of cnn this morning. it is sunday, december 25th. of course you know, we ve all been waiting for this beautiful morning. i m amara walker. good morning and merry christmas to you as well. thank you for spending part of your holiday morning with us. just ahead this morning, fighting racism from a one horse open sleigh, after getting hate mail for put putting up a black stanta in his yard santa in h yard, one man fights back. and how dollar stars are quickly becoming the go-to destination for shoppers. and we re going to introduce you to this year s cnn hero of the year, with a heart warming moment as she accepted her award. first let s get you caught up with this morning s headlines with whitney wilde. good morning and merry christmas to you, if you re celebrating at home. we begin with this brutal weather storm. at least 22 deaths are blamed on the storm and more than a quarter million people are without electricity. more than 3,400 flights were cancelled yesterda
The first song heard in space was a Christmas hit. It was played nine days before Christmas Day in 1965, when two astronauts used instruments to play a classic festive tune after reporting they 'spotted a UFO' to Mission Control