power outage crippled hartsfield jackson airport in atlanta for 11 hours. but thousands of travelers are still stranded. their flights were canceled, and passenger planes are not yet flying in or out of the airport. >> official says the power went down because of an underground electrical fire. the fire was not deliberate. still, the blackout prevented flights from coming or going. passengers were even stuck on the tarmac for hours. at one point 92 planes were just sitting there when people were finally allowed off the planes, they had to navigate through this, crowded dimly lit terminals. what is really surprising here is this is the busiest airport in the world. why didn't the backup power system work? atlanta's mayor addressed that very question. >> i certainly understand the frustration throughout the day. they said that the busiest passenger airport in the world should certainly have a redundant system. the straight answer to that question is that we absolutely

do. but because of the intensity of the fire, the switch which with accesses the redundant system was damaged, which caused a damage to two systems rather than one. >> george howell is our eyes and ears on the ground at the airport. and it's 3:00 a.m. here on the u.s. east coast. so it's the middle of the night. george is soldiering on. there is something i want to share with you. when i was there with you earlier this afternoon, and my family was supposed to fly out, and by the way they didn't, and won't be able to flay out another 48 hours at least. i have no patience for this. but the attitude of the people in the room, and it was packed, everybody was really patient, really civil, and really felt okay about it. what's the attitude now at 3:00 in the morning? >> well, you do find a mixed bag, cyril. you find the people who are patient, who are taking this in stride. certainly this is an unexpected event, though. you found people who are livid

about this. people who had travel plans, important meetings, important functions or events that they had to get to. maybe they had to get to work. now they won't be able to get to work. certainly what we're seeing here at this airport is a multi-day event. we understand the power has been restored. we see the lights on. but really the questions remain, when will this airport be fully functional. >> and george, so many questions about the cause of the fire, the response, and why the backup system failed to work. we don't have answers to that right now. but the mayor is going to be put under a lot of pressure to come up with some answers in the next few hours. what are people saying about that? and when will some of these people get moved out? >> well, that will be, rosemary, a very important question that we pose to this outgoing mayor,

kasim reed and certainly a very big responsibility for the incoming mayor to have a better plan in face given that the fire affected the redundant systems that should have prevented an event like this from happening. as far as when people will be moved along, went inside and spoke with people earlier. one person told me a suggestion. not a firm hard quote, but a suggestion that she got from a ticket from the counter representative, she could leave tomorrow, or maybe even late, late tonight. but that certainly just adds insult to injury when you consider many of these people trapped on planes for some time until they could debord, and then waiting, sleeping on the ground, doing their best. to cope with the uncertainty, i went into the airport just a short time ago to give you a sense of what's happening right now there is so many layers to this. people checking into their flights. security. how do people get through security. and then the simple question, when can people leave.

here is how people are dealing with it. >> the lights are back on. but when this airport officially gets back up to full operation, that's still unclear. the one thing we do know, people are trying to get in position. take a look over here in the security lines, people are already queuing up. but again, it's unclear exactly when security will actually open. so in the meantime, people just wait. >> i'm like -- it's like i had enough of this. i just need to go home. so all the flights are mislaid and i cannot find a flight to phoenix. i search through options through every other airport, but i can not find a flight. all flights are booked. otherwise it's $1500 for a flight. so let's see what happens. if i get a flight, it will be around 5:00 in the evening. so i have to wait another 15 hours for that. >> i was told that there isn't a flight for me until tuesday. but i'm going try to get on one tomorrow.

so hopefully it works out. i mean, i'll miss meetings, and there is a lot of things. but life is life. so you got to make it work. >> they're not giving any information out yet. they keep us -- they keep telling us to wait until maybe 4:00 tonight. and we'll just have to sit back and wait. i have no idea. >> then you certainly feel for people. many of the people, their phones are dead. just now able to recharge them. but quite frankly they've been waiting for so long with so little information. let's bring in our meteorologist pedram javaheri in the international weather center. pedram, you have been following the flight tracks of course. atlanta a very important center when it comes to travel. and why does the day look like? what's it shaping up like? >> it's going to start off on a rough note here because of a couple elements. even weather playing a bit of a

factor even if things get back to smooth sailing. well no we had the most dlieela in the united states. the most cancellations of any airport in the world in atlanta as well. and look at the peak travel periods. back in late november, you have one round of it. for atlanta in particular, between the 17th of december to about the end of the month there, that's one of the highest travel and highest volume is expected. of course, we knew already traffic was going to be an issue for air travel. this is what it typically looks like out of atlanta. but at this point, very little to no planes across this region. so the perspective has changed dramatically. 2500 flights impacted. 275,000 people. 2,500 flights on a daily basis across hartsfield jackson. and of course we know the cancellations and the delays roughly about 60% of those flights were impacted after the 1:30 power outage across the region. but there is a cost associated

with this as well. with know for the aviation industry, that's about a $6,000 cost per plane when a flight is canceled. and for passengers cumulatively, about $60,000 loss, about $300 a person when you consider lodging, food, missing work. this analyzes travel aviation data as well. i want to show you something here. we do have a dense fog advisory now for 30 million people across the southern united states. visibility down to as low as a quarter of a mile across system of these regions. so even if we get some flights back up in the sky, i think it might be a slow go because of the low clouds beginning to set up. i saw that in the background where you're standing, the fog is beginning to settle in. this in fact kind of shows you what we're talking about. every area indicated in red at hartsfield jackson in atlanta, that's the misery index called by the flight aviation tracking website. they put it as the worst one in the united states. notice as you travel towards chicago o'hare, dallas/ft.

worth, towards dulles and new york, about 10 to 20% of every major airport's flights has been impacted because of the ripple affect of what is happening in atlanta. so, again, even if all of this gets back to smooth sailing, george, i think the fog will play a little bit of a role in get things back up in the air in the morning hours. >> pedram javaheri, thank you so much. and to give our viewers the scope and scale of why this atlanta airport is so important, take a look at the statistics from the city of atlanta. it gives you a picture of this airport averages some 275,000 passengers per day. 2500 flights per day in and out of this airport. it is the busiest airport in the world since 1998, serving 75 international destinations and 150 u.s. destinations. so atlanta is a very important center when it comes to the transportation puzzle. let's now bring in our guest, captain desmond ross. captain ross, the principle at

dra professional aviation services joining us via skype from abu dhabi. thank you very much for your time today. to talk about what's happen hearing in atlanta. and look, i want to ask you this from the perspective of a pilot. we heard a flight take off about two hours ago. not sure whether it was a commercial flight or a cargo flight. but certainly a flight that took off. that's good news. but from a pilot's perspective, how difficult it is for crews to get back into business, get back in the air after a delay like this? >> good morning to you. the difficulty of course is in the airport infrastructure. the aircraft themselves are not affected. but unless you get the scheduling and the computers and everything else that relies on the electricity, the runway lights, the air traffic control systems, nothing is going to happen. and the big issue now is not only what's happening there in atlanta, and we sympathize obviously with all the passengers that are stranded and

stuck and getting fed up with the whole thing. but there is a lot of other issues downstream. all the other airports where flights should be arriving and departing, connecting to atlanta, are going to be disrupted as well. so we're talking possibly millions of people disrupted over the next few days. and certainly not going to be fixed in one day. it will take two, three days before things get back to normal. >> and, again you have to put it all into context. this is the holiday season. many people reaching some pretty important destinations, now uhaving to factor this into their travel plans. let's also, if we could, talk about what it means for international travelers. people who may be stuck here who will have to go through security again. they will certainly face long delays. >> yes, they will. you think back to what happened in the uk a couple years ago, it was terminal 3, i think, the new york terminal open and the baggage system ran into

difficulties. that took weeks to sort out. and i would suggest here in atlanta you've also got issues with baggage. baggage is going to be delayed. people are going to be separated from their luggage. the international flights in particular, those that have direct connections to australia and many, many other countries. africa, whatever, there is going to be disruption at all of those ports as well. schedules affected in both directions. and passengers affected. there are going to be passengers stuck at other airports waiting to get out to atlanta. >> i don't know if you got the hear the exchange between myself and my colleague rosemary earlier, but the question was there will be some major questions to be had for the mayor of this city, for the airport officials here, and for georgia power given what happened. but looking at what happened in this instance, what would you surmise? what could officials do differently moving forward to

make sure that situation likes this don't happen again? i mean, hours of delays and thousands of people that don't have information about what's next for them. >> it's a little difficult to understand an airport that size which is the world's busiest airport at this point. it's a little difficult to understand why a backup system didn't cut in almost immediately. i understand there was a fire. i understand all that. but the backup systems if they're properly constructed in infrastructure are well separated from the main fire systems. i can think of a coupe of places where in the old standards before people really thought about it, you would have a backup power line rung alongside the main power line that doesn't work very well. if the main power blows up or is cut with a bomb or any other way, the backup power line is also banged up. i suspect that's what's happened here. i don't know. i don't know how old the infrastructure. in modern infrastructure, your

backup systems would be well separated from the main supplies so that something happens to the main supply it doesn't take out the backup system as well. so that needs to be answered. there. >> are certainly a lot of questions. people want some answers about what's next. right now they don't know. but we appreciate you giving us some insight. and your thoughts about how this is all playing out. thank you for your time. i'd like to also take a moment. orlando, if you could pan over here, i want to give you a live look inside the airport so you can get a sense of exactly what's happening now. you can see there are some people sitting on the wheelchair there's. that's where people, some people have chosen to sleep for the night. look at the ticket counter back there. the ticket counter, there are a few officials, i think one person there speaking to customers there is a queue, a listening line of customers waiting. and that line is sure to grow. but, again, people are waiting. they're getting into the queues. that's the best they can do right now, rosemary, cyril,

because there are no real answers there are no firm answers until we at least see this airport get back to its full capacity. and that has not happened as of yet. >> george, it is a miserable situation for those people. 11 hours without power. now goodness knows how many hours waiting to see whether they get a flight out to wherever they're heading. to. >> and it's three income the morning right there. they're probably not going to get an answer right now. george howell atlanta hartsfield international and domestic terminals here at the airport in atlanta. we know this is going to affect people not just today, but it's going to be an impact for days. we have one of our producers walking into the show say her friends are driving back up to washington or virginia, a 13-hour drive. and this is going to be happening to a lot of people right now. >> we will keep an eye on it, though. russia's president makes a call to the u.s. president. we'll see what vladimir putined that say to donald trump, ahead. stay with us here on cnn.

welcome back, everyone. russia's president is thanking president trump for help in heading off a terrorist attack

in st. petersburg. the two leaders spoke by phone sunday for the second time in three days. elise le bat has the details. >> reporter: vladimir putin called pump to thank hem for a cia tip that helped stop a terrorist attack in russia. they had information to blow up a cathedral in st. petersburg. u.s. officials shared that information with russia, and as a result, russian authorities said they were able to capture the terrorists just prior to the attack and thwart the plot. the white house said president trump stressed the importance of intelligence sharing, especially on terrorism. and both leaders cited this as an example of the benefits of more cooperation between the u.s. and russia. now it's worth noting president trump called mike pompeo, the director of the cia, to congratulate him and his team for a job well done here, even if the president continues to

cast doubt on u.s. intelligence assessments, saying russia interfered in the u.s. election. now the two leaders also spoke on thursday. they talked about north korea, president trump would like more help from russia in combatting the north korea nuclear threat. but president trump really initiated the call to thank putin for some comments he made at a press conference praises trump's efforts to grow the american economy. president trump has shown in his first year as president that he thrives on public praise. and it seems like president putin got the message. elise labott, cnn, washington. >> we're joined by ben ferguson and democratic political strategist max silver. ben. two phone calls in four days between donald trump and vladimir putin. does that qualify at least the beginning of a kind of rapprochement president trump wanted with russia? >> look, i don't know. what i do know is any time a

country has information that can lead to the arrests of people that are trying to kill innocent people in another country, it's always good when leaders like this talk. i mean this is -- this is a great thing that we have this type of conversation, and there is multiple conversations about it, and that you have both countries saying that they're willing to communicate on these issues. remember, russia gave us information about the boston marathon bombers before they actually did those atrocities. so what i would say is i don't think this should be looked at all in a political way. i think what this does show is both countries are committed to protecting each other's innocent people if they know about terrorist activities and the other country. that is good porn policy. that's god foreign relations. and those are conversations i'm glad. because it saves people's lives clearly, that you want any president to have with a foreign leader when this type of information comes up no matter what party they are or who they are. whether it's a bomber or loynt

or bush in this type of situation. pivot news to domestic politics. the russia investigation is going on and there has been this cloud the last few days of democratic voices saying voicing concern that mr. trump was perhaps getting ready to fire the special counsel, was looking into him and investigating him. mr. trump addressed that matter and said no, i'm not going to fire mr. mueller. you satisfied about this that there is not going to be any impediment to the investigation? >> donald trump has never said that he is not going to do something and then gone ahead and done it. no, i'm still quite concerned that this investigation gets further that at a certain point president trump is going to have his propaganda arm build the argument to fire mueller and then say he has to good ahead and do it because he has seen all this evidence build up. the reality is this has to be the red line for house republicans. they didn't do anything when trump fired comey. they didn't do anything when he

endorsed roy moore. is there a line that they won't let him cross. >> are you satisfied mr. trump is committed to not firing mueller? >> i'm exhausted about having to talk about this so many months because there has been so many bad information out there from so many people implying the president is going to fire mueller, and he hasn't. >> in fairness, isn't the question a fair one after he fired james comey? >> i think it's a fair question right when mueller went off the reservation and started investigating things that have nothing to do with anything to do with collusion. look at all of the indictments that have come down. none of them have the word "collusion." none of them talk about collusion. even those on capitol hill, democrats, senators have said they found no collusion either. so i do believe that mueller's gone off the reservation. just the fact that he got all the e-mails that many are asking were they taken illegally from

the transition team. >> going to ask about the e-mails. >> it's a problem because it's illegal. that's the reason why it's is a problem. it's illegal. it's not legal to do it the way he did it. that's my biggest thing about it. but i'll go back to what the president said today. >> let the president do your work for you. let's listen to mr. trump when he was asked that question. >> just a second. let's listen to donald trump when we was asked that question. >> mr. president, do you believe your transition team e-mails were improperly taken? >> not looking good. it's not looking good. it's quite sad to see that. my people were very upset about it. i can't imagine there is anything on them, frankly. because as we head, there is no collusion there is no collusion whatsoever. but a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad. >> so, ben, to your point, the president was asked, he could have said it was illegal.

he didn't. in fact -- >> i think he stayed clear from calling that illegal. >> and i think the reason why is he is not worried about anything in the e-mails. it shows another example of how far mueller has gone off the reservation with this investigation using taxpayers' money. not one democrat, including senators who can stand donald trump have said they have seen anything close to kohl collusion. the reason the president has not got rid of mueller is there is nothing here. and at some point you shake your head and say this guy has gone rogue. he is completely out of balance in what he is supposed to be doing. he is going after things that have nothing to do with collusion. but i have no to worry about. you want to keep crossing the line, knock yourself out. but he is not going the fire him. >> mack, real quick on this e-mail question there is something you want the say. >> two things. if this were illegal, the proper channel would be to actually file a complaint. they're litigating via press release because they want to

distract. as far as trump's comments -- >> from what? what are they distracting from? what are they distracting from? >> from the ongoing investigation that is already initiated more indictments than almost any special counsel case by this phase. >> no, none of them are connected to collusion. >> hold on. >> none of these are specifically mention collusion. we are six months into a special counsel investigation. [ overlapping dialog ] >> seven years. yes, in six months. the average special counsel investigation goes for seven years. and we already have other 30 meetings between trump officials and the russians. we have half a dozen trump officials lying about contact with the russians. if nothing happened they are doing a great job of making sure it has. they should say great, mueller, go for it. investigate whatever you want. >> and that's exactly what the president is doing. the president has made it clear he is not firing mueller, which

is what democrats are hoping he going to do because somehow they can use it for political gain in the midterm elections. the president is being smart. he is saying look. keep crossing the line. keep going out of bounds. keep wasting taxpayers' dollars on a witch-hunt where there has still been not one single bit of evidence to show collusion. and the word collusion has not come down in any indictment or even implied an indictment. so keep wasting the taxpayers' money. and democrats keep doing it. >> all right, gentlemen, listen, thank you both for your time. you both said what you had to say. obviously this conversation will continue. thanks a lot. >> thanks. >> thank you. >> and we'll take a very short break right here. but coming up, south africa's ruling party looks to replace. honoring year's cnn's hero who are making extraordinary contributions.

next, how the top winner was inspired by her two children with downs syndrome. stay with cnn. - honey, remember to slaughter the tomatoes with the nun. - ah, ah! (woman screaming) remember to water the tomatoes when you're done. - [narrator] sometimes hearing isn't easy. - lick a carp. looking sharp. - [narrator] but now there's a simple way to enhance it because now there's eargo plus. the virtually invisible hearing aide with amazing sound quality. designed with patented flexi fibers so they're suspended completely inside the ear canal. and so small that they're virtually invisible. just pop them in and tap each ear to find the right setting for you. a single nighttime charge will last you an entire day. - sauerkraut the slum lord. watch out for the skateboard. - ah! - [narrator] don't wait. call or go online now for a free sample pair to sample to experience the incredible comfort

and invisibility of eargo plus for yourself.

or a little internet machine? incredible comfort it makes you wonder: shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet.

you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. see how much you can save. choose by the gig or unlimited. xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile.com. welcome back, everyone. good to have you back was. i'm cyril vanier. >> and i'm rosemary church. let's update you on the main stories. power is now restored at the world's busiest airport, atlanta's hartsfield jackson. but most planes are not moving yet, and thousands of travelers have been stranded for hours. official says an underground electrical fire caused sunday's massive power outage. but they don't believe it was started deliberately. russian president vladimir putin is thanking the u.s. for its help in preventing isis

inspired terrorist attacks in st. petersburg. mr. putin spoke by phone with u.s. president donald trump on sunday, and he thanked mr. trump for the cia's information on the planned attacks. >> meanwhile, mr. trump says he is not considering firing special counsel robert mueller. he did say his transition team was upset about mueller's request for thousands of their e-mails. mr. trump again said there was no collusion with russia. and a contestant into last month's miss universe pageant says she has been getting death threats, ball because of a selfie. miss iraq took a picture with miss israel, but the countries have no formal ties and she has faced international backlash. she says it's been so bad that her family had to leave iran. africa's ruling party, the african national congress is voting to choose its new leader. delegates have gathered to pick a replacement for jacob zuma there are two candidates to take

over from him. zuma she is also mr. zuma's ex-wife. her rival is the deputy president. the next party leader will likely become the nation's president after the 2019 elections. >> and cnn's david mckenzie is in johannesburg with the latest on this, david. it is down to these two front-runners, both of them linked to zuma in different ways. so how do they make a plane break and which one is most likely to gain the most support? do have any idea at this point? >> rosemary, the deputy president came in with more branches, local branches supporting him. but it's really a close race is the feeling. and this decision could be really critical for south africa. anc delegates pray for unity before welcoming the president

central to their party's decline. this is the public face of a bitter battle. the anc has lost supporters as zuma faces hundreds of allegations of corruption and fraud. so delegates hope this crucial vote for his replacement as party leader will signal the rebirth of their once proud anc. sending a message to south africa and the world. they're openly disagreeing with the party's leadership. so this is democracy in action. less than 5,000 people will make a choice. just down the road in soweto, on the street where nelson mandela

lived, south africans died in the struggle against apartheid. >> didn't know that what is it that we are going to meet when we arrive at the street. >> the survivors are disillusioned with the party of mandel lap. opa says the anc has lost its way. >> you really have a question like that. do these people know how much we have sacrificed for this country. >> it was this same thing as well -- >> reporter: he says whether the deputy president or a former minister and zuma's ex-wife win, the anc must still reckon with the rot. and the woman perhaps most responsible for exposing the allegations agrees. >> is it is about president zuma. but is it only about president zuma? no, that would be a mistake. because i think the waters have been poisoned. >> zuma denies all the charges

of corruption. and he is famous for surviving scandal. will the anc overcome his legacy. the lead up to this vote has been very contentious with multiple court cases affecting who actually cast theirs ballot. so the question will be when the vote or the result is announced perhaps later today, will the losing side accept it? it's a key test of the anc and a key moment in south africa's democratic history. rosemary? >> and we know you will be watching this very closely and reporting back to us here on cnn. david mckenzie in johannesburg where it is 10:36 in the morning. many thanks. all right. cnn's 2017 hero of the year was inspired by her two children with downs syndrome to adversary for people with disabilities. >> people with disabilities have been in the shadows for too

long. but no more. thank you, cnn, for this incredible honor. to my two youngest children, bitty and beau, who are my inspiration, i want you to know because i know you're watching at home tonight, bitty and beau, that i would not change you for the world, but i will change the world for you. >> amy wright employees dozens of people with disabilities at a coffee shop in north carolina. >> and through her nonprofit, she helps them show they can contribute and participate in the workforce. visit cnn.com/heroes to support this year's top ten winners. your donation will be matched dollar for dollar up to a total of $50,000 for each. austria's new government is raising concerns about a new far right coalition partner. we'll have details on that right after the break.

welcome back, everyone. the international organization for migration is set to repatriate 15,000 displaced people to their home countries from libya. this follows exclusive reporting by cnn which exposed a modern-day slave auction there. >> cnn's nema eldia amara walkeh the oim's efforts. >> this is a really important report. indeed, iom, the u.n. migration agency, we did break the story, if you did, a couple of months back. but just putting out a press release and describing it really isn't good enough nowadays. what it really took was extraordinary bravery by cnn's reporters going into libya,

witnessing an auction of human beings. and then broadcasting it. i mean, it was just seminole in its importance. and it took -- it transformed the debate, which has been a bit toxic, to say the least, about migration. many people a bit negative on migrants, to say the least, blaming them for the problems they get into. i think when we saw people being sold as pieces of commerce, it changed everybody's mind. and it brought the africans and the europeans together in a way i haven't seen before. >> tell me more than. now the iom is going to help repatriate 15,000 displaced people/migrants back to their home countries from libya. what kind of conversations had to take place for that to happen? >> well, iom has been working in libya for a long time in the detention centers, helping migrants, making sure that they're safe, keeping women separated from men, and trying to improve their lot and advocating strongly for them to

be released from these detention centers. now the zoyflt thdifficult is t nose been happening. >> was this a merit of getting the home countries to help in the repatriation process? >> it was really -- i mean, i think it was first of all, everybody had to see that it's a disgrace for this to be happening. so let's try and fix it. let's try and get these people to safety. i think once they recognize it, everybody was going to be blamed if you couldn't fix it quickly. they quickly found a solution. >> leonard doyle from the international organization for migration speaking to our league amara walker. austria is poised to become the only western european country with a far right party in government. the conservative people's party is forming an alliance with the

far right freedom party. >> both parties took a hard line in immigration in the october elections. incoming chancellor sebastian kurz, that's him here, has called for limits on the number of refugees entering europe and to cuts in benefits for migrants living in austria. live from berlin, during the campaign, the far right really had a radical agenda. they campaigned against mass migration. they warned of an invasion, of a civil war because of immigration and migration. now that they're in power, what are they going to do with this power? >> very good question, cyril. what we're seeing in this 180-page agreement between the freedom party and the people's party that was reach over the weekend is that they're not saying any numbers. they do want to limit immigration. they want the speed the deportations of illegal immigrants. but there is no talk about closing the border. in fact, that's what the previous government had said

they might do if things got worse. austria took in about 90,000 people, about 1% of the population which did get a lot of people worried and fearful. but this vote, this election back in october was also a taxpayer revolt. in austria, you're paying up to 55% of your income tax, and more than 50% of the government spending is state. so the intent behind this government is also to slash spending, including benefits for immigrants. cyril? >> the far right in austria has already been in government. and that was in the early 2000s. at the time, the european union, the institutions of the european union imposed sanctions on them. how is the eu reacting this time around? >> yeah, those sanctions, they lasted a few months. they were sort of put on probation, the austrian government at the time. and the eu officials decided,

well, they are europeans. the prime minister to-be who is going to be sworn in shortly, the chancellor to be has said that he is a european. he wants to be pro europe. he wants to work with angela merkel here in berlin. and in fact, his first trip is going to be tomorrow to brussels to meet with the eu officials. so he says that he is very much pro european. now, we will see really in the actions what they do, and keep in mind that austria is going to have the rotating eu presidency in the second half of next year. we have to see what they do. >> so they're really raising eyebrows within the institutions of the european union. they just do not like them and do not like to see the far right in power. chris burns reporting to us from germany. thank you. >> thank you. and let's take a short break. still to come, prince harry snags an interview with an

a-lister for his upcoming guest position at the bbc. what they discussed. we'll take a look. hi, i'm bo jackson.

for years, i was the king of both football and baseball. but now that i'm getting older, my body is starting to slow down. that's because after the age of 40, your body produces less free testosterone, making it harder to get in shape. thankfully, i found alpha king from force factor. (avo) and now every man in america can claim a complimentary bottle of alpha king by texting buzz to 809-809. force factor was recently named gnc's breakout brand of the year, and alpha king is their latest scientific innovation. it contains an exclusive new male vitality ingredient to help boost free testosterone, delivering more energy and more lean muscle during workouts. soon everyone will notice the new you. i couldn't believe the results i achieved with alpha king. i feel like a new man, and you can, too! (avo) if you're ready to up your game, claim a complimentary bottle by texting buzz to 809-809.

that's b-u-z-z to 809-809. they have had a transatlantic bromance for several years.

and now prince harry is showcase his friendship with former u.s. president barack obama by interviewing him for bbc radio 4. >> and they recorded the interview in september in toronto at the invictus games. before the interview started, there was a little bit of joking around. >> do i have to speak faster because i'm a slow speaker. >> no, not at all. >> okay. do i need the british accent? >> but if you start using long pauses, the pace. >> oh, okay. >> oh, okay. i'm ready. you guys have sound? >> you're sounding great. >> you're all good. >> you're excited about this. i'm nervous about this. >> it's fun. i'll interview you if you want. >> and there it is. cnn royal commentator kate williams joins us now from london. kate, great to have you with us again. we can see the chemistry. we talked about that last hour.

how is prince harry able to make this interview happen? and what all do we know about their friendship? well, prince harry is the guest editor of the today program for the 27th. this is our key flagship news program. it's where all the big political stories are broken. it really does set the agenda. and as part of his work, he clearly asked when he was in the invictus games, asked mr. obama for an interview. and apparently obama and prince harry are good friends. they do get on. it was obviously a winner. but we've learned that in the interview, which we haven't yet heard, we won't hear until the 27th, and then we'll hear it in a podcast, it's going to be a lot about leadership. so they share these joint ambitions to foster the leaders of the future. >> and what other things do they end up talking about in the interview? what are they hoping to achieve with this? >> the interview is going to be personal. mr. obama has talked about his last days in office, his

memories. also, his hopes for the future, what he hopes to do post presidential. and also the two of them talk about creating platforms. we don't know what kind of platforms yet. i'll sure we'll find out. but creating platforms for the leaders of the future. perhaps scholarship, all linked to the obama foundation. and that really does show how prince harry does want an international stage. that was very obvious in his engagement interview with ms. markle. they talked about the international work. he is not going to be king of england, but what he wants to do is create this international stage for really making the world a better place and working with the most influential people you can imagine. and one of those is mr. obama. >> yeah, indeed. and wow. what a first interview for prince harry. is this just a one off or can we expect more of these? >> it doesn't seem like prince harry was a natural interviewer. mr. obama was saying how excited he was.

prince harry was saying he was a bit nervous. it was very detailed. i don't think that we're going to see an awful lot of prince harry doing media introduce. but in terms of creating partnerships, creating network, working with people like the obama foundation, and really pushing forward his own agenda about leadership, about veterans, about charities, and about conservation, i think now prince harry is married. we're going see him moving to the next stage. and that is the next stage really of not just british royalty, not just english royalty, but an international player. an international humanitarian. which with ms. markle will be a pretty powerful twosome. >> many thanks to you from joining us from london where it is nearly 9:00 in the morning. thank you. this "star wars" franchise is still a powerful force at the box office. >> "the last jedi" fraught brout in brought in a staggering $450

million. >> chris brennan, president of the australia "star wars" appreciation society told us how the fan base is reacting to the latest episode i. >> you have two camps. if love it and the hate it. and it seems to be a lot of the older fans -- well, not really sure how i feel it camp at the moment. the younger fans are loving everything about it. they're loving the characterization. they're loving the effects of everything. but the older fans are a little slower to warm up. >> that's very interesting. i heard that from some of the fans here in the newsroom when i was preparing the interview and preparing to talk to you. by the way, no spoilers, please. because obviously a lot of people haven't seen it yet. what about the humor in the film? i understand that could be one of the more contentious sides of it as well. >> i think there is a lot of humor in the "star wars" films anyway. it's also underlying bit of humor. and some of the bits in the "the last jedi" feel a bit forced if anything. and some of it may be in the wrong place.

the jokes are good jokes. don't get me wrong. but they maybe need to be rehearsed a little more. >> chris brennan there from the "star wars" appreciation society in australia. >> and they know in australia too. all right. before we go, we have been covering the impact of the power outage at the world's busiest airport. thousands are still stranded. but earlier in the day, travelers in atlanta's airport found ways to amuse themselves. >> one traveler posted this video on instagram. and this is how one staffer at the airport chose or maybe had to come down the elevator. he probably didn't have much choice given how many people were walking up. >> right. looks like he actually works there. he's got all of the tags there thank you so much for watching. i'm rosemary church. >> i'm cyril vanier. "early start" is next for viewers in the u.s. >> and for the rest of you news continues with max foster in london. have a great day.

♪ i don't know what we're going to do. >> nobody knows anything. >> got to make a connection in chicago, but looks like that might not happen. >> all right, the power is back on at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson international airport, but thousands of holiday travelers want to know why no one had any answers when the outage crippled the world's busiest airport. >> no, i'm not. president trump with no plans to fire the russia special counsel, but the president's allies are ramping up