>> so great questions, fredricka. in terms of the terrorism, the prosecutor has gone ahead to say to your point that it has affected all of us, and every child in school that day, and when you are looking at the judge's determination, three things to consider. when you are looking at the sentencing, you are looking at punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. so the judge has to fashion, what is the appropriate punishment in this particular case. when you are looking at the deterrence not only the deter the individual, but others who might even consider or think about the acceptability of doing this, and what message do i want to send, and on the issue of rehabilitation, the judge wanted to consider the issue of the prehearing, and there was a prehearing, because he was 15 at the time he engaged in this horrific act, and the supreme court mandated life sentences for minors and where the judge had to determine that you are ir reco recon reconcilabley corrupt. >> and his parents have been in jail for a year facing char

>> well, this is problematic, and to set the stage, fredricka, huge.since 50 years since the roe v. wade decision that you have an individual to go to court to have an assessment due to the medical condition. and justice delayed could be justice denied, because she is 20 weeks now, and now the court has to make a determination, and they can do a number of things. the first thing they can do is to punt. this is a legislative issue, and there is a medical exemption under the law, but legislature needs to clarify what is medically permissible, and that is not up to us to do says legislature, but the state does meet the standard of emergent medical conditions, and if there an objective view of the doctor that your life is in danger, and it should be permitted to go forward, and the case is if it only applies to her, fredricka, or broadly apply, and the doctors are scared to death of this and moving forward because of the penalties involved. >> her doctor said that she and the fetus are in trouble. that is why this emergency abortion was necessary. so at th

fredricka. >> jason carroll, thank you so much. john? >>> new reporting just into cnn, 15 members of the national guard have been disciplined with one of the largest leaks of military documents in history. we have details. (♪♪) (♪♪) (♪♪) get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. >>> just this into cnn. the air force is disciplining 15 people linked to the release of classified documents and the investigation into the massive leak. national guardsman max teixeira was accused of leaking documents online and now more people are punished. natasha bertrand is with more. and what are you learning that the air force found in this investigation, and who is going to be facing punishment now? >> interesting, the air force inspector general is carrying out a probe of how this happened, and found that several people within teixeira's unit failed to report some of the suspicious things that he was doing, including the intelligence behavior which involved him trying to access information that he did no

i'm fredricka whitfield. and hatching right now, switch reaction to the latest anti-immigration rhetoric from former president donald trump. the white house labeling the comments as fascist after the former president said this at a rally in new hampshire saturday. >> they're poisoning the blood of our country. that's what they've done. they've poisoned. mental institutions and prisons all over the world. not just in south america. not just three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world, they're coming into our country from africa, from asia, all over the world. they're pouring into our country. >> the biden campaign coming out and saying trump's comments parroted adolf hitler. priscilla alvarez is in washington and elena trine is in nevada where trump is holding a rally about an hour from now. this is strong rebuke from the white house. what else are we hearing from president biden? >> the resounding message is this rhetoric is dangerous. in a statement to cnn, a white house spokesperson

>> good to be with you too, fredricka. i think, you know, it's good that general brown and secretary austin are headed over to the region. this is a time when we can't have too close contact with our israeli counterparts, particularly in the military field, and i think, you know, this will be an opportunity for the chairman and the secretary to get a download from the israelis of what they've gone through, what they might need going forward and review battlefield techniques, whatever assistance we can provide. i do hope they'll also take up this urgent issue of commercial shipping and also navy shipping or navy vessels rather in the red sea. what happened overnight with the attack on the destroyer is an escalationen on the part of the houthi. this hasn't happened before. i think that's a security issue the u.s. military really needs to confront. >> in sullivan's visit, he, you know, implored that he representing the u.s. is not telling israel what to do but instead offering some suggestions. is that helpful? is that the mo

i'm fredricka whitfield. "cnn newsroom" continues with jim acosta right now. >>> you are live in the "cnn newsroom." i'm jim acosta in washington. good evening. we begin this hour with donald trump doubling down on his vow to be an american dictator. he claims only for one day. >> today in "the new york times," they said that i want to be a dictator. i didn't say that. i said i want to be a dictator for one day. but "the new york times" said -- and you know why i wanted to be a dictator? because i want a wall, right? i want a wall, and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> those comments came during an 80-minute airing of grievances last night at a gathering of new york young republicans filled with trump loyalists. the former president, who is waging what he calls a righteous crusade, touted the criminal indictments agains

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york today. so with just weeks before voters head to the polls at key 2024 election contests, president biden is hitting the campaign trail amid new legal distractions hovering over his son. on friday the president kicked off a campaign swing out west just hours after his son hunter's latest indictment. hunter biden is now facing new federal tax evasion charges. prosecutors accuse him of a four-year tax evasion scheme, and spending millions of dollars on things like drugs, escorts and exotic cars. if convicted on all nine criminal counts, he could face up to 17 years in prison. cnn's senior white house reporter kevin liptak is in los angeles where the president is fundraising. kevin, has the president said anything about these indictments? >> reporter: no, he hasn't, fredricka. he'seea few times but the president is fairly tight lipped on this. what the white house says is that the president loves his son, he supports him, but they're otherwise not eager to weigh in on this. it is one of the most

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin in texas where a woman's fight to end her high-risk pregnancy is garnering national attention. late last night the state's supreme court ruled to temporarily block kate cox's attempt to obtain an emergency abortion. cox says her unborn baby has a fatal genetic condition that results in the baby not living more than a few days outside the womb. that's according to the lawsuit she has filed against texas. cnn's camila bernal is following this story. how big of a setback is this for her? >> reporter: it's very significant, fred, and that's because kate cox is 20 weeks pregnant at the moment. she's just 31 years old. as you mentioned, her fetus has a fatal genetic condition, and she says the complications of this pregnancy have essentially put her life in danger, and she says not only is her health at risk here, but she also says that her future fertility is also at risk if she doesn't get an abortion. so that is why she sued the state of texas asking for her to be allowed to get

i'm fredricka whitfield in new york today. all eyes will be on a new york city courtroom tomorrow, as former president donald trump is expected to retake the witness stand in the high-stakes trial that threatens his business empire. new york attorney general letitia james is suing trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. he's accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties. trump's attorney told reporters that she tried to dissuade the former president from testifying again while he is under a gag order, but she claims trump insists on testifying. cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, set the stage for what we might expect tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, fred. trump's own lawyer suggesting we could hear more of the same from the former president who has gone out of his way to attack the judge, the attorney general, and the case itself in new york surrounding his business and his business dealings. last time he took the stand, we also heard trump defend his properties and hi

i'm fredricka whitfield. deadly storm system that shredded northern tennessee is bearing down on millions of americans on the east coast. it spawned a tornado saturday afternoon that killed six people including three in the clarksville area. one of them a child. witnesses appear to be just yards away when they recorded the monster twister crossing a street. >> oh, my god. >> how did they remain so calm? nearly 50 miles away, emergency officials say a suspected tornado killed another three people in madison, just north of nashville. reportered a 2-year-old child is among the dead. the governor of tennessee declared a state of emergency as rescuers search for survivors today. >> we hope the death toll doesn't rise. as of right now, we don't have anything and we hope we don't. but we are still in the recovery stage right now and making assessments. >> cnn meteorologist alisa rafah is tracking the system from the severe weather center. but, first, let's go to madison, tennessee where rafael romo is. what is happe

i'm amara walker in for fredricka whitfield. as i just said, is new year's eve, and in abu dhabi and dubai, they're just less than a minute away from midnight. we want to take you there for the big moment. let's go to dubai, as you know, the tallest building in the world. ♪ ♪ >>> this is just incredible to see. such an elab rit display and celebration there in dubai. that is wow, just impressive to watch that, as they ring in the new year, 2024, in the uae. this is dubai, just i'm speechless. so cool. all right, and we're going to stick with the celebrations around the world. let's go to scott mclean in georgia, where just moments ago, you all rang in the new year as w well. what's with your glasses? is that santa on your head? >> a lot of explaining to do here. but basically, let me set the scene and then i'll explain the glasses. we're watching some georgian performances happening here on the stage. this is first republic square, the times square of tubleesy. you can see the crowd has been lined up here for hours and in the sk

i'm omar jimenez in for fredricka whitfield. we've got a lot to get to, including as the political season ramps up, the biden white house is continuing with focus on the president's opponents on the crisis at the southern border. former president donald trump's harsh rhetoric and the new contentious law and migrant arrests have reignited the interest of immigrants in the potential election, and elevating the fight over immigration policy to new heights. and now house speaker mike johnson is calling for biden to take executive action to secure the border. so joining me to discuss is kevin liptak at the white house. thanks for being back with us. what is the administration doing to help the situation at the southern border? >> reporter: they are urgently looking for solutions here. and the phrase that you hear from officials is breaking point, as they're describing what's happening on the southern border, and the numbers really do reflect that. in recent days more than 10,000 migrants unlawfully crossed the border, and that does r

i'm in for fredricka whitfield.e begin this hour with the growing legal battles over former president trump's right to appear on the 2024 ballot. any moment now the oregon supreme court could decide whether or not trump will remain on that state's 2024 ballot. a liberal advocacy group filed a 14th amendment lawsuit earlier this month arguing trump is ineligible to run for office because of his role in the january 6th insurrection. late last night trump's attorneys filed a brief with the court urging the oregon justices to keep him on the ballot. also this week, maine joined colorado in banning trump from its primary ballot. but both rulings are currently on hold, they are caught up in court battles and sources say trump is expected to appeal them on tuesday. i'm joined by a former federal prosecutor. great to see you. so first off, as we await this oregon decision, first you had colorado, then you had maine basically banning trump from the 2024 ballots in those respective states. we're waiting on oregon, as we said.

that's what fredricka wilson's life mission has been all about. that's what the commission on the social status of black men and boys is all about. intervention efforts that provide preventative programs and alternatives to juvenile person ration are critical to stopping the school to prison pipeline that are young people fought to confront. we must provide our young people with the opportunities necessary, academically as well as athletically, musically, and in every field of human endeavor to give them the opportunity to succeed. we democrats will continue to put people over politics and do what's necessary to lift up all of our children and young men. through the commission. thank you for your work and we look forward to our continued partnership. because of that partnership, i'm confident that the best is yet to come. [applause] >> hello. i'm chairman of the congressional black caucus. i want to thank congresswoman wilson and the commission on the social status of black men and boys for tremendous leadership. today, it's intolerable and unacce

that's what fredricka wilson's life missi has been all about. that's what the commission on the social status of black men and boys is all about. intervention efforts that provide preventative proams and alternatives to juvenile person ration are critical to stopping the school to pson pipeline that are young people fought to confront. we must provide our young people with the opportunities necessary, academically as well as athletically, musically, and in every field of human endeavor to give them the opportunity to succeed. we democrats will continue to put people over politics and do what's necessary to lift up all of our children and young men. through the commission. thank you for your worknd we look forward to our continued partnership. because of that partnership, i'm confident that the best is yet to come. [applause] hello. i'm chairman of the congressional black caucus. i want to thank congresswoman wilson and the commission on the social status of black men and boys for tremendous leadership today, it's intolerable and unacceptable tha

i'm jessica dean in for fredricka whitfield. we're going to start in the middle east where fighting is intensifying after the expiration of a week-long truce between israel and hamas. israel israeli defense forces saying it's carried out more than 400 strikes in gaza over the 24 hours since the truce expired yesterday, and those strikes include targets in southern gaza. they're coming as negotiations over the remaining 136 hostages in gaza have hit a, quote, dead-end, according to israeli officials. israel recalling its team of negotiators from qatar, hamas calling it a predetermined decision by the el

. >> cnn's fredricka stardom is here with me now. she wrote about this story today. so interesting because, this is not a popular position particularly among the voters she needs, republican primary voters are leaning republicans, yet it is very popular among money people. >> it is. what is striking to me about them talking to donors in recent weeks, how many people raised this issue. she has been attracting sort of wall street types, the coconut rookie for a big endorsement, and they specifically cited her courage to tackle entitlements reform. as you know, it is really risky. we have something like nearly 60% of republican and republican-leaning voters saying it is essential to them that a republican nominee leave these programs, social security and medicare as they are. so we will see how this plays out here. >> and, alluding to this, if she continues to rise, there is no question donald trump will go after her on this issue, it is so potent with voters. >> it is so potent with voters, particularly older voters who participate in republican primaries. and, you kno

i'm jessica dean in for fredricka. the israeli military says it is expanding ground operations across the whole gaza strip. this, as the israel defense forces ordered people today living in southern gaza to evacuate to areas even farther south. the idf now says it's destroyed at least 500 hamas tunnel shafts since entering the enclave. fighting also heating up on israel's border today with lebanon. iran-backed hezbollah says it targeted several sites in northern israel. the idf says several soldiers were injured by an anti-tank missile. prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying israel's forces will not stop in gaza until hamas is eradicated. hamas saying, though, there will be no negotiations for the remaining hostages still being held in gaza, including women and children, until israel agrees to a cease-fire. cnn has teams around the region monitoring all these latest developments for you. we want to start with cnn's matthew chance in tel aviv. what more are you learning about the israeli military's movement there in g

i'm fredricka whitfield. we begin in texas where a woman's fight to end her high-risk pregnancy is

i'm jessica dean in for fredricka whitfield. dramatic scene in the middle east today. defense official saying an american warship shot down two drones in the red sea and also responded after a ballistic missile attack on a commercial vessel. zach cohen and ivan watson are following the latest on this situation. let's start first with zach and talk about what more we know about this attack. >> reporter: u.s. official saying both of the drones belonged to iranian backed houthi rebels in yemen. first was shot down as it flew towards an american warship. at that very moment, u.s. officials saying that the warship's crew saw a ballistic missile launched and land in the vicinity of a commercial ship that was sailing nearby. as the american warship responded to the distress call of that commercial ship, u.s. officials say another drone flew toward both ships and subsequently shot down by an american destroyer. this is just the latest in a series of incidents like this in the red sea and across the middle east since the october 7 attack in israel by the terror group hamas. and

thank you so much for joining me, i'm fredricka whitfield.oday israel announced another hostage has been killed in gaza as pressure mounts to bring more hostages home from the battlefield. the israeli prime minister's office says 27-year-old inbar hyman died while being held captured by hamas. she was abducted during the festival on october 7th. news of her death comes as israel defense forces say they accidentally killed three hostages. officials say the three men were waving a white flag when a brigade opened fire on them. the hostages had either managed tosc

i'm john berman in with fredricka whitfield. this is cnn "news central." all right.se are live pictures of the white house where shortly, it could be the first chance to hear from president biden since his son was charged with new counts of federal tax evasion, and charges that come with a litany of new salacious details. the president is leaving to campaign in nevada, and we will see if he stops to comment on the way to the helicopter. according to federal prosecutors, hunter biden engaged in a scheme to not pay $1.4 million in taxes that he owed from 2016 to 2019, and instead, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for drugs, escorts and exotic cars. jessica schneider is following this for us. what is the latest here? >> yes, john. this is the second indictment against the president's son this year. and it is these charges out of california that are much more peril. he could face up to 17 years in prison if he is found guilty of these. it is including failure to file and pay taxes, and filing or a claiming a fraudulent tax return, and also engaging in a four-yea

i'm in for fredricka whitfield. we begin this hour witth

republicans accuse democrats of trying to weaponize the voting rights act and fredricka has new reporting opt this. and if i were to build a show of most important stories, we would have done you at the top of the show. this is the thing that flies under the radar, but it's so essential to our democracy. >> it absolutely is. we're seeing enormous fights gone on over every single line and boundary in this country. the stakes are so high. who controls congress next year could be determined by this. >> and talk about some of these maps that we have to look at. alabama, the alabama redistricting case has been pivotal in leading the way for other court cases. this has been fascinating to watch. >> it has been. the supreme court in recent years has been chip ping away a the voting rights act of 1965. so it was a big surprise back in june when they upheld a lower court that said to alabama republicans who controlled the state legislature, look, you have about 27% of your population is african-american, but only one of your congressional districts is majority black. you need to draw another line.

i'm omar jimenez in for fredricka whitfield. some officials are warning the southern border is near the breaking point. cnn is learning that federal authorities are reporting a seven-day average of more than 9,600 migrant encounters this month, which is among the highest ever recorded. joining me is rafael romo on the southern border in eagle pass, texas. what are you seeing there today? >> reporter: omar, the arrival of immigrants here at the eagle pass border is constant, over the last few hours we have seen how group after group of migrants get here, and that doesn't stop at night, either, after the immigrants surrender to u.s. border patrol agents at the border, they are brought here to this holding area behind me, where they have to wait to be processed. just yesterday customs and border protection released the numbers of what they call encounters with immigrants with border patrol agents. for the month of november, there were 191,113 apprehensions along the border, and that number rises to more than 242,000, nearly a quart

i'm jessica dean in for fredricka whitfield. we're going to start in the middle east where fighting is intensifying after the expiration of a week-long truce between israel and hamas. israel israeli defense forces saying it's carried out more than 400 strikes in gaza over the 24 hours since the truce expired yesterday, and those strikes include targets in southern gaza. they're coming as negotiations over the remaining 136 hostages in gaza have hit a, quote, dead-end, according to israeli officials. israel recalling its team of negotiators from qatar, hamas calling it a predetermined decision by the israelis, but the israelis are accusing the terror group of not fulfilling its promise to return all the women and children being held hostage. cnn's oren lieberman and matthew chance are tracking the latest from tel aviv. we'll start with oren. walk us through how these negotiations break down and what happens now. >> reporter: so the negotiations to this point focused on a very specific group of people, women and children. that was

i'm amara walker in for fredricka whitfield. we begin with escalating attacks in russia and ukraine. russian defense officials vowing to retaliate against a ukrainian attack, the shelling on belgorad killed at least a dozen people and injured 100 according to officials. the united nations security council is planning to meet in the next hour over this incident. the attack appears to be in retaliation to a massive russian air assault on ukraine that killed at least 40 people on friday. it was russia's biggest air attack since its full-scale invasion of ukraine began almost two years ago. cnn's nic robertson is joining us now. nic, what more are w about this attack inside russia? >> well, the russians are claiming it's the biggest they've ever had, the highest death toll. i think it's 18 dead now and 111 injured, this is what the russians are claiming. they're saying the ukrainians used a multi-barrelled rocket launcher they intercepted some of the rockets, and they're blaming the czech republic for supplying some of the ammunitio

i'm amara walker in for fredricka whitfield. cnn newsroom continues with paula reed . >>> happy new year's eve to all our viewers and thank you for joining us on this final night of 2023. i'm paula reed in washington. and we're counting down to the start of the new year here in the united states, with just hours to go until the ball drops in new york city's times square. many parts of eastern europe and asia have already kicked off the new year with dazzling fireworks displays. let's take a look at some of those celebrations and let's start with abu dhabi, ringing in the new year just an hour ago. >>> absolutely incredible. 5,000 drones were used to spell out that festival sign in the air. abu dhabi setting the bar quite high for 2024. now let's take a look at sydney, australia. >>> i mean, that is absolutely incredible, that show over the sydney harbor bridge. now, for something a little different, hlet's head to tokyo where they're starting the new year with a beautiful lantern release. >>> in japan, lanterns are a symbol of g

i'm john berman with fredricka whitfield, sara and kate are off today.his is "cnn news central." >>> and the breaking news, an early holiday gift on the economy. in fact, in a way, it's the gift that keeps on giving. the jobs report just in a few minutes ago, beating expectations, 199,000 new jobs added and the unemployment rate dropped, it is low. cnn's rahel solomon is with us now. rahel, like i said, this is the gift that keeps on giving, the story of 2023 is an economy that just stayed strong. >> yeah, john, it's the story of 2023, it's the story of 2022 because, as you pointed out, this is the 35th month of job growth. so this is the gift that's been giving for almost three years now. so let's go through the numbers. 199,000 jobs, as you pointed out, in the month of november. to put that in perspective, the expectation had been closer to 180,000. when you look at the prior two months, so october, that actually remained at 150,000, that was not changed. september, however, was revised lower by about 35,000. if you look at the chart on your screen, yo

i'm amara walker in for fredricka whitfield.d in abu dhabi and dubai, they're just less than a minute away from midnight. we want to take you there for the big moment. let's go to dubai, as you know, the tallest building in the world.

but it's the one place where we can capture fredricka. and dr.uey newton together for their story. the oakland rapper turned fashion designer and now community pillar is a bay area legend. i could touch myself, touch my game so sharp i might cut myself. >> i know you hating on the boy bird. >> i'm on my own because i love thyself. never have again got to bring the moment. yeah cute jobina. so many moments. >> oh, thank you. i know who worked. >> hello. >> thank you, eric. i know who did that. yes so first off, thank you to. i have not responded yet. i will probably respond over the weekend when i can digest these lovely messages is coming from those of you that wake up very early and caught my message at 517 this morning. so thank you for all of the notes. i am moving along with my husband to atlanta, georgia, which i know many of you all know is my hometown, and that is where my family is, my parents and sister and lots of other loved ones. and i appreciated all of you all for the most part acknowledging how important family is. it is very impor