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president joe biden pardoned his son, hunter biden, saying that there were signs that his son was being selectively and unfairly prosecuted. >> biden taking a step that is going to be very controversial even with his own party to protect his son. >> this is a part of his legacy. now, there is no doubt about it. >> the rebel group seemed to be having surprising success. >> the real picture of what's going on is still emerging. >> don't travel unless you absolutely have to. >> people up here, when we get snow, everybody forgets how to drive. i like it when it's not like this. >> when i only have to shovel a couple inches at a time. that's what i like live from london. >> this is cnn newsroom with max foster and christina macfarlane hello, warm welcome

to our viewers joining us from the u.s. >> and around the world. i'm max foster and i'm christina macfarlane. >> it's monday, december 2nd, 9 a.m. here in london, 4 a.m. in nantucket, massachusetts, where u.s. president joe biden spent the thanksgiving holiday with family before dropping a political bombshell on sunday, he announced a full and unconditional pardon for his son, hunter. >> if you think that sounds odd, you may be remembering this clip from just a few months ago with regard to the question regarding the family i'm extremely proud of my son hunter. >> he has overcome an addiction. he has. he's one of the brightest most decent men i know and i am satisfied that i'm not going to do anything i said. i abide by the jury decision and i will do that and i will not pardon him well, maybe you're thinking of this moment from just a few weeks ago. >> his son hunter is also up for being sentenced next month. does the president have any

intention of pardoning him? >> we've been asked that question multiple times. our answer stands, which is no. >> it's pretty clear president biden issued a statement shortly after the announcement explaining his reasoning he said in part, no reasonable person who looks at the facts of hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than hunter was singled out. only because he was my son and that's wrong. >> so what specifically is this pardon covering? well, hunter biden was convicted on three federal felony gun charges in june in a trial that exposed details of his drug abuse. he faced up to 25 years in prison for those crimes. he also pleaded guilty to nine charges in a federal tax case in september. >> biden was due for sentencing in both cases later this month. he's the first immediate family member of a sitting us president to be found guilty of a crime. >> cnn's evan perez has more details on how the president reached this decision president joe biden has pardoned his son, hunter biden

saying that there were signs that his son was being selectively and unfairly prosecuted. >> now, hunter biden was facing the prospect of spending several years in prison after being convicted on gun charges in delaware and on tax charges in los angeles. now, the president has repeatedly said that he would not pardon his son. take a listen. >> let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome? their verdict, no matter what it is yes. and have you ruled out a pardon for your son? yes you have. >> in a statement on sunday night, the president said the charges in this case came about only after several of my political opponents in congress instigating them to attack me and oppose my election he also goes on to say that for my entire career, i have followed a simple principle just tell the american people the truth. they'll be fair minded. and here's the truth i believe in the justice system, but as i have wrestled with this, i also believe raw politics has infected this process and it has led to a miscarriage of

justice. now, joe biden took office in 2021, promising to restore faith in the justice system, and this statement on sunday night indicates that he believes the justice system has failed to treat his son fairly. now, hunter biden will be covered under this pardon for anything that happened between 2014 and 2024. so the question remains whether republicans in congress and whether the incoming trump administration will find new reasons to investigate hunt by hunter biden and the biden family, as they have said they repeatedly would do. evan perez, cnn washington. >> donald trump's team has issued a statement on hunter biden's pardon, saying in part, the failed witch hunts against president trump have proven that the democrat controlled doj and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system. that system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all

americans, which is exactly what president trump will do. >> the president elect himself called the move an abuse and miscarriage of justice that's despite his own multiple convictions and the fact that trump pardoned a member of his own extended family for federal crimes during his first term. trump has even picked that man charles kushner to serve as us ambassador to france. >> republicans and democrats are now weighing in on both the immediate and the long term ramifications of this pardon. senate republican chuck grassley, posted to social media saying, quote, i'm shocked president biden pardoned his son hunter, because he said many, many times he wouldn't. and i believed him shame on me. >> well, outside of washington, colorado's democratic governor, jared polis added his thoughts on the president saying, quote, i am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. this is a bad precedent that could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. >> senate republican josh hawley, weighing in as well, calling the president's move an outrageous abuse of the rule of

law. bernardo villalona is a criminal defense attorney and former new york prosecutor. he joins us from new york to discuss all of this. thank you so much for joining us. bernard, christi and i are discussing this earlier. you know, on one level it is, you know, seen as an abuse of power because only the president can do this. but at the same time, there is a history of this going back to bill clinton exactly. >> this is not an abuse of power. the president has the absolute power to grant a pardon. and let's not forget that president biden, not only is he the us president, but he's also the father. he is the father of hunter biden. and he we have to remember that he is human. and when we look at this, we're talking about two crimes. and those crimes normally would not have been prosecuted. when we look at the gun possession, not the gun possession, but the signing of that application that originally was going to end up as a non-prosecution agreement. so it wasn't supposed to go to trial to begin with. if we remember that the plea broke

down in front of the judge when the judge asked questions of both parties, and it seems that it wasn't clear as to what the agreement was. so we weren't going to end up with a trial to begin with. >> well, if that were the case and that we weren't going to end up with trials to begin with, and then i guess a likely jail time for hunter biden, why would president biden have taken the political hit on this? you know, the risk to his legacy well we have to think that president biden, at this point, he's not taking a political hit in the sense that he is not running for reelection. >> he is not running for political office. so yes, people will speak of him. the democrats will speak about him. the republicans, of course, will tarnish his name as well. and of course convicted felon donald trump will continue to spout his lies and his negative thoughts of president biden but he's not taking a political hit in a sense. again, he's not running for political office he's accused president trump in the past of undermining the judicial system and its

independence. >> isn't he just doing exactly the same? surely a judicial system is there to be left to its own devices as a branch of democracy and you can't have a president weighing in and saying it doesn't work because every other you know, suspect could basically claim the same yes, i do take issue as to president biden stating that the judicial system doesn't work. >> yes, i have my problems and issues with the judicial system, but for the president to say that the judicial system doesn't work and for him to selectively say, i'm going to pardon my son, hunter biden, then what does that say for others that have been part of this criminal justice system? what does that say for others that have been have issues with the criminal justice system and have been erroneously accused and convicted of a crime? so i do take issue with that. but i think the most important thing to remember as to what's the biggest gain of this pardon is that, remember, we have the convicted felon donald trump about to take office, and he

has already said that he is going on a vengeance against those that have gone against them. and primarily president biden and especially as a target hunter biden. so this pardon that includes that ten year period of january 2014 till december 31st of 2024, that's going to preclude the justice department and anyone else seeking a federal type of indictment against his son, hunter biden so that is completely off the table. and it closes this saga on hunter biden. >> does it close the saga, though? i mean, is it likely or even possible that the justice department will reopen cases against hunter biden outside of the time frame of this pardon? >> they can try to reopen cases against hunter biden. the question is, do those cases exist prior to 2014? and also, we have to remember that aside from the doj trying to open any cases or investigations there

are still other factors that come into play. there's still a judicial system in the sense that if you do decide to prosecute him, there will be a trial a trial where jurors will hear the evidence and both sides would also be heard but that the prosecution will have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. so i find it highly unlikely that any type of investigation having to deal with hunter biden will go anywhere if a court had sentenced him to prison, was that an opportunity? >> was that one of the options? by the way oh absolutely. >> hunter biden did face jail time on both of the matters but with this party now, both of these cases are going to be dismissed. in fact, hunter biden's attorneys have already sent their letter to the judge asking for the cases to be dismissed. >> the point of sending someone to jail is to because they're a threat to society, and you've got a us president saying i'm going to allow someone who's potentially a threat to society remaining in society away from the fact that it's a son um,

that feels like a danger. you can see how some people take massive issue with that yes. >> but in terms of these crimes that he was found. well, he was found guilty in terms of the delaware gun case, but in terms of the california case, he actually pled guilty. none of those crimes were crimes of violence. so there's not a threat of any danger as to hunter biden. but we also have to remember that, remember that both of these cases, they weren't going to end up with any jail time to begin with. and when we're talking about sentencing, on the other hand i highly doubt that any of these judges were going to sentence hunter biden to anything significant of a jail sentence, given the crimes and also given that he accepted responsibility as to the california case and as to the drug case, that that drug case having to signed that form dealt with his addiction. he was at a time where he was addicted to drugs so when they

take into account that he has no criminal record, his addiction that he accepted responsibility it's highly doubt that a judge would have sentenced him to jail to begin with. >> yeah, i think bernardo makes a good case there. in the case of the gun control. i mean, that was him incorrectly filling in a form so not necessarily a crime per se, but obviously we'll wait to see how the trump administration view this when they come into office. for now bernardo villalona, thank you so much for your thoughts. >> there's just so many ways into it, isn't it? as a parent you can look at it one way. as a you know, as bernardo pointed out, you know this isn't a corruption of the system because the system is that the president is allowed to do it. but at the same time, it feels dishonest because of what he said in the past and what he represents in many ways. >> yeah, i think the idea that it could set a precedent for other presidents to follow in future is perhaps the biggest risk here. but in general, i mean i feel like he is within it's within his remit to do this right. so, okay, that being the case, the debate goes

on meanwhile, rebel forces ramping up their offensive in syria as russia backs the assad regime with a series of airstrikes. >> we'll have a live report for you. >> plus protests in georgia are spreading as people in the country react to the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the european union. that ahead can a body wash transform your chest arms, legs? >> it's olay body wash with skincare ingredients and ten times more vitamin b3 complex. so in 14 days, see visibly better skin. olay body wash discover yours. >> hi, i'm adam, co-founder of helix sleep. >> we saw that buying a mattress is way too confusing and way too expensive. we started helix to change that. just go to helix sleep dotcom, take our two minute sleep quiz and find your guaranteed perfect mattress. we were even

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mess has really gone. >> if not, they may mark the spot. resolve gets rid of pet messes better than the leading competitor destroying stains neutralizing odors, and preventing remarking. love the love resolve the mess we're following some breaking news this hour. >> the israeli military has confirmed the death of american-israeli soldier omer maxim neutra during the hamas led attack in israel on october seventh last year. nada bashir is joining us here with the latest. what more do we know about the individual? he was actually captured on october 7th, right? >> that's right. and we're just getting this confirmation this morning from the israeli military. they say that he was killed during the hamas attacks of october seventh and then captured. and taken into the gaza strip. we've been hearing from the hostages families forum, which has expressed its condolences to the family of omar neutra. he was a 21 year old american israeli soldier who had been stationed near the gaza strip on the day of the october 7th attacks. they say

that the family was informed that he died and was killed on october 7th. earlier this morning and has since, of course, been held captive since october 7th. of course this is a huge moment of grief for many. we've been hearing from the israeli foreign ministry who have expressed their condolences to the family members as well. again, confirming that he was killed on october 7th and subsequently kidnaped. but of course, this comes right after the weekend when we saw that video released of another israeli-american hostage edan alexander. a video of him seemingly perhaps under duress pleading with prime minister netanyahu and president elect donald trump to do more to secure the release of hostages. we've been hearing from the white house, which said that u.s. officials will continue to work to secure the immediate release of all remaining hostages. >> meanwhile, 200 palestinians killed over the weekend. >> that's right. we've been seeing yet more airstrikes across gaza particularly in northern gaza. five buildings housing some 200 people in northern gaza were struck in two areas, tel al zaatar and

beit lahiya. we've been hearing from the director of the kamal adwan hospital. this is a hospital which is, on a daily basis, overrun with casualties. he has described the catastrophic nature of the situation really in northern gaza. he said this is becoming a daily occurrence for northern gaza. he has also said that no one has been able to stop the killing of innocent civilians. and what we're also seeing as well is, of course, the humanitarian situation just getting worse. we've been hearing from the chief of the un relief and works agency for palestine refugees they've been now forced to stop or suspend aid crossings through the kerem shalom crossing. that's the main crossing from israel into gaza because of looting, taking place. they say that the real dire humanitarian situation has compounded this issue within the gaza strip. and then we're hearing more about the shelter situation as well. we've been hearing from the world health organization. they say a year ago, the vast majority of people were taking shelter in schools in un run buildings. now, a year later, 90% of people in gaza are sheltering in tents and you can imagine in the winter months that is extremely difficult. so

the fear is that people now not only being killed as a result of the airstrikes and military operations on the ground, but also as a result of starvation and being cold in the winter and i think we've all seen in recent days those images of of tents on beaches with the sea coming in the, you know the the cold coming in and the fact that it's just going to get so much worse, isn't it in the month or two to come. and this is an area, of course, the coastal area where the israeli military has pushed civilians to. so it's exactly nowhere else to go. >> nadav. thank you now, the white helmets, a volunteer rescue group in syria says joint russian and syrian strikes on sunday killed dozens of people, including women and children. the two militaries say they've been hitting rebel targets in aleppo, idlib and hama after rebels launched a surprise offensive last week. videos from idlib show teams trying to rescue people trapped in the rubble meanwhile, rebel forces are

expanding their control in syria. >> they claim to have made significant gains in the northern countryside of aleppo, capturing several towns and villages well, let's bring in jj consulting fellow with the middle east and north africa program at chatham house. >> thank you so much for joining us. i think the speed of the rebels advance here really shocked a lot of people. and exposed perhaps the fragility of assad's hold over the country. how was this rebel coalition able to make inroads so effectively and so quickly in recent days thank you for having me. >> i think they're a different factors that contributed to the speedy sort of, uh gains that rebel forces have been able to achieve. >> one of them is related to the weakening of assad forces over the past years uh, lack of military as well as financial resources.

>> assad also is not receiving as much support from his uh, allies, mainly russia and iran. and that has been clear in the first few days of the attacks where we did not see as, uh, many russian airstrikes on rebel forces as we saw in previous sort of, uh, attacks and in addition to all of that, rebel forces have been able to, um improve their uh, military skills coordination and as well as the weaponry that they have and, uh, they managed to then, uh break through the regime defenses. and i think after that, everything is sort of created a domino effect that led to the advancements that we we have seen recently. who are they being backed by well, this is this is something that i think is still debatable, because if you look at official statements, uh, that right now it seems that,

uh turkey which at least, uh, uh generally supports some of the rebel factions that have participated in the fight, they are saying that we are not part of the uh, operation and we are not supporting it. uh, groups on the ground they also indicate that turkey did not support the operation, but did not oppose it either. so it seems that the decision was taken by rebel forces on the ground, and they have made those, uh, advancements of their own. >> and we were hearing from our reporter ben wedeman in the last hour saying that after the initial shock of their advance, the regime and its supporters are now sorry, the supporters to the regime are now trying to bolster it. um, we know that russia and iran were there intervention in the syrian war back in 2015 was obviously very influential in helping assad reclaim ground. but we know that currently those allies are engaged in wars elsewhere. i

mean, how vulnerable is assad in this moment, given where the support lies for him uh, clearly very vulnerable, as we have seen in recent days. >> but i think that this is the real test right now is whether the regime allies will be able to mobilize enough forces to a stop rebel forces from advancing, and then b recapture the areas they have lost in recent days. so far there are indications that at least iraqi uh, militias that are backed by iran have been mobilizing their forces to syria. uh, it seems that russia has signaled that they might provide more support but on the ground, we have not seen enough sort of evidence to show that they have been able to provide assad with enough sort of support to tip the balance in his favor okay hayden,

hayden, thank you very much for your analysis today now, the prime minister of guinea says there have been multiple casualties following a crowd crush at a football match. one video from social media shows fans scrambling to flee the packed stadium, some scaling that wall. a local news report says fans and security officers clashed over decisions by the referee that was followed by a crush as crowds tried to leave the stadium. cnn hasn't been able to verify the report though, but we will have much more on our breaking news and the reactions to us. >> president biden's decision to issue an unconditional pardon for his son hunter, on gun and tax crimes. stay with us for that cnn heroes on all star tribute. >> find out who will be named the cnn hero of the year sunday at eight on cnn time to press rewind with neutrogena rapid wrinkle repair. >> it has derm proven retinol

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hi. >> welcome back to cnn newsroom. here are some of the top stories we're following today. u.s. president joe biden is going back on a promise he made when running for a second term. he has issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son. hunter biden was convicted on three federal gun charges in june and he faced up to 25 years in prison for those crimes. romania's ruling leftist social democrats look set to win sunday's parliamentary election this is the second of three voting rounds to elect a new president and parliament if early results hold a pro-western coalition would likely be able to form a government through the far right. though the far right would remain a substantial force and moviegoers took to the air in the u.s. took advantage of the long thanksgiving holiday weekend. the trifecta of disney's moana two, wicked and gladiator two pulled in an estimated $420 million. moana two had a record five day opening of nearly $221

million in the u.s. >> on the breaking news, us president joe biden's decision to pardon his son hunter president biden made the announcement on sunday, saying raw politics had led to a miscarriage of justice in the cases against his son, hunter biden faced sentencing this month on tax and gun charges, including two counts of making a false statement on a federal gun reform and unlawful possession of a firearm. >> well, president elect trump, who's no stranger to controversial pardons himself, said does the pardon given by joe to hunter include the six hostages who've now been imprisoned for years? such an abuse and miscarriage of justice and former nixon white house counsel john dean weighed in, saying this controversy won't go anywhere anytime soon the democrats have been trying to play by the norms, and then here we have trump coming in with norm busting nominees for cabinet posts particularly at fbi and the department of justice so that isn't going to

play. >> i mean, you can't really argue norms in these situations. this is a norm buster, too. but i think it'll be probably heatedly debated for some time those closest to the president say his 11th hour decision to pardon hunter biden comes as no surprise. >> cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny assesses the impact of sunday's announcement on biden's political legacy this is a part of his legacy. >> now, there is no doubt about it. and if you really think across an extraordinary five decades of public life, his long rise from the senate, of course, the senate judiciary committee chairman to the vice presidency, to the presidency he's really acknowledging in his statement that washington has changed. he believes politics has changed. and he believes that hunter biden has been unfairly treated. of course others will have a different view of that. but clearly, in his fleeting moments of executive authority,

he has it until january 20th at noon. this is clearly something that he had to do. if he was going to do it, had to act. now december 12th is the first sentencing, and clearly chose family over any concerns of his political legacy. >> here we're also learning more about donald trump's controversial decision to pick firebrand loyalist kash patel to lead the fbi. sources say those close to the president elect argued that patel, a staunch fbi critic, was the only choice to truly reform the bureau that trump has long seen as biased against him. here's what patel had to say about the fbi and going after trump's political enemies i'd shut down the fbi, hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state we will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media. >> yes we're going to come after the people in the media who lied

about american citizens who helped joe biden rig presidential elections. we're going to come after you the role would give patel the power to follow through on such threats. >> former republican congressman and cnn senior political commentator adam kinzinger explains why americans should brace themselves there's a certainly an infinite amount of picks right now that are bad that this administration has put in, and kash patel is among the very worst of it. >> i mean, look donald trump is he does one thing really well. he's a he projects. so when he accuses somebody, for instance, of politicizing the fbi, what that actually means is he intends to politicize it and that's exactly what's going to happen with kash patel. donald trump was not quiet about what he intended to do i just think america is getting ready in some cases to touch the stove and understand how bad a really politicized fbi actually is. >> amidst this highly charged partisan atmosphere in washington, cnn senior political analyst ron

brownstein says, don't count out the prospect that biden could issue more pardons in the short time he has left democrats. >> i think, you know, started the biden presidency with the idea that if they stood for norms, they would make it harder for republicans to depart from those norms. and, you know, you got merrick garland and all the hesitancy in the justice department about taking on donald trump for years and then donald trump nominated matt gaetz and kash patel to the fbi. and the idea that like, there's a forbearance on the part of democrats that will kind of embarrass trump into upholding norms, just seems to me nonsensical. so you know, if you're what you're talking about here is, you know, biden taking a step that is going to be very controversial, even with his own party to protect his son. but is certainly in line with what we have seen from trump in the past with all of his senior campaign aides and advisers paul manafort, roger stone yesterday, you know, the pardon for jared

kushner's father, who is now sending to france, wants to send to france as the ambassador. i actually think that you know, there's going to be obviously a lot of uproar about this, but some of the question is going to be should should biden go further given how biden, given how trump has overtly threatened to prosecute people who are involved for example, in his, you know, in the in the special counsel's investigation of his role in january 6th, is that something biden should consider well, meanwhile mr. president biden is now on his way to angola on a trip postponed since october. >> it will be his first time in africa as president. he'll highlight several u.s. initiatives, which he hopes will continue when donald trump takes office. we'll see, sunlen safadi reports this is certainly a long anticipated trip for president biden. >> this was originally scheduled for back in october but the trip had to be postponed as biden dealt with the two hurricanes that were hitting the u.s. at the time.

now, while in angola, he'll be meeting with the president. he will be delivering remarks, according to a senior administration official about both countries shared history and highlight the growth and strength of their relationship. but while he's there, administration officials say that he's going to spend a lot of time talking about china's growing influence in the region and about investing specifically for that reason into africa's infrastructure. referencing the rail corridor project that the u.s. supports and a white house official suggesting that this is the same sort of initiative that they hope these sorts of initiatives can be carried on in the trump administration. and that is certainly going to be one thing that is hanging over this trip for president biden the fact that in just two short months, he will be leaving office and handing the reins over to president trump. sunlen serfaty, cnn at the white house in georgia, protesters lobbed fireworks at

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there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. now or visit send info kit.com. >> physicians mutual physicians mutual protesters and police clashed in georgia's capital tbilisi in the early hours of monday morning check it out below a sign that opposition is spreading to the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the european union. >> while tensions remain high between the ruling georgian dream party and its opponents, who accuse it of pursuing authoritarian anti-western and pro-russian policies, cnn's sebastian shukla is in berlin following developments. seb, talk to us about the latest on these clashes between the police and the protesters and the reasons behind what's fueling them

well, guys, the protest that we've just been showing pictures of have been going on now for the fourth night in a row, and they show no signs of calming down at the moment. those pictures are quite dramatic, where we've seen protesters firing fireworks at the police, but equally, we've also seen the police acting in a very heavy handed measure to try and quell any forms of dissent. there are videos circulating on social media of the police beating protesters. there are reports of opposition politicians being arrested as well. now, i've seen one video of a police officer kicking a protester in the head so the protests themselves and the standoff between the protesters and the police looks set to continue. but as you were saying, christina, the issue that kicked off these protests is the decision by the georgian dream, the government of georgia, to suspend talks with the eu on georgia's ascension

to becoming a member of the bloc, now that is a very, very controversial decision for georgians because for a long time, georgia has and its georgian people have maintained that they want to become a member, a fully integrated member of those western institutions, including the eu but also nato as well this will mark a major departure in that policy for georgia and what many people are saying in the u.s. and the eu is that this will take russia will take georgia down into a path more akin to its northern neighbor of of russia. so we've seen the protests continue out onto the streets and clashes with the police. but there is also now discussions and heated debate ongoing within the political realm as well. the president of georgia is due to step down from her position a ceremonial one, at the end of the year, but she has said she's not going anywhere now she views these elections,

which took place in october, as illegitimate and the eu has called for fresh elections to be held within a year because they also saw them as being unfair. but the prime minister of georgia, who does hold the power of the governing party together, has said she's got to go. there is no democratic way in which she is able to stay so we will see how these protests unfold. but it's not something that is new to georgia over the last few months, we've seen protests like this and clashes on the streets outside parliament over a variety of different laws that the georgian dream party has tried to pass in. in in georgia, which included a foreign agents bill and a more restrictive bill on lgbtq plus rights as well. both of those georgians say look like they are coming less in line with the eu and more in line with the kremlin style kremlin style authoritarian regime. >> guys. yeah as you say, sir,

these there have been protests before there's a theme here. i'm just wondering if you feel it's growing the momentum against the government, moving outside tbilisi and more of a groundswell against the current leadership yeah, i think that there are protests that have been taking place in the other georgian cities. >> what hasn't been what is difficult to get a sense of is just how big those protests are. but when you go and speak to people and we've, you know, we've seen people speaking on the streets of georgia that this really isn't the path that they want to go down. there was a poll done earlier this year which put 80% of georgians saying that they want to become members of the eu. the fact that the government has said openly now that they don't want to pursue that, or at least they want to pause, it is a big is a big deal for georgians, and they are manifesting their hate on the streets. i mean, it's somewhat symbolic, isn't it, max, that these protests are taking place largely

outside the seat of government as it's really becoming a clash now of a authoritarian regime against the democratic will of its people? max. >> okay. so in berlin, thank you so much. and the war in ukraine now russian president vladimir putin ramping up spending on defense. he's approved a record setting defense budget of around $126 billion. it means russia will spend almost a third of its entire budget on defense next year. but new forecasts show a slight reduction in 26 and 2027. >> well, german chancellor olaf scholz is in kyiv for the first time in two and a half years to meet with ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy. he has pledged almost $700 million in new aid to ukraine. he wrote in a post on x, quote, ukraine can rely on us. we say what we do and we do what we say. he also said germany will remain ukraine's strongest supporter in europe. it comes as russian

president vladimir putin has approved a record breaking defense budget. as you heard there, a third of the government's total spending now snow blanketing states near the great lakes. >> but a poetry for you there this morning with more expected as well. this week we'll have the latest forecast for you just ahead of that when i was younger, my calling was to play football, but as i grew older, i realized life isn't about how many people you can knock down it's about how many people you can lift up. >> and our calling is to build game changing trucks. so when you find your calling, nothing can stop you from answering them right now, during the ram black friday sales event, get $5,000 total cash allowance on the purchase of most 2025 ram 1500 trucks. >> hurry to your local ram dealer today. >> i just found out i've been paying for 27 subscriptions. yeah, it's like finding out you had 27 kids. you didn't know about money. rocket money?

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brain five years ago it was gutted by a fire. >> seen around the world. now notre dame cathedral is set to officially reopen to the public on sunday. >> yes. and you were there, max. >> well, so when they. when he when president went in? yeah. >> well, melissa bell has more on the historic restoration. take a look at this a new dawn for notre dame cathedral more than five and a half years after a fire tore through parts of the gothic structure in the heart of paris, sparkling stonework highlighting the stunning results of the estimated $737 million restoration as it was unveiled to france's president emmanuel macron on friday after the 2019 blaze, the president had vowed to rebuild notre dame even more beautiful than it was entering

the cathedral with his wife bridget on friday, it was clear that france had achieved just that it was at the same time repaired, restored and rebaptized, macron said millions had watched in shock and horror as notre dame's 96 meter spire tumbled into the church during the 2019 blaze. >> now its renaissance is complete. touring the epicenter of the blaze the medieval roof structure known as the forest macron saw the beams rebuilt by hand from 1200 oak trees from across france. among the highlights of macron's tour, a mural in the north enclosure of the choir that was badly damaged in the fire, and the virgin of paris, a 14th century statue that became a symbol of resistance when it was found standing resolute surrounded by burnt wood and collapsed stone. >> monument a la hauteur and

the beautiful saint marcel's chapel, one of 29 chapels that have been lovingly restored viewing the 12 meter wide grand organ, macron described it as sublime more than 1300 people involved in the restoration were invited inside, as the french president wrapped up his final visit to the site before its formal reopening. >> vous avez transformé le charbon? >> you have transformed ashes into art, he told them. the whole planet was upset that day in april, the shock of the reopening will be as big as that of the fire, he said, thanking the crowds the delicacy of the restoration is really quite extraordinary. not only have they sought to renovate notre dame as it was before the fire, but they've taken the opportunity to clean it to make it brighter, to restore the paintwork. the gold work. and so the overall

impression is really quite different to what it was many centuries of crowds and worship and candles and smoke had meant that it was fairly dark inside, no longer now there is really a sense of light and an ability therefore, to appreciate the majesty of notre dame in a way that really wasn't possible before it really does look sublime, doesn't it? >> yeah. interior is astonishing. >> do you remember after it burnt down um, macron said, we'll be able to do it in five years. and everyone was saying it's impossible. not just journalists, but people saying, you've got to get the trees to be able to rebuild the, you know, the forest. you've got to be able to get the craftspeople who are able to spend time on it. but they did it and that's why i think the best moment was really when they had all of the work people outside in their. yes. hi vis coming in because all of them, you know, they all felt it was a privilege to be involved with that amazing project. >> yeah. well, i'm heading to paris in a week. >> you got to go. >> fingers crossed i can get in now. more than 2 million people

downwind of the great lakes remain under the winter weather warnings listen to this thunder snowstorm in copenhagen, new york on saturday thundersnow at new york, ohio and pennsylvania have seen nearly five feet of snowfall in the last few days, and cnn's polo sandoval has more on the harsh conditions impacting those communities record setting snowfall is complicating the post-thanksgiving ride home for travelers in the great lakes region this could be a 24 to 35 inch snow for sure. >> daily snowfall totals have paralyzed stretches of the highly trafficked i-90 corridor this holiday weekend. >> there's a car underneath that. yep here in erie, pennsylvania, nearly 23in fell on friday alone. >> yesterday i shoveled for four hours. >> wow shattering a 1979

record. burying cars and interrupting flight operations at erie international in michigan's upper peninsula. over two feet of snow fell on friday, eclipsing a daily record set in 1942. and the list of cities impacted by the locally heavy lake effect snow goes on and there's more to come. warn meteorologists. with nearly 2 million people still under lake effect, snow warnings come monday the biggest concern right here along that eastern flank of lake erie, as well as portions of lake ontario. >> now, the reason you're getting that lake effect, you've got the slightly warmer lakes, that very cold air rushing over it then there's the cold. >> some of the chilliest temperatures since last winter, which are expected to linger into the week ahead. they've been felt as far south as florida, where many residents endured freeze warnings this weekend. some are making the best of these snowy scenes. >> oh the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful but they may also be

foretelling a wicked winter ahead. >> polo sandoval cnn, new york well, despite the heavy snow in upstate new york, josh allen and the buffalo bills thrived in the winter wonderland making nfl history. >> on sunday night. allen became the first quarterback since 1970 to score a rushing touchdown pass for a touchdown and have a scoring reception all in the same game. >> in the snow as well. the buffalo bills went on to crush the visiting san francisco 49ers 35 to 10. and apparently they asked the fans to come out and help clear the field as well. that does it for us and cnn newsroom. we'll be back tomorrow. >> why not. see you then. tuesday. >> why? why are cnn heroes on all star tribute? >> find out who will be named the cnn hero of the year sunday at eight on cnn why do nfl players choose a sleep number bed? >> i like to sleep cool and i like to sleep even cooler.

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