. >> i'm victor blackwell.aybe it was santa and the reindeer. >> possibly, the jet fuel being burned off the back of the sled. >> good morning. thanks for joining us on "new day saturday." we're starting this morning with four americans detained in libya and then suddenly released. >> well, the four military personnel were working security at the u.s. embassy in tripoli when they were detained by the libyan government. >> joining us is sundarlin. we're missing the story, when and why. do we know why? >> absolutely, we're missing the "w"s, deborah and victor. it's not know why they were taken into custody. they're in touch with officials trying to identify what prompted this. here is what we do know at this point, four military personnel were detained for some hours on friday in tripoli. held by the ministry of the interior with the libyan government. hours later, overnight, the u.s. defense department confirmed to cnn that they were released. a u.s. official confirms that the four were, quote, augmenting securi

i'm pamela brown. >> and i'm victor blackwell. we want to begin with winter weather grinding its way across the country. this unusual system is being blamed for killing two people in mississippi and one in missouri. >> in des moines, iowa, plows worked through the night to remove half a foot of snow off the roads. >> the blizzard made driving slow and some drivers were frozen in their tracks. this is out of milwaukee. it is the scene that is being repeated all over the map on this busy holiday travel day. cnn is all over the story. >> from reporters in the severe weather center to chicago's o'hare airport to kansas city, missouri, we find cnn's nick valencia this morning. how's it going, nick? >> good morning, victor. don't adjust your tv screens at home. they're not shaking. the first day of winter, surely lived up to it. it's really cold here. it feels like single digit temperatures, more towards in the 20s here in kansas city right now. we woke up and saw about three to five inches of snow. and that really sort of is resonating

i'm pam ela brown. >> i'm victor blackwell.atlanta, we're hitting the 70s. you might be dreaming of a white christmas with family, but it is going to be a nightmare out there on the roads to get to the family. so get ready for the crowds at the airport, too. more than 5.5 million will take to the skies, starting today, and already we're seeing the delays and the cancellations. mostly across the great plains. >> hmm. more than 85 million people will be traveling by car to see family and friends. that is more than one in four americans. >> we've got team coverage tracking this latest storm. nick valencia is live in kansas city, missouri, for us. >> and jennifer gray is in the cnn severe weather center, but nick, we're going to start with you. go ahead. >> reporter: good morning, pamela and victor. the worst is yet to come here, but officials here that i've spoken to say they'll be prepared for that storm when it does gechlt t to the nation's midsection. from cars skidding on frozen roads and some flipping over -- to flight delays

. >> i'm victor blackwell. well, let me just say this off the top. i feel great. i'm breathing well. i feel good. it's just that, you know -- >> just the voice. >> just the voice. when you live alone, you don't speak to anyone in the morning. i discovered this when i came into work. >> very anchormanesque. >> really? "anchorman it 2" december 24th. >> i'm here to capture -- >> thank you very much. >>> let's start with the weather. that's the talker. it's deadly. the weather is still grinding its way across the country and already causing serious problems. >> possible tornadoes in arkansas carved a path of destruction four days before christmas and mississippi, four storms are blamed for killing two people. let's go further west. an ice storm left branches frozen in mid-air and forced air travelers to scramble to rebook canceled flights. some places got more than a foot of snow. >>> meantime unusually warm temperatures to the north led to dangerous flooding there. i take a look at the strange weather mix still sweeping the country. the first day of winter brought a

. >> that was victor blackwell reporting. health experts say there are simple steps you can take to stay healthy. they are obvious but bear repeating. wash your hands often, cover your coughs or sneezes, and if you are sick, stay home. the cdc expects the flu season to peak in february >>> a snowboarder with ties to the bay area has died in an avalanche. he was hit by the avalanche. his friend, who was a doctor, tried to save his life. they say he was in a high-risk area. michael split time living in the bay area and jackson, wyoming. >>> utility workers in the midwest, the northeast, and canada are working long shifts to restore power to tens of thousands of people left in the dark after a major snow and ice storm. power officials say the ice and wind did severe damage to power lines. the storm has been blamed for 17 deaths in the u.s. and 10 in canada. another storm is expected in the region sunday and monday. ♪ [music] ♪ >>> a cloudier, cooler day shaping up around the bay area for today. wall to wall clouds from the coast

victor blackwell is tracking the story from atlanta. walk us through this, h1n1 can be a threat for people not commonly at risk for serious flu complications. why is that? >> there is no exact reason why. some doctors believe possibly a similar strain circulated 50 to 60 years ago and now people oo elderly have built up immunity to that. this season h1n1 is back being considered a seasonal flu. we have new numbers from the is its for disease control and prevention illustrate how much and how quickly the flu is spreading. we know from the cdc today that the 49 states, here's the map, 49 states are the reporting some level of activity. some flu-like activity. the only state that isn't reporting is north carolina, and it's not that there isn't any flu there. it's just they didn't accepted in their report. ten states though, ten states are reporting widespread activity. let's list them off, alabama, alaska, kansas, louisiana, massachusetts, new york, pennsylvania, texas, virginia, and wyoming. remember, we are still several weeks out from t

i'm poppy harlow. >> i'm victor blackwell.reaking news overnight is going to lead to one happy family reunion at the san francisco airport today. merrill newman. 85 years old. a veteran of the korean war. he is on a plane home. suddenly north korea freed him. we have cnn's athena jones at the white house. he was in south korea today. what was his role, if any, in this release of merrill newman? >> reporter: good morning, victor. vice president biden said he played no direct role in newman's release. he did say he spoke with merrill newman on the phone, offered him a ride back to america on air force two. merrill newman decided to take the direct flight from beijing to san francisco. here is what merrill newman said when reporters caught up to him at airport in beijing. >> i'm very glad to be on my way home. i appreciative of the tolerance of dprk has given me to be on my way home. >> how do you feel now? >> i feel good. i feel good. >> what do you want to do first thing? >> go home and see my wife. >> reporter: so we know a lo

i'm victor blackwell. this is "new day sunday." first this morning, we're going to take you to south africa's farewell to the man that many called the greatest son, nelson mandela. south africa's first black president and icon of democracy has been laid to rest in the ancestral village of qunu, that's where he grew up. about 130 of nelson mandela's family and friends have been walking to the grave site. according to the tradition, the burial takes place at midday, where the sun is at its brightest. at his family's request, the burial was private, and earlier, thousands gathered in a huge tent set up for a state funeral. in attendance, of course, mr. mandela's family, african heads of state, several of them spoke during the program. britain's prince charles, jesse jackson, also oprah winfrey. on the stage, there were 95 candles that glowed, one for every year of mr. mandela's life. >> mr. mandela's casket was draped with the south african flag. a military escort carried it to the burial site and soldiers li lined the way as the mour

i'm victor blackwell, 8:00 heerp on east coast. this is "new day sunday". >> the calendar is about to catch up with the weather. winter starts next sunday. >> already the third big storm in recent weeks is burying upstate new york and new england this morning. this system left a thousand-mile trail of snow acrossed midwest. places like chicago, and detroit and cleveland. we got several inches of snow that need to be shoveled off or plowed somewhere today. >> yep. alexander fields is out there in the thick of it. in massachusetts. tell us, alexandra, how bad is it? >> reporter: pamela, it's going from scenic to sloppy pretty quickly. take a look at what we're seeing here in wu bern. this is about ten miles outside of boston. but it's quickly turning to slush. this is the same mess we're seeing all over the northeast this morning. the sights and sounds of a fierce winter storm. overnight, the large swath of snow and ice moved into the northeast, packing a punch that has many in the region digging in for a long winter. >> got plenty o

. >> and i'm victor blackwell. 10:00 here on the east coast, 7:00 out west. you're in the "cnn newsroom." >> thousands of cancellation, widespread power out ands, complete chaos on the roads. >> complete. >> this massive ice storm, it's paralyzing the south. >> a lot of the country, one person actually we now know killed this morning after their truck slid off of a very icy roadway in the dallas area. this video coming to us from our affiliate, wfaa a short time ago. it shows a tow crane fishing the truck out of a lake right along interstate 35. >> the storm is also causing headaches for millions of travelers across the country. more than 4,000 flights have been cancelled sense thursday, and in texas, the drivers have been stuck on the interstate for more than ten hours. >> it's crippling a lot of the country. so far, the storm moving east, is blamed for five deaths, hundreds of injuries. >> we're tracking the storm from all angles. let's begin with kendra peterson, joining us from memphis. deidre? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. we had the freezing rain reall

. >> and victor blackwell. 10:00 here on the east coast, and you're in the "cnn newsroom." >> we have to talk about the shock and the grief and the search now for answers in colorado this morning. >> police and students and parents, they all want to know the question that everybody really wants to know, they want an answer to the question, why? why a student walked into his high school and opened fire on his classmates. and this happened yesterday on the eve of today's one-year anniversary of the deadly rampage at sandy hook elementary school in new town, connecticut. >> so in this latest incident, here's what we know. police say 18-year-old karl pierson, see him there, shot and injured a 15-year-old girl. minutes later when police got to the school, they found pierson dead on the floor. students at the high school in the denver suburb described just these frightening moment when is they heard gunshots. >> it was terrifying, because we heard gunshots, and dana, she came running down the stairs and saying she -- someone's been shot. >> oh, cnn casey winen is following the investigation

i'm pamela brown. >> and i'm victor blackwell.watching this morning. >> number one, two astronauts hard at work outside the international space station. their mission today? to disconnect a 780-pound cooling pump. >> it's about the size of a refrigerator. it's filled with toxic ammonia, and it's broken. the progress today is ahead of schedule to fix what officials say is a critical problem, and just one more space walk may be needed to finish repairs. >>> and at number two, prosecutors in newark say old-fashioned police work and modern technology helped them snare four suspects in last weekend's carjacking there. and the shooting death of a young new jersey lawyer and husband. the news conference was a short time ago. the four men in custody face murder and other charges. >>> and a brutal winter storm is expected to disrupt travel just in time for the holidays. some airports along the east coast are seeing delays. washington, d.c., seeing a backup of around 30 minutes right now, and, of course, that could get worse. the numbers ex

"new day sunday" continues right now with pamela brown and victor blackwell. >>> ice, rain, and freezingres are gripping the midwest as flooding sinks cars, streets and back yards. but sfdespite a storm stretchin from louisiana to canada, the northeast is enjoying spring in december. >> the conflict in south sudan has now become an american problem. when u.s. military members there were fired upon and injured. they had to abort their rescue mission. the question now, how to evacuate those stranded american civilians. >> and a third person is come forward

i'm victor blackwell. this is "new day sunday."is morning, we're going to take you to south africa's farewell to the man that many called the greatest son, nelson mandela. south africa's first black president and icon of democracy has been laid to rest in the ancestral village of qunu, that's where he grew up. about 130 of nelson mandela's family and friends have been walking to the grave site. according to the tradition, the burial tak

i want to bring in cnn's victor blackwell who joins me in atlanta. elopment of the story for months. so, you know, we've seen some of the video last month. didn't answer the big question, how did kendrick johnson die? so now the fbi is involved. tell me how. >> brooke, cnn has learned from a source with knowledge of the investigation surrounding the hard drives that the fbi, fbi agents will be at lowndes high school, likely today, to seize the hard drives from the surveillance system at lowndes high school, potentially to get the video from the day that kendrick johnson died and the following day when his body was found. this is the result, we have also learned from the source, of a grand jury subpoena issued by u.s. attorney michael moore in georgia who is investigating the case. as you mentioned, this is to find out exactly how he died. you know, there is the video that we received from the sheriff's office that left so many questions for the family, for the johnsons. they want to know essentially did all of the video that was recorded at the school

. >> i'm victor blackwell.and grief we have seen many times over the last several years. this time it's in colorado. actually again in colorado. parents, police, students all searching for answers. >> on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the horrific newtown shootings there's been another tragedy. this one at arapaho high school in denver suburb there. police say 18-year-old student karl pierson entered the school with a shotgun. shots rang out. pierson is dead. another is in critical condition. >> let's go to casey wian. he's in there. they they they found a possible motive involving the librarian at the school. tell us about that. >> that's right, victor. they have four separate crime scenes they continue to look at. one is the school behind me. one is the car in which he lived. they say he came to the school seeking revenge against a teacher. >> there's smoke. there's a fire in the library. >> chaos and confusion at colorado's arapaho high school as a gunman opens fire. >> i'm on the north side. i have

thank you so much, victor blackwell, for bringing us the developments.eciate it. >> reporter: sure. >>> the u.s. winter olympic team could be missing one of its stars, skier lindsey vonn was seen crying after a recent competition. what could happen to put her gold medal hopes in jeopardy? smoke? no, i'm good. ♪ [ male announcer ] every time you say no to a cigarette, you celebrate a little win. nicorette mini delivers fast craving relief in just 3 minutes. double your chances of quitting with nicorette mini. >>> oh, those packer fan also do anything to help their fans, including manual labor. >> it is nice. it's good considering some of them have ownership stake in the team. >> well, they know it makes sense. >> i like that, too. we do this story every year, where the public comes out to help clean up lambeau field, you know, it snows so much in green bay. and they're actually paying people 10 bucks an hour, so they can be involved in this. they shovel snow, get it out of the aisleways, and get it off the stairs. >> and they're having fun. >> it's like a

>> cnn's victor blackwell joining me live from atlanta.n, man by the name of david warren, found guilty of murder several years back. his conviction tossed out. he's acquitted on retrial, but i guess it's not a surprise that the family of henry glover is so upset, looking at the mother. >> they believe a murderer walked free. we have to go back to 2005, to the days after hurricane katrina. officer david glover with the new orleans police department, he is -- i'm sorry, david warren with the new orleans police department, is outside of a police facility, but it's on the second level of a strip mall, so he's above ground. he sees 31-year-old henry glover walking toward, he says the stairs that lead up to the balcony. he thought is up glover makes it up the stairs, he's dead. so the officer shoots and killed henry glover. he then says that he does not regret it. he goes to trial in 2010, convicted on federal charges of manslaughter. 25 years he's sentenced to. then in appeals, the officer is ordered to have a retrial because he was tried with

i'm victor blackwell. >> and i'm deborah feyerick. flawed rollout of the affordable health care act has caused president obama a lot of headaches. >> and it's given his critics a lot of ammunition about his credibility. so what does the president have to do to get back ahead in the next year? well, with us now from dallas, cnn political commentator ben ferguson. >> and in philadelphia, cnn political commentator mark lamont hill. so, gentlemen, a question for both -- can president obama get his credibility back in 2014? let's start with you, mark. >> absolutely. i mean, the great thing about the way political news works and the political culture works in d.c. is that you're only as good or as bad as the last cycle. there was a time in october where people said republicans can never recover from the shutdown, and then benghazi will be on everybody's lips for a year, and everybody forgot about benghazi. the economy is recovering. the kinks in the obamacare, will be ironed out by april, may, and then we'll be talking about what's next. an

. >> i'm victor blackwell. 8:00 on the east coast. 5:00 out west.his is "new day sunday." >> might be one of the days you just want to peek out the window and stay inside. we're talking about ice and snow. and just the cold fact for a large part of the eastern united states that's what it is today. >> yeah. but beyond it just being annoying and in the way, it is dangerous. seven deaths are being blamed or linked to the storm. look for ice and snow to make driving really risky from southern ohio all the way to washington, d.c. and before the day is done, the system will slide north to philly, new york, boston. there's going to be this mixture of ice and sleet and snow and rain and all the junk you really don't want to deal with on the roads. had is dallas. look at this. miles of drivers stuck on interstate 35 for up to ten hours. i can't even deal with a ten-hour drive much less sitting in one spot for ten hours. the storm also led to hundreds of canceled flights, left thousands of people without power. >> so we want to go north a little bit, northea

. >> i'm victor blackwell. this is "new day sunday." >>> we do have breaking news for you this morning. an explosion rocks a train station in russia, killing at this point we know at least 18 people. >> yeah. and the blast happened overnight at a station in the southern city of volgegard. reports are that a female suicide bomber carried out this attack. >> cnn has just obtained video of the explosion. see the center of your screen there, see the smoke out of that area there at the train station. that was at the core of that station there, victor, as i understand it. possibly near some metal detecters. >> let's get more from cnn's diana magnay from moscow. what is the latest? what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, the death toll seems to be rising. as you said, russian state media reporting 19 dead. we're hearing that they believe it was the work of a female suicide bomber. volg volgograd is near the troubled north caucuses region, where there is a separatist struggle going on with armed militants and these bl

. >> reporter: victor blackwell, cnn, atlanta. >>> all right. it is monday time.markets are up big time, housing, jobs, all these other indicators, all up, up, up. but the most telling think may be about how you feel about the economy. our new poll shows that metric is not good. a new cnn/orc poll shows most of you think things are pretty poor and many don't think the economy will be much better a year from now. why this disconnect? stocks soared again yesterday. alison kosik. main street, wall street, not the same thing. >> one america and two economies. the most obvious disconnect is the stock market, the dow reaching its 50th record high of the year. that's incredible, the s&p 500 hitting records almost on a daily basis. but then you've got this cnn/orc poll showing americans are not getting it, even though signs that the economy are getting better. gdp up for the third quarter showed markedly much improvement, 4%. mind you, it is just one quarter but it does show that there's improvement in the economy. home prices are up. jobs are being added. you would think

i'm victor blackwell, good to have you with us. more out weather. new day sunday.peratures. >> i think the high in atlanta is only 47 today. the question is, do you really want to go out? >> millions of people in the east and in the path of this huge winter storm, early winter storm, prewinter storm. it's not winter yet. look for ice and snow to spread from northern kentucky to washington, d.c. before the day is over. new york, philly, boston all expected to get slammed. the storm hit the dallas area. look at this. >> wow. >> this is saturday. miles of drivers were stuck on i-35. some there up to 10 hours. the storm led to hundreds of canceled flights, hundreds of thousands of people lost power. >> one man we know lost control of his truck on i-35 there, skidded into a lake. rescue drivers just couldn't reach him fast enough. he died before they were able to pull him out of the truck, pull the water out of the truck. a total of seven deaths are being blamed on this storm we know. >> go to cnn in roanoke, virginia. tory, the last time we spoke with you, the temperat

victor blackwell is here to walk us through this. hi. >> we're still weeks out from the peak.s really alarming that these deaths have come so soon. but you know the cdc estimates that as many as one in five of us could come down with the flu and it's because that the usual suspects to the flu, the very young and the very old are not the ones getting the h1n1, it's the young adults, that's why this is so troubling. >> reporter: the flu season is officially upon us. although it is just the beginning. the cdc is already reporting widespread infection rates in several states including alabama, louisiana, and new york. but texas has been the hardest hit reporting at least five deaths from the h1n1 strain also known as swine flu. >> the majority ever strains are older. we know h 1 n 1 does cause infection in younger adults. >> h 1 n 1 first made headlines in 2012. the cdc said it infected 52 million people. about 24% of the world and may have killed hundreds of thousands worldwide. health officials say if you have not gotten a flu shot, you still can. >> every formulation of vaccine

victor blackwell is live in the atlanta with the latest. good morning. >> good morning.onths, we're going to hear more of this pressure they're placing on state and local officials. that rally was to urge the governor of georgia to order a coroner's inquest. the state's official claimed kendrick johnson climbed into a mat to reach for a shoe. that was 11 months ago. and was killed by his own body weight. it was an accident. the family's pathologist said there was evidence of trauma. a jury would be impanelled, which would override the state and determine his death was a homicide. one speaker yesterday said we're not asking for it. we don't come hat in hand. we demand it because justice demands it. the governor's office has said they will wait for the federal investigation to be completed. >> and the funeral home is kind of getting drawn into this as well. what is the family alleging the funeral home did and how did they say this impacts the investigation? >> cnn was first to report in october that kendrick johnson's organs were missing and he was stuffed with newspaper w

blackwell. you mentioned something about the chair. >> in the alcove victor showed us, you can see the picture ofeanor and jack kennedy. she switched the chairs so she would look up -- look down at him and he would have to look up. and she argues him to take a stance on labor unions and civil rights. which he does take belatedly. >> go ahead for your question for doug brinkley and alee that black. >> i have a question for both. who are the descendents of fdr and eleanor now adays. what would eleanor think about the direction that the country is going today? >> let's stick with the kids instead of trying to channel eleanor roosevelt? >> all of the children are dead. the grandchildren are very much alive and active in the cousins committee. some of them are involved in great public service efforts, in goodwill, in teaching in rural schools and running public health programs. >> doug brinkley, once dwight eisenhower was elected in 1952, what did delano roosevelt do until the next democratic election. >> she wasn't thrilled that dwight eisenhower was the president. she was a democrat, a liberal democ