the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.

merry christmas, everyone! we are so glad you are with us on this special morning. i'm poppy hearlow with paul maddingly. this is a special edition of cnn this morning. hope you're having a great holiday with your loved ones. merry christmas. >> i want to stay on this set forever. >> isn't it beautiful? >> it's beautiful. >> they did a wonderful job. >> i love all the poinsettias all around. we have a christmas tree and a fire. >> the iowa caucuses are just three weeks away from today. this morning, we'll highlight the key moments on the campaign trail so far, and how they could shape the final months in the race for the white house. >> and seasons full of strikes reignite the labor movement in america from hollywood to the motor city, workers won pay raises and new protections. how technology could bring more change to the economy in the year ahead. and coming together this holiday season, as anti-semitism and islamophobia sentiment rises, we'll talk to faith leaders about how we can find common ground in these very turbulent times. but first, let's get a check

on the morning's headlines. >> good morning, everyone, merry christmas. thank you for joining us. i'm danny freeman. former president trump is urging a federal appeals court to grant him immunity in his criminal election subversion case. right now, the d.c. circuit court of appeals is weighing trump's request saturday to overturn a lower court ruling rejecting his argument that he was working as president to ensure election integrity when he allegedly undermined the 2020 results. for more on this, let's bring in cnn's kaitlan polantz. please break down for us what happens next. >> well, danny, what happens next is everybody goes to court yet again. this is one of those issues that has to be worked out through appeals before donald trump can sit for trial. he has some rights as a criminal defendant, and one of them is to try to see if the courts will grant him immunity from prosecution. that's the question on the table as he awaits his trial set for march in this federal case against him related to the 2020 election and january 6th. but danny, what is happening

here and what happened over the weekend is that donald trump's team is prepared to argue and is arguing already in written briefs to the d.c. circuit court of appeals, this intermediary court, and they're arguing that he can't be prosecuted for any official duties that he had while he was president, and also, he can't sit for trial because he was already tried once during his impeachment in congress. and he was not convicted by the senate, even though he was impeached by the house. and so he's arguing that, no, he should not have to face trial. that was what was said in the briefs. there was a lot of language in the briefs from trump's team over the weekend, too, about how damaging it is to the country to have a former president on trial. but that is going to be determined by the court of appeals first, and then very likely, the supreme court. oral arguments are the first or second week of january, january 9th.

>> cate lan polantz, thanks. we now know where alexei navalny may be. his spokesperson says he's at a penal colony in northwestern siberia. his legal team said they did not know where he was after he didn't appear at two court hearings. the spokesperson said that navalny's lawyer managed to see him and at this point he's doing fine. we'll keep you posted on that story, as well. to this now, a large storm system currently bringing rain and snow to the majority of the central u.s. is making its way east and could have a significant impact on your post-christmas travel conditions. cnn's chad myers joins us right now from the weather center. hi, chad. merry christmas. >> merry christmas, danny. the rain is now going to be moving into florida and all the way up to minnesota. so this is a top-to-bottom kind of storm. severe weather possible across parts of florida, heavy rainfall in places that really need it. and then, this is going to turn into a blizzard into parts of nebraska, south dakota, and even kansas. in fact, blizzard warnings are posted there already.

difficult travel across i-80, 76, i-90. now, it's a long drive across those interstates, and i take that from experience. but that's a foot of snow in parts of south dakota. that's a lot. and then the rainfall here across parts of the mid-atlantic states. so now let's get to it. 6:00 tonight, it's raining from chicago all the way down to florida. move you ahead until tomorrow, and this is where people are maybe driving back home. i-95 going to be wet. 75 as well. and there's your blizzard back out, even getting some snow to denver and maybe even in the mountains. we'll take that in the mountains, but maybe not so much along i-25 and denver. they don't like driving in that. and by wednesday and thursday, that's when the weather gets towards the northeast, and you could be slowing down planes, especially on wednesday. danny, i have a question for you. >> shoot. >> i heard john avlon last hour talk about getting coal for christmas. that he was going to give some politicians some coal. have you ever had coal for christmas? >> yeah, every single year. it is a family tradition.

i mean, if i don't get coal, who will? chad myers, you are on our nice list for keeping us abreast of the weather every single day. >> i got coal when i was 5. and i was excited because then i could really make a real snowman. >> that's fair. >> my parents didn't know what to think about that. >> you have to have the eyes. you've got to. >> that's right! >> thanks, chad, appreciate it. now let's get back to poppy and phil. >> well, candidates are racing to the finish line in iowa, where the first ballots will be cast in the republican presidential primary. the key moments that could influence the election year. those are ahead.

one thing is certain. there is never a dull moment when it comes to politics in america, but even by washington standards, 2023 has been quite

the year. he says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you? i said, no, no, no, other than day one. we're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. other than that, i'm not a dictator. >> whether i'm a speaker or not, i'm a member of this body. i know what history has had. and i can lead in whatever position it is. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> the chair dleclares the hous in recess, subject to the call of the chair. >> see what i mean? >> aggressive. >> joining us now -- i put that together myself -- former obama administration official sarah feinberg and political reporter at politico, emily noe. it is great to have you guys. thank you so much. what a year! and i feel like 2024 is just going to be like even more. >> twice as much. >> what do you think? >> it sort of feels like that. 2023 feels like the year when a bunch of chickens came home to roost that actually started in '21 and '22. trump, for everything that happened on january 6th, now

starting to pay the price for that with all of the indictments, economic sentiment in the tank, you know, which feels like the last couple of years of inflation. and so, 2024 , i think it's goig to be more of the same, but also the heat of the campaign and frankly it's going to be ugly. and i don't know that americans are really in the mood for it. but they're about to get it regardless. >> emily, what's striking about the montage we just showed, three of the people in that montage, on january of 2023, were members of the house of representatives in the republican conference. by the end of this congress, none of them will be in congress anymore. the intraparty warfare we've seen inside the republican party has been like nothing i've experienced before. >> me either. and that super cut, i can't believe that happened in a year, but i really feel like what sarah is saying. seems like a lot of scene setting in 2023. and to 24, the house looks different. they'll have a much slimmer majority. some of these more competitive congressional races in swing

seats, including in new york, where there are about six competitive seats, could go either way, same for california. that's really going to be where the money is spent, where the attention is directed. but take a look also at the legal calendar that donald trump has versus the primary calendar and i just really wish i could see what that google set-up looks like, the colors. because you have the iowa caucuses, but then he has the jury deciding what the damages are in the defamation case. you have new hampshire, and then another civil trial begins and you have south carolina, and that's the start of this big criminal trial and whether he interfered in the 2020 elections. it will be back-to-back and nonstop. 2024 is really when the foot hits the gas pedal. >> a lot of legal drama ahead for president trump in 2024. for biden in 2024, he really needs a new year, doesn't he? he really needs a reset. and his most recent polling numbers are not good at all

overall, and on the economy. >> yeah, that's right. and the economic sentiment, to go back to it, i think is driving so much of this. and economists are trying to figure out, you know, the economy could be so much worse. why do people feel so badly about it? and the reality is, inflation is coming down, but it's not coming down super fast and prices aren't where people feel like they should be or what they would be used to. and people don't feel good about sort of day-to-day life generally. it feels like there's a lot of disruption. it feels like there's chaos. it feels like there's a lot of uncertainty. and i don't think that's going to change anytime soon, and that's going to be a big hill for biden to get over. >> the margin is razor thin, do republicans hold on to the house, given new york, your area of expertise in particular will be critical. are republicans going to be the majority in 2025? >> it's hard to say. because now mike johnson is the speaker of the house. kevin mccarthy couldn't even last a year with the gavel and mike johnson is someone who could easily be portrayed as too extreme as someone who has very scary views on abortion, on lgbtq americans, and that's

really going to hurt some of these more moderate centrist republicans than they know. he's also not a strong a fund-raiser as mccarthy was. mccarthy really knew how to bring in the millions, especially for these republicans that flipped some blue seats. i don't know if they can hang on to the majority. the margin is so thin that really, every single seat will count now. >> and i have to ask, just because he was such a defining figure of everybody's 2023, what happens to george santos in 2024? >> are you telling me you want a cameo as your christmas gift. >> i'm not going to say "no," but i'm not going to say "yes." you'll have to surprise me. >> someone asked me if he could win elected office again, and i think that answer is defindefinitive ly no, but i think he won't disappear from the media. he's good at filing complaints or threatening to file complaints and he wants to be part of this conversation. i think he'll elbow his way in. it's our job to make sure if he's not relevant, he stays that

way. >> i couldn't agree more on that. >> emily, thank you. sarah, good to have you. merry christmas, guys. this year, the union workers rose up to fight for their rights. how 2023 totally reshaped the labor movement from coast-to-coast. >> and later, our conversation with college basketball legend, coach k. his name is synonymous with success on the court. we'll talk, though, about life after coaching and what is more important than winning. >> i have three daughters. >> they hold you down? >> whatever humility i did not have, they try to interjrject a they -- ovover and ovever.

good morning and merry christmas. thank you for being with us. i'm danny freeman. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu says its military is intensifying operations inside of gaza. now, this statement comes after the hamas-run palestinian health ministry says at least 70 people were killed at a refugee camp in central gaza. meantime, pope francis, who has repeatedly called for a cease-fire said the message of peace is being drowned out by the war. he said that during his christmas midnight mass. those remarks come as christmas celebrations were actually canceled in the city of bethlehem. cnn's will ripley is live for us in tel aviv. will, you spoke to residents of bethlehem. what did they tell you about this time? >> you know, danny, it's really a sad moment for bethlehem. every single person that we spoke to, some of them who have lived there their entire lives, decades and decades and decades, they never remember a christmas season like this. christmas is canceled in bethlehem.

church bells ring, but no one's listening. the season's magic, missing from manger square. along with the christmas tree and dangling decorations. in the biblical birthplace of jesus, only sadness nness fills air. >> my son asked me why there's no christmas tree this year. i don't know how to explain it. >> are you sad? >> of course. of course, i'm very sad. >> the root of the tree is here and we carve it -- >> beautiful! >> bombs may not be falling here, but everyone feels the fallout. >> since three months, honestly, we don't have one sale. i don't want to keep my father at home, so not to give up from hope. >> hope is in short supply in bethlehem. for businesses banking on a busy christmas, no comfort and joy. only silent nights. the usual crowds gone, shops and restaurants shuttered. the handful still open, empty. >> most of the festivals were

canceled during that, because of the war in gaza. >> across bethlehem, red and white warning signs instead of red and green. barbed wire instead of mistletoe. barricades instead of decorations. israeli bulldozers left behind piles of rubble, blocking every road in and out. walls and checkpoints part of life for palestinians. this is a new extreme. israel blames the blockade on security threats. palestinians, the u.n. and human rights groups call it collective punishment. cutting people off from their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods. >> when you see it empty like this? >> i have never see it like this here, no. >> the restaurants, the hotels, the shops, the square, emptiness surrounds you here in bethlehem. perhaps nowhere do you feel it more than here. the church of the nativity. >> it's very bad. >> father spirit has been in

bethlehem since 1970, 54 years. he's never seen a christmas season like this. >> christmas is joy, love, and peace. we have no peace, we have no joy. >> reporter: long lines usually wrap around the basilica. the grotto always standing room only. now, you can practically hear a pin drop. priests are still praying, praying for all this madness to end. but these days, only god is listening. businesses that rely on tourism say the economic impact of this, even just after less than three months, is worse than the covid-19 pandemic, and because this war does not seem to be winding down at all, they worry it could continue on into easter. some businesses, danny, may be forced to shutter altogether. >> wow, will, with thank you for that peace. a sad moment for that entire area. stay safe and merry christmas, will. all right, back to phil and poppy in the studio.

>> well, 2023 has without a doubt been the year of the union worker. after months of strikes, the country's auto workers, writers, and actors all claim victories in contract negotiations. >> we have won several astonishing victories. the result is one of the most stunning contract victories since the sit-down strikes in the 1930s. >> i'm confident, based upon what we accomplished at u.s., we set the model for how to get a deal done and a deal done in the best interest of the members and the best interests of working people. >> power concedes nothing without demand. it never has and it never will. >> joining us now is prospective on all of it. she covered all of it all year, cnn business and politics correspondent, vanessa ver yurkevich, from the actors to the writers to uaw. how many days did you spend in detroit this year? >> a lot.

>> what a year for the worker. i wonder why you think that is. >> there's a couple of reasons. a lot of these workers that ended up going on strike, they worked through the pandemic. they're the essential workers that kept the economy running, while we were all, presumably some of us were at home. and also they at the same time watched their companies, kaiser permanente, general motors, u.p.s., make record profits. they were also at the same time dealing with the high inflation that all of us were dealing with. they had really strong economic grounds to stand on. and then we just played for you, the three leaders of the uaw, u.p.s., and the actors' union. those were all new leaders of these three unions. it was fresh blood. they would not take no for an answer on these contract deals. and in the end, all three u.p.s., the uaw, and s.a.g. got a lot of what they wanted at the end of the day. because they pointed back to those three reasons of why they really felt like their workers deserved so much more in these next contracts.

>> one of the big sticking points in both the writer's strike and the actor's strike was artificial intelligence, ai and the role of ai and compensation for all of that. how do you think that plays in the new year and going forward in labor and tech negotiations? >> we're in the age of artificial intelligence. companies, businesses, all of us are grappling with what this means. in terms of these negotiations with actors and the writers and the studios, this was the sticking point. for the actors and the writers, they said that this was an existential threat to their livelihoods. in many ways, it was. chatgpt could write scripts, a lot of the studios could use artificial intelligence to re-create actors in the background. and the actors and the writers fought tooth and nail to get protections in their contracts. they did at the end of the day, but remember just how fast artificial intelligence is moving. every day, it is changing, growing, evolving, learning more. so i don't doubt that in the

next couple of years, we're going to see artificial intelligence talked about in contracts with health care, manufacturing, hospitality, ecommerce. this is just the beginning. and when the actors and the writers negotiate again in a couple of years, i guarantee that they're going to be trying to get more protections in place to protect their jobs. so this will be a key issue going forward in union negotiations. >> the rise of labor by far one of the most important stories of the year. you covered every step of it very well. vanessa yurkevich, thanks very much. >> thanks, guys. 2023 was another very busy year for law enforcement, from a 14-day manhunt for a convicted killer that began and ended in a dramatic fashion to the arrest of a suspected serial killer behind some of the gilgo beach murders. these stories captured the nation's attention and have raised serious questions. with us now is cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, john miller. let's start with the gilgo beach alleged murderer.

i mean, how long was that a case where they just didn't think that they had leads, and then all of a sudden this. >> so that was an issue of leadership. rodney harrison, a new police commissioner came into suffolk county, and not knowing anything about the case, said, one of the things i'm going to do is we're going to solve that case what he knew was how to solve the case. he brought in the fbi, the new york state police, the suffolk county sheriff's office. he sent them all to a place away from their offices to work as a team and said, don't come back until you get this done, and literally within a couple of months, 13 years of mystery was unravelled with a suspect. >> da nnello cavalcante, what stood out about that search and the eventual capture of him.

>> what stood out about that search was, we think of a fugitive hunt. we usually think of an urban fugitive hunt, where you're pressing informants in the allies and in the streets, waiting for someone to pop their head up or make a phone call. in this case, you had an individual who had great skills in the wilderness, a determination to get away, and, you know, a lot of people looking for him deep in the woods. and eventually, he was caught. but it tells us something about the condition of the prisons and the jails. >> prison security, right? >> that's right. because what we're seeing is, you know, increased types of these skaps, cavalcante was the third in a row in pennsylvania that resulted in major manhunts. what's that about? that's about, as plths are having trouble, the people who have even more trouble are the jails and the prisons. they're the first to get their budget cuts, the first not to

get renovations and physical security updates, staffing is the issue. and as you see fund going down and staffing getting smaller and people working more overtime, you're seeing the holes in the system. quite literally. >> john miller, quite a year. appreciate it. the holidays can be challenging for a lot of people across the country, especially with the were vale uncertainty in the in the world today. and is it ever okay to return a christmas gift from your in-laws? i'll answer that and tell you "no." well, what is america think equipment right! harry enten here with the numbers, ahead.

now, enough, brothers and sisters, enough. every human being is sacred and precious in the eyes of god and

has a right to live in peace. let us not lose hope. >> every human being, whether christian, jew, or muslim, has a right to live in peace. that was pope francis' message in the weeks after the start of the israel/hamas war as christians today reflect on jesus. >> to help us, we are joined by three faith leaders, father edward beck, a roman catholic priest, angela bookall, and ahmed faisal abdul raulf, thank you for being here very much. merry christmas. >> thank you. >> imam, let me begin with you. you're optimistic and see the future as bright. give us some optimism on this christmas morning. >> well, you know, jesus christ, who is also a prophet that muslims recognize as a prophet, was once asked, what was the greatest commandment, and he

said, the love the lord, your god with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. and the second commandment was the second, which is equally important to the first, is to love your brother as you love yourself. which means really that the define imperative is to love our creator and our fellow human beings and love for them what we love for ourself. and this message is universal, especially among the three monolithic religions, but religions believe in being kind and just. and if our political leaders were able to implement this teaching, all conflicts would cease. >> and it's that -- i'm interested you brought that up. it's the through line between faith where central elements are the same in each. yet for people looking around right now, and looking over the course of the last several months, and saying everything seems bad. there doesn't seem to be any way

to reconcile where different faiths are, where different ideologies are, where different political parties are. what's your message to that? we are indeed in a very dark time. and it's not a coincidence that almost every faith tradition in this dark season of winter and short days have celebrations of light. we as a jewish community just finished our hanukkah celebrations. and there is a historical story of a military victory of the few over the many. but the rabbis actually wanted to emphasize a very different message from the holiday, which was, that there was only one cruise of oil to rededicate our sanctuary, to go back to being able to practice fully as jews with freedom, and that wasn't enough. and yet, somehow, miraculously, that light lasted for the eight days we needed to celebrate our festival. there's a message here for all of us, that in a dark time, and i will say that we feel like we are plunged in a dark time, that we still are the power to kindle flame and it's actually, every night, we're supposed to add an

additional light to that menorah, that we rise up in holiness and light share that light. maybe one of the only commandments of this holiday for us as jews is to publicize the miracle. we've done a very good job unfortunately as a society, in publicizing all the hate. let us publicize the miracle of the light that we're seeing in humans all around. >> the miracle, the light, the joy, the celebration of christmas morning. can i ask you the question that my kids ask me and i think most people' kids ask them, then why do such bad things happen? as we sit here on christmas, there is still so much pain and suffering, particularly right now in the world. can you speak to those who feel hopeless this morning, father? >> i don't think, poppy, we get an answer for the why, but i think the message of christmas is that god enters into it with us and we're not alone in it. what i'm so struck by is that the story of christmas is about

a palestinian jew, and how often do you find those words put together, a palestinian jew, born into a time when his country was occupied, right? they can't find a place for her to even give birth, his mother. they're homeless. they eventually have to flee as refugees into egypt, no less. i mean, you can't make up the parallels to our current world situation right now. and in some way, that is who we believe god becomes, born into that situation, and yet, that very man, jesus, says, love one another. love your enemies, there is hope. there is light in the darkness. i'm attesting to that. so somehow that god enters that experience of suffering and that struggle and is actually born into it, that is what is so miraculous about this celebration for me. >> you said something about god

being with us the whole time a couple of weeks ago, our pastor said, god is closer to you than your breath. and it just struck me so much. and i wonder how much you think about that on this christmas morning, that alone as many people feel, we are not. >> it's an interesting thing you just said about in our breath, because when i pray, the meditation is to breathe in that spirit of god and try to pray that it becomes more a part of me. so that the jesus that the imam was talking about, the jesus who says, love god and love neighbor, i struggle with that. we're struggling right now in our world, how you do that? so if you can actually ask it not to be your own breath all the time, but you breathe in the spirit of god, that kind of inclusive god, and that so i think that is a wonderful analogy right there. >> i would just add in hebrew, the word for breath is the same word for our soul. so we are really re-insouled

with our since of connection with our own divinity with every breath. most of the time, our problem is we're not paying enough attention to it. >> and the koran tells us that when he created adam from the clay, and then he said to the angels, and when i blown into him from my spirit and fall in frustration to him. the human soul is created from the divine spirit. and therefore, every human being has within himself or herself part of the dna of god. we human beings don't know that we are created in god's image. and the purpose is to teach us and make us connect to the god, and we know god from within our own souls. >> to recognizing that we each have the breath of divine is not just for us to own that sense of connection with divinity, but to treat others with that same

divinity. >> yeah. >> father, rabbi, imam, thank you guys very much. this was a wonderful conversation. >> thank you. merry christmas again. well, 2023 was defined in many ways by the power of women in culture, concert venues, even movie theaters were dominated by taylor swift and beyonce. the impact they had on the economy. 42 seasons, five national championships and more than a thousand wins. we sat down with the legendary duke basketball coach, mike krzyzewski to talk about his journey and life after basketball. >> you want a quick story? >> i want all the stories.

there are legends in basketball so famous, you know them by one name. jordan, kobe, lebron, and there is a legend who is status is so iconic, you know him by one letter, k, as in coach k. for 42 seasons, mike krzyzewski served as the head coach for the duke blue devils. he won five national championships before retiring. i sat down with him to talk about life, coaching wisdom, and what is more important than win winning. >> it's a pretty cool view. >> yeah. >> and you know, all the banners and -- >> that's all your national championships. >> the five, yeah, and final fours and acc championships. >> you're often described by people in profiles of you as the son of a cleaning woman and an elevator operator. but i don't think that's how you

would describe your parents. >> no, my parents were the basis of who me and my brother became. they taught us the dignity of work, i even tell my teams for years, i want you to be as tough as your mother. and just think about your mother, was there ever a day that she didn't show up? did you ever see her sick? did you ever see her tired? i never saw my mom sick or tired. i saw her every day doing everything that she could possibly do to make it nice for me and my brother, bill. i didn't appreciate it until later in life. and my dad died when i was a senior at west point. he didn't go by the name krzyzewski, he went by the name "cross." he was always afraid of losing his job because there was a lot of ethnic discrimination at that time. i didn't realize all the things that my parents -- >> gave up? >> gave up.

>> hid? your parents didn't even want you guys to learn to speak polish. >> polish, right. >> why? >> and i didn't find out this until later, they didn't want us to have an accent, because they were afraid again -- they're in that time, somebody with a vowel at the end of their name may have been looked at differently. they were concerned. >> they were trying to protect you. >> they were trying to protect me and my brother. >> so much so that it wasn't on his tombstone until -- >> yeah. he was in world war ii as william cross. and so when he died, and we, you know, were a low-income family, the government provides a tombstone. it said "cross." and we weren't able to change that until my mom passed, and my brother and i made sure it said krzyzewski. i was fortunate to be inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2001 and one of the parts of the speech and probably the most emotional for me was, i said, i wish my mom and dad were here

tonight -- i'm going to start crying, to see a krzyzewski go into the hall of flame. it was emotional then, it's emotional now, because i recognized just the life they led to make sure me and bill would be taken care of. amazing. >> how much of what you've done and how you've led and carried on this name so proudly, it's so famous. i just walked in the krzyzewski center. >> they couldn't find another name for it, so they put one that no one could pronounce. >> i love this picture. >> yeah. you can tell she's -- >> proud. >> proud. >> i've been married 53 years to becky and we knew that it was going to be a partnership. i call it, two is better than one if two can act as one. and we were able to act as one. that's my family. whenever we played in the olympics, we brought everybody. >> you did? >> yeah. >> you did a lot of it all

together. >> i have three daughters. >> they hold you down to earth? >> they -- whatever humility i did not have, they try to interject over and over, so when there used to be family dinners and people would eat together, and i would be sitting at a table with my four girls and we're playing carolina or maryland or whatever, and we just won a big game, and we're talking and nothing is sad. >> about your win? >> or about the game. my wife did a great thing, poppy. when all of my girls were growing up, we never had anything "basketball" in the house. the players would come over, but there weren't trophies, pictures -- >> there was no shrine to coach k. in your house? >> there is no shrine. and there shouldn't be, you know. >> well, there are in some people's houses. >> yeah, now because it's just me and nicky and our dog, coach. >> there's a shrine? >> well, i'm in a basement office -- well, the lower

level -- and can i put anything i want in there. so. whenever i need my ego boost, i go down there and start -- man, you were really good. no, i don't do that. >> do you ever come stand here alone? >> i do. usually -- not a lot, but later at night when all the lights are out, there might be just a little bit on the national championship banners or whenever you walk in and you feel like you're in a field of dreams. >> this is your field of dreams? >> yeah, or you feel like, i better get out of here, because the basketball god's are going to play pickup here in a little bit. >> there are stars, there are star players, but we've seen in college basketball, in the nba, that when you just put a bunch of stars together, it often doesn't work. >> you heard that expression, leave your egos at the door. i hate that expression. >> you do? >> i hate it. >> bring your ego? >> bring everything you've got. bring who you are. why would you leave something

you are -- >> to make room for others? >> no, we should make the room bigger. you know, you're not confined by the room, when you bring all the egos in and put them under one umbrella, that's what we did for you, and it said "usa" on it, and then you develop common ground. you want a quick story? >> yeah. i want all the stories. >> jason kit, first practice, our captain, hall of famer, leading a fast break drill, dwyane wade is in one lane, lebron's in another, and the ball's going ever wywhere. so i bring them together, and i know we can't play like this, before i say anything, jay kitt says, coach, i'll tone it immed dwayne said, no, no, no, we've never played with a talent like you. we'll adapt to you. >> really? >> yes. it was one of the great moments in my coaching career where i saw talent say, come on, talent,

give me more. it was like the piano player telling the sax player, come on, go, i can play the piano better, singer. all of a sudden if you can get everyone playing with all their talent, why wouldn't you want talent to maximize? >> yes. >> and it doesn't mean you have to give up talent to maximize. and if all that works together, wow. >> how many presidents have you met? all of them in your lifetime? >> all of them. even when we won, in 41 president bush became a close friend. >> this is you and kobe. >> yeah, this is u.s., thanks for all the golden moments. this is a great book for me because each player gave their quote. >> so can we read what lebron said about you. >> yeah. >> he allows us to play the game of basketball and just go out there and have fun, but at the

same time he wants us to be perfect. we should expect perfection and that is what he is about. we like that. we like that kind of challenge. >> yeah. >> read the last line kobe said about you. >> coach k. is one of the best coaches of all time, period, no question about it. >> one of the things that i've learned about you is how hard you are on yourself. and that there have been moments when you will actually -- you've looked in the mirror over your career and cursed yourself out. >> we are all better if we are held accountable. you know, how you hold players accountable along the years change but you still have to hold them accountable. >> you've been tough on them, very. >> well, you hold them accountable. sometimes there's nobody that holds the leader accountable, it's on you, i did it, you know, i need to change. and it was always not about winning and losing for me, it was about being worthy of winning. >> such a great interview, one of many you have had this year, can i tease maybe more next

year? >> yes, more to come. kit sitting down with coach k. is a christmas gift tore me. he is so wise and i learned a lot that i hope to achieve as well as he has. >> also being on camera is awesome. we all remember this christmas classic. >> no, that's not it. >> what else could we be forgetting? >> kevin! >> that, of course, was the holiday hit "home alone." while hopefully none of you forgot your children at home this christmas you may be feeling that holiday stress you see catherine o'hara epitomize. >> joining us with a look at the good and not to good data around the holidays, harry enten in full festive garb. >> girlfriend laura picked this out for me. i could not dress myself this well. >> fancy. >> give us the fun numbers for the holidays before we get into

the intense stuff. >> the fun numbers, this was a question that phil and i were discussing earlier, poppy, i would be interested in your insight. do you have a christmas tree in your home? the majority of americans do but interestingly enough the majority say, yes, they have an artificial one, just 22% say, yes, a real one. there is 22% who say no. but the fact that artificial is so high to me was to interesting. i see these people selling christmas trees out on the street in new york that a lot more would have a real, but artificial. what's with tartificial? >> what do you think i have? >> in no world does poppy have an artificial tree. >> absolutely. >> we have four children and then it got stressful. we still decorate the tree but we made the shift and it's been helpful. >> next year i'm going to -- >> chop it down yourself. >> that's your minnesota spirit. >> don't you know. >> my new york accent couldn't quite participate in that minnesota accent. one of those things that you might watch around the christmas tree is the christmas movie, we

obviously saw that tease from "home alone" in the intro. that comes in your favorite christmas movie, "home alone" comes in at 6%. "it's a wonderful life" at 9%, "christmas story" plays on tbs every year, 6%, "elf", "grinch" and "christmas vacation." >> those missing are for "die hard." >> jimmy says is "die hard" a christmas movie? the answer is, yes, it is. >> this is by far our favorite christmas movie in the house. >> you should watch "die hard." >> i will never. it is also stressful the holidays. >> it is also stressful. what causes you the most stress during the holidays? 28% say finding the right gifts. finding the right gifts. how about traveling at 24%. i avoid the airports at all costs, folks. nothing, no stress at 16%. i don't know who those folks

are. 17% being with family, that's why you can avoid them. how about cooking at 9%, putting cookies in are quite the thing, can those pillsbury dough boys rise up correctly? i don't know. the other thing, we said finding the right gifts. what happens if you find the wrong gift? what are you supposed to do? i would be interested in your insight in this. when you get a holiday gift you don't like, do you keep it, return t regift it? 49% say keep it. i don't like folks that much, i don't feel the social pressure to keep t i return it. 31%. regift it, phil, i got something during last year's holiday season, maybe i will bring it in for you and you will never know the difference. >> i'm thinking in my head right now i would watch just like a youtube channel of harry giving holiday life advice, how to survive the holiday. don't like people, don't travel, don't cook, give gifts back. >> and smile. >> it's not terrible. >> smile and say thank you very much. >> thank you. working on teaching the kids

that. >> harry enten, we love you, brother. happy holidays. >> merry christmas. thank you all for joining us this morning. >> on behalf of all of us here at cnn this morning, we hope you have a very merry christmas.

♪