the u.s. government shutdown now in its eighth day, and the u.s. president blocks a pay raise for federal workers who are still out of jobs. plus, delayed democracy in the democratic republic of congo. polling stations open despite claims of vote rigging. also ahead this hour, an african-american hotel guest seeking answers after hotel employees called police on him for taking a phone call in the lobby. that's frustrating. 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 howell. "cnn newsroom" starts right now.

♪ 5:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast, thanks for being with us. we start with the latest ripple in the partial government shutdown showdown. the raise that many federal employees had expected to take effect in january, that raise is no more. the u.s. president has cancelled it. and this adds insult to injury for more than 800,000 federal employees who are beginning their second week without paychecks. for his part, president trump says he's sitting at the white house waiting for democrats, he says to come over to work on a deal, though he's been out of sight, he's still on twitter. our sarah westwood has more from the white house. >> reporter: president trump is alone in the white house and fuming about democrats refusal to provide any funding for his promised border wall. he's been trying to blame them for everything, from the deaths of two migrant children at the southern border earlier this month to the partial government shutdown that he once said he

would be proud to own. now the president is alone here at the white house because he cancelled plans to travel down to his palm beach estate mar-a-lago amid the partial government shutdown that he's continued to blame on the inaction of congressional democrats. the president taking to twitter on saturday writing, i am in the white house waiting for the democrats to come on over and make a deal on border security. from what i hear, they're spending so much time on presidential harassment that they have little time left for things like stopping crime and our military. now, acting chief of staff slash budget director mick mulvaney said those democratic congressal leaders haven't actually been invited back to the white house for further talks. mulvaney said the white house at this point is essentially just waiting for a counteroffer from the democrats. mulvaney suggested that the president might be willing to back down off that demand for $5 billion in wall funding, though he didn't specify by how much. that's align with cnn reporting that vice president mike pence went to capitol hill last weekend with an offer of support

for a bill worth $2.5 billion. that's a deal that the democrats rejected so talks are still at a standstill. there's not a lot of clarity at this point still about what kind of deal the president might support. but it is clear that trump is growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to get funding for his signature campaign promise. it's also clear that the partial government shutdown has no end in sight, with democrats preparing to retake the house and therefore shake up the dynamics of negotiating power in a little less than a week. sarah westwood, cnn, the white house. just how long this shutdown lasts, it's really anyone's guess. and it has many of the people affected rightfully worried, some of those concerns being voiced across social media. as we found a few examples to share with you, like this one, we are both veterans. husband has 20 years of service with four combat tours. we will not be able to pay our mortgage if this persists. here is another, i'm a

furloughed fed, i spent the day calling the banks for the mortgage and the car loan, the electric company, the gas company, the credit card company. i have some savings, so i'll be okay for a bit. won't be buying the new car to replace the 17-year-old toyota now. here is another, got some things for christmas that i'm not unpackaging and receipts are in my purse so i can return if needed for grocery money. this thing is real and it's hurting a lot of people. if there is a silver lining to the shutdown, it's the promise of payback for thousands of u.s. government workers now without their usual income, but some of those furloughed workers say they can't afford to wait for the shutdown to end. one of them is lilla johnson. she works as a janitor at the u.s. department of agriculture and spoke with our martin savidge about her situation. listen. >> for president trump to be

throwing a temper about the wall, the american people, i didn't ask for it. that's something that he promised the people when he was elected. why should we have to pay for it? and this should come to some kind of agreement to open the government back up so people like me, everybody else can go back to work. we are working people. we don't need to be standing on the line for them up on the hill and the white house, wherever, fighting over when are they going to open the government back up. >> could i ask you just how much longer can you get by with this shutdown? or is it already to the point of where it's desperate? >> it's to the point now, you know. it's not about how much longer. it's to the point now that i need to be working to pay my bills and take care of my family. >> let's get some perspective

now with natasha. she teaches government at the university of essex in england joining us via skype. thank you for your time, natasha. >> good morning. >> we've seen the president blame democrats for the deaths of two migrant children. he says due to immigration policy, also blaming nancy pelosi as the reason for this impasse, but as we keep our eye on the ball in this blame game, it is very important to recall the president's own words right from the start, let's start with that. >> and i am proud -- >> we disagree. >> i am proud to shut down the government for border security, chuck. i will take the mantle. i will be the one to shut it down. i'm not going to blame you for it. >> so the shutdown persists. here we are now, these raises for federal workers being affected. who carries the blame here more as people feel this deeper burden continue? >> well, trump himself said that he's taking responsibility for

it. i know more recently he's been trying to blame the democrats for the shutdown. but he made it very clear that he was going to make this a hill to die on in order to save his border wall, which was one of the signature pieces of his campaign. and it looked as though the government was going to be able to come up with a short-term bill to keep the government funded up until early february, but then after he had heard some criticism from political pundits on the right wing political pundits, he then changed his mind. and i think that most people have been critical of the fact that trump has wanted to do whatever it takes in order to save his border wall. you have only 36% of the public that wants him to shut down the government in order to fight to

build this wall. >> you mentioned that phrase a hill to die on. the question here the president calling it a wall initially and now daul calling it a fence. how critical is this particular matter for this president whose political base demands that he make progress on that front? >> well, for trump he believes it's everything because this was the biggest part of his campaign. this was what he talked about, the entire campaign. when he goes on the road campaigning, he also talks about building this wall and how important it is for the country to build a wall. i think with his work experience in construction, he thinks this will be his signature piece of accomplishment that he can talk about. but he was very clear that mexico was going to pay for it. that was sort of the big part of the speech that they were going to build this wall. this was going to prevent all this unwanted immigration from coming in and that it would be completely paid for by mexico. the mexican government, of course, laughed off this idea and had been very adamant that

was never going to happen. so there's really been quite a switch in terms of who is going to pay for it. now it looks like he's willing to just keep the government shut down indefinitely until he can find some sort of resolution to this. >> let's talk about the people who are affected by this. certainly we're talking about 25% of government, some 800,000 workers, many of whom will be living without paychecks for an indefinite amount of time. it is starting to hurt. we're starting to hear evidence of that becoming very apparent and very personal. listen. >> we had an individual let us know that recently his wife died. he is unable at this time because of this shutdown to pay for her headstone. and he said at the tail end of his commentary to us that he's brokenhearted over that.

>> that's just one story. the question here, when does the pain that people are feeling, this real pain that's real life, when does that play into this stalemate and motivate these sides to find a resolution here? >> right. well, trump made it very clear that he thought that most of the government workers were actually democrats. so he has politicized the civil service and acted as if this is really just affecting democrats. it's not really affecting his party. i don't think he thinks it affects his base. there have been a lot of shutdowns in 2018. there have been three, which ties for the record back in the 1970s. and this shutdown is going on much longer than many of these people are hoping because they're living paycheck to paycheck. some of them aren't able to pay their mortgage. they've been given some sort of statement that they can give to creditors and to their landlo s landlords.

it's almost insulting that they may have to offer some sort of work in exchange for delaying when they have to repay things. but this could go on for a long time. the longest shutdown was over 20 days. and trump seems to be in no hurry to compromise on this issue. of course this will have real effect on people who are trying to plan how to pay their bills. >> and that claim that you mentioned, the president saying it's mainly democrats, not based in fact or any sense of evidence or reality that i can understand, but affecting americans, many americans who actually protect the country. natasha, thank you again for your time. we'll stay in touch you. >> thank you. "time" magazine is reporting on an alleged tie between a top trump campaign figure and a russian ex-spy. here are the players. paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman, victor boyarkin and oleg deripaska.

manafort was deeply in debt to deripaska. manafort began looking for ways to pay that back. a spokesman for manafort declined to comment. cnn caught up with deripaska last year. >> did manafort owe you millions of dollars and he's the head of the trump campaign? >> deripaska with our matthew chance who caught up with him. here is how the author of "trump slash russia" explained this very complex reporting to cnn ryan nobles. >> oleg is extremely close to putin and the kremlin. he said on a couple of occasions she doesn't separate himself from the state and he would basically do anything when asked by putin to do.

so, you know, you have a campaign manager in debt to a russian oligarch connected to putin being pressured for money in the middle of a campaign he's running on behalf of the republican nominee for president. >> seth speaking with my colleague ryan nobles. >> a spokesperson for manafort declined to comment. voting is under way in the democratic republic of congo. first time in almost 60 years voters are casting their ballots in a democratic transfer of power. but, there are challenges to be considered here. te election has already faced two years of delays, plus more than a million people will have to wait now until march to cast their ballots. that's because of the ebola crisis and because of concerns over terrorism. and then there is rampant violence to speak of. our eleni jocose has this report. >> reporter: firing tear gas and live rounds into the air.

security forces try to disperse protesters. these are the scenes of recent violence ahead of a long overdue presidential election in the democratic republic of congo. supposed to bring the first democratic transfer of power to a country that's been waiting more than two years to choose a new leader. outgoing president was scheduled to step down back in 2016 after holding office since 2001. but the vote was repeat lid postponed, sparking deadly protests. earlier this month, a massive fire at an election commission warehouse destroyed thousands of voting machines which delayed the vote once again. then, this week the commission postponed the vote in three opposition strongholds, siting the ebola outbreak and terror threats. more than a million voters won't be able to cast their ballots on sunday. opposition says it's all a pretext to take away their vote.

>> translator: they need to get us another president. if that doesn't happen, we will create chaos starting from today until a solution is found. if it calls for us to die, then so be it. >> reporter: crises on several fronts are fueling resentments. on going ethnic and regional conflicts have displaced millions and a long battle with ebola continues. the country is confronting the world's second deadliest outbreak in history. extreme poverty also plagues the country with six out of seven live on less than a dollar a day. the president on the other hand has been enriched by the congo's wealth of natural resources. including one that powers most of the world's cell phones and electric cars, cobalt. and the congo is at the epicenter of its skyrocketing demand, its mines make up a large majority of global cobalt production. but these mines have a dirty secret, uncovered in a cnn

investigation in may, the cobalt supply chain uses child labor. >> we've seen the products of that child labor loaded on to a variety of different vehicles. >> reporter: despite threats and attempts to block their investigation, cnn traveled to some of the congo's cobalt facilities where she and her team witnessed children forced to work. as the home of a resource used to power the world's devices congo's election is one to watch. although the results are likely to be contested and the election commission has banned international observers, there's still hope by some that it can bring about real change to the congo. >> thank you. another general election to tell you about wrapping up in bangladesh. what's at stake there and why the vote is so controversial? we'll explain. plus, brazil's far right

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wrapped up in the general election taking place there. many people waiting in long lines. and the military was out in force after a campaign marred by violence. it has been a controversial election with a controversial front-runner, the prime minister of the nation sheikh hasina is seeking a record third consecutive term. she's also facing allegations of vote rigging and human rights abuses. her biggest rival is in prison and her government is accused of targeting journalists and opposition figures. cnn is following this story in new delhi. tell us, given the controversy around this particular leader, is this vote seen as fair? >> well, that's the main concern, george. run-up to the poll today, polling is now closed, in the run-up, human rights organizations raised questions and concerns about what human rights, for example, called repressive political atmosphere and a climate of fear all

connected to these concerns that you talked about about human rights violations by the government, about repression and about a clamp down on descenting voices. we had the arrest of a well known photographer incarcerated for several months. in actions that had raised worries about civil societies at large in bangladesh. but sheikh hasina's tenure over these two terms has really been two stories. one is this story of rights abuses and concerns. the other story is the story of growing, booming economy. growth has been robust. the government has succeeded in cutting poverty and making good progress on many development indicators. and so voters today when they went out to vote, the big question was what are they going to do? are they going to reward that economic growth or vote against this government because of concerns about what authoritarianism. we're expecting later results today and tomorrow. when they come out, the question will be how fair are they?

human rights organizations have questioned them. the opposition has questioned them. so the question remains on sort of tense and on edge as we await those results. george? >> thank you. now to brazil, the nation's new president-elect is an unapologetic far right politician, talking about jar bolsona bolsonaro. he is active on twitter, telling the country how he will implement his controversial agenda. we take a look now at the man and the people who support him. >> reporter: he's known as brazil's donald trump, an anti-establishment politician who promises to drain the swamp and crack down on crime. and like his u.s. counterpart, he campaigned on change and won. 63 jair bolsonaro is a

seven-term congressman with a reputation for controversial comments, often aimed at homosexuals, minorities an women. once telling a congresswoman she was not pretty enough to rape. he has a strong conservative base who like him are pro-life and against same sex marriage. a former army captain bolsonaro wants to bring back law and order, which he says was strongest under brazil's former dictatorship. bolsonaro still believes in some of the old regime's brutal tactics. i support torture, you know that. it's tough talk that has resonated with voters tired of political corruption and widespread crime. brazil has one of the highest murder rates in the world. and bolsonaro plans to fight fire with fire. encouraging police to use lethal force on criminals. bolsonaro himself was stabbed in the stomach at a campaign rally by a man who police believed was

mentally ill. on the economic front, bolsonaro promised free market reforms and privatizations. but as the head of south america's largest economy, he also said he would safeguard natural resources and warns that china already owns too much of its land. whether or not bolsonaro makes good on his campaign promises to make brazilians safer and more solvent is yet to be seen. he'll get that chance when he officially takes office. shasta darlington. >> shasta, thank you. not long ago the president boasted he would be proud to shut down the government. that has now happened. coming up, now he says it's not his fault that some 800,000 federal employees are no long r being paid. plus this. why are they coming? >> escorting you off the property. >> i'm staying here. >> not anymore. >> where is the head slap emoji when you need it.

an african-american hotel guest demanding answers after he had the police called on him for nothing. we'll explain. stay with us. out there... ...which one should i use? choose one that takes care of your gums and enamel. crest gum & enamel repair cleans below the gum line and helps repair weakened enamel. gum & enamel repair. look for a $1 coupon in this sunday's paper. you'll make my morning, buty the price ruin my day.ou? complicated relationship with milk? pour on the lactaid, 100% real milk, just without that annoying lactose. mmm, that's good.

♪ there's no place likargh!e ♪ i'm trying... ♪ yippiekiyay.

♪ mom. ♪ ♪ welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." thank you for being with us. i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. millions of people are expected to cast their ballots today in the democratic republic of co o congo. they are choosing a success or to the current president with more than a million others in parts of the country will have to wait now until march to cast their ballots due to terrorism fears and the ebola crisis. voting also wrapping up this

hour in bangladesh. ballots were cast for the general election. the prime minister of the nation sheikh hasina is expected to win a third consecutive term. her government is accused of targeting journal iists and opposition figures and her chief rival is in prison. protests turn violent on saturday. they clashed with police after a day of peaceful protests. place say one person was taken to the hospital after police fired tear gas. this is the seventh weekend demonstrations have taken place across france. back to the partial government shutdown showdown now into its eighth day and some 800,000 u.s. government workers beginning their second week now without paychecks and no idea when they will be paid next. it is the result of president trump's hard line on immigration. he refused a short-term deal to keep the government open because it didn't have funding for a border wall. he then failed to get congress

to approve $5 billion for his border wall. a few weeks ago, mr. trump proudly boasted he would take responsibility and would take the mantle for a shutdown. now that it's happening, the president says it's the democrat's fault. the president also blaming democrats for the deaths of two migrant children while in u.s. custody. the head of u.s. homeland security just spent two days on the southern border with mexico to see the circumstances there for herself. one place she visited was el paso, texas. >> this is the 16th trip to the southern border for secretary nielsen and part of her visit was to check on conditions on border patrol stations in el paso. she did the same thing in yuma, arizona on saturday. this was part of a series of extraordinary protective measures which she implemented after the death of 8-year-old

felipe gomez alonzo. she released a statement that read in pafrt, the system is clearly overwhelmed and we must work together to address this hum humanitarian crisis. we could address this crisis tomorrow. instead, we continue to do more with less as i said before, i ask congress to please put politics aside and recognize this for the growing security and humanitarian crisis it is. her visit comes against the renewed scrutiny of health care given to migrants after they're brought into u.s. custody and happening while migrants continue to be dropped off here at the greyhound bus station in el paso. in some cases no, where to go and no resources at all. the charities volunteering to give shelter and food say they're stretched thin and that's what they're hearing from a border and protections official who is very familiar with these types of facilities along the border. they're not intended to hold so

many people. originally they were built to house single adult males but with the influx in family units, they're really struggling to keep their head above water. reporting in el paso, texas, i'm nick valencia. >> thank you for the reporting. one man at the forefront of the border crisis is the mayor of el paso. he talked earlier with my colleague martin savidge and said where he thinks blame should be pointed and how president trump's threat to shut down the border would affect his city in texas. >> el paso is dealing with the symptoms as a result of the lack of fortitude in washington to deal with on both sides of the aisle, to deal with our immigration policy. we are being inupdated. we have five times the release of migrants here since october than we had a year ago. we're averaging about 2,000 a week. i got word yet actually this morning that they may have to increase the up to 500 a day. i'm not sure we can handle that.

our primary ngo and they're the ones that coordinate this with 20 other shelters, but i'm not sure we can handle it. you want to know about immigration and want to know about the border, come to el paso. >> i agree with you. that's the place where you see it firsthand. but let me ask you -- let me ask you before we run out of time, i'm sorry to interrupt, but the president has threatened a shutdown of the southern border. how would that impact your community? >> it would be a killer. it would -- we have in addition to the migrant community that we're dealing with, and that issue, is commerce. we have 23,000 pedestrians, legal pedestrians that cross every day north of mexico. we have commerce trucks back and forth. we have 21 million private passenger vehicles on annual basis that come north legally. so i mean, from a commerce standpoint, we're the 10th largest port in the nation. we have $82 billion going back

and forth and imports and exports. it would be a killer. >> that's my colleague martin savidge there speaking earlier with the mayor of el paso, texas. this next story is whipping up a great deal of frustration around the united states a popular u.s. hotel chain issued an apology two employees fired, out of a job, after asking a black guest to leave the hotel for no apparent reason. they even called the police on him for nothing. the guest telling cnn it is a symptom of a much larger problem in the united states. our miguel marquez has more. >> reporter: well, this is basically a case of breathing while black. white people calling the police on black people for a small offense or infraction or no offense at all. in this case, massy checked into a hotel, double tree hotel, part of the hilton chain of hotels in portland, oregon. he had gone to a concert. his mother texted, so he wanted to make a phone call. he wanted to do it in the lobby

because it seemed fairly urgent. he went to a secluded area of the lobby and started making his phone call. that's when he was confronted by the security guard. he hung up with his mom, started putting it on video on his phone. he put it all on instagram and we want to show you a little compendium of what he recorded. >> he's calling the cops on me because i'm taking a phone call at the double tree hotel. say hi, earl. >> portland police will be here in a minute. >> thank you. call them. i'm waiting. >> okay. they're coming why? why are they coming? >> escorting you off the property? >> i'm staying here. >> not anymore. >> how am i loitering in an area that's public? >> you're sitting here. >> so this area is off limits after a certain time? >> only if you're a guest. >> i am a guest. >> you didn't tell me that. >> i said that i'm a guest. >> no. >> i told you that. >> now mr. massy was on the don lemon show. don asked him, why do you think this sort of thing keeps happening across the country?

>> it's hurtful. it's humiliating. and i don't understand why it continues to be an issue. i'm a person at the end of the day, just like everyone else. and i deserve respect and fair treatment. i did not receive that on saturday. i think that there's a lot of perceptions about black males in particular that we're threats and we're harmful and we're just fearful individuals. and you know, that bias it impacts these situations. and it's harmful to us as a people. >> now, insofar as double tree and hilton hotels, the parent company, hilton, issued a statement apologizing for the incident. saying that they do not condone discrimination in any way and clearly after a quick investigation they fired the two individuals. cnn reached out to those two individuals, one kbont gotten ahold of, the other did not get back to us.

but even the mayor of portland, ted wheeler, saying that all of this is part of the systemic nature of discrimination against african-americans in america that happens way too often. mr. massey and his lawyers thankful for what hilton has said and done in response to this, they would like more. they want to see something in writing from them about the policy that led that security guard to confront mr. massey in that way in a public space. the hopes is that it will never happen again. back to you. >> miguel, thank you. and as miguel mentioned, double tree hilton has apologized and hilton has put out this statement saying, quote, we will continue to work with the properties ownership and management, including re-enforcing the availability of hilton's extensive diversity and inclusion training curriculum. this is available to all hotels within our network, including franchised properties. hilton also holds our franchise partners to related standards. we have made diversity and

unconscious bias training mandatory for general managers and encouraged for other hotel managers across out hilton-branded properties. but again to massey's point, it is hurtful and it is humiliating. we'll be back after the break. t. time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only ada-accepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. and they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. 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,

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the most compelling stories. ♪ there's no place likargh!e ♪ i'm trying... ♪ yippiekiyay. ♪ mom.

♪ wrapping up 2018, let's take a look back now at what made the internet tick. cnn anchor brooke baldwin explores the top eight trending stories of the year. ♪ 2018 was the year of the social media activists, people across the country speaking out against sexual assault, gun violence and racism. #activism proved it's a force to be reckoned with. here are our top eight trending stories of the year. times up in 2018. on january 1st, a group of women

in the film industry unveiled times up. as an anti-harassment action plan, a sequel to last year's metoo reckoning. >> we're just pushing the movement along and doing what we can with our voices and our solidarity. >> we're here standing in solidarity with women everywhere saying times up. enough is enough on sexual harassment, assault, abuse of power. >> the group created a legal defense fund to support women who encounter sexual assault, harassment or inequality in the workplace. especially those outside the entertainment industry who lack financial or legal resources. >> and now that we've all joined as one voice, it feels like empowerment to those women who never had it. ♪ number seven -- yanny. >> yanny. >> do you hear yanny? do you hear laurel? similar to 2015's great dress debate, divided the internet in

2018. >> it literally says laurel. >> play it. >> hold on. >> yanny. >> yanny. >> no. >> it seemed everyone had an opinion. >> from law enforcement -- >> what we've determined right now is that the audio sound that you've been hearing is actually the name laurel. >> to capitol hill. >> it is laurel and not yanny. all right? come on. how many laurel fans here? yeah, right. okay. thank you. >> in the end, science called a winner. >> if you heard laurel, you are correct. >> and like the dress, yanny or laurel served as further proof it doesn't take much to break the internet. number six. >> this amazing pace of spider man. >> he was a young migrant from mali living in the shadows. but in the span of 30 seconds, selfless act of bravery

captivated the world. he scaled a four-story building in paris with his bare hands to save a child's life. for his her rorism, french president emmanuel macron granted him citizenship. he now works with the paris fire brigade. number five. a deep sigh of relief after 38 agonizing minutes with nuclear tensions between north korea and the united states running high, people in hawaii got this text. ballistic missile threat inbound to hawaii. seek immediate shelter. this is not a drill. an emergency alert that sent panicked families to seek shelter anywhere they could, with some putting their children in storm drains. within 12 minutes, congress woman tweeted this was a false alarm. but there's no word from the governor who admitted he forgotten his twitter password. >> what happened today was totally unacceptable. >> it took 38 minutes for the emergency alert system to declare a false alarm.

number four. a different kind of activism rocked the internet when dozen of viral videos exposed everyday racism aimed at african-americans. barbecue becky, pool patrol paula. these women got the meme treatment after they called police on black people doing everyday things in public places. starbucks got a scorn after two black men were arrested for waiting in a store in philadelphia. starbucks later apologized for the incident and launched employee anti-bias training. number three. professor christine blasey ford, publicly recounting her alleged sexual assault. >> it's hard for me to breathe. and i thought that brett was accidentally going to kill me. >> ford accused then supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were just teenagers, an accusation he repeat lid denied. president trump mocked ford's testimony during a campaign rally. >> how did you get home?

i don't remember. how did you get there? >> i don't remember where is the place? i don't remember. how many year ago? i don't know. >> series of tweets trump claimed that if the attack ford alleged, quote, was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local law enforcement authorities. the hashtags we believe dr. ford, believe survivors and dear professor ford started trending as hundreds of thousands of women took to social media to express their solidarity and using the hashtag why i didn't report countless more spoke of feeling ashamed and powerless after their own sexual assault experiences of no one believing them. number two, in parkland, florida, the students of marjory stoneman douglas high school turned the worst day of their lives into a political movement. >> we can say, yes, we're going to do all these things, thoughts and prayers. what we need more is action.

students the never again movement to help organize the march for our lives in washington, d.c. which became the most tweeted about movement of all of 2018. >> more than $2.5 million was raised for march for our lives via facebook fundraisers and barack obama's inspirational tweet about the march became the second most liked tweet of the year. and number one, never before has a president used social media quite like this. communicating directly with more than his 57 million followers. from antagonistic tweets about world leaders and political foes to trafficking in half truths, @realdonaldtrump helped set the tone for the day's news coverage and political discourse. whether he's blasted what he calls the rigged witch hunt, calling the media fake news or heaping phrase on allies and

supporters. president tweeted and retweeted more than 3,000 times in 2018 and is the most tweeted about political figure of the year. >> make america great again, everybody. brooke, thanks. in much of the united states, you will need a raincoat or umbrella if you have plans to ring in 2019 outdoors. here's why, very chilly and wet forecast ahead. stay with us. your type 2 diabe, what matters to you? step up to the stage here. feeling good about that? let's see- most of you say lower a1c. but only a few of you are thinking about your heart. fact is, even though it helps to manage a1c, type 2 diabetes still increases your risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke. jardiance is the first type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

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welcome back to news room. new years is just around the corner. here in the states, it is going to be a bit wet and cold, soggy start. >> yes. especially in new york. but that's only a few million people that will attend, right? that's not going to bother anyone. timing is everything, george, and it looks like we'll end 2018 with soggy conditions. look at that. that low will come all the way into the northeast. so we're going to be talking about some rainfall the next few days. all right. let's get to the maps and show you what's going on here as we talk about more rain. the good thing is i guess not a big snowstorm, although that could be fun, too. times square, remember before i forget, no umbrellas, right?

it is going to rain, but you can't take umbrellas. you have to bundle up the way you can here as we check in on this storm system as it continues to push off to the north and east. it will do so bringing some rainfall over the next few days. in fact, areas that have been seeing some very heavy rain with upwards of 12 inches will get a little more unfortunately here, but let's focus in on what's going to be happening with this low. watch the clock here. b by the time we get into monday morning, this is where it is, a wet new year's eve day if you will across the south. here comes the low. the track takes it up into the great lakes which means all the nasty weather out ahead of it. i don't like the way that line is looking, indicating of strong winds, monday through 5:00 p.m. louisville and cleveland and yes all the rainfall makes it into new york. i think it rains around 7, 8:00 and continues heavily as we head into closer midnight. those are the totals as far as what we can expect, anywhere from 2 to perhaps 3 inches down across arkansas.

across the rest of the united states, we have the rain across the east. a little bit of snow there across the southern rockies. otherwise, i think we're doing fine except for the fact that it will be 7 degrees in denver, 19 in salt lake city. that will be the cold spot. warm relatively across the east and that's why we're talking about rain as opposed to snow, right? 49 degrees. a cold rain as the clock strikes midnight. last year we had single digit numbers. i think it was 9 degrees at midnight. not going to be the case this time around. in fact, the last time we had the coldest temperatures back in 1917. last rain, if you're wondering, 1994, that was the last time it was rain when the ball dropped. so there you go. it's going to be a wet one coming up admit night. >> good times. >> yes. >> it's always a good time there. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you, sir. >> of course planning in new york preps are under way for the biggest party in that city. take a look. >> five, four, three, two, one,

happy new year! >> organizers there for the legendary new year's celebration in times square, they practice the confetti drop. luckily all systems are go. some 2,000 pounds of more than 900 kilos of new colorful confetti will be hand dropped into times square on new year's eve. organizers expect 1 million people to ring in the new year there. and as much work as it took to prepare, it will take just as much work to clean it all up. that's this hour of cnn "news room." i'm george howell at the cnn in atlanta. "new day" is next. this is the cable news nerk, cnn, the news world leader. ♪ there's no place like home ♪

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♪ i am proud to shut down the government for border security, chuck. i will at that time mantle. i will be the one to shut it down. i'm not going to blame for you. >> trump is growing increasingly frustrated for his fail tour to get funding for his campaign promise. >> the chances for a border wall is shrunking by the day, upon the hour. >> we don't need to be on the hill whatever, fighting on when are they going to open the government back up. >> he is calling the cops on me because i'm take ago