a u.s. federal judge rules the affordable care act known as obamacare is unconstitutional. the blow to democrats and a cause for celebration for the u.s. president. plus donald trump makes a surprise announcement and names an acting chief of staff just days after saying he didn't want an acting chief of staff but a permanent one. and protesters expected to take to the streets in france for a fifth weekend. this comes just days after the french president announced concessions to try and end the demonstrations. we are live from the cnn center here in atlanta. i'm cyril vanier. it's great to have you with us. so the law that brought

health care to millions of americans has been struck down by a u.s. judge. the affordable care act or obamacare was former president barack obama's signature piece of legislation. but a rule has ruled it unconstitutional. right now it earemains in effec. that means those who want it can still sign-up for it. but that ends in just hours because the deadline is saturday night. president trump who tried to repeal the legislation earlier on in his presidency tweeted the rule bieg a highlyermented judge was not surprising and great news for america. why the top democrat in the house promises to intervene to up hold what she calls the lifesaving protections for people with pre-existing conditions and promises to reject the republican effort to destroy the affordable care act. former assistant u.s. attorney in los angeles, david katz, joins me for an in-depth look at

this. the affordable care act has survived legal challenges before, so what's different this time around? >> well, there were about 70 efforts to repeal it. it's also been litigated. it's gone up to the united states supreme court, and it's been affirm. but that was the earlier version. so what just happened now is not going to be the last step but it's a troubling first judicial step. it's troubling for 130 million americans with pre-existing conditions. it's very disturbing to 12 million people who are on obamacare as of 2018 and tomorrow is their signup day. so it's critical people realize they need to go tomorrow and sign-up because this is not the last word and many people think th the appeals will succeed and this district court, trial court ruling will be struck down. >> so obamacare has been found -- you say obamacare was affirmed. it was found to be legal by the supreme court and lower courts.

the individual mandate because that's what's at issue here, the individual mandate was found to be legal by the supreme courts and finding people who did not purchase health care, that was the individual mandate, that was also legal. but once that fine was set at zero by congress as it has been in the latest federal tax law, then this whole thing becomes illegal? that's the basis for the judge's thinking, right? >> well, the republicans try to get rid of obamacare, the aca, a million different ways. and if these zealots were really clever, maybe they did it. maybe they booby trapped it in a way that the judge said you know what, the whole package is unconstitutional. but that's very dubious, cyril, whether that's really going to stand up. >> but detail the argument for me. i want to make sure i understand it. >> the argument goes like this. the supreme court ruled 5-4 that the aca was constitutional not because the commerce clause

there were five votes to say it was no good, it was unconstitutional. the argument goes -- >> and that's the individual mandate, right? if we consider the individual mandate as a tax, then that is legal? >> yes. that certainly was the ruling 5-4 that it functioned as a tax. that if you didn't buy the insurance, you had to pay a tax. and that was within the taxing power of the united states federal government even though -- >> so what changed this texas federal judge? >> well, as of next year there is no more individual mandate. that was what the republicans put in the new aca, and so that's why i say maybe they have booby trapped it in a way that at least satisfied that trial judge down in texas. now, mind you there's 1,000 trial judges in america. this case was in front of the dream judge, the go-to judge for

the zealots who were challenging obamacare. and the case was heard by a judge who's ruled against obamacare provisions before. he's a conservative republican appointed by george w. bush. and as i say this particular judge had ruled against obamacare, so people don't think it's a total accident that the state attorneys general ended up in front of him. then the trump administration refused to defend the legislation, although it's the law of the land. that's why democratic states governors and attorneys general came in like california's and defended it. so that's who the appellants are going to be. and of course pelosi said that the democrats once they're in power are also going to ask to intervene in the lawsuit. so it'll be as appellants, once challenging what the texas trial judge just did, it'll be the house of representatives once it's democratic and a couple of

dozen states like california with their state attorneys general to planning that california and other state citizens can't get obamacare and this ruling is wrong to throw out obamacare. >> so one important thing i have to say for our viewers and this comes from the white house statement, this law stands as we speak, right? the quote is this from the statement. we expect this ruling will be appealed from the supreme court. pepding the appeal process, though, the law remains in place. so that's important for everyone to know. david katz, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. thank you. president trump is nearing the end of his second year in office beset by a dizzying array of investigation. we don't actually know how many there are because some might not have been made public. what we do know is the trump campaign, the trump inauguration, the trump administration are all under investigation. cnn has learned that special counsel robert mueller still

wants to speak with president trump, but his lawyers are dead set against it. president trump has previously answered written questions from special counsel. now sources tell cnn mueller is still pursuing an interview about obstruction of justice. trump's attorney rudy giuliani says they're against it because they don't trust mueller. and another target of the mueller investigation, general michael flynn. he's the former national security advisor for donald trump who quit just days into the president's term. flynn admitted he lied to the fbi about communications with russia's ambassador to the u.s. since then he's been cooperate wg the special counsel. and on friday robert mueller issued a surprising memo on flynn. pamela brown has the details. >> reporter: the special counsel is pushing back on flynn's lawyers assertion that the national security advisor wasn't appropriately warned about the repercussions of lying to fbi. in this new filing mueller's

team says flynn chose to lie weeks before the fbi interviewed him by claiming he did not discuss sanctions with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. mueller's team noted that the fbi gave him multiple opportunities in the interview to correct his false statements and he only did so once the fbi used the exact language that he had used with kislyak from that phone call. now, while the filing notes that the fbi didn't think flynn was being intentionally deceptive at the time, it does say he should know better that lying to the fbi was a crime and he shouldn't have to be barned about it. and what also stuck out to me that the documents said flynn told before the fbi interview that mccabe probably knew what was said in his conversation with kislyak. so it's unclear why flynn would proceed to make false statements in his fbi interview and he thought they did know the truth. pamela brown, cnn, washington. and perhaps no one caught up

in the various investigations has been more surprising than president trump's former attorney and fixer michael cohen. in telling his story to prosecutors he's directly implicated his former boss in the hush money payments to two women before the election. a possible violation of campaign finance law. >> i am done being loyal to president trump. >> reporter: he's spilled his secrets to prosecutors, begged for mercy from a judge and now michael cohen speaking to the american people. >> and i will not be a villain of his story. >> reporter: president trump's former fixer and personal lawyer opening up for the first time since he was sentenced to three years in prison on wednesday. in an interview with abc the 52-year-old convicted felon still agonizing over what he says was the toughest day of his life. >> i have to be honest, it's been very rough.

>> reporter: cohen pleaded guilty to numerous crimes including tax evasion and making false statements to a bank. but it was his crimes involving the now infamous hush payments to two women that have directly implicated the president of the united states. trump lashing out on twitter this week saying he never directed cohen to break the law. but cohen now telling a different story. >> he directed me to make the payments. >> and he knew it was wrong? >> of course. >> reporter: saying the order to pay off former playboy model karen mcdougal and silence her before the election came from his boss. >> nothing in the trump organization was ever done unless it was run through mr. trump. >> reporter: the president's former fixer also addressing trump's biggest headache, the russia investigation. cohen has already met with special counsel mueller's office for 70 hours offering his information of his contacts with russians and people close to the white house. >> the special counsel did say that you were doing your best to tell the truth ability

everything related to their investigation, everything related to russia. do you think president trump is telling the truth ability that? >> no. >> it's a big statement. >> reporter: and he says he's not done talking. >> if they want me, i'm here and i'm willing to answer whatever additional questions that they may have for me. >> reporter: cohen says the person in the white house now is not the trump he once admired. >> i think the pressure of the job is much more than what he thought it was going to be. >> reporter: cohen reports to prison in march and will pay more than $1 million in restitution. a stunning fall from grace for a man who says he was loyal to trump for too long. >> the man doesn't tell the truth and it's sad that i should take responsibility for his dirty deeds. >> reporter: cnn, new york. for a fifth weekend in a row the so-called yellow vest demonstrations are planned throughout france. the unrests started over rising gas prices and taxes and has

broadened into a protest against president emmanuel macron and his government. you're watching live pictures right now of the champs-elysees. he made concessions earlier this week including canceling the fuel tax which sparked the protests but many say it's not enough and they plan to keep demonstrating. melissa, you're at the champs-elysees and you're overlooking the scene wejust saw. >> reporter: we have the advantage here at cnn's paris bureau of having this perfect position to look at what's happening on the champs-elysees, and it's all about the numbers. the fifth saturday in a row that the yellow vests have called for people to come out and protest. two things have happened of course since last saturday, cyril, as you say the concessions made by the french president including such things as a rise in the minimum wage and taking taxes off of extra

hours, overtime and sole on, and the other thing that's happened, of course is the terror attack in strasberg. will those two things take the wind out of the sales of protesters? that's the question. you can see a fairly empty champs-elysees at this time. at this time last week more than 300 people had been taken in for questioning. that figure this morning is just six. >> i remember you showing us the scenes last week. do french people still support this protest now that the president has actually given in to some of the demands? >> reporter: yes, they still maintain a large solid level of support out there in the public. but those measures announced by emmanuel macron, the call on the part of the government now making concessions toner into a dialogue. the call also specifically from the government for protesters to take into the account of the terror attack and the fact

police sources are stretched and it's time to get back to the negotiating table. that has peeled away some of the support they've had. and therepeople perhaps the more centrists, the ones driven, the ones that have been out here protesting time and time again, perhaps some of them will be convinced by the measures it's time to sit down and talk than be out protesting. it is the fifth saturday in a row and the coldest saturday we've seen so far, cyril. the police there taking no chances. 8,000 police and women out on the streets of paris. and we're told a very similar attitude to what we saw last week to try and contain what violence the there may be. >> burning cars and headline grabbing scenes in central paris. we'll check back in with you. thank you. now david joins me from paris as well. he's a cnn contributor and former paris news correspondent.

you know paris and french politics very bell. i want to put to you a question i was asked this week. i've got to ask is macron now a lame duck president because he caved, because he gave everything that the protesters wanted? >> well, in fact he didn't give everything they wanted that's one of the reasons they're back on the streets today. he did not cave because he said he is standing by the principles that got him elected and those are very important. he wants to change france. he wants to transform the french society, the french economy. he thinks eventually he has five years. he has three and a half more years to get this done. he wants to make changes that will benefit everyone. the problem is in many parts of paris that's a long way away potentially and they have to make do every week, every payday with a paycheck so mall they can barely make do with the prices

that are in inflation right now. it was interesting i was listening this morning to french television and there was one woman, a nationwide protest and she said he heard us, but he didn't actually react to us in a way that will help. >> is this the beginning of phase two of president macron's presidency? the first phase he wanted to show he was above the fray, you wanted to distance himself from the previous president. is he going to have to turn a corner now? >> to a degree, yes. and he began that on monday, last monday night in a speech to the people. he said, look, i hear you, i want to be one of you. i'm not some sort of president for the rich. so he is going to have to change in that respect.

he's going to have to get closer to the people. after he came back from brussels he topped in straussberg and actually walked through that market where that horrible terrorist attack tack place before. he's really trying to make a real effort. it may go against his actual grain. that may not be the real macron, but he's trying at least to put that forward. i have to say one thing that may happen later today, the one advantage he has, the one ally he has is there is a large cold front and rain, torrential rain potentially moving across france from west to east, and it should arrive in paris somewhere around 1:00 or 2:00 this afternoon. that is not going to be very comfortable conditions demonstrating or even setting barricades and fires. that rain may have more impact than the water canons. >> it's not pulltics but you're absolutely right to mention that because not everyone wants to be

out in the cold on a freezing morning. our correspondent was just texting me right now saying how cold it is out there. there's been other yellow vest protests outside of france. do you see this as something larger? >> france likes to think of itself as sort of a bellwether for europe so the far right in france, that used to be called the far nationale, when therapy really rising the last couple of years that helped trigger. it does evolve into other protests in europe. and many are faced with the same problems of the rich versus the poor, the vast wealth of those in the cities and others in the countryside. there is a more populist right

wing government in place and others parts of europe. this happened in 1968 when students went into the streets. there were demonstrations all over europe as a result. so, yes, it certainly is entirely possible. europe is waiting to see how macron handles this and how this works out in the end. >> david, thank you very much for your analysis. let's take a last quick look at the champs-elysees. all eyes right now not just in france but across europe are on this avenue. it's all about the numbers, how many people show up, how much resistance, how much fire in that protest is still left as the president has given into some of their demands. australia now recognizes west jerusalem as the capital of israel. but the country's prime minister says its holding off on moving the embassy there. >> plus donald trump has a new acting chief of staff. will he keep the acting part or

will it become permanent? we'll take a look at that as well. today is the day you're going to get motivated... get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more.

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australia's prime minister says his government now recognizes west jerusalem as the capital of israel. scott morrison says australia will move its embassy after palestinians have agreed on the peace deal. what's the back story for this in. >> well, cyril, we expected scott morrison to announce that jerusalem was the capital of israel. we didn't know specifically what part of that announcement it would be, but now we know it is west jerusalem. this is something that israel has been wanting from the international community, the recognition of all of jerusalem, what they say is the united capital of israel. so with australia declaring just west jerusalem, that's not what the israelis would have wanted. but just to give you some background on jerusalem and why it's so contentious, it dates back to 1947 with the united

nations partition plan for palestine u.s. resolution 181 which basically said that jerusalem would be administered by an international body, the united nations, and no country would have ownership over it. but then you had a war break out. israel then took the west part of jerusalem. jordan took the east part of jerusalem. and then in 1967 israel took the east part of jerusalem and the west bank and gaza. and it's really israel has said then from the 1980s that all of jerusalem is their capital. and that has been disputed by the palestinians and really much of the international community. the united states does recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel, but many countries still believe that the final status of jerusalem as we heard from the statement there should be defined by a final status solution between the israelis

and the palestinians, although the prime minister of israel -- sorry, the prime minister of australia said this in his defense and why he made that declaration. >> fundamentally it's the right of every counselee to determine its national capital. the government is asked the question about the position we have long adopted in relation to jerusalem. >> reporter: so you do have australia declaring west jerusalem the capital of israel, saying east jerusalem would be for potential palestinian state. that's kind of along the lines what any final status solution would be, cyril. >> ian lee reporting live from jerusalem, thank youmism. and republicans are celebrating a blow against obamacare, but it's hardly the first time. we'll look at the history of the affordable healthcare act and the fierce opposition to it. stay with us.

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welcome back. you are watching "cnn newsroom" i'm cyril vanier. let's look at your top stories this hour. a federal judge in the u.s. state of texas has ruled that parts of the affordable care act are unconstitutional. specifically making coverage mandatory. the judge added that the entire law better known as obamacare must now go. the law is still in effect for the time being. special counsel robert mueller's team slamming criticisms of an fbi interview with the former national security advisor. michael flynn's lawyers suggested flynn lied to the fbi in the russia probe because he was caught off guard when two agents approached him.

but mueller's office says it still won't recommend jail time for flynn because of his cooperation with the special counsel. and france is bracing for another week of protests that could rock paris and other parts of the country. the unrest started over rising gas prices and taxes and has broadened into a protest of emmanuel macron and his government. mr. macron tried to make consegs earlier this week including canceling the fuel tax which sparked the protest. you're currently watching live pictures from the top of the champs-elysees in paris. so back to that top story and i want to delve into the history of obamacare otherwise known as the affordable care act. it was signed into law merchandimarch 23, 2010. its stated goal to lower cost, expanding coverage and improving the quality of care.

president obama campaigned on reforming it and he celebrated when the bill was signed. >> today after almost a century of trying, today after over a year of debate, today after all the votes have been tallied health insurance reform becomes law in the united states of america. >> so obamacare reduced the number of uninsured in the united states. in 2013 the year before the obamacare came into full effect there were 42 million without health insurance. that number down to 29 million in 2015. from the on set republicans opposed the law and they made several attempts to repeal it. in fact repealing obamacare was one of president trump's key campaign promises. but republicans couldn't muster in the end enough votes in congress to fulfill that

promise. however, the government did take several steps. the tax cut bill passed in 2017 included a provision that eliminated the so-called individual mandate that compelled people to get health insurance. >> obamacare has been repealed in this bill. we didn't want to bring it up. i tell people specifically be quiet with the fake news media because i don't want them talking too much about it, but now that it's approved i can say that the individual mandate on health care where you had to pay not to have insurance -- when you pay not to have insurance, the individual mandate has been repealed. >> well, according to the government nearly 12 million people enrolled in obamacare in 2018, 27% of were new customers. despite the texas ruling, nothing has changed for the moment. americans can still sign-up for obamacare. the judge's ruling is only the latest challenge facing the law this enrollment season which ends on saturday.

u.s. president trump has picked an acting white house chief of staff. i want to tell you about this in u.s. politics. on friday he announced budget director mick mulvaney will take over the job. the announcement comes a surprise to many in the white house. >> reporter: president trump announced on twitter late friday night that mick mulvaney, the white house budget director, will become the acting chief of staff when john kelly currently the chief of staff leaves at the end of the year. now, that word acting came as a surprise to most people in the white house since that was the word that led to the failure and break down in negotiations over nick ayers, vice president pence's chief of staff becoming chief of staff in the west wing. he said he wanted a two year commitment and didn't want somebody to be the acting chief of staff, yet now he's gotten an acting cheefl

acting chief of staff. as of friday president trump was discussing a possible government shutdown next week and so was the senior staff throughout the day. and mick mulvaney, the budget director came over to go over what with that shutdown and discuss it with him and he walked out with the top job. it's a question how long mick mulvaney, but it comes a number of challenges as we're seeing a number of investigations surrounding president trump and not only his political and personal life start to mount up, but that is job mick mulvaney will take over at the beginning of the year. >> republican strategist alice stewart joins me now and also the former communications director for ted cruz who ran against trump in 2016. so let's start, alice, with mick mull vain a. he will be the acting chief of staff now for donald trump. do you think this changes anything to the trump

presidency? >> not really, cyril. mulvaney evidently two jobs weren't enough for him so he needed to have one more. we always knew this was an unconventional presidency and in terms of who holds what job and what job title people have, this is going to be different than what we've seen in the past, and i wouldn't be surprised if we keep him in this interim position for quite some time. i will say this, of all the names that have been run out there in terms of who would fill the slot mulvaney is a good one. he's been a loyal soldier to president trump in whatever position he has had. he's a good advocate for this president and his policies, and he's someone certainly that is very well respected amongst the staff. >> so loyal and respected but not a heavyweight. chris christie was in the running and he withdrew his name. nick ayers had made some waves

and some high profile congressman as well. mick mulvaney's name flies under the radar when you compare his name. >> and that's not a bad thing. with all that's going on certainly as we're moving closer to 2020, this person has to be someone who can work with congress and has to understand the legislative aspect of the role. he has to be political and manage those aspects of moving towards 2020 and he has to understand the investigative part of the role moving forward and work with the staff to oversee the staff part of that role. so this is -- the dynamics have changed with the administration, which means the dynamics of the chief of staff are changing. so you don't need to be heavy-handed but be able to do exactly what the president wants. >> absolutely. work with the staff but first and foremost with this

president. he tweeted, for the record, there were many people who wanted to be the white house chief of staff. mick m. will do a great job. that's kind of eyebrow raising when you know three people withdrew their nomination. a federal judge has struck down the entire affordable care act known as obamacare. your reaction to that. >> this is exactly what the president and a lot of republicans who ran for president said that, look, the obamacare is not just unfor youeredable and unattainable for many people, now it's unconstitutional. and as legal representation of what republicans have been saying for quite some time. and this in my view gives more shot in the arm for republicans to go in there and do what many of them have campaigned on which is repealing and replacing obamacare. the challenge is it's one thing to go out and pound your fist on the table and say, look, we need

to repeal and replace obamacare. they really need to work on having a viable solution to replace it. and i think that's the challenge moving forward. this is helpful to the argument and we'll certainly get a lot of constituents and members of the republican party onboard. the challenge is finding the viable solution, protecting pre-existing conditions, and the most challenging aspect is getting democrats to work with them on trying to find a solution to this problem. >> yeah, finding a political solution to this might be even harder than finding a legal solution. we think there might be an appeal on this and the legal arguments behind the decision. thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks, cyril. europe is bracing for a hard brexit when the u.k. leaves the european union next march. leaving brussels empty-handed with little hope of salving her brexit deal and time running

out. plus filmmaker hardy jones dedicated his life to improving the environment. we'll take a look at his lasting legacymism these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible.

and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs a $95 value free with membership. start a 30-day trial today and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. audible. the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. text "listen9" to 500500 to start your free trial today.

. the risk of the u.k. crashing out of the european union with a no deal brexit looms larger after prime minister theresa may returned from brussels empty-handed. the european commission president is blaming the british parliament. >> i was following second by second the debate in the house of commons and i noted there was a deep mistrust in the house when it comes to the european union. that's not a good basis for future relations. >> jean-claude juncker also

called the back and forth nebulous. >> i think that's the sort of discussion you have when you've developed a relationship and able to work well together. and what came out of that is he'd been talking about a general level of debate. but indeed, you know, i've had further conversations with him through the morning. >> it all amounts to an ugly lump of coal in the prime minister's christmas stocking. ana stuart has more from downing street. >> reporter: the prime minister returned to brussels without the key concessions she needed to win over parliament to her brexit deal. in her closing remarks she said that further clarification and discussions with the eu were possible. but this hasn't been well received particularly by the labor leader jeremy corbin. she tweeted after she spoke to say the last 24 hours have shown that the theresa may brexit deal

is dead in the water. and rather than plowing ahead and recklessly running down the clock she needs to put her deal to a vote next week so parliament can take back control. that is highly unlikely to happen not least because the prime minister today said further talks on the eu were necessary but downing street said this would no longer happen this year and it's being push back to january. now, opposition parties in parliament including the greens, liberal democrats have all called for a motion of confidence to be brought for the government and theresa may. this time on the actual gufrmt and this time it would be a parliamentary vote. however, they need the biggest opposition party labor to help trigger that. and i don't think labor would do that anytime soon simply buzz it doesn't look lake they can win. and the northern irish party they still support the prime minister. however, trump is paper thin in

westminster, and this last week if anything has told us that events can happen extremely quickly in british politics. now, theresa may will be relieved this week is over but next week isn't looking much better. anna stewart cnn, london. and talks will continue over the weekend as delegates meet in poland for the conference. they've been trying to flesh out a guidebook on how to reach an agreement reached two years ago. award winning filmmaker and environmentalist hardy jones has died after a long battle with cancer. our kristie lu stout looks back on his life which was dedicated to protecting dolphins and whales. >> i was just in their group. i was swimming for all i was

worth. >> reporter: the man known as the dolphin defender hardy jones died this week after a long battle with cancer. after several documentaries that have aired, jones focused all his energy on preserving the environment and the animals that he loved through video. >> dolphins are my lives work. in a very literal sense they swept me out to sea and into another universe. >> reporter: swimming in 1978 jones then a cbs news journalist encountered a school of friendly wild dolphins and fell in love. quitting his job at cbs news jones released his first film in 1979 called dolphin where he followed and filmed a pod of spotted dolphins in ireland. he's well-known for his exclusive footage of dolphin hunting. >> three days later at 5:00 a.m. in the driving rain the

fisherman began the slaughter. >> reporter: his footage made headlines, sparked international protests and eventually struck down the slaughters across international japan. >> i know as the world sees these images. >> reporter: the dolphin defender featured the images he captured throughout his career. with 40 years of experience jones increasingly served as an expert on the ocean and the growing concerns about the earth's rising temperatures. >> hardy jones recently visited this in peru. do you really believe it could relate to some kind of contaminates in the water? >> well, red tides are not uncommon in areas of water such as this area off peru. red tides are generated by warmer waters that may be the result of global warming.

>> in the tropical oceans of the world lives a species of dolphin unlike any other. >> he partnered in 2000 with an actor to form an organization and a few years later was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. he worked to curb the expanding toxicity in the oceans, something he worked on until his death. kristie lu stout, cnn. coming up cyclone owen smashing parts of australia. we'll have the latest forecast on this storm when we come back. so this christmas,

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tropical cyclone owen is hitting queensland, australia, with strong winds and heavy rain. let's check in with meteorologist ivan cabrera has joined us on set from the cnn weather center. what do we need to know? >> we have been following owen for quite some time. it's been around for 11 to 12

days. three landfalls with this thing. there it is tropical cyclone owen. look at the date, cyril. december 2nd it was out over open water not bothering anyone and then it made a be line towards queensland and then it made landfall as a weak tropical cyclone. it is now december 8th. it continued rolling through queensland, but what happened is the water temperature east of queensland much cooler. this is like bathwater here so look at the explosion the good thing about this is not many people live across this region here. so that is good. now we have the third on saturday morning across the western coast of northern queensland there. that storm will continue to move onto the south and east. i must say it's weakening now as far as the winds. of course you expect when it makes landfall. but don't be fooled because i think the worst of the storm is

yet to come with very heavy rainfall coming in the next few days. really this would be the equivalent of a now weaker tropical storm in the western pacific or atlantic. take a look at the rainfall, though. this is the radar. this is down to townsville and we'll continue to see that onshore flow. that particularly i think is going to be bothersome the next few days. we're talking significant accumulation. but notice here you don't see discernable circulation but the onshore wind is going to continue to provide us with significant rain. anyway from 35 millimeters to as high as 100 millimeters and i wouldn't be surprised to see something higher. for our u.s. viewers that would be about 4 inches, and for this area that is lot of rainfall here. and this comes an top of what we've already had the last few days so flooding a possibility. we had folks being rescued from their cars there.

hopefully that won't be the case in queensland but there you see the rain that's coming from cyclone owen. >> ivan cabrera joining us from the cnn weather center, thank you. just before we wrap this up, a huge diamond. canada has unearthed the largest diamond ever found in north america. the diamond mines says it's discovered the diamond the size of a chicken egg. >> it looks like a baked potato wrapped in aluminum. >> it's a yellow diamond. they say it's too early to determine the stone's value. i suspect it's expensive, but it won't be sold in this form. they say they will find a partner, they will cut it, they will polish the diamond and then they'll sell it. so if you've got a gift to make. >> sore send it to a museum, my goodness, that something that large. >> thank you for watching "cnn

newsroom." you've got george howell after the break.

a federal judge in texas tr throws out the affordable care act, ruling it uncount tuconsti. and nearly 70,000 police deployed in frantsz as a fifth round of yellow vest protests is under way. also ahead, australia recognizes west jerusalem as the capital of israel reversing decades of middle east policy. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george