other suspect? juror number two, streaming exclusively on max. >> closed captioning is brought to you by skechers. hands free slip ins, boots. >> introducing hands free skechers slip ins, boots. it's like they have an invisible built in shoehorn so your foot slides into place without bending down try skechers slip ins, boots 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 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. and thank you for watching news night. cnn's coverage continues next there is no heroism in what

mangione did. >> luigi mangione has received 157 entries or deposits into his prison commissary account. >> i've never seen social media reaction. that is so on a person's side who committed just a blatant murder. >> gun violence is the number one killer of children in this country. that's a legacy we cannot accept. >> how many more lives need to be lost? how many more lives need to be taken for people to wake up? when is it enough? >> moscow furious. and russian politicians have vowed revenge for the generals killing. while acknowledging his death is a major loss live from london. >> this is cnn newsroom with max foster and christina macfarlane. >> hello. and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world, i'm max foster. it is wednesday, december 18th, 9 a.m. here in

london, 4 a.m. in pennsylvania, where the suspect in the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo is set to appear in court on thursday. a judge will determine when luigi mangione could be extradited to new york, where he's facing an 11 count indictment. the charges include first and second degree murder as an act of terrorism in the death of brian thompson, meaning the murder was meant to scare and intimidate the public. >> this was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation. >> there is no heroism in what mangione did. this was a senseless act of violence. it was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put new yorkers at risk. >> the police commissioner also called the support the mangione has received on social media an appalling celebration of murder. cnn's danny freeman has details on how mangione

supporters are reaching out, and more on when he'll be back in court as well, or return to the to new york. at least. reporter. >> it was an incredibly busy day. in the case of luigi mangione here in pennsylvania and in new york. several headlines made, and it seems like the soonest he could be back in new york could be as early as thursday. but the biggest headline the manhattan district attorney officially announcing that indictment against luigi mangione on first degree murder charges in new york. mangione, also indicted by a grand jury for murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism. d.a. alvin bragg saying clearly this was a killing intended to invoke terror. meanwhile, we also have updated information on mangione interactions with the outside world. or really, we should rather say the outside world's attempt to interact with him while he's been behind bars at this prison. a spokesperson for the pennsylvania department of corrections as of tuesday evening, luigi mangione has received 157 entries or deposits into his prison commissary account. and as of

tuesday morning, he's received 33 emails and six pieces of hard mail. that's up from just two pieces of mail that cnn reported he had received on monday evening. and still at this point, the only visitors he's had while in custody has been his attorneys. now, on thursday morning, mangione is scheduled to have two hearings not far from here, out in hollidaysburg, pennsylvania. one on those pennsylvania charges and then the other right after on extradition. and cnn has learned on tuesday that mangione is not going to fight extradition anymore. that's according to his new attorney from new york. and a prison spokesperson told me earlier on tuesday that he could begin his journey back to new york as soon as court is over. danny freeman, cnn, huntingdon, pennsylvania. >> as we've mentioned, authorities are taking note of the unusual reaction some americans are having to this case. >> they're going beyond relating to mangione alleged frustration with the us health care system and making him out to be a hero. cnn legal analyst

joey jackson explains how public sentiment could affect the prosecution of this case. >> i've never seen social media reaction that is so on a person's side who committed just a blatant murder. this is a guy who's seen as a deity. they're calling him saint luigi, right? do you get a jury who buys into the notion of the health care industry being so disruptive to the common person that this person deserved this, right? i'm speaking about the ceo who died. so, you know, could you get a jury to nullify? could you get a jury that's hung? i mean, the evidence is really compelling, i doubt it. if you base it on the evidence and the facts alone, the question is no. at least to this point. he deserves the presumption of innocence. we're not at trial yet, but from the public disclosure of the evidence, i think it's pretty well, authorities say determining the motive for the deadly school shooting in madison, wisconsin, is a top priority. >> as of now, they say it appears to be a combination of factors. the investigation underway as a candlelight vigil was held to remember the

teacher and the student killed, and the six others wounded at abundant life christian school on monday. hundreds of community members gathered for the event, including the mayor of madison, who says the city will get through this tragedy. >> yesterday, the madison community experienced a terrible and traumatic event, and we will never be the same. but we will get through this and we will get through this together by relying on each other and by taking care of each other. >> how many more lives need to be lost? how many more lives need to be taken for people to wake up? i mean, our children, our loved ones are stuck between a crossfire. when is it enough? when is it enough? >> investigators in madison want to know why the 15 year old female student opened fire, and how she got hold of the gun? we've now learned the teen joined a local shooting range with her father months before the attack. he posted this photo on facebook back in

august. the t-shirt she's wearing features the name of a german rock band whose lyrics were cited by the student gunman who carried out the 1999 shooting at the columbine high school in colorado. the madison police chief said authorities are looking into whether her parents owned the gun used in the shooting. cnn's natasha chen has the details on the investigation. >> police in madison, wisconsin, are urgently searching for what led a 15 year old girl to bring a nine millimeter handgun to school and opened fire. investigators say natalie rupnow, who went by samantha, arrived at the abundant life christian school monday morning and killed a teacher and fellow student and wounded six others before taking her own life. >> the past 24 hours have been a flurry of emotion, sadness, anger, disappointment grief, grief as they try to understand why a festive day with students dressed in their holiday

pajamas ended with them evacuating a shooting scene. >> police chief shawn barnes says the motive was a combination of factors and they are looking into everything from possible bullying to her online activity, adding everyone at the school was targeted equally in the shooting. as for writings related to the shooting that have been circulating online at this time, we cannot verify the document. >> we ask that you not share the document or spread any information that may be false. >> but police are looking for original documents that may have been taken from the shooter's home and speaking to her parents, who they say are cooperative to determine whether they owned or possessed the gun their daughter allegedly used. >> i think law enforcement will take the steps necessary, but we don't know nearly enough yet. >> not enough to know whether the parents will face criminal charges. while the police chief says they will look into whether the parents were negligent. he says that does not appear to be the case right now. two of the shooting victims remain in critical condition, with life threatening injuries, and

police are asking members of the community to respect the privacy of the student and teacher who were killed. >> that particular teacher, she would have done anything for those kids. >> she would have been right there. >> loved the school, loved her kids. loved teaching beautiful lights. >> yeah, that. >> they were beautiful souls. >> it was at least the 83rd school shooting in the u.s. this year, more than any other year since cnn started tracking school shootings in 2008. >> there's going to be public debate about the motives and other aspects of this mass shooting. but let us remember this fact. gun violence is the number one killer of children in this country. that's a legacy we cannot accept. >> natasha chen, cnn, los angeles donald trump has officially clinched the us presidency after winning the electoral college. >> electors in texas gave mr. trump the victory when they awarded the state's 40 electoral votes on tuesday. in

austin. the nationwide tally is a constitutionally required formalization of the november 5th vote, but donald trump won 312 electoral college votes, and kamala harris took 226. it takes 270 of the 538 electoral votes to actually win the white house. the electoral tally is now sent to congress, where lawmakers will meet in joint session on january 6th to officially declare donald trump president. mr. trump is taking a new shot at what he perceives as a left wing media bias against him. he's suing pollster ann selzer and her company, along with the des moines register newspaper and its parent company, gannett sells. his poll, published days ahead of the november election, showed kamala harris with a surprising lead over trump in iowa that lead never happened, and trump ultimately won the state by 13 points, he says. news coverage of the poll was intended to artificially help democrats, and that selzer committed election interference

the cia director is expected to travel to doha as early as today to continue talks for a gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. the discussions come as israeli forces continue to pound northern gaza. health officials in the enclave said that israeli attacks killed at least a dozen people in gaza overnight. meanwhile, outgoing president joe biden and his successor donald trump are both pushing for a hostage deal in the coming weeks. >> the trauma of that day and its aftermath is still raw and ongoing. i've gotten over 100 hostages out, and i will not stop until i get every single one of them home, and i'll be. >> very available on january 20th, and we'll see. as you know, i gave warning that if these hostages aren't back home by that date, all hell is going to break out. >> top officials from the u.s., israel, qatar and egypt are all touting progress in the ceasefire negotiations. now, hamas is also signaling a cautious optimism, too. cnn's

jeremy diamond has the latest from jerusalem. >> well, hamas now becomes the latest party to these negotiations to express some optimism about the prospects of reaching a ceasefire and hostage release deal. >> we have heard optimistic comments over the course of the last week from u.s., israeli, qatari and egyptian officials. and now hamas is joining the fray. but as with the others who are expressing optimism, hamas is also adding a note of caution to their comments. in their statement, they are making clear that, quote, hamas affirms that in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place in doha today under the auspices of our qatari and egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation stops imposing new conditions and that if is indeed that note of caution that they are raising, suggesting that israeli negotiators are making. additional demands as this

negotiating process moves forward. a second hamas source said that they view the current state of negotiations as, quote, positive and optimistic. and it is important to note that amid this optimism, we are also seeing a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region. the u.s. national security adviser, jake sullivan, just last week traveled to israel, egypt and qatar to try and advance a deal. he said he hopes that he can put the conditions in place to reach a deal within the next month, and that is indeed the target here appears to be to try and reach a deal before president biden leaves office on january 20th and president elect trump will then be inaugurated. and we know, of course, that the biden administration has also been closely coordinating with the trump administration over this deal as incoming trump advisers have also been traveling to the region and coordinating closely

with the officials who they will soon be replacing. it is important to caution, though, that as we are seeing this momentum, as we are seeing this optimistic language, the reason why we are also hearing notes of caution from all of the parties involved is because we have been this close in the past. we have been very close to a deal, and ultimately talks have collapsed and that possibility is still very much looms. but israeli and american officials who i've spoken to have pointed to a new set of conditions in the region in terms of hamas being increasingly isolated, israel having accomplished a slew of military achievements in gaza, including the killing of hamas leader yahya sinwar that might make them more willing to reach a deal now. all of this pointing us in the direction of a potential ceasefire and hostage deal. but again, the deal isn't reached until it's done. jeremy diamond, cnn, jerusalem. >> well, now nearby to syria, where earlier today the first domestic flight departed from

damascus airport following the ousting of former syrian president bashar al assad. in this reuters video, you can see the syrian airlines flight departing from the capital to aleppo in northern syria after authorities reopened the airport for internal flights so that just give people a lot of confidence a big symbol there. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu traveled to southern syria on tuesday, where he held a briefing on mount hermon, which is syria's highest peak. and netanyahu and israel defense minister israel katz reiterated that the military would remain on mount hermon. quote, for any length of time required. israeli forces captured the summit and surrounding foothills after the fall of assad's regime. mount hermon is the highest point in the region, making it a prized military asset as it overlooks lebanon, syria and israel. meanwhile, syrians are beginning to uncover the extent of the assad regime's brutality as mass graves are being discovered across the country. one advocacy group

believes that hundreds of thousands of bodies, quote, tortured to death by the assad regime, could be buried in those graves. melissa bell reports. >> more than two weeks after the fall of bashar al assad, the tragic next step in the search of many syrians for their loved ones. >> some of the first images emerging of what are believed to be mass graves that may have been used by the regime to bury some of those who were first taken to the detention centers and then tortured to death. >> one at kutayfat, which is on the outskirts of damascus, not very far from the syrian capital, where one advocacy group has been speaking of the truckloads of bodies that were brought each week. >> what we understand is that four tractor trailers carrying 150 bodies each, were brought twice a week between 2012 and 2018 to this particular site. now be the subject of a search for some of those bodies, in the hope that some may be

identified. another site in the southern province of daraa, also now believed to be another of those mass burial sites as syrians try and establish the identities of some of the 150,000 people who've disappeared, to try and figure out if any of them may lie in these sites. that's according to the international commission on missing persons. still, many relatives frantically searching for their loved ones and their hopes that they might be alive. but these are the clearest indication yet the first tangible proof of what we've long heard about from outside of syria during the assad regime of the brutality of its secret services, the brutality of its detention centers with many of those bodies now no doubt beyond recognition. it's unclear also, for the time being, how many people may have been buried there. melissa bell, cnn, paris. >> now, russia has detained a suspect in the killing of lieutenant general igor

kirillov. coming up, what investigators are saying about how the allegedly. well, how the alleged attack actually was carried out. it's pretty extraordinary. plus new revelations by the head of the catholic church. we'll have the latest on the pope's upcoming memoir. when we come back. and later it is six months and counting for two nasa astronauts stranded on the international space station. we'll have an update on when they might be coming home like a relentless weed. >> moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. >> start to break away from uc with tremfya with rapid relief at four weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation at one year, many people experienced remission and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur.

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killed in the blast. cnn's fred pleitgen walks us through the day of the attack one of russia's top generals and an aide just seconds before the fatal blast. >> we're not showing the moment of the explosion. in this video obtained by cnn, russian investigators say the bomb, with about 300g of tnt, was hidden in an electric scooter parked just outside the entrance of that building. as the general and an aide walked out, it blew up, killing them both. russian investigators say the device was detonated remotely, the blast so powerful it shattered windows several floors up in buildings across the street at first, we thought that cement might have been unloaded or something similar. this resident says, but the blast was so loud it did not seem like construction work. it was very scary optum lieutenant general igor kirillov was the head of russia's nuclear, chemical and biological defense forces, often accusing kyiv of

planning to use chemicals on the battlefield. the ukrainians, for their part, accused kirillov of overseeing the use of chemical substances against their forces and have claimed responsibility for assassinating him, calling the general, quote, an absolutely legitimate target and saying such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill ukrainians. the general is not the first, but the highest ranking russian military official. the ukrainians claim to have assassinated moscow furious, launching both a terrorism and a criminal investigation investigative actions and operational search activities are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime committed, the spokesperson said asymmetric warfare like this brazen drone attack inside russia two days ago, is how the ukrainian forces are trying to level the battlefield as vladimir putin's army has been making significant gains on

nearly all front lines. the lieutenant generals assassination comes just hours after putin met with his top military brass ripping into the biden administration for its support of ukraine in an effort to weaken our country and impose a strategic defeat on us. the united states continues to pump the virtually illegitimate ruling regime in kyiv, full of weapons and money, sends mercenaries and military advisors and thereby encourages further escalation of the conflict, putin said. and russian politicians have vowed revenge for the generals killing. while acknowledging his death is a major loss for pleitgen, cnn moscow european leaders meeting in brussels today to discuss the war in ukraine and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy saying his allies might discuss the possibility of international peacekeeping troops in his country, which could potentially be deployed until ukraine is able to join nato. >> the topic had been first broached by the french president, emmanuel macron,

earlier this year. he says ukrainian troops need more support now as russia russian forces gain ground on the on the front lines there. still to come assessing the damage in vanuatu after a massive earthquake hit the island's capital city. we'll bring you the latest on the recovery efforts, plus, the u.s. federal reserve meets for the final time this year. will it cut interest rates again as expected? details on what investors are watching out for next elcome to times square.

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right now and see how much you can save. >> luther. never too much new year's day at eight on cnn welcome back to cnn newsroom. >> i'm max foster. if you're just joining us, here are some top stories today. the suspect in the ambush killing of united healthcare's ceo is now indicted for murder. luigi mangione facing 11 charges, including murder, as an act of terrorism. mangione is accused of gunning down brian thompson outside a new york hotel two weeks ago. later today, amazon founder jeff bezos will become the latest tech titan to meet with donald trump at his mar-a-lago estate. the ceos of apple, meta and tiktok have already visited the president elect in florida. blue origin, the space company owned by bezos, is a space race in a space race against elon musk's spacex and japanese auto giants

honda and nissan are discussing a potential merger. the automakers say they are exploring various possibilities for collaboration and leveraging each other's strengths. they didn't offer any detail on the timing of any possible deal u.s. lawmakers have unveiled a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government running through to mid-march, but it's not clear if it can make it through congress. conservatives are frustrated with house speaker mike johnson for negotiating with democrats. the bill includes nearly $100 billion in disaster relief and another 10 billion in economic assistance for farmers. many republicans are irate over the number of provisions tacked onto a bill that was intended only to extend current funding levels and prevent a shutdown. several of donald trump's controversial cabinet picks have been lobbying senators on capitol hill trying to pick up support ahead of next month's confirmation hearings. much of the focus right now is on health and human services

secretary nominee robert f kennedy jr., who's been making the rounds with lawmakers. cnn's manu raju has more. >> reporter robert f kennedy jr. making the rounds on capitol hill for a second day meeting with republican senators and trying to get them in line. one of the big things he has been trying to do is try to reassure some who are concerned about his views on vaccines. he is, according to republican senators, not reiterating what he has said before, to repeat that debunked theory that vaccine use leads to childhood autism. there have been science, of course, does not making that case. he has said that before, but in these meetings he has said that he is concerned about rising rates of autism, says he wants to get to the bottom of that. and he's also indicated he wants to have a top to bottom review of vaccines altogether. now, in a good sign for him here, the senate republican leader, incoming senate republican leader john thune told our colleague ted barrett that indeed, he could support him for the job. at least he suggested that he could because he said he was. he viewed his

answers about vaccines in a very positive light. and also he has reassured republican senators who had concerns about his pro-abortion rights views, saying instead that he would 100% support donald trump's position on abortion if confirmed as the health and human services secretary. now, i caught up with another key senator, senator susan collins of maine, who actually met with tulsi gabbard to lead the director to be the director of national intelligence. gabbard has been controversial in her own right. in 2017, she met with the then syrian leader bashar al assad for a very controversial trip. she also has espoused views that have been critical of ukraine, as collins and others have pushed for more u.s. support for ukraine. i asked her about both her meeting with gabbard and also her whether she could vote for gabbard or rfk jr.. >> we talked about syria, her visit to see assad. >> we talked about ukraine. >> we talked about putin. we talked about nato. we talked

about her positions on introducing legislation that would have removed the criminal charges for snowden. and so it was a very broad and wide ranging discussion. >> do you have any reservations about her or rfk jr.. >> at this point on vaccines, rfk and as i've told you many, many times, i'm not going to make a decision on uh, on nominees about whom i have questions until we're through the process. >> that's the approach i have always taken. >> so noncommittal on both. but for any trump nominee, of course, they can afford to lose no more than three republican votes on any party line vote. and at the moment, no republican senators coming out and saying they are publicly opposed to any of these nominees, all keeping the door open if they have, may have some concerns about their positions, which is why the

trump team is confident that they can get most, if not all, of these nominees confirmed early in the new year. manu raju, cnn, capitol hill. >> the federal reserve is set to hold its final meeting of the year today. investors are watching for predictions about the incoming trump administration, and they're waiting to see if the federal reserve follows through with an expected interest rate cut for the third time this year. cnn's julia chatterley reports. >> the federal reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent in their final meeting of the year, making it a nice round, one percentage point of cuts to borrowing costs for the year. >> but then comes the tougher part, which involves communicating some kind of plan for 2025. >> and that includes what's widely expected to be a pause in the cutting cycle. in january. why? well, it's a few things, and actually a lot of it's good news, including solid growth, tracking up more than 3% annualized. we can then add in a stronger than expected labor market plus a us consumer

that's actually increased spending into the holiday season. then there's rising prices that actually have cooled a lot, but not enough. and then comes the bad news. plenty of geopolitical risk, whether that's the middle east, ukraine or the potential impact of tariff policy from president elect donald trump. now, the decision to pause rate cuts, though, would be far more. i think, about the relative economic strength, at least in my mind, than future policy decisions like tariffs that may not, in fact, materialize. so first comes their updated economic projections and the so-called dot plot of where they think cuts in rates can come next year. now, if you remember, back in september, they were thinking four rate cuts next year. that could very likely be reduced to just three cuts based on what they see today, though, let's be clear, as we've seen this year, nothing is set in stone. and fed chair jerome powell will likely be keen to emphasize the degree of flexibility when he speaks on wednesday. and that leaves the fed with a core message that

they've cut rates a full percentage point, that the economy is doing pretty well and that they do remain data dependent and that they can't react to things like tariffs until they get them, and then they'll see how things progress between now and the january meeting. julia chatterley, cnn, new york. >> ecuador has now completed its second debt swap, this time to free up money for amazon conservation. the government says by buying back more than $1.5 billion of discounted existing bonds with new, cheaper money, it will see a savings of $460 million over the next 17 years. that will go towards protecting and managing the rainforest, the amazon bio corridor program looks to improve the management and protection of millions of acres of forests and wetlands, as well as to protect more than 11,000 miles of rivers. pope francis expected to release a new book early next year, a memoir of his life entitled hope, will include details of two attempts on his life.

cnn's christopher lam has more pope francis says he faced two assassination attempts during his 2021 visit to iraq, in what was the first time a pontiff had visited the country in a forthcoming autobiography, parts of which were released on tuesday. >> the pope said he was told of a female suicide bomber who planned to blow herself up in mosul whilst a van traveling at high speed had the same intent. both these assassination attempts were foiled, the pope said. by the uk intelligence services and by the iraqi police. now, of course, mosul, iraq's second largest city, was under the control of islamic state from 2014 to 2017. in his autobiography, the pope says he was advised strongly against visiting iraq due to the security risk and the covid 19 pandemic, but the pope said he was determined to make the trip to a country that is rich in biblical history. and, of course, is home to one

of the world's oldest christian communities that has faced extensive persecution in recent years whilst in iraq. the pope was also able to have an historic meeting with the grand ayatollah al-sistani, a leading shia authority in islam. the news of the assassination attempts against the pope came as francis marked his 88th birthday, making him one of the oldest popes in the church's history. however, the pope shows no sign of slowing down, and he's a busy schedule ahead of services during the christmas period. christopher lam, cnn, london. >> in the south pacific, at least 14 people are reported dead in vanuatu after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit the islands on tuesday. officials say at least 200 people have been treated for injuries. the quake caused buildings to collapse, smashing cars, potentially trapping victims beneath the rubble. the us embassy in vanuatu, which shares a building with other western embassies, was badly

damaged and is now closed. a doctor with the emergency relief group respond global says the entire ordeal is something residents won't forget soon, we've definitely been overwhelmed in the first few hours. >> it was very clear this was a major incident with the risk of overwhelming the health services. >> also, recognizing the importance of mental health and psychosocial response in this. >> it's going to take a toll on the cultural safety net of the communities, and this will be something that will definitely remain in our memories for a long time. it's just before christmas, and i'm sure it will have a life, lifelong impact for many vanuatu authorities and aid workers in the french territory of mayotte are working around the clock to keep the peace and prevent the spread of disease.

>> after the worst cyclone to hit the region in at least 90 years. at least 22 people are dead and more than 1400 injured, according to a local mayor. but those numbers could rise significantly as crews move further into areas blocked by debris. much needed supplies began arriving on tuesday. the french government expects half of the island's water supplies to be restored soon, and nearly all of it by early next week. now we have exclusive new reporting on france's mass rape trial, including details on how gisele pelicot husband was able to orchestrate the abuse. that report, after the break. >> this holiday season, find the perfect gift at cnn, underscored from the latest fashion to expert approved tech to the best beauty finds. discover it all at underscore. com many remedies you take for chest congestion only mask the symptoms. >> you're gonna love this property. >> try this mucinex 12 hour

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at 69, suits 3.99. download the m taylor app or visit mar-a-lago. com today. >> a verdict is expected on thursday and the rape trial that's shock. france much of the world dominique pelicot is accused of organizing the abuse of his own wife, giselle. she decided to waive her right to anonymity and has spoken openly in court, saying it's time to

look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape. 15 men, including pellico, have pleaded guilty to rape. others say they thought that a husband's consent was enough. now, exclusive access to french police reports reveal exactly how her husband found men to rape his wife. we have to warn everyone that the content is graphic and it's disturbing, saskya vandoorne reports i've come here to retrace the steps of all those men who visited dominique pelicot house in the middle of the night his case really has captured

the world's attention, with so many people asking why. >> we're going to focus instead on how pellico led the men right here, the way he communicated, the tactics he used, how he came to be on trial for mass rape and drugging his wife, what was his playbook? >> 50 men accused in the mass rape of gisele pelicot. she was drugged, drugged, unconscious by her husband. >> dominique pelicot dominique pelicot admitted to recruiting, enlisting other men to join to rape his wife, sparked outrage across france. >> global concern about violence against women cnn has gained exclusive access to police reports with thousands of messages that dominic exchanged with the 50 men on trial alongside him. >> he didn't have to search far for his alleged accomplices. >> they all live within a 30 mile radius of his house in mazan. the horror is still felt here by local women in area was so quiet and nice area, and now we don't know if somebody who

is a the next stop is one of these men. >> it changes everything from a firefighter to a journalist to a nurse from 27 years old to 74 years old. >> all the men were connected by one website. coco shut down this summer. coco's chat rooms were easy to access. it was not buried in the dark web, as one man accused of raping gisele pelicot said. >> josh allen can contact the coco squad to was mangione, but because the so-called dating site was entirely unmoderated and anonymous, it boasted chat rooms selling date rape, drugs and spaces to glorify sexual violence under the pseudonym available all night, pellico posted in a chat room called without her knowledge. >> it was there that misogyny and sexual abuse were completely normalized. while

pellico has pleaded guilty to rape, most of his co-defendants say that they believe dominique pelicot consent was enough. coco was the door. pellico would then move the discussion to skype. he traded videos of his wife being raped for intimate images of the men's own partners. according to the police report we saw coco was a very dangerous website. innocence and danger has been campaigning against the site for years. >> they went to this website to realize there was there was fantasies so it became reality. thanks to dominique pelicot. >> he told police that over time he built a network of men. >> the place where they could meet. what time, what they could, where they couldn't, where. >> he allegedly told the men what drugs to buy and how to use them. this all went

undetected for ten years. dominique pelicot never thought his text messages or his alleged crimes would see the light of day, and they probably wouldn't have if it weren't for the events that took place right here on september 12th, when a security guard caught him red handed, filming up the skirts of several women. >> police, police director. >> this is kind of a website. as long as there is demand, then there will be supply. >> in the wake of coco's shutdown, more websites have gained in popularity in france. cnn extracted data from just one of those websites after going through almost 6000 messages from a 24 hour period, we found a strikingly similar pattern of men sharing explicit photos of their wives and girlfriends. and asking to move the discussions to private messaging platforms. some men

went as far as offering up their wives to other users in a manner like pellico, but it's unclear if any of them set up real life encounters. there are some websites that could be the new coco. how does that make you feel for these website? >> it's a kind of marvelous thing. >> what happened with gisele pelicot? it brings them advertising produire des mains lors d'un autre commun. >> we expect that some laws will change. but of course i'm not sure that it will be enough, so i don't feel at ease here in the streets. >> saskya vandoorne reporting there and she'll be following the case as it completes as well. we'll be right back. >> what if all i do for my type two diabetes isn't enough? >> or what if? >> once weekly mounjaro could help? >> mounjaro helps your body

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2032. astronauts have been stranded on the international space station since june, will have to stay in orbit even longer. now, it seems the one week mission for suni williams and butch wilmore was unexpectedly extended due to issues with their boeing starliner spacecraft. cnn's kristin fisher has details on the latest delay. >> you'll remember butch and sunny. they were supposed to come back on that boeing starliner capsule on its maiden test flight back in june. it didn't happen because nasa deemed it to be unsafe. so they've been waiting up at the international space station as part of a crew rotation. right. so you have to wait until the next crew and the next spacecraft is ready to come up there and relieve you. so crew nine came up. now they're waiting for crew ten. that is that was supposed to be in february. now we just learned it's going to be delayed one month until mid to late march of 2025. and the reason why, according to nasa and spacex, and i'm quoting here, they say

they need extra time to complete processing on a new dragon spacecraft for the mission. so this is you know, spacex has a lot of dragon spacecraft. they've been used quite frequently. it's the primary means by which nasa astronauts get to and from the international space station. so they've been planning on getting this new one up and running. it's just not quite ready yet. so for butch and sunny, it means they've got to wait at least one more month. >> sir, you two characters are going to top gun. >> i feel the need. >> the need for speed. >> five weeks. you're going to fly against the best fighter pilots in the world. >> you guys really are cowboys. >> tom cruise has spent years playing military heroes, but his service is more than just make believe. the us navy is honoring him with a distinguished public service award. the navy says films like top gun and its sequel, maverick, significantly boosted its recruitment of fighter pilots. cruise is a licensed pilot and says that it's a true honor to represent service

members. finally, we leave you this hour with a santa who ditched his sleigh for a jet ski to deliver presents to kids in rio de janeiro. the nonprofit heroes of love joined forces with the fire department to hand out gifts to children in the community thanks for joining me here on cnn newsroom. i'm max foster in london this morning, cnn this morning. up next, after a break you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. >> luther. never too much new year's day at eight on cnn. >> like a relentless weed. >> moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. >> start to break away from uc with tremfya with rapid relief

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