very good wednesday morning to you, i m jim sciutto. and i m erica hill. happening right now, more than 4,500 civilians are stuck in the ukrainian city of bakhmut, this as russian forces launch a barrage of attacks on the fiercely contested area, president zelenskyy calling it the country s most difficult situation. as of now, though, ukrainian forces are still holding the line. cnn is on the ground in eastern ukraine and we will bring you the very latest. plus a political sorry, go ahead. it s all yours. plus a political shakeup in chicago. mayor lori lightfoot the first mayor in 40 years to lose an election bid in that city as concerns about crime and public safety rattle voters. we re also watching the alex murdaugh murder trial. take a look at this, aerial images from southern california where a winter storm has already dumped feet of snow, that s southern california, another 12 to 24 inches expected today. we do begin, though, in ukraine where 48 children
i m amara walker. happy new year. we hope your new year is off to a great start. just ahead, home prices spiked in 2022, pricing many people out of the market, so what can we see and expect to see this year? we ll take a look at that, coming up. plus, inflation hasn t stopped people from spending, but they re not necessarily spending it on clothes and shoes. the concerns that retail stores could see losses this year, and what people are spending their money on, instead. but first, let s get you caught up on this morning s news headlines with whitney wild. good morning and happy new year, boris and amara, and to all of you watching at home. we begin this morning in vatican city, where thousands have gathered for the first mass of 2023, just one day after the death of pope emeritus benedict xvi. benedict passed away saturday at the age of 95 at his home in a monastery on the grounds of the vatican. and beginning monday, his body will be moved to st. peter s basilica, wher
details about the suspect arrested in the brutal killings of four idaho college students. a source telling cnn police were tracking 28-year-old bryan kohberger as he drove across country from idaho to his parents home in pennsylvania around christmas time. the arrest comes seven weeks after those four university of idaho students were stabbed multiple times as they slept. a source telling cnn that dna found at the scene was entered into a geneology database and that helped crack the case. the suspect identified as a graduate student in criminology who made a chilling social media post trying to solicit information from criminals to try to understand how emotional and psychological traits influence decisionmaking when committing a crime. now now, i understand you just spoke with the suspect s attorney. what are you learning? that s right. he only has one attorney at this point. it s the chief public defender for monroe county, northeastern pennsylvania. his name is jason leb
hello, i m sara sidner in for victor blackwell. welcome to cnn newsroom. the southwest airline meltdown is now in its seventh day of derailing people s travel plans. since last thursday, the company has cancelled more than 15,000 flights, including 2300 set for tomorrow. flight aware finds 89% of the nation s cancellations just today belong to southwest airlines. transportation secretary pete buttigieg promises to hold the nation s largest domestic carrier accountable. but for some passengers, southwest may never be able to make up for days of delay. misplaced luggage and ruined holidays. i hate southwest. southwest, i hate them. i hate them. how did you make out? i was there from 12:00 12:00, still stranded. i need to drive nine more hours. i m upset, i m stressed, i m tired and i hate them. okay. she did not pull any punches there. cnn correspondent nick valencia is outside of hartsfield-jackson airport, the busiest in the world. nick, what are you hearing
and all the learning signs as they put robotic cameras under these glaciers and seeing how they re melting from the bottom and from inside out. it really is another red blinking red light at the bottom of the planet. meanwhile, the top of the world, the arctic melting twice as fast as the rest of the planet, all adding up to some pain. the way you describe it there, forcibly rearranging coastal cities. that s what we need to prepare for with ocean rise. let s hope folks hear those warnings. bill weir, good to have you there. travel safe. well, we ve been talking about this sort of crazy winter we ve been having in the u.s. as jim noted in some areas, much warmer than usual. then you have southern california, which is expected to get hit again today with a whole lot of snow. this latest winter hit with these back to back storms, parts of the golden state as you know at this point already buried under more than 6 feet of snow. that storm system is now moving across the southwest an