category 4 storm this week, and we continue to follow ian as it moves into north carolina after making landfall as a hurricane there. it is now moving inland as a post-tropical cyclone, posing all sorts of problems for that part of the country. even though it s been downgraded, officials warn it still threatens the area with herb rain and flooding. in south carolina the storm flooded homes and vehicles along the shoreline, and as high winds pushed the storm surge even higher, two piers, one in pawleys island and another in north myrtle beach you see here partially collapsing. officials are now warning residents to avoid leaving their homes and to steer clear of floodwaters that could pose hidden dangers. the obvious one of the water itself, can isolate people, drown people, but it can also hide downed power lines, obstacles in the water, even contaminants in the water. the waters themselves are the most dangerous. ian slam med into southwest florida as a severe cate
warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all over the world. i m bianca nobilo. i m max foster. just ahead on cnn newsroom. a speaker has not been elected. kevin mccarthy failed to get the vote for speaker of the house. the house is in a state of stop. come on, come on, come on, get up. states under tornado watches. the severe weather threat is pressing east. already a trail of damage left behind. announcer: lev from london, this is cnn newsroom with max foster and bianca nobilo. hello. it is wednesday, january 4th. 9 a.m. here in london. 4 a.m. in washington where a growing feud within the republican party is threatening to overshadow the new majority in the house. on tuesday a band of conservative hardliners blocked kevin mccarthy from securing the 218 votes needed to become the speaker of the house and that s after three rounds of voting. it s the first time in 100 years that the house has failed to elect a speaker on the firs
this morning. i m boris sanchez. merry christmas. i hope it s been a magical christmas morning so far, i m amara walker. just ahead this hour, it started as one family s idea and it grew into a global brand. the inside story behind elf on a shelf and what s next for one of the world s biggest christmas traditions? and the holidays are a big source of joy for so many but they can also bring up sad feels are or painful memories. we have tips to help you deal with the holidays blues coming up. first let s get you caught up on the morning s headlines with whit n whitney wilde. good morning. we begin with the brutal weather storm keeping its grip on most of the country. at least 22 deaths are blamed on the storm. the weather is causing severe travel headaches. more than 3,400 flights were cancelled yesterday and another 1,200 cancelled so far today. governor hochul says she will declare of the federal government a declaration of emergency. paolo has more. reporter: here a
counting down. the art miss rocket is finally on the launch pad ready to fly for the first time on monday. it s no longer the apollo generation. it s the artemis generation and that brings new discoveries. i m pamela brown in washington. you re live in the cnn newsroom. well, it s nasa s long overdue return to the moon, and t-minus just a few hours until hopefully launchtime of the u.s. space agency s most powerful rocket. the program is called artemis, the first phase blasting off in the morning, unmanned and setting the stage for a manned landing on the lunar surface once again. just a short time ago vice president kamala harris touched down in central florida. she and the second gentleman planning to watch the liftoff in person. as the head of the space council i can tell you i m so proud of what is happening in terms of our space program and the leadership that the united states is providing to the world. the arte myos program is the beginning of the next er
mayor a second term. when i spoke to the residents, mayor, they told me they feel more prepared, the city officials told them more about the flooding than in 2020. what have you done differently to prepare your residents this time around? unfortunately, we ve had this experience within a short period of time and so we ve learned a lot. so we ve communicated early and often. we ve been able to better instruct the things that residents need to prepare around taking pictures of their items, making sure that they take their critical documents. we ve had a strong coalition of not only city departments but the county and state so it s been an all hands on deck process and hopefully that allows us to save life and property that would not be spared otherwise. reporter: we know that we re not expecting the river to crest at as high of a level as we saw in 2020 but this isn t a moment to underestimate the floodwaters. absolutely not. we want residents to heed these warnings. this