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morning our speaker is going to the democrats to cut a deal with democrats funding fight government shutdown looming after elon musk helped blow up a spending deal in congress. >> plus, when the path is uncertain, you go a little bit slower. >> inflation fears the fed chair backing away from interest rate cuts next year, setting up a potential showdown with the president elect. and this we're leaving america in a better place today than when we came. biden's final days in office, the president fading from the political landscape and yielding much of the spotlight to donald trump. 5 a.m. here on the east coast. a live look at the washington monument. that's the we're getting used to seeing this picture in the mornings, right? the jefferson memorial, the white house in front doesn't light up until later on in the morning. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us.

we are just over a month from donald trump's second inauguration. yet in many ways, washington is already back capitol hill grappling with yet another looming government shutdown after the president elect sunk a republican brokered deal to keep the government open. last weekend, speaker mike johnson was riding high appearing with trump at the army-navy football game. so too did elon musk. if johnson and musk discussed the imminent government funding deadline, it must not have been a productive conversation. >> i was communicating with elon last night. elon and vivek and i are on a text chain together, and i was explaining to them the background of this. remember, guys, we still have just a razor thin margin of republicans, so any bill has to have democrat votes. they understand the situation. they said it's not directed to you, mr. speaker, but we don't like the spending. i said, guess what, fellas? i don't either. >> so johnson unveiled his bipartisan spending deal on tuesday night. that was him on wednesday morning. and even before that interview, musk had

already come out against the bill in public throughout the day, the doge head posted more than 100 times on his social media platform, railing against the deal. musk, writing in one post, quote, any member of the house or senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in two years. by the end of wednesday, the negotiated deal, which includes $100 billion in disaster relief, economic aid for farmers and a pay raise for lawmakers, was dead. >> but our speaker is going to the democrats to cut a deal with democrats and not talking to conservatives. >> certainly conservative republicans in the conference. >> it's a horrible plan. i can't believe that republican leadership ever cooked it up. clearly, they didn't talk to trump about it. and i tell you what, we need to have a serious look at who's leading this congress. because if this is the best they can do, i mean, it's just it's total incompetence. this is a disaster. >> with his spending deal now blown up, a shutdown looming less than 48 hours away, mike johnson also facing a rebellion

in his own ranks in the upcoming vote for speaker of the house that is slated for january 3rd, could you vote for him on january 3rd? >> he doesn't have my vote, so you won't vote for him. >> he does not have my vote. >> will you change your mind it would take a christmas miracle. >> do you think the speaker, given the way he's handled this, deserves to be reelected on january 3rd? >> i think there's going to be a debate on it if if we're not careful, we'll be we'll be having some serious debate. >> all right. joining us now to discuss max cohen, congressional reporter at punchbowl news. max, good morning. while day until yesterday, which you were there for? i certainly reminded me of what it was like to cover the trump administration back from 2017 until he left office in 2021. um, except this time it was elon musk who was tweeting and causing this to totally unravel. what happens next here? >> it's a great question, right? i think house republicans don't even know. >> but they're meeting this morning at 9 a.m.

>> house democrats are meeting to. and i think what trump is calling for is a clean government funding bill in addition to a debt limit increase for around two years. that's going to be a big lift. you know, many conservative house republicans have proudly said, i've never, ever voted to raise the debt limit. and now trump is calling for that very act. >> well, right. and i mean, the reality around the debt limit. so this is something that was, of course, thrown into the conversation at the last minute yesterday. right? this was not something they were talking about doing. but now donald trump says, okay, i'll support your clean funding bill if you give me if you raise the debt limit so that i don't have to deal with it. but republicans have never voted alone to raise the debt limit. they always rely on democratic votes. and for democrats, usually they're able to say, this is a crisis. it's the full faith and credit of the united states. we absolutely have to do this right now. they don't actually absolutely have to do it. is there any way for congress to give trump what he wants at this point, or for speaker johnson to get the votes that he would need for this plan? >> it's looking very unlikely, because i was speaking to house

democrats last night, and they are absolutely furious at house republicans. they had a bipartisan deal with a lot of democratic wins that got totally taken off the table. and hakeem jeffries and his leadership team said, look, republicans made this mess. they're going to get themselves out of it. and remember, next congress, the debt limit is probably going to reach a breaking point in the summer. why would democrats give up that huge point of leverage to secure wins right now in the lame duck period? it doesn't make any sense for democrats to give republicans a win here. >> so let's talk about the house speaker's future, because as we know, getting mike johnson to be speaker of the house was a long and tortured process in the wake of kevin mccarthy being functionally deposed. uh, what does it say to you that there are now people raising the possibility? i actually i talked to congresswoman victoria spartz on the program earlier in the day, and she said that she wasn't sure she was going to vote for mike johnson for speaker. do you think that's a real thing that the speaker vote could be in play? >> absolutely. this is 100% a real thing. his margins are so

slim. mike johnson essentially had to pitch a perfect game from now until january 3rd, when the speaker vote is happening and he doesn't have those margins anymore because of the spending play. and it's infuriated so many people in the republican conference, from moderates to hardliners to everyone in between, they feel like they are not looped into this plan. it's going to be i think there will be another speaker fight. certainly talking to republicans. >> who do you think might be next in line behind johnson? >> a name i keep hearing is jim jordan. he's very popular among house conservatives. he's currently the judiciary committee chairman. he does have some issue with moderates, but i think apart from everyone else, he might be a choice to turn to who's very close with trump and could maybe unite this conference. >> fascinating. all right. max cohen for us this morning. max, grateful to have you on the show. thanks for being here. all right. coming up on cnn this morning, russian president vladimir putin holding his end of year press conference right now, answering questions about the russian economy and the war in ukraine. plus, police uncover new communications between the wisconsin school shooter and a california man who was planning an attack of

his own. and the fed, urging caution about rate cuts in the new year. how will this impact donald trump's campaign promise to lower inflation together, we will deliver low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, low inflation so that everyone can afford groceries, a car and a home. >> common sense i want to be the greatest player that i could possibly become. >> elle reeve still congested? >> nope. uh-oh. >> new mucinex 2 in 1 saline nasal spray spray. >> goodbye. >> new mucinex 2 in 1 saline nasal spray with a gentle mist and innovative power jet spray. goodbye to congestion. it's comeback season. >> what if my type two diabetes takes over?

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heightened uncertainty. as president elect trump prepares to take office, he is demanding an accelerated timetable for peace talks and his new envoy to ukraine, general keith kellogg, is planning a trip to kyiv come january i think both sides are ready. >> think of a cage fight. you've got two fighters and both want to tap out. you need a referee to kind of separate them. and i think president donald j. trump can do that at this hour. >> president vladimir putin of russia holding his annual press conference with his war on ukraine entering its third year. max foster joins us live now from london with more max. good morning. what are we hearing from the russian president? >> well, we've been obviously listening out for ukraine. he's been talking a lot about the domestic economy, saying it's stronger than people might think. that's really important, obviously for domestic votes, but also to show that the war isn't costing too much on domestic lifestyles, you know, away from all the soldiers being sent out there. he talks about the gains

being made by russia, and we know that he is making gains because the ukrainians have effectively accepted that. but in terms of the gains, putin said, we're not just talking about advancing 100, 200, 300m. our fighters are taking and returning territory in square kilometers. i want to emphasize, so it's pretty dramatic, the sort of progress they're making along the front lines there. >> so, max, let's turn to zelenskyy and his sort of approach to all of this. we've of course seen him court president trump ahead of the president elect trump ahead of the inauguration. now he's talking to europeans who are supportive. of course, concerned about the land war on the continent. what are we hearing from him? and how do you think what you know, what options? what does he have to to argue with? >> well, last time he met president trump, trump was talking about an immediate

ceasefire and a negotiation. so that's the context here. going into this meeting with european leaders you know, behind the scenes, they are talking about potential deals that could be done with russia. they're going to have to come up with some sort of plan. if donald trump demands it, because he can demand it because he's providing so much of the weaponry for ukraine. so what sort of what might a deal look like? they're not talking too publicly about that because they feel it plays to russia's strength. it makes ukraine look even weaker, and they may be able to push forward even harder. so discussions behind the scenes about what sort of guarantees would effectively be in any deal, um, you know, the big deal breaker on both sides really is nato membership. that's what vladimir zelenskyy wants. and it's something that putin will absolutely not accept. so what can be done around that? zelenskyy is talking about the guarantees that if a deal is done, how would it be secure? >> right. okay. max foster for us this morning. max, always

grateful to have you. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. casey. >> all right. straight ahead here on cnn this morning, former congressman matt gaetz lashing out after the house ethics committee decides to release its report on his alleged misconduct. plus, winding down president biden, leading office, leaving office as the oldest president in u.s. history. a brand new report on what that's been like for his aides behind the scenes. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn. life. >> diabetes. there's no slowing down. >> each day is a unique blend of people to see and things to do. that's why you choose glucerna to help manage blood sugar response uniquely designed with carb steady glucerna. bring on the day from creating memories to finding the perfect gift

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congressman matt gaetz. the report, which details allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, is set to be made public soon. the committee voted just last month to keep it under wraps. gaetz has denied all allegations, posting a lengthy statement on x, claiming that his past behavior, while embarrassing, was not criminal. 15 year old natalie rupnow, who killed a teacher and student at her school in wisconsin, was in contact with a man in california who planned to attack a government building. that's according to officials and court documents. a judge issuing a restraining order against the 20 year old man under california's red flag law that requires him to turn in his guns and ammunition to police within 48 hours. the order claims he was messaging rupnow discussing plans for a mass shooting. pilots are reporting a massive uptick in being hit by laser pointers from the ground. that's been the case since those mysterious

drone sightings took off in recent weeks. the faa says it received 123 laser strike reports by pilots on tuesday alone. that number, typically about 30 each night the murder hornet, now declared eradicated in the u.s., the world's largest hornet, is known for its ability to wipe out a honeybee hive in just hours. they were first spotted in washington state five years ago, but after a trapping program was implemented, none have been spotted since 2021. well, that's a relief on many levels. all right. time now for weather holiday travelers. beware a winter storm moving through the midwest into the northeast over the next few days. let's get to our meteorologist, the weatherman, derek van dam. derek, i just want to know if this means we're going to have a white christmas. >> the murder hornets, or if this is going to. >> be this storm system is is going to provide some areas the white christmas that they've all been dreaming of.

>> but you have to be specifically across the midwest and into the great lakes. so it's a fast moving, quick hitting, what we call a clipper system. >> and it's bringing snowfall no to places like minneapolis to madison and milwaukee, grand rapids, my hometown, and it's going to move into the east coast by this weekend. but buyer beware. it's not going to bring that beautiful, picture perfect movie setting of a white christmas along the eastern seaboard. and i'll show you why in just one moment. here's a storm developing now. it's moving from the midwest through the great lakes, and it's going to bring that quick shot of 3 to 6in of snowfall right where you see the winter storm warnings and shade of pink. these are advisories surrounding that. and as it moves through the great lakes state, there's a lot of energy associated with this system. so plenty of wind on the backside of this low. but watch how quick it moves. and then it encounters some warmer air from the atlantic ocean. and that's going to be, well, confined to the coastal regions, mainly rain, but there will be some snowfall for the inland communities of the

northeast. so just outside of the new york city boroughs, that's where we anticipate the snowfall. 44 degrees for the big apple today. but i want you to see this. even any shot of the cold air bringing the snowflakes in the sky, look what replaces it by christmas and the second half of next week, oh, okay. there it is. >> i had some hope there for a second, but it is what it is. all right. derek van dam for us this morning derek. thank you. all right. still ahead here on cnn this morning stock market tumble. the dow plummeting after the fed scaling back plans for interest rate cuts next year. plus back in court ceo murder suspect luigi mangione could be back in new york as soon as today we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder. >> social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack andy, take a seat.

>> anderson, look at this. you're wet. disheveled. there's debris hitting you. >> we need to be ready for new year's eve. maybe you are ready. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight. >> for more than a decade, fauci has been trusted again and again and again. fauci got ask your doctor about vorozhba. >> do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. >> we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement, but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friends sold their policy to help pay their medical bills and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. >> i was skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance as a valuable asset that can be sold. >> we learned we could sell all of our policy or keep part of

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courtroom. he was indicted tuesday by a manhattan grand jury on 11 charges, including first degree murder, as an act of terrorism. a potential challenge for prosecutors. the outpouring of support for mangione and how that could impact jury selection we have voir dire process in place. >> i have faith in our jury system to select 12 people who can be fair and impartial, but we'll move forward and that's something well down the road. >> but we'll be ready when that time comes. >> all right. retired nypd officer jillian snyder joins us now. jillian, good morning. thanks very much for being here. when we last saw luigi mangione on camera, he clearly was angry as he was being taken, you know, past the cameras. we will be seeing him. apparently here for this this courtroom, in this courtroom in pennsylvania. there's this question about when and whether

he'll end up in new york, how quickly that may happen, what are the challenges for police throughout this as they have to move him around, especially considering the way there has been so much there's been a lot of public support for him. >> good morning casey. thanks for having me. so obviously the nypd is going to work very closely with pennsylvania police, depending on what the outcome of today's extradition hearing is, no matter what, if he goes back to new york today or tomorrow, or in a week from now, there will be close coordination between both agencies to ensure no escape, that there's no one trying to, you know, infiltrate or help him escape. so there's going to be a lot of precautionary measures taken in advance. >> what is it? what does it say to you and what is your sort of impression and understanding as a as a former officer? do you feel like you've seen anything like this before? where? i mean, are there other cases where the an alleged criminal

generates this kind of sympathy from the public it's very rare, i think, because of the the way in which this was carried out, the target of the crime. >> and then also looking at the alleged offender. this is someone with no criminal background that we know of. he's young. he comes from a well-to-do family. he has an ivy league education, not someone customarily that we would believe would commit a crime this heinous. so no, in my career, i worked in brooklyn, in the south bronx. i never saw a crime like this. >> so let's talk about what the evidence may be that they are collecting here. in particular, you know, questions around whether or not he was acting alone. i mean, that's what he has said. according to documents that police have recovered. but there was a cell phone recovered at the scene that had his fingerprints on it. that may suggest that he was at least, you know, using that for for some reason. he also, of course, was outside that hotel right at the correct

time when brian thompson was walking into the hotel. is there any suggestion to you here that he may have been working with others looking at the evidence as it stands right now? >> i would say there's not any direct evidence that implicates that there's an accomplice, but we need to take a step back, and we need to look again at this alleged offender. no criminal background, but yet carried out a very sophisticated crime. he did countersurveillance before he had mapped out a very elaborate and evasive escape route. after he had, you know, prepared a ghost gun. he knew the location of his target at very close to the time where his target was walking outside. and even though his manifesto said he acted alone, that doesn't mean he did act alone. my hope is that law enforcement continues to investigate. we have seen video surveillance of mangione on the phone very shortly before he committed this crime, which would lead investigators to believe he was communicating

with someone, someone who could be involved. >> very interesting. all right. jillian snyder for us this morning. jillian, thanks very much for your time. i really appreciate it thanks, casey. all right. let's turn now to this story. the federal reserve cut interest rates again on wednesday, but the stock market reacted negatively to a different piece of news during his press conference after the rate cut, federal reserve chairman jerome powell signaled there will be fewer interest rate cuts next year. just two instead of the previous forecast of four. the news triggered a selloff on wall street, the dow dropping more than 1100 points on the day. it was also the 10th straight day of losses for the blue chip index. that is the longest losing streak for the market since 1974. now the chairman, sounding a note of caution about moves the federal reserve might make next year as long as the economy and the labor market are solid, we can be cautious about as we consider further cuts, which is another reason to be cautious about about further moves. >> there's uncertainty,

uncertainty around inflation. i pointed out it's appropriate to move cautiously. it's a new phase. and we're going to be, you know, cautious about about about further cuts. >> all right. joining us now to discuss is rachel siegel. she covers the economy for the washington post. rachel good morning. thank you so much for being here. so it seems like jerome powell jerome powell's word of the day was caution. how do the markets read that? >> not well. and they take that as a sign that even though the economy is very strong, there's lots of reason to be optimistic about the economy next year, that there are going to be fewer interest rate cuts to come as well. and that's just because inflation is not going down as quickly or as steadily as the federal reserve might have otherwise hoped. it doesn't mean that their fight against inflation is on losing ground, that they're worried that they're not going to be able to vanquish these rising prices. it's just not happening as rapidly or as steadily. and that means fewer cuts in order to offset some of that uncertainty. >> so this is likely to put jerome powell at odds with president elect donald trump, who is very interested in seeing additional rate cuts and a rising market. how do you

think those two are going to interact given this? >> well, it wouldn't be the first time that they are at odds during the first term, trump was very outspoken about his dissatisfaction with powell at the time, not doing enough to stimulate the economy, not doing enough to cut rates. and that was well before the covid recession and the kind of inflation that we're seeing now. then again, trump doesn't have the power to vanquish inflation. he doesn't control interest rates. he doesn't control mortgage rates. so these campaign promises that he's made to people to try and relieve some of those areas of strain in their budget, are really in control of the fed. and it's the fed's job to act independently from politics to crowd out that noise. and that, as you said, is likely to put them at two opposite sides of that policymaking table. but it's not one that we expect powell to flinch on at all. >> well, and to that point, i mean, obviously there are other areas where donald trump is breaking norms on places that are supposed to be not political, i.e. the fbi, right, where he has nominated someone and christopher wray has said that he's going to step down three years ahead at the end of his ten year term, jerome powell taking a very different

approach. let's watch what he said back right after the election. this was november 7th. let's watch jerome powell some of the president elect's advisers have suggested that you should resign. if he asked you to leave, would you go? no. can you follow up on it? >> do you think that legally you're not required to leave? no. >> you know, powell deserves a lot of credit for being very direct and plainspoken. i think this is perhaps the best example. this is not even something that he's entertaining. his term goes through 2026. he has said very clearly, even before the results of the election, that he intends to see that through. trump can say whatever he wants about whether that's his preference. but powell not only says that he wants to say that the law is on his side here, that he can't be fired, that just because he and trump might agree on policy differences, that's not a reason that he's going to be out of his seat. >> yeah, well, i guess we will. we're about to find out. rachel siegel, thanks very much for being here this morning, i appreciate it. all right. coming up next on cnn this morning, a brand new report out moments ago details how the

white house has been functioning with an aging leader in the oval office. one of the reporters on that story will join us live. plus, the $180 million quarterback it's about to be riding the bench. >> that's next in sports. caleb luther. >> never too much new year's day at eight. >> i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, but thanks to skyrizi and clear skin, i'm all in with 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 is the undead plague

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the wait is over and now a new chapter to be written. >> the college football playoff begins with the first round on december 20th and 21st. >> 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. >> we said that the key to restoring confidence in our traditions and our institutions was public officials who would stand up and tell the american people exactly what they thought. i mean, to be that

candidate and with the grace of god and the support of the american people, i mean, to be that kind of president in just one month, president biden's winding half century journey to the presidency will come to an end. >> but he still has a to do list, adding the final touches to a legacy that will now be bookended by two trump terms. just five months ago, he was hoping to not only beat donald trump, but also serve another four years. new reporting from our next guest indicates that long before biden dropped out of the 2024 race, some of his closest aides were actively taking steps to manage a quote, diminished leader. the wall street journal's annie linskey and others write this quote to adapt the white house around the needs of a diminished leader. they told visitors to keep meetings focused. interactions with senior democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members, including powerful secretaries such as defense lloyd austin and treasury's janet yellen, were

infrequent or grew less frequent. some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president's ear at key moments, including ahead of the us's disastrous pullout from afghanistan. former administration officials said it often didn't seem like biden had his finger on the pulse. and joining us now is annie linskey. she's reporter for the wall street journal. annie, good morning. thank you so much. good to be here. you write that you spoke to over 50 people in reporting out this story. what did you learn about how aides were managing biden throughout his entire presidency? >> yeah, one of the major takeaways from our story is that one of biden. >> biden has long been an insular politician, but as he grew older and became more powerful, the walls got higher and the walls got thicker around him. >> and that helped shield his decline from senior democrats who were outside the white house. >> but it also helped him manage and make decisions in a

in a way to where he wasn't having to take in a lot of information from various people, but getting information flowed through key aides who he trusted, who did get a lot of time with him. >> but, you know, some of the pieces that were the most surprising to me just was just the breadth of people who were saying that they had no access to this president or had very limited access to him. >> and these were people that ideally should have. i mean, this is let me read a little bit more from your piece, because you note yet a sign that the bruising presidential schedule needed to be adjusted for biden's advanced age had arisen early on in just the first few months of his term. administration officials noticed the president became tired if meetings went long and would make mistakes, and they issued a directive to some powerful lawmakers and allies seeking one on one time. the exchanges should be short and focused, according to people who received the message directly from white house aides. ideally, the meetings would start later in the day, since biden had never been at his best first thing in the morning, some of the people said his staff made these

adjustments to limit potential missteps by biden. the president, known for long and rambling sessions, at times pushed in the opposite direction, wanting or just taking more time. the white house denied that his schedule had been altered due to his age. >> yeah, we talked to a number of people who got this directive directly from white house aide saying, you know, if your boss is going to go in, it's going to be a short meeting. we've got to keep this short. and in some cases, explaining the reason why, which is he's getting tired. it's got to be short. it's got to be focused. the word focused came up a lot and to some extent, you know, you can always say that, look, a president's time is his most valuable asset. and that is true. but what was different here is just the the the great number of people who are having this experience who hadn't before. i mean, we had democratic committee chairs who spoke to us on the record to say we hadn't we didn't we didn't talk to the president. no. in all, in some cases they said, we're okay with that. you know, jim himes from

connecticut, as he was doing the fisa. reauthorization, never spoke with the president. that was one of the most the biggest legislative pieces of this of this past year. or jim or excuse me, adam smith, just before the afghanistan withdrawal, desperately wanted to talk to the president but was unable to. and i think with any one individual you can say, well, okay, maybe the president doesn't like adam smith, or maybe he doesn't like jim himes. but when you're looking at such a broad, so many broad categories of people, a pattern emerges. >> well, and i think it might be worth noting or explaining for people who aren't as familiar. i mean, under different or more normal circumstances, these committee chairs would have the opportunity to talk to a president. >> yes, absolutely. i mean, democratic committee chairs, um, as you're going in, you know, making a major policy shift in afghanistan, i would think normally and they would have expect to talk to the president, particularly the chairman of the armed services committee, who had a deep background in afghanistan policy. so look, again, any

individual, any individual piece, you can say, look, that one person might not be the person the president wants to talk to. but when you hear it over and over and over again, um, the pattern was clear. and in talking to some of the, you know, senior white house officials or people who had recently left, they have, you know, confirmed this idea that the walls just got thicker. the, the the shell got harder around him as he got older. >> one of the pieces that i found interesting is you talk about how the information that was getting to the president himself, especially negative information, seemed to become more limited. and this was in a period of time where he was making a decision about running again for reelection. and of course, the american public was watching what he was doing and didn't have all of the information about his his state of mind, his state of being. how much does that limited information do you think play into the decision that he made to run for reelection? and ultimately, the fact that

democrats lost the white house again to donald trump? >> i mean, i feel like that's a huge issue that democrats are wrestling with right now. it really came up with the pollsters who the president wasn't talking to his own pollsters over the summer. and this was becoming clear to lawmakers who were hearing him say, i'm going to be fine. you have to back me. i'm going to be fine. and they were sort of saying, look, it does not seem like you're getting good polling information. and we heard that he he wasn't talking to his own pollsters. that information was getting filtered through the white house. so, um, it was a very, very insular, closed white house that has emerged. >> what role did the first lady jill biden play in all of this? according to your reporting, she's been his most trusted adviser. >> you know, the first person that she he talks to when he wakes up, the last person who sees him when he goes to bed, um, you know, he is. she is the person who understood the most the state that he was in. and i

think that is she's somebody who, when you talk to basically any democrat, they ask how why a spouse would have supported his decision to run. again, it's a it's a fraught thing to ask. you always want to support your spouse, but that is she is one of one of the people that democrats really are asking a lot of questions about. >> yeah, really fascinating reporting. and and you're going to stick around. join our panel at the top of the hour. we'll talk about this a little bit more later on. thank you. thank you. all right. time now for sports. falcons quarterback kirk cousins speaks out for the first time since getting benched. carolyn manno has this morning cnn's sports update. carolyn good morning. good morning casey. expectations were so high as you know after the falcons signed cousins to that four year, $180 million contract with 100 million guaranteed. >> but he is now heading to the bench after just 14 games. and head coach raheem morris said the turnovers really were the biggest factor in the decision. cousins has thrown a league high 16 interceptions and has 12 fumbles. that's tied for most in the league. but the 36 year old says he still believes

in himself. i didn't forget how to play quarterback. >> um, you know, certainly the turnovers were not what you want, but i didn't forget how to play. >> maybe you need, you know, less confidence to to not, you know, try to force the ball into tighter windows. so, uh i don't think it's confidence as much as you just got to make got to make great decisions, got to make great decisions all the time. and if you don't, you know you'll pay for it. rookie michael penix jr. will lead the seven and seven falcons for the rest of the season. with a playoff berth still a possibility, and penix told reporters where he was when he got the call that he would be the starter. >> i was actually shopping, shopping with my girlfriend who was at costco, and i got the call and i was actually getting a hot dog and and whenever i got the call, i wasn't hungry no more. so a hot dog at costco around the holidays. >> relatable. meantime, as another disappointing jet season nears its end, quarterback aaron rodgers contemplating his future in football, the 41 year old said

he's not sure whether he'll play beyond this season. >> i'm going to take take some time after the year unless, you know, i get released right away, but i'll still take some time whether or not i want to play. >> um, but i'll take some time. get away from it either way. >> the jets four and ten out of the playoff hunt for a 14th straight year. that is the longest active postseason drought in all of the major north american sports leagues. and check this out. college football's bowl season in full swing. unlv squaring off against cal in the la bowl last night. the rebels pulling off one of the best fake punts you'll ever see down ten seven with the ball at their own 39 yard line early in the second quarter, marshall nichols tosses a two handed chest pass to defensive back cameron oliver, who ran it all the way to the red zone. unlv would score a touchdown on the very next play en route to a 2413 win, and a big congratulations to james madison for winning its first bowl game in school history. this was something of a shootout wednesday night against western kentucky in the

boca raton bowl. backup billy atkins hadn't started since 2022. he capped off late 75 yard drive with a 21 yard toss to taylor thompkins for the touchdown and the lead with just over nine minutes to go, so the dukes managed 214 yards on the ground, 182 yards passing in the 27 to 17 win. and as we officially head into the expanded 12 team college football playoff, here's a look at the first round notre dame hosting indiana tomorrow night in south bend. the winner will face georgia. everybody else kicking off on saturday. and casey, if you see our colleague jim acosta with a big smile, ear to ear somewhere today in dc. i think that has something to do with james madison, a proud former duke, really happy about getting that bowl win. but that was fun to see. >> fair enough for sure. all right, carolyn, thank you very much for that. i appreciate it. in our next hour here on cnn this morning, a stunning reversal after initially voting no. the house ethics committee decides to release its report on matt gaetz. plus, the gop at odds over a new bill to fund the government. that is an

understatement. with slim margins, they're going to need some democrats on their side. democratic congresswoman melanie stansbury will be here to discuss. >> now, here we are, just on the eve of christmas eve and and still have to start all over. it's all very unrealistic. but again, never underestimate what a member of congress will do the day before christmas can't fool myself. >> 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 from creating memories to finding the perfect gift, let us make this holiday season a little easier right now. >> save up to $60 on select a.s. battery sets a heart attack. >> do they have life insurance? no, but we have life insurance.

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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™. available now on the apple app store, android and m taylor. >> comm i'm oren liebermann at the pentagon, and this is cnn it's thursday, december 19th right now on cnn this morning we just won the elections. >> we have a mandate and he's giving away the farm, shutdown standoff a gop backed spending bill scrapped after donald

trump and elon musk criticized the deal. >> plus, like if the things that the house ethics report were true, i would be under indictment and probably in a prison cell. >> an abrupt turn. the house ethics committee, deciding to release its report on matt gaetz after all. >> and i'm so mad at these politicians who wrote this law thinking that tiktok was just some silly dancing app. >> tiktok under threat the supreme court will now hear arguments on whether the app should be banned next month. and later, amazon on strike workers planning to walk off the job this morning, right in the middle of the most critical holiday shopping days all right. 6 a.m. on the east coast, a live look at capitol hill, the scene of all the action this week. for better or

for worse. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us governing by tweet donald trump has yet to be sworn in, and already a day of tweeting posting derailed the funding bill that would have kept the government's lights on through christmas. what does that remind you of i haven't read his tweets, so i'm not going to comment on something i haven't read to find out. >> you've been fired by tweet is not exactly, you know, reassuring in terms of the conduct of government i don't know, i can't really comment because i don't know anything about it. >> well, i didn't see the tweet. i thought i saw the tweets this morning. i missed that one. >> i just saw the tweet and i know nothing of the episode