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New Year's Day Forecast Across the U.S. Amid Holiday Travel; Advice on How to Recover From Holiday Hangover; Father Lobbies for Better Benefits for Wounded Veterans; Two North Korean Defectors Debut as Members of K-Pop Boy Band. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 01, 2026 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: ... occupied part of southern Ukraine. CNN has reached out to Ukrainian authorities for comment on this. The governor of that area says 50 people were injured in the attack, which struck a hotel and a cafe in the region.

This video from Russian state news agency TASS showing extensive damage. CNN, though, unable to verify the cause of the fire and the damage.

Also, the U.S. Southern Command announcing that the military conducted a New Year's Eve strike against two alleged drug trafficking boats. Five people killed, and they did not release the location of the strike. This announcement coming just hours after Southern Command publicized other strikes that took place on Tuesday, where three boats were targeted.

California is starting the new year with more rain and a flood threat. Coming just days after a Christmas storm flooded parts of the state, leaving the soil waterlogged and pushing the area really to the limit here. The heaviest rain hitting Southern California today. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All week, we've been watching this upper-level low-pressure system move into California. It brought the heavy rain to Southern California, but now it's starting to move on, and we'll get this brief lull in the precipitation before another round of rainfall moves in late on Friday and into the day on Saturday. So putting this forecast radar into motion, you can see this second kind of slug of moisture, first impacting Northern and Central California by Friday evening local time.

And then we'll start to see some of that rain move into Southern California, into some of those harder-impacted areas from not only Christmas week storms, but also the most recent storm throughout the course of the day on New Year's and New Year's Eve. So all in all, only another inch or so of rain expected through the course of the early weekend across Southern California. Heavier amounts where it's more persistent across Northern and Central California, and of course, several inches of snow for the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Some of that moisture will spill over across the Rockies into Colorado, much-needed snowfall for them.

Impulsive precipitation moves through the upper New England region, and that could bring in some additional lake enhancement of snowfall downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, maybe up to a foot in some of favorite areas across the southeast in and around Birmingham as well as Atlanta. A quick-moving storm system will bring rainfall to that area, but behind it, we're going to see temperatures start to rebound to above average for many locations over the eastern half of the country.

Watch this, we've been locked in the cold air across the northeast, look at how the reds start to get welcomed into this forecast, things looking warmer as we head into the first week of 2026.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: All right, Derek Van Dam, thank you, and we'll be right back.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: So if you celebrated big last night, or maybe you had some cheap champagne, I don't know, but chances are you may be feeling the consequences of that today. People around the world celebrating the New Year, some with a toast, or two, or three, some with more, let's be honest.

Is there an easy cure for that hangover that some of you might be feeling out there today? We have Dr. Trisha Pasricha joining us to talk about it. She is a physician scientist at Harvard Medical School.

I think some people may need your advice today, doctor, so talk to us about this. If some people have just been waking up kind of late post festivities, they're starting to feel the effects of last night, what are the first things that they should do? Coffee, Advil, fried chicken sandwich, what do you think?

DR. TRISHA PASRICHA, ASK A DOCTOR COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes, thanks for having me back, Brianna. You know, I think probably the best and most underrated piece of advice I can give anyone is to just go back to sleep. And you might be saying, well, I just woke up at noon, I've been sleeping for 12 hours, I still feel crummy.

And that is because alcohol fragments your sleep. So you may have been in bed for 12 hours, might've slept a long amount of time, but you actually didn't get that deep restorative sleep that your brain and your body needs. So sleep is actually a huge thing, that's number one.

Number two, hydration. So we know that alcohol dehydrates you. Plain old fashioned tap water is what you need right now, unless you've been vomiting a lot or sweating a lot, in which case you might want to consider an electrolyte solution, hydrate well, go back to sleep.

These two things are what your body needs right now. The rest of why alcohol and a hangover makes you feel crummy, a lot of that has to do with inflammation. So alcohol causes a lot of inflammation throughout your body.

Studies have found that even after your blood alcohol levels return to normal, your brain waves are moving more slowly for several hours afterwards. And if I were to do an endoscopy right now, meaning I would do a procedure where I take a look at your stomach, we see this all the time, someone who's been recently drinking, the lining of your stomach would appear inflamed, it would appear red. So, and that's because alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach.

So I do want people to eat. So right now, you know, focus on eating foods that are not going to make that inflamed stomach even angrier. So bland foods, things like rice, bread, bananas, those are the kinds of things that your body needs.

It can kind of help settle that nausea, help settle those jitters, hydrate, go back to sleep.

KEILAR: OK. So what should people not be doing? I'm assuming, you know, maybe they have some goals for January 1.

Would you not suggest they jump into their, you know, high impact interval training first thing when they wake up? What would you say?

PASRICHA: I think when you have a hangover, you want to give yourself a little bit of grace and give your body, give your brain a little bit of time to recover and maybe hit the gym, hit the outdoors hard January 2. I mean, the good news is that if you do some of these simple things, the hangover is going to go away by later tonight, worst case tomorrow morning. That inflammation, it takes time.

And there's not a lot that you can do besides some of these things to kind of help make that go away on its own. But the good news is that that inflammation is going to calm down on its own by tomorrow. I mean, the regret, that might take a little bit longer, but you're going to feel better at least by the next day.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: Yes. Good reminder that people are tired and they're dehydrated and they're inflamed. So those are the issues they're countering.

I want to ask you about something, which is it's January 1st and a lot of people may be doing dry January. Dr. Zeke Emanuel actually just wrote for Time Magazine, "Why You Should Skip Dry January." He says that people just jump right back into your old habits after the end of the month and that there are better ways to approach things if your goal is better health.

What do you think about dry January and maybe alternatives? PASRICHA: You know, I think any steps that anyone wants to take to start to limit their alcohol intake is only going to be a good thing. And for some people, dry January is a good place to start, but it's often just a stepping point. And there've actually been studies that show that even if you don't sort of stick with it long-term, you can even have short-term benefits from just limiting your alcohol, even just for a couple of weeks.

And I think actually the biggest one that is the one that you're probably going to feel most immediately is you're just going to sleep better. The less alcohol you drink, the more easily you're going to sleep. And of course, within the last year, a lot of us were talking about some of the big studies that came out about what alcohol does in the long-term.

So last year, the big news was that, and this was the Surgeon General's big warning in 2024, was that no amount of alcohol is good for you when we're talking about cancer risk. And that was a big story, because even though in the past, we used to talk about how one or two glasses of wine might be good for your cardiovascular, for your heart health, many experts now consider some of those studies to be flawed and we now know that because alcohol is a carcinogen, it can actually increase your risk of cancer.

Now, within the last year, we started to get these big studies that showed that even small amounts of alcohol now can increase your risk of dementia later. So any steps that somebody wants to take right now to limit their alcohol has short-term benefits and it also has long- term benefits. I think it's often part of how we socialize. It's part of how we have fun with our friends.

So I think it's important, one, to have an accountability buddy, so a friend who's going to get in on this with you, and then two, to think about what am I going to do if I'm not going to drink alcohol? Am I going to get into mocktails? What is that recipe going to be? I'm going to have something on hand.

Make a plan and then go out and try to stick to that plan with somebody who's going to hold you accountable.

KEILAR: Dr. Trisha Pasricha, great to talk with you about this. Thank you for being with us.

PASRICHA: My pleasure, happy New Year.

KEILAR: Happy New Year. And we'll be right back.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: On today's Homefront, the push to provide desperately needed help to veterans with catastrophic injuries and their families who care for them. Republican lawmakers in the House introduced the The Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act. It's a bill that would expand benefits for veterans who suffer critical injuries during their service, but it goes beyond that. To help address what veterans groups call the hidden cost of trauma and the impact of that on families' resources and time. Advocates say when you strengthen the caregiver, you strengthen the veteran.

This bill is named for Sharri Briley, the widow of an Army Black Hawk pilot who was killed in Somalia in 1993.

Also for Eric Edmundson, a former Army sergeant whose Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005, leading to shrapnel wounds, a heart attack, and a brain injury. In early December, Eric and his father testified on the Hill in favor of this bill, and I spoke to them afterward. Here's part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Eric and Ed, thank you so much for being with us.

ED EDMONDSON, ERIC EDMONDSON'S FATHER: Thank you for having us.

KEILAR: That must have been something to testify before Congress. For our families of wounded warriors, there is a lot of invisible labor and it is done with love. It's done with so much love, but it is a job that is all consuming and so important.

So tell us what the extra support in this bill will mean for families like yours and so many others.

EDMONDSON: The passing of H.R. 6047 would mean a lot to Eric and all the hundreds of veterans like Eric who are catastrophically injured. It will help them not only in the present, but in the future. It will help them cover expenses that he's having trouble covering now because the cost of living is astronomical.

And they have not had an increase in compensation pay for years. And that's what we're on the Hill today advocating for is trying to get an increase.

KEILAR: Eric, did it surprise you to have a bill named for you?

Tell us about the health challenges that Eric faces and what --

EDMONDSON: Health?

KEILAR: Yes, the health challenges that Eric faces and what that means for him day in, day out.

EDMONDSON: Eric deals with a lot of health issues. Eric can't speak. He can't walk.

He can't dress himself, feed himself. Eric has to have someone by his side 24-7 helping to dress, brush his teeth, get him ready for the day. And Eric has, when he was injured, he'd suffered a traumatic brain injury, multiple injuries.

He's full of shrapnel today. And then after they stabilized him, he had a heart attack. It took him 30 minutes to revive him.

So on top of that, he has an anoxic brain injury, which is causing the majority of his issues today.

KEILAR: So you and your wife and Eric, your wife have become your expert caregivers, right?

[15:50:00]

And I think for our veterans, I think we know it's so important to honor their service and their sacrifice. But I do think it's sometimes easy for people to forget that part of that is honoring what the family members are doing for our veterans to help them.

How does it honor Eric's service and sacrifice and the service and sacrifice of other wounded veterans to make sure that their families are able to provide them the care they need and that they're able to get the care they need?

EDMONDSON: Yes. When Eric was injured and returned home from Iraq, we met him at Walter Reed and he spent several days in the intensive care unit. But it was obvious to his mother and I that he was going to need long-term care.

So we took our retirement, burnt down our debt load so we could come on board with his wife, Stephanie, and help take care of Eric. And what we wanted was for Eric to be a husband and a father, Stephanie to be a mother and a wife. And I have to worry about all the day-to-day issues that come with being catastrophically injured.

And when Eric deployed, his daughter was 10 months old. And, you know, remember back in Walter Reed, he was laying there in his bed and his hands were laying there. But just weeks later before he deployed, those hands were holding his newborn daughter.

KEILAR: You made a choice about how you wanted life to look after that.

EDMONDSON: We've been at this for 20 years. His daughter that was 10 months old when he was injured is now 21 and a junior in college. And his son, Hunter, is 15-years-old, a freshman in high school.

We kept his children out of the caregiving. We wanted them to just be children, you know.

KEILAR: Yes.

EDMONDSON: And Eric's son, Hunter, at one time said, my dad, he said, my dad's been through H-E double hockey pucks.

KEILAR: Hockey pucks.

ED EDMONDSON: H-E double hockey pucks. And he's right. And Eric has endured things no mortal man should be enduring.

And we're very proud of him and his family and what they've done. Right?

KEILAR: You're very proud of your dad too, Eric. Yes. Eric, I can see it. I can see that you are.

Eric, Eric and Ed, thank you so much for being with us. This is such an important topic and I really appreciate you being here to discuss it with us.

[15:55:00]

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (on camera): From fleeing Kim Jong-un's authoritarian regime to now dreaming of selling out stadiums across the world, CNN's Mike Valerio has the incredible story of two North Korean defectors as they now make their new debut as K-pop stars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are two North Korean defectors who could be on the verge of K-pop super stardom.

1VERSE: We can never go back, back, back.

VALERIO (voice-over): Meet Hyuk and Seok, two 25-year-olds who each escaped North Korea when they were teenagers.

They're now living in Seoul, determined to launch the next great K-pop band.

VALERIO: You both have come so far from North Korea. What parts of your journey have affected your music the most?

HYUK, 1VERSE MEMBER (through translator): After coming to South Korea, I liked writing down lyrics or phrases that I wanted to remember. A teacher saw me jotting things down and said, you seem to like writing. Why don't you try rapping?

SEOK, 1VERSE MEMBER (through translator): I liked music when I was in North Korea. I liked singing songs or lyrics about mothers. I also wrote lyrics of songs I used to sing.

VALERIO (voice-over): They're both members of the group 1VERSE, with bandmates Ito from Japan, Kenny from California, and Nathan from Arkansas. Seok and Hyuk have trained for more than two years now, united in a love of songwriting.

VALERIO: What's a lyric that comes from a memory, and when you sing that lyric, it hits pretty deeply?

SEOK (through translator): In Shattered, there's a high note part. Who's going to save us now?

1UVERSE: Who's going to save us now?

SEOK (through translator): That line reminded me that sometimes we all need someone's help.

HYUK (through translator): Our songs come from our own stories and experiences, they're like puzzle pieces we put together.

VALERIO (voice-over): They already have more than 22 million likes on TikTok, and are planning to debut in America, perhaps even teaming up with U.S. artists down the road, like we saw with Bruno Mars, for instance, and K-pop icon, Rose.

VALERIO: If you two could collab with any American sensation, Ariana Grande, JLo, Mariah, who would it be?

HYUK (through translator): I really liked Post Malone's songs when I was younger. I'd love to work with him.

SEOK (through translator): The first person that comes to mind is Charlie Puth.

[16:00:00]

VALERIO (voice-over): For Seok and Hyuk, taking a leap into the unknown from unlikely beginnings is something anyone can relate to, and through their music, they hope fans worldwide will find the same courage, daring to dream.

HYUK (voice-over): When those people see that we came from tough circumstances, and managed to grow and share something with fans, I think that process itself can be meaningful and give others the courage to try.

VALERIO: Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Thank you so much for being with us. Happy New Year. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts after this short break.

END