alissa, annie, david and heather again. heather keeps me sane. she makes sure i don t completely go crazy on the air. thank you to you all. it takes a team to make some show work. paula reid coming up. you are live in the cnn newsroom. i m paula reid in washington. a christmas eve storm for the ages. we are tracking the very latest on the severe weather impacting millions across the u.s. at least 16 storm-related deaths have been reported, including two in erie county, new york, in what may be the area s worst winter storm since the famous 1977 buffalo blizzard. jefferson county, new york, is experiencing life-threatening blizzard conditions, banning travel and declaring a state of emergency. jaw dropping sub zero temperatures across huge swaths of the country. 100 people people remain under windchill alerts. atlanta and philadelphia are facing their coldest christmas ever. and nearly two million people are without power. power companies in ohio, kentucky, and memphis are
hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all around the world. i m laila harrak. hospitals in gaza facing a dire situation. al shifa hospital is almost out of essential supplies. test of thousands of pro-palestinian demonstrators march in london, demanding a cease-fire in the israel/hamas war. and the end to an historic career. megan rapinoe bows out of professional soccer. what she calls the worst possible outcome. the israeli military has offered to evacuate infants and other patients from gaza s largest hospital sometime today. while the hamas-controlled health ministry in gaza said three new born babies have died since friday night at al shifa hospital after nearby shelling knocked out a generator supplying oxygen to the neonatal unit. a gaza health official tells cnn the other infants were hand-carried to the operating rooms which still had oxygen, unlike other hospitals across ga gaza. idf says it s been engaged in heavy fighting with ham
the safest place, because of the frigid temperatures, is still at home. hundreds of people are still stranded in their vehicles they are asking people to remain in their vehicles if they are fairly safe there and make a phone call to authorities. not 911 but a nonemergency line, unless it is an emergency of course. as you see millions of americans throughout parts of the northeast and other parts of the country affected by this. buffalo, according to authorities here, has been ground zero. it is and likely will be ground zero for the rest of today. yikes. polo sandoval, thank you for that report. stay safety all right. we want to talk to buffalo s mayor in a moment. before we get to him, we will go to the cnn meteorologist allison
chi chinchar. what is the storm going to do next? the next thing is finally getting warmer temperatures the next 24 to 48 hours. but at least in the short-term, we will be dealing with the frigid temperatures and lake-effect snow. it will linger into the early morning hours of christmas day. you have heavy bands in michigan, ohio, and new york. this is a live look at watertown, new york. snowplows are doing their best to clear the roads. the problem is you have additional snowfall coming down. they no sooner clear it and then it covers itself back up again. sunday we will finally see an end to the lake-effect snow. we have a new system diving down from canada into the mid mississippi valley.