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studio in lexington, kentucky. hi, i'm adam weiss, founder and ceo of keepsake. we've made the keepsake app ridiculously easy, so it only takes a couple of minutes to frame your favorite memories. and when you do, you're going to love the frame that shows up at your doorstep. we've framed over 1 million photos and would love the opportunity to frame one for you. download the free keepsake app and start framing today. >> do you one of these things? yeah, it's so much fun. this looks wild. i went to this last year, the winter classic outdoors wrigley field kamal adwan wrigley field december 31st blues, blackhawks on tnt and streaming on max. >> christmas day crash. new

accusations about what may have caused the deadly azerbaijan airlines disaster in kazakhstan. one u.s. official calling it a possible case of mistaken identity. >> with just 25 days left in office, president biden taking stock of his legacy as he prepares to leave the white house to his one time rival. the bidens, meantime, among the roughly 120 million americans traveling for the holidays. and as some of you get set to hit the road in the skies again, how could the weather impact your next bit of travel? we'll take a closer look at those and a number of other developing stories coming in right here to cnn news central. >> for the first time, the u.s. is offering an assessment on what may have caused the azerbaijan airlines crash in kazakhstan, which killed 38 people. a u.s. official tells cnn that early indications

point to russian air defenses bringing down the passenger plane. in a possible case of mistaken identity. video the plane's wreckage shows small perforations in the fuselage of the plane. cnn cannot confirm where they came from, but an aviation expert tells us the holes seem to support the theory from that. u.s. official. >> some of the passengers that were on board the aircraft is that an explosion was heard outside of the aircraft, and shrapnel penetrated through the fuselage into the cabin of the aircraft. there's video from while the aircraft was still in flight, showing shrapnel damages inside the aircraft. and then the video of the wreckage shows shrapnel damage to the tail, vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer sections of the aircraft as well. so combining the fact that there was a drone attack being repelled by air defenses in the vicinity of where this aircraft was attempting to land, and the

damage that was sustained in flight and visible after the crash points to a russian surface to air missile being launched at this aircraft. >> video taken inside the cabin during the flight's final moments reveals dangling oxygen masks. a male passenger can be heard reciting a prayer. cnn has not been able to confirm the man's identity or, sadly, whether he survived. joining me now to discuss is cnn aviation analyst, a former ntsb managing director, peter goelz. peter, always good to have you on questions like this. >> well thank you. sorry to be here on the holiday. >> no question. so let's begin with the evidence we have to date. and one is i want to show the pictures of the fuselage of this azerbaijani jet showing those perforations and compare them to holes we saw in mh17. this is the malaysian passenger jet shot down over ukraine in 2014 by a russian missile system. and the reason i do is

because they they have penetrations with the with the metal pointing inward, which seems to indicate an explosion from the outside or some collision of some sort from the outside. based on those images, do you see at least why the u.s. assessment is that this would have been, or may have been a russian air defense system that fired at this jet? >> sure, absolutely. you know, we started looking at this kind of challenge back in the mid 1990s after twa 800 crashed. and we did a series of tests at the ntsb with the navy out at the china lake munitions center. and we exploded missiles at varying lengths from the skin of airplanes. the puncture wounds were very similar to those that we saw on tv last night and on video

today. and as you look at the mh17. reconstruction, that really shows a close in hit and the pilots, when autopsies were done, they were killed by the penetrating pieces of shrapnel. so this is a real concern. it's happened before. and the russians have a long complex border that they're very nervous about. >> mhm. and let's be frank, russia does not have a great track record of credibility. they continue to this day to deny involvement in the mh17 shootdown despite the evidence. and as you mentioned, there were pieces of a russian buk missile found inside the bodies of the pilots of that plane. i want to look now at the flight path, because when you see where this jet was struck as it was approaching the airport in grozny, in the southern chechnya region of russia,

typically under those circumstances, i imagine pilots would look to land at the closest airport. in this case, they had to fly across the caspian sea to get to kazakhstan. what would explain that? >> well, that's an interesting question. and one one that popped up to me immediately upon looking at it. i mean, why they they may have gone to kazakhstan because the russian sphere of influence in kazakhstan is stronger. and they could they thought they could control the message. but in any case, that really has to be answered. the russians announced right away that this was a bird strike. well, that's unusual at that altitude. and these ge engines on the embraer 190 are very reliable, and seldom have they ever had a uncontained failure that would shoot shrapnel into the

fuselage of the plane. so so that was really, you know, did not hold a lot of water. >> one advantage of the mh17 crash was that international investigators could get to the scene. look at the wreckage, look at the bodies and ultimately come to their conclusion that that was a russian missile that took that jet down. you do already have stories. for instance, reuters has a story out quoting what appear to be azerbaijani officials, that their information was that this was shot down by an air defense system. you have a u.s. intelligence assessment, at least an early one, that this looks like an air defense system based on where this plane went down. will there be a reliable international investigation to establish with certainty what led to this crash? >> i don't think there will be. the kazakhstani government will control the investigation. uh, they can structure it any way they like.

although there are guidelines that they are a party to issued by the international civil aviation organization. icao, uh, they're not absolutely obligated to follow it, and they may not. i mean, i think i don't think the russians are going to admit, uh, that their air defense folks made a mistake. it took them almost a decade to acknowledge that their own fighter planes had shot down the 747 from korea. kal 007. they would not even admit that they had ordered that shootdown. so i think we're in for a long haul on this investigation. >> there was one other piece before we go, flight said in a social media post that the aircraft was exposed to gps jamming and spoofing near grozny. this is not the first time we've seen it. we've seen some gps jamming in northern europe of passenger flights

that some of those northern european countries blamed on russia. how would that factor into this? and would that come before a missile defense system strike on, on a, on a plane, perhaps mistaken for a drone? >> yeah, i think this is part of the story of the fog of war. you know, there's a great deal of pressure put on people, particularly on the air defense league, if they've been, uh, air defense forces, if they've been attacked by drones, they've got these gps jamming strategies that often work, but not always. uh, they're under a lot of pressure to not let a drone get through, particularly so far inside the, uh, the russian borders. i think it's it's entirely conceivable that they were under a lot of pressure. they saw something appearing, and they let a missile fly, and that was it. uh, it's it's

tragic. it's unacceptable. uh, and, uh, you know, the world community has got to get to the bottom of it. >> yeah. and again, it's not the first time it's happened. you think 2014, mh 17 and 2020, there was a ukrainian jet shot down by iranian air defenses, mistaking it again for for a hostile actor. peter goelz, thanks so much for walking us through everything. >> thank you. >> erica. back to you. >> jim, also with us, retired u.s. army colonel peter mansoor. it's good to have you with us. as we look at sort of picking up a little bit off of what jim and peter were just discussing there, the fact that we have a u.s. official telling cnn there are early indications here it was, in fact, u.s. anti-aircraft system that may have downed this plane. they don't know exactly what type of system they have said based on what you know, however, about what is available to russia and what russia has in terms of anti-aircraft systems. um, do you see the type of system that could potentially be based on russia's abilities?

>> well, there was one report that the system was the pantsir s, which is a medium range air defense missile system. it's truck mounted, which would make sense. it's the same kind of system that you would use to shoot down a drone. for instance. first, the air defense, uh, operators would try to spoof the drone with gps jamming, and if that didn't work, then they would take it out with a missile. and that kind of tracks with what we know about what happened to this airliner. >> given that, are you saying that you think this is likely a mistake? >> yes. why? the air defenses were not apprized of the civil aviation plan for this particular airliner? we'll never know. i doubt the russians will be forthcoming or transparent, but it was clearly a mistake. they they thought it was likely an enemy system headed for grozny. and they took it out when in

fact, it was, you know, full of innocent civilians. and again, this is an error caused by the lack of the air defense system. knowing the flight plan of of this airliner, which was filed days ahead of time or if not weeks ahead of time. >> how surprising is that to you, given that, to your point, the flight plan would have been filed ahead of time. there's also the reality. i was speaking just last hour with matt boeri of osprey flight solutions, talking about these gps, the jamming and the spoofing near grozny, who said, and matt told me, look, this is pretty well known that it happens in the area. given both of those factors. um, it is surprising that it seems this happened in many ways. >> well, this is a very human error. uh, your systems are only as good as the people that operate them. uh, the russian air defenses, um, you know, they're staffed by operators who are not always as well trained as you would hope that

they would be. and this is a very human mistake that someone made, or someone in the chain of command made by authorizing the missile to, to be fired. but yeah, i don't think this was deliberate at all. this was a airline airliner going from baku to grozny. there was no reason for the russians to shoot it down. >> i also want to get your take on on another story that we're following out of the region, president biden. um, is calling russia's mass attack the latest mass attack, i should say, on ukraine's power grid, the one happening on christmas day, quote, outrageous, saying that its purpose was to cut off the ukrainian people's access to heat and electricity during winter. ukraine is reporting russia fired some 70 missiles, more than 100 drones in the dnipro and kharkiv regions. one person dead, wounded, at least six. as we look at that and where things stand, the biden administration is surging as much military aid right now to ukraine in the waning weeks

of that administration, of course. um, what do you believe ukraine can achieve in terms of their defense prior to the change in leadership here in the united states, which we know is going to have an impact? >> yes. well, unfortunately, unless they get restocked with new munitions, their air defenses are going to degrade over time. this is a deliberate russian campaign to take out the electrical grid in in ukraine. it's it's the node of the economy that russia has chosen to attack, just like the u.s. army air forces attacked the oil system in germany in world war two. um, and it's working. uh, it ukraine requires these munitions, um, for instance, the patriot air defense missile system, but it needs reloads for those launchers. and if it fails to get those reloads, then the russian strategic air campaign against the electrical grid will succeed over time. and

this is what the russians are counting on, of course, and what the ukrainians are trying to prevent. >> in terms of that, do you anticipate russia actually ramping up the attacks on ukraine's infrastructure prior to january 20th? >> um, well, if i were them, i would do it afterwards to test what the trump administration is, is going to do in response. and if they cut off, if the trump administration cuts off arms shipments to ukraine, then i would go full bore in on on the campaign to try to eliminate the electrical generating capacity of the ukrainian enemy. um, but, you know, we'll see when we look at the kursk region. >> right. this one area where ukraine has been able to hold on to some russian territory. um, the hope, at least what i've been told by a number of analysts has been and officials. is that the hope, of course, for ukraine? is that in holding on to that it gives them a little bit more leverage, perhaps, as they they may be forced into uncomfortable negotiations in the coming

months. how much how important, i should say, is that territory for ukraine in the inevitability that they get to that point? >> um, it's not exceedingly important. the amount of territory that they have succeeded in, in taking is not that large, but it is a yet another bargaining chip they hope to use when negotiations commence, probably in the next several months. so we'll see. but, you know, this is also the area where the north korean soldiers that have been provided to russia are operating. so it's very interesting in that regard. there are some combat going on with these essentially allies of the russian army. >> yeah, absolutely. colonel peter mansoor, always appreciate your insight. thank you. >> thanks, erica. >> just ahead, here we are. live in saint croix, where president biden is now winding down some of the final days of his presidency. plus, the chief of the world health organization says he was about to board a flight in yemen when

it came under israeli attack. we are live in the middle east next. >> and it has been one wild year. >> i know that whole 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 live on max. >> at this very moment, children at saint jude are fighting to survive with a gift right now. you can join the battle to save lives without saint jude. >> i don't know where we would be. they have given children with cancer like my winston, a chance. >> she has neuroblastoma and it has spread to her liver. uh, try to enjoy every minute with her. because i do not know when would be my last moments with her.

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incinerator ever with key ingredients to help you lose fat and get lean. absolutely free. that's go to 42424. >> listen to chasing life with me. dr. sanjay gupta, wherever you get your podcasts. >> president biden spending the final days of a rather tumultuous year vacationing in the u.s. virgin islands, the bidens arriving in saint croix just about an hour ago. of course, as he is winding down his final 25 days in office. cnn's julia benbrook is traveling with the president, joining us now live from saint croix. so in terms of the president closing out the last three plus weeks of his presidency, a lot of reflection happening, i would imagine. >> absolutely. i think this is really a bittersweet moment. with just 25 days left, he's saying goodbye not only to his time as president, but his more than several decades long career in political office and president joe biden and first lady jill biden arrived here in

saint croix just about an hour ago, as you mentioned, and this holiday trip has really become a tradition for them. and erica, i can see why they like it here. you can see behind me you've got beaches. the temperature since we arrived have been between the 70s and the 80s the whole time. but this trip looked a lot different for biden. just about a year ago, he was preparing for the election and seeking another four years in the white house. this was just about before campaign season really picked up. and obviously a lot has happened since then. there were questions about his ability to serve for another four years. he dropped out of the race, endorsed vice president kamala harris, and then she lost the election to now president-elect donald trump. so he is now the one preparing for another four years in office. biden is focused on preserving his legacy, and we expect him in these next few weeks to give several speeches talking about some of his key accomplishments, causes that have been important to him, including climate, the economy and foreign policy. and then

after saint croix, he'll be spending new year's eve in delaware, and then he'll be on a foreign trip early in the new year, where he's making stops in rome and the vatican to meet with pope francis. they're going to discuss global peace efforts. now, we don't expect a ton of policy advancement in these next few weeks. white house officials believe that anything that they really get done in this final sprint toward january 20th could be overturned by the incoming administration. so instead, that focus is on preserving key achievements as well as preserving his legacy. >> all right, julia, thank you. appreciate it jim. >> all right. so let's speak more now about the outgoing and incoming presidents. joining us for that, katie frost, republican strategist, former executive director of the georgia freedom caucus. and megan hayes, democratic strategist, former white house director of message planning under president biden. good to have you both. on this day after christmas. megan, if i could begin with you, given you worked for biden, 39% approval

rating as he prepares to leave office, it's not a good number. it's quite close to where it's been for some months now before he goes just briefly. biggest wins for him from his four years. and what were the biggest mistakes then? >> i think the biggest wins for him were the infrastructure bill, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, putting all that money back into communities for roads and bridges and and other investments. i also think the chips and science act, where he is bringing jobs here, things are being manufactured here in the united states and also the the inflation reduction act and massive investments into clean energy economy. and also he created more jobs than any president in modern history. and i think, you know, that i think that legacy is is not nk it's something that he has put the foot work in that generations will benefit from. >> and failures i think that that one of the, the failures probably is that he decided to run again. >> i think that that probably was um, looking back will probably be something that he will he will think probably was the biggest mark on his legacy.

>> so, katie, when you look at numbers in terms of satisfaction with the direction of the country, this often cited as one of the reasons democrats lost just because so much of the country did not like where it was going. but if you look at the numbers now, they're not great. republicans satisfaction has gone down to 9% from 16 just following the election. democrats are at 31%. those are low numbers for any president to confront. and i wonder, does donald trump have the ability to quickly turn that around to any large degree? how does he do it? >> well, it's good to be with jim. i do believe president trump has the ability. i mean, we've seen this man come back and counter so many narratives, completely turn things on their head time and time again. so if anyone is able to do it, it's definitely going to be president trump. you know, we look at what's going to happen. he's been very clear on how he wants to focus on the economy, and he wants to really just take care of the american people. and that's why, in my

view, the democratic party lost is because the american people felt like the democrats had forgotten them and their everyday lives were getting worse. and president trump ran on that simple message of, are you better off now than you were four years ago? and the answer from the american people was a resounding no. and that is why he had such a decisive victory in november. so i do believe he's going to be able to turn this ship around. i think he's going to be very aggressive and have some great policy plans right out of the gate. so i'm looking forward to the next four years. >> let me ask you, because there was some talk in recent days until yesterday, i suppose, that trump's message, katie at his inauguration was going to be one of unity. and then you have his post just yesterday, a christmas post in which he said merry christmas to the radical left lunatics who are constantly trying to obstruct our court system and our elections and are always going after the great citizens and patriots of the united states. but in particular, there political opponent me. uh, that does not strike me, or i think anyone reading it as a message of

unity. is he going to enact policies that support his supporters, or is he going to attempt to serve the american people across the board, whether they voted for him or not? >> well, i do believe he's going to serve the american people across the board, because when the economy improves, it improves for everyone, regardless of who you voted for. when our streets are safer, they're safer for everyone, regardless of who you voted for. when our border is secure, it impacts everyone, regardless of who you voted for. so the policies he's going to put in place will benefit every single american, regardless of their political ideology. >> all right, megan, will the policies that trump is planning and talking about benefit every single american, in your view? >> no. tariffs are not going to benefit every single american, in my view. i think that, you know, it's been proven that that will add over $4,000 to the working class people. and i think that those are the people who are hurting the most right now. and there's no question katie is right. there is no question that people want to change and they are getting change, but they want people to

lower prices and to make make their lives better. and tariffs don't make lives better. tax cuts for the wealthy do not make the middle class better. so we'll have to see what policies actually get through the legal system. once he tries to force them through with ios. but we'll see how things play out. but you know, the midterms will be coming here quickly. so the american people will have a say again. >> katie, president-elect trump has taken particular interest in territory in the last several days, making another pitch to take or attempt to somehow woo greenland from u.s. ally denmark and to turn canada into the 51st state. you also have him commenting that he wants to take back the panama canal, despite a senate ratified treaty that returned panama to panamanian, the canal to panamanian control during the carter administration, does president-elect trump believe he can actually do this? or is this posturing on his part?

>> he's a master negotiator. i mean, the man literally wrote the book on the art of the deal. so, you know, there's always, you know, everything is on the table when you're having these discussions. i will say the panama canal is of key interest to the american interest. 40% of all shipping containers that come to the united states go through the panama canal. so, you know, we're talking about lowering prices for the american worker and for the american middle class. if we can get down the cost of goods by renegotiating and getting the fees lowered through the panama canal, that isn't a cost that's directly passed on to the consumer. when your ships are having to pay anywhere from 150,000 to $1 million to pass through the panama canal, that impacts the consumer directly so president trump can renegotiate with panama and look at lowering those fees. that would be a tremendous impact to the american consumer as far as greenland, canada, you know, these are all discussions. some of it's just joking. don't forget, not only is he the master of the deal, he's also a master troll. so that is why governor trudeau is

currently in his sights. >> well, we should note that the president's not talking about renegotiating fees with the panama canal. he's talking about taking it back. at least those are his public comments. we'll see where he tries to take that. katie frost, megan hayes. >> see where you end up. >> sorry, sorry. >> you start there and you see where you end up. you know, that's how these negotiations usually go. >> we will see. >> thanks so much to both of you. happy holidays to you. coming up next, israel has launched attacks on yemen, including on its main airport, where un staff were visiting at the time. we have a live report from the middle east right after this can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life has extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. luther. >> never too much new year's day on cnn. >> everyone's running to subway for three. all new spicy footlongs. wait, subway did what? that's right. they're bringing the heat with creamy

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for us. so what more do we know about these strikes and the aftermath? frankly? >> yeah. look, this strike from israel on the main airport in the capital sana'a, and also on two power plants, this comes after four out of the last seven nights saw people in israel, across israel, millions of them, including myself and my 11 year old daughter on saturday night scurrying for bomb shelters as ballistic missiles were lobbed towards israel from yemen. now, israel says that it was attacking infrastructure that it says was being used by the houthis to smuggle in iranian weapons, which it was then using against israel. and prime minister benjamin netanyahu. earlier this evening here in israel, saying that these attacks on the houthis would continue until essentially the job is done and that job that netanyahu is talking about is really dealing with what israel perceives to be the last man standing almost among the what it calls the axis of evil, of iran's proxies, in the sense

that israel has managed to batter hezbollah in lebanon pretty much into submission. and to that cease fire in the north that has decimated hamas, and which doesn't seem to pose an existential threat to israel anymore. and the only ones that really seem to be able to threaten israel, of course, on top of iran are the houthis themselves. now, others in israel have suggested that rather than going after the houthis, they should be going after the head of the snake, namely iran. that's certainly what yair lapid, the leader of the opposition, has been suggesting. but certainly for now, it seems there will be no letup on israeli strikes on the houthis in yemen and the houthis themselves, saying that if israel thinks that its attacks on yemen are going to stop them from, in their words, showing their solidarity and support for the palestinians, then israel, in the words of one of their official accounts on x, is delusional. >> israel, of course, it strikes inside gaza, have not let up either. and the israeli military, the idf, is now being

condemned for a strike that killed five journalists working for a gaza based television channel. when strikes like this have happened before, journalists or aid workers. israel will either sometimes claim that one or more of them had ties to hamas, or will promise an investigation, and we often won't see a satisfying answer at the end of that investigation. how is the idf responding to criticism of this strike? >> jim, i know you've just been speaking to me, but i have to say that i can't actually make out what you're saying because of a technical fault. so i'm afraid i'm going to hand it back to you for the moment, and hopefully we'll be able to pick this up later on all right. >> the technical difficulties that do come with this. elliott gotkine, we appreciate it. thank you. stay with us. we'll be right back. >> 2024 was a wild ride. >> it was like the craziest roller coaster ride i've ever been on in my life. >> that was an whooping. tom

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athletes to redemption and of course, controversy at the paris olympics. andy scholes breaks down the top ten sports stories of the year. >> well, 2024 was the year where the superstars certainly shined bright. lebron, simone. mahomes. scheffler, ohtani and clark all dominating their sports. but there were some controversies along the way. here are the top moments in sports from this year. we start our countdown with the boston celtics returning to the top of the nba, winning their record 18th title. jayson tatum, jaylen brown and company beating the mavericks in five games at the top of the mountain. >> but we did it. we won a championship and we almost saw history in the nhl. >> the florida panthers were up three zero in the stanley cup final before the edmonton oilers stormed back to force a game seven, but the panthers would hold on to win

their first ever championship. at number nine in college basketball, don staley, south carolina gamecocks became the 10th women's division one team in history to go undefeated. they were a perfect 38 zero and then capped it off by winning the third title in school history. >> so excited to share this moment with our team. >> the uconn huskies, meanwhile, becoming the first men's team since florida in 2007 to win back to back titles. >> unbelievable. feels like last year. >> at number eight, we had history in the nba. lebron james and his son bronny taking the floor together, making it the first time ever a father and son played together in the league. >> no matter how old i get, no matter how my memory may fade as i get older or whatever, i will never forget that moment. i appreciate the laker nation for, you know, showing the support for me and my dad. >> and at number seven, lebron with quite the 2024 as he alongside steph curry led team usa to an olympic gold medal in

paris, beating france in the championship game. it was their fifth straight gold. the women, meanwhile, winning their eighth straight gold medal behind a dominant performance from a'ja wilson. and on the pitch under new head coach emma hayes, the u.s. women's soccer team getting back to their winning ways, beating brazil one nil to capture the gold medal for the first time since 2012. at number six, we also saw amazing solo performances at the paris games. >> american noah lyles stakes his claim as the fastest man in the world with a thrilling photo finish in the 100 meter dash. >> lyles became the first american in 20 years to grab the title of the fastest man on the planet. the swimming sensation katie ledecky, becoming the most decorated u.s. female olympian of all time with 14 medals. >> i kind of just wanted to be that guy who might be a little bit nerdy, but also really good at sports. that's kind of what i wanted to be. >> ann stefanek ek, known as clark kent, was a true hero, dominating the pommel horse to get the u.s. men's gymnastics

team their first medal since 2008, and leaving the games with two bronze medals. many world records were set, but none more impressive than sydney mclaughlin, who crushed the field in the 400 meter hurdles. >> unreal. honestly, full circle moment. first, i feel like full olympic moment with friends and family. there at number five, simone biles triumphantly returning to the olympics, proving once again she is the goat. >> the 27 year old winning three gold medals and a silver and in the process became the most decorated u.s. gymnast of all time. >> i solely did it for myself and i'm in a really good spot mentally and physically. so doing this for just me, it meant the world. >> biles and the women's team reclaiming the gold. but the paris games did end in controversy for a member of the team. >> surprising turn of events in paris. american gymnast jordan chiles has been stripped of her bronze medal. >> the situation is getting more complicated by the day,

usa gymnastics says its appeal for olympic gymnast jordan chiles to keep her bronze medal was denied. >> it's definitely been a really hard year. >> at number four. shohei ohtani had a season in baseball that will never be duplicated again, both on and off the field. >> just one week before opening day, a stunning scandal has erupted in major league baseball. the interpreter for l.a. dodgers player shohei ohtani fired amid allegations that he stole millions of dollars from the japanese superstar to cover a gambling debt. >> the whole controversy, though, did not affect ohtani one bit. on the field, he went on to have the first ever 50 over 50 season in baseball history. he ended up with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases. the japanese star then went on to win his first world series, as the dodgers beat the yankees in five games. at number three, the pga championship, getting off to a rocky start. >> we're following major drama

at the pga championship in louisville, kentucky, where top ranked golfer scottie scheffler was arrested and detained just outside the course where he would tee off. >> only a few hours later, i feel like my head is still spinning. >> i can't really explain what happened this morning. um, i did spend some time in a jail cell. that was a first for me. >> despite being arrested before round two, scheffler still finished tied for eighth at the pga championship, and he went on to have one of the best years in golf history. scheffler won nine times, including his second masters in three years and gold at the paris games. >> just a kid from texas who loves playing golf and just trying to get the most out of myself and, you know, this year has been really fun. >> at number two on our countdown is caitlin clark. mania is taking over the country. >> history truly in the making and so far out. by the way, iowa hawkeyes superstar caitlin clark breaking the ncaa women's basketball all time scoring record. >> i don't know if you can really script it any better.

>> and clark wasn't just setting scoring records, attendance and viewership were at all time highs. whenever clark stepped on the floor. her rematch against angel reese and lsu was watched by 12.3 million people, making it the most watched women's college basketball game ever. >> caitlin clark is headed to the wnba as the number one overall draft pick. >> just getting to enjoy it and soak it in, i think is the biggest thing because like, this is once in a lifetime. >> clark's remarkable year ended with her winning the wnba rookie of the year and leading the fever to the playoffs in 2024. certainly, an extraordinary year for the wnba. the league setting records for attendance and viewership. and in the end, it was the liberty winning their first ever title, beating the lynx. and finally, our number one sports moment of the year belonged to patrick mahomes and the kansas city chiefs, with taylor swift in attendance to cheer on boyfriend travis kelce. the chiefs beating the 49ers in an overtime thriller in the first ever las vegas

super bowl. mahomes, kelce and company winning back to back titles in their third in five years. >> i'm so proud of the team, so proud of the guys and to battle to the very end. i mean, that was a microcosm of our season. it really is special just to be able to say we're back to back champs. >> and as we head into 2025, the chiefs are looking to become the first team ever to win three straight super bowls. >> quite a year on the field. still ahead. severe storms rolling into the southern u.s. this as holiday travelers head into what is expected to be yet one more of the busiest travel periods of the year. we're going to have a live update on the forecast coming up. >> and it has been one wild year. >> i know that whole 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 live on max.

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>> i'm pete muntean at reagan national airport. this is cnn not the kind of news you want around the holidays, but severe weather sweeping across the south, including a tornado watch for parts of texas and louisiana with millions more under alerts throughout the weekend. >> cnn's chad myers is in the weather center tracking all of it for us. so, chad, where is your focus? seems like there's a lot going on on that map behind you right now. >> the focus is houston. >> you're under a tornado watch and there are storms to your west moving your way. nothing that has rotation yet, but the potential is there. also, attention to the west, where a lot of snow is coming down in the pass, is going to be very difficult to get through the i-80 and all the way up toward the 90 and seeing some airport delays for seattle, for portland and for dallas. dallas, your storms are gone, but the damage is already done. the planes are already kind of backed up for you, but let's zoom in here for houston proper. you see the red area behind me. all those counties filled in. that's the tornado watch until later tonight. and

there you see the storms all the way almost to sugarland at this point in time. so yes, weather on the way here. make sure your weather aware know where you are. if you're visiting, make sure you know what county you're in, or at least your phone alerts are on. there's the flooding into dallas that happened a couple of hours ago, but there's the bull's eye for where the severe weather is most likely today. it moves to the east tomorrow, and then farther east, and then really will start to hamper travel on sunday, even into the northeast. so a lot of moving parts here. and then i take you back out toward the west, and it's really going to be moving parts, but a lot of rain, i mean 2 to 3in in places that have been just completely filled with drought. so take the rain when we can get it. just try to get it. in between the severe weather. there's the storm moving on shore right now, but more weather is moving to the east, through the siskiyous, through the bitterroots there's an off. there's more storms behind this one. so yes, we're going to have wind. we're going to have snow and more snow on the way. if you're traveling in the west, especially driving through the passes, make sure you know what the traffic looks like ahead of you guys.

>> all right chad, appreciate it. thank you. still to come here. clues at the crash site. pictures of that downed jet in kazakhstan could help unravel the mystery behind the deadly disaster. what we're now learning next can't fool myself. >> it was the most exciting time in the world. >> his life had extremely joyful moments and some really difficult moments. >> you only come across an artist like luther vandross once in a lifetime. luther. >> never too much new year's day on cnn. >> i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's? >> what are the three p's? >> the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price and price. a price you can afford. a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. >> i'm 54. what's

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