newsroom. we begin this hour with breaking news in iran where large plumes of smoke can be seen rising from an infamous prison in tehran. officials there confirming a fire has been set by the inmates of that prison. let s go to cnn s jamana. what more are you learning? we re still trying to find out what really is happening or happened at the prison. that notorious facility in northern tehran. of course, that prison that where many political prisoners, human rights activists, journalists, foreigners are kept in tehran. now, an hour ago, we started seeing video on social media showing this large plume of smoke billowing over the prison and according to the social media videos we have received, you could hear gunfire. according to the activist group that put out this video, they say that special forces were heading to the prison. now, according to the government s account of what is going on, they say that this was a fire that was started by these rioters. thugs as they desc
hundreds ever migrants are schiffering about a critical immigration law. and a drone creeps deep inside of russian territory and killed three soldiers. p plus, should the world take vladimir putin as his word as the russian leader repeats an offer to slide a chair up to the negotiating table with ukraine. this is what we re watching at this hour. and good morning, thank you so much for being here. i m amara walker in for kate bolduan. the death toll from a brutal winter storm rising now to at least 47 western new york bearing the blunt with a once in a lifetime blizzard. the death toll in erie county climbing to 25. more than 43 inches of snow fell over the weekend. and it is still coming down in some places. roads in buffalo are impassable and the city is under a driving ban. over 12,000 people are without power there. the governor of new york has declared a state of emergency and the national guard is deploying 200 additional troops to the western part of the state. e
hello. i m pamela brown. welcome to cnn newsroom. the historic storm the new york governor called the blizzard of the century has now killed 25 people in the buffalo area. and a top erie county official says that number is likely to rise. he said the conditions have been so severe, their own rescuers needed rescuing. intense winds created whiteout conditions as 43 inches of snow dropped in just 24 hours. listen to what one family with four young kids faced, after they lost power and went in search of a heated hotel room. it was very intense. we tried to keep it together for as long as possible. because we didn t want to fight. it was like looking at a white piece of construction paper. you couldn t see anything at all. like absolutely nothing until you were probably about a foot away from even cars. with their bright lights on. you just couldn t see anything. not yellow traffic signs, not traffic. you couldn t see anything. you couldn t see a traffic light. you have t
jacqui: president biden touts the massive spending plan in oregon this weekend. we learned that president obama will be giving democrats much-needed star power at high profile events in atlanta, detroit, milwaukee in the coming weeks. we ve got coverage with dan springer in portland, but we ll start with the heated georgia senate battle. heated indeed. reverend warnock faced hershel walker running for senate as a republican. the two met in a debate in savannah last night and there were fireworks sparring on a range of issues, including abortion, take a listen. that a patient s room is too narrow and small and cramped a space for woman, her doctor, and the united states government. i just a neat talker, but did he not mention that there s a baby in that room as well? on the topic of election integrity, hershel walker acknowledged that president biden legitimately won the 2020 election. senator warnock dodged the question on whether he d support the president if he seek
high winds and brutal cold. buffalo getting a stunning 40 inches of snow and could see more today. at least 12 people dead in the area. new york governor kathy hochul is a buffalo native. used to rough winters but not like this. this will go down in history as the most devastating storm in buffalo s long storied history of having battled many battles, many major storms. buffalo s airport is set to remain closed until tuesday. 3100 flights were canceled christmas day nationwide and more than 1,000 have already been can elide today. charles watson is live at atlanta international airport. hi, charles. good morning. today is looking to be just as busy here in atlanta and at airports across the country. it is 9:00 and check out the long lines that have accumulated at the delta check-in counters. this is the scene, large crowds we re seeing all over the airport leaving the real possibility that today could be a miserable one for folks who are trying to make it onto flights a