really justifies that. and it's also important for the house members who are still going to be sitting to know what, uh, what he did and what's over the line and what's not. >> and unfortunately, we're running out of time here. we had some technical issues, but was there something specific in the report that ultimately pushed two of your republican colleagues to to vote to release it? >> well, i'm not speaking about which number of, you know who did what on the vote, but, um, i think it was just the the combination of facts and the findings. the staff did an outstanding job in this investigation and brought forward, you know, very serious issues, that of things that, um, you know, the evidence backed up that he had done the sex with the 17 year old girl, i think was was the most prominent among those. but the issues about prostitution, the payments and the like, the illicit drug use while he was in office, all of those things, i think, combined to give us a sense that these are things the

public should know. and, you know, whether he, you know, runs for office down the road or just stays in the private sector, you know, voters or future employers ought to know what what took place. >> representative glenn ivey, so good to have you today. thank you. and happy holidays. >> thank you. >> and thanks to our panel. thank you for joining me today. i'm rahel solomon. cnn news central starts right now. >> this morning a man is now charged with murder after setting a woman on fire in the subway. he could be headed to face a judge. we have new details on the brutal crime. the suspect and the victim. >> former president bill clinton is in the hospital this morning, but hoping to be home in time for christmas. >> the latest on the 78 year old's condition. and will you have white, wet, warm or freezing christmas weather

across the u.s.? it's all over the place as people spend this christmas eve trying to get those last minute gifts and heading to holiday destinations. what you need to know about the forecast. i'm sara sidner with kate bolduan. john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. >> we have new details this morning about the horrific murder on a new york city subway. the man now charged for allegedly killing a woman by setting her on fire could be headed to court for a first appearance this morning. the nypd commissioner called the crime depraved. the brooklyn district attorney now promises, quote, this gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences. the man has now been identified. police now say the suspect was in the u.s. illegally, possibly for years, and he was likely homeless. cnn's gloria pazmino has much more on this. she's

been following this from when this first happened on sunday. what more are you going to? >> well, we learn more about the suspect. >> his identity. >> his name is sebastian zapeta-calil. >> he is 33 years old, and we know that he is a guatemalan citizen. we also know that he entered the united states in 2018. he was deported actually within 14 days of that entry. but then he made his way back into the country at a date that border patrol officials are not certain about. at some point, he made his way up here to new york city. and for the last several months, he's been in and out of many of the city's homeless shelters. that's what we know about him so far. we do expect him to be in court, perhaps today. prosecutors are working on those charges, but most significantly, we are expecting him to be charged with murder in the first degree. now, i spoke to my law enforcement sources on this. that is a pretty rare charge. that is the very top charge when it comes to homicide. and they explain to me that the reason this is happening is because the alleged murder happened while he was also

committing a felony in this case, the arson. so he's facing murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, as well as the arson charge. now, we expect him to appear in court, where he will likely be entering some sort of plea. and we are still waiting to learn more about how prosecutors are going to pursue this case. >> there have been a lot of questions around the victim. have you learned more about the victim? >> so just like the suspect here, law enforcement officials believe that the victim was likely homeless. in fact, they have said that she was sleeping inside of the subway train, something that a lot of homeless people here in new york city are forced to do, especially when it's very cold. the subway was it was that morning and it was the night before. um, the subway tends to be a place where people take shelter. now, unfortunately, they have not been able to identify her yet. there was nothing that was left that could help to identify her. and the medical examiner's office is working

through dental records in order to see if they can figure out who this woman is. of course. um, the city and law enforcement officials have both been asking, having to answer questions about why this all happened. could it have been prevented in any significant way? and although there was significant and impressive police work that helped this guy be apprehended relatively quickly, there's still a lot of other questions about how this all unfolded and if it could have been prevented. >> yeah, just i mean, all of the details coming out, just getting making it even more clear how depraved and horrible this crime was and how it played out. gloria, thank you so very much. staying on top of this one for us. sara. >> all right. on this christmas eve morning, former president bill clinton is waking up in a washington, d.c., hospital. the 78 year old hospitalized yesterday after developing a fever. this is the most recent of a few health scares. the 42nd president has experienced since he left office nearly 25 years ago. cnn's isaac dovere is joining us now. i was in

california in 2021 when he was doing an event, and he ended up being hospitalized. what do you know about president clinton's condition this morning? because we did see him quite lively during the dnc and on the trail for kamala harris. >> that's right. sarah. >> look, he is waking up this morning at the medstar georgetown university hospital. i am told that he is in good spirits and that this was admitted an admission for a fever. the observation looking for observation and rest that that's what the vision is for. of course, as you mentioned, this is one of several health scares that the former president has had over the years. uh, you mentioned that his appearance with democratic convention, i interviewed president clinton a week before the election in late october. and i said to

him that one of the things that he said in that convention speech was, this might be his last convention. i said, you made people think that maybe there's something wrong. and he said to me, no, no, no, i know i freaked people out. that's not what it is. i'm in good health. they also did point out to me that he's lived longer than any man in his family for generations. so it's definitely on his mind where his health is. but this is according to people i've spoken to. uh, he is expecting to be home. hopefully. maybe even by christmas eve. if not by christmas day. that this is mostly as an observation for a fever. >> do you know where he was, what he was doing before all of this happened? because, as i mentioned, you know, sometimes he's out. you know, he's been talking about his book and and doing public events. >> uh, there were no public events yesterday. he was in washington and that's all that we know so far. uh but again, what we are

being told at this point is that this is not a major health scare. this was a precautionary measure that that he decided to take. obviously, he is 78 years old and had some health care in the past, but this is this is a at this point, just a fever and observation. nothing more than that isaac dovere, thank you so much. >> have a great holiday. appreciate you coming on today, kate. >> so the lurid text messages now, evidence revealed by the house ethics committee against matt gaetz, his alleged conversations with the women. the committee says he paid regularly for sex and drugs and why it's reigniting talk of possible charges. now, in the past week, the president elect has suggested canada become the 51st u.s. state. he's renewed his push to buy greenland and now says the u.s. might need to retake control of the panama canal. what is behind all of this? we have new reporting on this ahead for you. and how the

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time in the world. his life has truly 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. >> this morning we're getting a look at text messages. the house ethics committee says is evidence. former congressman matt gaetz paid women for sex and drugs for years while in office. in a report released yesterday, the committee found gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, according to the report. at least one of those was a 17 year old when she says she was paid for sex, as she understood it. gaetz has denied the allegations recently and for years. cnn's marshall cohen is joining us now. what are the ethics committee find in gaetz's text messages that they revealed to the public? finally hey, sarah, it was a and disturbing report on former congressman matt gaetz, the republican run house ethics

committee said it found substantial evidence that gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs, all while he was serving in congress. >> most importantly, as you mentioned. the panel also found that gaetz had sex with a 17 year old high schooler in summer 2017, and the report concluded that this violated florida's statutory rape laws. now, over the past two years, gaetz has faced a lot of legal scrutiny, but he has vehemently denied that he ever paid anyone for sex. he also denies any illegal drug use. in a social media post yesterday, after the report came out, he said, quote, there is a reason they did this to me in a christmas eve eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where i could present evidence and challenge witnesses. but sarah, there was a lot of evidence. the committee examined 14,000 pages of documents and interviewed many key witnesses. the report even includes texts of gaetz allegedly asking women

for drugs and haggling over payments. there are texts from one of those women telling a friend, quote, matt never paid me. how much did he pay you? you can see it right here on the screen. the friend said that she got 400 and offered some advice. ask for the money quote before you have sex with him. there's even a detailed ledger of the payments between gaetz and multiple women using cash app and venmo. some of those women did testify that the payments were indeed for sex or drugs. >> marshall. over the weekend, president-elect trump was praising matt gaetz. that was before this report came out with all of these details. although some of these details have been known to the public beforehand. has he weighed in after we have gotten this report and the public has taken a look at it, the president has not said much, or that the president elect, i should say, has not said much about this publicly. >> but there was a post that matt gaetz posted to social media to the x platform formerly known as twitter, that

he said was from trump, and it was trump's handwriting. trump was commentating on an article from a right wing outlet that was attacking the credibility of the witnesses who testified against gaetz, and president-elect trump said, very unfair. those were the president elect's words there. responding apparently to this report for the first time. >> it should be noted that gaetz did have a chance to talk to the committee. he decided not to do so. marshal cohen, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. all right. ahead. at least one person is dead after a major storm slams the california coast. how more winter weather on the way could affect what's expected to be a record breaking day for holiday travel. >> i want to be the greatest player that i could possibly become. i, holly.

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>> this just in, we're getting word that american airlines has announced this morning that they've grounded all flights due to what they're calling a technical issue. let me put up the tweet. what we've heard so far. they're citing this unspecified technical issue. the airlines saying your safety is our utmost priority. once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination. now we are following up on what this technical issue is. and we have definitely reached out to find out how temporary or not, this ground stop is. we're following up with american airlines and we'll be keeping you updated as this goes. clearly, on this christmas eve, this is a rough day to have all flights grounded for any airline right now. and this is also on top of some nasty weather out west that's been happening this week. a major storm slammed into california's central coast monday, causing high surf, causing some flooding, and even killed one man after he became trapped under debris on the beach. high surf and coastal

flood warnings remain in effect there today as well. in santa cruz, a wharf collapsed from the rough weather conditions, sending three people into the ocean. it had been closed for renovation and the victims were inspecting the structure when it gave structure when it gave way, two of them rescued by first responders. the third was able to make it out on their own. add this all together. this is one of a series of storms moving across the country today, christmas eve weather that we are keeping a very close eye on for you. that's where cnn's derek van dam comes in, tracking all of these conditions for us. and derek, where's the worst of it? where's the best of it? what are you watching? >> yeah. kate. so coast to coast, we are really just seeing a series of storm systems impacting the country. >> you saw that video coming out of california. now, let's take you to the east coast, where we're getting some snowfall. these are really the first flakes that will fly this morning. i think we'll get a dusting of snow. we'll call this some miracle snow because i do believe that maybe we'll just squeeze in that criteria

for a white christmas in new york city. the snow is just beginning on this midtown cam. you can see the empire state building there in the middle portion of your screen. here it is. it's not a significant storm by any stretch of the means, but it will bring those first flakes to places like new york all the way to boston, where temperatures have been below freezing since the last time it snowed a couple of days ago. so the snow is sticking to the ground and some of the elevated surfaces too. i want to highlight what's happening near washington and baltimore, where they have a winter weather advisory this morning, and that is due to the possibility of rain and snow and even some light freezing rain that could cause some glazing on the roadways. interstate 95. yeah, and locations to the north and west of that could be experiencing some slick spots as you head out the door this morning. so not only do we have issues with the ground stop happening with american airlines, but also we have issues on the roadways in and around maryland and eastern sections of west virginia as well. so light drizzle and light freezing rain continues through the course of the day.

their busy travel day for the nation's midsection as well. but that will be all rain, perhaps causing some weather delays from dallas to memphis. and of course, we've got the west coast storm that is bringing the high surf into portions of california. in fact, much of the west coast right now. this is a very impactful storm system, bringing several feet of snow to the higher elevations, but several inches of rain to the coastal areas as well, from oregon through central and northern california. san francisco just getting clobbered with heavy rainfall right now. and of course, with the strong waves that are moving and impacting the coastal regions, we could see some coastal flooding continue, dangerous rip currents. so authorities are advising people to stay away from the immediate coastline because of these waves that have towered over 3 to 4 stories in some locations, especially near santa cruz, where we saw the wharf that collapsed the throughout the course of the day yesterday. and you can see the high surf advisories that stretch all along the western coastline because of this storm system that is bringing the rain and

snow and the wind. so taking you through christmas week tomorrow, this system has moved on rather quickly along the east coast, so we dry things out. but as we head towards thursday, friday, maybe you're heading home from family and friends. another storm system, but this will be a warmer weather system. so as you head back from relatives, you could experience rainfall over the eastern portions of the country. here's your christmas day forecast. 43 in washington, 61 for atlanta. yeah, no white christmas here across the southeast. but these are the locations that you'd expect to see the snow on the ground. so i'm holding thumbs, crossing fingers. and yeah, just really hoping for that white christmas for you kate. >> thank you derek you're always looking out. really appreciate it. we're going to stay on top of all of this holiday weather and the travel and of course keep you updated on what's happening with american airlines and this current ground stop underway. we'll keep you updated as we can get more information coming in. we're also watching this. we have new reporting into cnn this morning. some democratic lawmakers, they want president biden to do more to relieve

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right now and see how much you can save. i became the man the face of. >> h e w. there are not enough people to stop me. run while you have a chance aew wednesday night dynamite at eight on tbs. >> new reporting into cnn this morning. democrats putting pressure on president biden. they want the president to do more when it comes to student loan forgiveness before he leaves office. in his final we house. cnn's mj lee has much more of the details on this. mj, this has been kind of a centerpiece of the biden administration. his focus on trying to put forth student loan forgiveness. a lot of it's been challenged in court. so what are democrats looking for now? >> yeah. you know, kate, i think generally speaking, there is a sense across the board in washington, d.c. right now of bracing for and preparing for the incoming trump

administration and how that is manifesting here at the white house. >> is the president, along with white house and administration officials, trying to figure out what, if anything, they can realistically try to do with really just the handful of weeks left before president biden leaves office to one, continue to advance some of his policy goals, and then also put protections and guardrails in place for the work that's already been done. and as you said, kate, you know, student loan forgiveness has been a huge priority for this president and the administration. and notably, he had put forward this signature landmark proposal that would have canceled some $400 billion in student loans. but that ended up getting caught up in the supreme court with the highest court basically rejecting that. and since then, we have seen this basically piecemeal effort by the administration to offer relief in places where they can now democratic lawmakers, as you

noted, they are basically putting pressure on this administration and this president to do whatever they can to get a little more work done, provide a little more relief. again, with the little time that is left. and that includes sort of targeting specific groups of borrowers, including students who have been defrauded by schools. many of them have had their debts still not canceled out. there's also students that are eligible for relief under borrower defense. and then finally, borrowers who are still in limbo right now because of a program called stave, which is currently in litigation. as you mentioned, there are many pieces of this that are basically stuck in limbo because of the various legal actions that have been taken. it's not really clear, kate, what exactly donald trump intends to do just on the broad issue of student loans, though he certainly has not spoken about this issue in the same way. and there's no expectation that he's going to go out of his way in any way,

really, to defend and protect the initiatives that were started under the biden administration. so you can easily imagine this being a really tough time in general for borrowers, many of whom at some point over the last few years thought that they were going to have a lot of their debt canceled out or forgiven. and now they are stuck in limbo and they have no idea if, if at all, that debt that they thought was going to go away is going to go away anytime soon. >> kate, a lot of this stuck in limbo of what's already happened in the past, and a lot of people feeling like they're in limbo, of knowing of the uncertainty of what's going to happen in the future. that that's for sure. mj, good to see you. thank you so much, sarah. >> all right. this morning we're learning new details about paul whelan's detention in russia. whelan spent more than five years in captivity. during that time, he personally reached out by phone and with letters to journalists in the u.s., including cnn's jennifer hansler. now, whelan says he wanted to make sure his story

wasn't forgotten. and in a new interview with cnn's anderson cooper, whelan shares how he got through those years and the treatment that he received, sometimes 23 hours alone in a cell. >> being back, it's it's surreal. um, i'm in a world that used to be familiar, and it isn't. i'm getting used to just simple things. >> you were held in a prison in moscow initially, which is a notorious. it's a high like, maximum security prison. i think it's a very notorious prison. >> yeah. lefortovo. it's called the shooting gallery because that's where the russians used to, and probably still do shoot their own people. it's a it's a horrendously old rundown facility. and, you know, you're in a small cell by yourself. um, basically 23 hours a day. >> how long were you in that facility? >> for a year and a half. >> i cannot imagine suddenly

from being in your hotel room, visiting your friend for a wedding to being in this notorious prison. how do you mentally not just panic and freak out? >> i probably did panic and freaked out very quickly. i realized that what was happening was real. um, you know, there was some solace in the fact that i knew my my ambassadors would be coming to find out what was happening. i wasn't sure how long it would take to resolve. i knew i hadn't done anything, i hadn't violated the espionage law. i'm not a spy. i never have been. um, they'd either made a mistake or they were making it up. >> once you after the trial, you were sentenced to 16 years, i think. yeah. you were sent to a labor camp in mordovia, and you're still for the next 3 or 4 years. you are woken up every two hours at night. yeah. >> i was an escape risk. apparently. mordovia, there's nothing. there's nothing out there.

it's woods. it's forests. >> so what, they would come in and wake you up and what? >> they'd shine a light in my eyes and then take a picture with a camera to prove that they had. they had checked me every night, every two hours, every two hours for years. for four years. >> can you sleep normally? >> now? now, um, i'm getting back to a normal sleep pattern. it's difficult it's an incredible story there that paul whelan has after so many years in those really dangerous prisons. >> all right, this morning, the president elect and the president now of panama residents as well, rebuking president-elect donald trump's threat to retake control of the panama canal. trump has been on a tear in the last week, not only threatening to reassert u.s. control of the canal, but again voicing his desire to obtain greenland and suggesting all of canada become the 51st u.s. state. what's with all this talk of territorial

expansion? cnn senior reporter steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach. um. panamanians are. >> sir. and it starts right at the top with the panama president. josé raúl mulino, who told cnn en espanol that he had no plans to work with donald trump on turning over the canal and that trump's attacks over the past few days represent a gross misunderstanding of the operations there. trump has accused panama of charging exorbitant fees to the u.s. navy and american ships that try to use the canal to get from the pacific to the atlantic, or vice versa. panama president, though, saying that trump's threats to take over the canal will not be taken lightly. take a listen. >> it was. >> that is a manifestation of gross ignorance of history. so all those speculations and all

that range of eventualities that are not going to happen, well, i leave them there as totally irrelevant issues and quite bordering on historical incoherence with what the panama canal has been, is and will be now, i should point out, sir, that this port has been under control of panama for the past 25 years. in fact, they are about to celebrate the 2520 fifth anniversary of panama control on december 31st. it's part of a the release of it to panama after nearly a century of u.s. control, was part of a series of treaties signed under president jimmy carter that ultimately guaranteed that u.s. ships would be allowed to use the port in perpetuity in exchange for allowing panama to operate the ports. but and take in the profits. but trump, now targeting that decades long balance and potentially throwing a wrench in what has been a steady

alliance for for a quarter century. >> all right. we will see what happens with all the things that he talked about trying to bring back to the united states. really appreciate it. steve contorno there live for us. >> kate, let's talk about that right now. joining us right now, our cnn political commentators, maria cardona and scott jennings. maria also gets extra credit points for jumping on so quickly. we see you and we appreciate you. maria scott, i will start with you. he's not only talking about panama, he's also talking once again about buying greenland. here's what was here's this part of the statement on social media. for purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world. the united states of america feels that the ownership and control of greenland is an absolute necessity. do you take him seriously? should panama and greenland take him seriously? >> a couple of things. number one, why don't i get bonus points for being prompt and on time for these things? number two yes, we need greenland. greenland is an amazing thing to have. it's like, do you ever play monopoly? you know,

like the first row of properties. like they're cheap. maybe i don't need. you need those. those are vital properties. i am for greenland. i wanted him to do it before. i want him to do it now. and i am personally and on television, applying to be the military governor of greenland. if in fact, we do take control of it. this is an amazing idea and i know everybody is laughing about it, but if he accomplishes this in four years, it will be a great legacy piece for donald trump. >> so i will say, maria, and you do get i love people who are prompt, so i will give you half a credit. okay. half a credit, scott. but maria, back to the lesser important things, which would be the news. um, very serious people are saying to take this very seriously. people in trump's orbit say that it may sound. it may sound out there, but it is actually squarely in line with his america first policies. victoria coates, who was a top national security official in trump's first term, told reuters this about all that. the idea is that what's good for americisd r the rest of the world. so he takes

a clear eyed look at what are america's interests in any given situation, and says that about all of this, panama's president, clearly not too happy, saying our country's sovereignty and independence are not negotiable. but i've been hearing when it comes to panama, part of this has to do with concern and standing up to the growing influence of china. what do you think of this? if this is a negotiating position from donald trump? maria. well, i certainly agree that we should take him seriously, that he wants to do this. it doesn't make it a good idea or a sane idea. >> i mean, pass go collect $200. >> who knows? >> the fact of the matter is, is that we can't take the panama canal just by saying we want to take the panama canal. it doesn't belong to us. >> and so maybe trump should crack a book, read the law, look at history, try to understand what actually happened not just 25 years ago, but in 1977 and 100 years ago,

when the the construction of the panama canal started. it doesn't belong to us. and so just by saying it doesn't make it so doesn't make it a good idea. but look, if he is actually concerned about the chinese influence in panama on the panama canal in latin america, which is what i understand is the basis of this, and that i do think should be a concern. then he should be smart about it. he should be strategic. he should go to panama and say, we want to work with you. we want to invest with you. it's exactly what the chinese are doing. we want to invest in the panama canal, make it work better, make it work for you. that way, if it works for you, it works for us. it's called partnership. i understand that he doesn't really believe in that. he wants to be the strong man. go in there, own it all. uh, greenland. i really don't get that. but, you know, scott is very interested in it. so, scott, if you move to greenland, i would love to come and visit you. it doesn't mean

it's good for america or that it's a smart thing to do. and frankly, it's not what he talked about in the campaign. it's not why people voted for him. so i think that there is a risk here for him to be focusing so much energy in his transition in his first term, talking about acquiring greenland when he promised americans he would bring down the price of groceries. >> well, on, on on the issue of the panama canal, scott, what do you think of of this? look, let's think about it as a negotiating position, right? if it's the bull in a china shop, break it and blow it all up and then remake it in your in your image and your liking, or. what maria is saying, work, partnership and diplomacy in the more traditional sense. why? option a over option b? >> well, whether it's a negotiating position or not, here's what's non-negotiable

chinese influence in this hemisphere. they are on the march. they are all over the world. they are in this hemisphere. they're in latin america, they're in africa. the chinese are trying to rival and surpass the united states as the most influential culture in the world, as the most influential superpower in society in the world. we cannot allow this. and so donald trump is extremely worried about this, and i think he needs to put the rest of our neighbors on notice that we're not going to permit the chinese to encroach upon our part of the world. and yes, we do need partnership. yes, we do need diplomacy. yes, we do need to work together. but you have to lay down some markers and you have to lay down some boundaries. and i think joe biden has frankly been asleep at the wheel on the encroachment of chinese influence in the world. donald trump is back. he is well aware of the threat that they pose. and so i'm for a little bit of a wild card presidency here, especially especially when it comes to counteracting chinese influence. we cannot allow it. and so after four years, if he pushes back on that and pushes

them away from us and pushes them away from our closest allies and our closest neighbors, that will be a good thing. >> i will say, though, you see the you see the tweets and you see the headlines, and many people will think, this is wild. this is i do actually, i hear you and scott in one sense, which is this is a space to watch. i do not think this is potentially, maybe not just a one off flippant commentary just to, you know, a pontification, if you will. um, i want to turn to this, though, maria, the democratic brand. joe, you and i have talked about the postmortem and kind of the soul searching that has occurred since the election. joe manchin, he's weighing in with his democratic party review on his way out the door, a democrat turned independent. i know you've seen this sound bite. i want to play it to remind everyone what joe manchin says about the democratic brand. and then i want to ask you, then i'll ask you about it. >> the d brand is has been so maligned from the standpoint of

it's just it's toxic. >> how would you describe what the democratic brand is right now? in a couple of words. what is the democratic brand? >> you know, it's basically infringement on me making decisions. >> so that's joe manchin's take. let me add something else into this. another element, liz smith, a democratic communications strategist. she spoke to the new york times, frank bruni, about the democratic brand. her take i read this just just yesterday. she her take was the the democratic brand is in the toilet. many of the democrats who succeeded this cycle are best overperformers in house races, for instance, are people who ran against the democratic party brand. trump tore down the blue wall in the industrial midwest, but he also expanded his vote the most in our bluest and most urban areas. do you do you agree with this? do you agree with elements of it? do you reject it all? what do you think, maria? >> i don't agree with the

majority of that in terms of what joe manchin said. i'm sorry. he's saying that the democratic party is the one that is taking away our ability to make decisions. are you kidding me? right now? you're going to tell women that that it's the democrats that want to take away our right to make decisions? i don't think so. and so i'm sorry, joe manchin is not the the king of credibility when it comes to the democratic party in terms of what liz smith said. look, certainly the democrats had huge challenges in communicating our message. but let's remember, this was not a a rude. this was not a huge, sweeping win by donald trump. 7000 votes in the house, the difference of 7000 votes in the house. and democrats would be in control. uh, 200,000 votes, more or less. and kamala harris would have won the blue walls and and would have won the presidency. this was not a sweeping

mandate. donald trump didn't even break 50% of the popular vote. i'm not saying that democrats don't have challenges. absolutely. we have challenges in how we communicated and where we communicated and to whom we communicated. but i do not agree that the democratic party brand is in as much trouble as both of these folks are talking about. we certainly have work to do, but there's no question that the democrats still stand for making sure that everyone has the ability to acquire the american dream, that everyone is on an equitable and level playing field, to be able to live up to their god given potential and to be able to do what they can to succeed in this country. and it's not the party that focuses on oligarchs and billionaires and millionaires, which is what donald trump is doing right now in his transition and apparently wants to do in the in the first trump

administration. i think democrats have a huge challenge ahead, but we also have a huge opportunity to continue making the distinction between what trump is proving, what he is about. and our last conversation actually underscores that he wants to go and be the strongman and take over everything and be all about, you know, elon musk and billionaires and millionaires. and he's forgetting the promises that he made to working class and middle class americans about bringing down prices, bringing down housing prices. that's the last thing that he's talking about right now. and i think that's going to backfire. >> we shall see. and, scott, since i know you love giving democrats advice on how to fix their brand, you get to do that next time. it's good to see you both. thank you so much. >> no, wait a minute. you're not you're not going to let me you're not going to. it takes maria. it takes maria five minutes to define what the democratic brand is. and you don't let me respond to it after i show up on time on christmas eve. this is an insult that will not be forgotten, i promise you. >> i just bought you 30s. just

because i'm feeling maria. >> she filibustered me. she filibustered me out of the conversation here. okay, well, i'll tell you, it took maria five minutes. here's ten. here's 10s. democrats are the party of uncommon nonsense. republicans are the party of common sense. it's why our tent right now is full of such a wide ideological spectrum. people are flocking to the republicans because we stand for common sense. and democrats have taken on all this uncommon fringe nonsense. and if they are in the toilet, my advice flush away the fringe and the people who have drug you down there. because this is what this is why republicans won the election. >> this is what i know. uncommon nonsense. what i'm seeing right here is a perfect example of common straight up nonsense. you two, i love you, but goodness gracious, greenland. >> merry christmas, greenland and panama. >> common sense guys, literally. i'm going to cut your bike even though i love you. but just zip it. i love you so much, sarah. take it quickly. they have hijacked kate. >> i feel like you're talking to two other people in your

life. two small. oh, you mean my people? >> my delicious little kiddos. i love maria just as much as i love them to. >> i think the word zip, it will be part of the lexicon of this show from now forward. all right. just ahead, the man accused of killing the united health care ceo. back in court. why? his attorney says she's concerned about him getting a fair trial and all netflix wants for christmas is a glitch free. broadcast. rare as the platform prepares to stream two star studded nfl games for the first time ever.

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>> what you have been following actual news, right? oh boy. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts at eight on cnn and streaming live on max. >> this is cnn, the world's news network. >> this morning there are new questions about what comes next for suspected killer luigi mangione. now that he has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terrorism charges in new york. during mangione first appearance in state court. his attorney raised concerns not only over whether a fair trial is possible, but also over the parallel federal case that is playing out as well. former manhattan prosecutor jeremy saland. joining us now. welcome, jeremy. thank you so much for coming on this holiday week just before christmas. let's talk about mangione attorney, karen agnifilo. she hit two points hard in court yesterday. one, she railed against the feds piling on with the parallel case alongside the

state case. and she talked about the spectacle, the police and including the mayor of new york made of her client during transfer to new york, saying that the pretrial publicity is prejudicial, be hard for her to get a jury in her mind. so what do you make of those two arguments that she is putting out there at the very beginning? in this case? >> well, i'm going to start off by continuing something from your last segment, which is zip it, and it actually works here. and i don't say that in a i mean, it's a humorous situation for a very tragic, very real, you know, horror. but what she's saying basically is, is mayor adams, you you're not standing up and doing this elsewhere. you're not doing this in domestic violence homicides. you're not doing this, at least not yet, about this tragedy we just saw on a subway in manhattan where someone was burned alive in an alleged murder there to, um, the federal government. when you have a clemency to 37 out of 40 people on death row by

the current president, joe biden, and the southern district is potentially seeking the death penalty on this case. there's a lot of disarray here. it doesn't make sense. and what she's ultimately saying is this is throwing this all out of whack. this is not legal. it's not lawful. that being said, neither of those arguments are going to hold much water. the u.s. attorney can have a different theory. and and they could have a mayor who can say a lot of things, but it's not going to really hold water. but her point is a very important one, which is what's going on here. let's stick to the four corners of this case. this is a murder two case. and somehow, because you have united health care ceo, it's exploded into more. i will say one thing and i give karen credit. i've known karen for many, many years as a prosecutor. this is not to take away from that argument, but i'm wondering if those same arguments were made during her tenure for countless other cases where we hear sort of a publicity and press releases and a lot of action outside the courtroom. >> yeah, there was in this case, though, so much especially as social media

exploded, although people were there. and we'll talk about it to praise him in many ways. let me talk about what we saw in court, because this is the first time i've disappointing. yeah, this first time we've seen him in court, because of course, you can't have cameras in federal court. and it was hard to miss that. i don't know if it was by accident or a coincidence or something else or a plan, but agnifilo had matching outfits and you noticed that, you know, she was talking to him, sort of touching him on the shoulder. what do you make of some of these gestures, and is it something that, you know, a good defense attorney will do to humanize their client, saying, look, this isn't just a dangerous killer that police are saying, you know, did this, but he's he's a he's a regular guy. >> yeah. i don't think the matching outfits was planned. you know, luigi or any other inmate is only limited to a certain degree in terms of what he has access to and can wear, um, from the outside coming in.

that being said, karen is doing a terrific job. karen agnifilo is doing a terrific job doing what mr. dickey didn't do while the case was pending in pennsylvania. to your point, great words, sara. he's she's humanizing him and making him realize that he's not the animal that some believe he is. and and ultimately she's going to go down that road of that mental defect, of that insanity defense. but one of the things she has to do, at least for now, is sort of rein things in and control what is being said. because if that message is wrong, you know, we forget this is brian thompson, this is a tragedy. but let's not lionize him. she doesn't want to lionize him. she really wants to deal with joel seidman, the prosecutor, and judge carroll right now in the state court, in that courtroom, the same way she'll do that in the federal court, regardless of the theory of being stalking or what, or this being some sort of terror act, which, again, i think is inappropriate and won't won't stand at the end of the day. but, you know, she's doing what she can with the tools that she has to make him look like a real person, that someone that should be