southwest airlines canceling the majority of its flights for today. we have team reporting. mona kosar abdi in buffalo, elwyn lopez in atlanta and meteorologist rob marciano timing it all out. the nationwide virus threat. covid-19 on the rise. with the holidays under way, the new warning tonight that all those gatherings and travel could send cases soaring, while flu activity remains high. the new strike inside russia. for the second time this month an air base 300 miles from the border hit. putin s forces claiming they shot down a ukrainian drone. ukraine signaling hope for negotiations. are peace talks possible? britt clennett from kyiv tonight. the urgent investigation in washington state. four power substations disabled on christmas day, knocking out power to thousands on the holiday. what officials are saying tonight. the crisis at the border reaches washington, d.c. hundreds of migrants bussed to the nation s capital from texas left in the cold. families with ch
southwest airlines canceling the majority of its flights for today. we have team reporting. mona kosar abdi in buffalo, elwyn lopez in atlanta. the nationwide virus threat. covid-19 on the rise. with the holidays under way, the new warning tonight that all those gatherings and travel could send cases soaring, while flu activity remains high. t strike inside russia. for the second time this month, an air base 300 miles from the border hit. putin s forces claiming they shot down a ukrainian drone. ukraine signaling hope for negotiations. are peace talks possible? britt clennett from kyiv tonight. the urgent investigation in washington state. four power substations disabled on christmas day, knocking out power to thousands on the holiday. what officials are saying tonight. the crisis at the border reaches washington, d.c. hundreds of migrants bussed to the nation s capital from texas, left in the cold. families with children not prepared for the bitter conditions. used t
tonight breaking news as we come on the air. the death toll in buffalo climbing, as new york s governor declares the brutal winter storm the blizzard of the century. a massive search and rescue operation now under way. people trapped in their cars battling life-threatening temperatures. at least 550 rescues since christmas eve. many roads remain impassable, preventing rescuers reaching those still trapped. and more snow is falling. piling on what one official calls the worst storm possibly in our lifetime. it s not just upstate new york. extreme weather impacts felt from the great lakes to the south, with another storm brewing in the west, snarling air travel as millions head home after the holidays. 18,000 flights canceled since wednesday nationwide.
reporter: the winter weather is snarling air travel, delaying or canceling thousands of flights, just as the t.s.a. expects more than 2.7 million to fly today alone. a.a.a. estimates 55 million people are traveling this year, 1.6 million more than last year, and 90% are doing it by car. i think the only way to really get around is to leave at, like, 3:00 in the morning and just get there before everybody else gets up. reporter: we started a little later. it is 8:17. we are on the move from downtown boston, just 440 more miles to go. we are on the way to washington. we made good time until the new york state line. then we hit the holiday traffic. about six hours in, we met the david family at a rest stop in new jersey. you ve got a lot of traffic in front of you. ohhh! yeah! reporter: are you just watching frozen on a loop for this drive?
winter-like blast, i should say, is causing all kinds of problems. snarling air travel and knocking out power to thousands of people. we re on top of all this for you. cnn reporters and anchors out in forceful our weather anchor chad smirs in pennsylvania. and standing by in the severe weather center. we want to start with our meteorologist out in the field. i spoke to you a little while ago. is it still snowing? reporter: it s still snowing and it is noticeably colder than a couple hours ago. so the slush on the ground right now is starting to turn into ice. and you may say, what are you in the parking lot for? we re in the parking lot where there is electricity. people are literally out driving around, looking for something with power. because their houses are without power. there are so many houses without power in this area, they re getting cold and hungry. they re driving around looking for a restaurant that s open. this happens to be one that s open. this is very heav