i m whitny wild. cnn this morning starts right now. morning, everyone. we re glad you re with us. it s thursday, december 29th. don is off this week. and ukraine is our lead story. under attack. more than 120 russian missiles launched at ukraine overnight. 90% of lviv this morning is without power. we ll take you to crane. here in the united states, thousands of air travelers are struggling to find their way home still. one major airport is launching an investigation into the meltdown at southwest airlines. and the death toll is rising once again in buffalo. the city s mayor now coming under fire for handling of that recovery and the storm. a new migrant processing center is going up in el paso, despite a supreme court decision to keep title 42 in place. we begin this hour with ukraine. president zelenskyy s adviser says russia has launched more than 120 missiles at the country. it happened overnight. a top official in odesa is calling it a massive missile attack in
good morning to you. i m jessica dean in washington. jim sciutto is off today. we re following several major stories this morning. overnight ukraine rocked by a barrage of russian missiles. the defense minister saying it s the most massive missile attack since the invasion began in februariment we know power is out in several regions including parts of the capital kyiv. we ll be live on the ground ahead. plus, the u.s. reinstating covid tests for travelers coming from china as beijing drops its own restrictions despite an overwhelming surge in cases. a fresh apology from southwest airlines today, plus new steps the airline is taking to reimburse passengers whose holiday travel was ruined. still more than 2,300 southwest flights canceled today. we re told the scheduling nightmare could end as soon as tomorrow. let s begin this morning on the ground in ukraine. cnn senior international correspondent ben wedeman is in kyiv. ben, you saw firsthand some of this damage. tell us
the lead starts right now. new witness tran scripts released from the january 6th committee, including one from donald trump s own son, and an unusual request from one sitting gop senator. then, officials are calling it the largest russian missile strike since the war began. ukrainians say it could have been so much worse. plus, some signs of relief on the horizon for tens of thousands of southwest pas passengers who have been stuck in the airline s meltdown for now eight days. welcome to the lead, i m phil mattingly. and we begin with our politics lead and new insight into the january 6th investigation. the committee released more testimony transcripts from 19 witnesses, including trump s son donald trump jr., trump attorney christina bobb, kimberly guilfoyle, stephen miller and former white house press secretary stephanie grisham. there s one key thing that sticks out, and that s the role of mark meadows. he was, of course, trump s chief of staff on january 6th an
patients. a mother whose daughter is battling leukemia is making it her mission to tackle this issue after she couldn t get her hands on medication needed to help her child. elizabeth cohen looks into this. reporter: abby was a healthy girl in florida when one month after her ninth birthday, troubling symptoms. she said it feels like there s knives in my bones. reporter: after her pediatrician ran tests, a phone call to her parents. there s a bed waiting for her at st. joe s pediatric oncology unit, pack a bag, plan to stay. abby had cancer. she needed a drug called irwinaise. but then a few months into
she had trouble ngetting not on, not two, but three drugs when her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. now she s working hard, not just to helm her daughter, but to help other children with cancer. abby bray was a healthy little girl in tampa, florida, when one month after her ninth birthday, troubling symptoms. she said it feels like there s knives in my bones. reporter: after her pediatrician ran some tests, a phone call to her parents, laura and mike. there s a bed waiting for her at st. joe s pediatric oncology unit, pack a bag, plan to stay, get there immediately. reporter: abby had ak couple lymphoblastic leukemia. to save her life she d need a vigorous regimen of chemotherapy. but then. a few months into treatment we were told you have to go home, you can t get this medicine today.