tv CNN News Central CNN December 25, 2024 10:00am-11:00am PST
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before it starts. that's my secret to better odor control everywhere. >> i'm rafael romo at the georgia state capitol in atlanta. this is cnn. >> closed captioning is brought to you by tableau. watch, pause and record live tv subscription free. watch live tv for free with tableau. >> access over 90 free channels, plus record, pause
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and replay, all with zero monthly fees or contracts. >> order a tableau total system today. >> a manhunt is underway in mississippi for a convicted killer who escaped from prison. >> we have new details on the search, plus dramatic video out of central asia, where dozens of people survived a christmas morning plane crash. >> however, many others are feared dead. also, whooping cough cases have jumped to their highest level in a decade in the united states. we'll take a closer look at what's behind this troubling trend. we're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central this is cnn breaking news. good afternoon. i'm danny freeman. we are following major breaking news today. authorities now say at least 38 people are dead after an azerbaijan airlines plane crashed and burst into flames in kazakhstan. but there were
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29 survivors as well, including two children. 11 are in critical condition. you can see dramatic video shows dazed survivors being pulled from the wreckage. we have to warn you, this next video may be disturbing to watch. >> police. brynn gingras just terrifying images right there. >> and in this video posted to social media, you can actually see the plane descending to the ground and what appears to be the moment of impact. a russian aviation watchdog says preliminary information suggests the pilot tried to make an emergency landing after a bird strike. cnn transportation analyst and
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former inspector general for the u.s. department of transportation, mary schiavo, joins me now. mary, i mean, just incredible to watch some of this video. you see the plane really erratically circling the airfield before that crash. a russian aviation watchdog, like i just said, is suggesting that this may have been an attempt to land after a bird strike. what's your take on what you're seeing here? >> well, what i'm seeing is it has to be more than a bird strike because the plane did not have what's called pitch control. >> in other words, how many degrees up or down the nose is? how much is the nose pointed up or how much is it pointed down. so it obviously had some damage to the pitch control, which could be from the trim system, which, you know, helps the pilot keep the nose in the right place, up or down or the elevator, which is in the back of the plane. so there had to be something additional going on. >> also, there's unconfirmed reports that the pilot had done what's called squawking. and others. you put your radio, you
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put your equipment on, and it sends a certain signal, which is 7700, which says, you've got a serious onboard problem. >> and then also, when looking at. a publicly available flight radar system online, you can see that the pilot fought with this plane for some time before choosing to land it at another airport. and so this wasn't something that happened. >> and then the plane was brought down. for example, on landing you hit a flock of birds and the altitude makes me wonder, you know, would the birds been at that altitude? but the pilot really fought. pilots really fought with this plane for some time, and then did a figure eight before landing. they did two circles and then tried to land. >> so it appeared that they were trying to gain control of this aircraft and really put quite a fight up on this embraer 190. >> that's remarkable. remarkable that you can just by looking at some of that publicly available flight data, tell what that story may have been as it was playing out.
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mary, though at least 29 people, as far as we understand, survived this crash, though that seems truly extraordinary. >> well, and it's reminiscent of of other, you know, accidents that we've talked about here on cnn or that i've worked as a, you know, an aviation, uh, lawyer and doing investigations. >> and we see crashes, more and more crashes where people survive because of the safety features built into aircraft. >> they're they're less there's more survivability. there's less flammability, um, the ability to get out. and we have actually seen many crashes where the plane was completely destroyed and in several cases, everyone got off, or in some cases there were just a few deaths, including cartwheeling like this, as the plane did when it came in. >> and there are pictures circulating showing holes punctured in the fuselage. >> and some people are saying, well, that looks like bullet holes. actually, in doing accident investigations, i can tell you that looks like damage from the explosion of the aircraft when it exploded on
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the ground. so those don't look like bullet holes to me on the pictures that are circulating around. and, um, you know, clearly this pilot, these pilots, there are two of them on this plane could not get this nose up, which suggests you you don't have, uh, pitch control, which is reminiscent of other accidents. even the 737 max eight crashes in indonesia and in ethiopia. the final sequence looked very much like this a dive into the ground. so because there are several, you know, many survivors, which is fortunate, and because of the newer plane that will have newer black boxes, flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, it will have all the parameters. and i think they will have their answer of what happened fairly soon. however, they may not have their answer very soon. as to whether it was a bird strike or something else, there's lots of speculation. it might have been a drone, but they will have to carefully examine the plane, the engines, the
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windscreen. ordinarily, birds take out your engines or engine and you have time to to tell air traffic control. you have time to get a mayday call in. you have time to communicate and tell what happened. um, so whatever happened, obviously they had to fight up there in the air to keep that plane in the air for as long as they did. >> well, just remarkable that there were any survivors, but still so sad and really terrifying seeing that video of that plane coming down. mary schiavo, thank you so much, as always, for your expertise. i really do appreciate it. >> thank you. >> also happening right now, a manhunt is underway in mississippi after authorities say a, quote, dangerous and desperate convicted killer escaped from prison in leakesville on christmas eve. officials telling residents there to not let their guard down today. cnn's nick valencia joins us live with more details. nick, where are authorities searching now? and just what more do we know about this man? >> yeah. >> hey merry christmas danny. this is a scary situation for those in the region. in mississippi, this individual
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drew johnson, 33 years old. he was last seen tuesday afternoon after he escaped the south mississippi correctional institution. that's the newest prison in mississippi. but somehow, johnson was able to find his way out. according to mississippi police, he was last seen in the old highway 24 area. that's leakesville, mississippi, in between hattiesburg and jackson, mississippi. and we want you to take a quick look at this photo. take a good look at this photo, because police in the region are asking for your help in trying to find him. he may look slightly different than he looks in this photo, though. there is another photo that we've yet to verify that's floating around the internet that shows johnson with a beard. also hair, new tattoos around his eyelids, potentially. police want your help trying to track this down, man. trying to track this man down. >> danny and nick. as i understand it, he also has a criminal record in the state of tennessee. what more can you tell us about that? >> yeah, very violent streak and a violent list of offenses for johnson. it was back in 2016 that he was convicted of the murder of a friend who posted on social media in just four days later, was found
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buried in a field with more than two dozen stab wounds after he was detained and taken into custody, he had another run in with an inmate and tried to kill that inmate, according to authorities. pleaded guilty to attempted first degree murder after trying to kill that inmate with a brick, repeatedly striking him in the head. not only that, he set fire to the shelby shelby county jail in tennessee not once, but twice. so this is a man with a violent streak, and authorities are very concerned. they call him desperate and violent, and they're very worried that he's on the run during christmas. they say this is a time when people tend to be more generous. they tend to let their guards down. they want you to remain vigilant and stay vigilant and be careful again. drew johnson, 33 years old, has been on the run since yesterday afternoon. >> danny, man, thinking about that community in mississippi, especially over the holiday. nick valencia, thank you very much. i really appreciate it. all right. and in new york, the man accused of killing a woman by setting her on fire inside of a subway car is reportedly telling authorities he has no
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memory of what happened. he also is acknowledging his use of alcohol. now, prosecutors say sebastian zapeta-calil identified himself in images of the horrific attack. those details coming from the associated press after the 33 year old was arraigned on murder and arson charges yesterday. he did not enter a plea and is due back in court on friday. joining us now is cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jennifer rodgers. jennifer, first of all, merry christmas. i'm sorry that we keep having to talk about this really disturbing story, but let's get into it. what do you make of him saying reportedly that he doesn't recall this attack? is that a viable defense probably not. >> danny. >> i mean, prosecutors have to prove each element of the crimes that they've charged and for the murder charges. >> that's going to include some sort of intent. so to the extent that you were so inebriated that you didn't intend you couldn't form the intent to do something, it's theoretically a defense, but i
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find it very unlikely. i mean, they have video of this individual sitting pretty calmly. he goes over to fan the flames with a t-shirt. it seems to me that he's going to be unlikely to show that he was so drunk that he actually couldn't form the intent to commit these crimes so unlikely to succeed, i would say. >> well, let's talk about that, because that was one of the details yesterday that i think really stood out to a lot of folks who have been watching this story that he went over, allegedly, and then fanned the flames by waving a shirt around and basically watched his victim burn to death. do the horrific details of this attack and details like that, does that impact how this case will likely be prosecuted? >> well, i don't know that it really impacts the prosecution. i mean, they're pretty workmanlike about putting in their proof and showing the elements of of each element of the offenses that they've charged. if i'm the defense lawyer, though, i'm thinking about, you know, how do i properly defend this case most effectively? and so when you
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think about the way that this appeared to have gone down, you might be thinking, if you're the defense lawyer, you know, you think about that. intoxication possibility, but also perhaps an insanity defense. i mean, who could do something so cold blooded if they were really in their right mind? so it likely will impact the case in some manner, but probably not as much from the prosecution side as from the defense side. >> so one of the things that we also learned over the course of the past 48 hours or so was that the suspect was in the united states illegally. i'm just curious, how does that have the possibility of complicating this case, or is it really immaterial as the state local charges proceed forward? >> yeah, it doesn't really have any impact on this case, except that to the extent that he is convicted and serves a sentence and then ultimately would be released, he won't be released. he'll be released into the custody of the immigration authorities and deported back to guatemala. similarly, if he were to be acquitted, he will be given to
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the immigration authorities and be deported so he won't end up here on the loose in the united states. after this case is resolved either way. but it won't really come into the courtroom because it's not something that would be relevant to the charges. so it's not as if the jury is going to hear that he's an undocumented immigrant, and that that had something to do with the case. unless there is some way that it did. and i can't think of any way that it would come in in terms of relevance of the evidence. >> jennifer, one of the things that we've been talking about over the course of the story is the question of motive. and i guess there are two questions. is it important at all, legally, to figure out the motive potentially, in this case, because it seems like really understanding motive is more for the public of understanding why or how a person could do this to another person. what's your thought on that? >> you know, it's funny because motive is not an element of the offense. prosecutors really never have to prove motive in a murder
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case, but people want to know, as you say, the public wants to know. jurors also want to know. so while prosecutors technically don't have to prove it as part of their checklist of what they need to prove, they they do try to find the motive. and they do try to give the jury the reason for the crime, because jurors want to know, just like we all want to know why someone would do such a thing. i just think in this case, it's really going to be impossible to find a motive that makes sense, right, for this horrible crime. so it will be interesting to see what prosecutors put forward as kind of their theory of the case, why this man did this. if they can come up with anything at all. >> jennifer rodgers, thank you, as always, for breaking that all down, and i hope you have a good rest of your holiday. >> thanks, danny. you too. >> all right. still ahead. with just a few weeks left in his presidency, joe biden signs 50 bills into law. we'll talk about the new laws and what they mean for biden's legacy. plus, some researchers are sounding the alarm on the bird flu. but how worried should you and i be as we head into the
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new year? we'll ask an expert coming up on cnn news central. >> i want to be the greatest player that i could possibly become. >> ken howery ali, with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, my skin was no longer mine. >> my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. >> don't let symptoms define you emerge as you with clearer skin with tremfya. >> most people saw 100% clear skin that stayed clear even at five years. >> tremfya is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness and swelling. >> serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. >> emerge as you with clear
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biden sent the final christmas day message of his presidency, posting, quote, for the last time, as your president, it's my honor to wish all of america a very merry christmas. my hope for our nation today and always is that we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency. may god bless you all. now the president is also wrapping up his legislative duties. he signed 50 new bills into law, including the stop institutional child abuse act backed by paris hilton, the stop campus hazing act requiring schools to report hazing incidents and a change officially designating the bald eagle as america's national bird. joining me now, cnn political analyst alex thompson. he is a national political reporter for axios. alex, thank you so much for joining us on this christmas day. first off, let's start here. what do you make of president biden saying he hopes people seek? i believe the quote was dignity and decency. >> i mean, this is part of what he's been doing since donald
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trump won, which is he is trying to sort of maintain the institutions. >> that's why you saw him meet in the oval office with donald trump. it's why you've seen him be very committed to a peaceful transition, even as some people within the biden orbit have felt that he had. he has at times been a little bit too friendly to donald trump. but joe biden has always been this sort of person, this person that believes in, you know, the institutions that he basically spent the majority of his life in. and that's how you should interpret it. >> president biden has less than a month now left in office. what are you learning about what he'll do with his remaining days? i know the one thing that's on the calendar is he's going to visit the pope. >> yes. and that's not an accident. you know, biden has had a very close relationship with pope francis, going back to when pope francis visited the united states during the obama administration. and, you know, that was a really big event for his family because it came in the wake of the death of biden's son, beau. and, you
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know, it was a very impactful meeting. you know, otherwise, i can tell you inside the white house, there's a bit of a divide here where some people are a little bit in senioritis mode. they're looking for their next job. they are sort of checked out. and there are some people that are sort of running through the tape, and they're trying to get as much stuff done as possible. but as a result, sometimes some of those attempts have been sloppy. you saw that the recent clemency announcements, just this last week, there were people on that list that were politically problematic, you know, including the judge that oversaw the kids for cash scandal. and that has been, you know, i think this divide in the white house as they close out and finish out these final 30 days. >> you know, it's interesting, alex, you're describing the white house or members of the white house running through the tape, because i feel like the decent amount of last minute things with this clemency. like, we've heard about these things, he's signing these bills into law, but we haven't seen president biden as much. do you think we're going to see
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him in front of cameras? i mean, speaking publicly very much in the last month here. >> i don't have any expectation that that's the case. and it has been really striking to your point that biden's public schedule has been relatively light. now, he's done some of the holiday parties and but some democrats have come out of there feeling that they've seen a diminished joe biden. and i think it's been clear over the last few months that his abilities as a communicator have also been a bit diminished. and so i actually don't think we will see a ton of in front of the camera public remarks in this final stretch. now, that could always change. but at the moment, i would not expect to see a lot of joe biden in these final 30 days. >> it's pretty remarkable just a way for this presidency to to conclude, um, alex, just to go back to talk about some of these clemency points and specifically the decision to commute the death sentences of
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almost all of the federal your perspective, you know, we've seen the statement, we've seen the reaction, we've seen the people he left out. do you think this was mostly a genuine fear of trump coming into office and executing more people? was this more about his legacy, or was this actually squarely in his moral beliefs? >> combination of all those things? i mean, donald trump has made it very clear that he intends to expand the death penalty dramatically. the most dramatic expansion that we have seen in decades. and for crimes that have not usually fallen under the death penalty, trump has made very clear that, you know, the thing about the about joe biden's clemency with the death penalty that has been really striking is that in some ways, he framed it in moral terms that the death penalty is wrong. but then if it's wrong, then why were a few people exempted? and that part is not made clear. now, the people he
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exempted, dylann roof, for example, in south carolina, you know, that was a, you know, a mass murder in a black church that joe biden was very much involved in. and the grieving process. so these are some experiences where he has personal, uh, you know, some personal experience. but i do think that some of this is really wrapped up in his catholicism, in his belief that the death penalty, um, is wrong in a lot of cases. >> alex thompson, first off, congrats on a tremendous year of work. i'm a big fan of your byline, and after seeing your appearance on casey's show this morning, i hope you get to watch it's a wonderful life today. if you haven't already. thanks very much for your time. >> well, thank you so much and merry christmas, mom. >> good man. all right, moving on. health concerns are growing about the rapid spread of bird flu in the u.s. in cattle. the cdc has confirmed at least 65 cases of h5 bird flu in humans so far this year. now the disease is tearing through
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cattle herds. nearly 900 herds across 16 states have tested positive. doctor jonathan raynor is a cnn medical analyst and the professor of medicine and surgery at george washington university. doctor, thank you so much for being here on this christmas day. experts say they're losing faith in the government's ability to contain this virus. is their concern valid? >> yeah, i think it is valid. um, first of all, merry christmas, happy holidays. this bird virus, h5n1, is circulating widely in domestic poultry and on dairy farms. it's being carried by wild birds. and as you said, over 125 million, uh, domestic poultry have been either culled or died as a consequence of this virus over the last year. hundreds of dairy herds have been infected now in in 50 states. uh, and, uh, the
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concern is, and there's only been 65, uh, human infections, which is excellent news. nearly all of them in people with known exposure to either poultry or dairy workers, or people who have been exposed to sick wild birds. but the concern is that this virus makes mistakes when it replicates. and most of these mistakes are are meaningless. but every now and then, a virus like h5n1 will make a mistake that enhances its ability to transmit to humans. and when that happens, that's when a pandemic, uh, begins. and the question now is, is not whether we really should be worried about it. the question i think, really is, are we prepared for it? and that's what i have a lot of concern about right now, that we're asking if we're prepared for it, since we've just come off of a pandemic not too long ago,
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but another top health concern doctor that actually wanted to get your perspective on while i have you is whooping cough. >> the cdc reporting cases are surging to their highest in more than a decade. doctor reiner, what more do we need to know here? >> well, whooping cough is a vaccine preventable illness. we've actually had a vaccine for the bacteria. pertussis for over a century. and, you know, prior to the 1940s, when vaccinations were not that common in the united states, about 9000 kids would die per year in the united states. and what this bacteria does is it it attaches to the cells that line the airways, the cilia, the sort of hair like cells and damages those cells and creates a tremendous cough that can last for weeks. it's it's highly it's highly contagious. people can be contagious for weeks. it can be treated with
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antibiotics, but, uh, young children or people with immune systems that are impaired or people with asthma are particular risk of of severe illness from, uh, pertussis. uh, and the vaccination rate in the united states is dropping. uh, last year, only 91% of kids going to kindergarten had been vaccinated with the dtp vaccine, which contains the component for pertussis. and as this rate drops, the level of infection in the community rises. and so far this year, we've seen about six times more whooping cough than we did last year. and again, this is a vaccine preventable illness. i mentioned that 9000 kids died in the 40s per year. last year, only three children died of this. and that's where we really want to be. why go back to the times
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when we had. we just wring our hands and say, wow, you know, what can we do? there's a lot to do. we can vaccinate children, and we really need to get back to sort of a sane environment where parents are are really taught that these childhood illnesses are unnecessary. >> yeah. just emphasizing the continued importance of vaccines. doctor jonathan reiner, thank you so much for joining us on this holiday, and i hope you have a good rest of your holiday week. >> thank you. same to you, dan. >> all right. coming up, holiday travelers have already been impacted by technical glitches on airlines and winter weather. so what tips should you have in your back pocket ahead of your next trip? well, we'll break all those down. plus, it's been a tough year for residents of asheville, north carolina after hurricane helene. but one canine right here is lifting spirits there and putting the city's recovery efforts back in the national spotlight. you're going to meet cora, the goldendoodle. right ahead on cnn news central. can't
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wait. >> andy, it has been one wild year. >> i know that whole new live stream was crazy. >> 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. on. >> what took you so long? i'm sorry. >> there was a long line at the thai place. >> can you get the sauce i like? >> of course. you're the man. >> i wish the future isn't scary. >> not investing in it is. >> nasdaq 100 innovators one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco. >> com we, the lazy declare that we will recline when we feel inclined. >> we've checked off our to do list. >> now we're checking off our to do list. >> we the lazy are taking back lazy and our la-z-boy furniture
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your idea. >> call now( 800) 710-0020. >> a series of storms creating some messy travel conditions for people out west, with winter weather bringing snow and slick conditions to the roads in northern california. take a look right there. plus, on the east coast, millions in new york city saw their first white christmas eve in more than a decade. now, winter weather may be responsible for some of today's flight disruptions. at last check, there have been about 100 cancellations among u.s. flights. 1100 others are delayed. that's according to flightaware. american airlines, meanwhile, is seeing a major improvement from yesterday. after that morning glitch sparked a nationwide ground stop. joining us now to discuss what to expect if you're traveling over these next few days is eric rosen. he's the director of content at the points guy. eric, give the grade. is this better than usual or pretty typical for a christmas day travel? >> this is unfortunately pretty typical for christmas day travel, though. >> as you mentioned, there aren't a ton of delays today. keep in mind, there are thousands of flights operating across the u.s. and then also
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internationally. so we're talking just, you know, a little bit, you know, the surface of the iceberg. although for the people affected, obviously it feels quite serious. >> what can people expect, though if they're traveling over these next few days? is there a day that you're looking for? that's definitely going to be the nightmare day of people going back home or back to family. >> well, the good news is it seems like the two busiest days, which were the 20th and 22nd, are behind us, although look ahead to the 29th as people either head home before new year's or head out to their next destination for new year's. so if you're traveling on that day or the two days before or after, i would definitely give yourself a ton of extra time on the road or to get to the airport as well, and then also use one of the sites that you just mentioned, which is flightaware, just to stay on top of your flight. if you are flying, it can give you real time updates that are sometimes faster than the airlines themselves will update passengers, so you can be a bit more prepared than the average traveler. >> and of course, we've been seeing some winter weather in
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particular impacting parts of the states this week. what's your advice for anyone who gets kind of caught up in weather related delays or cancellations? >> absolutely. so, you know, weather is one of the things that airlines can't control. the good news is, is if your flight is canceled because of weather and you choose not to fly, that you can get a refund if you accept alternative options, though, your chances of a refund are slimmer, i would say. airlines aren't necessarily responsible for providing you with meal vouchers or hotels. if weather is what is impacting your travel plans, delaying or canceling your flights. but you can turn to your credit cards that you use to purchase your ticket for some of their travel protections, like trip delay insurance, which can reimburse you for some meals or lodging if you're stuck somewhere overnight. so just be. pay attention to what your benefits are in case you need to use them this holiday season. >> i'll tell you, i always appreciate you guys re-emphasizing that because i feel like i get delayed or canceled for various different reasons. and i always say i
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won't bother with a refund or trying to get things, but there are things that we're we're owed. if there are certain problems and conditions. eric, another thing i wanted to get your perspective on looking backwards. how would you say 2024 fared in terms of travel headaches? you know, we've been talking about last year there was the southwest mess. it seems like maybe we got off better this year. is that fair to say? >> yeah. according to the flight data we've been looking at, we actually did pretty well in 2024. granted, there was that crowdstrike issue that grounded a lot of planes and that delta couldn't get out of that nightmare for several days this summer. but apart from that, we really didn't seem to have any major hiccups and delays and cancellations were actually down this year. so unfortunately, if you were one of the travelers who experienced the headache, it probably doesn't feel that way. but for the vast majority of travelers, this year was pretty smooth sailing. >> all right. well, that's good news. and to less travel headaches in 2025. eric rosen, thank you so much for your time. have a good holiday for the rest of the week. thank you. >> thank you. happy holidays.
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>> all right. we have breaking news into cnn. we have an update on that manhunt in mississippi. police had described that escaped inmate you might remember as, quote, very dangerous. well, cnn's nick valencia has new information. nick, what can you tell us? >> yeah, stunning. a capture just minutes after we got off the air. the mississippi department of corrections announcing on their facebook that 33 year old convicted murderer dru johnson was taken into custody earlier this hour. and we believe we have a new photo to show you. this individual doesn't look exactly like the mug shot that you're seeing. there. he was captured. it seems to be in an open field of some kind. he had hair. he was a little scruffy, and he was wearing what appears to be a hunting jacket. we don't know the story behind that, but this just in to cnn, the mississippi department of corrections telling us that that 33 year old who was on the run and escaped the south mississippi correctional institute yesterday afternoon at about 330 this afternoon, 330 in the afternoon. he has been captured after less than 24 hours on the run. and this was somebody that they were
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very concerned about. they called him desperate. they said he was violent and they listed off several violent offenses that he was convicted of a convicted killer, as well as attempted murderer of an inmate in the shelby county jail. he actually set that jail on fire twice, according to officials. and they were very concerned that because it was christmas, people would be less vigilant or perhaps be more generous, let their guards down. a big sigh of relief, though, in mississippi, as this convicted murderer was taken into custody just moments ago. >> danny, a big sigh of relief, and clearly the community kept their guard up, and, one could imagine, helped get this inmate back into custody. >> you got it. >> nick valencia, thanks so much. appreciate you wrapping up that story in the same hour. good work there. all right. thank you. all right. up next, we got over a billion reasons why you might want to go out today and buy a mega millions ticket. lauren boebert. >> hello. i'm, i'm, i'm currently at the u.s. air force basic military training on jbsa lakeland, texas. i'm from
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on cnn. >> turning now to the vatican, where pope francis made an urgent call for peace. that was during his 12th annual christmas blessing. the pope called for an end to the wars in gaza and ukraine. cnn vatican correspondent christopher lam has more on the pope's message. >> well, pope francis, emphasizing that the message of christmas is one of reconciliation and one of peace. he's calling on countries to lay down their arms for enemies to be reconciled. and he had specific words about ukraine and gaza and the conflicts there. and this is what he had to say. >> superalloys made the sound of of weapons be silenced in ukraine. >> may there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation. may the sound of arms be silenced in the middle east, and contemplating the crib of bethlehem, i think of the christian communities in israel and palestine.
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>> and and particularly to the dear community of gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. >> now the pope, speaking after russia's attacks on ukraine's energy infrastructure just today, christmas day. >> and of course, the pope has consistently called for a negotiated peace settlement in russia's war against ukraine. the pope has also been outspoken recently about what's been happening in gaza, describing recent airstrikes as cruelty. now, francis is speaking in the context of just launching the catholic church's jubilee year, a major event focused on forgiveness and pilgrimage. so the 88 year old pontiff, although he's certainly has difficulty physically, is continuing with a very, very full schedule of events in the coming days. >> our thanks to cnn's christopher lam for that report. so if all you want for
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christmas is $1 billion winning lottery ticket, what we're saying is there's a chance because last night on christmas eve, no one matched all six mega million numbers in the drawing. the jackpot has now jumped to get this $1.15 billion for the next drawing, which will be on friday night. that is the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history. lottery officials say four lucky people, though, won big prizes of a million bucks each. those tickets were sold in california, missouri, wyoming and in pennsylvania. a very merry christmas for them, and i know what i'll be doing after the show today. buying one of those tickets. okay. coming up next, we will introduce you to cora. she won a national award for therapy dogs in a town that needs comfort. after the past year. and now here's another christmas message. hey, everybody. >> my name is specialist struble, and i'm from syracuse, new york, currently stationed in fort. >> oh. i'm sorry, camp casey, and i wanted to wish you guys a merry christmas and a shout out to my husband, spencer
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>> thanks mando for the best deals. go to shop mando dotcom. >> i'm doctor sanjay gupta in atlanta and this is cnn. >> closed captioning is brought to you by sokolov law. >> mesothelioma victims call now $30 million in trust. >> money has been set aside. you may be entitled to a portion of that money. call one 800 859 2400. that's one 800 859 2400. >> here's a story i'm thrilled to bring you today, cora, the therapy dog just won the first responder paws award. a therapy dog with the asheville police department. you see her right there in north carolina. she supported people throughout the devastation of that storm, helene helping them cope with anxiety and stress. and joining us now, it is a great honor to
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have both. officer cora right there and her handler, senior officer debbie lacroix. thank you so, so much for being here. merry christmas. this is such a treat. but before i get to the positives of the award, officer lacroix, i mean, this has been a hard year for so many in asheville. just how are you and your colleagues in the department doing? >> well, it as you said, it's been it's been a tough year. um, a couple a tough few months, actually, with in the wake of hurricane helene, it was devastating to our community. and, um, our, our agency as well. so, um, yeah, it's it's been nothing like we've ever seen before. >> well, and for that reason, it seems like officer cora truly is a godsend for this department and for this whole community. so you got to tell
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me that is this is the sweetest dog i've ever seen. uh, tell me a little bit about officer cora and how she has helped people cope with stress and anxiety. >> well, she is a three year old goldendoodle, and she actually came from a rescue litter, uh, from. rutherfordton. uh, a a, um uh, a breeder there took over cora's mom and was able to rescue the litter and make sure that they had a safe delivery and kept cora's mom and the puppies safe. uh, so i through word of mouth, i found her, and i had aaron ferguson with highland canine. um, come and help me pick out cora. i actually picked out another one, and, um, with the foundation of a good therapy dog starts with
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the temperament. so at eight weeks, i didn't know how to pick out a, uh, goldendoodle or a dog that was going to be, you know, serve the purpose, as cora does for our agency. so she came down. >> and not every dog has the right temperament to be a therapy dog. >> so they have they meet all kind of people every day. and, um, come to different environments that, you know, are new to them every day. so during the puppy testing, you have to see, which ones have a calm demeanor, which ones are going to be calm upon any given situation. >> yeah. and by the way, i just say, i mean, clearly, after a hard year of hard work, she deserves this good christmas, this rest that she's having this morning or this
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afternoon, i should say, um, let me ask you, though, officer lacroix. i mean, were you. i would imagine you don't want to be in a position where you need to have a therapy dog. certainly in such a a time of crisis for for your community. what has cora meant to this community? certainly, in the wake of helene. >> well, the tropical storm helene, as as we talked about, left our community devastated with loss of life. homes, personal belongings, even pets that we all love. uh, life has a way of bringing us to our knees at a moment's notice. and, um, but with these times, it has brought us close together. uh, cora's impact has been especially remarkable, uh, to the community, to the officers, uh,
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providing emotional support to many in the community that has called and requested her. um, we she had so many requests that she asked for help with her furry, four legged friends from, uh, highland canine. and we saturated the city with puppy love. it kind of serves as it served as a distraction, a, um, a beautiful distraction, if you will, with the community that everyone was hurting. everyone was seeing things that we don't normally see. uh, with recovery, with, um, devastation. people wanted to see check on their loved ones and things like that. so it's very different. but she brought a lot of happiness to those that were hurting.
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>> well, i'm i'm so thankful on this christmas day for you, officer lacroix. and for the work that officer cora has been doing, and also for this award, that officer cora very deservedly won. uh, thank you both for coming on. thank you for your service. merry christmas to both of you. thank you for sharing. officer cora's story. >> thank you so much for having us. >> you bet. and we'll be right back. i 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. >> it's. time for.
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