. >> i'm lynda kincaid. we're following breaking news and with less than 50 days in office, us president joe biden has made a move. he vowed he'd never do. he has issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son, hunter biden for his crimes. republicans and democrats are weighing in on the ramifications of that broken promise. a senior administration official says that the president reached the decision this weekend while on a family thanksgiving holiday just last month, the white house said a pardon was not on the cards. hunter biden was convicted on three federal felony gun charges in june in a trial that exposed details of his drug abuse. he was facing up to 25 years in prison for those crimes. he also pleaded guilty to nine charges in a federal tax case in september he was due for sentencing in both cases later this month. hunter biden is the first immediate family member of a sitting us president to be found guilty of a crime hunter biden released a statement saying in part i have admitted and taken re

lynda kincaid is back home. she's down under in sydney harbor and our hanako montgomery is in tokyo to now, sydney, australia now well and truly in the home stretch, hitting midnight in less than an hour's time. let's bring in linda, who's there? linda. happy new year. you definitely win the weather award. and you look absolutely fabulous. i mean, you look amazing too, julia. happy new year from sydney. it is amazing to be home for new year's eve. and welcome to. what is your front row view of some of the best fireworks on earth? we are at luna park, which is a heritage listed amusement park on the foreshore. people attending the parties here are enjoying the rides and also this view and this fireworks display is set to break a record for the biggest show ever in sydney. i caught up with some people here attending earlier during what's known as the children's fireworks. take a look. >> this is amazing. >> i can go to bed now, but fireworks over. i'm done for the night. it's great. >> children's fireworks are don

lynda kincaid explains it's not something you see every day. >> a bright red, cow sized robot againstreen backdrop of rolling pastures. but despite looking out of place, swag bot mission complete is the field worker of the future. >> once the animals, once the cattle are used to the robot, they will follow the robot around. >> and so if you move to certain parts of the pasture, the animals will follow through. and and if you stop them, they'll stop. and they can graze that particular part. and why that's important is because, um, if you over graze, then you ruin the pasture. and so you don't want to over graze. so you want to move the animals to the right part of the pasture where there's good protein, good carbs. >> when it was launched in 2016, swag bot's only job was herding cattle. now, sensors and i give the smart cow the power to do much more. >> it can actually measure the property of the animals motion as it's moving along. so what we call its gait. so how it's actually moving. and if you measure that information over a number of different days, you start to build up a charact

cnn's lynda kincaid has this report on the ongoing unrest. amara walker facing down a row of riot police. >> a protester in georgia defiantly waves a european union flag, a powerful symbol of what's galvanized thousands of protesters in tbilisi to rally nightly. since thursday, when the government said it was suspending talks to join the eu for four years. night after night, demonstrators have set off fireworks near parliament clashing with police who have responded with tear gas and water cannons protesters say the future of the country is at stake. polls show more than 80% of georgians support joining the eu, a longtime goal of the country that's enshrined in its constitution. >> just the fact that my country deserves to be free from the russian regime that has haunted us for many centuries, and i believe that we need to get into europe. it's truly what we've wanted for many, many centuries but that path has become less clear lately. >> critics say the country's ruling georgian dream party has become increasingly authoritarian and in recent

cnn's lynda kincaid has the story. >> reporter treading carefully on a rain soaked roof in thailand, rescuers carry a baby to a nearby boat. the precarious path, perhaps the safest way to evacuate some of the youngest residents stranded in a house submerged in waist high water. days of heavy rain have inundated southern thailand. soldiers from the thai army weighed door to door in some flooded areas, handing out relief kits and transporting people to drier ground. so far tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, with some provinces suffering the worst flooding in decades we tried to save everything we could, but some things were just too heavy to move. >> i experienced severe flooding back when i was much younger. now i realize i can't handle it the same way anymore. i just hope it doesn't get as bad malaysia has also been hit hard by heavy rains and flooding, which forecasters say could get worse in the next few days with an additional 15 to 20cm of rain expected thailand's meteorological department warns that ongoing rain could cause more flash floods, which could give rescu

. >> just ahead, our lynda kincaid is in sydney, australia, back home getting ready to ring in the new year. happy new year. >> max, we are excitedly looking forward to a spectacular display here. we'll have all the details in just a moment i want to be the greatest player that i could possibly become. >> happy. >> sore throat. got your tongue? >> mucinex. instant sore throat. medicated drops uniquely formulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts. that's my baby. try our new sugar free cough drop. >> insta soothe. >> hi, grandma. >> i played baseball today. >> oh that's great. >> what position did you play? >> first base. >> that's what grandpa used to play when our hearing wouldn't allow us to use a regular phone. >> it made us feel isolated. >> it became difficult to communicate with our friends and family. >> clear captions was an easy solution for us. >> clear captions provides captions on a phone, like captioning on your tv so you can see what the caller is saying. live as they say it. >> making it easy to understand and respond immediately. >> there is no insurance or medicare

lynda kincaid caught up with songwriter and lead guitarist colin hay of men at work during their u.s. he spoke about it being like at the height of success and why he loves being back on the road. i come from the land down under. >> it's an iconic australian song. >> london around the time down under hit the airwaves in the 80s. >> come on, crocodile dundee was saying i'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you. >> come and say goodbye. >> it was a great fascination with australia. >> your record business as usual went to number 1 in 6 countries. that must have been mind blowing. >> and tell me, america, what would you like to hear? >> can't you hear the thunder? >> we did what very few people have ever done. you know, on the first record sold millions of records. it's phenomenal in the true sense of the word. >> down under is practically our national anthem, beloved in australia. but around the world, people claim it from everywhere. >> you know, people in bolivia love it, you know, and they don't really know what a vegemite sandwich is. for example. not very many people do, but