0 here. from all of us at cnn. a very happy new year to you. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. ♪ next, new years eve. the world ushers in new years eve. we'll take you to parties all around the world. plus the latest from north dakota where a fiery train collision forced town officials to have an evacuation order. and the hosts of msnbc show says she is sorry for comments about mitt romney's black grandson. did her apologies go far enough? good evening. i'm don lemon in for erin burnett. hau new years eve. the world bids farewell to 2013. in new york city, we're less than five hours away from the ball drop in times square. we'll take you there shortly. let's look live. this is london where it just struck midnight and the party is underway looking at the fireworks live between the london eye and the queen elizabeth tower. >> happy new year london. just an hour ago the skies over berlin lit one the 60's fireworks display over the historic brandenburg gate. and there's dubai, you guessed it, more fireworks but not just any fireworks, a world record display. the first world record of 2014. 400,000 fireworks in six minutes at 400 locations along a 100 kilometer stretch of shoreline. that is hong kong. a pyrotechnic musical was staged over victoria harbor. you recognize that bridge. that's the bridge above sydney harbor. also ablaze as fireworks lit up the australian sky. ♪ outside beijing, a colorful light show spanned one of the most colorful sections of the great wall of china and spectators danced and celebrated. but folks in auckland, new zealand, may already be breaking their new years resolutions. they're among the first in the world to ring in 2014. we're going to start our coverage right here in new york city in times square. aisha is out there trying to withstand the next five hours of freezing temperatures to make it to the big ball drop. there were flurries earlier. it is freezing out there. what's going on? >> reporter: don, my friend, it is freezing. i'm not going to lie. people are in good spirits here in times square. are you having fun? yay! you can hear it from the folks themselves. they are in good spirits. they've been here since 3:00 today, don. they don't care about the cold. they all wanted to be here to see the famous times square ball drop. and also take in the unique atmosphere that goes on here in times square. this is my fourth year to tom could this event and it never fails to amaze me how people come from far and wide to be part of this. i wanted to introduce to you two very special characters that have come all the way from texas. you might be able to spot them. what's your name and where are you from? >> joe david, from amarillo, texas. >> what about you? >> i'm antonio from amarillo, texas, also. >> explain to our viewers why you decided to make the long journey from texas to be here in times square? >> we've never been to new york before. we wanted to see it for the first time and watch the ball drop. >> what about you? there are other places you could have been. >> yeah. i wanted to pick the one place, the most exciting in the entire world for new years and new york is it, no doubt. >> what's the best part about being here in times square? >> i like the size, the big buildings, everything here, the people, it is real nice. usa. the best culture in the worldful? & being here in times square. >> the culture is beautiful. nothing like it. it is entertaining, it is fast pace. >> reporter: and everyone is being nice? >> it's new york. you're going to run into few people. >> reporter: tell us about the coats. everyone wants to know about the outfits. >> they're just, we're just trying to stay warm really. trying to stay warm here. it is cold here. i'm not cold. it is real warm. you're all having fun, right? you heard what they said. the coats, they just want to stay warm, they say. >> i am so glad you asked about those coats. if you didn't, i was going to ask you to ask them about it. hey, listen, they may be from texas and a warm place but they know how to dress on a night like tonight. happy new year, my friend. have a great time. i'll see knew 2014. bye, my dear. we'll head off to london where matthew chance is among the local who's just rang in 2014. matthew, happy new year. >> reporter: happy new year to you. i don't know if you can even hear me. the fireworks in central london are so incredibly loud. they're so spectacular. they really excel. very special this year. not just the visual. it is a multisensory experience. in the air they're filling in matching fire work with the smells and the flavors of fresh fruitful so the tens of thousands of people that have gathered here to watch this, they can smell it. they're calling it a multisensory fireworks display. i can smell something like bananas. it is all mixed up. it is pretty amazing. >> matthew chance and rightly so being drowned out by the fireworks. another count down to tell but happening in colorado. the state will be the first in the country to allow sale of marijuana for recreational useful sales start first thing tomorrow morning. miguel in garden city, colorado. miguel, what are the expectations for tomorrow? >> reporter: well, the expectations are huge. another night, another sea of pot that i'm standing in. we are in the appropriate named garden city. this is nature's herbs and wellness center. they will not be open for recreational marijuana sales tomorrow but they will be soon. eight dozen stores across colorado will be open for retail sales tomorrow. they expect the crowds to be enormous. some of them, crowds lines forming overnight. they expect hundreds of people to go into their stores to purchase marijuana. and police say that they will be on hand as well. keeping track of all of those stores, making sure that everything goes fine them also say if there are spontaneous outbursts of people smoking marijuana tonight at midnight, that it sounds like they're not going to get involved unless they feel like they have to get involved. keep in mind that it is fine to smoke in it private in colorado. they want to keep in it private and they don't want people schmoke in public. that is another issue to come here. at the moment, all of the marijuana stores across the state are preparing either to start sales tomorrow or very soon. >> thank you very much. still to come on cnn, more of our coverage of the world's new years eve celebrations. we take you live to celebrations across the country and across the world. that's london you're looking at. plus a new photograph of north korean dictator kim jong-un just released. it is one of the first public images since he had his uncle executed. and a train collision in north dakota. ♪ ♪ maybe i'm wrong ♪ ♪ and nobody ever says goodbye ♪ ♪ isn't it time you discovered the sleep number bed? 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gordon chang is here. he is the author of nuclear showdown. north korea takes on the world. kim jong-un on a ski lift. is this masking what's really going on inside the country? >> it certainly. is kim jong-un as you point out just had his uncle jang song thaek executed. and he's not the only one. right now you have a purge where officials are being recalled from europe, recalled from asia, going back. they don't know what's going to happen to them them could be executed or serve to the camps with their families. >> look at the pictures. he is in a supermarket in the store. the shelf are stocked. this is a company rolling in money. we hear of food shortages, the desperate plight of average north koreans. is this what they need? a ski resort? >> reporter: they don't need the ski resort or the equestrian clubs or the dolphinarians. you have the regime elements. they're doing pretty well. they have all these facilities including this ski resort you showed. but also for your average north korean, many are still on the verge of starvation and it is just a very, very different country. so you've got very wealthy, very poor. >> gordon chang, happy new year to you. >> happy new year, don. still to come, animal rights group peta. plus the host of an msnbc program forced to apologize about comments about mitt romney's grandson. did her apology go far enough? 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