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The Situation Room

Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-New York City, NY) Officially becomes New York City Mayor; Swiss Police Say, Dozens Believed Dead in Fire at New Year's Party; Turning Grief into Hope, The Nature of Change, Helps Kids Face Uncertainty, Build Resilience. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and a very Happy New Year. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world for a special edition of The Situation Room. I'm Danny Freeman in for Wolf and Pamela.

And new this morning, Zohran Mamdani is officially the mayor of New York City. The 34-year-old Democratic socialist was sworn in around midnight. It makes history as the city's first Muslim and South Asian mayor.

Mamdani stunned the political world with his victory in last summer's Democratic primary. He went a campaign focused on affordability, featuring problems or rather promises for a universal childcare program, rent freezes and making city buses free to all passengers.

Now, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will introduce Mamdani at a public ceremony this afternoon. Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders will administer the oath of office.

For more on this, let's go live now to CNN Correspondent Gloria Pazmino here in New York with us. Gloria, what more can you tell us?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, Happy New Year. You know, certainly the hardest part comes now, right, and that is, of course, governing for the next four years for Zohran Mamdani, who, as you said, made history last night taking the oath of office right after midnight, becoming one of the youngest mayors elected in a century, the first Muslim, the first South Asian. And he will be having his inauguration ceremony this afternoon at City Hall. There's going to be some big Democratic progressive names there, including Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And we expect to hear from a number of different speakers. We will hear from Mamdani and we're also learning a little bit more this morning about many of the symbolic elements that the ceremony will include today, like, for example, Mamdani will be using the Holy Quran, Islam's holiest book, during his swearing in today. He will be using a Quran that belonged to his grandfather and one that belonged to his grandmother. And I think that, of course speaks to the symbolism of his election and the meaning that it has for so many Muslim New Yorkers here in the city. But this is a day today for him to kind of set the tone of his administration, right? We're going to hear what he is going to be doing. As you said, this is someone who campaigned on a promise to tackle the city's affordability crisis. And he has a long road and a very ambitious agenda ahead of him. The city is currently in good economic standing, but, of course, we'll see what happens over the next few years and whether or not he is able to deliver on many of these promises.

So, today will be all celebrating the beginning of his new term and hearing from all those speakers who will be there today. It's going to be a cold one. It will be outside, and it is very cold here in New York City today. But this is historically what is done here in New York to mark the beginning of a new administration. So, we'll be seeing him and many others there at City Hall later this afternoon. Danny?

FREEMAN: All lies on City Hall in New York City. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for that report.

All right, we're following breaking news this morning. We're learning new details about a devastating fire overnight at a Swiss ski resort. Now, police say dozens of people are presumed dead and around a hundred others have been injured after a blaze ripped through a New Year's party in Crans-Montana, one of Switzerland's most exclusive destinations.

Now, this was the scene right here on your screen, outside of the bar where witnesses say at least 200 people had been celebrating the New Year. And this morning, we're hearing from people who survived this tragedy and what they're saying about the possible cause of the fire.

For more on all of this, let's go now live to CNN Correspondent Nada Bashir in London. Nada, what's the latest you can tell us about this terrible tragedy?

[10:05:01]

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Danny, officials have been very clear that the investigations are still very much in the early stages. What we do know right now, according to authorities, is that blaze reportedly broke out around 1:30 A.M. local time as New Year's celebrations would have been taking place. And according to officials, dozens are presumed to be dead, some 100 individuals are injured.

And we've been hearing from witnesses on the ground who have spoken to officials and who've also spoken to our affiliate BFMTV, one witness saying that they saw a waitress carrying champagne bottles with sparklers in them, another witness saying that waitresses were carried on the shoulders of other waiters carrying those champagne bottles with sparklers in them, that those sparklers set fire to the ceiling.

Now, it's important to underscore that this is coming from witnesses speaking to our affiliate. Officials have not yet given any firm cause for the blaze. They have said and caution that the investigation is still very much in the early stages. They've also been very clear that they are not at this stage investigating this as any sort of terror attack despite reports from witnesses that there was the sound of an explosion. It is understood, according to authorities, that that may have been caused by the fire itself spreading throughout the venue.

And, of course, there has been a huge response by emergency services, some 150 medical personnel, 40 ambulances on the scene. Hospitals are said to be facing an influx of casualties, and now the state council has declared a state of emergency in the area. Danny?

FREEMAN: Yes, just such a tragic story. Nada Bashir, thank you so much for that update. I really do appreciate it.

All right, meanwhile, coming back to the States, the New Year starting out with evacuation warnings for Southern California as another series of storms move in. We will though go live to Pasadena near the impacted areas where the Rose parade at this moment is set to get started in the next hour.

Stay with us,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:10:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm here with my dear friend Rene Marsh, and we were just talking about how this is a time of year that's full of a lot of joy, but also it can be full of heartache and grief. So, Rene has a new book that she wrote, The Nature of Change, and it can help any family, whether you're an adult or a child, navigate times of uncertainty, times that are tough and it's something that all of us experience at one point in our lives, right?

And it feels like sometimes the holidays can be especially rough for people who have had loss in their lives. I know you have and I have as well. So, tell me a little bit more about your book.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND AUTHOR, THE NATURE OF CHANGE: Yes. I mean, so this book, The Nature of Change, and I'll hold it up so that we can see it here, you know, it was borne out of this space of my journey with grief after, you know, the story publicly shared about the loss of my son, Blake, to pediatric cancer. And when I think about grief and my experience with it, it really is two things. Number one, it can really torment you. In its most acute phase, grief, absolutely torment, but it also transforms.

And I will have to say, besides motherhood, my grief is the -- probably one of the most transformative experiences that I've had in my life. I mean, I didn't have it on my bingo card to write children's books, but, again, this book and my first book, The Miracle Workers, that was all borne out of that very difficult time in my life.

And the inspiration behind The Nature of Change is, and I've shared this story with you, I would sit just in my backyard and just -- I was in zombie mode and I would just sit amongst nature and the trees, and I was trying to understand the world that I felt like I no longer understood. And in those moments of just sitting there, I would get these profound messages just from observing the nature around me.

My biggest teachers were, and this is going to sound so crazy, but it were -- it was the trees surrounding me, the trees, the way they stood there, whether it was in the fall and they were losing it all, but they still stood there knowing that was not the end of their story. Whether it was the tree in my backyard where the branch was kind of hanging on just by a thread, a shred of a limb after a big snow storm, and that spring, it could -- it was able to bloom again. Like all of these messages, I received them. I wasn't just looking at a tree with a broken branch, but I was receiving that message.

And so it was in those moments that the seed for this book was born.

BROWN: Seed, no pun intended.

MARSH: No pun intended, but it was born. You know, I would also say, and I hate to give grief credit for anything because I hate the circumstances that led to it. But I would say that I always appreciated nature, but I never learned from nature. I never received lessons and messages and the wisdom that I have recently from nature ever before. And it wasn't until my grief that I think perhaps my mind and my heart opened up to receive those messages.

BROWN: So, I want you to read a couple of excerpts from your book. I was reading it last night and it's so good. My kids, by the way, love The Miracle Workers and I know they're going to love this too.

MARSH: Okay. So, I want to start with the trees, because, like I said, they have been my biggest teachers. So, I'll do the setup here.

BROWN: And just for the audience to understand, basically, it's these two kids and they moved to a new place, right?

MARSH: right.

BROWN: They don't know what to think about this new place and all the change. And then they go outside and they have a little adventure.

MARSH: So, they're walking -- they've left their new house, which they hate. They don't like it. They want to go back to the old house. But now they're exploring their new backyard. So, they head outside and the first thing they see is the tree with this broken limb, this huge tree.

[10:15:05]

And so, Amal, who's the little girl, says, I bet it hurt when that branch broke off, Amal said, pointing at the scar. Maybe, but the tree is still standing, determined to keep growing tall, Kit added, that's her brother.

So, they continue on walking through this woods in their backyard when the brother, Kit, walks into this spider web, totally has it all over his head, knocks it down. Amal is taken aback because now she sees that the spider's work is all wiped out. So, she crouched down to see what this spider's going to do next. And she says, maybe it'll try to bite me. That's what Kit said. Then Amal says, or will it just give up? What will this spider do that just lost its spider web?

So, they stood there and they watched and they say, but the spider crept back out and began to weave. One strand appeared, then another. It carefully joined them together. It's building again, Amal said in relief. I bet it's hard -- I bet it's had to rebuild before, Kit said. That must take a lot of resilience, said Amal.

BROWN: I love that.

MARSH: So, you know, it's -- these are just examples, whether it's the tree that has this broken limb, but it still stands there. It keeps growing. And it doesn't shrivel up and die. It just continues on with its story, continue live.

BROWN: It might be a little changed but it continues to live. Just -- we've been changed, you know? And you've gone on since your loss of sweet Blake by honoring his legacy with this work you're doing out of grief and you've also gone on to have another child and who I'm sure is teaching you all kinds of things in life.

MARSH: And, really, at the core of this is, it's for our children, right? We know that life's not going to be all daisies and rainbows. And so we really want to be in a space, and I hope that we can prepare our kids. I know you want to do the same as a mom to face these life challenges with a strong mind, because if you don't have the strong mind, every single thing is going to just break you and destroy you, and that's what I don't want.

And when I was going through what I went through, especially in my grief, I could have easily been destroyed, but it was that morsel of just hope, that I had to fight for that hope. And so my hope is that we can teach and strengthen that muscle, of that strong mind early enough, that it's not so hard to access it when things get really rough. And you don't have to do much other than go outside and be inspired.

BROWN: I love that.

MARSH: Yes.

BROWN: Yes. I was just talking to my son last night. He said, this is the worst night ever. I'm so bored. And I said, well, guess what? Boredom is part of life.

MARSH: Yes.

BROWN: But you can use your imagination and maybe find something to do. And I've always thought that just getting outside and being part of nature is a good way to -- for kids to just, to grow and to learn. And this book encapsulates that perfectly.

And I love what you said about the parallel of how nature is sort of a parallel to the lives wheelie. There's some constants, but there's a lot of change and sometimes you don't have a choice in that change. And you can never foresee where it will lead you in life. But it has clearly led you into this place of writing incredible books like this and just doing so much work, raising money for pediatric cancer research. I mean, you have done so much to honor Blake's legacy.

So, I do think this time of year it can be a really tough year. It's a reminder for people who have lost a loved one with an empty seat at the table, and I think your book can help a lot of people. So, where can they get it?

MARSH: You can get all information about retailers@renemarsh.com, R- E-N-E-M-A-R-S-H dot com, and all the details are there.

BROWN: All right. Everyone go grab your copy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

BROWN: Well, it may be an understatement to say that this year has seen some dramatic changes in healthcare under the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but advances in women's health are still lagging. One of the biggest moves we did see was the removal of so-called black box warnings by the Food and Drug Administration about the risks of hormone replacement therapy for menopause symptoms, saying the benefits outweigh potential risks for most women.

We're going to discuss this and much more with Dr. Mary Claire Haver. She's an adjunct associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and an expert on menopause and all things perimenopause. She is also the author of The New Menopause, Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change With Purpose, Power, and Facts, and the host of the Unpaused Podcast.

Dr. Haver, thank you so much for being here. There has been so much going on in the women's health front this past year, and one of the biggest developments was that the black box warning that was added more than two decades ago was removed. I know you were part of that effort to remove that. Tell us more about why that was such a big decision this past year.

DR. MARY CLAIRE HAVER, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH: So, the black box warning was added in 2003 due to the Women's Health Initiative study and. Since that time, multiple factions of that study have been walked back. And what we know is that for -- especially for vaginal estrogen, for local estrogen products, there should be no warnings whatsoever, because it's not systemically absorbed.

And when we look at the nuance of the actual data, you know, having at this black box warning was really an overhaul. So, for decades we've actually asked the FDA through multiple administrations to have this removed, and so excited that, finally this year, we were able to get it now.

[10:25:00]

There are warnings for all medications, as there should be. There are risks and benefits to all patients, and those are still in the labeling. But the big black box warning, which was dramatically overstating concerns, has been removed.

BROWN: And it is significant. And also there's a lot of nuance to this, right? I know we have discussed that previously.

I also want to talk about the increasing attention on menopause in relation to heart and brain health. There's this new research highlighted the impact of menopause on cardiovascular disease, visceral fat, and insulin resistance, bone loss, cognitive aging, and the risk of Alzheimer's. That's a lot. What more can you tell us about that?

HAVER: Yes. So, you know, forever, the research on menopause focused on hot flashes and how to relieve them, which is an important aspect of menopause because they can be really life disruptive. But in the last, you know, decade, we've really -- research has really been trying to dig into what are also the cardiometabolic, the neurologic impacts of losing our estrogen levels. And what we found is there are estrogen receptors in every organ system of our body, and all of these organ systems are affected.

So, one of the great things about social media is women sharing their experiences. So, for example, the discussion around frozen shoulder, the discussion around palpitations, the discussions around having to really has, you know, led a lot of researchers to say, hey, you know, we have tens of -- these symptoms during menopause. Let's dig into the research and see what we can find.

BROWN: And I love that perimenopause is finally getting the tension it deserves as a woman in her 40s right now trying to navigate what's going on. And it's -- you know, it's a real physical transition, one that affects mood, cognition, sleep, metabolism, and emotional regulation. Yet many women are misdiagnosed, told it's psychological rather than hormonal and placed on antidepressants, or perhaps someone thinks it's perimenopause, but it's something else. But there's been almost no research on this. What's going on there?

HAVER: True. So, I'm -- we are going to be publishing the new perimenopause, the sister book to the new menopause early next year. And when I was digging into the research, so for pregnancy, for example, we have about 1.2 million articles with the word pregnancy in it. When you look at menopause, we have about 98,000. But when you look at perimenopause -- and articles.

Now, that being said, I am seeing day after day, I check the research every day of things that are published. Perimenopause is really starting to surge. I feel like we're about three years behind where we were with the menopause conversation, that perimenopause is really starting to get some of the attention it deserves.

BROWN: As it should, right, in my humble opinion, because it can last. And this was a surprise to me. It can last up to ten years and there's research showing --

HAVER: Yes, seven to ten years.

BROWN: Yes, I was shocked to learn that. And also that if you go on hormone replacement therapy in that timeframe, that that is really beneficial, right?

HAVER: It can be, especially in the mental health space. Some of the most of surprising research to me, but it really makes sense now that I just treat perimenopause and menopausal patients, one of the biggest findings we see is a doubling in the depression and anxiety rates across perimenopause. And so many women are finding that their hormones through the transition, they are having better cognitive outcomes and better mental health outcomes than rather starting them with an antidepressant or any anxiety medication first.

BROWN: Okay. And this was also the year that the crisis in funding women's health finally broke through, and you were just talking about, you're seeing more and more studies, for example, on perimenopause. There was this McKinsey report that found that diseases that mainly affect women, including women in menopause, receive far less research funding than male-dominated diseases. It found that federal investment is stagnating as the need accelerates.

HAVER: Yes.

BROWN: But Melinda French Gates committed a hundred million dollars to women's health innovation, which is very exciting.

So, overall, where are we on funding for women's health in this country?

HAVER: So, historically, it's not been great. You know, to quote Dr. Lisa Mosconi, women are owed centuries of research in diseases that primarily affect women. But also when we look at cardiovascular diseases, women have heart disease differently than men. And, you know, we're underrepresented in studies. We're underrepresented in clinical trials for certain medications. And so we're just taking how the drugs affect men and applying it to women, and we're seeing very different outcomes.

But the good news is that a lot of private entities are stepping up to start to fund women's health because when we have healthier women, we have a better population overall. You know, women are the wisdom keepers. Women are, you know, at this time of their lives, in their menopausal years, where they are trying to be CEOs, run companies, you know, manage families. And when they're healthier and have better cognition and mental health, they -- the whole population does better.

[10:30:01]

So, it's a great investment.

BROWN: And to that point, more workplaces are making accommodations for women who are in menopause, right? Tell us about that.