while x is located some 2000

miles away. plus israeli prime minister benjamin is in gaza with troops today battling the fight is far from over. israel ramps up the strikes against hamas. donald trump is asking a court to grant him absolute immunity. the case is legal team is making to get the interference charges thrown out.i'm kate baldwin with sarah's nightmare. john is off today. this is a very christmas cnn news central. this morning big news out of russia.opposition leader and chief hooton critic alexa has been found after disappearing for two weeks. the head of the anticorruption foundation says diwali is now in a colony in the pafar reache of western siberia thousands of miles from the jail he was

known to be. he was movmoved from the detent center in moscow serving a 19 year sentence. where following the developments. >> we are getting more information from the team regarding his current location but as he mentioned this is a moment of relief for supporters and legal team after they lost contactwith him a little over two weeks ago . as we understand and according to the spokesperson and director of the anticorruption foundation and they were able to meet with the lawyer and today they can confirm the location in the northwestern siberia some 2000 miles away from moscow. it is in this area that he is now being held after two weeks of losing contact with family members and legal representatives. we have just a couple of hours ago seen a statement from the director of his foundation. this is what he had to say

about the location. it's one of the most remote colonies in the conditions there are harsh with a special regime. it is very difficult to get there and there are no letter delivery systems. of course that will be concern around the safety, security and the conditions he will face in this penal colony in the past. hundred and 50 miles east of moscow where he had faced poor health conditions as well. that is a point of concern. he was sentenced back in august this year to 19 years in prison on charges related to extremism. he had already been serving charges of 11 and a half years but of course important charges that he has repeatedly denied many supporters believe these are politically motivated charges because of his vocal criticism of president hooton. >> back here in the states, 10

weeks from today donald trump is scheduled to stand trial on his federal election aversion charges. says the former president prolongs his request to get immunity in the case tossed out of court. caitlin joins us now with more on this. caitlin, another try to trying get rid of this one case although he is facing many. >> sarah this is the federal court case against donald trump charges after the 2020 election. he is set to go to trial in washington dc in march but he has tried many different tactics so far to get the case moved or dropped to get the charges tossed in one of those options that he has tried is basically saying that he has immunity. total protection from sitting trial after being prosecuted because he was serving as president at the time that

these events took place. he is now beingprosecuted for . that is one of the only things that has to have some sort of conclusion by the appellate courts. the appeals court potentially the supreme court before trump can go to trial. everything he has lost so far in trying to move his case artest's case won't get decided until after the trial but this particular issue is now in the appeals court in washington dc the court below the supreme court. they look at it and decide what they want to do with this question. is there some immunity to be given to donald trump that would allow him to avoid being tried on these alleged crimes. that issue is likely to be decided in the coming weeks after they hear arguments on january 9. it could delay the trial date. trump is going to try and make sure it does because he is been very clear with his team he doesn't want to go to trial in 2024 but there is a lot in the

air as we head into the new year. >> so many cases when you look at that caseload it's a lot for lack of a better word. thank you for keeping track of it for us. >> let's talk about it if we can piece by piece. joining us now as former us attorney and deputy assistant attorney general harry litman. let's talk first about this appeal that was filed over the weekend late saturday night. i want to read some of the argument the legal team is making in this appeal to get your take. despite ample motive and opportunity to do so it provides powerful evidence that the power to do so does not exist. what do you think of that? >> maybe it provides powerful evidence that presidents don't normally commit crimes. i think the court of appeals is not going to be very welcoming

of this general immunity argument. what he's trying to say basically is he was acting as president not as candidate not trying to do anything wrong just looking out for the election integrity. i don't think that's a position that's going to fly. on the other hand right now it does delay the start of the trial in that sense he gets an important advantage on one level. the when he was just expressing. if they rule on this quickly which they seem to be indicating that they are going to try to do how does this likely impact the calendar and the timing of this? the domino effect if you will. >> by the way another one that's coming up as the fraud trial in new york that he's going to get on that was an advance for 30 days. right now things are really frozen. every day that passes is a day

that pushes back the start of the trial. as you say the court of appeals is really moving very quickly. they have the argument two weeks from tomorrow and probably issue an opinion after that. if the supreme court which was primed to move quickly before it continues shouldn't be that much. trump will try of course to string it out by going to the full court of appeal or the supreme court but if the court of appeals gives us stay with a short fuse which is just what the colorado court did a few days ago that will hand him and and that's going to be the real lookout. will they keep him from delaying? they seem to be on his game and worried about letting things trail along too long. >> you mentioned two of these important cases that i'm sure to end up before the supreme court which really thrusts the high court back into the center of a presidential election.

not the place that the justices want to be. on that note it's really in them interesting piece making the keys in this that no matter how the justices decide on the election related cases if you will speaking with one voice maybe more important than ever. the universe in which the court splits the difference for example keeping mr. trump on the ballot while refusing to endorse if not affirmatively his conduct in spurning his cane like flame to total immunity could go a long way towards reducing the temperature of the coming election cycle. such an outcome can also help restore some of the court's credibility. what do you think of that? >> it is a great point compared with the nixon case which is unanimous with bush versus gore which is five and four. i think the reason that they deny they look to form a united

front if they can. the seven into our six and three kinds of opinions and politically charged cases is terrible for them and i think it's true they look for ways around compromises even if that's not how they would hold individually in the first instance. >> interesting. harry, it's good to see you thank you for coming in. >> thank you kate, merry christmas. >> let's get more analysis with tim who is a cnn presidential historian and former director of the presidential library. we are truly in unchartered territory with the words and trials of a former president now front runner in the warace

for the white house. can you give us some sense of where we are in the history of this country when you look at these different thingsthat president trump is facing . >> we have had former presidents run again which hasn't happen that often. neither cleveland or fillmore or theater roosevelt were facing constitutional challenges nor were they under indictment for any crimes whatsoever. we are writing history as we go right now. i think even on christmas day if they would like to wait a day i would understand. those that think of the significance of this i would say ask yourself whether you think the founders of this nation after revelation to overturn the power of a tyrant

would create the possibility of having an elected absolute monarch and the answer is what i would know. the idea is that our founders and constitution make it possible for a president to have absolute immunity which is nonsense. president trump's lawyers made the argument that in 200 plus years despite the motive and opportunity to do so the president has ever been charged it's not true in a sense that president nixon had motive and opportunity to seek criminal immunity. why didn't he? because richard nixon as a good lawyer understood that that's nonsense. he did as a former president seek immunity from civil prosecution for which he got limited immunity but during the time he was president has

lawyers never sought immunity from criminal prosecution. they sought immunity from judicial orders. richard nixon clearly had a motive and was a lawyer and he didn't try with the trump team is trying to do. the point here he made is really important. we want a united voice from the court not simply for the court's credibility. that matters of course but for the constitution we need to define the limits on presidential power yet again and that needs to be done with one voice by the supreme court. >> we know the saying no one is about the law. the court is going to have to put that very starkly and plainly including the president of the united states. i do want to ask you about this political upheaval that we are seeing.>> democracy exists

because institutions but also civic responsibilities . exits up to us to show that we want our leaders not to be above the law. our freedom comes from the fact that their power is limited both by the three branches of government but the fact that we have a hearty judicial system. we will be going through a stress test. a judicial and democratic stress test in 2024. it has done so over two centuries this coming year will

be one of its greatest tests. i have confidence that we as a people will need that test but in the end will be up to us. >> tim, that was some good news i'm going to leave it there because you have hope that we will get through this in the best way possible. thank you so much for coming, have a happy holiday. >> coming up for us the israeli minister visiting troops in gaza today, the prime minister's promise and a bow after his visit. >> when congress returns they are almost immediately up against deadlines. having to hit the ground running to avoid shut down to the border to provide aid to ukraine before military supplies run out. that's just a few. i look at what's on the head and what congress is ahead. we are keeping an eye to the skies for you. what the weather may have for

everyone preparing to travel in and out, home or abroad. in the coming days.

israeli prime minister benjamin made a special visit to the region. the prime minister flew to gaza this morning to meet with troops on the ground there. he vowed to continue the long fight as he put it against hamas. this is the second visit to the area and it comes on the heels of one of the deadliest nights in gaza. the ministry says at least 70

people were killed after an israeli attack on a crowded refugee camp. they are not reporting at least 250 people were killed over the last 24 hours in central gaza. will is joining us now from tel aviv. what are you hearing about the prime minister's visit and the response to this large number that the prime minister is putting out there with 250 people killed? >> this makes it one of the deadliest 24 hour period in this entire add war more than 53,000 people have been wounded in the score and their wounded many of them in a place where they have functioning hospitals left. you can count them on two hands. that's how many functioning hospitals are left in gaza right now and they are in the south. in the north where the it's really prime minister made his visit you can see that the

handout images from his office meeting with the troops and some photos were together and they were smiling and trying to protect confidence in victory and assess. they do feel like they won the north so to speak because they have operational control there and they are confident enough to have him make a visit to that devastating area relatively safely. in central gaza and in the south situations are more volatile because the idf the israeli military is meeting its operation into this areas. people have been displaced several times are being told they have to pack up and move again. these are people that have nothing left other than their lives and hopefully the lives of their families although nearly everyone in gaza. they occupy the west bank when we were there everyone knows somebody that is either displaced or dead. that's how close to home this is heading.

so many millions of people are touched by this tragedy. the israeli military says they will continue to fight until they eliminate hamas and the risk to israel. that is going to be a very long road ahead because hamas is still fighting and able to root launch rockets with weapon sent in from their supporters. how most itself has greegained credibility as other terrorist organizations have watched them wage this war against israel. they have decided that they are credible and they actually want to help them at the expense of the tens of thousands of lives and industries in gaza not to mention the industry which is so dire right now according to the world health organization. >> everyone that we is hungry. there is a risk of famine here in gaza and even here in the hospital everybody says that they only have rice.

they very often only have one meal per day as they are hungry was a challenge with food that we brought because people are so desperate for food quickly touched on the desperation we saw it unfold in real time yesterday at the rough of crossing. as you know from egypt into gaza where people basically ambush the trucks there were gunshots that were fired at it with absolute pandemonium because people wanted to get their hands on anything to help this situation that they are in right now. >> the word operation with a humanitarian crisis and you still have stitches who are there and have been held for these weeks. it is an absolute and utter mess thank you so much for your reporting and for your team for coming out today. >> joining us now is democratic congressman from california brad sherman who is a senior of the member affairs committee.

>> will was just laying out what deadly we get that is been. he was laying out the casualty from the hamas run and the health ministry in gaza. but also we know that it was a very deadly weekend for the idf as well. 15 soldiers were killed over the weekend training at 254 members of the idf killed since october 7 where do you see the trajectory here? you've been in foreign affairs that used evincing for nearly 40 years. >> the trajectory i see is more of the same forseveral months . what i would like to see is in need of immediate end to the fighting with hamas agreeing to and so that it would be less of a threat to israel. if hamas can't agree to do that and israel needs to continue its operation.

they describe it as the leaders discussed the military campaign in gaza. to include the objectives and phasing. the president emphasized the need to protect the civilian population. i was reading knowing you are coming on and wondering what you think of president biden's message from where it was when october 7 occurred at a military operation began and where it is today. >> i think he's showing his experience and knowledge. if you take the poles you will find significant chunks of the population disagreeing with what he's doing. half of those think that they should be more pro-israel and less critical and the other half would disagree think he should be less supportive of israel. he's reflecting the american people who want to support

israel and want to see israel adhere to the rules of the law. i think he's getting it right but it's a terrible situation. what would have been right as if israel had had sufficient forces near gaza to prevent this from happening. there is no good solution and i think he's doing well. >> if the civilian death toll in gaza does increase the level of famine among civilians ther . when you see that and you say this continues for months are you afraid or concerned about what lloyd austin has at a warning of a tactical victory with a strategic defeat? >> there is no way for this to look good. i've had other elected officials say israel should lead to the way but i'm a student of history and i've never seen war waged anyway.

we've seen 60,000 people die. we've seen 500,000 people die. we haven't seen this kind of coverage or demonstrations or reactions. we are concerned about the 20,000 goddesses that have died. >> did you attend harvard and also teach at harvard law? >> i taught but i know professor of law. x you are connected to harvard i can say that. what do you think of what is happened on college campuses in the united states with regards to this? we are seeing real evidence of anti-semitism and islamic phobia ignite on college campuses. obviously harvard has been in the spotlight because of the president's approach with the incidents on campus and the

testimony. what do you think #. >> i think students are not getting the whole view of the world. >> it's not just harvard it's in college campuses across the country. >> it's peculiar to see professors around the country and the world think that this is the only conflict worthy of telling their students about. i know the folks demonstrating in my office with a single one of them mentioned with 500,000 people die. it's as if these professors are focused on one thing. i think simply israel as an ally of the united states and some of these professors are anti-israel. it's part of the anti-american ideology. whereas in ethiopia it's one group of ethiopians against another and the students didn't talk about it but 500,000

people died. >> it tells me that when there are jews there are news. it's particular that this woman conflict has funding of operation with us campuses. it's more complicated that i understand. x it is complicated and it's also sad when you hear from students how they don't feel safe because of anti-semitism. they don't feel safe because of islamic phobia and they are not even being given a platform to have productive conversations. >> i think the islamic phobia is known campuses. i think anti-semitism is on campus but we have seen victims in various instances. >> congressman, thank you so much for coming in and spending time with us. >> still to come with officials and towns already overwhelmed by the record

migrant services at the southern border we've learned that thousands are headed to the us-mexico border. we'll talk about it coming up.

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

so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

>> they will be here maybe in a couple weeks depending on how fast they travel. most of them will be traveling by land and if you consider that situation the fact that people have been coming here by the thousands the last few weeks you can imagine how bad the situation is from the local officials. this whole area behind me had managed to empty it. you can see now they are filling it up again those are immigrants that have been given a blanket because it's a cold and windy day here .

they are surrendering themselves to authorities to be processed. the interim director for custom support earlier said that the influx of migrants they are currently seeing as presenting a serious challenge to cdd personnel. this new church is under a lot of pressure with local law enforcement. this is what the county sheriff tom had to say about that. >> on the law-enforcement side we are suffering because we don't have enough people to take care of what we call the local business and immigration problem. it's costing us a lot of manpower and of course the federal government and the state proved that they are not here on the river like they are

supposed to be. they are processing. >> just to give you an idea of how many people are here during the month of november nearly one fourth of a million people are apprehended at the us border with mexico. >> rafael thank you so much. >> some parts of the us are getting a white out christmas this year with rain washing out the holiday for others . >> that's the reality of walter across the upper midwest and into the upper planes.

it's a bit dated this morning here these are roads you don't want to be top traveling on right now. very picky with a mixture of rain and snow for lack of a better word. it's kind of a miserable day to travel. officials they don't do it if you don't have two is a lot of us are heading home and family to celebrate christmas. interstate 80 is a trouble spot . some of the east coast cities with the backside and when coming straight out of the north to draw inthe cold air . it keeps the snow and play and see some of the snow shift further towards the denver metropolitan. there is the rain as we try to head back home from grandma and grandpa's house from the east coast.

it's not too bad of a weather forecast.i tried my best. >> you did well thank you so much. >> coming up for us to the united states pull off a christmas miracle? and avoid a recession? a look at where the economy wa , is and is headed in 24. >> could the pandemic finally be

ending? it showed 4.9% with the strongest in nearly 2 years in a november and inflation. prices fell on month-to-month basis. thank you so much for being here catherine. thank you for being here and wearing red happy christmas. speaking of christmas. what do you think about where we are right now with the economy ? americans are starting to see some relief finally and the prices and the paychecks

>> yes, these are relatively good economic numbers. we have managed to escape so far, knock on wood the expected risk of recession. inflation is coming down. we have very strong job growth's still and these are good numbers to have. >> here are some numbers that are making the biting administration unhappy that are not good numbers and what we are seeing is that people are not giving credit to the bite in a ministration for the economy getting better. they actually still believe donald trump handled the economy better. why are we seeing these numbers and how might this play out in the election cycle that we are in? >> i will give my standard caveat or disclaimer which is that presidents always get too much credit when the economies is good and too much blame when the economy is bad. in this particular case people are still very unhappy with the economy even if use see in the

consumer confidence data. that's because we've seen a lot of price growth today which is cooling right now but even so the fact that they are unhappy with the price growth that we have seen today they are blaming biden for it. they have control over price growth and it's extremely overstated both by biden himself and his critics to the extent that we've seen some good news. it's mostly a credit to the federal reserve which has managed so far to escape the chance of recession which had pretty high odds not too long ago while bringing inflation down. either way biden is going to get blamed or credited for whatever the economic conditions are as long as consumers are grumpy he will

get that blame. >> it could be pretty rough. i like the way you said it don't take the blame don't take the praise you're probably in a better spot. i do would ask about potential source subjects like sticky things that could cause a problem for us when we go forward including the world economy because that is in doing as well. >> it's quite interesting. in the united states not only have we had better job growth and economic growth expected we are actually doing better than forecasts that had as even before the pandemic began.if you look at for example where the congressional budget office expect that the level of jobs to be today if usm in 2020 we actually have about 2 million more jobs that had been forecast. same thing with gross domestic product with overall. we are doing better today that had been forecasted before the pandemic began.most of the rest of the world is still dealing with the scarring effects of the pandemic as well as some subsequent shocks like

russia's invasion of ukraine which disrupted energy supplies primarily for europe. we have been in the united states somewhat shielded from that. the rest of the world is not doing as well as the uss and there could still be effects if we have some shocks next year. >> told from the best. thank you so much and thank you for coming on for christmas. >> coming up for us, a groundbreaking novel turned hollywood classic non-reimagined. the color purple is back on the big screen today. i look at the power behind the story still resonating for decades later.

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nearly 40 years after the color purple first came to the big screen, it is back in theaters today. this time as a musical. it began with alice walker's pulitzer prize-winning novel that get the new treatment. this highly anticipated film version by warner bros. discovery, which is the parent company of cnn, stephanie elam has more.

>> reporter: the color purple is back. but with a refresh. >> it is not a remake. it invites the older generation but invites the younger generation.>> suffering is the great equalizer. >> reporter: based on the novel of the same name, the color purple tells the story of a poor black woman in the early 1900s who finds self-worth healing and happiness by devastating odds with the help of the women around her. steven spielberg directed the first iteration of it for warner bros., which shares the same parent company as seen in. it has a star-studded cast including oprah winfrey, danny glover, and whoopi goldberg. in the early 2000's the color

purple hit the great white way and was revived in 2015. this film adaptation, taking a cue from broadway, is a musical. it emphasizes the message of hope more than the original film. >> i would have to say there's of buoyancy and joyfulness to this re-imagination that was not present in the first and that the music comes out of the spirit of the story. >> reporter: the new version features dynamic performances by fantasia barrino. >> she carries everybody. and at the time when i was doing broadway, i was carrying everybody. my life was so much like hers. i'm glad i did it because i'm not that girl anymore. when she was strong she held everyone together but look at

her now. >> reporter: the new film is produced by steven spielberg, quincy jones, and scott sanders. >> it has used music to uplift for centuries. >> reporter: it was his idea to turn the book into a musical. and now a musical for the big screen.>> we very intentionally looked at the story through the prism of black joy, of hope, of perseverance, and to sisterhood. alice walker wrote us blacks shakespeare and we know it gets interpreted all the time. >> reporter: refreshed and still resonating worldwide. >> it opens today. wait, before we go.

come on. let people see you. let people see who is behind the camera. do not be shy. >> thanks to everyone in atlanta and merry christmas, everybody. >> t the police e will n not co cnn nenewsroom is nextxt.