a night full of hope. we have a whole world to build. join anderson cooper and laura coates live. ♪ ...the hero is in you... ♪ cnn heroes. an all-star tribute. tomorrow at eight on cnn. two broadcast titans are now on cnn. what's going on, america? to get real... what do you all think? we're tired of the b.s. ...on the stories that matter most to you. this will be a place that you can have conversation. and they're not holding anything back. anybody who wants everybody to agree with them is an idiot anyway. gayle king, charles barkley... this is our unfiltered take on the biggest stories of the day. king charles. wednesdays at ten on cnn. welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and around the world. i'm bianca nobilo.

israel is hitting what it says are hamas targets across gaza. it's unclear if palestinians are receiving warnings to leave certain areas. a stunning downfall. the president of the university of pennsylvania resigns amid public outrage over her testimony to congress about anti-semitism on campus. leaders of venezuela and guyana have agreed to meet because of a dispute over land. we begin this hour in gaza where israeli air strikes and ground operations are ongoing against what israel says are hamas targets across the strip. some of the fiercest battles are said to be in and around the southern city of khan yunis which the idf has described as a hamas stronghold.

due to poor communications, it isn't clear if palestinians are able to receive warnings. two large explosions are building in central gaza early saturday setting off a scramble to pull victims from the wreckage. residents say at least 150 people were thought to be sheltering inside. the hamas-run health ministry in gaza claims more than 17,000 people have been killed in gaza and nearly 49,000 wounded since the war began two months ago. cnn cannot verify those figures. ell elliott gotkine, bring us up to date. >> reporter: fierce battles from zero distances is how hamas is describing some of the fighting taking place in northern parts of the gaza strip. to that end, idf has been releasing video footage of its soldiers on the ground in one scene, seen firing multiple rounds towards militant targets.

even firing rocket-propelled grenades as well. in another you can see them raiding a house which they said contained militants. they're firing rounds in there, throwing grenades in there, then showing the blurred images of what they would say were dead militants inside that house. fierce fighting going on. also in the last hour or so, the idf saying that over the last 24 hours, they have carried out more than 250 strikes on targets in the gaza strip. they are saying that they also carried out air strikes on a hamas military communications site adjacent to a mosque in the southern part of the gaza strip. at the same time, we've been hearing from israel's national security adviser, zachary henegbe. he says israel is getting very close to the strongholds of hamas in the northern part of the gaza strip. he also said that of those 17,700 people that hamas says

have been killed since this war began on october the 7th, in the wake of hamas' terrorist attacks, henegbe saying at least, in his words, 7,000 were militants and that figure could be higher. we can't verify any of those specific figures, but those are the figures that israel is working with. at the same time, there are moves to get more humanitarian aid into the gaza strip. we heard from israel on thursday, talking about the kerem shalom crossing. the israel/gaza crossing there, israel talking about it being opened in the coming days to allow more humanitarian aid into the strip. we've heard from the world food program saying that new processes for inspections are currently being tested, suggesting that we may be getting closer to that crossing being opened. the world food program putting it bluntly in an interview with reuters saying, we need kerem

shalom open. unicef saying that delivery challenges of getting humanitarian aid into the gaza strip are, in its words, a death sentence for children inside gaza. >> elliott gotkine in london, thank you. an israeli hostage held in gaza has been killed, according to the kibbutz where he lived. hamas claims 25-year-old tahar barack was killed friday during a failed israeli rescue operation. the idf referred cnn to the prime minister's office which said it had no comment. israel sit it believes hamas is still holding at least 137 hostages. in tel aviv on saturday, israelis gathered and again called for their release. a hostage's father told the crowd," get them out now, immediately, whatever the price may be." israel says it believes hamas is still holding at least 137 hostages, and each day that those people remain in captivity is agonizing, understandably,

for the families. as they've done since the crisis erupted, israelis again rallied to demand their government to do more to bring the remaining hostages home. for some, the anger and frustration has been overwhelming. here's the father of one 19-year-old hostage who attended saturday's rally. >> we have no time. when i was there tuesday at the war cabinet meeting, i put this in front of them and said, we have no time. you will be judged by the ability of how many and how soon hostages are able to come back alive. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is praising the u.s. for vetoing a u.n. resolution that called for a cease-fire in gaza. >> translator: i greatly appreciate the correct stance of

the u.s.'s take in the u.n. security council. the other countries need to understand october one hand, it is impossible to support the elimination of hamas, while on the other hand, calling for a halt to the war which will prevent the elimination of hamas. therefore, israel will continue our just war to eliminate hamas and achieve the other goals of the war that we have set out. >> palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas condemned the veto saying the u.s. is responsible for the bloodshed of palestinians in gaza. he called it unethical and a blatant violation of all human values and principles. as israel's military operations expand across gaza, the u.s. is preparing to bypass congress to rush thousands of additional tank shells to israel. weapons sales normally go through congress and require a 20-day review period, but a source with direct knowledge tells cnn that the state department notified lawmakers it would waive the waiting period to send 13,000 tank shells right away. the state department's emergency

declaration came on the heels of a request to congress to transfer 45,000 rounds of tank ammunition to israel. the intense backlash against three university presidents over their comments to congress about anti-semitism has claimed its first casualties. university of pennsylvania president liz mcgill has resigned along with the head of the school's board of trustees after mcgill and the presidents of harvard and m.i.t. were asked about anti-semitism on campus and gave answers that shocked students, faculty, and many in congress. two students have sued alleging a hostile education environment. >> i fear this has been a problem for a long time coming. i think what the congressional hearing showed the world is what a lot of us have been saying for awhile, is that there is an indifference to anti-semitism and a culture of hostility that has been brewing on campus for some time now. and i think if the true culture

of change is meant to happen and should happen, then mcgill is just one figure that has allowed this to happen. and there are continuous steps that need to be taken in order to safeguard and protect all students on campus from such hatred and hostility. >> mcgill's resignation also comes after a wealthy alumnus threatened to withdraw a $100 million donation. cnn's polo sandoval explains what happened. >> reporter: in back-to-back resignations, the president of university of pennsylvania announcing she would step down just moments before the university official who made her announcement announced that he, too, would be resigning. liz mcgill announced saturday she would be stepping down from her position as u-penn president. she will remain tenured faculty at the university's law school and also agreed to stay on board while they find an interim replacement. as we've reported, students,

faculty, even donors say that they lost confidence in mcgill after tuesday's pretty disastrous hearing in which she, along with the presidents of harvard and m.i.t., failed to explicitly state that calls for genocide of jews would immediately violate the respective universities' codes of conduct. moments after the announcement scott bach said he too would be stepping down as chair of the board of trustees writing, "former president liz mcgill last week made a very unfortunate misstep. following that, it became clear her position was no longer tenable and she and i concurrently decided it was time for her to exit." bach defending mcgill, calling her a good person, a talented leader, and in his words, not the slightest bit anti-semitic. bach sharing perspective about may have been mcgill's state of mind the day of this disastrous hearing on the hill, saying that

mcgill was not herself at the time, that she was overlawyered, she was overprepared, and she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that, bach says, was wrong. polo sandoval, cnn, new york. the presidents of venezuela and guyana have agreed to meet. we'll explain the longtime dispute over the land and why it's so valuable. ukrainian troops fight a tough battle in the east and plead for western help to keep on going.

the presidents of venezuela and guyana have agreed to meet soon amid a growing impasse over disputed land. at issue is the status of the esa cebe region rich in oil and minerals. it makes up two-thirds of guyana's territory but is claimed by venezuela. according to a letter shared with cnn, the leaders of both countries have tentatively agreed to talk this thursday. cnn has reached out to the governments of venezuela and guyana for comment on this proposed meeting.

in the meantime, mannian de alba is a senior with the international crisis group and joins us from london. thank you so much, great to have you on the program. despite the proximity of guyana and venezuela, there is actually very littleling bnguistic and c ties to the region. what do the people think? >> thank you for the invitation, good morning. i think, yes, this region has been -- guyana as a country has been very close to the united kingdom. it has ties to -- basically to the caribbean commonwealth. and then i would say that where there's some coincidence is that there are some indigenous groups which also lived in venezuela that also live in the parts of

guyana that are less populated. so the cultural and language ties are little, but that doesn't have -- basically gone against the fact that the dispute has existed for a long time. i think that if you ask the population of guyana what do they think about this conflict? obviously, you know, many years ago, they would have entertained the idea of some sort of association with venezuela. however, more recently, it is also true that venezuela has undergone a deep economic crisis and actually many venezuelans have left to guyana to basically try to find economic opportunities. >> regional watchers such as yourself, were you expecting this? or did it come as a surprise when maduro called this

referendum, said he was going to issue i.d. cards, causing concern this could escalate further? >> no, i think it was situate expected. the situation, the controversy around the territory is something that unites venezuelans and venezuela is very highly polarized. it is expected that it will face crucial procedural elections next year. so i think that, you know, the venezuelan government led by nicholas maduro called for a referendum as a test to see what the capacity of the government to mobilize voters was. the result is it's really not in great shape, and therefore we have seen these measures which obviously guyana has reasons to feel threatened by them. but at the same time, they are highly symbolic because all of those measures will be executed within clearly venezuelan territory. so venezuela, at least for now,

is very cautious of not going against the order of the international court of justice which said basically what when we ask is not to modify the status quo of the territory and the dispute until the court decides the case. >> maduro's rhetoric and actions essentially serve political and mobilization purposes. how likely do you think an actual attempt at a land grab is? i say attempt. obviously the asymmetry in terms of their militaries is so extreme that if one was attempted, it would be hard to see how it wouldn't be successful. >> yes, no, i think it is unlikely. it would -- if maduro goes ahead with that move, it would face strong international condemnation even from governments that are close to the chavista movement. maduro and the armed forces would risk response not only by guyana defense forces but some

of its allies. guyana is trying to use the situation to try to fortify its links, its association with some foreign military, like for example, the u.s. so i think it is unlikely. we'll see what happens on this meeting. i also think that it is unlikely we will come to a resolution of the conflict as a result of that meeting, but what we could expect hopefully is a lowering of the tensions that we have seen for the past weeks. >> just briefly and lastly to you, the u.s. did perform a flyover on thursday. you're discussing how this could be an opportunity for guyana and the u.s. to deepen ties. what has the response from the international community been behind the scenes on this issue? >> a lot of concern. and i think that, you know, as they see the response by venezuela as a threat to guyana, many countries from the region are not happy by the fact that the u.s. performed those

military exercises with guyana amid the rising tensions. venezuela is seeing that as a provocation. >> thank you for joining us today and getting up early on a sunday. appreciate your thoughts and insights. >> thank you so much, bianca. a far-right libertarian compared to donald trump is about to take the top job in argentina. final preparations are under way in buenos aires for sunday's inauguration of president-elect helio ole. he plans to dollarize argentina's economy amid skyrocketing inflation. mele is opposed to abortion rights and called climate change a socialist lie. to some supporters, he represents hope. >> translator: javier mole brings something for the people, not the politicians. that is our expectation. it gives us satisfaction because we were always unprotected.

now, at least this man will bring us protection and growth in his own words. we are yet to see what happens. ukrainian president zelenskyy is headed to the inauguration after he thanked mole for his support for ukraine. ukraine is getting a preview of what could lie ahead in the coming months as russia steps up attacks across the country. officials said on saturday that russia launched close to 100 air strikes over the preceding 24 hours. the kherson region was hit by a barrage of artillery and drone attacks which killed at least one person and wounded another. that happened a day after russia used cruise missiles for the first time in more than two and a half months. western intelligence officials expect moscow to ramp up strikes on infrastructure and electrical facilities this winter. ukraine's first lady is making a somber pitch for more western military aid. in an interview with bbc, olena

zelenska said if the world gets tired of helping ukraine, it will be equivalent to letting ukrainians die. she spoke after the u.s. senate blocked a new batch of aid for kyiv. as anna coren reports, ukrainian troops need all the help they can get. >> reporter: down a muddy road sits an old farmhouse. its owners left some time ago, but it has new residents. these are soldiers from the 47th mechanized brigade. >> that's where we keep our missiles. >> reporter: they're part of the 54 adivka on the eastern front. camouflaged under the thicket is a launcher from the soviet era. 32-year-old sasha wishes they had better and more modern

weapons. >> when you're hit with the modern weapons and with the western weapons, they're more accurate and they bring more damage to the enemy. >> reporter: in the past two months, russia has been sending waves and waves of troops to adivka. sasha and his soldiers know this war could become even more difficult if u.s. aid, now under threat, suddenly dries up. >> all the delay just because it's the lives of the best ukrainian people. we have the spirit, definitely, but we need some kind of support. >> reporter: if u.s. congress does not pass the military aid package, then ukraine will not receive the advance weaponry it desperately needs to fight this war. and that means it will have to rely more heavily on decades-old soviet equipment like this to

combat russian forces, who are gaining supremacy on the front line. a sobering reality for these soldiers almost two years into this war. >> i'm afraid ukraine will not be able to stand without our part partners with us. simple as that. >> reporter: weighing even heavier on their minds is last week's alleged execution of two unarmed ukrainian soldiers who were surrendering to russian forces not far from sasha's position. drone footage shows the p.o.w.s climbing out of their dugout, arms above their head, before being shot at close range. ukraine is now investigating what the prosecutor general calls a gross violation of the geneva conventions. >> every similar event brings a lot of pain and suffering to us. that's for sure. it will not make us weak. it will not scare us.

we will continue doing what we have to do. >> reporter: which is, fighting a seemingly endless war as they build more trenches. uncertain if the west will truly be there for the long haul. >> if we let ukraine go, if we let putin win, then who will feel safe here? i think no one. >> reporter: anna coren, cnn, on the outskirts of adivka, ukraine. we're hours away from the award ceremony for the nobel peace prize but the recipient will be absent because she's in jail in iran. her children will accept the honor on her behalf. the nobel committee announced her win, recognizing for her work against "systemic discrimination and oppression in iran." since the 1990s, mohammadi has been a staunch advocate for women's rights and democracy. she's been sentenced to 31 years in prison, 10 years are left,

for breaching hijab rules. we'll take a break. for viewers in north america, more news in just a moment. for international viewers, "mission tiger" is next.

dear moms and dads, what you have achieved here today is going to help us and our futures. it is why we're coming up on stage to collect your diplomas. mom, love you always. vo: when you graduate, they graduate. visit finishyourdiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you. ♪ welcome back to our viewers in the united states and canada. you're watching "cnn newsroom." a state of emergency has been declared in some communities

after a tornado ripped through eastern tennessee. at least six people are dead and nearly two dozen are injured. this is the scene in clarksville on saturday where buildings were torn to shreds and the mayor says, "our hearts are broken." officials say they're still in search and rescue and trying to see if there are more casualties. authorities are urging residents to stay away from damaged areas as emergency crews work. witnesses describe what happened. >> walls bursted. windows bursted. everything just exploded. this is what it felt like, like everything exploded. a lot of pressure built up and just popped. >> late friday, the texas supreme court blocked, at least for now, a woman's court-approved medical exception to the state's abortion ban. kate cox, a mother of two, says her fetus suffers a rare genetic condition that is almost always fatal and her health is at risk if she carries this pregnancy to

term. cnn's camila bernal reports. >> reporter: kate cox is 31 years old, 20 weeks pregnant. her fetus has a fatal genetic condition, and she says that the complications of her pregnancy have put her health at risk but also her reproductive health at risk. she sued the state of texas, essentially asking for permission to be allowed to get a legal abortion in the state of texas. a judge in that state granted that and agreed, essentially allowed her to do this. and this was extremely significant, especially when it came to the debate of medical exemptions and what that means. this is a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, and the state's attorney general disagreeing with that judge in texas. so ken paxton asking for the state's supreme court to intervene. that's exactly what they did, putting a temporary block, freezing the lower court's

decision. essentially not giving a timeline as to when they're going to look at this case. her attorneys saying they are still hopeful but that essentially time is of the essence here. she said in a statement that that is why you shouldn't beg for health care from a court of law. on the other hand, you have ken paxton saying that kate cox did not demonstrate why this is life-threatening or why she is at risk of death. but kate cox in that lawsuit saying that her baby when born would only live for a few days, saying she's had numerous medical emergencies throughout her pregnancy, and also saying this could be extremely hurtful in terms of what her fertility looks like later on. earlier, cnn spoke with u.s. congresswoman veronica esdough bar of texas. she weighed in on what the situation means for women in texas and the impact across the

country. >> thanks for focusing on this issue, which as life-or-death issue for women in texas, in kentucky, in a number of other republican-run states where abortion and health care, reproductive health care for women, is essentially banned unless a woman begs for her life before a judge. women's future, women's reproductive futures, are really what is going to be decided by a very conservative supreme court. but bigger than just what's happening in texas, this really should provide a significant wakeup call for women and for americans who want to have reproductive freedom in our country. they're not going to stop just at states like texas, kentucky, elsewhere. republicans want a national ban, and thankfully, we have a president and a vice president today in the white house wanting

to protect us. but this is a wakeup call for 2024 as well. with only weeks to go until the iowa caucuses, republican candidates are wasting no time tritrying to appeal to as many voters as possible. our report from the campaign trail is just ahead. u.s. president gene goes on the offensive against donald trump but the legal cases against mr. biden's son could make his message harder to sell.

the iowa caucuses in the race for the white house are next month and the contest will likely make or break some of the campaigns. but between now and then are the holidays, which means gop hopefuls have very little time left to make a good impression. here's cnn's eva mckend. >> reporter: ambassador haley, governor desantis, vivek ramaswamy leaning on iowans to caucus for them in a few short

weeks. they all appeared on the same stage at a faith and family forum, an opportunity to talk about how faith and family informs their policy visions. something, of course, that is so important in this state of iowa where so many of the caucusgoers are evangelical voters. for the most part, they stayed away from attacking one another, but ambassador haley, governor desantis, did seem to suggest that both of them would be better general election candidates than former president donald trump. >> what i know is you don't defeat democrat chaos with republican chaos. and that's what donald trump gives us. i had a great working relationship with him, but rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. you know i'm right. chaos follows him. and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and

survive this chaos. >> it's important to point out that normally in an iowa caucus, you've got five or six candidates that are running as conservatives and conservative voters are having to look through. that's not the case this year. i think you have donald trump, who's obviously moved left, is not even really putting in the work to earn people's votes. >> reporter: at a town hall in silver lake, iowa, ambassador h haley took questions from voters, many concerned about the future of social security in this country. something notable is that haley, desantis, they seemed to be pushing forcefully back against this notion that they are interested in being trump's vice presidential running mate. haley stressing that she is not in this contest to play for number two. eva mckend, cnn, silver lake, iowa. president biden is shifting into attack mode as he gears up

for a bospossible rematch again donald trump next year. as kevin liptak reports, it's piling up political pressure on the white house. >> reporter: the white house is remaining mostly tight-lipped about these charges filed against hunter biden, saying that president biden loves his son and supports him but not weighing in on the substance of the charges. certainly this is one of the most sensitive issues inside the west wing. there are very few aides who discussed this matter with president biden. when you talk to them, there are few who say they have firsthand understanding of how the president is processing all of this, but certainly it is weighing heavily on president biden, his son's legal issues. these are no different. some of the personal issues that were raised in that filing will be problematic for president biden as he gears up for re-election next year. certainly this will be a political headache for the president as he enters 2024. you already hear republicans

trying to conflate hunter biden's legal issues with the legal issues facing president trump, but of course these are very separate cases. president trump was in the white house, and he is running to be in the white house again. hunter biden has never been president and won't be president, but this is still a political headache for president biden as he enters this re-election year. certainly the challenge for him will be making this a contest between him and president trump and trying to frame the stakes of this election. you are starting to hear him sharpen his attacks on his predecessor and most likely rival. in fact, when he was in las vegas friday talking about passenger rail investments, he went after president trump by name. >> trump just talks the talk. we walk the walk. look. he likes to say america's a fair

weather nation. he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. >> are. >> reporter: you'll hear that argument in television ads, digital ads. those cost a lot of money, and that is why president biden is out here in los angeles this weekend raising campaign cash at a series of fund-raisers. in fact, behind closed doors at those fund raisers, he is sharper in his attacks on president trump. friday night telling donors literally, i believe the future of american democracy is at stake. the greatest threat trump poses is to our democracy because if we lost that, we lose everything. certainly you see president biden there fine-tuning his attacks on president trump as he gears up for this election season. i was talking with jeffrey katzenberg, the movie mogul, also a cochair of the biden campaign. he told me that this 36-hour stretch of fund-raising here in california will be the most successful campaign fund-raising stretch that president biden has

engaged in since he announced his re-election in the spring. kevin liptak, cnn, los angeles. former u.s. democratic congressman tom suozzi has announced his canned data for the house seat once held by george santos. in announcing his candidacy today, saturday rather, he said his focus would be on bread-and-butter issues such as inflation and immigration. the special election is set for february 13th. santos became the sixth lawmaker ever expelled from congress when he was voted out earlier this month. a congressional ethics investigation found evidence that he may have broken federal laws, lied to voters, and stole money from his campaign. allegations santos has denied. still to come, some special recognition for the heroes who helped keep the childhood home of martin luther king jr. from

going up to flames and their reaction is just ahead.

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in new york, two retired police officers are being honored as heroes for preventing an arson attack on the childhood home of dr. martin luther king jr. the two brothers visiting atlanta say they got involved when a woman allegedly tried to light the house on fire. cnn's rafael romo has the details. >> reporter: they're not only brothers in arms, they're brothers in real life. older brother kenny dotson said he always wanted to work with his younger brother, axel, and it happened. talk about going beyond the call of duty in a ceremony honoring the two retired police officers from new york. new york officials said that the brothers helped prevent a national tragedy. the dotsons were also hailed as two new american heroes. they were visiting atlanta thursday at this site here behind me when they realized that there was a woman trying to set the home on fire. and this is not just any place,

this is the birthplace of civil rights leader martin luther king jr., a place as you can imagine of great historical importance. when they realized that, officials say they sprang into action and forgot for a moment that they were retired police officers. they responded to the situation, detaining the woman. this is how they expressed their feelings about being called heroes. >> still hasn't quite hit me yet, because initially, you know, i wasn't even expecting to go to the site. whenever i thought of martin luther king, i think of alabama, selma, montgomery. atlanta didn't dawn on me. it still hasn't hit me. but i'm glad that we were all there. even the gentleman from utah. that we were able to stop this from happening. >> the day before, we was in atlanta to visit my father. just the day before, my father asked, do you miss the job?

asked us both, do you miss the job? i said, yeah, i kind of miss that adrenaline rush from time to time. i miss coming out, you know, doing the job, helping people. i miss that. and it's funny that the very next day, we're involved in something like that. but it wasn't just the adrenaline rush. it was doing it with my brother that i just -- i loved. you know. that i had my brother there, we was doing this, and i was like, yeah. i made a collar with my little brother. >> reporter: officials in new york said these officers are a clear example of dedication. once a cop, always a cop, they said. but they were not working alone. there was also a couple of friends from utah who also helped stop the woman who was trying to set this home on fire. one of them explained that it was a very close call. >> she grabbed a lighter from the grass and started to come back at the stairs. i stood at the stairs and said, "you can't do this," blocked her for about a minute, blocked her

from going up the stairs. when she couldn't get back up the stairs and saw that i had her keys, she walked quickly down and started heading down the street this way. >> reporter: the martin luther king jr. national historical park issued a statement expressing gratitude for the actions of these individuals, saying in part those promptly intervened and averted a potential tragedy, saying their quick action helped save the home that gave birth to a monumental legacy nearly a century ago. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. a 22-year-old senior who's just won about every prestigious award a college quarterback can earn has received the biggest honor of all. quarterback jayden daniels of louisiana state university has won the heisman trophy, college football's highest accolade. daniels received far more first place votes than the three other contenders. he says winning the heisman is a

dream come true. turning to baseball, superstar shohei ohtani announced on instagram he's leaving the los angeles angels and moving across town to the dodgers. cnn's patrick snell has the details of thinks record-shattering deal. >> there had been so much speculation about where shohei ohtani would sign, especially over the last few days. in the end, he's chosen the l.a. dodgers. the japanese sensation announcing via instagram on saturday he will leave the cross-town l.a. angels. multiple reports citing ohtani's agent saying it's a 10-year deal worth $700 million. that would make it one of the biggest athlete contracts in sports history. the 29-year-old posting on instagram, "i would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the angels organization, especially to the angels fans who supported me through all the ups and downs. your support and cheer meant the world to me. the six years i spent with the

angels will remain etched in my hearts forever, and to dodger fans, i always pledge to do what's best for the team and give it my all to be the best version of myself." ohtani is one of the best players in all of baseball, fair to say the babe ruth of this generation. he won the american league mvp for the second time this past season. he won't be able to pitch next year due to elbow injury, but he will be able to hit for the dodgers. there was speculation about where he was heading. some reports even had him on a plane to toronto on friday. several other teams reportedly in the mix as well. but this is a massive move for the dodgers, and it makes a whole lot of sense for them. it's a big, big blow to the angels and their fans. a chess grand master in havana has set a big cuban national record. omar almeda played 32 times simultaneous games on saturday.

the president of cuba's chess federation explained those playing were all ranked and not amateurs including children to adults and even a member of the paralympic team. almeida said he wanted to spread chess to the masses and inspire young people to follow their dreams. climate activists in italy say they dumped a chemical dye into the venetian canal saturday to protest the lack of action at the u.n. climate change summit in dubai. the group, extinction rebellion, claimed responsibility for the stunt which left the famous waterway bright green. you can see it there. very bright green under the famous rialto bridge. the group says the u.n.'s cop28 conference is chaired by an oil company executive and thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists were invited to participate. they say the future is in danger and nothing is being done to protect it. just hours ago, buckingham palace released this year's

christmas card featuring king charles and queen camilla. let's take a look. they were photographed in the throne room of the palace following the coronation in may. the king is wearing a purple silk velvet robe, the traditional color of royalty that was worn by king george vi in 1937. these cards, we're told, will be sent to family, friends, and colleagues. before we go, it's an all-out christmas cake extravaganza for one city in eastern germany. thousands showed up for the traditional stollen fest in the city. bakers created the nearly two-ton dessert over several weeks. proceeds go to charity so everybody wins. that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm bianca nobilo.

i'll be back with you after a very short break, so do stay with us.

the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you?

no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a s(car engine revs)evice. (engine accelerating) (texting clicks) (tires squeal) (glass shattering) (loose gravel clanking) welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada a