one additional tool that could be used to address this ongoing public health concern. >> thank you. and "cnn this morning" continues right now. i think this kind of action of stretching the law taking these hyper-aggressive positions to try to knock trump out of the race are counter product. they backfire. as you know, he feeds on grievance like a fire feeds on oxygen, and this is going to end up as a grievance that helps him. >> good morning, everyone. i'm phil mattingly with erica hill. poppy is off. you were listening to former attorney general bill barr after colorado kicked trump off the gop primary ballot. the supreme court front and center in the race for the 2024 presidency and donald trump rolls out a legal tactic, delay, delay, delay. >> delay, there you go.

congress meantime out for the holidays, but they left a whole lot behind, including aid for israel and ukraine, funding to keep the government open, and border security. and just in to cnn. harvard's president under scrutiny. what she is doing as congress launches an investigation. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts right now. we begin with the supreme court facing hugely consequential decisions at the moment that could determine the fate of donald trump and the presidential election. trump using a delay tactic in one those major cases, asking the supreme court to hold off on deciding whether he has immunity from prosecution. perez special counsel jack smith is asking for an answer because trump is about to go on trial. they are urging the court, slow

down, stay out of the dispute. they say the supreme court shouldn't be rushed into making one a decision so soon. >> going straight to the supreme court next week to appeal that historic ruling that kicked him off the ballot in colorado deeming him ineligible because he engaged in an insurrection on january 6th. meantime, california's lieutenant governor is pushing her state to explore that very same legal option. >> for the courts and 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 is qualified to be on the ballot in california. >> it is the dramatic convergence of the politics and the legal policy. we have team coverage this morning to break it down. elana, kaitlan, i want to start with you. the scale of what's on the supreme court's plate right now, i don't think that there is any precedent. do we have know sense of timing?

how is this going to play out? >> they don't like being involved in politics but there are so many issues before the supreme court right now that essentially are going to have to get figured out some way. the question related to what happened in colorado whether donald trump can be on the ballot is that going to be something that states are going to have to determine one whby o, or will the supreme court give clarity to everyone and set the law of the land. right now the idea that trump can't be on the ballot in the primary election in colorado, that is on hold until there is some resolution of trump going to the supreme court and then the supreme court determining what they are going to do. so we are waiting to see what happens there. but there is that possibility that other states could start jumping in as well and then related to trump's criminal case, these relate back to january 6th and the 2020 election. his 2020 election criminal case in washington, d.c., there are two things before the supreme court and one has to be figured

out before he goes to trial. it is a question of whether he has immunity from prosecution because he was president, because he already been tried following his impeachment in congress. can he be tried in a court of law as well? right now there is a trial date of march for trump to go to trial in that federal case and the supreme court has it before them of wihether they can look t issue of immunity now or whether they want to wait until later, until another appeals court has their say first. very likely at the beginning of the year there is another appeals court that has arguments set for that. so lot of moving parts. a lot teed up to be before the supreme court. there is another question about whether using the obstruction law is even possible for the justice department against people like donald trump and rioters. the supreme court already says they want to look at this. we are going to have to wait and see on timing with a lot of this. >> so many questions. as we look at this, in terms of the political angles here, the campaign jumping right on this

and there is actually a fair amount of support a number of other republicans, even democrat, coming out and saying, yes, donald trump and his campaign are right here. this is ridiculous when they talk specifically about colorado. >> no, that's right. look, the way that the former president and his campaign are framing this is essentially in the came way that they have framed all of donald trump's legal battles over the past several months now, which is to label this decision as political, to try to attack the judges on the bench as being biased against donald trump and, of course, to try to raise money off of this latest legal misfortune of the former president's. it's a strategy from my conversations with donald trump's teams and advisors they think is working and will continue to work in light of this recent decision with colorado supreme court. they think that it's really working to continue to solidify his support with republican voters and particularly with the gop base. and as for some of the political fallout here, i think, you know, we are seeing a lot of republicans come to his defense

but also a lot of the former president's rivals in the presidential primary. we have heard from all of the candidates who basically made the same argument, which is is they don't think judges should be the ones deciding who is on the ballot in 2024. we heard a slightly different response from florida governor ron desantis last night in iowa. he was arguing that, yes, this decision is unfair, but he also tested this theory that democrats are trying to continue to go after donald trump legally to help bolster his candidacy in the hopes he would be the candidate that president biden faces in a general. take a listen to what he said. >> the democrats have a plan here. this is what they want. they want him to be the candidate and then they are going to run this, this playbook, all through 2024 and the whole election is going to end up being a referendum on this trial or conviction or whatever happens between now and then, and that gives the democrats their best chance to be able to get away with it.

>> now, quite a theory from ron desantis, one that isn't backed up by evidence. look, the bottom line here, phil and erica, is that this latest legal issue has put a lot of donald trump's rivals in a very tough position. they are trying to distinguish themselves from donald trump. but when any of these legal battles drop, they are feeling like they are forced to defend them, especially because so many republicans view these legal challenges as political persecution. >> democrats playing 8-d chess, according to ron desantis. thanks, guys, appreciate it. >> joining us is former u.s. attorney general and former counsel to george w. bush alberto gonzales. good morning. starting with the decision by the colorado supreme court bill barr weighing in with jake tapper yesterday. i want to play what he had to say.

>> denial of due process is fatal here. the 14th amendment is not something that can be applied willy-nilly by the states through sort of ad hoc proceedings. >> do you agree that's the concern here, due process? >> that would be, i think, one concern i would have. on the merits, i'd rather have the state of colorado's position than what i anticipate will be donald trump's position, quite frankly. i think a more interesting question, putting on my judge hat from my days in texas, is whether the court will even take the case because there are possible considerations of just being perhaps a political question that should be left, reserved for the states to decide. but challenge for the court in that scenario is that you may have state ski rupreme courts

issuing contrary positions or opinions and throwing this election into chaos. so i think that for me that tips the scale to the court weighing in and making a decision. i think on the merits, yes, one consideration, one argument will be the due process one, but putting that aside, which is not insignificant, i think it's fairly clear to me that former president trump engaged in insurrection, that the language of the constitution is engaged in insurrection, and i think he meets that standard based on the findings of the trial court judge in colorado based on the excellent work of the january 6th congressional committee. i think, in my mind, that threshold has been met. again, this is a difficult position for the court. i think the chief is already wrestling with concerns about the politics, the way that the public more and more views the court as a political

institution. whatever the outcome is here, the same be, you know, that -- those views will simply be amplified. so it's an interesting conundrum. i don't envy the chief, and other members of the court, quite frankly. so we will have to wait and see. it's a difficult issue. >> quickly, so you think that they will ultimately take up the case. you believe that the case was made -- that the former president did engage in insurrection. as you know, some of the pushback is he has not been charged with inciting an insurrection. do you believe that should come into play? >> well, obviously, you make every argument you can, but the constitution doesn't speak in terms of been convicted of insurrection, been charged with insurrection. it used the word engaged. now, what does that mean? being involved is one definition of engaged. so i think by that definition, i think one can make -- clearly make the argument that he was involved. he was engaged in insurrection.

and so on the merits, i think the case is pretty strong. of course, we will have to wait and see what information, what defenses donald trump might bring up in trial. >> as we wait to see what happens there and when, i should point out. let's talk immigration if we could. congress of course has left washington, left a big to-do list behind. republican governor greg abbott signed a bill making entering texas illegal, a state crime. the appeal is already there. giving your time serving on the texas supreme court, your time as secretary of state, when you look at this law do you believe the to governor has that authority in this case? >> i don't know if he has -- quite frankly, i don't know how to rule in this case either. i will say this. i don't like these kinds of actions by governors, quite frankly, busing or flying migrants to other cities. to me, it's more political than anything else. it doesn't address the problem.

on the other hand, what is a governor supposed to do congress fails to do its job? that's what happened here. the constitution gives the authority to the congress under article 1 to deal with immigration issues and congress has failed miserably. and so, therefore, it left states, particularly on the border, in crisis situations. so i think what governor abbott is simply trying to do is put as much pressure, public pressure, as possible on congress to simply do its job and deal with the crisis on the border. >> you called out congress specifically, noting that cities across america, in your words, no longer have the currency or facility to pay the cost of grease' pride and stubbornness, it's the constitutional duty of every lawmaker to find a solution and we failed. what strikes me when we talk about immigration, especially close to an election, is it's a

really difficult thing to figure out, as we know. there is no simple solution. in many ways, it is more politically advantageous for lawmakers and for those running for office to keep kicking that can down the road and to point the finger. what do you see would actually facilitate some change to that political calculus? >> i think we need a complete change in leadership, first of all. and we need to have -- >> is that all? >> public outcry about the situation. in a post-9/11 world, we have to know who is in this country and what they are doing here, quite frankly. it's a national security issue. i believe for the most part, these team are coming into this country to seek a better life. what wouldn't you and i do to provide for our families, provide a better life for our families? so i hate the rhetoric about personalizing this issue to these immigrants. the problem is we have a broken

immigration system. that's where the focus should be. we need to do something about members of congress who do use this issue as a political weapon and find people that -- who will go to washington. we should expect more of our legislatures to do their job. they go home for the holidays. i get that. they are tired. they want to be with their families. you know what? they failed to do their job. they failed miserably. and we are responsible for that because we put them in office. so, you know, i guess we shouldn't complain, but i am going to complain about it because i think it's wrong. >> alberto gonzalez, appreciate your time. >> thank you. after three delays, the united nations is set to vote today on a possible resolution calling for fighting in gaza to end and more humanitarian aid to enter. new reporting also on the status of talks to free more hostages from hamas. and new this hour, flyover over the fissure zone.

cnn high above the volcano erupting right now in iceland. >> you can see the lava. you can see the magma.

. i hear virtually no one saying demanding of hamas, that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that is surrender. this is over tomorrow. if hamas does that. >> secretary of state antony blinken there with sharp words

for hamas during a state department briefing yesterday. >> his comments on the heels renewed hostage negotiations between israel and hamas with qatar at the middle. hamas will not agree to talks about prisoner swaps until after israel ends the military operation in gaza. secretary blinken and president biden skeptical that hamas will agree to any deal anytime soon. >> there is no expectation at this point. we are pushing. >> israel has been very clear, including as recently as today, that it would welcome returning to a pause in the further release of hostages. the problem was and has been and remains hamas. >> joining us cnn political and foreign policy analyst, also reporter for axios. good to see you this morning. where do things stand this morning given what we just heard hamas is saying we are not going to continue talking here until

the fighting stops? >> i think that this position by hamas was well known before they had the head of cia and prime minister, head of qatar met this week and discussed a new proposal to relaunch the talks. the question is whether this is a position that could change in coming days and weeks when the israeli operation on the ground, especially in yunis is becoming deeper and deeper and the israeli officials think that there is a chance regardless what hamas says now, a week from now, two weeks from now, three weeks from now, things will start to give and we will see a relaunch of talks. >> what do they base that on? >> i think they are basing it on the fact that they see some sort of nuances between what hamas'

leadership in doha says, the more political leadership, the political bureau, and what hamas' leadership in gaza is saying. and there are some gaps there between those two parts of hamas, and i think, especially the qatari mediators, from what i understand, think that hamas' leadership outside of gaza is much more willing to go into the talks than hamas' leadership inside gaza. there is an argument between those parts of the terror group. and there is, you know, i don't know, a hope or an assessment that in the coming weeks this argument might shift the position to more willing tons go back to the table. >> as we look at that side of it, there is also, from the israeli side specifically, the israeli public side, what we have seen in the last week, the accident the al killing of three hostages, reaction from their parents and the continued push

by these families for hostage release to be priority number one, how much is that factoring in at this point? >> i think it's a major, major, major factor because as days pass, since this incident in gaza where idf soldiers killed three hostages, we learn more and more details of what really happened there. and when you dive into the details, i have to say it is very troubling because it basically shows that the idf cannot be sure it does not kill more hostages every day. and i think this is what many of the family members are telling the government when they are protesting, when they are meeting netanyahu, meeting other ministers, they are saying look at this incident. you have no way to promise us this will not happen again. >> you're very -- every day, new

details seem more stunning than the last. appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you so much. the countdown is on less than a month to go before the iowa caucuses. what each presidential candidate needs to do to move towards victory in 2024. the do nothing congress, they are probably not excited. a report suggestion s the sessi could be the most unproductive session in history. we will l have more e next.

was announced trump's four republican rivals nikki haley, ron desantis, vivek ramaswamy, criticized the decision. oh, no, we can't believe that happened. what a terrible, terrible news. oh, my goodness. >> all jokes aside, 2024 is days away. we wanted to look at what each presidential candidate needs to do. what their teams are thinking. we have someone who knows. cnn political director david is back with us to take a look at what should be on their

political to-do list. when you talk to these campaigns, i want to tick through them, and starting with trump, what are though ey looki? >> this for the immediate future, the next couple of months. the trump team believes if the former president big in new hampshire, iowa, they think they can have it all but wrapped up if that is the outcome. they also know that if he is convicted criminally, cal zoolis could change for him. so they need to avoid -- i know this sounds like a basic -- >> this a crazy -- here we are. a criminal correction at all. >> your campaign strategy. >> no doubt. we see ht polling, phil, if indeed he is convicted voters may shift on him. so this is why you are seeing all those delay tactics that we have been talking about. and then they do say but the trials are reality and, you know, utilize them, think of them as the 2024 version of his 2016 campaign rallies, the spectacle of it all and being able to captivate all the media

attention around the daily trial coverage. >> donald trump is a clear frontrunner. two candidates fighting for the second spot, fighting one another for the second spot, ron desantis, nikki haley. what do they need to do? >> nikki haley is on a mission to consolidate that anti-trump support in the gop. that doesn't necessarily get her to a madge at this time. it's fractured now, especially in new hampshire with chris christie. she has to -- that's her path to growing her share is getting all of the anti-trump support in the party. if she scores a surprise victory in new hampshire, she has the ability to change the trajectory or theirtive at least in the race and then of course she a former south carolina governor. donald trump's moment in her home state. if she has the surprise victory in new hampshire, they believe with a strong showing in south carolina she could keep the money flowing and keep the campaign alive. for desantis, he really has put all in iowa and he needs a come-from-behind what i call win in quotes here. if he comes within five points of trump, he is going to get a new look. that will be a surprise. that will change the conversation around him. probably bring in more money.

he has got to block haley's efforts to convert some trump supporters. i said to consolidate all that anti-trump support she also has to convert trump supporters. ron desantis' mission, since they are a natural kind of voter for him, if trump weren't in the occasion, is to to stop that happening, blunt her momentum. and then they need to build out super tuesday campaigns because if desantis somehow survives and has this surprise to stay in the race it becomes a delegate race and they have to build out where the dell zbit math is which is in the big super tuesday states. >> a lot of democrats have a lot of ideas for what president biden's campaign should be doing now. the biden team i think is fairly steadfast that irdirection they are headed wand close knit and don't talk a lot. what are you? >> one thing you hear is they want this election to be a referendum on donald trump. they think the contrast between what biden would be doing in 2025 and trump would be doing

serves them well. you heard the president weigh in not on the court ruling and what the court should do but the notion that trump is an insurrectionist yesterday. make every day a referendum on trump. if house republicans move forward with impeachment on biden, make that a political advantage not unlike donald trump with his first impeachment on bill clinton did, turn that into a rallying cry for the base because joe biden's mission to start bringing the base back, the pieces of the coalition that have drifted away. another way to do that is keeping abortion rights front and center. one most animating issue for democrats now. >> do they feel like they can turn the economic views in the country around? >> they will continue to sell bidenomics. he was doing it yesterday. i don't believe they see that as the silver bullet to his problems as much as some of the these other pieces could be. >> i am going to schedule some meetings for you tomorrow in the city. you can't go to d.c. thank you. well, congress is headed home for the holidays today.

many lawmakers though fear january will be chaotic. you think? well, one reason, maybe they should look in the mirror, they have left a long to-do list behind. they will need to be tackle the. on that last aid for ukraine and israel, border security and government funding. deadlines looming in mid-january and early february. lauren fox is live in washington, d.c., with more for us this morning. so a lot to get done here and still plenty of internal divisions within each party. is there a sense that this is actually going to come together after a little break? >> well, in some ways they don't have a choice on the question of government funding, erica. lawmakers are going to return that week in january 8th. the expectation is they are going to have about ten days to find a path forward on government funding, specifically there are deep divisions between republicans in the house and republicans in the senate at what the best path forward is

right now. despite the fact that negotiators have been trying to find agreement on simply how much funding the government should be spending next year, so far they haven't been able to find any agreement on that question. you know, senator susan collins, the top republican appropriator put it this way. january is not going to be that enjoyable of a month. and the other reality here is that despite the fact that negotiators were working around the clock to find some kind of border agreement they are going to continue meeting virtually the next couple of weeks, they still have not an able to clinch agreement on what border policy changes they can agree to. that, of course, is keeping aid for ukraine, aid for israel from passing in the house and the senate and even if senate negotiators find a fatukasi forward there is no guarantee that mike johnson will put it on the floor of the house. so you have this entanglement of issues coming up in january that's going to make this a very difficult few weeks for lawmakers when they return, and

they've just punted everything. they are now home for the holiday and there is no clear guidance right now on how they are going get this done in a matter of three weeks. >> if there is a can, lawmakers will find a way to kick it. lauren, the biggest question i have had in following your team's reporting the last couple of weeks, we have stood outside of closed-door meetings about immigration for hundreds of hours over the course of the last decade. never do they resolve themselves with legislation. is this different? >> well, i think that they are trying to make this a very different moment. and the fact that there haven't been all that many details that have leaked out of each of these meetings to me is a sign that the negotiators are working in good faith. mayorkas has been up on capitol hill repeatedly every time they have an in-person meeting. senators kyrsten sinema, james langford, chris murphy have been working closely together. this group of lawmakers does have, you know, a past together.

sinema and murphy worked on gun legislation together and got a deal when no one thought they could. still, immigration is different. any lawmaker will tell you that is the kiss. kyrsten sinema said this is the most complicated bipartisan negotiation she has ever been a part of and she happs been partf several. that gives you an indication this is a third quarter and thorny political issue that so far lawmakers haven't found a path forward. and they tell you when they agree on something, they realize there are four or questions that they still have to answer. >> yeah. it is something. lauren, appreciate it. good to see you. thanks. new this morning, the city of chicago says it's working to find space for asylum seekers staying at o'hare airport after they were flown there from texas. tuesday night the governor chartered a flight from el paso to chicago with more than 120 asylum seekers onboard. abdid this after chicago began impounding buses dropping off migrants last week. chicago says it received more

than 25,000 migrants from texas over the last year. new overnight a house committee is looking into allegations of plagiarism at harvard president claudine gay over 24 years. people heading home for the holidays. how busy this year's travel season could get. that's ahead.

new overnight harvard president claudine gay is now under fire for alleged plagiarism in her academic work. according to a letter from the house education committee, virginia foxx to the university on wednesday, lawmakers are looking into, quote, credible allegations of plagiarism over a period of 24 years. remember, this comes after gay barely survived the fallout surrounding congressional testimony about campus antisemitism. joining us is cnn's matt egan. what more do we know? it's wild. there is an investigation underway here? >> it is wild. claudine gay is very much the hot seat still. first over her-time before congress. now it's her writings that are

under intense scrut iny. harvard is confirming gay is issuing corrections to her 1997 ph.d. dissertation what they describe as inadequate citations. this is on top of the corrections that were issued just last week to her scholarly work in the 2000s and those corrections came after an independent review by harvard's top board. harvard says that its top governing board concluded these issues are regrettable but they don't constitute research misconduct, which something that would be punishable. as you mentioned, a house committee on education is also reviewing these plagiarism allegations, alleging there is a double standard here, requesting a written response from the university from eight days from now. virginia foxx in this latest letter, if a university is willing to look the other way and not hold faculty accountable for engaging in academically dishonest behavior, it cheapens

the mission and value of its education. you've got to wonder whether the way that this news has come out in this drip, drip, drip fashion is only hurting matters here and whether harvard officials wish they looked at all of claudine gay's work in instead of sort of a portion of it. that's not helping matters. >> eight days, wait to see what the written response is and go from there? >> yeah, one of the interesting questions here is why harvard has decided not to punish claudine gay over these plagiarism issues. harvard says what they uncovered, again it doesn't constitute research misconduct. they point to the policy which states to be research misconduct it must be a significant departure from accepted practice, done intentionally, knowingly or recklessly and proven by a preponderance of the evidence. it hasn't met all three criteria, that second one, intentionally and knowingly or recklessly misconduct. so that's why the school hasn't

taken action against her to this point. we should note that claudine gay 1 said she stands by the integrity of her scholarship. i worked to make sure it adheres to the highest academic standards. clearly the scrutiny is intensifying. >> thank you. new data out that shows that americans fears of a recession are actually beginning to fade. a conference report shows that u.s. consumer confidence jumping from a mere 101 in november up to 110.7 in december. that is actually the highest level sips july. we should note home sales are starting to inch higher. that's despite rising prices and record high mortgage rates. vanessa yourkevich joining us now. this sounds nice to hear. how does that translate into the economy? >> we have been looking at data around prices, what price its are doing. now data around how americans are feeling. for so long americans have not

been feeling great about the economy. this is one of the first report that indicates that americans are starting to feel much better about the economy. you see the rise over the past couple of months to 110.7. that is significant. but also significant is how consumers are feeling about expectations of the future. where the economy is going to be in six months. and that's important because over the past couple of months that number has been below 80 and when you have a number below 80 it's essentially signaling that a recession could be coming, historically that's what the numbers have pointed to. in this latest report, in december, that number is above 80. so that's good news. more americans feeling like a recession could be avoided. more americans believing that interest rates will fall, stock market prices will rise, and that is actually what we've seen in a lot of the data. and also a lot of americans now saying that they have confidence that they can make big purchases on things like homes. so many americans were sitting on the sidelines so long because

of heim home prices and high mortgage rates. we expect both to start to moderate in the next couple of months. but there is a write-in portion of this survey. what's the biggest pain point for you? people still saying high prices. when asked how they feel like their household is doing right now financially, they say more people are saying bad than good. important to note that consumer confidence number while increasing is not where it was pre-pandemic. >> yeah. back to 2020, highest is 2021. so to your point, the vibes may be shifting. not totally sure. i have to ask. the acquisition of u.s. steel i think is the most fascinating sorry right now. economic business. but also political. there have been sharp political push back. >> u.s. steel has been around almost 125 years, like a ford motor company, like coca-cola. that's what if means to american culture. bipartisan opposition. a lot of senators from pennsylvania and ohio coming out

and saying we don't like this at all. and we also are concerned about national security interests. but this deal is ikely to go through. it's going to go through a regulatory oversight process. but japan is an ally and unless another company comes in and makes a bigger offer, this deal is really likely to close. >> fascinating to watch. always good vibes with vanessa. thank you. this morning cnn is getting ang aerial view of this erupting volcano in iceland. fred pleitgen returning from a helicopter flyover. give us a sense of what you saw. >> reporter: that was an incredible flight over the volcanic eruption zone. we saw the sheer size, smelled the magma and felt the heat flying above. that's coming up.

a live look for you there at laguardia airport in new york city. calm right now. could it be the calm before the storm? just might be. it is expected to be busy this holiday season. triple a predicting record setting air travel over christmas and the new year. and add to it road travel, more than 115 million people who will be traveling 50 miles or more between friday and the first day of the new year. talking about 2 1/2 million more people than traveling last year. >> pete muntean joins us from reagan national airport. 2 1/2 million sounds like a lot. is it a lot? should people be stressed out right now? >> should they be stressed out? maybe a little. the tsa just updated the forecast. they thought that 2.5 million people were going to be screened at airports across the country today now saying it's closer to 2.65 million people today.

2.69 million people tomorrow. it just keeps getting bigger. that's the precheck line. that's the clear line behind me. i want you to look at the video here from the 7:00 a.m. rush at reagan national airport. you can see the long line earlier today. united airlines said it expects 9 million people in total, 4,000 flights a day, a 12% increase compared to this time last year. the good news here is that airlines perform admirably over the thanksgiving rush. only about 20,000 delays but 250 cancellations. and we took a behind the scenes look at united airlines big operation in newark, one of the big hubs worldwide. it said it is prepared for whatever challenge mother nature throws its way. >> we did have, over all, really good weather during thanksgiving although on sunday, which was the biggest travel day of that

weekend, we had some ice and snow into some of our hubs. so as long as the weather holds the way we're seeing it will, we really think that we're prepared and ready to respond if the weather does change. >> here are the big tips, arrive two hours early. the tsa is underscoring. and try to factor in some time for parking. so many airport garages are full. you may want to book those parking spots ahead of time before you show up to the airport. the other big tip from the tsa, make sure your gifts that you are bringing are unwrapped to make it easier if they have to be inspected. probably want to do some wrapping when you get to your destination. the big pete muntean tip, try not to check a bag. we saw it last year when people put significant things in their bag and weren't able to get

them. this morning cnn is getting a look at iceland's volcanic eruption from above. frederik pleitgen just took a ride over the fissure and said he could feel the power. >> reporter: this is an amazing thing to be witnessing. here you can see how active the volcanic activity is. you can see the lava, feel the power that our planet is unleashing. >> the eruption does appear to be dying down a bit after two days of shooting lava several feet into the air. frederik pleitgen back on the ground now. this is quite an aerial view and it was hitting all the senses up there. what more did you see? >> reporter: yeah, it certainly was. i can tell you it blew me away the fact that you could smell the mag na, the sulfur as you were flying over the volcanic eruption. in the early stages we saw the

massive fountains the mall of magma spewing along there. it has subsided a great deal but the lava is still hot we could see fires. we were flying low with the coast guard because it's dark so much of the time day, they have to practice evacuations out of that zone at nighttime because there are people here working here. we're in the the town of grindavik. and the reason the threat is not over, the tunnel went right through this town. you can see the damage caused by earthquakes from that magma tunnel that's why residents can come back to the town just yet, they can come for an hour or two every day but they can't stay overnight. one thing that blows my mind.

here, this is the crack i'm standing right on top of that tunnel. it's right under our feet. look how much higher the ground is on the right side of the screen than the left side of the screen. that depression was caused by earthquakes caused by that magma tunnel and they were looking to see where the magma tunnel was going to burst out of the air. it happened there. certainly an incredible sight and the authorities are saying the danger is not over. >> good to have you on the ground, thank you. ahead on cnn, more on the new delay tactic from former president trump that could add to t the chaos a around the 202 electition. cnn n "news centntral" startrts a quick brbreak.

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