the pressure is on.

special counsel jack smith calling on the supreme court to make a decision and make it fast. the former president, will he stand trial for the alleged crimes he committed while in office? >> and flight fallout, the white house slammed the texas governor for sending migrants up north. the administration, called it a political stunt, live in chicago where the influx of migrants is causing a crisis. nightmare before christmas along the west coast, how an atmospheric river in major flooding are threatening holiday plans for millions. following these major stories, coming in from cnn news central. no holiday break for the nine justices of the supreme court. there are three hugely significant disputes tied to donald trump that --

for their pocket. the latest special counsel jack smith reiterating that he wants to leapfrog the appeals court and have the supreme court way in now on whether trump can be prosecuted or if he has presidential immunity. >> the other two -- they are poised to consider being removed from colorado primaries. questions of obstruction [inaudible] the capitol attack. a subset of the legal cases facing the former president. it can be hard to keep track of it all, even though it is clear that republicans are rallying to his defense. >> let's bring in cnn's evan perez to keep track of it for us. talk specifically about today's special counsel filing here, evan pretty aggressive attempt to cut through trump's delayed tactics. take us through this. >> brianna, the special counsel is saying that voters essentially need to know as soon as possible, it is in the public interest they say, and already just part of the filing. urging the supreme court to skip over the process and take

on this case because of the urgency and importance of this matter. i will read you just a part of the filing in which they say that the public interest in the resolution in this case favors an immediate end definitive decision by this court. the churches here are of the utmost gravity. they cite the 1974 nixon case in which the supreme court similarly skips over the appellate courts and took on -- the question of whether nixon had immunity from a subpoena for the nixon tapes. of course the president at that time lost that case. the case was considered in just under two months and a decision was made 16 days after. that's what jack smith is asking for there's another part of the filing where he says that the stakes are at least as high as the nixon case, if not higher. the resolution of the question

presented is pivotal to whether the former president himself will stand trial. that is scheduled in less than three months in the future. enforcing federal criminal law that prohibits such conduct is vital to protecting our constitutional processes and democracy itself. the bottom line here is jack smith is saying that voters need to know the answer to these questions before they head to the ballot box in november 2024. >> some other legal news, rudy giuliani filed for bankruptcy, putting him on the hook for 150 million bucks. >> giuliani has been saying for months that he is broke, he has refused to pay legal fields of the two ladies who are election workers, rudy freeman and -- they were defamed by rudy giuliani's lawyer --

the former president's lawyer. the jury awarded them 100 million dollars. adjudged said they can begin the process to recover the money. rudy giuliani is now seeing in his filing for bankruptcy protection that he has debts of 100 million to $500 million and that he only has assets of $10 million, therefore he obviously can't pay all of it we've heard this over and over from rudy giuliani. so now i guess we will see whether a bankruptcy court can protect him from all of these things. >> evan perez, thank you so much for the reporting. let's expand the conversation with cnn political commentator, alex stewart, former congressman joe walsh, and legal analyst, steve [inaudible] first to you, really curious about the comparison that jack smith makes to the nixon case back in 1974. obviously there is no

historical precedent for this kind of immunity case, but in your eyes, is it a fair comparison to say that there is more urgency in this case than there was then? i think there is an argument. keep in mind, in the nixon case, i think the real fight was over whether president nixon had to comply with the grand jury subpoena, in the early stage prosecution against some of the watergate coconspirators. that was an ongoing criminal case. it was an ongoing criminal case that really had no fixed and date. it had no real backstop. even then, the supreme court move unusually quickly. as evan said, they jumped over the federal court of appeals. i think there is a charge by former president trump in his supporters that, we moving quickly here, for us -- [inaudible] a matter resolved in time for the election. even the.

regardless of how you're gonna use that information. obviously now we will see what the supreme court says. >> that is -- that makes total sense. if you buy into the idea that this is a valid process, which obviously so many of donald trump supporters are not going to buy into, they are certainly going to understand his case, which is that this is a rush. he's being denied due process. how do they weigh that [inaudible] >> due process is a real thing. the critical point here is that, you know, even if the supreme court takes a breath and doesn't leap frog the court of appeals. the court of appeals is moving very quickly at president trump's request. at his appeal. it is president trump's appeal in the d.c. circuit that is

going to be scheduled for oral argument if the u.s. supreme court does intervene on january 9th. guys, that is less than three weeks from now. so i think that might be how this is framed for president trump supporters. the reality is, whether the supreme court steps and now or whether the supreme court waits a month for the d.c. circuit to go first, this is still going to be resolved quickly and that is not out of character. that is not unusual for these kinds of immunity claims that, if they are valid, if they are, right would preclude the possibility of going forward at all. why go through all of the -- of a criminal prosecution if the ultimate answer is going to be that the prosecution was barred and that is [inaudible] a logic that the supreme court is focused on, even if it does not exactly what president trump and his supporters gravitate towards. >> as a republican panelist, i want to ask you about how trump's republican rivals are responding to this.

we just got handed some comments from nikki haley, who says that the supreme court should act fast on the colorado ruling. but it should shoot it down quickly. they are essentially all defending donald trump. alison, you spoke with ronda cintas, what do you make of all of their collective response to this? >> look, they are looking at this from a standpoint of, look, we need to look at what they have been doing all this time, listen here, respect the democratic process. let's not get involved in election interference. they are looking at the courts and colorado as interfering in the election process. look, donald trump, like him or, not many people do not like him, he [inaudible] deserves due process and he deserves to process in this case. he has not been indicted or convicted of insurrection. for them to use that as a reason to take him off the ballot, many of his republican challengers are saying that is not fair. they believe they could beat him ferentz where. let him be on the ballot and let the voters decide if he should be the gop nominee.

desantis has even gone even further and on the, left the democrats have use this to help donald trump in the primary because they see him as an easier candidate in the general election. all of these [inaudible] even chris christie has been critical. >> let's listen to what desantis has said about all of these legal issues of trump's kind of clouding the primary. >> i was trump was not indicted on all this stuff. >> so that we are saying? >> it's also crowded out i think. so much other stuff. it sucked out a lot of oxygen. >> what do you think? >> look. i know desantis is getting a lot of grief for that. but he is correct. look, this is the deal and it is a trap all of these guys are in. desantis, haley, all of them. they cannot oppose trump on any of these indictments on the colorado rulings because if you publicly attack trump on any of this, you are done.

i've heard so many republican commentators on cnn elsewhere say, why desantis or nikki haley go after trump on these indictments? because they're trying to beat the republican party nominee. if you go after trump you are not going to win. it would've been the right thing to do but he's exactly right. >> it's even a little bit more than that. joe, you're right on that, it's a little bit more than that. you're looking at the standpoint of [inaudible] on donald trump understandably for interfering in the election on january 6th. you look at what the courts are doing now as interfering with the election process in 2024. that's one of the big concerns. stopping someone they see as a viable challenger and getting involved when it should be up to the people. >> that's right, the colorado ruling is the biggest gift for trump, because it's not just his base who supports, as you say, what is going on with him,

but the indictments. i mean, trump is leading candidate in the republican party. he has been indicted four times. >> it's interesting that you described it as a trap. it's almost like they are doomed to fail because they cannot criticize them and they can't compete with him at the same time. >> the misfortune of all of this, looking at it like 25, 26 days from the iowa caucus, donald trump right now is like a pigpen in charlie brown. dirt is flying all around him. anyone who gets close gets some of that dirt on them. and they are cautious to make sure they don't get too close. but the candidates are surging in the polls. as we head into iowa, for not getting any attention, they're not getting their message out there. instead, they're talking about donald trump. which is exactly what donald trump. once >> at a certain point he capitalizes on this like no one can. at a certain point does he just

get so bogged down? because we look at colorado, california, other states will follow suit. presumably he has to hire lawyers who are barred in those states. it's a giant legal bill, it's beyond what is already so extensive. on a certain point does he get so bogged down that it takes so much attention? >> brianna, i know you would. >> i would. >> he's not normal. >> would you not? >> [laughter] he didn't mention himself. >> for eight years, we've been seeing, this he is not normal. i think his superpower is that he has no shame. he doesn't even think about a lot of the stuff. he just keeps raising money and he is the leader of the republican party. he knows he can be. >> it's a burden for most people, it's a fundraising boom for him because he raises money off of this. the california lieutenant governor has already indicated to the secretary of state in california, let's look at this

as we are moving him from the ballot. i think this may set a precedent for other states looking at trying to [inaudible] >> that's why the supreme court ruling is -- the political chaos of the presidential election but you also have the potential ramifications of a supreme court that, no matter what decision they make, a chunk of the country will see as potentially illegitimate. >> i think the real challenge for the supreme court is how do you navigate the minefield raised by the colorado supreme court decision, raised in the jacks mitt prosecution case, you know, probably the justice would have been just as happy to stay out of it, now they can't. so i think the real question for the court, keep in mind, it has already been heavily criticized for deciding the presidential election. i challenge is, is there a compromise that the court can

reach where it can somehow hand down a ruling or a series of rulings across these cases that simultaneously in the -- implicates former president trump but also engaged in insurrection but they're some procedural reason why he can't be on the ballot. that is the real question for the justices as they start figuring out what they got to do with these trump cases that really now have fallen on their heads. >> steve, joe, alice, we appreciate it. >> still to come on new central, as u.s. intel shows hamas gaining influence, we are getting new insight into what is happening inside gaza. cnn takes a close look at the struggles that many are facing just to get food. >> plus, dozens of migrants arrived in chicago after the governor of texas finds a way around the city's new bus coordinates. some --

are accusing him of human trafficking. as a volcano robson iceland, cnn with a remarkable look at the impact from overhead.

facing mounting pressure to face the immigration crisis at the southern border, we learned president biden addressed the issue with mexico's president says, andrés manuel lópez obrador, the two followed a week of controversial moves by republican governor, greg abbott, of texas. he signed a law for texas to arrest migrants across the border, those arrests carried out by local police instead of law enforcement. >> exactly. he charted a private jet o nwe hz at the white house for us. we need, to you, first some chicago -- >> well, exactly, the city

leaders have long said this is been going on for many months, nailed this is totally inappropriate and it uses immigrants -- migrants, rather, as human pawns in a political game. and the risks cannot be higher. it was the last few days that a five year old boy, a migrant who came from venezuela, died in a shelter in chicago. again, the stakes, here the risks here cannot be higher. so that is why you're hearing very frank words from civic leaders here in chicago. take a listen. >> we find ourselves in these conditions because people like governor of texas, governor abbott, are engaged in human trafficking spending billions of dollars to -- and to cause political divisions so that they can profit from the political advantage that they seek. >> the bus coming from texas

has not centered peoples humanity. it's actually been disheartening. the government of texas is literally invoking chaos without having a real clear willingness to coordinate. >> just a point of nuance on the chicago ordinance on these buses. this ordinance is intended to allow civil leaders to impound buses that drop migrants off that are not designated drop-offs owns. the ordinance had already been in existence the intentions was too [crying] [inaudible] like in the middle of traffic or a place where it's not a designated safety zone for dropping off migrants. there are still buses coming into the city of chicago. those buses are not being impounded. so far we only know of one bus that has been impounded since the ordinance went into effect, which was on december 13th. brianna for us. meanwhile, governor abbott

taking -- really saying that [inaudible] this is a direct retaliation for this ordinance. tweeting out, i can pull up the tweet, here and i believe you have it as, well sanctuary city chicago started obstructing in targeting our busing mission. texas or [inaudible] includes flights to chicago. steps up to secure the border. we continue to provide overwhelmed texas border towns with much-needed relief. the bus here, what chicago has seen, some buses dropping migrants often places that are not designated drop-offs owns, not equipped and simply not safe to be dropping off migrants. back to you. >> priscilla, tell us a little bit about president biden's conversation with the president of mexico. >> going into that call, the president needed to put pressure into the -- to drive down the number of migrants at the u.s. mexico border. we are learning just moments ago from national security council spokesperson, john kirby, that in that call, the

two agreed that additional enforcement's who also noted that the secretary of state, antony blinken, homeland security -- alejandro mayorkas, and homeland security,, liz sherwood, randall will also go to mexico in the coming days to have further discussions with mexican officials. the u.s. has historically leaned on mexico for assistance when it comes to stemming the flow of migrants. that is what the u.s. is looking for here. additional assistance. as you heard from chicago, republicans are seizing on this on the u.s. mexico border. the texas governor has been sending migrants to democrat led cities. escalating nauta flying them to chicago. democratic officials have blasted the texas governor for doing this, as has the white house, it is also an issue for white house officials.

they are also hearing from democratic city officials who say they are needs to be more down at the border so that this stops. but the message here from the white house in response to the texas governor has been this, this is a political stunt in in a quote, a white house spokesperson said yet again, governor abbott's showing how little respect jesper human beings. this political stun adds to his tally of extreme policies which seeks to demonize and to humanize people. the white house blasting the texas governor. but boris and breonna, this remains a political vulnerability for the president and today this is a clear example of why. >> priscilla, whitney, thank you to both of you. today it is a dire warning on the unbearable scenes that are playing out in northern gaza that we have been watching. the world health organization is saying that there are no longer any functioning hospitals in the north. there are only a handful of working hospitals in the south. >> this comes after the world

food programme said earlier this week that half of gaza's population is starving, often people are going entire days without eating. cnn, jomana karadsheh, has more. for weeks this is what we've seen on the war in gaza. israel's brutal military might pounding neighborhoods into dust. in central gaza's, whole blocks reduced to rubble, seemingly deserted, and unlivable. there is also this. that near surreal scenes this week and stare ought, the hustle and bustle of the street market. it is the story of every war, where life does not stop, it goes on for those trying to survive. but gaza is like no other place. it is where more than 2 million are crammed into this tiny strip of land that now looks like it has been bombed back into ages past, where those who have lost everything have nowhere left but the streets. that is where they are building

a clay oven, hoping people will pay him a shekel or 2 to use it, he says. maybe that he will have enough to buy his children cheese or tomatoes. >> [speaking in a non-english language] >> translator: our lives are 1 million years behind, we live in sewage, he says. every time it rains the sewage overflows. it is cold, there's no food, no water, no warm clothes. most here have escaped the bombs, only to be trapped in this misery. disease and starvation, the u. n. warns, may soon kill more than those bombs. half the population, it says, are now starving. people going entire days without eating. she says she collects a bit of flour from here and there to make bread for her children. [speaking in a non-english language] we are all thrown into the streets, she says. they said go to the south, we came to the south to die slowly. human rights watch says israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. it is a war crime, israel

denies and calls it a lie. it accuses hamas of stealing aid. in the wake of october 7th, israel's defense minister announced a siege of gaza, quote, no electricity, no fuel, everything closed until all hostages were returned. some aid and water delivery resumed, but nowhere near enough. the blockade remains in place. rights group call it collective punishment. sometimes the lucky ones find more than lentils and bread for the hungry mouth they have to feed. this mother uses a pair of jeans for her fire to boil some chicken wings and bones. i'm using clothes and cardboard to make fire and cook, she says. the situation is disastrous. but i need to find a way for my children. we are in the street because we have nowhere to shelter. fleeing the bombs, scrounging for food, now the people of gaza desperately wait for the moment they can try once again to live.

jomana karadsheh, cnn, london. thanks to germany for that report. still to come, just remarkable new images of an icelandic volcano erupting overnight. cnn goes high above the lava flow for a bird's-eye view. [inaudible] from up here you can really see just how active the volcano instill is. you can see the lava, you can still [inaudible] .

love and gas poured from a two mile fischer from the earth. at this hour, the intensity of the activity is diminishing the lava flow gradually flowing. >> experts are uncertain whether additional interruptions could occur. they are stressing that the situation is still dangerous. the coast guard continuing to conduct flights over the area to can keep an eye on the situation. fred pleitgen was on one of those flights. >> iceland coast guard flying into the eruption zone in the arctic night. these flights are extremely important for the icelandic coast guard. on what, hand they have to survey the area but also they have to practice in case they need to do -- i slid was prepared for a massive eruption that started earlier this week. more than two miles long fisher spewing magma hundreds of feet into the air. but while residents have been evacuated, authorities are still working in the area.

>> so this is highly important for us to do this. during the night. and it serves -- >> the crew even spots a person walking close to the lava and say they notified police to check it out. the eruption has weakened considerably but magma is still bubbling below us. the crew strapped me and for a closer look. >> this is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. we can see just how active the volcanic zones still is. we can see the lava, we can smell the magma, we can feel the power that our planet is unleashing. the chopper drops off right by the lava field to train evacuations. this is extremely challenging, flying for these aviators. right now they are practicing hoist operations in case they have to medically evacuate a casualty from this area in the dark. as furious as the eruption was initially, it also seems to be

subsiding fast. seismologist -- tells me. >> it was quite active in the beginning, four kilometers long, a fissure that opened. very high rates of magma flow. it was a bit of a surprise that it has all culminated. >> reporter: those evacuated cannot return home yet as the magma tunnel here remains active and authorities say further irruption's are still possible. thanks to fred for that report. meanwhile, back at home, busy holiday travel weekend and unfortunately could get a lot worse for some on the west coast. >> more than 25 million people across southern california are under flood alerts as an adversary river threatens to dump heavy rain that could trigger travel delays it road closures. >> let's go to cnn meteorologist, allison chinchar, in the weather center. alison, tell us how things are looking out west right now? >> it's pretty sake out there

right now. it's amazing how heavy the rain is right now. especially from oxford up towards santa barbara. for those unfamiliar, just the northwestern suburbs of l.a.. you can see all of these storms training. that means a lot of the same areas are getting hit over and over again over again. you will notice that we have the flash flood warning there but also flood watches. those are starting to expand eastward into arizona because that is where the system is going to be moving in the next 24 to 36 hours. today, again, the focus across southern california, but notice the [inaudible] new mexico, nevada, also areas of utah and portions of colorado. eventually, the focus for today is going to be across southern california, l.a., san diego, northern los angeles suburbs as well. tomorrow, the concern for flooding still can includes the eastern suburbs of los angeles. but then it really starts to stretch for the east, places like phoenix, tucson, now in the threat for potential flooding. then the system as a whole continues to make its way across the u.s.. this is like going to cause further travel delays on friday, even saturday, and sunday if

you have some last-minute plans. the system is going to continue east. christmas eve, likely dealing with rain for us than some snow, in a city like ten, fern sympathy rain across -- christmas day. soggy from wisconsin all the way down to the gulf coast. >> allison chinchar, thank you for the forecast. i appreciate. it >> just ahead, encouraging news for perspective home buyers. mortgage rates are now the lowest they have been in six months. will that trend continue? we will break it down for you when we come back.

good news for anyone who is looking to buy a home, mortgage rates continue to fall.

enough though, that is the question. looted out showing the 30 year fixed rate fell to an average 6.6 7% this week. that is the lowest level since june. >> cnn's vanessa yurkevich joins us live. when it's, a home affordability has been at its worst since the 19 80s. are we expecting this to help get more home buyers into the market? >> it should because you have so many americans that were not able to buy a home because mortgage rates were over 7% and even in the fall, coming close to 8%. now that you see rates coming down to 6.6 7% today, that is a significant drop from just a week ago. and that is the ripple effect of the federal reserve deciding to pause interest rate hikes last week. the one thing that home buyers are gonna have to contend with is still low inventory, in high prices. the median price for a home in the u.s. right now is $387,000.

the hope is that along with falling mortgage rates, you will have more inventory on the market and that will help bring down home prices. >> yeah, if you have to move, this is good news. but you're seeing people who maybe would have considered moving internal going to when they look at these rates so high and they were used to these low once before. vanessa, there is also new data on the strength of the u.s. economy. tell us about that. >> yeah, so we had a gdp revision today. tp revising down to 4.9% from 5.2%. that is largely because there was a little bit of weakening in consumer spending. this was still really a strong strong quarter. the third quarter, there you can see. it it just really is above the rest. but over this time period, the third quarter, the reason why it was so strong ultimately is because a lot of americans were going out and spending an experiences, spending on

concerts, but the economists do not expect this kind of pace going forward. in fact they believe that we will see some drops off the 4.9% in the next few quarters. ultimately consumers spending back just a little bit. >> coinciding with the end of taylor swift's tour, coincidence? i think not. for nestor yurkevich. notice some other headlines, you don't have forever to pay 66 cents for forever stamps. the u.s. postal service says one month from today the cost of rubber stamps is going to go up two pennies to 68 cents. other post its cost will also -- that includes party male. party mail express and usps ground. it is the fourth rate hike in the less than two years. i don't know if your feeling lucky, but tower jackpot has jumped to an estimated $620 million after there was no

winner in last night's draft. lottery officials say, if someone winds the next drawing on saturday and they choose the cash option, they can go home with close to 300 and $11 million just in time for christmas. what about? it may be, hala? scientists in california say they have successfully replicated nuclear fusion at least three times this year. new color fusion is a reaction that involves smashing two or more atoms together to form a denser won in a process that releases huge amounts of energy and leaves no long-lived radioactive waste. if scientists master this process they could provide the world with a near limitless source of clean power and potentially help solve the global climate crisis. >> that would be a huge game-changer. still to come on news central, there is an old marriage advice, don't go to bed angry, right? what if i told you before couples are not sharing a bed at all anymore. it's a sleep to force. apparently it's a growing trend. we will discuss with an expert

in just a few w minutes.

cameron diaz has a suggestion for people that has a lot of people talking. got a lot of people talking she said we should normalize separate bedrooms. i don't want that confused with me, the actress has been married to musician benji madden for two years by the way she calls wonderful, but she opened up about giving each other space, literally, as she said, for the sleep. >> i want to read part of what

she said on the rim podcast she said, i have my house, you have yours, we have the family house in the middle. i'm fine. and we have the bedroom in the middle that we can being in our relation. is she on to something there? let's discuss. thank you for being with us, robbie, spouses can have different schedules, potentiahe snores, kicks, punches does all sorts of things, that can cause problems in a marriage, right? >> there other problems that can happen when somebody gets less than their 7 to 8 hours sleep, they can be more vulnerable to certain medical conditions like diabetes or cardiovascular issues, even dementia, and also, our mood can suffer making us more irritable and difficult to get

along with. so there are a lot of reasons why sleep is so important but i don't know that people necessarily need to sleep in different beds in order to achieve good sleep hygiene. >> it's interesting because you have to weigh different things, to your point about being irritable, i was reading up on this, this was fascinating, this conversation she started, and it was talking about how when people are tired, they can be really terrible when it comes to arguing in a marriage, right, they are not productively dealing with issues that they have in the marriage. >> they could be more triggered, angrier, and they may be plugging into your partner in a less empathic way, which can contribute to increased arguments and of course, if your mood is stable and you are feeling like you are happier, you are more open to your partner and you can do crisis resolution better.

but i want to make it clear that sleep divorce, and i don't really like that name because it suggests, you know, divorce sound so dire, but we want to achieve sleep compatibility. it doesn't need to be all or nothing, if you have a big business meeting, or if you find during the week it's important for you to have good sleep, you know, you can find that maybe you have separate sleep for a period of time and sleep together on the weekends. you just want to make sure that your intimacy as a partner doesn't suffer. so i think that's really important here that you find time to be intimate, share and connect with one another if you find your sleep schedules are not aligned . >> intimacy is incredibly important, right? but i am curious, you mentioned you don't like the term, sleep divorce. is something like this potentially in omen that it's

not meant to be, that maybe there are deeper issues in the relationship that need to be addressed? >> i mean, it certainly can mean that and that is something that a couple can explore with a therapist. there also can be medical conditions that underlie not being able to sleep throughout the night, there certain medication that can increase insomnia, so i think it makes sense to explore medically, psychologically and if there are any medications first, and if you find that there is no medical reason for it, and there doesn't appear to be some psychological conflict underlying the separate sleeping issues, you know, then you can figure out a plan that makes sense for both of you, in terms of your partnership, and it's not one-size-fits-all, and that's what's really important here. each couple can come up with their own solution that works for them. >> you mentioned intimacy, and that's all kinds of things, that's also the discussions

that people have even as they're going to bed. if couples do have to at times, not sleep in the same room, how can they make sure that they are maintaining that, because that is obviously something that can get lost here dr. ludwig pay >> you want to make sure that you are disclosing with your partner and sharing intimate conversations. that you make sure that your life outside the bedroom is special and that you are sharing special time together. >> it might be tough to have this conversation with who i share my bedroom with, it's a 90 pound rottweiler may be a conversation for another day. more to come, including new meaning to the term, autopilot, how a cargo plane flew 50 miles without a human on board. we will be right back.