i'm kate baldwin with john berman sara is out today. this is cnn news central right now, the race to catch a killer in new york city with new clues. this morning, after the brazen murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson thompson yesterday just right on the sidewalk in the morning in manhattan, several law enforcement officials now tell cnn that two words delay and depose, were found at the scene depose, written on a shell casing from a round that was fired into the victim. delay written on a live round not fired, but ejected when the shooter appeared to be clearing a jam. there's also new video of the encounter and police say show the killer who planned the attack targeted this man and had experience with guns. let's get right to cnn's brynn gingras who was here giving us all of the breaking news as the details were just beginning to come in yesterday morning. you've been gathering details since. what's the latest this hour, brian yeah. >> kate. well, that you know, is a big piece of evidence that they uncovered there. according t

say it again, just because the two greats from from mass, the hub of brain rot. >> thoreau and john berman brain rot. wow. it's been a long road of brain rot since thoreau. for sure. john. thank you. let's get to this. secretary of state. tony blinken, in brussels this morning for his final meetings with nato, foreign ministers. ukraine in focus, and understandably so. the biden administration has just announced a new $725 million aid package for to continue to help ukraine's fight against russia's invasion. at the very same time world leaders are clearly gearing up for the incoming trump presidency and what it will mean for their relationship with the united states. french president emmanuel macron making his move today trying to position himself as a trump favorite ally with the invite to attend the grand reopening of notre dame cathedral this weekend. so much more. joining us right now is cnn chief international anchor christiane amanpour, who just wrapped an interview with another world leader who knows donald trump very well. former chancellor former german chancellor angela merkel. >

i'm kate bolduan with john berman. sara is out today. this is cnn news central new this morning we are waiting to hear from president biden directly on his decision to pardon pardon his son hunter. >> something he said he would never do something the white house said he would never do. well, he did it. and we're getting new reaction from democrats and republicans this morning. the outrage machine is in overdrive. this could easily have an impact on donald trump's nominations and pardons. he might soon issue. think january sixth. in a written statement, president biden said, quote, here is the truth. i believe in the justice system. but as i've wrestled with this, i also believe raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice. i hope americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision now. this not only means hunter biden will not be sentenced, this month, he was scheduled to be, but he was also granted clemency for any other federal crime he might have committed during a ten year

i'm sara sidner with kate baldwin and john berman. john berman is off today. this is cnn news central all right. we've got some breaking news to begin with. the house ethics committee found evidence that former congressman matt gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions. cnn's lauren fox is live in dc. lauren, this is, um, you know, according to a final draft of the panel's report that cnn has obtained. what more can you tell us about what is in this report? >> yeah, like you said, sarah, these this effort by the house ethics committee spanned years. and i want to read just a part of the committee's finding. they say, quote, the committee determined there is substantial evidence that representative matt gaetz violated house rules and other standards of conduct. prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of congress. now, this report, like you noted, alleges that former representative matt gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to

i'm kate baldwin with john berman and sara sidner. this is cnn news central new this morning, an alarming drone incident that forced one of the us's most critical air force bases to close its airspace for several hours. >> this happened at wright-patterson air force base over the weekend in ohio and just in new air traffic control. audio obtained by military news website the war zone of the moment it happened. >> mid-flight at patterson tower. use extreme caution for heavy uas movement on the base. security forces is handling the situation and i got to keep the lights down so that security forces can see ohio. >> now, the latest of several states to report drone concerns as scrutiny over the federal response is building cnn this morning. lawmakers are demanding government officials do more and explain more. after weeks of suspicious sightings, i've had briefings, as i've said, that makes me feel confident based on those briefings, that there's not an imminent threat to public safety. >> but it doesn't answer the question, where are al

i'm john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news center so investigators are chasing new clues as the manhunt for the gunman who killed the ceo of unitedhealthcare is still going full throttle. >> and a surprising source for a potential lucky break. a flirtatious exchange giving security cameras a chance to capture the person of interest. pulling down his mask and smiling. authorities say he was flirting with an employee at the hospital, and she asked him to lower his mask to see his face. he arrived in new york city and checked into that hospital ten days before the murder. cnn has also learned he used a fake new jersey driver's license to check in to that hospital and paid in cash, and he arrived in new york on a greyhound bus. the route originating in atlanta, though it's not clear when or where he got on. joining us now is cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller. you've been bringing a lot of this new reporting and breaking a lot of this news. you you're saying that you have said that ther

i'm kate bolduan with john berman. sara's out today. this is cnn news central so breaking overnight defense secretary ron desantis. >> it is being floated as a possibility now that donald trump's nomination of fox host pete hegseth seems to be in serious jeopardy. trump insiders say it is an absolutely critical day for hegseth, who will sit for his first tv interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate workplace behavior, and alcohol abuse surfaced. we're also standing by to hear from a woman who once raised concerns about his treatment of women, his own mother. so just how much trouble he could be in is highlighted by the floating of desantis as a replacement to cnn. and all over the media, there has been bad blood between trump world and florida governor, and his nomination would rock the republican political world and beyond. we are waiting for first word as to what he thinks about all this. let's get right to our florida man steve contorno for the very latest on all these twists and turns. steve john if you

i'm sara sidner with john berman and kate baldwin. this is cnn news central. >> so this morning, the mystery, the frustration, the alarm, more drone sightings over the weekend causing disruption and ending with arrests in at least one case. we are now learning also about a u.s. air force base being forced to close airspace over the weekend for almost four hours. this happened in ohio, when drones were spotted near wright-patterson air force base. new audio obtained by military news website the war zone offers something of a window into the moment air traffic control was alerted mid-flight at peterson tower. >> use extreme caution for heavy uas movement on the base. security forces is handling the situation, and i got to keep the lights down so that security forces can see what happened in ohio has been plaguing the northeast for weeks. >> multiple states now seeing these sightings. and just last hour, i spoke with democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. as the government responds to all of this, faces criticism, even fro

i'm sarah side with kate baldwin and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> we have new details this morning on what is being called the wisconsin school shooter's apparent turbulent home life. the washington post reports. court documents reveal the teen's parents were divorced and remarried multiple times, and that a custody agreement sometimes forced her to move between their homes every 2 to 3 days. this, as we're now seeing the first photo of the shooter posted by her father at a gun range in august, wearing a black t-shirt with the name of the band kmfdm. those song lyrics, whose song lyrics were cited by the students who carried out the columbine massacre in 1999. overnight, a vigil was held for the victims. police so far have not named the student and teacher killed, but cnn did learn this late last night, a traumatic event. >> the teacher yes, i did know her and she was a really good person. >> had you had her as a teacher yes, many times before. >> she was always very kind and caring to. >> all right. our whitney wild is

i'm kate baldwin with john berman and sara sidner. this is cnn news central. >> all right. breaking news. just a short time ago, we spoke to the police chief in madison, wisconsin, and we got an update into the investigation into the school shooting there where a 15 year old girl shot and killed a teacher and also a teenage student. six other people were injured. two of them are students. they are still in critical condition. so after our interview, the police chief's office called us to clarify that one of the teachers who was injured was a substitute teacher. also, he suggested that at this time they are not considering specific charges against the parents, but that could change. they're still investigating whether or not negligence may have played a role here. also, at this point, the chief would not confirm how the 15 year old student got this handgun overnight. a source close to the investigation said the shooter planned the attack. this is what the chief just told us about that. >> we have been made aware of a manifesto. if you want to call that or some type of letter

i'm kate bolduan with john berman and sara sidner. this is cnn news central all right. >> happening at this moment, the man accused of murdering health care ceo brian thompson is inside a pennsylvania courtroom. this hearing has been going on. one hearing and a new one is about to begin on his extradition here to new york. once that does conclude, suspect luigi mangione who arrived in court, you can see the video of him arriving in court a little while ago. we are told he will waive extradition today. and the process to get him here to new york will begin. he could be here. theoretically this afternoon. so we've got teams inside the courtroom watching this, hearing outside with cameras inside the hallways everywhere. let's get to cnn's brynn gingras, who is with us here in new york monitoring all the developments. we talked to you a few minutes ago. what's the latest now? >> yeah, john, the latest now is that we're hearing it's possible again, there are no communications inside the courtroom. so we're trying to filter this through our

i'm jessica dean in with john berman. kate and sarah are out today. this is cnn news central and happening now, a remarkable first look inside syria. this morning with brutal dictator bashar al-assad now out of power. our cnn crews are inside the capital city of damascus. now that assad has fled and the world watches and waits to see what happens next in the volatile region, with rebel forces now in charge. cnn's clarissa ward is one of the first western journalists on the ground there. and the communication extremely challenging, as you can imagine but she was able to file this report just a few moments ago you can see there are a lot of people out on the streets today. it's not scenes of celebration. it's not scenes of looting like we were seeing today. now people are trying to make sure that they have stocked up on all the supplies that they might need. >> take a look at this line here. we're outside a bakery these people say they've been waiting more than half an hour. some of them, they're waiting for bread. >> we've seen lines like this around t

with john berman and kate baldwin. this is cnn news central a nation facing tragedy again. >> a community once again shattered. this morning we are learning new details on the investigation into what would drive a 15 year old girl to open fire, attack and kill at her own school yesterday morning. the madison, wisconsin police chief will be joining us, will be a guest in just a moment. and before that, we are also standing by to learn more about the victims here. two victims killed at this k through 12 school. so far, we know one was a teacher and one was a student. at least six other people were injured, two of them students who were in critical condition with life threatening injuries. as of the last update. we're standing by for more of that this morning. also this morning, police say that the shooter's parents are cooperating and that they are, of course, still searching for a motive, a possible but unverified manifesto out there in surfacing. and we are hearing heartbreaking and heart wrenching stories from the chi

omar jimenez pamela brown and john berman. it's all the best. all the worst. 2024. coast to coast. welcome. i'm tom foreman, and while every year is a unique journey, the past 12 months took us on an epically bumpy ride through big news, entertainment, sports, music, pop culture, and of course, where we begin on the roughest road of all. the biggest, best, worst political story of the year was the titanic fight for the white house between sitting president joe biden and former president donald trump. >> unbelievable. >> this year was the year of battle. >> both sides felt like the other side represented the end of america. right. >> he's done a poor job. well, what are you talking about? >> worst reality. even as bitter words flew between the oldest presidential candidates ever. polls showed most voters didn't like either choice. >> it was the election that nobody asked for, and everyone was getting. and they were getting it every day at full volume. >> if this were a dating show, you'd want to walk off the set. >> the twice impeached trump rode in on an avalanche of legal cases ov

christine joe moylan ramsey john berman yicai. >> around this time, the media gets ahold of this video and it showed little jonbenet ramsey dressed up like a grown up woman in a beauty pageant. she has makeup on and lipstick and big hair. and it was just bizarre to see something like that. >> why did she do the pageants? >> she loved it. >> she liked it herself. she would see she was an entertainer. >> she loved to entertain. >> and you encouraged it? absolutely. we were stage mother. honestly. >> probably. >> yeah. >> what's wrong with that? >> she was in those child beauty pageants which turned everybody against her and her family. i think that's the biggest crime of all at that time. >> not a lot of people knew about child beauty pageants, but patsy ramsey was a former beauty queen. she'd been miss west virginia. so this was a world that she knew pretty well. >> she introduced her to it to see if she liked it, and she waited until she was like 4 or 5 to give her a choice. >> do you think you want to go up there and do that? and and the child's kind of just a natural performer and sa

i'm sara sidner with john berman and kate baldwin. this is cnn news central all right. >> so we are tracking the breaking news. sara was just talking about a moment ago. we are just learning fingerprint comparisons made between prints collected at the scene of the brian thompson murder. compared with prints taken in the arrest process of luigi mangione mangione show a positive match. two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter have just confirmed to cnn. we're going to have more on that in just a moment. also, this hour, mangione is still behind bars in pennsylvania after a judge denied him bail. for his court appearance. that was yesterday, he yelled and struggled against officers. once he turned and saw that the media was standing outside the courthouse. and police now say a notebook that they found on him has a so-called to do list in it from before the killing, as well as a reported reference to deciding not to use a bomb to target the victim so he would not, quote unquote, kill innocents. also new this morning, disturbing

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. days after warning the u.s. would retake control of the panama canal, president elect donald trump has named his pick for u.s. ambassador to panama, a role that could unexpectedly, suddenly become key during trump's second term. trump tapped miami-dade county commissioner kevin marino cabrera, one of his staunch allies. cabrera may be critical to trump's new push for potential u.s. expansion, which so far has included the panama canal, greenland and even canada. cnn's steve contorno is tracking all of this. it sounds like this will be a big job. or at least he will be in the spotlight as a new ambassador. with all the talk from donald trump about trying to take back, as he put it, the panama canal. what can you tell us about him? the ambassador? >> sara? yeah. sara, i think we can safely say that this issue with the panama canal will certainly come up during cabrera's confirmation hearings on capitol hill next year. but, look, he is someone who, as you said, is very aligned with donald trump. and trump announced

. >> hairspray john berman ana navarro. >> oh, hey. >> all right. >> ha!n, man, you can do that. i don't know, impressive. >> yeah, it's very impressive. does it get does it get paid for that? >> i don't know. look, as long as he's not a mime, i'm okay with it. >> it's definitely not the mind. >> even the smell of my makeup. i start to tremble with fear. >> so it's a phobia? >> it's a it's a serious phobia. yeah. don't like it? mimes, clowns, nurses shoes. white. those white nurse's shoes. >> oh, the clogs. >> no, they're like they're super comfortable. like in their white. yeah, but not like super white because they've been, you know, walking through various bodily fluids and there's a little speck of, like, blood or you're in on it, but that's true terror. wow. >> felicitaciones. bravo, faux pas. >> panic dans la no panic. >> yeah. >> you're playing like this. you keep like this. see? you see the catastrophe. >> you missed it by that much. >> boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo boo. >> too many men on this show. it's a fre

john berman is out. this is cnn news central. >> new questions this morning about what actually caused a tragic christmas day plane crash that killed at least 38 people. now, somehow, though, 29 people, including two children, survived that fiery crash. the russian bound flight was attempting to make an emergency landing in kazakhstan when it went down. all of it caught on camera. in its preliminary report, russia claimed a bird strike may have forced the emergency landing, but ukrainian officials and others are pushing back on that this morning. cnn's nadia bashir is joining us now from london. what are you hearing about the possible cause of this crash and the contention over whether it was a bird strike or something more sinister? >> well, look, sara, the investigations into this crash are still very much ongoing. we know that the black box has been recovered. that will be, of course, crucial into piecing this puzzle together. but the kazakh government has said that it has set up now a commission to c

i'm kate baldwin with john berman and sara sidner. this is cnn news central. >> this morning, new insight into the wisconsin teenage girl who carried out a deadly school shooting on her school. a photo taken by her father at a gun range and posted on his social media page in august. she is wearing a black shirt with the name of a band whose lyrics were cited by the columbine killers in 1999. also this morning, new reporting in the washington post on the teen's, quote, turbulent family life and therapy that she may have been involved in. cnn's whitney wild in madison, wisconsin, with the latest on the investigation. good morning. whitney good morning john. >> we are learning a little bit more to put into a more clearer picture of this child's experience here at the school, as well as her personal life and what we're learning from court records obtained by the washington post is that she had a turbulent childhood. john, her parents married and remarried at least three times. there was a separation agreement that required joint custody,

i'm kate bolduan with john berman sara sidner is out today. this is cnn news central all right. >> happening now. we're getting new details on the suspected killer now behind bars this morning. we are standing by to see if 26 year old luigi mangione will be extradited from pennsylvania, where he was caught, to new york, where he has now been charged with the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. it is believed the police have the murder weapon and new insight into a possible motive including a handwritten note. some people call it a manifesto. in his writing, the coming. let's get right to cnn's brynn gingras for the very latest reporter yeah, guys, it appears that even friends are questioning what happened to luigi mangione. >> one friend telling us that they never got the impression that this was someone who was going to self-destruct. and if you look at all of his social media accounts, it really paints a picture of someone who grew up in a prominent family in maryland went to some of the best schools in the united states, and live

i'm sarah simon with kate baldwin and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> all right. good morning, everyone. we are watching the trump transition day by day as it's now moved past the halfway point heading toward january 20th, inauguration day. in the last cnn poll, which was taken just a few days ago, a majority of americans approve of the way that donald trump is handling the transition. so far. we spoke to democratic senator chris just a few minutes ago, who said he would give the transition a grade of a, c or c minus, not a ringing endorsement, but i did note that is still a passing grade. still, he did note there are a number of very controversial moves that are drawing a lot of heat and fire on capitol hill, and confirmation for all of donald trump's prospective nominees. not a certainty just yet. with us now, cnn political commentator and republican strategist shermichael singleton and democratic strategist matt bennett, co-founder of a third way, who is here in studio. nice to see you in person. listen, lisa murkowski was talking about the pressure that she fe

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. >> we have new details this morning about the horrific murder on a new york city subway. the man now charged for allegedly killing a woman by setting her on fire could be headed to court for a first appearance this morning. the nypd commissioner called the crime depraved. the brooklyn district attorney now promises, quote, this gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences. the man has now been identified. police now say the suspect was in the u.s. illegally, possibly for years, and he was likely homeless. cnn's gloria pazmino has much more on this. she's been following this from when this first happened on sunday. what more are you going to? >> well, we learn more about the suspect. >> his identity. >> his name is sebastian zapeta-calil. >> he is 33 years old, and we know that he is a guatemalan citizen. we also know that he entered the united states in 2018. he was deported actually within 1

broader region, one that john kirby the spokesperson for the national security council, mentioned a john bermans morning. let's watch how much power have russia and iran lost in that region? >> a lot, frankly, a lot. >> i mean, you look at iran their so-called axis of resistance hamas decimated sinwar is gone. >> hezbollah their leader is gone, nasrallah is gone. and they're now in a ceasefire with israel and now assad. there are other there are other proxy in the middle east gone, and syria's future, very much as we said, an open question general, just on that part of the impact on the region what does this tell you about iran, which is the most important country regionally when it comes to, you know funding proxies? >> well, they won't have to be funding too many more proxies. they seem to have really lost their major proxies. hamas hezbollah and now bashar al assad. and one wonders where they're going to double down on. my concern is their last major proxy in the region is iraq. and we've got a really strong balancing act going on between the western nations and iran with prime minister suda

i'm john berman with kate baldwin and sara sidner. yes, we're all here. it must be big. this is cnn news central all right. happening now. the man accused of killing unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson is behind bars in pennsylvania and fighting extradition here to new york. we're getting new reporting this morning on why he's fighting. it could slow the process by weeks. he was denied bail after an angry outburst outside court. right there overnight, his lawyer told cnn he has seen zero evidence against his client. but police say they have tons, including new writings and a notebook of a so-called to do list. before the killing. at one point, the suspect wrote about using a bomb, but did not want to, quote, kill innocents. all this, as there is disturbing support surrounding this murder. in some circles. this is what the suspect's lawyer told cnn about offers he has received to cover the accused killer's legal >> obviously, my client appreciates the supporon't know it it i'd have to look in, but it just doesn't sit right with says, you know, all these rich billionaires

i'm kate baldwin with sara sidner and john berman. this is cnn news central this morning, police revealing very few details on what they might be learning about the wisconsin school shooter. >> but we are learning the teen had an apparent turbulent home life. new reporting in the washington post that court documents now reveal the teen's parents were divorced and remarried multiple times, and that a custody agreement sometimes, quote, forced her to move between their homes every 2 to 3 days. also, an alarming photo of the shooter posted in august by her father has now surfaced. it shows her at a shooting range, but she's wearing a t-shirt of a band whose lyrics were cited by the columbine killers in 1999. those two killers also wore the shirts with the band's name on them as well. and moments ago, john spoke with lawmakers about what his grand niece and nephew saw and heard during the school shooting my nephew could hear bodies hitting the floor. >> my great niece across the hall could hear gunshots. and as i understand it, there were

i'm kate bolduan with john berman. sara is out today. this is cnn news central all right. >> this morning we're getting new details just in about the man suspected of killing a health care ceo in the middle of manhattan. newly released photos show the gunman smiling right there while flirting with the woman. that woman, an employee at the hospital where he stayed, said she asked him to lower his mask during the exchange. that's why we have this picture. that's why the camera caught this moment. investigators say the man used a fake new jersey driver's license to check into that hospital, and he paid in cash. we also learned the suspect arrived in new york city ten days before the shooting on a greyhound bus that originated in atlanta. now, it's not clear if he got on the bus in atlanta or someone else somewhere else. i should say with us now is cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller. john, what people can't see is you were actually on the phone working your sources right up until the minute you come on, you just g

he works over at the john berman java. you know that coffee shop on 72nd? his name is paul and he is cute with a capital q seeing people you don't normally get to see makes you realize, oh, you should love them as much as you love anybody else. >> that's the finger work in progress. >> we're trying to actually say that my family is different than yours, you know? but if you look close enough, you might see some things that your family is, too. >> hey, why don't the boys go with you? yeah, you. you're way too precious to me. >> good. >> because junior is the bad black person who needs educating. but after we get home, he'll be a bona fide black panther. >> actually, doctor king had problems with the black panthers. >> do you know who the black panthers had a problem with? >> i think television has a history of helping us figure out how to deal with some very difficult discussions or changes in our time. >> listen, can we just close up shop here a little bit? denise, your male privilege is leaking all over the place. >> the fearlessness of comedians bringing

john berman. >> that's right.asey, we can now project the winner of the presidential race. >> it is now official. cnn projects that donald trump has been elected president, defeating vice president kamala harris. >> while i concede this election, i do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. >> i want to thank the american people for the extraordinary honor of being elected. your 47th president and your 45th president. >> wow. so we just as panelists back. that was a roller coaster that we all that we all lived. i'm alex thompson. let me just start with you kind of go around. i mean, which moment stood out to you the most about this campaign and why? >> um, i think the combination, you know, just watching that debate moment again that we beat medicare one was just so painful. you know, at the moment we were only thinking about, like, the election consequences, the political consequences. but it was actually just sort of sad to to watch it. i mean, you were seeing just that he wasn't capable of articulating

i'm john berman with kate baldwin and sara sidner. this is cnn news central some breaking news this morning. >> president biden putting his pardon power to use. just announcing he is commuting the sentences for over 1500 people, including pardons for 39 convicted, 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes. to put it in context, this move is seen as the largest single day act of clemency in modern history. this big unveil, of course, comes on the heels of biden's full and unconditional pardon of his son, hunter. that got so much attention. this is likely to as well. cnn's arlette saenz has much more for us from the white house this morning. tell us more. arlette well, kate, president biden is using one of the remaining tools available to him in his final days in office to grant clemency to a wide swath of individuals. >> the president saying that this boils down to trying to give people a second chance. now, in all, the president is commuting the sentences of nearly 1500 individuals, the single largest act of clemency in a single day. t

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. breaking this morning. flights are resuming for american airlines after the faa lifted the ground stop the airline issued due to technical issues. it said this happened during the busiest travel time of the year. as people are rushing home for the holidays. we spoke with our affiliate wfor in fort lauderdale, florida last hour. here is what she says they were experiencing during that brief ground stop. >> the flight was supposed to leave at 7 a.m. we got there. we're waiting to board the flight. and then the announcement came over the loudspeaker saying that there was going to be a delay. they were having serious technical issues, saying that they weren't able to scan tickets, not able to board luggage onto the flight. and then we were told that we're going to get updates every 15 minutes. so people were sitting there patiently. a lot of people wearing santa hats. there were so many children there as well. a lot of parents really concerned about getting home for the holidays all right. >> we have our lucy k

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. >> new this morning, president biden, in his final weeks in office, has now commuted the sentences of nearly every federal death row inmate. there were 40, but now 37 men are no longer facing execution, but rather life in prison without the possibility of parole. biden, without saying president elect trump's name, did say the next administration is part of the reason behind his decision. the move this morning considered a major blow to trump and a key campaign promise he has made. let's get right to cnn's mj lee. live outside the white house. what is the president saying this morning? and this is certainly a 180 from where he was in 1994. >> that's absolutely right, sarah. in one of his last major acts as president, president biden is choosing to use his clemency power to commute the death sentences of 37 inmates who are on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. as you noted back in the 2020 campaign, president biden had campai

i'm john berman with sara sidner and kate baldwin. it's friday. we made it. barely. this is cnn news central. right now, there are no real explanations as to what they are or where they are from, or who is launching them or what the whole point is. but regardless, the wave of drone sightings over new jersey has local lawmakers and people who live in new jersey growing even more concerned and frustrated. this has been going on for weeks now. the white house weighed in yesterday, downplaying concerns, saying there's no national security or public safety threat. but still this morning, frustrated lawmakers have gone from really asking questions to now demanding answers. and here is what new jersey congressman josh gottheimer told us last hour. >> here's what i know. they've been able to brief me, that they're confident of what they're not. so now, i think it's really important that you tell the public what they are, right. and i think, listen, the public has a right to know because people are concerned. they have a responsibility to allay people's concerns, to tell the

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central we do have new developments just in this morning, just this morning on the current mess on capitol hill. >> the republican house speaker just telling cnn that they have another plan we have a plan. >> is there going to be a different bill on the floor today? >> are you going to vote today? yeah, we're we're expecting votes this morning. so y'all stay tuned. we got a plan. >> you have you reached a new agreement? >> we'll see. >> we've got a plan. have you reached a new agreement? we'll see. we'll see. is right. things we know at this hour is that the speaker has already gone into a meeting this morning with house freedom caucus vice president elect jd vance and russ vought, the donald trump's pick to lead the office of management and budget. what they're trying to do is to break the ice on the breakdown that has occurred among republicans over how to avoid a government shutdown. tonight, conservatives voted against the republican plan last night, in big part b

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. >> right. so new this morning, a stowaway discovered on a delta flight moments before takeoff. yes. another one. same airline, different departure city and different destination. in case you were wondering, this time, it happened on christmas eve in seattle. and delta says the honolulu bound flight left. the gate was taxiing when the person was discovered. now, this is the second time in a matter of weeks that delta is dealing with this. and you'll remember the saga just before thanksgiving, when this woman was snuck onto a paris bound delta flight and made it all the way to paris, which then triggered weeks of drama to get her back to the states to face charges. cnn's carlos suarez is at atlanta's hartsfield international airport. carlos, what are you learning about this latest incident? >> well, kate, good morning. >> so it appears that this passenger was able to get past a tsa security checkpoint without a boarding pass the night before this christmas eve flight, as you mentioned. >> this fl

i'm john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news center this morning, new fallout from president biden's decision to do something he had said he would never do. pardon his son hunter. president-elect trump is weighing in, as are republican lawmakers and democrats. this has the potential to affect the confirmations of trump nominees and possible pardons for january 6th. criminals. hunter was due to be sentenced this month. now he will not nor can he be prosecuted for any other possible federal crimes possibly committed in a ten year period. his father wrote. in trying to break hunter. they have tried to break me no reasonable person who looks at the facts of hunter's case can reach any other conclusion than hunter was singled out only because he is my son and that is wrong now we are waiting to hear from the president this morning on this. he is traveling to angola in africa. cnn's arlette saenz is already there. arlette, what is the white house saying about this well, john, president biden said that he is issuing a

i'm john berman with kate baldwin. this is cnn news central donald trump is taking the show on the road with his second inauguration. >> still weeks away. he's headed to france this weekend for the grand reopening of the notre dame cathedral in paris. five years after that horrible fire, president. french president emmanuel macron extended the invitation to this. what is going to be a star studded vip event? and also in what will be trump's first foreign trip since winning the election. macron's invite is also the latest move by foreign leaders especially european powers trying to position themselves as trump's go to european ally if they're making nice on one hand, on the other hand, donald trump is very clearly trying to put them all on notice with his trade war threats, his nato hesitancy, his isolationist tendencies when it comes to ukraine. donald trump isn't waiting to reenter the oval office to jump back into foreign policy. overnight, he laid down another new red line, warning that there will be hell to pay in

this is what white house spokesman john kirby told our john berman earlier today about the question of who actually is running syria at the moment. >> i think they're trying to work that out amongst themselves, but it is an open question. in fact, the very fact that it's an open question, john gives us concern. as the president said, we're in a period of uncertainty here. and so we're going to be working through all the processes we can including at the un, to make sure that there is adequate communication with these opposition groups and that we are all working together on the for the best aspirations of the syrian people and the other very important and significant headline that we should touch on regards austin tice. >> this is the freelance american journalist who has been missing in syria since 2012, the president telling reporters yesterday that he does believe that tice is alive. and he even went as far as to say, we think we can get him back. so, boris, obviously it's impossible to imagine everything that tice's family has been going through over the last more than a decade, as

i'm kate baldwin with sara sidner and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> all right. buckle up this morning. we have kneecapping backstabbing, name calling and holiday cheer. the possibility of a government shutdown in your stocking, the possibility that mike johnson could be tweeted out of the speakership. mary freaking christmas, everyone, just to bring you up to speed. this is what happened. the republican house speaker, mike johnson, forged a deal. his deal, a republican led deal to keep the government operating to fund things like disaster relief and to avoid a shutdown and to do it before the holidays. but elon musk did not like it. he called it one of the worst bills ever written. then, perhaps relatedly, president elect trump announced he did not like it, calling it a nasty trap. now he says he wants a new deal in some ways with less, in some ways with more. but in all ways, not done. and the clock is ticking. and as far as we can tell, no one knows where this is headed we're in the middle of these negotiations, but i think we'll be able to solve some problems

good evening, john berman here in for anderson tonight. luigi mangione the man accused of murdering health insurance ceo brian thompson. execution style, on a midtown manhattan sidewalk faces the toughest charge new york state has in its penal code, akin to a terror charge. first degree murder, which, if a jury convicts, could get him life in prison without parole. >> this was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation. >> that was manhattan district attorney alvin bragg, explaining why he took the rare step of making first degree murder one of the 11 charges against mangione he brought before a grand jury. under new york's code, this would brand the killing a political act in mangione if convicted. something, as we said, akin to a terrorist and as new york's police commissioner warned in no uncertain terms, not the folk hero. some have tried to make him there is no heroism in what mangione did. >> this was a senseless act of violence. it was a cold and calculated crime that

i'm sara sidner with kate baldwin and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> so major news overnight. police have now said the gun found in the man charged with killing unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. they say that gun is the murder weapon. they say it's based off ballistic evidence they collected. luigi mangione is in pennsylvania fighting extradition to new york, where manhattan's top prosecutor says new charges could soon come. let's get right to cnn's brynn gingras. for all the latest here. good morning, brit. >> hey, john. good morning. yeah. so this was something that police were, you know, waiting for the evidence that they could find to tie mangione. they say directly to the crime scene here in manhattan. and it appears, according to them that they did so the police commissioner saying that they now know the ballistics of the gun that was found on mangione in pennsylvania matches the shell casings that were found at the crime scene last week when a the ceo of unitedhealthcare, brian thompson, was killed. they also say

i'm john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news central all right. >> just about an hour from now, the supreme court is going to begin hearing arguments in a huge case, maybe the biggest case of the term it's about transgender rights at the center is a tennessee law that bans gender affirming health care for children. and teens. 26 states in all have passed similar restrictions. you see them all throughout the country. tennessee's version version prohibits doctors from giving hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender minors. the biden administration is arguing against the ban, saying it's unconstitutional. lawyers for tennessee argue the ban is unconstitutional because the law was a reasonable legislative response to contested medical evidence. let's get over to cnn's paula reid, who's kindly been standing by. as i give some of the background on this case. paula, you also spoke with some of the people at the center of this case. talk to me about what they say and what is at stake here. >> look, this is th

. >> no, mike, my co-anchor, john berman, was in the middle of a commercial break and almost missed beingck on air because the trailer dropped and he was watching it on full volume. it was a whole situation. that's how anticipated that teaser was. >> but it didn't cry when he saw super dog. when when krypto, because i cried when i saw the dog. that's very. i'll admit it right here. >> you can, you can. strong men cry. it's good to see you, paul. thank you very much. >> thank you kate. happy holidays to you and happy new year. >> thank you. all right, friends, one lucky person could be getting a substantial christmas bonus this year. may be the understatement of the year. with the mega millions jackpot soaring to $1.15 billion for the holiday drawing. that is the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history and the largest prize ever offered in the month of december. it totals more than $516 million in cash. the next drawing takes place friday. good luck friends. still to come for us after santa? it's a big day for sports. from the court to the field, we've got you covered, of course. we'll

john berman is out today. i'm kate baldwin with sara sidner. this is cnn news central. >> breaking news on the chaos on capitol hill. a critical meeting inside the office of house speaker mike johnson as the clock is ticking towards a government shutdown. members of the house freedom caucus sitting down right now with the speaker and vice president elect jd vance, as well as donald trump's pick to run the office of management and budget. vance and johnson, scrambling to get all republicans on the same page after 38 gop lawmakers voted against a trump backed spending measure last night, joining democrats, a plan that was drawn up at the 11th hour after pressure from trump and elon musk killed a bipartisan funding bill. joining us now cnn's annie greer. annie, what can you tell us about this meeting that is happening right now and what it may signal for the situation? and again, i've said this. >> well, this is about republicans trying to get on the same page they desperately want to pass something to keep the government open. >> but as we saw la

john berman is out. this is cnn news central. >> it's few days the prosecution has been presenting evidence to a grand jury, 23 new yorkers who we're going to look at whatever evidence they have so far, and they have to decide whether or not there's enough evidence to accuse this person of a crime. >> that's all that happens in a grand jury proceeding. 23 people, they vote yes or no. and what is likely going to happen here is that they will hand down an indictment. and then the suspect in this case, zapeta-calil, will be indicted on those charges. as we know they are prosecuting him on murder in the first degree and the second degree, as well as federal arson charges. so that's what's likely going to happen today. we are learning a little bit of new information this time out of city hall. mayor eric adams has issued a statement through his through his spokesperson, saying that he wants federal authorities to get involved. now, that's interesting because we know that zapeta-calil is being prosecuted by st

good evening, john berman here in for anderson. and though there is still no definitive answer as to what is with all the large drones people in new jersey and other nearby states think they are spotting in the skies at night. at least one jersey locality is being told that if one happens to fall from the sky to handle it with care, extreme care, as in call the county bomb squad. that is what michael melham told us. he is the mayor of belleville, just north of newark. he says that advice, which his emergency coordinator shared with him after recent state level meetings, also included this item. local fire departments, he says, were told to wear hazmat suits when they respond. as we said, it's not just new jersey anymore. there have now been spottings in new york and connecticut where state police have just set up a drone detection system, and maryland. take a look at this. this is footage from the former governor, larry hogan, who lives about 40 miles, 45 miles south of baltimore. he says he saw what appeared to be dozens of large

i'm kate baldwin with sara sidner and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> important new details that may prompt new charges in the case against the suspect in the murder of the unitedhealthcare executive. police overnight revealing they have now matched the gun found on suspect luigi mangione to the weapon used to kill ceo brian thompson, the top prosecutor in manhattan, telling abc news new charges could come as they keep fighting to get mangione extradited back to new york. also, new details from the suspect's mother as well. brynn gingras brynn gingras is leading us off this morning with a lot of new details. there's a lot of things happening here. some big revelations from police and also some revelations from his mother. what more are you learning this morning yeah. >> sarah. >> so this is the evidence that the nypd wanted to get their hands on. >> ever since luigi mangione arrest on monday, the gun, the fingerprints. and we now know, according to the nypd commissioner, that both connect to mangione. so this gives a direct

john berman is out today. this is cnn news central. this is just in to cnn. nato now calling for a full investigation into the christmas day plane crash that killed at least 38 people in kazakhstan. it is preliminary report. russia is claiming that a bird strike may have forced the attempt to make an emergency landing, with the plane looking like it was falling out of the sky. but ukrainian officials and others now pushing back on that this morning, saying that a russian air defense system shot down the aircraft. 29 people, including two children, remarkably survived the crash, some of them walking away from it. but 11 people are still in critical condition in the hospital this morning. cnn's nadia bashir is joining us now from london. what are you hearing about the possible causes of this crash? >> well, look, sarah, there is certainly a lot of speculation at the moment as to what led to this fatal crash. as you mentioned, we heard earlier yesterday from russian aviation officials saying that initial preliminary information would suggest that the pilot had b

i'm kate baldwin, stuck with john berman sara sidner is out today. this is cnn news central all right. >> happening now. pete's next. politico reports that is the assessment from one republican senator who believes pete hegseth will soon be out as president elect trump's pentagon pick. that would be a huge development, maybe even bigger. what would happen in its wake? because this morning florida governor ron desantis is being floated as a possible replacement for texas. we've got brand new reporting on sort of the back and forth that's been happening behind the scenes already between trump and desantis, and how trump feels about all this. we are standing by to hear from desantis. we are standing by to hear from him for his first interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct and drinking, and more. we're standing by to hear from texas mother on tv after an e-mail surfaced where she expressed alarm over her son's treatment of women. but again new reporting on where ron desantis fits in all of this. let's get right to florida, man steve contorno