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NYC Prepares For Full Capacity Crowd At Times Square New Year's Eve Bash; Source Tells CNN He Spoke To Suspect And His Father Two Weeks Ago; Six Years Of Tax Returns Shedding New Light On Trump's Finances; Approx. 16,000 Nurses In New York Could Go On Strike In Days. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 31, 2022 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:04]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington in Washington on this Saturday, New Year's Eve. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is nearly 6:00 p.m. here in Washington, just six hours until we turn the page on 2022 here on the East Coast and the US.

And these are live images of New York Times Square. The countdown there is underway. The crowd is growing. The enthusiasm is growing. The celebration returns to full capacity tonight after two years of scaled back celebrations because of COVID.

Many parts of the world have already ushered in 2023 with dazzling celebrations. Just seconds from now, the clock will strike Midnight in Paris, the City of Lights especially tonight.

Let's go live to Paris right now.

So now let's go to Times Square and CNN's Gloria Pazmino. So, how is the crowd looking there -- Gloria.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, it is so exciting. It is six hours to go. The big crystal ball is being put out right now. I just want to direct our viewers' attention right to the top of One Times Square. That is where the big crystal ball is going up.

You can see -- see it on the screen, 11,000 pounds of Waterford Crystal. This tradition goes all the way back to 1907. That is when the first crystal ball went down to mark the beginning of the New Year, and people here are excited. They have been waiting for hours. Six more hours to go.

I want to show you some of the crowd here. People have been lining up, travelled, and they're bundled up. They're excited. This is a really big moment.

It's six hours away and we are getting closer and closer, and I want to talk to these folks from Kansas. You came prepared. I saw you have some snacks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. PAZMINO: You have some water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

PAZMINO: Tell me --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we have all the snacks, all the drinks, and we're just ready for midnight to come.

PAZMINO: What made you want to come out here tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bucket list thing. You watch it your whole life and you just want to be in the action.

PAZMINO: No place like New York, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not tonight.

PAZMINO: Thank you guys. Happy New Year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy New Year.

PAZMINO: So six more hours to go. The entertainment is going to get underway in a few minutes, and people here you know, fired up.

I will say, Pam, you know the weather, even though it's been raining on and off, it is not cold and that really makes a huge difference. It's pretty mild for this time of year and that will make things a lot easier throughout the next couple of hours.

It's a great time here. There is big energy and it's just a lot of fun. There is no place like Times Square.

So Happy New Year to everyone out there. Happy New Year to you, Pam; to all the viewers and a very happy and healthy 2023.

BROWN: Well, same to you, Gloria. Your energy out there is palpable. You know I've never been, I've even lived in New York maybe one year, I'll have to mark that off my bucket list. Thanks so much. Have a great time.

Well, we are learning more tonight about the suspect in the University of Idaho murder investigation and specifically his whereabouts after the killings, but before he was finally arrested by police this week.

The source I spoke with who asked not to be identified said that they did not know the Kohberger's, but did have a friendly conversation with the suspect, 28-year-old Bryan and his father at an auto store on December 16th in Pennsylvania.

The father told the source that he flew out to Washington State and made a cross country trip with his son and he added that Bryan will be traveling back to the West Coast alone after the Holidays.

Now, police have not indicated the suspect's father is in any way connected to the November college student murders. CNN's Veronica Miracle joins us now.

Veronica, a lot of people there where you are in Idaho, including families of the victims. They have voiced frustration with the Moscow Police in the weeks since these murders were committed. Has that changed now that a suspect has been identified and arrested?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, I think you're feeling such a sense of relief in this community. Everyone is just so relieved.

Of course, it doesn't change the fact that these gruesome murders happened in a seemingly safe, rural college town, but so many people are just finally taking a breath for the first time in what feels like a very long time nearly seven weeks since these murders happened.

[18:05:09]

MIRACLE: We've been here for a couple hours at the police department and we've seen people coming through leaving gifts. We spoke to one business owner, who told us that, you know, this obviously has emotionally impacted this community, but it has also impacted the economy because this is a college town, so students are their employees.

And he and other business owners had employees just straight up leave town and say they didn't feel comfortable being in the community here. And so businesses were impacted, businesses were shutting down early.

And then on top of that, you have the police department here who faced a lot of criticism, as you mentioned, not just from the community. There was an outspoken family. And I did ask the Police Chief has that changed? He said, in fact, he has gotten apologies from people. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES FRY, MOSCOW, IDAHO POLICE CHIEF: Few of them have sent me e- mails, some apologizing. You know, we're a pretty humble group here and we know that people are going to be watching what we're doing and some of that is criticism.

And we have a job to do, we continue to do it and it does feel good to -- we held everything close for a long time, and we did it for the reason that we've stated. And I think the end result here proves to a lot of people that maybe it was exactly done right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: And of course, there are still so many questions, including why this happened and how this happened. And that information I'm told is in the probable cause affidavit that cannot be unsealed until Brian Kohberger, the suspect comes back to Idaho.

He is currently in Pennsylvania. And he has his extradition hearing on Tuesday. We've heard from his public defender that he plans to waive that extradition hearing, so he could be back in the State as early as next Tuesday. Although it could take a couple of days, according to the Police Chief here.

And it's when that document is unsealed that we should know more according to the police chief. We asked so many different questions today and he just couldn't answer those. He says he is legally not able to do so at this time -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Veronica Miracle, thank you so much.

And joining us now with more, criminologist, Casey Jordan.

So Casey, these murderers have consumed that town there of Moscow, Idaho and much of the country as well. Let's put your experience as a criminal profile to work here.

I'm told from a source that Kohberger and his father went to an auto shop in that white Elantra weeks after the alleged murder. So, the suspect here was just out running errands. Again, there is no indication the father knew about this or had any ties to this, but this came after a cross country road trip where according to this source, the father flew out and drove cross country with his son.

So we want to bear in mind of course, Kohberger is innocent until proven guilty, but what is it about the mind of the criminal that would allow someone to do this after allegedly killing four innocent people?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: We see it all the time that when these killers are caught, the neighbors, everyone who knows them says, "Oh, my gosh, I'm in shock." And it's because they want to get away with it.

And to do that, Pamela, they have to act as normal as possible. If he had run out and gotten rid of that white Hyundai Elantra, that would have raised eyebrows, that would have seemed strange, given that we had a nationwide APB looking for a white Elantra.

Keep in mind it that we've not found the murder weapon, and he is smart enough to know that if indeed this is Mr. Kohberger as the culprit, he can get rid of a knife very easily, but to get rid of a car is not so easy.

To act normal, his father had probably already planned to fly out there and you know, share the driving all the way back. It's a very long drive. I've read accounts from his fellow students in the criminology program at Washington State that he did return to class after those killings happened, and that he would not talk about the murders, although of course, in a criminology program, they were all talking about it.

He didn't talk about it, but he was far more animated than his usual very stoic self. They referred to him as detached.

So when you kind of Monday quarterback on his behavior, signs were there, but only if he was on your radar. BROWN: It's so interesting too, the source I spoke with today who had

this friendly conversation not knowing this was the suspect a couple of weeks ago said that he talked to him about the fact that he was studying for a PhD in criminology at Washington State University.

He said he wanted to be a Professor and that he was specifically interested in the behavioral part of criminology, not procedural. We know he was working on a research project to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.

What does all of that tell you?

JORDAN: You know, there's this old axiom that it's a fine line between you know, genius and insanity. We do see this at times when people become so obsessed with their mode of study, in this particular case criminology.

[18:10:07]

JORDAN: As a criminology professor, I have had some students who have encyclopedic knowledge of every crime ever committed, but it almost crosses over into wanting to be an expert, and show everybody up, it becomes narcissistic.

So the idea that he wanted to become a professor, he did this study seven months ago, in which he asked on Reddit, a survey ex-cons about their feelings before, during and after the crime they had committed. What were they thinking? What were they feeling? Did they plan it before they left the house? How did they feel after it was finished?

He has been trying to get inside the mind of criminals, and the question remains, did he become so obsessed with understanding the criminal mind that he decided he wanted to experiment and find out thinking he would get away with it? Exactly what it would feel like to kill someone.

Everyone is looking for a motive. I think it is simply the thrill and the experiment, what would he feel if he did it himself? Again, innocent until proven guilty, but it fits.

BROWN: Yes, you know, that is something I was wondering. Did he -- was he studying this and then decided, I want to put this, you know, in a sick twisted way, I want to do this in real life. Or did his personality -- was he already interested in this?

Was he already having those homicidal ideations and that is kind of what led him on this path, because Mary Ellen O'Toole an FBI, a former FBI criminal profiler, was saying that typically, they already have this personality where they don't have empathy. You know, they don't have the ability to feel and sympathy for someone else.

JORDAN: Absolutely, and Mary Ellen O'Toole is correct in that and when we go backwards, talking to people who have went to high school with him, they talk about a transformation that happened around his junior year. He had been quite overweight, but suddenly became fastidious,

obsessive about working out, lost a lot of weight. His own family said he was obsessive and compulsive about his diet, would not eat any meat that had been cooked in a pan in which meat had been prepared. And so, we see this element of control that can take over.

You know, he worked as a security guard. We see that a lot with serial killers, this cop wannabe persona. But we also see over the years, an increasing ability to control things. You know, he didn't get his associate's degree until he was 24 years old, and then he was on the fast track, finished his Bachelor's in two years, a Master's in another two years, got into a PhD program.

It says if he found his calling, but those homicidal ideations were launched early. They talked about, he was a bully. He took up kickboxing. He was mean. He had a personality change, trying to pick up other guys' girlfriends.

So you know, as we look backwards, I don't know when that transition happened, but I can guarantee you he's been thinking about it for a very long time and the fantasy very often turns into reality.

BROWN: So troubling, so much more to learn about this, but at the same time, like fascinating to learn about how this could be, how someone could be this way, right?

Casey Jordan, thank you so much. We look forward to having you on again as we learn more in this case and about the suspect.

Coming up tonight on this New Year's Eve, remembering Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV journalist who has died at the age of 93. We're going to look at her groundbreaking career that influenced generations of women.

Plus, Donald Trump's taxes. We knew they would be complicated, but could they be hiding something? I'll speak to a tax expert for her take.

And respiratory illnesses are on the rise, but in one city, thousands of nurses could be ready to walk off the job just days from now.

I'll speak to a member of the Nurses Union, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:36]

BROWN: Well, the world has lost two remarkable figures; one, who blazed a trail for women in journalism and another who led the world more than one billion Roman Catholics.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95 and he was known as a powerful intellectual force who shaped Catholic doctrine. He resigned in 2013 and his legacy as a church figure was tarnished by allegations that he failed to stop predatory priests during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich. Pope Benedict's body will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica, the

Papal Enclave beginning Monday, and his funeral is planned for Thursday.

And the world is mourning Barbara Walters tonight. The 93-year-old was a pioneer for countless women she inspired including myself. For Walters, it wasn't enough to be first. Like many trailblazers, she also had to be best to demonstrate that she more than deserved to be there.

CNN's Richard Roth has more on her groundbreaking career.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Barbara Walters was one of the most fascinating people of any year in the television era.

BARBARA WALTERS, JOURNALIST: I know that I've done some important interviews. I know that I have been a part of history.

ROTH (voice over): Was she ever?

WALTERS: Are you sorry you didn't burn the tapes?

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I think so, because they were private conversations.

WALTERS: We read that you are mad.

ROTH (voice over): From murderers --

WALTERS: Why did you kill John Lennon?

ROTH (voice over): To movie stars?

WALTERS: Are you a changed man since the illness? Did it affect you very much.

Did you mind the thought of as sex, sex, sex?

I think that what is important is to have curiosity. Follow that curiosity. I'm a great believer in homework.

ROTH (voice over): Before people revealed all on social media, Barbara Walters was the interviewer to open up the stars.

WALTERS: Does he hit you?

ROBIN GIVENS, ACTRESS: He shakes, he pushes, he swings.

WALTERS: I mean, and I hope that they think that I'm fair and that I can be penetrating without being a killer. And I am I hope.

ROTH (voice over): And which interview was our most important?

WALTERS: The first and at that time, the only though he didn't want to have to interview, that Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin gave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are always like this, Barbara.

ROTH (voice over): She said her 1977 interview with Cuba's Fidel Castro was a news coup.

WALTERS: A man who runs the country. A man who allows no dissent.

ROTH (voice over): Castro didn't make it easy.

WALTERS: Blowing a Cohiba, the cigar that he smoked in my face for three and a half hours. I didn't mind it. It is a different time.

ROTH (voice over): About 74 million people, the most viewers for a news program tuned in to see Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern involved with President Clinton.

WALTERS: What would you tell your children when you have them?

MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: Mommy made a big mistake.

ROTH (voice over): She got a reputation for making her interview guests cry.

PATRICK SWAYZE, ACTOR: I never got to know --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you won't feel so big.

ROTH (voice over): After Katharine Hepburn said she felt like an old tree, Walters was cut down by critics for asking this --

WALTERS: Kind of a tree are you?

ROTH (voice over): It didn't take long for Walters to become part of pop culture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, this is Baba Wawa.

ROTH (voice over): The same network that made fun of her was where she got her big break, NBC's "Today Show."

[18:20:10]

WALTERS: I was not a television suffragette. I kicked the door open because after being there 11 years I was named the first co-host of a morning program.

ROTH (voice over): But she was not permitted by her co-host to ask a question until he posed three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry Reasoner, Barbara Walters --

ROTH (voice over): It got worse when Walters, to the surprise of many, was named the first female co-anchor of a network evening newscast.

HARRY REASONER, JOURNALIST: I've kept time on your stories in mind tonight, you owe me four minutes.

ROTH (voice over): She later described it as drowning without a life preserver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Barbara Walters Special."

WALTERS: The specials saved my life.

Good evening, I'm Barbara Walters.

ROTH (voice over): And launched a legendary career at ABC, capped by creating and co-hosting "The View."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When did you first learn about sex?

WALTERS: Well, I didn't learn about sex until I started to do this show, and now I know more about sex than I ever wanted to know.

The chemistry of it and the fact that it's live, that it's outrageous that you never know what you're going to hear.

ROTH (voice over): When she left the view and ABC, they named a building in her honor, a lasting monument for a woman who changed TV.

WALTERS: And I'm so proud of the women today. There are so many of them that are wonderful, that's my legacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: She certainly paved the way for so many of us, an icon, a legend.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday night, New Year's Eve. So why did former President Trump pay little to no taxes in some years? We are going to ask a tax law professor up next.

But first, the ball drop in Times Square is still more than five hours away, but they're already having a great time right now in Europe and Africa, 2023 has begun across the pond and the party is well underway. Here are some more of those extraordinary fireworks from the French capital.

Stay with CNN all night long for our coverage of New Year's Eve live from Times Square.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:49]

BROWN: Welcome back.

Everybody taking a live look here at the Capitol Building on this rainy, somewhat chilly day here in Washington, DC on this New Year's Eve. I hope everyone is having a wonderful evening as they get ready to ring in the new year here in the United States. Well, the public is getting its first look at six years of former

President Donald Trump's tax returns. He fought for years to keep them secret. But a Democrat-led House Committee released them yesterday and they are raising a lot of questions about his finances such as: Why did he pay little or no federal income taxes in some years? Take a look.

In 2016 and 2017, Trump paid only $750.00 and in 2020, the final year of his presidency, he didn't pay a dime in Federal income taxes, his income offset by claiming millions of dollars and losses.

Dorothy Brown is a tax law professor at Georgetown University. Thanks so much for joining us.

So, what is your read on this? Your reaction to seeing Trump's tax records for the first time?

DOROTHY BROWN, TAX LAW PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, first, I thought finally, because it took way too long for us to get them. He fought them way too long and he had no legal basis for doing so. But once I got to look at them, some things were expected, some things were not.

What was expected were all the losses. I did expect to see lots of losses in his other businesses that he was able to bring on to his individual tax return. I was surprised that Melania signed a joint return with him, because what that means is, if he's found to owe money, she is on the hook. It's not just him, it's her as well.

So there were some surprises, but the losses were expected, but in many instances, in my opinion, not really credible. In some businesses, his income amount was exactly equal to the deductions, which just -- it just is going to be difficult for him to prove in my opinion.

BROWN: Yes, one of the returns show his business that operates a helicopter claim the same amount in profit and loss, a statistical impossibility, according to one expert, and the number was a random number. Right? What did you make of that?

DOROTHY BROWN: Yes. It looks like they weren't even trying. You know, it was as if someone who put that return together said, well, I don't have to worry about being audited. I can just throw in any numbers that I want. It just makes no sense.

And then there were many businesses where year after year, they show losses and not income. And in a typical American taxpayer situation, the IRS would rule that a hobby, not a business enterprise that would prevent him from taking any losses.

So there were lots of questions raised by the tax returns -- obvious questions.

BROWN: What do you make of the lack of audits -- yes, these are obvious questions, why wasn't there more done, you know? DOROTHY BROWN: You know, that's an excellent question, and part of the

problem is the IRS is so focused on working Americans, those who take the earned income tax credit that are audited to death, but you have those at the high income like Donald Trump not audited at all. It just -- it makes absolutely no sense.

You could look at that return, someone who, you know, was a first year IRS agent would look at that return and say, okay, we have problems.

BROWN: Wow. So going back to those returns, investigators have questioned whether the tax returns show Trump may have disguised gifts to his children. In the last hour, I spoke with former Federal prosecutor, Shan Wu, and asked how difficult would that be to prove, here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Usually what happens with a gift tax violation is simply somebody has to pay taxes for it. I think here, it would be plugged into the big picture of all of the questionable issues going on and that could become a criminal tax fraud case where he is evading millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Do you agree?

DOROTHY BROWN: Well, you know, one, a parent can make a loan to a child. There's nothing wrong with that. So the question is, is there or documentation? Is there a loan agreement with reasonable interest? Did the children as well as Donald treat it like a loan where payments made regularly? Did they treat this loan like other loans?

[18:30:11]

So it's possible that this was an evasion of the gift - an estate tax regime (ph), but I'm just - I'm not sure. It could be that, yes, this is yet another instance where they weren't following the rules, but parents can make loans to children.

BROWN: All right. Dorothy Brown, great to have your perspective. Happy New Years to you. Appreciate your time tonight.

On the New Year, could see thousands of nurses go on strike. The head of the New York State Nurses Association joins us next to explain why that is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:48]

BROWN: About 16,000 nurses and New York City could walk off the job just days from now. They want the new negotiation of their union contract agreement at a time when hospitals and the staff there are running them are being pushed to the absolute brink with all of these viruses going around right now.

Joining me now is the President of the New York State Nurses Association, Nancy Hagans.

So Nancy, you say you don't want to strike but that your nurses have been through "hell and back" in their work to save patients through the pandemic. What are you fighting for in this contract negotiation?

NANCY HAGANS, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION: Good evening. Basically what we're fighting for to this contract negotiation is safe patient care. What do I mean that? Safe patient to nurse issues.

Right now we do have a triple pandemic and hospital management have refused to hire more nurses. We've been having this issue way before the height of the pandemic. Just remember, at the beginning of the pandemic almost two years ago, us nurses in New York, we save New York, we save the whole New York City and New York State. We went to work, putting everybody ahead of us, ahead of families.

[18:35:01]

And beside not having enough PPEs, we went and we took care of everybody and we did the best that we can to save everybody. At the lowest point of the pandemic, hospital management decided to freeze position and never hire the nurses who have left the profession and we had vacancies even before.

So what we're asking at this stage is to provide safe patient care. In order to provide safe patient care, we need to have enough nurses to care for patients. You cannot have a nurse working in a medical surgical unit where she should have five nurses, five patients and that nurse is taking care of 12 patients.

There are nurses in the emergency room that are caring for 20 patients.

BROWN: Yes.

HAGANS: We want to care for patients. We want to treat our patient as if they were our family. Every patient in the State of New York, regardless of the zip code needs to have proper care. Every patient is a VIP. We are asking in this contract to have proper safe patient to nurse ratio. We are also asking for wages that is equal to the inflation. That is all we're asking for. We're not asking for a strike.

As a matter of fact, the hospital administrators, the bosses are the one asking for a strike. If they were to come to the table and negotiate in good faith and provide us a fair contract, there will be a strike right now.

BROWN: Yes, because you've said in this press release that the strike is a last resort. Help us better understand why that is now especially with respiratory viruses raging right now. HAGANS: Exactly. You would think with the triple pandemic, we call it

right now because we have the respiratory infection, we have the flu and also the increase of the COVID-19, that hospital management would have a situation and listen to the nurses and have a conversation and say, well, how do I retain good nurses, how to retain good nurses is to attract nurses to the bedside is by providing better patient care is by hiring more nurses and other for care - for us to care for our patience.

The last result is for us to walk out of the job, for us to walk out. That's the reason we gave them a 10-day notice. Yesterday, eight hospitals total of 16,000 nurses walked up to management and gave them a 10 day notice --

BROWN: Yes.

HAGANS: -- to either give us the proper contract in order for us to continue to care for our patients or we're going to walk off the job so they do have enough time to make that decision.

BROWN: Yes, well --

HAGANS: And at the end of the day, decision is really not up to us. It's up to the bosses.

BROWN: Nancy Hagans, thanks for coming on. Nurses are incredible, they were the heroes during the pandemic. They still are heroes. They have such an incredible job and we appreciate you coming on to talk about their concerns there in New York City. We appreciate it. Happy New Year.

HAGANS: And thank you.

BROWN: Well, box office blockbusters, they are back and Beyonce returned to the top of the music charts. Ahead, the year's top entertainment stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:45]

BROWN: From the slap scene round the world to Top Gun: Maverick and Wakanda Forever, Stephanie Elam looks at this year's top 10 entertainment stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Stranger Things" time travels to the '80s. While Beyonce's "Renaissance" skyrockets to the top. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE "MAVERICK" MITCHELL, TOM CRUISE: This is your captain speaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): And the triumphant return of blockbuster movies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (on camera): Hollywood forged full steam ahead into 2022, and it was a wild ride from start to finish.

Here's a look at the top entertainment stories of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): At number 10 --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hollywood stars, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, have finally said I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): Second time's the charm for this love story 20 years in the making. The pair met in 2001 on the set of the rom-com, "Gili."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Hello. I'm sorry, do we know each other?

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS & SINGER: Not yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): They got engaged a year later, but after a whirlwind romance, they called it quits three years after that.

But the couple found their way back to each other last year and exchanged vows at an intimate ceremony.

At number nine --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The one thing they ask of us is to stay here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): Drama on the set of "Don't Worry Darling." Harry Styles, Chris Fine, and Florence Pugh.

The all-star cast generated a lot of buzz for its behind-the-scenes gossip. It starred when Shia LeBeouf, the original male lead, left the project and was replaced by Styles, who was reportedly in a relationship with director and co-star, Olivia Wilde.

Then there were tensions between Wilde and lead actress, Florence Pugh.

And video seemed to show Styles spitting on Chris Pine during a press tour, which his spokesperson denies.

But would the very public off-screen chaos hinder it at the box office? Turns out there was nothing to worry about. "Don't Worry Darling" won the box office on opening weekend.

At number eight --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See you on the other side.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): Small screen hits dominate pop culture. "Stranger Things" took audiences into a time machine, fast forwarding to 1986.

The show's fourth season brought back Kate Bush's "Running Up that Hill," Metallica's "Master of Puppets," and paid homage to '80s trends and styles.

On ABC, critics credited breakout series "Abbott Elementary" for bringing back the TV sitcom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: These two keys I made must too fit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM (voice over): While "The White Lotus" on HBO traveled to exotic locations and brought home 10 Emmy Awards.

And over on Netflix, "The Addams Family's" reboot "Wednesday" proved to be a huge winter hit with audiences logging over one billion hours of screen time.

Number seven belongs to the queen bee herself.

Beyonce smashed records with her seventh studio album "Renaissance."

Things got off to a Rocky start when the tracks were leaked online, but her fan base came to her rescue.

The BeyHive rallied fans on social media to wait for the official release so everyone could enjoy it together. And that they did. "Renaissance" blasted to the top of the charts giving us house music, afro beats and nods to jams of the past.

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Number six --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tom Cruise's new "Top Gun: Maverick" had the biggest Memorial Day opening weekend of all-time.

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ELAM (voice over): Blockbuster movies are back.

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MITCHELL: This is your captain speaking.

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ELAM (voice over): This summer blockbuster raked in nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.

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JAKE 'HANGMAN' SERESIN, GLEN POWELL: We're going into combat on a level no living pilot's ever seen.

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ELAM (voice over): And "Black Panther" fans turned out for "Wakanda Forever."

Marvel's iconic superheroes led the charge at the box office.

But another epic release is nipping at its heels, "Avatar: The Way of Water" is setting up for the next big wave.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Foot Locker is joining the growing list of companies cutting ties with Kanye West.

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ELAM (voice over): At number five, Kanye's controversies. After making a series of anti-Semitic remarks and wearing a shirt with the slogan linked to the Ku Klux Klan, Ye's business partnerships ended.

Balenciaga and Gap also pulled the plug. And Adidas ended their longtime flagship deal. Meta and Twitter suspended his accounts. And Ye announced he would acquire Parler, but that deal went bust, too.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't it possible they're both guilty? Isn't it possible they both said defamatory things?

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ELAM (voice over): Number four, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's courtroom battle.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven that Ms. Heard acted with actual malice? Answer, yes.

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ELAM (voice over): Amber Heard stoic as a jury find she did defame Johnny Depp in a 2018 op-ed in "The Washington Post." The jury awarding Depp millions in damages.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As against Amber Heard, we the jury award compensatory damages in the amount of $10 million.

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ELAM (voice over): As Depp fans cheered outside the courtroom, another $5 million in punitive damages was awarded.

On Heard's counterclaim, Depp was found liable for a statement by his lawyer, claiming Heard set up Depp. The jury awarded her $2 million in damages.

In December, Heard and Depp reached a settlement on the defamation case. But Heard said this is not an act of concession.

Number three, saying good-bye to Hollywood legends.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Actor and comedian, Bob Saget, has died.

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ELAM (voice over): It started with the sudden death of one of TV's most beloved stars.

And then Olivia Newton-John lost her battle with cancer.

And sadly, the list of entertainers we lost this year grew to include some of our favorites.

Number two; Taylor Swift's Ticketmaster fiasco. A concert for the eras. Millions of fans queued up to buy tickets for Swift's highly anticipated worldwide tour.

As soon as Ticketmaster's pre-sale began, the heavy demand snarled Ticketmaster's Web site.

Thousands of Swifties were in line for hours, and many left empty- handed when Ticketmaster suddenly canceled the pre-sale.

Swift blamed Ticketmaster for the snafu, saying it's been excruciating, but nothing stopped her ultra-loyal fans from supporting the pop star.

She became the first artist ever to claim all 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, following the release of her latest album "Midnights."

At number one; the slap to the jaw that had jaws dropping. A showdown on stage at the Oscars as Smith confronted Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife.

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CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane Two. Can't wait to see it.

Oh, wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked (inaudible) me.

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ELAM: The audience inside the Dolby Theater and around the world stunned.

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WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Let me say this, there are consequences.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I physically felt ill and I'm still a little traumatized by it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me too.

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ELAM (voice over): Smith resigned from the Academy and was banned from attending any of their events, including the Oscars for the next 10 years.

He apologized to Rock and is trying to move on. He's currently seeking redemption in Apple TV's "Emancipation," already getting some 2023 Oscars buzz.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd fight them.

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ELAM (on camera): There are big things to come for our newsmakers on our list. Beyonce says "Renaissance" is act one of three she recorded during the pandemic.

And the cast of "Stranger Things" is poised to start shooting their fifth and final season.

In Los Angeles, I'm Stephanie Elam.

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BROWN: All right. Thanks to Stephanie.

Well, plenty of us make New Year's resolutions but how many of us actually keep them. Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers up next.

And a programming note, Dionne Warwick is a music icon with 56 worldwide hits, six Grammy Awards and one extraordinary legacy.

[18:50:08]

She brings her exclusive story to CNN in the new film Don't Make Me Over premiering tomorrow, New Year's Day, at 9 p.m..

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BROWN: Justin in to CNN, Canada will now require mandatory COVID tests for travelers from China. The requirements will apply to all travelers regardless of nationality or vaccination status. Travelers will need to show the negative result before boarding. Canada is just the latest country to do this.

Earlier this week, the United States announced similar testing requirements, Beijing's rapid easing of COVID-19 restrictions has led to a surge in cases.

Well, plenty of people will make New Year's resolutions tonight, some have already made theirs. But how many people take part in the annual tradition and actually keep to them. CNN Senior Data Reporter, Harry Enten, joins us now to Run The Numbers. Harry, quite the hat you're wearing.

[18:55:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I'm going to party like it's 1865 (inaudible) --

BROWN: I love it, the Abraham Lincoln hat. I got the glitter going tonight, we're rocking it.

ENTEN: Whatever it takes. No, I'm wearing this because I couldn't find an actual New Year's Eve hat, but I figured, this gets the job done and I make a nice historical references at the same time.

But to answer your question, how many people do, in fact, make a New Year's resolution? Well, if we look back at the polling, what we generally see is that about 40 percent of Americans generally do plan to make New Year's resolutions. The clear majority, 57 percent, say no, I should note that this year, we're basically in line with the historical average. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to make a New Year's resolution. But perhaps if I do, it will be to continue to wear interesting hats on television.

BROWN: That's an excellent one. I just came up with mine on the fly when my producer said we may have to be talking about it during this segment. So I've come up with a couple, but they're not very interesting, so I don't even know if it's worth seeing them.

ENTEN: Go ahead, share with the audience, why not?

BROWN: Again, I got to put more thought into it. But one of them is to finish school this year. I'm in law school for a master's degree, so I got to - I'm on a mission to finish that this year and then I started running again this past fall, so I want to keep that up, too. We shall see a big we shall see on that one.

But yes, like I said, those are boring ones, I got to come up with something more exciting, like wearing varied hats like you. So making a New Year's resolution is one thing, keeping to them is something else. What do you - what about that?

ENTEN: Yes, so you're talking about your potential New Year's resolutions and whether or not you can actually keep them. What we generally see is that most people, in fact, either don't make one or can't keep it. So only about 19 percent of Americans actually are able to keep a New Year's resolution make one and keep one.

The vast majority, 81 percent, Don't make one or they can't keep it. Now, I'll note last year, for example, I had a number of different new year's resolutions. I think I kept some of them. Others of them I didn't keep. The one I did keep was petting more dogs and I was able to do that because --

BROWN: That's a good one.

ENTEN: -- yes, I thought it was a very good one. It keeps my energy up. It keeps me happy. I was able to pet more dogs including a little toy poodle in Westchester name Bacaan (ph). I call him Bacani (ph), this cute little red dog and I was in fact able to pet more dogs, so I felt like I kept up with my end of the bargain.

BROWN: That's a good one. And by the way, there is science to back up that petting dogs is good for you. And I'd love to hear more about what you didn't keep up, but what is a hot New Year's resolution this year? I mean, everyone talks about like going to the gym like I have my mind so boring, I want to keep up running but like what are some hot ones?

ENTEN: Yes. So if - this to me is a really hot one, is a dry January, so the idea that you're not going to in fact drink during the month of January, when we look on Google which I think gives you an indication, right, of where we might be heading, in the week leading up to Christmas this year, we saw that searches for dry January were up significantly from last year and then five years ago as well.

And but if we brought it out right and we look at top New Year's resolutions just generally speaking, eating healthier and exercising I walked more this year, so I think I kept to that one eating healthier - ate more salmon, I thought that was pretty good. Being happy - just being happy, waking up on the right side of the bed, I think that's an important one.

Paying down debts, I think that's a pretty decent one, learning something new. So you're going to law school, right, and basically learning - finishing up I think that's a great one. And spending more time with family, I think that's a great one as well.

BROWN: I'd like that.

ENTEN: I have spent - I spent a lot more time with my new girlfriend this year and I will have to say that is the best part of my year this year, finding someone --

BROWN: That's so sweet, Harry.

ENTEN: -- that you actually really care about. Yes, I think so.

BROWN: I think that you can never go wrong with spending more time with your family. That's always on my list for sure. I've got two little ones at home and my husband and I love spending time with them. So that's a good one. So finally the ball will drop in a few hours how many people are actually going to stay awake for it, because I don't - I'm going to admit it right now. I don't know if I can stay awake.

ENTEN: Most people do stay awake but I think I'm in that 25 percent unlikely, I just really want to sleep that's what I like. More sleep, that's a good New Year's resolution as well.

BROWN: Yes.

I like that. You know what, it can never go wrong with more sleep either. I'm all about the sleep situation.

Harry Enten, so fun to have you on. Happy New Year to you. I hope your 2023 is filled with lots of joy, health and wonderful hats.

ENTEN: The same to you and let me tell you this year was great because we got to know each other more on this program and --

BROWN: It's been a lot of fun.

ENTEN: -- and I hope we can continue that in the New Year.

BROWN: Oh, we will.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BROWN: Don't you worry, Harry. Be sure to check out Harry's podcast, margins of error. You can find it on your favorite podcast app or cnn.com/audio. [19:00:02]

Thank you for joining us this evening. I'm Pamela Brown. See you again tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. Eastern. Up next, a CNN Special, "All the Best, All the Worst of 2022." And here, we'll leave you with some of tonight's spectacular fireworks. Happy New Year. See you in 2023.