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we'll come to you. >> 808 two one 4000. >> and get ready for 2025. we are just hours away from the new year, and celebrations are already underway around the world. as we say goodbye to 2020. for. puerto rico celebrating in the dark as massive power outages hit nearly 90% of the island. and as the world continues to honor former president jimmy carter, his grandson jason carter joins us for a look at his legacy and impact on the world. plus, we get a special preview of cnn's new film, luther. never too much, about the life of singer luther vandross with his friend and fellow music icon dionne warwick. i'm pamela brown in washington. all of this and more ahead on a special new year's eve edition of cnn news central.

new year's celebrations are already underway as cities around the world bid farewell to 2024. hoda kotb pop star. >> spain. sa'ar. he. yes, happy new year. >> shouts of happy new year rang out in hong kong's victoria harbor just a few hours ago, as a dazzling fireworks show lit up the skies. new zealanders were some of the first people in the world to ring in the new year. a five minute firework display in auckland kicked off 2025. times that. say goodnight and

take a look at sydney, australia. the city welcomed 2025 with its biggest fireworks show ever. it featured a golden waterfall effect cascading from the iconic sydney harbor bridge. organizers say more than nine tons of fireworks were used. and back here in the united states, we're still hours away from one of the largest and most famous new year's eve celebrations in the world in new york city's times square. and the nypd is making sure it's prepared for anything. when the ball drops tonight. cnn's brynn gingras is there, joins us live. what's going on over there? brian? >> hey, pam. you know what? >> preparations are underway. we are right in the area. where? right behind me. you can see all the crews working. that is where andy and anderson are going to put on that spectacular show later this evening. they are getting that all prepped and ready. and this way it's a little hard with the sun. we're welcoming the sunshine at this moment because you can see here down below, possibly the stage. they're

getting that all set ready for people to do their performances for later tonight. but the rehearsals before that, you know, look, we are still waiting to actually get that roughly 1 million revelers coming into times square flooding into those pens where they will be kept until that ball drops and everybody together welcomes 2025. in the meantime, we have been seeing a number of security preps all around us by the nypd. we've been seeing bomb sniffing dogs. we've seen the drones up. we have seen the barricades from avenues to our east and our west, making sure that this is the most secure spot to ring in the new year. for all of those people who come to celebrate, even if it rains. i want you to hear from the nypd commissioner who gave a press briefing about the situation that they handle every year, how it's done in the safest way possible. take a listen. >> at this time, there are no specific, credible threats to the times square new year's eve celebration. >> however, we have been

operating in a heightened threat environment since october 7th, and we remain vigilant. the public can expect to see a tremendous amount of police resources deployed throughout the area and across the city. >> and of course, they do this every year for more than 100 years, they have been handling this, and it is a tradition, brianna, that i'm sorry, pam, that more than 600 officers, those new recruits, this is their first job is to handle times square celebration. and so they will also be on hand making sure everybody has a safe way to welcome in the new year. pam, listen, i'm flattered you mixed me up with brianna. seriously, i'll take that any day. i'm sorry. it's a long morning. i know you've been talking to her for most of the day. i'm just popping up here randomly. all right. brynn gingras. thanks so much. happy new year to you. well, wet weather could put a damper on celebrations in times square tonight. and new york isn't the only city seeing rain this holiday. cnn's allison chinchar

has a look at your new year's eve forecast. you know, pam, the nice thing is about folks who head down to times square on new year's eve is they really don't care what the weather is going to be like, and that's probably a good thing for tonight, because yes, we do have rain in the forecast. >> it's not raining there right now, but as we get into the evening hours, we'll slowly start to see those rain chances increase. though, should be in the upper 40s to low 50s for most of the festivities tonight. and actually being around 50 degrees would put it awfully close to the top five. warmest new year's eve on record in new york city. we won't make that top five, but very close. >> so at least it's not a cold and rainy evening. >> now we also have the chance for some strong to severe thunderstorms a little bit farther south into areas of the mid-atlantic. this includes washington, d.c., portions of baltimore, and even around atlantic city. strong wind gusts are going to be the main threat there. the rain tonight is all coming from this main system. here you can see spreading from the midwest into

the northeast as we go through the remainder of the day. so by the time we get to, say, 6 to 8 p.m. tonight, you really start to see those rain chances uptick around pittsburgh, areas of philadelphia, portions of washington, d.c., and yes, even new york city. that band is going to continue to slide eastward, and the system as a whole will likely continue for much of the northeast, even as we go through the rest of the day. on wednesday. elsewhere, not really too much of concern. it's going to be cold in the high plains and upper midwest, but otherwise relatively dry. some clouds in a few areas. now the southern tier. this is where you're going to have nice conditions, both dry as well as nice warm temperatures. we do have another system out to the west. that's the one that's going to be bringing some rain and snow to portions of oregon and northern california. maybe, perhaps a good spot to sit indoors and watch the new year's eve festivities from home. >> all right, allison chinchar, thanks so much. as the world says goodbye to 2024, here are some time zone math for you. there are 39 different local

time zones around the globe. some differ by just 15 minutes, while others are more than 12 hours apart. all in all, this means it takes 26 hours for the entire world to welcome the new year. but on the international space station, astronauts have already seen four new year's sunrises, 12 more to go. cnn's julia vargas jones joins us now from copacabana beach in rio de janeiro, two hours ahead of us here on the east coast of the u.s. you got a great assignment here, julia. how are people there preparing to ring in 2025? i know, pam, i know look, it is a gorgeous day. it's more than we can say that it's been it's been a little rainy here. so we are so, so thankful for today. and it's not just us. >> you can see people all around me are getting out to really enjoy the last day of 2024. >> we spoke to a bunch of people from lots of different parts of not just brazil, but all over the world who are here

because they just know that rio de janeiro is magic and it is unique. there's something that just sparks about the city. take a listen to what they said. >> the weather is beautiful. >> it's really busy for new year's eve. when i was planning our trip, i kind of looked up the best places for new year's and rio's. rio was one of them, so i planned it so we could be here. and luckily the weather is beautiful, so i hope to see that. >> so just like those brothers from florida, a lot of tourists are descending into copacabana, the iconic copacabana. pamela, i mean, i know i couldn't ask for a better assignment, but it is incredible because 2 million people are going to be descending onto this beach this evening. right now, it's still a beach day. people are cycling. they're rollerblading. but it is going to be a giant celebration tonight. brazilians take it really seriously. the next thing i'll do is actually do a

brazilian tradition of throwing flowers in the ocean for the god of the sea, and that is what we'll do in the next hour. oh, lovely. we'll throw one in for me here from washington, if you would. thank you. julia. ringing in the new year in rio de janeiro. happy new year. and a reminder the boys are back for the biggest party of the year. join anderson cooper and andy cohen for new year's eve live. that's at 8:00. but you don't have to wait that long. special coverage with boris sanchez and laura coates kicks off shortly at 3 p.m. eastern. up next, some new details about the plans to honor president jimmy carter. the path his final motorcade will take, and what we know about his state funeral. plus, we're going to speak next with one of the people set to give a eulogy for the former president, or as he called him, papa. a massive blackout right now in puerto rico, nearly 90% of the island has no electricity. on new year's eve, what caused

this? and cnn goes inside one of the nation's most popular new year's day celebrations, pasadena's rose parade. >> she will span up to about 22ft tall, with her neck fully up, fully extended. >> her neck has to be able to come down because. >> because there is a freeway overpass on the parade route. >> and it has been one wild year. >> i know that home live stream was crazy. >> what you have been following actual news, right? oh, boy. >> new year's eve live with anderson and andy tonight at eight on cnn and streaming live on max kenya to support your brain health. >> mary. janet. hey, edie. >> no! frasier. frank. frank. >> fred. how are you? >> fred. >> support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. >> when you need to remember. remember. nariva. >> hey, i just got a text from my sister. >> you remember rick, her neighbor? >> sure.

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>> well, today we have some details on the funeral plans to honor former president jimmy carter. and it all begins on saturday. a motorcade will transport carter from his hometown of plains, georgia, to the carter center in atlanta. he will lie in repose there until january 7th, and then carter will be taken to washington, dc to lie in state in the capitol rotunda for two days until his state funeral on january 9th at the national cathedral. and one of the people expected to eulogize carter is his grandson, jason. and he joins us now. jason, thank you for your time on this new year's eve. i know your family is grieving right now, and you're working on your eulogy for your grandfather. we were just talking in the break about that. you have been working on it for quite some time. tell us about that. >> well, i mean, you know, my grandfather is a remarkable in a lot of ways. and one of them is that he has spent almost two

years in hospice, and that time for him and for all of us has been a time of reflection. and so we've been looking at this, and we weren't sure when the day would come, but the fact that it's here and that we're talking about it on new year's eve is a is a great way to reflect back on this remarkable legacy and and to look to the future as well. >> yeah. you talked about how new year's was a big tradition for the carter family. tell us about that. how are you remembering him today? >> yeah. >> i mean, you know, one of the great gifts that my grandparents gave to us is they hosted essentially a carter family trip for about 40 years. and we always had it over new year's. so some of my my best memories of them are celebrating on this day. and so this was sort of one of his last gifts to us, is that the the entire family is all going to get together this week again and be there with each other and to, of course, celebrate his remarkable life that he had. >> your grandfather clearly influenced you and your career path, including your own run in politics as a georgia state

senator. tell us, how did his advice guide your life? >> um, you know, in a lot of ways, some of it was just leading by example, right? i watched him, uh, get so enriched by the time that he spent in different places around the world. when i graduated from college, you know, he, uh, he i asked him what he thought i should do, and he said, i think you should go to the peace corps in africa. so i did that. and, of course, i'm a lawyer now, and i spend a lot of time doing that, but it's always a part of supporting human rights and democracy. and and then obviously, i got into politics in georgia in the old days. now, um, you know, a decade ago, um, and it was important for me to share that with him and then to share the work of the carter center with him. as i've been the chair of the board for the last several years, that has been a real a real blessing for me. >> i saw another interview. you did? you were kind of joking, though, about the campaign advice he gave you. >> oh, yeah. i mean, you know, number one, he wasn't a great campaigner. he did get elected

president of the united states. um, i think my grandmother was really the great politician in the family, however. but, um, no, i mean, you know, it's different eras, different eras. when i ran for governor, it was all fundraisers and and media buys. and when he ran for governor, he shook 600,000 hands. right. it was just a different era. but. but the thing he taught me about politics that sometimes gets lost is you can be a person like him who doesn't change, uh, who stays, who they are, who stays true to their principles and their beliefs despite all of the temptations of politics. and it's just good to know that that person can exist in this world. >> yeah. tell us some of those stories of, you know, post-presidency, just how he maintained his roots and just stayed grounded and humble and frugal. right? >> yeah. certainly frugal. i mean, you know, my grandparents moved back to the same house that they lived in before the white house. and it's, you know, a tiny country house in plains, georgia. they never

changed a thing down there. the as we've said repeatedly, they have a microwave oven that you dial up and it ticks down. tick tick tick. i mean, it's unbelievable. it's probably 40 years old. um, and they why change it if it still works, right? i mean, they had that depression era belief in not changing things. and, you know, he made a lot of furniture himself. um, he was just he was a country guy. and my memories of him are like memories of other people's grandfathers, you know, going fishing, going to the braves games. um, it's remarkable how regular they were. really? >> my. yeah, my, my, i had a pawpaw as well. and then a bob. bob and just they shaped my life in so many ways. and i miss them tremendously. so i'm just. i'm thinking about you right now and what you're going through. you know, your grandfather, though. what a blessing. he lived the longest of any president. you had him for a long time in your life. um, what kept him going so long? and as we turn the page on a new year, what do you

think? sort of. his life lessons were? and, you know, going for so long and living such a happy, long life, especially with his his beautiful marriage with rosalynn. >> yeah. you know, they were married for 77 years, and that's just an incredible blessing, right? there's a lot of a lot of luck involved in that. but there's also a lot of faith and love and excitement for each other. um, i think, you know, as you mentioned, he lived a long time. my, my two children are 18 and 16. so they knew their great grandfather, you know, really well and got to see him live out his values in a variety of ways. and so, you know, i think he he really just opened himself up to the world, uh, over these last 40 years after the presidency. and i think we've all been heartened to see this outpouring of love and support come back over these last few days and really over these last couple of years since he's been in hospice, as we've all sort of as a global community, been reflecting on his legacy. but, um, for us in the family, um, of course, he

was a rock for us, but, but and we all know that because of the. carrying on his legacy. so it doesn't fall to any of us in particular. and that's a that's a heartening thing, because it would be very difficult to live up to if you tried. >> that is a beautiful note to end on. jason carter, thank you so much and happy new year to you. >> likewise. happy new year. thanks, pam. >> thank you. well, up next, a near collision on a runway at lax. new audio shows how air traffic control intervened just in time. 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. >> tomorrow at eight on cnn. >> i haven't achieved all my ambitions. they've always been about more than just

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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. >> new video shows a near collision between two planes at los angeles international airport on friday. we're going to show you the video twice because it happens really quickly, and you can hear the audio from air traffic control. >> do you want stop, stop, stop. ooh ooh. >> ooh. stop stop stop ooh ooh ooh. >> certainly too close for comfort there. that smaller plane on the right was a charter plane carrying the gonzaga university men's basketball team. both planes were able to continue on with their flights as planned. the faa is investigating the incident. this close call comes as officials are investigating sunday's deadly plane crash in south korea that killed 179 people, and the christmas day

crash that claimed 38 lives in kazakhstan. joining us now is kristi kiernan. she is associate director of the center for aerospace safety at embry-riddle aeronautical university. you know, a lot of people are traveling this time of year, and when you see close calls like this and plane crashes, people start to worry. right. but incidents like these, they're high profile. they make headlines. they raise concerns among even seasoned fliers. but you say flying is still extremely safe. tell us about that. >> yeah. >> thank you. and i couldn't really have said it better than you just did, which is that obviously these incidents are they garner a lot of attention. and they should, especially from the industry. we need to investigate all of them and learn from them. but as the flying public, i think it's really important to understand what goes on behind the scenes that that you don't really see as a flying passenger. there is an enormous amount of effort, a very veritable alphabet soup of of programs that ensure your

safety, that collect information on every kind of hazard and risk that close the loop on that and make sure that those are mitigated. we have extensive training for pilots 1500 hours, for the most part, before they even set foot on a commercial aircraft. and then they are returned for training on a periodic basis to practice all those things that happen extremely rarely on the line, but they can practice them in the simulator. so all of those things that that are really behind the scenes that you as a flying passenger, don't see that contribute to making it so safe. really? >> yeah. let's talk a little bit more about that. sort of the biggest changes that have happened in the last 10 or 20 years, that the new programs you talk about that has made flying so safe. is it the automation of systems and planes? what is it exactly that that's making it so much safer? >> you know, we push on every boundary that we can, right? so obviously there have been some

huge technical advances, ground proximity warning, collision avoidance systems. automation has been a huge benefit to our industry, and we've advanced pilot training along with that. you know, we are continuing to push boundaries. we in aviation do an excellent job at learning from what we do wrong. we investigate all incidents and accidents very thoroughly. and now we're turning to look at learning from what we do right too. because, you know, there there are over 44,000 aircraft operations in the united states every single day, you know, and those the vast majority of them end safely. so we want to start looking at, you know, why are they why are they so safe? let's do more of the things that we do right. while we're still concentrating on fixing the errors and problems that we have. >> so with all these systems in place, how do these near-misses and collisions still happen? is it just so many planes now are are using these runways? what's going on. >> well, we do have a very high volume of traffic. it's still a safe volume. and i think, you know, one thing that's

important to remember is when you read statistics of that, you know, these have gone up in the past year by this percentage. you have to remember how many operations are going on. and so we have an apparent increase. you have to look at the number of operations, particularly since covid, that have kind of rebounded. so it's important to look at things like rates more than absolute numbers. >> yeah i think that's a really important availability bias right. sometimes you see when there's a lot of in a short period of time you think, oh, it's no longer safe to fly. well that's not the case, right. overwhelmingly tens of thousands of planes take off a day and everything is safe. um, you know, i always think about the air traffic controllers and how hard their job is. i have so much respect for them. do you think their jobs are harder now, given the increase in traffic? um. do they have what they need, in your view, to to make sure that it's safe to fly? >> i'm not an air traffic controller. i'm a an end user of it. as a as a former coast guard aviator and as a member of the flying public. um, you know, one thing i think is knowledge is power. right? and

as a flier, a lot of times what makes us uncomfortable is not the numbers, because i can tell you who gets nervous before they get in their car. and yet we killed over 40,000 people on american roadways last year. and to put that into perspective, that's the equivalent of crashing a 747 full of people every single day for over 80 days in a row. so it's not the numbers that that make people nervous. i think what makes them nervous is their out of control. they don't necessarily know what's going on, and that's why i would encourage people to learn as much as they can about the system. you mentioned air traffic control. there are online sites where you can listen in on any airport that you want. you can listen to the communications at your local airport. and i think that what that will give people is a better understanding of the system and an appreciation for the professionalism and the training that goes into what what happens on the flight line all the time. and then you'll feel more comfortable. and same thing, you know, get to know if there's a lot of times there's noises on airplanes that are completely normal, but people don't know what they are, so they're uncomfortable about it. there's so much

wonderful information out there, and obviously you have to be a discriminating consumer and, you know, ntsb, faa, flight safety foundation, and those are very reliable sites. so but, you know, find out, learn more and educate yourself. and i think that will make people a lot more comfortable. >> all right. kristy kiernan, thank you so much for putting it all in perspective for us. we appreciate it. >> it's my pleasure. thank you. >> well, house speaker mike johnson is facing a critical vote this week to determine whether he keeps his gavel or gets replaced. one republican lawmaker just said he does not have enough support. and a blackout in puerto rico. what's behind the massive outage that has left 90% of the island without electricity? this new year's eve? >> some people like doing things the hard way, like doing their finances with a spreadsheet instead of using quicken. quicken pulls all your financial info together in one place and updates it automatically. how easy is

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>> new year's eve live with anderson and andy. live coverage starts tonight at 8:00 on cnn. and. >> happening right now. a massive power outage has left nearly 90% of puerto rico in the dark. on this new year's eve. a critical failure of the country's energy grid is being blamed. cnn's carlos suarez has been tracking the developments. so how much are we learning about this grid failure? carlos? >> well, pamela, this sweeping blackout hit puerto rico this morning, and luma energy, which supplies the power to puerto rico, said that crews would try to get the power grid back on in what they say are phases, though that could take anywhere between 24 to 48 hours. now, as of 1:00 this afternoon, about 3% of customers out of the 1.3 million users that were impacted by all this have had their power restored. the international airport in san juan and hospitals around the island are running on power

generators. malls have closed for the day, and public transportation really has come to a halt because of all of this. now, power outages have long been a a running source of frustration on the island since the collapse of the power grid back in 2017 after hurricane maria, luma and a second private company have long come under criticism for failing to improve the electric system. now, in a statement, puerto rico's governor pedro pierluisi said, quote, we are demanding answers and solutions from both luma and genera who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the island. pamela luma said that an issue with a faulty underground underground line was to blame, and already the company is pushing back this timeframe. a spokesperson tells our colleagues over at cnn, e! it will be more than 48 hours before, in their words, the

power returns to normalcy. >> pamela. all right. carlos suarez, thank you so much. on friday, the 119th united congress will be sworn in, and capitol hill is already bracing for a chaotic start to the year. house speaker mike johnson is fighting to keep his gavel, even with an endorsement from president-elect trump. johnson can only afford to lose a single republican vote in what will be a historically divided congress. and so far, he's not there. kentucky republican congressman thomas massie, who has been critical of johnson's shutdown deal with democrats, tweeted, quote, i respect and support president trump. but his endorsement of mike johnson is going to work out about, as well as his endorsement of speaker paul ryan. we've seen johnson partner with the democrats to send money to ukraine and authorize spying on americans and blow the budget, end quote. and here's texas congressman chip roy earlier today. >> i remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the

failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the president's agenda. i respect, like thomas, that president trump supports mike. i like mike. he's a good friend. right now, i don't believe that he has the votes on friday. and i think we need to have the conference get together so that we can get united. >> so what happens? because guess what? the electoral certification is supposed to happen very soon january 6th. joining us now to discuss democratic strategist julie roginsky and republican strategist gw rigi. thanks for coming. on this new year's eve. so t.w., first to you, mike johnson joked earlier this month about his future, saying anyone who can get 218 votes can have his job. do you think he should be concerned or does he hold on, in your view? >> yeah, to be honest with you, i think a lot of this is much ado about nothing. >> he has donald trump's support, and that means he will have the support of the conference. >> let's not forget, it was just a few weeks ago that he won the endorsement of the republican conference. yes, our

majority is small. is it possible he fails on the first vote? yes, it is possible. but it won't be a drawn out, mccarthy like episode because we have too much work to be done. and and we cannot stand in the way of donald trump's agenda, especially in the first 100 days. we remember what a cluster it was during the mccarthy vote. so we don't need to repeat this. i think it's, you know, these guys like chip roy and thomas massie, they love poking their heads out in times like this and flexing their muscle in our slim majority. but it's noise. it's a grift in many ways, and i don't think it holds much water. >> i wonder what you think about this, julie, because, you know, look, democrats have said they've lost trust with johnson, with the spending bill. the fact that he pulled it from the table, the negotiated bill with democrats. at the same time, any republican house speaker is going to be in a very similar predicament in many ways, being beholden to donald trump and apparently elon musk as well. do you think that that democrats should step up and

and help support johnson? >> not our circus, not our monkey. democrats should vote for hakeem jeffries on friday or whenever the vote is. i think it's on friday. and the reality is that they need to step back and let the republicans solve this problem for themselves. they wanted to have the big job. they wanted to be in charge. well, they're in charge and everything that happens is on them. so democrats should not be helping republicans solve their own mess. it's a mess of the republicans own creation. and if mike johnson can't get his own conference to support him, then sure, surely the democrats don't need to step into that mess and help him out. >> do you think, i wonder, when you look back with mccarthy, trump endorsed him as well. went through 15 rounds. does trump have even more sway now than he did back then, in terms of getting more republicans on board? what do you think? >> yeah, well, sure. he is the president elect and he has quite a mandate from that election. and look, nobody else besides mike johnson can get the necessary votes to be speaker. that's

just the cold, hard truth. so anybody trying to delay enacting the trump agenda is really going to be the catching a lot of heat from donald trump directly. and i don't think they want that or the country needs that. so yeah, look, there's no other alternative. it's mike johnson. mike johnson will be the next speaker of the house. there will be some noise bumps along the way, but it's a fait accompli. >> julie, i want to talk about something else. and that is the press briefing room at the white house. trump's incoming press secretary, karoline leavitt, has signaled that changes are in store there. she told fox news she wants the room to reflect the media habits of people in 2024, not the 1980s. what do you think that means? >> i think it means that fox news is going to have a prime seat. >> i think it means that oan and others like newsmax are going to have a prime seat. i think it means people like candace owens, potentially, and others who have podcasts who are maga friendly are going to have prime seats. and i think that anything that's called

the legacy media that doesn't step directly in line with the trump agenda is not going to have a prime seat and look, quite frankly, i don't blame them because one of the big problems, i think, for the biden administration is that they spent way too much time engaging people like peter doocy on fox news and having these little back and forths that didn't benefit him getting his message out. it just benefited the people at the podium. being able to show them tiktok and wherever else that they could spar with. fox news host. but the reality is the media landscape has changed and they are speaking to an audience that is incredibly bifurcated now. and so the reality is that if they want to talk to their audience and shut everybody else out, that is a smart political strategy. it's not great for the country. it's certainly not great for the people that they represent. from a political standpoint, though, i understand where they're coming from. >> all right, julie and t.w., thanks and happy new year. >> happy new year to you. happy new year. >> well, 32 floats and 20 marching bands. organizers are putting the final touches on the annual rose parade tomorrow in southern california. we'll

take you there live. >> here's to getting better with age. >> here's to beating these two every thursday. >> help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition. you need and the flavor you love. so here's to now. now available boost max. >> here. same time next month okay. who's that? >> oh, just an annoying subscription. >> he sucks. >> you got to get rid of him. >> i know, but he's just so hard to cancel. just download rocket money. you cancel subscriptions you don't want right in the app, and it might even be able to get you a refund on some of the money you lost. oh, download rocket money today. >> at the salvation army. a rent check isn't just a rent check, it's a hangout, a safe haven, a sanctuary, a place to

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a month. >> call 1-877-538-3882 or visit homeserve. com. >> do you one of these things? >> yeah, it sounds fun. this looks wild. i went to this last year, the winter classic outdoors wrigley field. >> i'm having a new year's eve party. >> connor bedard, wrigley field december 31st blues, blackhawks on tnt and streaming on max closed. >> captioning brought to you by book.com. >> if you or a loved one have mesothelioma, we'll send you a free book to answer questions you may have. call now and we'll come to you. >> 800 821 4000. >> with 2025 just hours away. preparations are well underway in southern california for the annual rose bowl parade. cnn's veronica miracle joins us live from pasadena. veronica, tomorrow will be a mix of football and iconic parade floats. how are people there preparing for the big day? oh, pamela, so much excitement here. people are tailgating ahead of the rose

bowl, and right now we are along the parade route ahead of the tournament of roses parade. the floats are actually lining up ahead of judging. people are coming to take a look at these beautiful floats, but this has been a year almost in the making. >> take a look at what it takes to build a float like this. >> every year, millions of people from across the country and around the world marvel at the dazzling spectacle that is the tournament of roses parade and the enormous floats that run through it. >> it's so awesome. >> yeah, but to build a float like this is a monumental task that starts every year, just weeks after the parade ends. i've never seen the very beginning stages of a rose parade. >> yeah, there it goes. >> there's so much metal and wiring and welding that takes place. >> you see all the flowers on parade day, but then it's. you know what supports those flowers? >> the rose parade float by two of california's polytechnic universities starts on two

different campuses. >> more than 200 miles apart before it's joined into one parade entry. it's one of just a handful of floats made entirely by volunteers. >> it feels like a party in here already. >> it's definitely crazy. at some point during the design process, you're always asking yourself, can we actually pull this off? >> soon this float will be moving in all different directions, powered by a hydraulic system. >> in fact, come take a look at this. >> this is where someone is going to be sitting during the parade. and it controls how nessie's neck moves up and down the float made by both cal poly pomona and cal poly san luis obispo students, tells the story of nessie, the loch ness monster. >> her friends, and the best day they've ever had. she will span up to about 22ft tall with her neck fully up, fully extended. her neck has to be able to come down because. because there is a freeway overpass on the parade route. cal poly's are known for engineering, and to be able to allow students to take what they learn in the classroom and

actually apply it. you can't get that anywhere else. and they wouldn't be eligible to participate in the rose parade without following this important rule. everything covering the float must be made of organic items found only in nature. >> the hair of the cow is actually coconut husk and corn silk. >> and for nessie, we'll be using things like green split peas and green lentils that. >> tens of thousands of flowers, seeds and shells. >> okay, so, pamela, it is hard to see the scope of this thing because it's so massive. >> but we're going to try and show you our photographer, tom larson is going to zoom out so you can just see how beautiful this masterpiece is. this is made of tens of thousands of flowers. and if you just come a little bit closer, once you get the full scope and the size of this massive neck that is nessie's neck all the way up top, they've got some finishing touches that they're putting on there just ahead of judging. but i want to bring you in just a little bit closer so you can see some of the detail here. look at this.

>> these are onion bulbs. i can certainly smell them. and some of the flowers here were actually grown on the cal poly universities campuses. and the rest of them were donated. this is just one of six floats made entirely by volunteers. all the other ones are professionally made, so you can see the amount of care and detail that goes into building something like this. so much fun. such a marvel to see. such an honor here in pasadena, california. >> we're very excited to bring in the new year this way. >> back to you. >> pam, that is amazing. so intricate. i mean, i, i can't imagine how much time went into to making just one of those floats. veronica miracle, thank you so much. we've got love. >> the power. power. >> his beautiful voice is unmistakable and unmatched, and his love songs provided the soundtrack to countless romances. cnn's new film, luther never too much, follows the professional and personal life of iconic singer

luther vandross. cnn's laura coates recently had a chance to speak with legendary singer dionne warwick about her friend's life and legacy, and she also opened up about her own remarkable career. >> what was it like knowing that you were his inspiration and then hearing him give what you then called a definitive rendition of a song that only you can sing? no, he gave me the definitive version of a house is not a home when he recorded it. >> he called me first. he said, i'm recording one of your songs. okay. and he sent it to me. i heard it before the record company heard it. >> really? >> what was that like, hearing it through the phone? he's so talented. it was amazing. >> i dropped the phone. i said, how dare you do this to me? >> he said, what do you mean? i said, oh, my god, you're crazy! what have you done to the song? >> he said, oh, you don't like it? i said, i love it. are you crazy? anything that he

recorded of mine and a lot of those. what i loved about what he did was he made them his own. he didn't do dionne warwick. he did luther vandross interpreting what dionne warwick had done and he was a genius. he just was between anyone who had a heart to a house is not a home. >> i mean, i could go all day with your repertoire, frankly. and what's interesting is so many people who are as respected and renowned and talented as you are, sometimes you have an issue with someone creeping up on what you might be possessive about, but you didn't feel that way with luther. you enjoyed and respected his talent. >> well, not only his talent, but his his ingenuity. my goodness. take a song and just decide. well, i'm going to sing the right notes, but i'm going to sing them the way i think they should be sung. that's making it your own. >> i love the way that you have always owned your space and

also left the door open for others. oh, yeah. you know, there's there's going to be a biopic. i understand we're going to learn more about your life. you've hand-selected the person, teyana taylor, who i have to say really looks a lot like you. >> it was scary. i got to tell you, my son found a photo of me in back in the day and put them side by side with teyana and sent it to me. and when i looked at it, i said, oh, wait a minute, who is this child? you know, and finally i got to speak with her and she's so personable. it's like talking to myself. it was wonderful. and i'm so pleased that she's so excited about it. >> it must be, on the one hand, very exciting to have your story told on your terms. on the other hand, you know you have been in this business and given us such joy for so long. i wonder if a part of you

wonders about the privacy and those private moments that you hope to hold dear. >> i find those times rm no. rm does say it all and i finally learned how to say no. you know, and mean it. and i give so much of me to. everybody and you know can i just add much? so i can say that's mine and i'm going to keep it for me. and no, you're not going to know what i'm going to be doing with it. >> i was getting ready to ask, and when do you most feel like that? but that's none of my business. i'm not set on that. >> i will say that. >> well, i believe you, miss warwick, that you would. and i respect that about you. can i ask you, though, when you said that you give so much to yourself? there are some songs that you have sung and they have soundtracked our lives. really? um. and i will hear you hit a note sometimes. and i

would say to myself, this is the point where she gave just a little bit of her life away, that there's a little bit left in that song, whether it's the way that the voice cracked intentionally or the soul came out, or the arc of the note. do you have a song where you say, that was a moment where you can you'll know dionne warwick if you hear that song. >> oh, wow. i would have to say every single song i've ever sung. um. i've been so fortunate in the composers that i've been able to sing songs that they've written specifically for me. and in so doing, whenever i sing any of them, they're coming from here, you know, not here. here. because they've written for me. and i feel the only way that i can interpret them

and give them to audiences. is to be completely honest about it. >> well, that no wonder you and luther vandross and so many others gravitated towards one another because as we learned from the film, many people didn't appreciate his, as you called it, ingenuity and arrangement and lived experience through, even if it's slowing down a song to have a different pace on it. you actually performed with him many times. tell me what that was like for the two of you to. >> it was such fun. i think we laughed more than we sang anything. he he produced a cd. on me and we did a duet called how many times? and it was a joy to sing with him. you know, because you could see him saying, i'm going to sing this song with you. finally. yeah. you're going to sing with me? finally. yeah. he

said, okay, so if my phrasing becomes a little bothersome to you, it's because of you you phrased this way. i said, how do you not phrase. he said, because i've studied you. that's how i know this. but he did. he took, uh, took the time to get to know dionne. um, not only personally, but musically. and he said, there's nobody that does it like you. and i'm glad to hear that. thank you very much. >> beautiful interview there. the cnn film luther never too much premieres tomorrow, new year's day, at 8 p.m. eastern and pacific, right here on cnn. we'll be right back. >> i brought in ensure max protein with 30g of protein. >> those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. >> here, i'll take that. >> ensure. max protein 30g protein, one gram of sugar and a protein blend to feed muscles up to seven hours. >> i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance

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