live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, hello everyone. next here on cnn newsroom, in between golf swings president trump is lashing out against his impeachment. but one republican senator is criticizing how her party is handling the process. we'll tell you about that. also ahead here breaking news, a plane crashed shortly after take off in kazikstan.

will the big win be enough to energize benjamin netanyahu's campaign in the general election? thank you again for joining us and happy holidays. our top story here, since donald trump's impeachment last week, he has made much of the fact that no house republicans voted against him, but maybe the u.s. senate isn't the sure bet he was counting on. just a handful of republican defections there could spell big trouble for the trump white house, and there are already signs of dissent in the ranks. hear's the latest from cnn's boris sanchez in west palm beach, florida. >> reporter: as impeachment looms over president trump's holiday vacation, one gop lawmaker is speaking out.

>> we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense. >> reporter: senator leasy murkowski is openly criticizing the way republicans are handseling the impeachment process, specifically taking aim at senate majority leader mcconnell's close coordination with the white house. >> when i heard that that was disturbed. >> reporter: the moderate republican senator is now a wild card for mcconnell who can't lose more than three republicans in order to keep control of the impeachment trial and possibly a problem for the president after also admitting she remains undecided on whether she'd vote to remove trump. the image of a united party the president frequently brags about -- >> we had 196 or so republicans voting 90%. we didn't lose one republican vote in the house. >> reporter: now showing some cracks. just hours after a christmas day call for americans to exemplify

christ by fostering a culture of deeper understanding and respect, president trump went on the attack blasting house speaker nancy pelosi in a barrage of tweets. again, calling the speaker crazy and saying her district is one of the worst anywhere in the u.s. when it comes to the homeless and crime. she has lost total control. as russia, china and iran announce joint military exercises in the indian ocean and the world awaits if north korea will make good on a threat of a christmas gift trump is also accusing democrats of hindering his foreign policy. tweeting, quote, despite all the great success our country has had over the last three years, it makes it much more difficult to deal with foreign leaders and others when i am having to constantly defend myself against the do nothing democrats and their bogus impeachment scam. the president is keenly aware

and it would be a surprise to see him lashing out against a republican senator suggesting she's being disloyal. after all president trump knows he needs sever single vote he can get in the senate to maintain control over an impeachment trial through senate majority leader mcconnell. of course the president has been aggressively courting republicans lately, inviting them for weekly lunches at the white house. boris sanchez, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. >> cnn political analyst ron brownstein joins us now from los angeles. ron, thanks for coming on. well, the president there is asking how can he deal with foreign leaders with this, quote, bogus impeachment scam, when it was his dealings with a leader that led him to impeachment. butm line he's frustrated if there's not an impasse between republicans and democrats is not going to break anytime soon.

is there? >> this is the one leverage democrats have in the senate which is holding up articles of impeachment, naming the managers and really pressuring all of us and the country to talk about what mitch mcconnell has been saying the rules he envisions in the senate. obviously with 53 votes mcconnell can set the rules against republicans break it, and it's hard to see it getting up to quite that many. the one leverage i think democrats have is this period where attention is being focused on mcconnell's rather remarkable remarks about wanting to essentially prejudge the case. and the question of whether that leaves at least a few of the republican senators uncomfortable enough about the perception of the trial to pressure him to go in a slightly different direction. >> well, one we know who is doing that is republican senator lisa murkowski. she is questioning mcconnell's cooperation with the white house over the trial. the first republican to really

speak out about that. is that significant? >> alone, no, but it is one of several democrats need to create momentum for a different approach. in the end it is highly unlikely any republican is going to say this rises to the level to justify removing the president from office which is something we've never done, but that doesn't mean all of them would be comfortable with what looks to the public a sham trial of trying to sweep this under the table as quickly as possible. it is kind of remarkable we are talking about something this consequential with the prospect of so many key witnesses directly involved in the critical events being offstage, at the president has, you know, pressured figures like mick mulvaney and john bolton not to testify. the idea we would resolve this one way or the other without hearing from them still seem tuesday me just utterly remarkable. >> as this impasse goes on, it looks like it's going on, does it favor either side? >> well, look, democrats

eventually want this to be tried in the sen m. but as i said their point of leverage, their sole point of leverage is the ability to focus attention on the reluctance of the majority to have anything that approaches a trial. don't forget even in the bill clinton case there was several witnesses deposed in the senate trial and that came after a counsel investigation in which anyone relevant spoke including the president himself. we are in a very different situation today when so many key figures have essentially been blocked. and any documentary evidence has been blocked by the administration. the thing that surprises me is there aren't a few more republicans who while desiring to support the president don't see the institutional implications of allowing a executive branch to completely stone wall and precedents are being established that could make a very difficult for a future republican congress to conduct oversight on a future

democratic president. >> president trump will no doubt continue to his use tweets and name call and say this is unfair and a power play by nancy pelosi. in doing so will this help him get support? his approval ratings went up the day he was impeached. >> look, i think what's happening in american politics right now is that you have a very powerful tail wind behind the president which is improving perceptions of the economy. i'm sure americans would say the economy is excellent or good. it's up to about three quarters in cnn polling and polling by other organizations. that's a remarkable number. but the president's approvalrying isn't rising nearly as fast as the pers perceptions of the economy and that's because of these head winds which is producing a situation nearly half the country is split 5050. for bill clinton a third of the

country saying he should be removed from office. and richard nixon reached that in the very last poll before he resigned. so the president has optimism about the economy but there are real doubts about his behavior and issues coming up in the ukraine scandal preventing him from capitalizing as much as a typical president would. >> can you perceive he could potentially give the "state of the union" and there hasn't been an impeachment trial yet? >> i have trouble seeing it going quite that far. as i said at some point they want the senate to be considering this. the bill clinton trial went on long enough that could in fact overlap with the scheduled date on the "state of the union." so we'll have to see how far, you know, 51 senators are willing to go to allow mitch mcconnell to truncate this process as much as possible.

>> thank you so much for your insights. >> thank you for having me. at least 15 people have died after a passenger jet crashed shortly after take off. just seconds into the flight the aircraft plunged to the ground, broke through a fence and hit a two-story building. let's bring in cnn moskow bureau chief nathan hodge with more about it. >> natalie, yes. we were just seeing images this morning of the -- horrific images actually from the ground in kazakstan where an airplane crashed. the aircraft after taking off

just seconds after it crashed a and as you had said hit the ground and went through a concrete barrier and hit a two story building rescue workers have been on the scene, and there are 15 dead and as reported that number has slowly crept up and i think the number here is things in many ways could have been much worse. the plane did not catch fire, the fuel did not catch fire after this crash. images that we see show parts of the fuselage still intact. rescuers were on the scene shortly transfer pulling the victims out and takeling them to hospitals around the region. they've gone to a number of hospitals not very far from elmonty. officials have said they've suspended the operation of beck air, this regional airline as well as the other aircraft.

we've also had messages of condolence message from the first president of kazakhstan but certainly all eyes are on the situation here and of course watching to see what will happen further and whether or not the death toll will climb, natalie. >> yes, we hope not. it's unbelievable footage thereof the cockpit of that plane plowing right into a building. nathan, thank you so much for bringing us the latest. as nathan mentioned, 98 people onboard, 15 have died. earlier i spoke with jeffrey thomas of airline ratings.com. i asked why he thinks so many people survived. >> the plane reached an altitude of 40 feet and then slammed back down to the ground and then smashed into a building, so it's

a big tick to the integrity of the air frame built but very fortunate as your bureau chief said there was no fire. so obviously the fuel tanks remained intact and didn't rupture, so passengers there are very, very lucky there was no fire involved in this very tragic crash. >> right. and we don't know how they were evacuated, but you can see the rescue teams right there. and you can clearly see where the front of the airplane ran right into that building. the investigation, of course, will take some time. but what stands out to you when you read about this crash and only being in the air such a short time before coming right back down? >> look, there are two things that strike me very quickly

here. possibly it was a freezing cold morning so there's possibly an icing issue on the wing. maybe they were not de-iced or the iced was not picked up and the plane suffered an air dynamic stall of the wing, and the other possibility is an engine -- major engine problem. because we know the plane reached a speed of about 175 miles an hour where it lifted off. within seconds that went back to 140 miles an hour when all the data was lost. so the possibility of a significant? gen issue or a stall. but having said that any twin-engine aircraft is designed to take off with full payload on one? gen, so it can lose an engine on take off and still continue to fly satisfactorily, that's the

way they're designed. so there may have been a multiple engine failure as we know possibly to do with the weather. icing conditions extremely cold. they might have been factors. >> right, and fog as well. but you were saying as far as this airplane or the airline they have a good record or were you just referring to the airplane itself? >> well, both, in fact. beck air has a good record. been in business since 2011, has been fatality-free. they've had a couple of incidents but nothing too serious. the foker 100 is an excellent airplane. certainly a few have been lost, but we have to keep in mind where it's operated in remote parts of the world where runways are very short, mountainous regions, that sort of thing and limited navigation aids and

therefore a more hostile environment so a higher casualty rate is to be expected. >> jeffrey thomas for us there. well, post-christmas traveling is turning into a nightmare in southern california. more ahead on the wild mix of rain, snow and wind that has shutdown a major roadway. [throat clears] say hello to your fairy godmother, alice. oh and look they got gain scent beads and dryer sheets too!

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expedia. emergency crews in southern california are trying to clear a major highway that has been shutdown due to a fast moving winter storm. yes, another one. they were moving stuck vehicles on i-5, interstate 5 while some motorests are helping each other push cars stranned in the snow and ice. a high wind advisory is in effect for the region. it's not clear when the roads will reopen. motorists are being told to use alternate routes. makes sense. let's go to our meteorologist derek van dam on where the storm might be headed next. >> not the place you want to be, stranded on the side of a highway. that is particularly dangerous position to be in as well because you get the white out

conditions or low visibility because of the heavy snowfall you see behind me and it didn't take long for other cars to pileup behind the cars stranded already on the roadways. it's very treacherous conditions across southern california. you can clearly see that in the video. the good news is that the storm system is going to slowly wind down with rain and snow in southern california. there's interstate 5 and that runs from the border of mexico all the way to canada. we're going to take this moisture and move it across the four corners region, and you can see the winter storm advisories and warnings in place across this region. but then winter storm watches across the great plains as well as the northwestern secks of the great lakes. that is in anticipation of the system gathering strength and bringing a swath of at least 18 inches of snowfall to that area. look at the snowfall totals coming outlet of southern california. impressive to say the least. over 2 feet of snow in many locations. and here it is evolving. and it's going to tap into gulf

of mexico moisture. so in advance of the storm this is going to be a warm storm, so we'll keep it all rainfall for the eastern two sides of the country. but we draw some of the chillier weather from canada and transition to snowfall. and this is the heavier we're targeting for hefty snowfall. those three states have the potential to see over 18 inches of snow sfaul. yes, that's right, 18 inches plus that is going to bring transportation to a standstill across the area. you can see the mild weather dominating the forecast for the eastern parts of the country. that will change and will the big ball drop it looks like that storm will clear out in time for a dry new year's eve celebration. >> that makes it a little more tolerable right because the rain and the revelers could care less. >> this hour i thought i'd bring you some good news.

>> thanks, derek. >> you're welcome. all right, israel's conservatives are not ready to give up on benjamin netanyahu. the embattled prime minister has won a challenge to his leadership of 72.5% of the vote by his members. you may recall mr. netanyahu faces criminal indictments for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. but he will now lead his party in general elections in march. israel's third vote in 12 months. on thursday he tweeted this, huge victory, i thank the likud members for trust and with your help i will lead to a great victory and will continue leelding the state of israel to unprecedented achievements. mr. netanyahu's path to victory and possibly in the march election has followed an increasingly familiar pattern. our orrin leiberman has that

from jerusalem. >> reporter: this is becoming a familiar image among friends, a black and white picture of prime minister benjamin netanyahu pointing at the camera. the caption says they're not only after me, they're from us. it's copied from president donald trump who used a similar image with a similar message days earlier. the well documented political bromance has been a focus of netanyahu's messaging feeatured heavily in election campaigns. on christmas eve netanyahu promising another gift from the trump administration. >> translator: we are going to bring american recognition of israeli sovereignty in the jordan valley. and pay attention in all of the settlements those in the blocs and those that are not. >> reporter: netanyahu and trump share much more than style. as trump faces impeachment, netanyahu faces criminal indictment, charges of bribery,

fraud and breep of trust in three investigates. netanyahu has insisted he's innocent calling the charges an attempted coup and an immediate driven witch hunt. lines we've heard from trump as well. in messages like this netanyahu has painted himself as the victim while leaning once again on his relationship with trump to boost his standing. but trump borrowed this one. >> i want to especially thank a great man and a great leader, the leader of india, prime minister modi, my friend. >> reporter: it was with another populist leader indian prime minister modi that we first saw the message. >> our great american president mr. donald trump. >> modi's supporters created and spread a meme, a picture of the hindu leader with the words in reality they're not after me, they're after you. i'm just in the way.

with his india' first style of politics modi has celebrated trump's america first brand. >> we believe in the america future and our strong resolve to make america great again. >> modi has also shown his love for netanyahu in 2017 becoming the first sitting inldian prime minister to visit jerusalem. while modi isn't facing any personal corruption scandals, his government has been facing massive protests after passage of a controversial immigration law that critics say discriminates against muslims. that's three nationalist leaders united by a love of brash tactics and strong man strategies. for modi and trump this style of campaigning worked. it's less clear with netanyahu who faces a third straight election within 12 months already having failed to form a government twice.

orrin leiberman, cnn, jerusalem. if you're watching internationally, african voices change makers is next for you. here in the u.s., more news with me just ahead. [ dramatic music ]

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welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. a passenger jet has crashed killing at least 15 people including the captain. authorities say the beck air flight lost altitude shortly after take off and it hit a two story building. it was carrying 93 passengers and five crew members. the cause of the crash of course

under investigation. benjamin netanyahu has scored a eare swrounding victory in his bid to continue leading israel's likud party. the prime minister won 72% of party members votes. he now faces a general election in march. a source tells cnn that legal scholar allen dershowitz is in talks to join president trump's impeachment defense. dershowitz and mr. trump were seen talking recently at the president's mar-a-lago resort. dershowitz has been a frequent defender of mr. trump and has offered his legal advice in dealing with the upcoming impeachment trial in the u.s. senate. as president trump looks to the 2020 election he faces an uphill battle with hispanics. a recent cnn poll shows only 29% of those u.s. voters approve of the job he's doing. but one group of hispanics in

texas insists he is the candidate most in line with their values, and they're campaigning hard for mr. trump's re-election. cnn's nick valencia talked with him in el paso. >> reporter: are you a member of border hispanics yet? >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: ray has his work cut out for him, his goal is to get latinos to help re-elect the president, but the odds are against him. >> i'm with border hispanics for trump. have you heard of us? >> reporter: as the 65-year-old sees it there are countless latinos who supports the president but are afraid to admit it. >> i look at president trump as the one who most closely represents my values. >> people will hear that and say values, what values does the president have? >> i mean that by being against

abortion, being for border security. >> reporter: indeed support for trump in texas among latinos has remained steady at 30% according a recent cnn poll. >> when mexico sends its people they're not sending their best. >> how can you still support somebody who they see as saying racist things against the latino community? >> i disagree. i roly don't think he says things that are racist. >> he says anyone who blames trump because of his rhetoric and border policies are trying to make political hay of his shooting. >> i just don't think you can hold a president, president trump in particular for the actions of a single mad man. >> he agrees with the president on most things but not everything. mainly though he supports the idea of a wall he questions the

practicality of building one across the entire mexican border, a signature issue for trump and his base. >> i see him warts and all. i don't want to spend, you know, $200 billion on a wall if you can do it for $50 million and solve the problem. good to see you, good to see you. >> reporter: tonight his pitch for trump comes at an impromptu gathering but even in a friendly crowd it can be a hard sell. >> i'll think about it. >> bye-bye. >> can't win them all. >> reporter: but there are already some unlikely voters he doesn't have to win over. >> president trump was the first president you voted for? >> yes. >> reporter: originally from mexico 29-year-old bianca became a u.s. citizen just five years ago. she plans on voting for trump again in 2020. >> oftentimes i ask why or i feel like someone's going to throw eggs at me or i'm going to

be shunned from the hispanic community, you know. >> reporter: shunned by some perhaps but that's what ray and trump are counting on. nick valencia, cnn, el paso, texas. right now we want to turn to syria and ongoing fighting there. yes, still going on. for hundreds of thousands of syrians, the idea of a home and a warm bed no longer exists. they live their life on the move hoping to outrun air strikes. over the last week the fighting in idlib, syria's last opposition led territory has intensified and aid groups say they cannot keep up with the growing humanitarian needs. we get our report from rarwa damon in istanbul.

>> reporter: they don't need an explanation anymore. they have done this so many times that a notion of a home, a warm bed to feel safe and snug, that ceased to exist. we don't know where to know or where we will end up. it's an existence on the move, try, praying that the bombs won't catch up to them or when they do that they will somehow survive. but this time it feels different. the bombing's more intense, final, deliberate. entire areas in and around idlib province are temptying out again. upwards of 130,000 people are on the move. the children couldn't sleep through the night, they were crying every hour, he says, holding his daughter. so young this is all she knows. it's a cycle they all know well, one that starts with renewed intense bombings, then the

panicked packing up, the overwhelming sense of feeling lost, not knowing where to go but having to flee, finding some sort of makeshift shelter. i'm taking my family and we're heading to a tent, he says. whether or not we can have a tent is still unknown. the province syria's last rebel strong hold has never been able to meet the humanitarian needs of the growing displaced population. the turkish ihh who poperates in idlib says they don't have the resources. the first night we came we slept on the ground. we didn't even have blankets this woman says begging for a tent, a stove, anything. many end up just establishing themselves along the road once they think they have reached safety. but as the regime with russian backing closes in, that may not be far enough. arwa damon, cnn, istanbul. a popular ski slope in

switzerland is declared safe from an avalanche, and then the unexpected happens. at least two skiers were buried in an avalanche. we'll have the story next.

look at this close call on a mountain. video from a ski resort in switzerland shows the moment a mountain side of snow suddenly gave way. numerous skiers were on the slope at the time. some were able to outrun the avalanche, but six people got caught. avalanches in the alps are not uncommon, but this was unusual. it was on a well-used ski slope where the avalanche risk was not considered high. we get more about it from scott mcclain out of london. >> reporter: these skiers in the swiss alps are probably lucky to

be alive. video captured the avalanche after it started to slide. it you look closely at the video you can see little black dots. those are people. some of them are safe off to the side. at least two of them managed to outrun the slide on their skis. and according to local authorities six people were swallowed up. amazingly four of them were able to dig themselves out while a search party involving dogs, three helicopters and about 25 other skiers dug out two other people with minor injuries and flew them to a hospital. now, the avalanche was triggered late thursday morning on a mountain about 70 miles south of zurich. the search for survivors lasted well into the evening. thankfully officials now believe that everyone has been accounted for. what makes this unusual is that it didn't happen in the back country where avalanche risk is typically much higher. this happened at a ski resort in bounds on a run they believed was safe. that part of the mountain will

be closed while officials try to sort out what went wrong. a typhoon has left a deadly mark on the philippines. at least 28 people have died, 12 others are still missing. the storm made landfall tuesday and has destroyed homes and businesses. dozens of cities are without power. the storm is now over the south china sea where it's expected to weaken to a tropical depression before making landfall in northern vietnam on sunday. it has been almost four months since hurricane dorian tore through the bahamas leaving parts parts of the island chain completely devastated. cnn's michael holmes reports on the long road to recovery. >> reporter: in an area still ravaged by disaster, volunteers clear the homes of those forced to leefave everything behind. >> we found a wedding dress, and we saw pictures and trophies.

we had photo albums, a box of childrens toys. and to have it just be completely ruined and completely taken out was a difficult day. and that's the average house here. that's the average house here. >> reporter: after the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the bahamas, parts of this island nation remain in ruins. recovery often depends on the kindness of strangers. >> i was actually one of the first volunteers on the ground, and it was mixed emotions. very hard to process the amount of devastation that was here. so -- sorry. that's it. it's just these people need a lot and i have the time to get it so -- >> reporter: she felt compelled to help after watching hurricane dorian throttle the bahamas on

television in september. >> the waterline hit i guess about here. >> reporter: she and a group of volunteers are now working to rebuild some of the worst hit areas where the situation is still dire. >> we have no electricity for the most part in this area. the people are trying to make sure that they have a place just to stay that has, you know, no holes in the roof. we've had people come up to us and ask us just for water. >> reporter: an great abico and great bahama thousands lost their homes. earlier this month the prime minister said 70 people had lost their lives and more were still missing. millions of dollars of aid has poured in, but the storm left billions of dollars in damage. >> there's a tremendous amount of work to be done here. >> reporter: in long-term destruction volunteers must prioritize how to rebuild. >> disasters take a very long time to recover from.

years not months. it's a bit of a misconception. and in places like this school what we need is the man power, the volunteers to come and do the work to work alongside the bohamians and help recover these communities. >> reporter: amidst the devastating loss there are still signs of hope. >> they have very large needs still but they still laugh, still smile, still thank us. >> reporter: communities and volunteers banding together on a long road to recovery. michael holmes, cnn. the opioid epidemic ravaged communities across the u.s. in 2019. next hear what's being done to fight it and a look at the years other health headlines. that's next here on "cnn newsroom."

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the climate crisis, the measles outbreak and the opioid endemic all made headlines in 2019. dr. sanjay gupta has a look at

the top health issues of the year. >> beyond some of the hottest temperatures on record and month after month of disasters 2019 also showed us how climate change is directly impacting our health. it also makes it so these plants have less of the good stuff like zinc, iron and protein. it's turning some of the best foods we humans have into junk here food. we reported in our documentary we find this year was all about cbd. while there have been some remarkable stories of success as we've shown you, no medicine works for everyone, not even cbd. >> it wasn't the benefit they were necessarily seeking. >> reporter: all of it, though, underlining how much we have to learn when it still comes to

cannabis. we also saw some major recalls including several popular heart medications including one known as losarten and allergon issued a worldwide recall of implants and tissue expanders. they were found to be linked to a rare cancer. some of the best news of 2019 came in our fight against hiv/aides. president trump announced his commitment to ending the aides epidemic. >> my budget will ask democrats and republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the hiv epidemic in the united states within ten years. >> reporter: scientists also discovered a new strain of hiv for the first time in nearly two decades. it doesn't pose a new threat, but it does prove the current testing for hiv continue tuesday be effective. also good news in new york city,

they hit their hiv/aids target two years early meaning now 90% of people who have hiv are now on treatment. i still can't believe this one u.s. life expectancy continues to be on the decline, despite the fact the united states spends more on health care per capita than any other country in the world, suicides, alcohol related illnesses and drug overdoses are largely to blame. which brings us to theope yod epidemic. the odds of dying from an opioid overdose in the united states are greater than dying in a vehicle crash. in october two ohio counties received a landmark settlement of $216 million from a top drugmaker and three major drug distributors. >> we need resources from the parties that cause this problem. they need to make it right and that's the bench mark this sets. >> the spotlight on the importance of vaccines continue to shine as the united states

saw the largest measles outbreak since it was declared eliminated back in 2000. there have been more than 1,200 individual cases that have been confirmed across 30 states and still there are people out there that are not getting vaccinated. i've said it before and i'll say it again antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest health concerns of our time because it's creating these super bugs that have the ability to outsmart even our most sophisticated medications. >> you can pick something up just about anywhere and it literally has the potential to affect every person on the planet. >> and now a landmark shows that a person dies from one of these super bugs every 15 minutes and about 35,000 deaths every year. in 2019 a story that started out as a cause for concern turned into a full on outbreak. >> the cdc has narrowed its

investigation into the vaping linked lung disease. >> reporter: since the first report of a vaping disease in august all 50 states have been hit by this illness. >> the outbreak of pulmonary injury associated with vaping or e-cigarettes is an emergency. we're seeing young people become critically ill and die. >> reporter: the cdc has zeroed in on thc products and i think the larger issue though is the staggering rise in vaping among young people. >> how would you describe the vaping situation in your school? >> it got kind of bad last year. some people did it too much, like a lot too much and it escalated, i think. >> the cdc says that more than 6 million middle and high school students used a tobacco product this year.

that's up from about 4.9 million last year and e-cigarettes were found to we the most common. there's others that worry that a ban would hurt those who do use e-cigarettes kesfully as a smoking cessation tool. there's been some big issues in 2019 as you can see but a lot of possible solutions as well. here's to 2020. >> thank you for joining me on "cnn newsroom." i'm natalie allen. "early start" is next. happy holidays.

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breaking overnight, more than a dozen killed after a plane goes down after a takeoff from kazakhstan. the plane torn to pieces and there are survivors. a report moments away. snow and rain moving fast. the west pummeled. the plains and the east looking for an ugly weekend. the senate wants answers. but senate leaders are no closer on an impeachment deal. your secret santa wasn't this nice. what one woman got and what billionaire was behind it. good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. >> it is friday, december 27th. 4:00 a.m