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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Police: Dozens Presumed Dead In Swiss Resort Fire; Queen Camilla Opens Up For First Time About Train Attack As A Teen; French Health Workers Put Fasting To Ultimate Test. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 01, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Still ahead, French health workers take up a daunting physical challenge while fasting for six straight days. CNN's Melissa Bell joins them on their journey to test the supposed health benefits.
(COMMERCIAL)
WHITFIELD: All right, our breaking news at this hour. Police say dozens of people are presumed dead after a deadly fire broke out at a ski resort in Switzerland. A local official says hospitals are facing an influx of injured people and rescue efforts are ongoing, and the area is closed to the public. The fire broke out inside a lounge bar in town of Crans-Montana early this morning.
And Britian's Queen Camilla is speaking out for the first time about being attacked when she was a teenager. She says he had to fight off a stranger on a train.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEEN CAMILLA, UNITED KINGDOM: I remember something that had been lurking in the back of my brain for a very long time -- that when I was a teenager I was attacked on a train. And I'd sort of forgotten about it, but I remember at the time being so angry. It was anger. And I thought why is this -- this sort of boy -- I thought it was an old man who was probably not a great deal older. But I think --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attacked in what way?
QUEEN CAMILLA: On a train.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were on a train.
QUEEN CAMILLA: On a train.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And someone you didn't know.
QUEEN CAMILLA: Somebody I didn't know. I was reading my book and, you know, this -- well, boy, man attacked me and I did fight back. And I got off -- I remember getting off the train and my mother looking at me and saying, you know, why is your hair standing on end and why is a button missing -- you know, missing from your coat? And I --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was physical.
QUEEN CAMILLA: -- been attacked. But I remember anger and I was so furious about it, and it sort of lurked for many years.
And I think, you know, when the whole subject about domestic abuse came up and suddenly you hear a story like John and Amy's, it all -- you know, it's something that I feel very strongly about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Um.
The queen brought up the incident while talking about violence against women in that BBC Radio interview. Details of the attack first came out in a book earlier this year after an official recounted a story that he had reportedly heard from the queen. Buckingham Palace has not released an official statement about that attack.
All right. How about this for a challenge? Fasting for six days while pushing your body to the limit. That's what some health professionals in France are doing, saying it helps both their bodies and their minds. And we must note that fasting is not for everyone and you should consult a health care provider before making any significant changes to your diet.
CNN's Melissa Bell -- well, she gave that six-day challenge a try for herself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): I'm heading to southwestern France, a part of the world famous for its food -- but I'm not going to be eating any of it. I'll be joining this group of 80 health professionals led by French doctors to take part in what sounds like a daunting challenge --
BELL: I'm not a real climber.
BELL (voiceover): -- hiking 60 miles over six days and fueled only by 250 calories a day. A juice in the morning and a broth for dinner.
Some find fasting controversial, but this group meets every other year to highlight its benefits. They say that fasts over several days are not just possible but actually good for you.
BELL: I don't know if I can -- I don't know if I can do it.
BELL (voiceover): Forget eggs and toast for breakfast. Instead, it's just a juice. Today's blend, cucumber, apple, kiwi, and cabbage.
BELL: Delicious. Now it's time for that 10-mile hike.
BELL (voiceover): Fasting has become a popular diet trend, but these doctors say that it's about much more than burning fat, especially when combined with walking. They say that fasting increases energy, reduces inflammation, and after two to three days activates the body's cellular repair processes.
Kay Linee is a fasting coach guiding people through the process of fasting safely. A reminder that fasting isn't necessarily for everyone and shouldn't be done alone.
KAY LINEE, FASTING COACH: If you feel weak in the morning, you'll notice that once you walk a kilometer or two the energy is back.
BELL: You feel better.
LINEE: Yeah.
BELL: What can we expect in terms of how we feel? This is day one. It's our first hike.
LINEE: A little hunger -- something you feel in the stomach -- but that really goes away quickly. The second or third day can -- sometimes can be a little more difficult in the morning. When you wake up in the morning you might feel a bit of dizziness because the body is adapting. Most people are not hungry at all when they fast or if they think they're hungry very often it's just -- it's more psychological.
BELL: Oh, this is what I'm really curious about.
LINEE: It's more --
BELL: How much of it in our head?
LINEE: It's more dreaming of food or --
BELL: Like I did last night.
LINEE: Yeah.
BELL (voiceover): Even for experienced fasters, the first hill can be too much. Low on blood sugar, Sophie Jeannin collapses. I catch up with her a little later on our walk.
SOPHIE JEANNIN, FASTING COACH: I took just a little spoon of honey and that's it. I can walk again.
BELL (voiceover): Dr. Jacques Rouillier has seen this all before. He's been fasting regularly for more than 10 years.
DR. JACQUES ROUILLIER, GENERAL PRACTITIONER: (Speaking foreign language).
TEXT: When glucose becomes scarce, cells go into protective mode, meaning they reduce the number of their glucose receptors, which are normally activated by insulin, and recycle their internal components.
[05:40:00] BELL (voiceover): It was the 2016 Nobel Prize-winning research by Yoshinori Ohsumi that revealed the mechanisms of autophagy, literally meaning "eating itself," a survival process in which cells, when deprived of glucose, recycle and repair damaged components.
There is no shortage of sugar here, however.
BELL: We just walked into this bakery to buy Mark a sandwich because he's not fasting. My body is just craving all of it and I'm going to walk straight out again, in fact.
I pretty well had a sleepless night. I don't feel hungry. I'm not thinking of food anymore. But I do feel lightheaded, my heart is beating fast, and I'm pretty grumpy again this morning.
BELL: (Heavy breathing)
I definitely need to stop smoking.
We have been super low in energy and so this is what they recommend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
TEXT: Do you mind the same spoon?
BELL: Oh yes, a teaspoon of honey.
TEXT: Let it melt slowly. Keep in your mouth.
BELL: It tastes amazing. It's good. I don't know when honey had ever tasted so good. So I'm going to keep it in my mouth --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Um-hum.
BELL: -- and it's going to give me more energy.
Oh, that put a little spring in my step when you did that. If I can just make it to the end of the day then everything will get better, I'm told.
I think we've probably almost done 10 miles now and I am dead. I feel weak. My legs are killing me. I don't know if I can do it. Oh, it feels like a lot right now. They've all got this energy -- Jesus.
BELL (voiceover): Day four and I wake up feeling surprisingly recharged and eager to walk again.
BELL: What a transformation. Not just energy but happiness. Like, I just feel really, really good, and it's really the first time since we've been here that I think I can say that, so that's super cool. And the difference with yesterday is mind-blowing. I'm two different people, for sure.
Is fasting transformative for everyone who does it?
LINEE: For everyone not always the same way. It can be very different. It can be emotional. It can be physical, you know. When you eat all the time, you know, you are digesting all the time, and a lot of your organs are busy doing that. Well, when you fast, they're resting and you have all this vital energy available for other things.
BELL: So this is the final mile of our journey, and I do feel physically full of vitality and energy as everyone had told me I would. I think the most surprising thing though is what's happening mentally. A clear-sightedness, a lucidity, a sense of power, which is really remarkable.
I'm getting back on the scales after six days of no food. It was 153 when we first weighed in. It's now 148. So five pounds less. I probably did think I would lose more than that.
BELL (voiceover): But crucially, the results show no change to my muscle mass.
BELL: I feel totally different than I did a week ago. Five pounds less, but that's not the real change, actually.
BELL (voiceover): The real change is in my mind. My mental fog is gone. And so as we prepare to break our fast, I am curious about food but not desperate for it.
BELL: Oh! Beetroot hummus on a carrot. The flavor inside it is out of this world. How have I taken it for granted all my life?
BELL (voiceover): There's something almost sacred about this first meal in a week. The food tastes different now that I know that I'm beholden to nothing -- not even my own appetite.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Oh, Melissa. Thanks for taking us on the journey. You could see the joy and the relief in your face at the very end. Very nice.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:49:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, more on our breaking news this hour. A New Year's celebration turned into a tragedy after a fire broke out at a lounge bar at a ski resort in Switzerland. A massive rescue effort is underway, and police say dozens of people are presumed dead.
CNN's Nada Bashir has been following this for us, so what is the latest, Nada.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we have been getting more details from officials on this fire which has broken out, of course, as you mentioned. Officials now saying several dozens presumed dead and, of course, others are injured. Hospitals are said to be facing an influx of casualties coming in as a result. And we've seen emergency responders at the scene still responding to
this fire. According to officials, 40 ambulances and some 150 medical personnel deployed to the scene.
[05:50:00]
And, of course, investigators are also set to be deployed. At this stage, officials say they are waiting for the venue to be secured for investigators and experts to be able to access the scene of the fire in order to be able to carry out a full investigation into what caused the fire.
At this stage, what we know, according to officials, is that the fire was said to have broken out at around 1:30 a.m. Of course, New Year's celebrations would have been taking place at this lounge bar. It is known to be a very high-end popular spot for many to celebrate New Year's in the Swiss ski resort.
And, of course, what we've also heard from some officials is that witnesses have described hearing an explosion after the fire had spread through the lounge bar.
At this stage, important to note, of course, that officials say they are treating this as a fire, not as a terror incident. That is not a line of investigation at this stage. But, of course, it is -- it is still very early into the investigation process.
The state council has declared a state of emergency now. That legal framework -- that legal mechanism will allow for more resources to be distributed over time in order to respond to this deadly incident.
But again, this is, of course, very tragic news for the region and, of course, for the families and loved ones who will be waiting to hear more details. There is still no clarity on the exact figures just yet, but officials again say dozens are presumed dead.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, absolutely horrible.
All right, Nada Bashir. Keep us posted as you learn more.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:55:55]
WHITFIELD: OK, it's now officially 2026. Happy New Year, everyone.
Well, CNN covered New Year's Eve celebrations from all over the world, including the big party in New York just a few hours ago.
Let's take a look at how countries around the world welcomed in 2026.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Guys, welcome to 2026. Happy New Year from Sydney, Australia.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I hope you like my sparkly golden hat. It kind of makes me look like a unicorn as well. But it's been a great start to the new year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy New Year, Tokyo.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: If you think Labubus are going to be out in 2026, you're --
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh my God!
STOUT: (Screaming).
RIPLEY: What the?
STOUT: Delulu -- oh my gosh. We've got a real-life -- this is a New Year's Eve miracle. Can I have a hug? Can I have a hug?
RIPLEY: Did you -- did you know about this? Did she know about this?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a little hard to see this thermometer but oh my God, we're closing in on negative 30 Celsius, which is negative teens in Fahrenheit. But we're all still stoked, right? Whoo! Whoo! We are in one of the ice tunnels of the Harbin Winter Festival.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, let's go.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, John. I hope you are getting ready for your first trip ever out to Abu Dhabi. You're going to help me ring in the new year here and I've got the team sorted with a whole bunch of adventures for you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, ANDERSON: (Screaming while on a ride).
ANDERSON: Good to go.
BERMAN: We're feeling good.
ANDERSON: Here we go!
BERMAN: Happy New Year!
ANDERSON: Happy New Year!
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What you see here around me is the inside of the tower that houses Madrid's most famous clock -- the one that is located in iconic Puerta del Sol. Since the beginning of the 20th century this clock has marked the 12 chimes on New Year's Eve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Happy New Year!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step, step, step, kick it. Step, step, step, kick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoo hoo. Whoo hoo hoo. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are news, baby.
LONDON REVELERS: Three, two, one.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: We're just going to talk about a few of the myths of Auld Lang Syne.
MICHAEL PEDERSON, EDINBURGH'S POET LAUREATE: There's nothing indicatively in the song which says it should be sung at new year. Yeah, it's a song of celebrating friendships, past and present. Of reminiscing about the past while looking to the future, which I think sort of speaks to the spirit of new year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Ooh, also gorgeous and what a set up for what is going to be a spectacular year, 2026.
So after nearly a decade, by the way, of spooky adventures and 1980s nostalgia, the hit Netflix series "STRANGER THINGS" has now come to an end. The last episode of the fifth and final season hit the streaming service just a few hours ago.
[06:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Clip from Netflix's "STRANGER THINGS."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The last season of "STRANGER THINGS" was released in installments. No word, so far, on viewership numbers for the finale but according to Variety, the first few episodes had the best premiere week viewership ever for an English language Netflix series. So goodbye, "STRANGER THINGS." But again, hello 2026.
And thank you so much for joining us here at EARLY START. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
