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right now, thousands of migrants are making their way from southern mexico at the u.s. border in the largest migrant caravan that we have seen in over a year. the nation's top diplomat is head thing week to mexico to try to undressaddress this unpreced surge. would ron desantis be any different? new questions about his record, campaign donors and medical marijuana. it's a cnn investigation. a new fight for chuck dee. how he's turning his attention on the health care crisis, bankrupting millions of americans. i sat down with hip-hop pioneer to talk all about that.

john burman is working elsewhere today, and i'm upset about it. he's working hard. cnn news central, don't worry, he'll be back. ♪ ♪ on this christmas morning, thousands of migrants are right now making their way toward the southern u.s. border, expected to add to the unprecedented migrant surge that's already overwhelming u.s. agencies. it is the largest caravan that the u.s. has seen in over a year, and this comes at a critical time. not only as the u.s. southern border is already in crisis. just two days from now, secretary of state tony blinken is headed to mexico to try to find some solutions here, and all the recent agreements on how to slow that flow through mexico. federal authorities have reported an average of nearly 10,000 migrant encounters a day along the u.s. southern border this month. championship's raphael romo is in texas, joining us once again.

you were talking to local law enforcement. they're telling you they can't keep up with this pace. what else are they telling you? >> reporter: yeah, they have enough problems as it is when it comes to tackling local crime and protecting the community. they say if you add the burden of taking care of thousands and thousands of immigrants, it's just unsustainable. kate, let me tell you, over the weekend, this holding area behind me was filled with immigrants who are grbrought he after they surrendered to immigration officials at ports of entree or along the border. as you can see, this area is empty but it was filled up just a few moments ago. they are processing them as fast as they can. we've been traveling to different points along the border. we have seen how immigrants keep crossing, even when immigration officials and the state of texas has installed obstacles, including barbed wire on the banks of the rio grand and buoys

in the river itself that serve as floating barriers. we talked to a mother who travelled with her 3-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter by land from honduras in central america. all three of them surrendered to immigration authorities at the border on christmas eve, and were hoping to spend this christmas day at a shelter. we talked to a woman from cuba who says she, her sister and sister's daughter were kidnapped as they traveled by land in mexico. after the family paid ransom, they were then robbed before getting to the border. in spite of all this, she says that she feels blessed this christmas day. >> translator: that i'm going to spend it with my family, that i'm going to live in a free country, that at least, i don't know, i'm going to be happy because i'm going to live in a free country where the rights of citizens are respected. that wasn't the case where i lived. i was under a lot of pressure.

>> reporter: border protection has just released new figures regarding apprehensions at the u.s. border. mexico officials say during the month of november, more than 242,000 people were detained by border patrol, compared to 235,000 for the came month last year. now back to you. >> those are huge numbers. thank you so much. the start of 2024 will soon bring donald trump another chance to get his election federal subversion charges dropped. in just 15 days, a federal appeals court will hear oral arguments for and against granting the former president immunity. this as his march 4th trial date is getting ever closer. our reporter joins us now with more. this right now in the hands of the appeal court, but it could end up at the supreme court, with jack smith trying to get it there before it got to this point. give us some sense of what we'll see with timing and how it might play out.

>> reporter: we are seeing this being argued on january 9th before the court of appeals in d.c., the federal court of appeals, the circuit. they'll make a decision, not that day, but it could come in the days or weeks after that. so we could get some sort of weigh-in from the appeals court whether there is immunity around the presidency, whether donald trump has to go to trial from them. and then whoever loses that is very likely to take this question to the supreme court, because we never have had a former president being charged with a crime before. this is a very big question that has to be resolved before donald trump goes to trial on these charges. he lost, obviously, at the trial level with the judge saying no court ever, no branch of government ever would give anyone who served in the presidency a total pass from prosecution in the future as trump is arguing. he has absolute protections and immunity from what he was doing while he was president. he says -- trump's team has been arguing in court, in briefs, but

trump also has been on truth social highlighting what his position is, saying over the weekend, i wasn't campaigning, the election was over. i was doing my duty as president to expos and further investigate a rigged and stolen election. that is one of the issues that the appeals court is likely to be looking at. was trump doing something that was part of his duties as president? there are other courts who have said no, the campaigning, the electioneering suspect part of the presidency. they will have to address that question whether or not someone sitting as president could be charged with crimes. >> there is a lot of really important decisions that need to be made by the court. we will be watching. i know you'll be on it. thank you. have a great weekend. now, donald trump announced his white house bid around 13 months ago. nikki haley was next, launching her bid in february of this year. today, we are seven days from the new year.

21 days out from the iowa caucuses. so all the republican candidates are waking up this christmas morning and should be facing what kind of reality with their campaigns? joining us now, republican strategist alice stewart. kindly going to play along with what i call the good and bad list of 2023. alice, for donald trump, what is the good reality that his campaign is facing right now? >> well, first off, you're on the good list, i'm sure, kate. >> your lists are messed up then, alice! [ laughter ] >> 21 days from now, republicans in iowa will be traveling over the river and through the woods to a caucus location near them, but it's coming. the good thing for donald trump is his steady lead. it's one thing for you to be ahead in one poll and things change, but he has a commanding steady lead in these polls in all of these states by over 50%

in many of these polls. the fact that he's able to maintain that momentum is good. look, his base is not going anywhere. they are committed to him. they are standing firm, despite all of the other issues that we just outlined, all of the legal issues facing him, his base is committed. the reality is, there are many republicans that are looking to turn the page and get away from donald trump and the past grievances that he is really campaigning on. so that's one thing that he does have to keep in mind. but steady lead has not changed since he got in the race. >> that's exactly right. and then for nikki haley, the good must be for her the surge in new hampshire. what else? >> the fact that she has continued to tighten up the polls. you know, the non-trump candidates have been back and forth. she is now doing well in new

hampshire, as well as in iowa. and here's what the good thing for her is that she understands that in order to not just win in this primary, to win in the general election, you need a more nuanced message. and she has managed -- die hard issues for republicans like the life issue and abortion issue, she recognizes that in order to broaden the electorate, not just in the primary but into the general election, she's changed the messaging. so we're not talking about abortion bans, we're talking about abortion limits. and what is an appropriate time to have a conversationa about when abortion should be desirable for women in that situation. that's a better message heading into the general election. she understands that we need to stop demonizing people and talk about limits opposed to bans. >> there's a lot that nikki haley is waking up thinking is the good. what is the bad reality she is facing? >> fractured field.

with so many candidates out there, there's the -- the pie only goes so far. with donald trump at a steady 50, with so many candidates in the race, that divides up the number of votes that she could get. i think as we winnow the immediate, that would be in her favor. you want to have a good finish in iowa, second or third. but iowa isn't necessarily about picking the winner but winnowing the field. so some of the candidates are going to have to face the reality that maybe it's time to throw their support behind someone else. so the sooner we can consolidate -- >> you're talking about ron desantis without talking about ron desantis here. is it harder to find a good reality for ron desantis than a bad one for his campaign? >> look, this isn't really where you want to be at this point. he's had a strong second place in the polls for some time.

he should be making his closing arguments right now, and he's doing that in iowa at these town halls, at these events, making the case for why shhe's an electable candidate, he has a proven record with a younger generation. the problem is, in the media, he's getting so much coverage on the palace intrigue with staff departures and firings and so much of that and finger pointing by former staffers. that's not desirable when you are trying to capitalize on earned media you are getting outside the real work he's doing on the ground. he's putting in the work. he's really working to meet these people. when the palace intrigue, not just makes national news, you have local papers covering this, it raises some concerns. but he does have a strong commit to caucus operations in the works, and the goal is really reinforcing that over the next three weeks, making sure the people that said they're going to come out do come out on that night. >> great to see you, alice. thank you so much.

merry christmas. >> you too, kate. still ahead, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is on the ground in gaza. his visit right as israel increases strikes against hamas from the sky, ground, and sea. also, a cnn investigation is raising questions about florida governor ron desantis' record on special interests and campaign donors. plus, the magic may be just beginning for one person this holiday. a drawing tonight for the highest christmas jackpot ever.

we have new video.

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in northern gaza visiting troops. the video posted by the prime minister's office just this morning. his visit comes as he's declared that israel is intensifying its war effort against hamas, and sunday was one of the deadliest nighs in gaza since the war began. the hamas-run health ministry claiming at least 70 people were killed at a refugee camp in central gaza. video from the scene there shows a wide expanse of damage. the idf says they are reviewing the claim that it was the result of an israeli attack. the idf reports that their troops engaged in fierce battles over the weekend in northern and southern gaza, and 15 idf soldiers were killed in the fighting over the weekend, bringing the military death toll to the idf to 154 since operations against hamas began. the wife of israel's prime minister is now making a new plea for help to rescue the hostages still held by hamas.

she sent a letter to the pope and also the wives of 33 world leaders asking them for their assistance to try to bring those hostages home. israel believes there are still 129 hostages being held by hamas in gaza. joining us now is the former director of the hostage recovery for the u.s. government, chris o'leery. chris, thank you for coming in on this christmas day. we're now looking at 80 days of these hostages being held captive in gaza. thursday, hamas made -- said very clearly that no talks over prisoner swaps would pick back up until israel ends its military operation in gaza. what do you do with that? what does -- what does that say about the chances of getting more hostages out alive at this point? >> i think it's grim right now, kate. if the sole strategy right now is trying to have some kind of negotiated release for another batch and hamas is not interested, they hold all the

cards, they have all the leverage. it's really just a graim pictur of getting things back on track, despite the best efforts of the cia director and the head of the mossad and the qataris. if you don't have hamas willing to take a pause and reengage, we're in a bad place. >> there's a question of the impact of the military operations obviously on any hope of getting more hostages out, because while the prime minister says that they're intensifying ground operations, we do know that in the coming weeks, israel is expected to be transitioning from a high intensity phase of military operations to a lower intensity kind of intel driven phase of this war. what, from your experience, what will that shift mean for the hostages? >> well, first of all, it's long overdue. that's what they should have been doing from the very beginning. intelligence driven raids with special operations forces,

conducted at night, after specific individuals from hamas' leadership, you capture that individual. by the way, you limit civilian casualties, because most civilians aren't moving about at 2:00 in the morning when these operations are conducted. you take detainidetainees, inte them, and you bring back that information and exploit it. whether it's documents, electronics. all of that gets fed into your intelligence picture, and you start driving starts other targets every night. and then it starts telling you where the hostages are. that's what should have been done from the beginning. a second point is, yes, israel would like to transition -- is likely to transition, but probably not because of the hostages, but because they can't sustain this ground campaign. this is a reserve force. i mean, yes, they have active duty troops. but they're augmented by a

sizable contingent of reservists. these are shop owners, doctors, teachers. they can't stay activated for this long. israel's economy is plummeting. so israel has to pivot at some point back to something else, which brings into the question, well, what if the axis of resistance, led by iran with hezbollah at the top, the ho huthis, if they turn on the violence. >> as we head into another week of these hostages being held in gaza, i was thinking back to some of the conversations we have had. you long said that the hostages are the greatest leverage that hamas has, which is why they won't give them up willingly. but now that yoefu have the idf recovering dead hostages from

grazza, how does that change things? >> number one, it's not surprising. hamas didn't hold all of the hostages, so palestinian islamic jihad held some. so did some disparate groups and criminal organizations. none of those hostages were expected to be held in the tunnels underground. hamas was not going to give up that real estate for those other palestinian groups. so the hostages were exposed, so which is why israel's tactics of nondiscretionary bombing and unbridled urban warfare was concerning and perplexing to those of us who are counterterrorism and hostage recovery. so that's probably number one. additionally, there are, you know, upsides of israel pushing in. they have exposed some of the tunnels, and, you know, some of the possible hiding places where hamas was holding these people, where we have the three israeli

victims that escaped the other day and unfortunately were killed but frontline troops. so that's the issue that, as we move forward, israel could come upon more of these, but it's likely that they're going to be done in a precise intelligence way. we're not going to have many success stories moving forward. >> thank you for coming in, chris. >> merry christmas, kate. still ahead, the u.s. economy is ending the year with multiple strong data check-ins. so why is joe biden's economic message failing to land with potential voters in we'll discuss, coming up.

the white house says the u.s. has hit a significant milestone in the battle to bring down inflation. a pair of reports last week showed the gadp grew 4.9% in the third quarter, the strongest in nearly two years. and in november, inflation cooled to 2.6%, meaning prices fell on a month-to-month basis for the first time since april of three years ago, 2020. despite this news, increasing pay and rising stock prices, the white house has really struggled to sell the president's economic message. >> we increased the middle class, the poor have a shot and the wealthy still do very well. the middle class does well and we all do well. that's what we call bidenomics. by the way, so far we have created 14 million new jobs, more jobs in three years than any president has created in four years. >> joining me now, associate

editor of the financial times. thank you so much for being here. i began with a laugh, because finally we're saying something nice about the economy. we have all waited for that. but i did want to ask you, because this doesn't seem to be resonating so much, the idea of bidenomics, which i hear biden doesn't like the name. but why suspect the message resonating when you're seeing these numbers and attitudes getting better about the economy? >> well, it's a great question. you know, the truth of the matter is, the data has been great, right? we have had a few quarters now of strong job market, inflation starting to come down finally. this is the goldilocks economy, right? not too hot, not too cold, that we have all wanted. and so it is really surprising in some ways that consumers and voters aren't picking up on this yet. a few reasons for that. one, consumer sentiment tends to be a trailing indicator.

so it takes a few quarters of people really feeling hey, inflation is coming down. you know, paying my electric bill, these are not more expensive, it takes time for that to resonate. you also mentioned the president itself is not crazy about the word bidenomics. some people, even in the democratic party, were concerned about pegging these economic policies to one president. it's a little bit -- not a little bit, but a partisan environment right now in terms of politics in the u.s. so people hear "bidenom eks." maybe you don't want to hear more about those policies. and there's a final reason, this white house is trying to orchestrate a change that's not about one quarter. it's not about one year. it's about years, even decades of moving from an economy that was based essentially on asset prices going on, on stocks and housing prices going up, and people feeling richer in a

financial sense, if in fact they owned those assets, to one in which it's work, not wealth, right? it's income going up, it's the sense that there's a bottom up, middle out sort of approach. that takes time. and we're living in a tiktok environment here. it's hard to get people to pay attention for more than a few minutes. >> that's a good point. but you notice if the prices are higher at the grocery store or the prices are higher at the gas station, those have come down a bit. so we'll see sort of where sentiment goes. i want to get your read on what may be some potential problems for the economy going forward. >> yeah. so i've been a little more bearish, i think, than some folks that look at the markets. the stock markets have been going nuts, because the fed has said we're going to see three rates in the coming year. we think we're going to have a soft landing and all will be well. but there's a lot going on in the global picture. if you step back, the pandemic

changed everything, right? we're still feeling the impacts oh of this, and one of the impacts is that different regions, different industries, aren't moving in sync anymore. we came through a period where it was 40, 50 years of everything rising or falling together. that was quite predictable. now, things -- you know, europe, china, the u.s., things are going in different directions. this means the possibility of more rift. the other thing is even though interest rates are falling, some people are locked into higher rates. some people have lower rates, for example, on a home mortgage. i'm locked into a 2.875% rate, even though rates are much higher. my rate will eventually reset, so there's going to be years of ups and downs and bumps as these changes that we have gone through in the last few years play out. and so i just think that this recovery cycle is going to be different than the ones that we have seen before. i would caution against getting too much ahead of things. you know, buckle in, keep your

savings. don't take on too much debt, and look forward to hopefully what will be a better year ahead. >> rana, a 2.8% interest rate for a home. you go. that is the best christmas present anybody could have. i'm going to give you the love. >> honorary hoosier. >> oh, yeah. coming up for us, a cnn investigation raising new questions about ron desantis' track record in promising to "drain the swamp."

republican presidential candidate ron desantis is criticizing donald trump for failing to drain the swamp in washington, while he was in the white house. but desantis made a similar pledge in his campaign for florida governor. now a cnn investigation is raising questions about his record on special interests and campaign donors.

as randi kaye reports, it has to do with legalizing smokeable medical marijuana in florida. >> thank you. god bless you. >> reporter: after ron desantis was elected governor of florida in 2018, the very first bill he signed into law legalized smokeable medical marijuana in florida. >> whether they have to smoke it or not, who am i to judge that? i want people to be able to have their suffering relieved. >> reporter: a cnn investigation reveals how ron desantis was courted by key figures in the medical marijuana industry. he got a political boost and they got a financial one. yet he's still boasting that he drained the swamp in florida. >> we drained the swamp in here. >> reporter: that all sounds good, but did he really drain the swamp? turns out one of the leading medical marijuana companies in the u.s. today contributed $50,000 to the florida gop, which helped pay for desantis' campaign ads. they then boasted of record

profits, just months after desantis signed that law, telling investors that patient growth was driven primarily by the introduction of smokeable flower, which by then constituted half of sales in florida. florida hand surgeon turned marijuana entrepreneur was among those who co-hosted fund raisers for ron desantis, this one near orlando, just weeks before election day in 2018. cnn obtained this exclusive video. that's him arriving for the fund-raiser with congressman matt gaetz, who as a state lawmaker in 2014, introduced legislation that became florida's first marijuana law. attorneys say he never discussed marijuana legislation with desantis. also at the party, halsey bashirs. his tree farm joined to become tree leaf, a top medical

marijuana producer. all three of them have ties to florida's billion-dollar marijuana industry. >> it's an honor to be here. thank you for your support. >> reporter: all of them, a united force in raising money for desantis. >> one of the things that impressed me about ron is that he pushes against the grain. >> reporter: desantis would soon play a key role in florida's so-called green rush, which gave rise to a billion dollar industry. >> the reason why ron desantis became governor of florida is because of a little plant called cannabis. >> reporter: that's a one-time associate of rudy giuliani and donald trump. in may of 2018, when ron desantis' campaign for governor was in trouble, he says desantis sought him out. you met him at the trump hotel. >> i met him at the trump hotel. ron approached me and told me that he's running as governor of florida. >> were you traveling in trump's circles at that time? >> very much so. >> reporter: if his name sounds familiar, that may be because he played a role in the impeachment of trump.

he coordinated with giuliani to try and dig up dirt on joe biden in ukraine. he was also convicted of trying to illegally secure recreational marijuana licenses in other states, and sentenced to 20 months in prison last year. during our interview at his florida home, he told us desantis came to him seeking help for his struggling gubernatorial campaign. did he make it clear that he needed trump's endorsement? >> absolutely. he said he needed to get trump's endorsement. >> reporter: when he met ron desantis, he was looking to get into the marijuana industry in florida. desantis had previously taken a stand against marijuana. as a u.s. congressman, he voted against making cannabis more accessible to veterans. >> i realized he was not pro-cannabis. with all due respect, i said how can i support you to be governor of florida where you go against things i personally believe in. >> reporter: after that, he says

desantis had a change of heart. >> he would be willing to look at cannabis in a different light. i was like, whoa, that was a quick shift. >> reporter: he said desantis wouldn't stand in the way of expanding legalization in florida. at this point, smoking medical marijuana was illegal, and so was recreational pot. did he tell you if you can get trump to endorse me, then i will change my mind about legalized medical marijuana here? >> i don't recall us having an exact conversation, like a quid pro quo type of a situation, but the whole conversation was a quid pro quo. >> reporter: he says he went to rudy giuliani and convinced him to get trump to endorse ron desantis, which trump did in june of 2018, tweeting that he will be a great governor. parnas donated $50,000 to desantis and attended rallies with him. after his victory speech on election night in 2018, one of the people desantis hugged was

parnas. >> he hugs and i congratulate him and he says, we did it. >> reporter: under desantis, medical marijuana is a $1.8 billion industry in florida. there are now nearly 600 dispensaries in florida, serving 800,000 floridaens. cnn was unable to independently verify parnas' account recording trump's endorsement. desantis returned parnas' $50,000 contribution and declined to answer questions about their interactions, accusing cnn of reporting opposition narratives about his campaign. neither the trump campaign nor giuliani would comment either. parnas admits others may also have had a hand in securing trump's endorsement for desantis, but insists he played a key role. would you have connected trump and desantis if desantis hadn't

changed his mind on marijuana? >> no, never. >> randi kaye, thank you so much for that. coming up, chuck dee needs no introduction. he is a hip-hop legend. he's now using his voice in a different way. he joins cnn news central coming up.

this year, hip-hop got its aarp card. it really did. the worldwide culture juggernaut of a music genre turned 50 this years. the pioneers shined a lot on a world filled with hardships, brutality, misogyny, poverty, and yes, even love. some of the ogs are turning their attention to a serious matter for too many americans, hospital bills. which is one of the most common ways americans go bankrupt. i sat down with chuck d, who rose up as a frontman of public enemy rapping bangers like "fight the power" and now, 50 years in, his new fight is

giving power to the patience. we are here with the man, the legend, chuck d. what impact do you see that hip-hop has made on american kiculture? >> it started out being a voice of concern. it started out as a voice that came out of community and it was left for dead and left for dry if you want to say it was a sin point.the bronx is ground zero. from that out of the ashes rose hip-hop which was a cultural

understanding around the world. 45 years later. >> the message that has been sent out. what is the message that you want him pop to impart to the rest of the country. you have found public enemy and it was a very clear message. >> black artists weren't covered by major media when we started out through r.m.d. out of this the voices spoke loudly. every party has to have security by the door and a narrative of what you wanted to do and leave the party other than how you came in. what it did in society was basically the understanding to be accountable and also responsible.

even power to the patient's with the program that i'm involved which talks about the balancing and being able to have some kind of transparency the cost of healthcare. we have one third of american citizens in this country with debt written on health and bankrupt because of health. when you talk about black folks and brown folks and people of color just as they say poor people being involved with that why do you get a bunch of wrappers because why should our voices just be used for an

economic frivolous things like going out and getting this car or the stereotypical things. it's being covered on the news people like fat joe and method me and or the frenchmen toners of the world. hear these voices many times but let's hear something that's really relevant and the cost of healthcare and how they could come out of this with understanding that the system is fair people from our community are afraid of hospitals. >> of course. >> rightfully so because you are not talking about doctors and nurses and their concern. you're talking about the business of medical care it's those bills that come after.

you have no idea how much you are supposed to pay. he get that afterwards. >> stress is real right? as we go to the future you find out that stress is that seed factor that causes a lot of things to come tumbling down. just kind of living in this country it's stress ridden. out of the music and art of culture there are screams and hollering about how we alleviate the conditions about how we make it better and how we understand that we have to make it better. i was proud to be part of that program and i said yes this is something i'm dealing with. another thing is when you look at hip-hop 50 it's important. 5we are connected. you say that person you know they are doing well but we cannot get to the next person in our family and they have not. that's real.

>> that was a really cool conversation. he's really taking up this idea that so many people are afraid of and that is hospital bills. doctors bills. it's amazing to see rappers who back in the day pound out these great heads to turn around and say listen i am 50 now and there are other problems that need to be pounded on. >> you see his voice and his stature and his awesomeness it's a really cool thing. >> coming up for us. a white christmas is beautiful but is now going to be getting away of the holiday travel ahead? we have the forecast for you. before we can take a quick break we want to share some holiday greetings from us members serving abroad this christmas.