can sign and make official. start your will at trust and will.com and make it count. >> laura coates live next on cnn closed captioning brought to you by aarp. >> join and get instant access to member benefits. >> join aarp for $12 for one year and get instant access to member benefits and social programs. join and get an insulated trunk organizer free. plus, aarp, the magazine. >> tonight, the two astronauts stuck on the international space station will have to wait until at least march now to return to earth. nasa has once again delayed the launch of spacex's crew ten, which was set to dock with the iss in february and bring them home. those astronauts went to space in june, and they were only supposed to stay for a week, but now they are stuck. thank

you for watching news night laura cocoates. liv starts righ now. >> tonight, new york indicts the suspected killer for murder as an act of terrorism. as police reveal that what luigi mangione mother told them before he was arrested. plus, candlelight vigils in madison, wisconsin, as we learn new information about the student shooter and the chaotic moments inside the school. and president biden speaks about those reported drones for the first time as his administration tries to put an end to the hysteria. tonight on laura coates live well, the case against the suspected killer just took a pretty major turn. luigi mangione is now facing a new charge that brands him as a terrorist. i'll explain all that in just a second. but first, i want to focus on a

dramatic detail revealed today that could be critical in the case against him. it's what his mother allegedly told police the night before he was arrested. now, you may remember she filed a missing person report over her son to san francisco police. that was back in november. authorities were able to link that report to the photos of the suspect, and then they reached out to her about it. >> they reached out to mangione mother in san francisco very late on the seventh. they had a conversation where she didn't indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing. >> now, that's a pretty big reveal coming from someone's mother, right? and all we've heard from the family up to this point was this statement from the day that he was arrested. it was released through his cousin. it says the family was shocked about the arrest. well, today, the manhattan da said it was mangione his desire to cause shock that warranted him

getting an upgraded charge of first degree murder as returned by a grand jury. now he is facing 11 charges, now in new york, and that first degree murder charge. it's pretty rare. it requires some special and aggravating circumstances. but prosecutors believe that they may have that very thing here. they've tied that charge as well as second degree murder charges to a crime of terrorism. da alvin bragg says the extraordinary nature of the murder warrants the extraordinary charges this was a frightening, well-planned targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation. >> this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. >> well, this certainly raises the stakes for his defense. and that may be the point. it's a very high profile case, as you well know, with a whole lot of attention. people online have rallied in his defense, some that is, they've elevated to

him a kind of a folk hero. others have expressed their anger toward the health care industry more broadly. and sometimes that anger has gone to such extremes as this. wanted posters in manhattan featuring the names of prominent health care executives. the nypd commissioner was quick to condemn during today's announcement. she even held up a prop to make her point. >> the new york post reported that some extreme activists were circulating a deck of cards with other most wanted ceos to be targeted for assassination. these are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would trade in their own vigilantism for the rule of law that protects us all. we don't celebrate murders, and we don't lionize the killing of anyone and any attempt to rationalize this is a vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.

>> so how exactly is mangione going to mount his defense? i guess we'll find that out soon. his lawyer says that he is not going to fight his extradition, which paves the way for him to go back to new york as early as this week. well, i want to bring in john miller, cnn's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. elie honig, a cnn senior legal analyst. scott bond, a criminologist who is also the producer and star of serial killers with doctor scott bond and mark petrovich. he's an attorney representing the dc sniper lee boyd malvo. glad to have all of you here right now. let me begin with you here, lee. this 11 count indictment alleges that he carried out the killing in furtherance of an act of terrorism. the da makes this case that calling it the. it was intended to evoke terror. you were a prosecutor in new york. does the evidence support this new elevated charge? >> i think it does. laura, a really interesting turn today. so the safe and obvious charge in this case would have been a second degree murder under new

york law. the da has charged that important to keep in mind. all you have to show there is the prosecutor is an intentional killing. what the twist was today is the da has also charged an elevated first degree murder charge. and in order to make that stick here, the da is going to have to show that mangione acted for a very specific motive of causing terror or panic in the general public, or of trying to use an act of violence to influence or coerce public policy, presumably here related to health care. so it's going to be more that the d.a. has to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt to get that first degree charge. but i think when you look at the totality of the evidence, i think there's a strong case. and we heard the da and the police commissioner lay it out today that that was exactly what mangione was trying to do. so they have more they have to prove, but important to keep in mind. they also do have that sort of second degree murder as a safety fallback provision in the indictment, too. >> mark, let me turn to you here. you represented a client, lee boyd malvo, who also had a terrorism charge as part of

d.c. sniper case. what are the advantages for the prosecution to be able to use this terrorism charge? and how does the defense counteract it? >> well, the advantage clearly is initially to get the added and upgraded potential sentence. should there be a finding of guilt with regard to that first degree murder charge. but there are other advantages to by charging first degree murder and claiming terrorism as the subset. with regard to that charge, they can claim, for instance, that this was an act that was based on an intent to intimidate and coerce the public. they can bring in more evidence, a broader range of evidence. searches, computers, searches, files, searches, internet searches, and find out information that shows they might have grievances with other people that he might have had issues with other groups and try to throw that in there. an overarching theme with regard to this intent to coerce or intimidate the public. one other thing is during trial, they can utilize the highly

pejorative moniker of terrorist and point to him and say, that's the terrorist. that's the one who is behind this terrorism. and that has a way of demonizing the defendants during the trial and makes it a lot more difficult for the defense to overcome. they have to be careful, though. they can't overplay their hand. if they lay him out to be a horrible, terrible person and a high level terrorist. and it turns out he's just a troubled young man who needs some help, who didn't get his issues resolved, who has a lot of endearing qualities behind all this, then they're overplaying their hand, and they run the risk of losing the credibility of the jurors. >> and that's a danger that could be very well, especially in new york. familiar, sadly, with terror on their soil as well. john, let me turn to you because according to mangione new york attorney, former cnn contributor karen agnifilo, he isn't going to fight extradition. he's due in court on thursday to talk through the next steps. what are those next steps? >> the next steps are and i mean, i think you know, laura,

that a single gun charge and a false id charge in pennsylvania are going to be the least of his problems. i think what karen friedman agnifilo is doing is saying, let's get the defendant back to new york, where i can start to prepare a defense against a charge that offers a sentence of life without parole. let's get into the discovery. so steps. get him back to new york. steps. get him in front of a state supreme court judge. i think that's going to be gregory carro, very experienced state supreme court judge here in new york. let's dispose of the matter of bail and custody. nobody who's indicted on first degree murder is getting bail. so he'll be held in a new york jail. and let's get to work on getting the discovery. let's see the evidence from the case and let and let that lawyer start to work with her client. in the meantime. importantly, the investigation is going on in the background, with detectives still going through computers, looking at dna, looking at video canvases to piece together his steps. none

of that has stopped. >> and of course, that terrorism additional charge now and the elevation gives a broader brush with which to paint this investigation in many ways. scott, let me turn to you, because i'm really intrigued by this detail of mangione mother telling the police in san francisco that she could imagine him committing or doing something like this. to paraphrase what she said when thinking about the profile of luigi mangione, what is that statement tell you well, it says something to me about both mangione mindset as well as his mother's perspective. >> and i think what you hear there is an honest expression of concern and love by a mother who had watched her son spiral and withdraw from society over a couple of years, withdraw from friends, work and ultimately family. and she no doubt was aware of some of these obsessions and compulsions that he had with corporate america. perhaps even

his disdain for the health care industry. and so this may actually be the worst fears of a mother realized. and i believe it was truly an act or an expression of her legitimate concern in that moment. >> ellie, the prosecutor in me, wonders if she would be somebody to call to testify about what she knew at trial. >> it's a fascinating question. gosh, i would never call the mother of a defendant at trial for so many reasons. i don't think the testimony would be helpful. i think you would evoke sympathy for the defendant. and, laura, this is a great example of why what's interesting and important in the real world. and this news is fascinating, is not necessarily going to be admissible in court. the fact that the mother said, it seems like something he could have done. i don't think a judge is going to allow that in. it's not really relevant to his guilt. whether his mom thinks he could have done it or not. so i think it's a really important piece of reporting to understanding this story. but i don't see that mother ever taking the stand. certainly not called by the prosecution at a

trial unless it's tied to some other detail that we are not yet privy to. >> john, that links something else. let me turn to you on this final point. law enforcement made a point to denounce the public celebration of the killing, and this folk hero status that he seems to have been able to achieve. what are you hearing from your nypd sources as to why they felt compelled to make such a point of it today? >> this is something that police commissioner tish, deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism rebecca winer, the detective bureau, the intelligence bureau they're all very concerned with this and why. let's look at what we see and what we know. we know when there's one school shooting, there's a contagion effect. after that, there's another and another. we know when there is radicalization going on with a terrorist group like isis that they prey on people who are either looking to get involved because they embrace the ideology or because they want to do something, because they want the notoriety. they see that building in the background here with wanted

posters of ceos on lampposts and with, you know, decks of cards with ceos and their pictures and their compensation as targets. and they're trying to head that off by saying that they're going to handle this directly, directly and forcefully and that this is not a game. it's not a video game where you attack the victim and they get up for the next round of play. this is the father of two children who was gunned down, shot in the back in the most cowardly way by someone who had an ideology which has been charged correctly as terrorism. they don't want to see it again. >> gentlemen, i learned from each of you this evening. thank you so much for joining. still ahead, new information about the madison school shooter. what we're learning about her prior experience with firearms. this is the community holds an emotional vigil to mourn the lives lost. a student who was inside the school when the shots rang out. joins me next.

>> andy anderson, take a seat. look at this. you're wet. disheveled. there's debris hitting you. >> why do you have that on your phone? >> i watch it all the time. hey, listen, we need to be ready for new year's eve. there could be an ice storm or a hurricane and obviously, confetti maybe you are ready. >> new year's eve, live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn and streaming live on max make the most of your season during the kia season of new traditions sales event gift yourself some savings and visit your local kia dealer today. >> look out for these stickers to find great deals on vehicles backed by a ten year, 100 000 mile limited powertrain warranty so you can start new traditions for years to come. get 1.9% apr for up to 60 months, plus 1000 retail bonus cash on specially tagged 2025 sportage and sorento vehicles.

>> my moderate to severe crohn's symptoms kept me out of the picture. now i have skyrizi. i've got places to go and i'm feeling free controlling my crohn's means everything to me. >> control is everything to me. >> and now i'm back in the picture. feel significant symptom relief at four weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi helped visibly improve damage to the intestinal lining, and with skyrizi, many were in remission. at 12 weeks at one year, and even at two years. >> don't use if allergic serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flulike symptoms or vaccines. liver problems leading to hospitalization may occur when treated for crohn's. >> now's the time to take control of your crohn's. >> control is everything to me. >> ask your doctor about skyrizi, the number one prescribed biologic and

crohn's disease. >> want a next level clean swish with the whoa of listerine? it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean with listerine. feel the. whoa! >> how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? >> family cookouts playing games. >> dancing in the park when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd, things changed for me. >> breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement and reduced flare ups. >> breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if

you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened. breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling jen b asks, "how can i get fast download speeds while out and about?" jen, we've engineered xfinity mobile with wifi speeds up to a gig, so you can download and do much more all at once. it's an idea that's quite attractive. or... another word... -fashionable? i was gonna say- "popular! you're gonna be pop-uuuu-larrr!" can you do defying gravity?! yeah, get my harness. buy one line of unlimited, get one free for a year with xfinity mobile. and see “wicked,” in theaters now.

at branch furniture comm. >> i'm elizabeth wagmeister in los angeles, and this is cnn. >> president joe biden speaking out for the first time on the mysterious drone sightings across the northeast. >> there's nothing nefarious, apparently, but they're checking it all out. >> there's i think it's just one. there's a lot of drones authorized. he's up there. we're following closely. so far, no sense of adventure. we. >> well, the house intelligence committee received a classified briefing earlier today. members of that committee seeking to downplay drone risks and ease public concerns. >> there are about 100 incidents that they're still digging into.

>> so we need to still hear about those. but overall, i didn't hear evidence of a foreign power threat or some other nefarious activity. >> there's a lot of rumor out there that this is radiation sniffing or chemical sniffing. this is not a federal government operation. we're very, very confident of that. >> well, joining me now, republican state senator john bramnick from new jersey. he's also running for new jersey governor in the 2025 republican primary. senator, good to have you back. president biden and the house intel committee members were briefed today reiterating what federal officials have been saying for days now. no evidence so far of any nefarious activity. does that mean case closed for you unfortunately, it's such a slow rollout from washington that the suspense is built up in new jersey. >> we brought the entire legislature down to a secure location a few weeks ago with the head of the state police, who seemed to be concerned,

talked about incidents involving large drones that the state helicopters saw. the drone turned its lights off and fled. people heard about this situation. so now you're starting to get an answer from washington, but then you hear the acting, the president elect say, well, they're hiding something. so this is the problem. you've got distrust about government when the president is saying something different than the president elect, that we've waited three weeks for any kind of answers, and that's the last thing we need in government now, because now we have conspiracy theorists running around new jersey with all kinds of crazy ideas. >> so what would it take? in many ways, in order to be able to feel confident for the voters, for the american public, for people at large, to essentially say, i believe what you're saying. you've got the governor of new jersey, phil murphy, being briefed by the fbi, that federal drone

detection systems were delivered to new jersey. you had the dhs, you've got the fbi, you've got the faa, the dod, the alphabet city of washington, d.c. have all issued a joint statement, the same conclusions. so what more would you need to see? >> it's just going to take a while when some suspense builds up over 2 or 3 weeks and people walk around confused about these large drones, which they saw, including governor christie over his house. it's going to take a while before people believe in government. and i think more and more talk from washington. i'm starting to see that congress people, even andy kim and now gottheimer, are starting to change their position. governor murphy's now saying we don't need any help. he's saying it's not a problem. but, you know, when you create this type of panic by lack of information, it doesn't go away quickly. so let's hope

that everybody comes back to earth and not the drones, of course. and people start believing back in government, which is my hope. >> it sounds like it's not so much the lack of information, but the pace at which it was given. and also the way of decisively saying early on to quell any fears. we'll see if they learn their lesson going forward. but there are some republican lawmakers on capitol hill who are suggesting that an adversary may be involved. you have congressman mike mccaul believing that these are chinese spy drones, even though even though the intel community has said there is no foreign nexus, i wonder, given what you've just said, can any growing speculation in that arena really make things worse well, i think the president elect, it would be helpful if he came out and he said, listen, he's been briefed. >> and he also believes there's no outside force. i

think that would be helpful. so hopefully the pentagon will reach out to the president elect, because that does assume there is assume the acting the president elect is correct. that doesn't help the situation either. so hopefully shortly everyone will be on the same page. that's going to be a slow process. >> well, a slow process for a bureaucracy. what do you mean? state senator jon bramnick i've never heard of it. thank you so much for joining us today. we'll see if they heed your advice. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> up next tonight, new reporting about the madison school shooter's turbulent home life. this as police pieced together a picture of her troubled past. a fellow student from the school joins me to describe what he saw next. can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting

time in the world. his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. luther. >> never too much new year's day on cnn. >> berwick. every year, millions of noses are ghosted by their plugins. >> new airwick advanced our groundbreaking plugin that pulses scent for staying power up to 60 days, plus a fragrance boost button. our noses won't be ignored again you make good choices. >> always planning ahead. like to not just chase a career, but one day. follow your heart with ambition like that, you need someone who elevates advice to a craft. at ubs, we match your vision with insight and expertise to shape a unique outcome for you. advice is our craft. it's the holidays at wayfair, y'all. >> it's a gift swap.

>> look, it's our dream kitchen. totally brought that for themselves okay, fine. just choose what you love. just my style. and i got a great deal. my turn what the fudge. >> now that's a holiday classic. >> just like you. you got a place for that? i had something in mind wayfair. >> every style, every home from dress the bird to deck the halls so many ways to save life. >> ready? wallet. happy. that's 365 by whole foods market. >> natural has vitamin e from sunflowers. >> ours has retinyl palmitate, organic broccoli, carrots and blueberries. pyridoxine hydrochloride so much harder to say than blueberry. >> natural whole food multivitamins available on amazon and naturalizer.com. >> what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease?

>> will it get worse? how common is it? can i talk to. can this be treated? >> stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist because it could be peyronie's disease or pd. it's a medical t curve in the erection caused by a formation of scar tissue and an estimated one inch ten men may have it, but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit. make a pd plan. com. today. i wish my tv provider let me choose what i pay for and pause my subscription when i want and have hundreds of free channels. >> sling lets you do that. >> choose and customize your channel lineup or watch for free. sling lets you do that. >> what if you could tackle your dog's itching, soft stools and low energy? millions of pet parents are raving about doctor marty nature's blend. such a huge difference in your health. more energy, more playful. no more pooping issues. >> i'm doctor marty. i've been a veterinarian for more than 50 years. the dangerous ingredients added to many pet foods could be impacting your

dog's lifespan. that's why i formulated nature's blend. >> now you can feed your dog wholesome cuts of real meat, vegetables and fruit with no

pparel, accessories and promo products, all backed by our guarantee at custom inc.com new year's eve live with anderson and andy. >> live coverage starts at eight on cnn new tonight, the washington post reports that the 15 year old female student who shot up her christian school in madison, wisconsin, had a, quote, turbulent home life, unquote. >> that's according to court records that show that her parents divorced and remarried multiple times. the post also reports that the shooter had been enrolled in therapy. cnn has also learned she joined a local shooting range with her father. this facebook photo shows her at the range in august, four months before the school shooting. cnn has reached out to the range, but we have not yet heard back. you know, it's not yet clear how she obtained the gun that was used in the shooting, and there's still no clear motive. and officers say a, combination

of factors may have led to the shooting. this is all coming as the community tonight gathered for a vigil his. >> highest on the. >> sparrow. >> and joining me now are two members of the community. mr. brubeck and his son, angel, who is a seventh grader at abundant christian school. thank you both for joining me during what is an absolutely difficult time. i want to begin with you, angel, if we can, because we all are just so concerned about what it's been like for you and your classmates. can you tell me what it was like for you yesterday um, it was very unexpected. >> and it was also very scary just because i didn't know what was about to happen. and it was also like in the middle of nowhere because we were just

chilling in class, and it just came. and it's really something you wouldn't expect in a small city in madison, especially not in a christian school. >> did you hear the shots when they were fired? >> i did not hear the first ones, but i did hear a few shots. >> what did you think it was um. >> it wasn't. i didn't really know at the time that they were gunshots, because they just sounded like footsteps really loud or banging. so i just thought it was just, i don't know, just something going on. >> what did you hear after that um, i didn't really hear much after that until the police came. >> and they just, like, yelled, we're coming in! madison police department and whatnot. and they came in with a long rifles. >> angel, did you know the teacher or the student who was killed? or anyone else who was injured?

>> i am actually unaware of who were the ones that were injured and who died. but besides the teacher, um, i don't know anybody but the teacher. yes, i did know her. and she was a really good person. >> had you had her as a teacher? >> yes. many times before. >> what was she like she was always very kind and caring. >> and she was also very friendly and communicative mr. brubeck, i can only imagine. >> i'm a mother myself, and i cannot imagine as a parent what this must be like for you to have even known this happened at your child's school. can you talk to me a little bit about when you learned of the shooting and what you did? >> well um, i started hearing the police. i have a business

close to to the school. i can say probably about a quarter of a mile away. and i got a frontage road, and i got the the main road, the the freeway. and i heard the first police car passing by and the second one and the third one, but it was at a a real fast, like something really bad was really happening. um, but then i got my way in through the, the school premises. uh, as soon as i went in there, uh, i started like, looking around and i found one of the teachers. he came and hugged me and say, angel is fine. uh, we're getting him out through one of the front doors, back to the chapel. so i got out of that area, and then i started seeing the kids passing by, and

everybody was crying. all the kids were crying. they were like, uh, they're they look on their face is something that i would never, uh, forget because he was really sad to see many, many kids crying, not knowing what's going to happen. and shaking so i stopped. i started helping them the way through the chapel and, um, as i see more police coming in and helping, i decided to go inside and help the staff of the of the school. uh, be organized with the kids and and comfort them. i found i found angel right there. i looked for him, and when i saw him, he was like a real peace moment though. uh, it it was really sad to know

that a teacher was down. >> angel. just hearing your father describe what it was like to try to get to you, to see so many of your friends and. and other students feeling that worry. can you take us back to that moment for you? did you feel that way um, yes. >> so when i got to the church, because it's the school and then there's the church in a whole different building. so we all had to run to the church and to like, the chapel area. and there was just everybody there. and, you know, people were like, calling their parents and crying. and there were also people, like, crying for their siblings, just like not knowing if their siblings were coming either, or if they were like, hurt. so then i saw my dad and it really made me feel better to well, mr. brubeck, angel, i'm so sorry to have met you both this way,

but i really thank you for sharing your experience and we just wrap our arms around your entire community tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you still ahead, kamala harris returning to the limelight with a message to her young supporters that's raising new questions about her plans for her future. >> plus, is president biden quiet, quitting the new criticism being launched from some in his very own party? with just days left until his exit. >> i want to be the greatest player that i can possibly become. happy holidays. >> hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold and flu medicine hangover in the morning. then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake

up ready to go. dry mucinex nightshift and feel the difference. >> for more than a decade, pozega has been trusted again and again and again. i see god ask your doctor about pozega he is coming. >> he is coming to us. >> nosferatu we did our only previous christmas day special engagements in dolby and imax. >> berwick. >> every year, millions of noses are ghosted by their plugins. new airwick advanced our groundbreaking plugin that pulses scent for staying power up to 60 days, plus a fragrance boost button. our noses won't be ignored again. >> who from tried and true to try something new? >> so many ways to save life.

ready? wallet. happy. that's 365 by whole foods market. >> 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 that ram. our calling is to build game changing trucks, so when you find your calling, nothing can stop you from answering it. >> right now. during the ram wrap up the year sales event, get $5,000 total cash allowance on the purchase of most 2025 ram 1500 trucks. hurry to your local ram dealer today who knows what tomorrow will bring? >> but as for me, i see. me. who knows who knows? as the people you love get older, their risk of severe flu and covid goes up. last year alone,

those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. that's nearly 1 million moms, dads favorite uncles and grandmas. if someone you love is 65 or older, talk with them about vaccines because to you, they're not just another number. on medicare. living with diabetes. progress is having your coffee like you like it without an audience. the freestyle libre three plus sensor can help lower your a-1c over time. covered by medicare for more people managing diabetes with insulin. this is progress. ask your doctor about the freestyle libre three plus sensor. >> machine learning is advancing, but businesses wonder if some machines can keep up. >> let's welcome our new coworker, jeff copier has a great idea.

>> i wonder if it's the same idea as yesterday it's a performance issue. >> really. i know people push your buttons, but you still have to deliver anything. >> contains the world of work. >> adp assist is i informed by workplace data and designed for the next anything what took you so long? >> i'm sorry. >> there was a long line at the thai place. >> you get the sauce i like. >> of course. you're the man. >> i wish the future isn't scary. >> not investing in it is. >> nasdaq 100 innovators one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com. >> i'm bill weir on the california coast and this is cnn no one can walk away.

>> we must stay in the fight vice president kamala harris reemerging with a new message to supporters who are still discouraged about the election outcome. urging them to come back ready after the holidays. in fact, i challenge you to come back ready? ready to chart our path to the future. chin up, shoulders back forever impatient for change. lots to talk about tonight with our political roundup. let's bring in cnn senior reporter edward-isaac dovere. he has new reporting on harris's future plans. also joining us, democratic strategist chuck rocha. glad to have you both. isaac, what's the new information? what are you hearing about her potential future choices? >> well, there's a governor's race in california in 2026. gavin newsom, the current governor, is term limited, and

there is a race already underway to succeed him. but harris has been rumored to be a possible candidate in that. and the advisers and friends of the vice president that i spoke with over the last couple of days said to me that there is really a divide. there are some people who feel like she should run for governor. she would probably clear the field and it would be a place for her to land. then there are others who think that she should run for president again in 2028. the reality, though, is that she can't do both. most people agree, so she has to pick one or the other. one person close to her said to me that she would need to see running for governor, though, as more of a capstone than a stepping stone to her for her political career, and another person who is hoping that she runs for president again said to me that running for governor would be a step down, that she'd need to look at it that way and not think to do that when she could be in a field again for president. but look, in a democratic primary in 2028, on

the presidential side, it is very unlikely at the moment from how people are looking at it, that she would have an easy time of it. there certainly be crowded and there is this fear from people who are very much supportive of her that it would be bad for her to follow up losing in 2024, given all of everything that happened this year with being rejected by her own party, if that's where it would go. and that's the that's the gamble that she's got in front of her. >> which hand should she play? >> look, i think there's a lot of things going on here. the first thing you got to think about is, is in california. if she wanted to run for governor, she has every right to run for governor. if you look at the election results in california in the last election, you just made me think about this, isaac, is that because i've been looking at these california congressional races, she got 1.8 million less votes than four years prior to with joe biden. there was a dramatic downturn. so i don't know if she would clear the field. i've heard the same thing. she would clear the field. javier becerra is rumored to be running. there's a lot of other people rumored to be running. i don't know if she would run in 2028,

but the 2028 race starts now. if i've not been called by two, i've been called already by four people who want to run for president, and she ain't one of them, so she's got to do one or the other, but she's got to move pretty quickly because things are moving now. >> well, some people are saying that who is not moving enough is president joe biden. or maybe he's moving to clear the field for the president elect before his term is actually over. i want you guys to listen to what former obama aides are accusing him of doing in terms of ceding the spotlight trump isn't president yet. >> a fact that's getting easier and easier to forget, as joe biden seems to be disappearing from the public stage as his term comes to an end. >> joe biden believes in tradition and institutions, and we should only have one president at a time. and i think it's a surprising choice to allow it to be donald trump. >> do they have a point? >> they do have a point. i was listening to this podcast today. i took a little run and i was out listening to it. it made me laugh because i remember they talked about obama saying, there's just one president at a time. and i had forgotten that because they were saying how much. he said there was only one president at a time when he had lost. and so

that made a lot of sense to me. but also, there's a lot of democrats that are just mad. and so they want to see him do something bold here at the end. and not just i don't want to say slink away because he's had a good presidency. i think he's done a lot of good things. but democrats right now are just really mad almost at this. but they're really too. >> what do you see? >> and it is a mood in the white house that is grieving, that is somber. they really feel defeated by this. on the other hand, they look at the situation and say, oh, remember six months ago when all the democratic party wanted him to get out of the way? now they want him more in the way. there is also, i think, a somewhat of a practical consideration here of what he can do with executive power. there are things, but whatever it would be would certainly put a target on whatever that action is for donald trump when he comes in and he is a lame duck. >> we've seen that tradition right now. it's only a little over a month until the next inauguration. but there's also a cnn exclusive that's happening right now where senator jon ossoff, who was the first senate democrat, by the way, to have an official meeting with dni pic tulsi

gabbard talking about having an open mind approach to her nomination, knowing that their meeting, quote, help me understand her view of the world and her view of the job you've covered gabbard a lot. how do you read his statement? >> well, look, every senator should have an open mind when they approach any nominee from any president. i think let's see what happens when the voting comes. but gabbard would it seems like, potentially need some democratic votes if there are republicans that we are expecting to to not be with her. but look, it could also be that all those republicans support her. donald trump has made clear that he expects all the senate republicans to support all of his choices. and so far, we haven't seen anything to suggest that won't happen. in fact, with how a lot of republicans in the senate have turned around on pete hegseth from initially being skeptical of him, opposed to him, to now it seems like being ready to vote for him to be. >> let me let me cut through

all this fine reporting to you exactly what's going on with ossoff is he's the democrat running in the most republican state that has a democratic senator. so he's up for reelection in just two years on this program. we've talked about the senate being six year terms. there are certain pressures you can put on others. he feeling a lot of heat because he's got to run for reelection in just two years. and donald trump overwhelmingly won his state. so this is just his political guys around him saying, hey, hey, let's not just jump right out there and go, no deal on any of these republicans. let's play like we're going to play both sides of this, because he needs a lot of republicans to vote for him in just two years. well, explain. >> senator kirsten gillibrand, who's been finding common ground with rfk jr. on issues, i think, of what clean air and water on food safety issues. she's not in the same boat as ossoff, but. >> well, i mean, look, gillibrand eight years ago was the person who said that she would vote against all of donald trump's nominees to the cabinet. now she's showing more openness to this. it is this question of whether kennedy will find a nexus of support among some democrats who agree with him on some of the food issues, even though

they are opposed to him on so many other things. and at the same time that as republicans are being resistant to kennedy because he is pro-choice, that he has been telling people that he understands that donald trump will be the president and he is anti-abortion, and that will be how things go. all of those considerations go up against each other. >> there's a lot of democrats, including this one right here that's with him on the food issues. but what they don't want is for them to vote for him. and then there be another pandemic in a year and a half, three years, god forbid, ever. but then him saying, i don't know if we need any of these vaccines, maybe we should just go do whatever or quail or whatever else they've been doing. >> well, isaac chuck rocha, we'll see what happens. thank you both so much. up next tonight, the hollywood style assassination inside moscow, a scooter rigged with explosives kills one of putin's top generals. ukraine is taking credit. so how do they pull it all off? and what might putin do in response? that's next

can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther never too much. >> my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back. but now with skyrizi, i'm all in. thanks to skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines with skyrizi. nothing on my skin means everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. >> copd isn't pretty. from the struggle to breathe to getting stopped in your tracks.

>> but with trelegy, i can finally move forward with three medicines in one inhaler. trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare ups. once daily, trelegy also improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. >> trilogy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trilogy more than prescribed trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened. breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling problems. urinating, vision changes or eye pain occur. what a. >> wonderful world. >> ask your doctor about once daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful all day and night. >> berwick. every year millions of noses are ghosted by their plugins. new air wick advanced our groundbreaking plugin that pulses scent for staying power up to 60 days, plus a fragrance boost button. our noses won't

be ignored again. >> the itch and rash of moderate to severe eczema disrupts my skin night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now i have rinvoq. rinvoq is a once daily pill that reduces the itch and helps clear the rash of eczema fast. some taking rinvoq felt significant itch relief as early as two days, and some achieved dramatic skin clearances early as two weeks. many saw clear or almost clear skin. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections before treatment tests for tb and do blood work. >> serious infections, blood clots some fatal cancers including lymphoma and skin. serious allergic reactions, gi tears, death, heart attack and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events infection, hep b or c smoked are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. >> talk to you

z's bakery is looking to add a pizza oven, arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities for their business and not the cost of their internet. it's five years of gig-speeds and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™.

>> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn. >> closed captioning brought to you by aarp. join and get instant access to member benefits. >> join aarp for $12 for one year and get instant access to member benefits and social programs. join and get an insulated trunk organizer. free plus aarp, the magazine. >> tonight, russia, formally acknowledging the death of one of vladimir putin's top generals and ukraine says it killed him with an exploding scooter in moscow. the blast killed igor kirillov, head of russia's radiological, biological and chemical defense forces. sounds like it's from a spy movie in many respects, but it's reality and video from a nearby vehicle shows just what happened. two men walk outside of an apartment building. a source confirmed to cnn that one of them is kirillov, but we don't know which. to the left, you see what looks like a scooter

propped up next to a lamp post. and as the men walk by, suddenly there's an explosion. we won't show what happened next, but the blast, likely triggered by a remote control. aftermath video that russian media aired showed a damaged scooter at the blast site being placed in a black bag by authorities. ukraine immediately claimed responsibility, accusing him of using chemical weapons against ukrainian troops and spreading kremlin backed conspiracy theories like the u.s. had. biolabs in ukraine. russia is vowing revenge, but only those inside the kremlin really knows what that revenge might look like. joining me now, bill browder, ceo of hermitage capital management, head of the global magnitsky justice campaign and author of red notice and freezing order. also here, glenn corn, a retired cia senior executive. i want to begin with you, glenn. ukraine is reaching deeper into russia, closer to vladimir putin and his inner circle. how would

ukraine pull off an attack like this? >> well, it would be. it's if this is the ukrainians. it probably is. it's a very well conducted operation to pull that off inside of the moscow beltway or the ring road takes a lot of skill, and it would require a lot of casing of the target, a lot of discipline. and then, of course, selecting the type of device. it's the timing, which, you know, my understanding is 6:00 in the morning. so probably trying to avoid civilian casualties. but my understanding is the other target that was killed was his assistant um. ilya polikarpov. so, uh, you know, in the intelligence business, that is very good work. >> mhm. let me talk to you, bill, because i want to get an understanding of who exactly this person was and how important igor kirillov was to vladimir putin well, he was a very bad man. >> he was, as you mentioned,

involved in radiological and biological warfare. um, he's on the sanctions, various sanctions list. um, he's taken responsibility for all sorts of attacks on ukraine and in the military world. he's a, you know, a real military target, a high value target. and and i think that that the ukrainians doing this has had several effects. one is it's humiliating for putin that he can be his top guys could be hit in moscow. and second, i think it sends fear into the hearts of many other top guys who are doing terrible killing in ukraine. and and that fear is, is, i'm sure, palpable in moscow right now, given that humiliation, as you say, how do you think putin will will react well, you know, putin is is busy doing all the most terrible things without this type of humiliation. putin has been bombing civilians in ukraine. he's been sending all of his soldiers in north korean

soldiers on meat waves, where all sorts of people are dying on the battlefield. um, it's kind of hard for me to see that putin is going to do anything more than he's already done. you know, he's he's claimed and offered revenge on so many different occasions. and and, you know, he's just at a, at a terrible war where he's doing terrible things to ukrainians and, and they have every right to fight back. >> glenn, on that point, i mean, ukraine has suffered some setbacks, to say the least, on the battlefield over the last several months. this has been a prolonged invasion into ukraine. are we seeing a shift in strategy with these more targeted assassinations now? >> well, i think that one we should remember that the russians have been conducting assassination operations in ukraine for several years now. the ukrainians have been responding since february of 2022 with some very effective strikes inside of russia, using some of the technology that they've developed, some of their own capabilities. and then recently some weapons systems that were approved for use by the u.s., uh, very

recently. and they've probably been involved in some other targeted assassinations in response to what the russians are doing. as my colleague said, the russians have been inflicting a great deal of damage and terrorizing the ukrainian people for years now, going back to 2014. so the ukrainians see this as a justified target and and a significant operation. >> do you anticipate there being a response by putin? >> i'm sure that the russians will look to respond, although i also agree that the russians are already doing much of this. so it's hard to see what else they could do. they're doing it not just in ukraine, but they've extended their sabotage operations to europe. and if we remember, they attempted to kill the the ceo of rheinmetall and they have conducted assassination operations all over europe. um, you know, we can remember alexander litvinenko, who was killed, the attempted killing of mr. skripal. general skripal, who was living in the uk, sergei skripal. so this is nothing new for the russians. >> well, bill, do you think

that the quote, unquote success of this operation would encourage ukraine to conduct more targeted assassinations? >> well, i think that that of course, they're going to conduct more assassinations. and they probably should, given all the terrible atrocities that the russians are inflicting on them. uh, you know, it's it's a this is all an all out war. um, you know, the russians want to just attack ukraine and then want to sit back and say, well, nothing's going to happen to us. well, you know, the war has casualties on both sides. and if the russians inflict casualties on the ukrainians, they should expect there will be casualties on, on their side. and, and that may be in the form of targeted assassinations, and it may be in the form of of ukrainians blowing up oil refineries or, uh, weapons depots. um, but but the russians shouldn't sit back and think that their territory is off limits if they're constantly bombarding ukrainian territory. >> bill browder, glenn corn, thank you both so much. thank

you and in case you missed it, everyone's favorite fictional navy pilot is getting a real life medal. i feel the need. >> the need for speed. >> well, today, the u.s. navy awarding tom cruise their highest civilian honor, the distinguished public service award. secretary of the navy saying cruise's work has inspired generations to serve in our navy and marine corps, and he's not wrong. that first iconic military role maverick in the 1980s 86 hit top gun caused such a spike in enthusiasm that the navy set up recruitment tables at movie theaters, and cruise kept them coming. he gave us sergeant ron kovic in born on the 4th of july. lieutenant daniel kaffee and a few good men, and finally, maverick again in the 2022 top gun sequel. the ceremony took place in london, where cruise is busy filming his next project. so, in the

words of maverick, the end is inevitable. >> maverick. >> your kind is headed for extinction. >> maybe so, sir. but not today talk to me, goose. >> thanks for watching. anderson cooper 360. starts now i went to the danger zone. >> i'll take you right tonight on 360. >> murder in the first. why? authorities decided to seek that rare for new york charge against the alleged killer. and what they will need to do to make it stick. also tonight, the search for what motivated a 15 year old girl to open fire at her school, killing a classmate and teacher and wounding many more. plus, keeping >> to be doing more tonight. luigi mangione. the man accused