wednesday was national signing day and that is when the best high school football players decide what college they will be playing for in the fall. wide receiver jeremiah smith, number one overall player in the class of 2024, announcing that he was going to be an ohio state buckeye. check out head coach ryan day's reaction when he found that out during a news conference. >> really? >> yes. >> there is video. >> i mean, first beer is going to taste good, i can tell you that right now. >> i have not, john, seen phil mattingly crack a beer jet this morning. >> but take that is an early christmas gift for phil, no question about it. thanks, carolyn. >> thanks for joining us early, i'm john avlon.

cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. i'm phil mattingly with erika hill in new york. poppy is off today. there's a lot of news on this thursday, december 21st. starting with a new delay tactic from donald trump and his legal team. trump asking the supreme court to stay out of a key case for now as the justices face several issues that could reshape the entire race. and the political fallout continues from colorado's top court banning trump from the ballot. and hamas' growing worldwide influence since the brutal attack on israel. u.s. intelligence warning hamas' credibility has expanded dramatically not just in the middle east but beyond. and ten americans freed from venezuela, six who were wrongfully detained, what they had to say after arriving back on u.s. soil.

cnn this morning starts right now. the u.s. supreme court could soon decide the fate of donald trump and the fate of the 2024 election. but the former president is turning to a favorite legal tactic, delay, delay, delay asking the supreme court sty out of the dispute whether he's immune from prosecution. special counsel jack smith is demanding a quick decision from the court because trump is set to go on trial in just months. but trump's lawyers are pushing back arguing the special counsel is trying to rush the supreme court into deciding one of the most complex and legal issues in their words in many american history. we are expecting trump to go straight to the supreme court next week, an appeal after being disqualified from the ballot in california. the state supreme court ruling he engaged in insurrection and therefore is uneligible to be on

the ballot. trump's former attorney general, bill barr warning that ruling will help the former president. >> i think this action of stretching the law, taking hyper aggressive positions to knock trump out of the race are counter productive, they backfire. as you know, he feeds on grievance just like a fire feeds on oxygen and this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him. >> the lieutenant governor is pushing her state to explore the same legal option. >> for the court in colorado to make a determination that he meets the threshold as an insurrectionist, we absolutely have to consider that in determining whether or not he's qualified to be on the ballot in california. >> we start this morning with senior crime and justice reporter katelyn polantz, i want

to start with the immunity filing, trump's lawyers weighing in on that. do we have any sense trump's lawyers will announce. >> they could announce at any time. it's what you would say is fully briefed. everybody said their piece. the justice department and trump are looking e the supreme court court and whether they're going to look at the immunity issue now. this is the criminal case against donald trump set to go to trial in march and a question because trump was president because he was tried after his impeachment in the senate can he have a criminal trial for something that happened during his presidency. and that question, it has to be figured out by someone in an appeals court. right now there are two appeals court that could weigh in, the supreme court or the appeals court, the d.c. circuit court of appeals, they're ready to go. they have arguments scheduled at the beginning of january to say

their piece on this, to take up this issue. but the supreme court, that's who the justice, they want to skip right to the justices and figure this out. they're going to have to figure it out anyway. donald trump's team as they do is saying not yet, supreme court you don't have to get involved yet. they wrote the special counsel seeks to embroil this court in a partisan rush to judgment on some of the most historic questions the court could decide. the court should decline that invi invitation. so they should go slow. that's what the trump team wants. >> the colorado supreme court case we've had a day and a half to digest everything at this point. the biggest question people have is what happens next? >> that's a great question. as the decision came down, it became quite clear that trump

will not be on the ballot if there isn't anything happening here. so the decision is going to ultimately be, will the states decide this state by state like colorado did or will the supreme court abe asked to step in befoe the election and determine what the law is across the land. >> all right. >> let's keep track. i'm thankful caitlyn does, i rely on her every day. thank you. joining us is elie honing, sung moon kim and michael gold. nice to see all of you this morning. ellie, i was struck by something that former attorney general bill barr told jake tapper talking about this colorado issue and why he thinks it's legally wrong. take a listen. >> i know what he said. >> it's coming. >> i watched it. >> denial of due process is

fatal here, the federal investigation has not charged president trump with insurrection or incitement. it's sort of mushy, exactly what's an insurrection, what's engagement mean? now every state is going to make their own rules on this? everyone does a different thing and knocks national candidates off ballots? it'll be chaos. >> things happening in that. the insurrection question which has come up a lot, and then the point that i will say you and the former attorney general, i don't say this often, seem to agree on my friend. >> you're going to make me agree with bill bar. >> the issue here, as he says, is due process. >> here's what we have, we have colorado and now california is maybe interested in coming up with their procedure. this is not left to the states, to other procedures that may have existed in other context. part of due process is knowing the process in advance.

you can't say we have this procedure for doing this thing. let's plug donald trump in there and then back fill it. if you look at the 14th amendment, everybody is talking about section 3, if you engage in insurrection, you're out. nobody is looking at section 5, which says the u.s. federal congress they're the ones that have to pass laws telling us how this works. they passed one law, criminal law on insurrection, if you are tried and convictions for insurrection you're out. if you want to blame someone for not having a better system, blame congress but we can't make it up now state by state. that violates due process. >> can we tie everything together, the supreme court of the united states is going to completely decide what 2024 ends up looking like. not necessarily who's going to win but how the race plays out is entirely in their hands. it seems like right now you covered five or six of the current justices' confirmations

in every pain staking moment. does the politics matter, does the campaign matter to them? >> i can't imagine that chief justice john roberts is particularly happy right now. i think of it in the context of the public trust and faith and the supreme court has declined so much over the past several years so to be thrust in such an inherently political situation how the election is administered, set up, can't be a good role for the supreme court to want to be in right now. i think it's interesting. i don't think it's a role that the white house and the biden campaign particularly likes either. it's interesting how when the colorado supreme court ruling came down, the white house and the campaign both declined to comment. it was only after we needled and prodded president biden himself while he was traveling yesterday in wisconsin that he gave an answer -- >> can we play that? it was a very interesting

moment. listen. >> is trump an insurrectionist, sir? >> i think it's self-evident. you saw it all. whether the 14th amendment applies we'll let the court make that decision. but he certainly supported an insurrection. no question about it. none. zero. >> that's a consistent thing that president biden has been saying throughout. but i feel that, at least from the democrat's perspective, they see no political upside engaging in this political battle because it is political, it could help trump politically and they don't want to touch it for now. >> in general, they don't want to touch a lot of things. this one understandably. when you look at the most recent "new york times" polling, perhaps it's not surprising. it's not a big deal for a lot of voters looking at the primaries talking about donald trump, 62% say trump should remain the

nominee, even if he's later convicted of the federal crime. there's the primary versus the general but another reminder this is the reality. whether people want to accept it or not, it's not always a big issue and colorado is fuelling that. >> i think you'll see a striking divide headed into next year. everything everyone is watching is the court calendar. there's an extent to which some of these court cases, lawsuits are in the back of everybody's mind. they're not dominating, they're not front and center. people are not paying attention to the legal points that elie knows a lot about, that i know less about. i was in waterloo when the news broke and people were reading it on their phones, the same way i was, the reaction was the same, it's colorado, they're trying to do it to take him off the ballot. it'll be interesting to see if these broaden and it goes to the supreme court and becomes an

issue. one thing about the poll that's striking we know that republican primary voters are really fixed and trump has a huge hold on the party and trump says on the trail now, every indictment i get more popular, lawsuit i get more popular and no evidence to say this is going to be difference. because he's propagating on the democrats and left are out to get him and there are a lot of republican voters for whom that message is resonating. >> i think it's different than the criminal case. you can look at the criminal case and say he was indicted by a grand jury, laid out the evidence. the colorado case is unusual. what it results in, if the status quo prepares. you have millions of voters going to the booths in the november with one name on the ballot, joe biden. that's not going to play well. playing political pundit here. but people who don't like donald trump say that is not the way we do business here in america.

even putting aside the legal issue that's my sense of the political impact of that ruling. >> chris christie said, who is the most anti-trump candidate currently in the field. he said i don't like this, we need to beat him at the ballot box that's the way it's done in the u.s. >> it seems to take attention off the criminal case on the federal side if you look at the evidence is in a different place. stay with us. elie thank you so much. americans wrongfully detailed in venezuela arriving home overnight and talking about what it was like for them after spending years in a prison cell. that's next. >> and antony blinken calling out world leaders for what they aren't saying about hamas. we'll explain next.

free at last, free at last, thank god almighty free at last. that was one of the six americans speaking out this morning after being wrongfully detained in venezuela and freed overnight. he's freed because the biden administration negotiated a prisoner swap for ten americans in exchange for an ally of nic nic nicholas me dora. today, cnn's ed lavandera has

more for us. you were on the ground when they arrived, what did they tell snu. >> they said they were taken out of their jail cell yesterday morning and flown to a caribbean island, to a meeting point where they waited almost six hours as the final details between the deal between the u.s. and venezuela were hammered out and then put on another flight and told they were going home. the release of ten americans from venezuelan custody unfolded so quickly their families didn't arrive in time to greet them at san antonio airfield where six of the ten walked off the plane with state department officials who negotiated their release. >> free at last. >> savoy was one of six who arrived in texas. venezuelan officials arrested in october, accused of conspireing

with the opposition of nicholas me dur row. he said he was kidnapped. >> held for ransom. >> did you think you were going to see this day any time soon? >> i didn't know if i was going to make it out. it's scary to be in a place when you're used to having freedoms and you're locked into a cell, sometimes with four other people, a tiny cell. to realize, am i ever going to get out of this -- >> roger carston is the u.s. government special presidential envoy for hostage affairs and part of the team involved in negotiating the prisoner release. >> we left with everyone right now. there are no more americans left in venezuela held in prison facilities. >> the deal included the return of the corrupt military co contractor known as fat leonard francis. he was the master mind of the largest bribery scandal and escaped to venezuela in 2015.

in exchange the u.s. agreed to return a close ally of the venezuelan president who was facing prison time in the u.s. >> if you don't make a hard decision like this you're writing these guys off. the other side never asked for something easy. >> i'm incredibly grateful. i'm sorry i can't speak. >> reporter: hernandez was wrongfully imprisoned in venezuela for 630 days, he was held in a makeshift prison and endured psychological mistreatment. >> they keep you there in inhumane conditions and make your life a living hell. they do everything in their power to make you go crazy. >> reporter: despite this hernandez said he doesn't hold any anger for those who imprisoned him. >> all you think about when you're in prison is, how you

didn't appreciate being free while you were free. there's no way to understand what it's like to be in prison unjustly, and not have any way out. so it's been a long time coming. >> and what all of them expressed last night was the overwhelming sense of relief of being back here in the united states. they were brought to san antonio because here they have a program that helps people who have been p.o.w.s or wrongfully detained reacclimate back to normal life and they have the option of going through the program if they choose to do that. phil? >> thank you. congress is ending 2023 with a to do list longer than santa's list this morning. mounting problems that are going to have to wait until next year. and more migrants arrive in chicago. who's behind the charter flights sending people a thousand miles from the border. that's next.

i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets.

you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. in the coming hours, the u.n. security counsel is supposed to vote for a

resolution calling for a halt to fighting in gaza, that vote has been delayed three times this week as the u.s. considers w whether to support it. antony blinken calling out the countries not demanding that hamas surrender. what more did blinken say about this and where the talks stand this morning concerning the hostages? >> we have two separate tracks, we have hostage talks back under way, israel back at the table according to a source familiar with the matter and the talks at the united nations an effort to get to a point where the u.s. doesn't veto a resolution, as it did on the previous resolution. the hostage talks have not been going on since they broke down following the collapse of the last deal now israel is back presenting proposals, among the things they're willing to consider, a week long pause like we saw last time. the hostages being released in phases, women potentially to be

included under the terms of the previous deal and an israeli official telling us that hamas is upping its demands asking for more heavy duty business, presumably that would mean men. the last deal that included women and teenagers released from israeli prisons. but they're not close to a deal the israeli official says. but secretary blinken coming out and saying this is not just about israel. the ball is not just in israel's court. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i hear virtually no one saying, demanding of hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. this is over tomorrow if hamas does that. how can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor

and only demands made of the victim. >> reporter: so we're told in terms of these discussions that the language is the issue the phrase cessation of hostilities, speaking to our becky anderson, but the fact that the talks have been delayed several times show they're working very hard to get it done. >> thank you. after months of covering themselves in productive glory, lawmakers on capitol hill have gone home for the holidays but there's a long to do list waiting for them when they get back. in the new year congress needs to tackle aid for ukraine, israel, border security and government deadlines in february that comes as standoffs have made the 118th congress one of the least productive in decades. many lawmakers say they fear january will be chaotic.

>> has this been productive congress? >> no. i've been here five years and everyone says what's the biggest surprise? the biggest surprise that i was not surprised. >> it's not functioning. >> lawmakers are scheduled to return on january 9th which gives them eight working days to avoid a government shutdown. despite the backlash trump keeps saying that immigrants are poisoning the blood of america. in just a matter of hours winter will be here. but where's the snow. climate change could be making the winters warmer starting right now.

there's a lot of people from countries that don't mean us well that are coming from iran,

russia, china, it's a security threat. i think the chance of having a terrorist attack is very, very high. there's criminal aliens. this is a great issue to use against biden because this is one of the biggest failures of our lifetime. when you talk about using those terms, i don't think it helps us move the ball forward. i would not put it in those terms. >> of course presidential candidate ron desantis, offering some -- was it criticism? >> criticism light. >> it's criticism-ish on donald trump's language of poisoning the blood speaking about immigrants. >> and 42 plead % of policy ger poll say that language makes them more likely back him. >> you had a headline the crazy

stuff that trump says but if you listen to the speeches it's wrapped up in bread and butter, conservative policies, that's what people are coming to hear, he's nuts but we liked the policies. a number, though, shows this makes people like him more. >> i would look at the 30% of the people that says it doesn't matter. in the last eight years we've seen ways in which rhetoric that trump uses has worked its way into the republican politics. the poisoning of the blood was interesting when he addressed it in iowa rebuffing the criticism that it's throwback, racist, the comparison that the biden campaign made to nazi germany. the fact that he's pushing back against that is what happens helping voters come on board

with him. i think the anti-immigrant policies are what drove people to him in 2016. i don't think the electorate has changed and the fact that he's had the platform has made him more prominent. >> i think the language in particular, republican voters other the last several years, their big thing is they want a quote/unquote fighter. they see the language, the vermin language, and a few weeks ago we were talking on the show about how trump's team admitted it's not good that trump is in headlines with hitler but at the same time when republican voters see the language, trump is attacking democrats as vermin, they're going to view it as a positive. and that's a reason that tim scott didn't do as well because republican voters want someone who is going to use the sort of aggressive language not because you think they're all racist or believe these things on a deep level but because they take the language and think, okay, this

is guy is going to have strict policies on these issues we care a lot about it. >> and given what we're seeing in washington and not seeing happen in washington when we look at immigration and how there's the attempt to tie it to the other funding and the push back from some democrats for president biden trying to make some sort of deal there, all of this just plays into it and ties it up with a bow for donald trump. >> it's interesting to see the dynamics of the border talks in washington play out. once some democrats and immigration add vvocates got a d of what was discussed, looking at the policies and saying this sounds like the policies considered under the trump administration, that we denounced at the time and don't support. but president biden when it comes to the border he is almost desperate for a deal. he knows the border is a substantive problem and a political problem for him. but also it's tied to that ukraine funding that is the highest of priorities for his

administration but the compromises the white house is willing to make is concerning a lot of democrats. and a lot are looking back saying we can't do this again. >> it's fascinating given the republican primary listening to trump what he's talking about and why his team might not like it for a general election. at least he denied reading mind camp. but his response is more than the technical response we heard from nikki haley. >> every time we see one apply for a job. if you do the e verify they can't hire people here legally. if they get a traffic ticket not here legally deport them. we have to two and keep finding them one at a time, the way we can. but if they start to realize they're getting deported, they'll stop coming. >> shelby, i want to get to you in a second because you have

great nikki haley reporting in the path because she's the hot non-trump candidate. on the trail, the distance between vermin and poisoning the blood and here's a policy proposal that i can work through and how it would work to some degree, does that work? >> trump does have proposals he's outlining. these comment gss are getting t headlines. under them and his speeches are what he would do, talks about having one of the largest deportation campaigns in history. my colleagues have reported on the immigration plans he would build on what he did in the white house, take it a step further. i think voters feel that people like nikki haley and ron desantis are following trump's path when they talk about what to do on immigration. he set the tone, outlined where they want to be. so she might have this plan that sounds very specific but to a lot of voters they're saying you're taking trump's lead here.

>> that language, it's really easy to understand. if you're a voter and chwatchin that makes sense. wouldn't these things already be happening? that really, that is her lane. i want to be more understandable, relatable. >> yeah. and that's sort of one of the benefits that nikki haley has as opposed to i think a ron desantis who sort of has struggled to put his plans into this sort of very simple term that people who might not be paying attention day in and day out, watching the news all the time can understand so nikki haley is good at that but trump is good at it too. you're right. he takes this overarching theme and boils it down to don't worry about the specific policies even though he's talking about them. here's what i'm going to do. i'm going to stop immigration, i'm going to do x, y, z and voters digest that easily. >> we talked about this a little bit on monday.

so i'm taking full credit for the story you have because it's supersmart but it's the pathway for nikki haley that everyone is trying to figure out. we know new hampshire, former governor of south carolina where does that stand because that's next? >> it's interesting because so far in south carolina donald trump is dominating. so the question in everyone's minds at this point is, say she has best case scenario, she does well in iowa, she does really well in new hampshire, potentially wins it, this is a big if, right. everything has to go right. she still has south carolina to deal with. and when i was talking to south carolina folks and strategists, it was interesting because they all argued that she does have a path even if it's narrow and her path is based on momentum and other people dropping out of the race. when i talked to haley's team that's also their thinking and how they're going to be successful in south carolina. they argue there's a lot of time left before that happens and if she gets a little momentum in

the first two states, a few people drop out and she becomes what she has tried to become the entire presidential primary, which is the non-trump alternative. >> it's a path of vibes, but it's not an impossible path. thank you guys very much. thanks for the visit. >> glad to be here. >> we appreciate it. new reporting on the influence of hamas in the wakes of october 7th attacks in israel. fears growing that israel's war could be help to legitimize the group even here in the states. and darin harris released after 12 years in jail. harris is the fourth man to be exonerated in cook county this month. stay with us.

new cnn reporting just out this morning. u.s. intelligence is warning the credibility and influence of hamas has grown since the terrorist attacks in israel on october 7th. that shows how hamas has positioned itself as the defender of the palestinian cause and an effective fighter against israel. one senior official saying before october 7th, hamas was not a wildly popular organization but today it's more popular. collin clark writing hamas seems to be hoping the ideology, cause and brand will go global in much way the islamic state's did. collin clark joins us now. it's good to have you with us this morning. i think it's fascinating when we

look at that, it's one thing to support the palestinian cause. it's an entirely different thing to support a terrorist organization who has made it clear that their goal is to get rid of israel and kill all the jus in the world. and yet, the support we are seeing, the growth of that support specifically in western countries is pretty remarkable. >> you're right. i think that's the first clarifying point, it's totally different to support the palestinian cause than it is to support hamas. which is a designated foreign terrorist organization. however when you look at some of the protests happening across the world, you have 100,000 people out in the streets of london, it takes a small percentage of that larger crowd to become sympathetic to a group like hamas and then feel like protests aren't enough and to move towards violence so the u.s. government is concerned about the radicalizing influence, a small percentage, which could translate to a half

dozen attacks or attempts per year. it's a numbers game. >> what do you do with that information, then? >> well, you're looking for, you know, radicalizing influences. you're looking for radical imans in the united states pushing what you referenced earlier, a call for violence, right. we're looking for the most obvious factors and variables. >> when you look at it it's interesting. some reporting that some of the support inside gaza is dropping for hamas but that's not what we're seeing in many other areas and i'm not talking about just the rise in western countries but specifically new polling out in the west bank how much support for hamas has increased. this is going to require, if hamas is going to continue to gain steam, it's going to require more funding potentially from iran. how likely is that? >> that's the biggest x factor here, the role of iran and the

islamic revolutionary force. they spent years turning hezbollah into a lethal organization. if they do the same for hamas it's a challenge for the united states, europeans and allies. >> israel has been clear its goal is to eradicate hamas. but the reality is, there's an ideology that you can't see, go after with weapons. and matt miller noting you can't defeat an idea on the battlefield. how concerning to you is the attempt to eradicate the ideology and is it even doable? >> well, i would say i think the attempt to eradicate the group physically is going to lead to an increase in support to the ideology. the by-product as we've seen is

massive civilian casualties so you have support for the palestinian but also hamas who are positioning themselves as defenders of the palestinian people, the vanguard. as you see the egregious numbers. this is why the united states and biden administration is trying to push the israelis and netanyahu to rein in and pull back from civilian casualties because that's looking directly at support for hamas and the other groups. >> thank you for being here and your insight. >> thank you. today is the official start of winter, the holiday travel rush also under way. and with that comes a big storm that may be playing the role of the grinch. >> i like that. >> glad you enjoyed it. the fta approves what could be a game changer in the fight against the opioid epidemic.c. the chanange that's s ahead.

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eastern time tonight. it also means it's kicking off the holiday rush. that's in full swing. two great tastes that taste great together. >> i will not be awake at 10:27 tonight. >> nor will i. and triple a predicts 110 million people will be traveling this holiday weekend. derek van dam is monitoring the forecast, the solstice, what it means and pete muntean is at reagan national airport. tell us what you ''reing what t tsa is expecting. >> reporter: what you're looking at here at reagan national airport is the start of the 7:00 a.m. rush on what's to be the biggest day before the holiday. they're expecting 2.5 million people at airports across the country today. 49,000 flights will carry all of those people according to the faa. but the big question is whether

or not airlines can keep it together after a really bad stretch over a year ago. in fact, a year ago today is when the ten day long southwest airlines meltdown kicked off, 16,000 flights canceled. 2 million people stranded. so far this year, things have gotten a lot better. the cancellation rate only about 1.3% according to flight aware. but 20% of all flights delayed, an average of 52 minutes. and i asked pete buttigieg about that. he said that number is concerning and it needs to come down. listen. >> now so far this year on the cancellation front we're 1.2%. below 2 is what i would consider healthy. closer to 1 if we can keep it that way, that's encouraging. that does invite us to pay more attention to the issue of delays and press the airlines on how they're behaving. >> reporter: top senate democrats ed markey and richard

blumenthal just wrote to say it is the delay number that's concerning and saying the airports may not be fully prepared for the holiday rush. we'll see, though. just checked flight aware, the delays and cancellations are pretty low. only seen about 40 or 50 cancellations so far today. about 350 delays, although the day is still young and the faa is warning of ground stops because of heavy wind in boston and the new york metro area. >> that was a segue right there. >> pete mountean is a professional phil. >> that was a pro savvy move there. >> over to you derek van dam. i pride myself in my extreme observational skills. first day of winter there was no snow on the ground when i came to work, picked that part up. a lot of people wondering is that going to happen? >> there is a lot of rain on

this christmas travel forecast. and very little snow. but that's part of a wider trend across the country. 75% of the united state's winter seasons are warming and nowhere is it warming faster than the northeast and the midwest. as phil mentioned he was used to snow when he was a kid. but no longer. things are changing quickly. in fact, winter, the winter months are rapidly the fastest warming season out of all the seasons. now this doesn't mean we won't get massive snowstorms, the nor'easters along the east coast but once it reaches the threshold we'll work into more rainy events. so new york city you've seen 4 degrees of warming since 1970 during those winter months and this is not lost on us. it's been 675 days since the big apple has had one inch of snow on the ground. take last week for instance.

we depleted our snow pack across the northeast by over 40%. and erika and phil i hate to be the bearer of bad news but this could end up being the least snowyiest christmas day in 20 years. the current snow pack just under 20% across the country. not the white christmas that everybody hoped and dreamed of. >> just to be clear, kids, derek van dam is just the messenger. >> i do love a white christmas. >> i don't want him to be the face of destroying christmas. >> we do not want a meme here. okay. cnn this morning continues right now. >> i think it's self-evident. whether the 14th amendment a