>>> Smoke from the devastating
wildfires in Canada impacting
millions here in the united
States.
Schools are closed and outdoor
events are being canceled as the
smoke creates the world's worst
air pollution in New York City.
>>> We are standing by for an
update from the Vatican as pope
Francis is undergoing abdominal
surgery, stomach surgery, at
this very moment.
What we are learning about the
86-year-old's procedure.
>>> For the first time in modern
history a former vice president
is running against his former
boss.
CNN is on the trail in Iowa as
Mike pence makes it official.
This is CNN "News central."
♪♪
>>> You are now looking at a
live picture of New York City.
Yeah, it's really smoky.
More than 30 million people are
under air quality alerts this
morning as smoke from wildfires
in Canada is pouring to the
south, shrouding U.S. Cities
across the northeast,
mid-atlantic and midwest.
New York City public schools
have canceled outdoor activities
today because of the air
quality.
At one point yesterday the city
topped the list of the world's
worst air pollution.
And you can see in these
pictures new yorkers could
barely make out the city's
iconic skyline.
I took some of this video
yesterday, this is from midtown,
Manhattan, and there is some
video also coming in from the
upper west side.
Hard to see those buildings
there in the background.
Now, in Canada's capital city of
ottawa an Orange haze took over
the skyline for weeks now.
Firefighters in Canada have been
battling wildfires in British
Columbia and Nova Scotia.
Quebec is the biggest hot spot
at the moment with more than 150
active wildfires burning.
All of it is expected to keep
U.S. Cities blanketed with smoke
into tomorrow.
CNN's Athena Jones is joining us
from here in New York.
What are the conditions now?
I can see a little bit of haze
still out there behind you.
>> Reporter: Good morning, Sara.
That's exactly right.
You can look out across the
Hudson, you can see off in the
distance that's Jersey City, new
Jersey, you can see another
sightseeing boat taking off.
We've seen a lot of people
trying to go about their daily
lives, running, some wearing
masks, some not wearing masks
but the hazy and smoky
conditions continue.
This is all about health and
safety.
This is why we're seeing
officials here in New York City
and officials and agencies up
and down the northeast all the
way down to Raleigh, north
Carolina, I should say, telling
people to be cautious, to limit
their time outdoors.
This looks a bit better than it
did at least to my eye last
night.
It looked last night like there
was a cloud that the descended
straight on the city.
If you look at the numbers
they're still at very unhealthy
levels when it comes to the air
quality index.
These are pollutants that are
among the tiniest and most
dangerous pollutants it's called
pm 2.5, particulate matter.
It's so tiny when you inhale
this stuff it can go deep into
your lungs and pass into the
bloodstream and cause health
problems like asthma,
respiratory issues, heart
disease and can make anyone
suffering from that thing the
symptoms much, much worse.
That is why we're seeing schools
here in the city and upstate in
central New York, ten school
districts canceling outdoor
activity.
We know that mayor Adams in new
York is about to hold a press
conference next hour to give us
an update on what to expect, but
we know that of course you don't
want to be at the top of the
list of most polluted cities in
the world and that's why new
York has been over the last
couple days.
>> You hear a lot of people
talking about that, Athena and I
notice you're wearing a mask.
Everyone thinks of covid when
they see the mask but this is
what you do in places like
California where I live to try
to keep yourself safe from huge
amounts of smoke.
I appreciate your reporting
today.
Let's go to CNN meteorologist
Derek van dam who is joining us
now.
Derek, how long is this expected
to go on?
>> Yeah, share ration this is
definitely one of those days as
an asthmatic you don't want to
step out the door without your
asthma pump because it could
literally save your life.
To answer your question, I think
we've got at least another day
where we're going to have this
brown hazy smoke in the sky.
Now, you may have enjoyed maybe
the beautiful sunrises and sun
sets as this cloud is in the
upper levels of the atmosphere,
too, it blocks out the sun, it
filters out the shortwave
lengths and leaves us that red
hue, but when it settles to the
ground it becomes an issue.
Athena has been appropriately
reporting on that because
obviously this has major health
implications for people like
myself who is an asthmatic.
Just take a look at the national
mall in Washington, D.C., it's
not only New York City, it's
also Philadelphia, it's also
Baltimore and our nation's
capital.
The big apple, though, jostling
with what was the notoriously
most polluted city in the world,
deli, India, one time topping
the list of the most polluted
cities in the entire planet.
Incredible.
You have to look to the
satellite imagery to see what is
going on.
Last night we saw a wall of
smoke progressing across lake
Ontario from the wildfires in
Quebec and that is what we will
see in the hours and days to
come.
The fires will be burning for
several more days if not weeks
and that smoke all dependent on
the wind direction is going to
filter it into some of the most
populated areas all registers
unhealthy to hazardous levels of
particulate matter that Athena
was talking about.
Here is the smoke forecast, you
can see kind of another large
area, a plume of smoke will be
filtering in through the rest of
the workweek and that is why we
have so many million Americans
under this air quality alert
currently impacting not only the
quality of the air, but also the
visibility that you and I see as
we step --
>> I can tell you I can actually
feel the same feeling that I got
there after some time, headaches
and a little congestion.