other side of the platform here who has been here since last night. there is some glimmer of hope here. let me show you what's going on as i turn this camera around. this station -- this train has been sitting here since 9:45 last night. is going to leave now. but it's only going one stop, downtown south to 34th street. and what the mta is going to do is they're going to turn it around at 34th street and then bring it back up town to that side to get all of those people to work. many of the people here now are trying to get to work. there are construction workers. mostly i've seen a lot of construction workers. as you can see here, kaitlan, let me show you the doors here are

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shimon prokupecz is in the bronx. i can see the water there. give us an idea how deep it is and what the challenge is. >> reporter: yeah. this is pretty incredible. we've seen some of the aerial shots throughout the day. just to think what so many of these drivers and passengers must have been going through as the torrential rain was coming down, many of them stuck in their cars having to be rescued. the cars are turned in different directions because of the strength of the rain. we're here on the major road. it's going to be hours before pumps get some of this water out. i want to show you how deep this is. it's about knee length or so at this point. the water has not receded much and we haven't seen any of the authorities here trying to clear that out. if you look further ahead, they're towing some of the cars. we've also seep n drivers comin back. the number of trucks here on the deagen. it's a hub. look, there's a ups truck. i see a whole foods. just tells you people were not expecting this. you have presumably experienced drivers that can

. >> cnn's shimon prokupecz following this for us in d.c. we are two hours from this starting as we understand it. >> reporter: yeah. so certainly you can see and feel the police presence. we can take a look. we know they are very concerned over what could potentially happen here. you can see that deflected in the presence of police officers here and even outside of here. coming over here, even outside of this there are a lot of police officers, heavily armed vehicles parked and then you have the dump trucks here to use if they need to move into some kind of position perhaps to block people from going to certain areas. there are police everywhere here. inside the area where the rally is expected to take place, setting up a monitor here. those are the organizers and then officers inside here. on the other side capitol police officers and other police officers dressed in these reflective vests to indicate they want the rally people part of the protest to see them and don't want them past that fence because that is where -- you see here more po

cnn crime and justice reporter, shimon prokupecz is with us now.you learning about this arrest? >> reporter: yeah, this certainly underscores the concern that authorities here have in anticipation of this rally that's supposed to take place on saturday. capitol police pulling over this individual. they identified him as 44-year-old daniel craighead, and what they say is they found a bayonet and machete inside his pickup truck. they also asked him some questions. he said he was out who are on patrol. he was talking about white supremacy, and other information that gay concern to authorities. he's awaiting his court hearing. he's from california. police believe he drove all the way here from california. as you said, they arrested him just after midnight, and he's now awaiting that court hearing sgh so di . >> so disturbing to see the swastikas on his truck. joining us now, charles ramsey, former d.c. police chief, and also served as commissioner in philadelphia. intel officials have warned of increased violent rhetoric leading up to this rally schedu

we got an inside look on what's going on the streets from shimon prokupecz. police are preparing with the possibility that protesters may arrive with weapons. it's unclear how large this rally will be. but security officials say they want to avoid the mistakes on january 6th when officers were unprepared and overwhelmed by the siege that was really filled with president trump supporters. >> even though transportation security administration is ramping up security. the agency says that it is monitoring and positioned to deploy in response to any issues that might prop up in the d.c. area. we begin with cnn's pete muntean live for us at ronald reagan washington national airport with more. this is really a testament to just how widespread they're trying to make of the safety net, pete. >> that's right, brianna. the tsa says it's always on high alert you'll see more canines and law enforcement officers at airports leading up to this justice for j6 rally. the agency ramped up security measures here at reagan national airport, at dulles and bwi. this is a period of

shimon prokupecz is in hard-hit queens, where most of the damage in new york took place.hat's right. most of the damage has taken place here in queens, people drowning in their homes and basements of their homes. the mayor was here yesterday with other city officials here out in queens visiting, touring some of the devastation. you can see some of the damage, some of the people still trying to dry out, clean up their homes in the neighborhood. they were not happy. some of the residents not happy with the city's response, feeling that the city should have done more, that the government should have done more to protect them. the president coming to this area here today. he will no doubt hear some of those complaints from some of the residents. one of the issues, of course, is infrastructure, and what is it that the government can do to try and help some of these neighborhoods which are now going to be seeing unprecedented flooding. they're also talking about climate change, and what effect that has on what's happening across places like this, which usually don't see this ki