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Trump Asks To Throw Out Election Subversion Case; House Speaker Urges Biden To Take Executive Action On Border; Trump Zeroes In On First-Time Caucus Participants In Iowa; Somber Christmas In Bethlehem As War Rages In Gaza. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired December 24, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:43]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to you, if you're joining me around the world, wherever you may be watching, in the United States, in Europe, Asia. I'm Richard Quest. Together we are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: I had a private conversation. I did not ask for a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: President Biden reveals he didn't ask for a ceasefire in his long call -- telephone call with the Israeli Prime Minister. At the same time, the military in Israel is expanding its ground offensive in Gaza.

Christmas Eve for many, to be sure, as the war rages on in Gaza, Christians in Bethlehem and around the world, it's a celebration much more difficult than in previous years.

And at the CNN Weather Center, some in the United States forget white Christmas, think rainy Christmas instead.

It's an extremely busy morning and I'll get to those stories in a moment, only after I've updated you with one or two developments in Donald Trump's legal battles that I need to bring to your attention. The former U.S. President has now asked a Federal Appeals Court to throw out the criminal election subversion case against him. The timing is unlikely, a coincidence. It was only on Friday that the Supreme Court refused the request from the Special Counsel to speedily expedite the case, send it straight to the Supreme Court, a decision that was seen as a victory on the Trump side.

Now, the filing late on Saturday follows this familiar refrain. It basically says Donald Trump is protected from prosecution under presidential immunity. His lawyers say he was working in his official capacity to, in their words, ensure election integrity when he allegedly undermined the results of the 2020 vote.

And in a court filing, it says, "The Constitution establishes a powerful structural check to prevent political factions from abusing the formidable threat of criminal prosecution to disable the President and attack their political enemies."

We'll talk more about that in the hours ahead as we get reaction from the various parties.

It is Christmas Eve, and for so much of the planet, a season of peace and goodwill is upon us. The pace will slow, the focus shifts and changes to family, friends and goodwill.

Now, the names of our holidays may differ, but there's a similarity. A world becomes a smaller, more intimate place. This year, of course, there's no looking away, despite the spent in Gaza, neither for those who live there, nor for those trying to bring residents aid. After all, a U.N. official now says there's no safe place in Gaza. Israel has expanded its ground operations against Hamas to such an extent. And the IDF says its forces are ramping up in both north and south, where fierce battles with militants continue and the civilian death toll grows. The moves follow a warning to Palestinians to leave central Gaza. This shows some of them heeding that warning.

Now, with fighting in the north, the south and the middle, some Palestinians say there's nowhere to go. The fighting rages. And President Biden said he held a long conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. The purpose was to discuss the objectives and phasing, but not a ceasefire.

Nada Bashir is in London. Why did he not ask for a ceasefire? What is the U.S. position that they pertinaciously hold on to here?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, Richard, the Biden administration remains steadfastly committed to backing the Israeli government. And as we know from the get go, from the beginning of this war, the Israeli government has rejected calls for a humanitarian ceasefire. They have repeatedly said that they remain steadfastly committed to their goals of eradicating Hamas' military capabilities to ensuring that Hamas can no longer pose a military threat to Israel.

[05:05:06]

And the Israeli government has been clear, they feel that a humanitarian ceasefire will, in the words of one senior advisor, provide a lifeline to Hamas. They feel this would be an opportunity for Hamas to regroup, to reconvene and to gain more power and, of course, gain an advantage on the battlefield on the ground.

Now, the Biden administration has committed its support to the Israeli government. We saw that U.N. resolution adopted on Friday. Of course, the U.S. abstained from that vote. They called for harsher language when it comes to condemning Hamas. But crucially, that vote, that resolution did not go so far, as to call for a ceasefire.

QUEST: Now, Mark Regev, yesterday and you just outlined again the Israeli position that if there was a ceasefire in Israel's view, it would allow Hamas to regroup, rearm, whatever phrase we choose. And so there you have the battle in a sense, Nada. You have an extended operation now designed to eradicate Hamas. With Israel taking the position, if we don't do this, then Hamas will regroup. That is a circle that is almost impossible to square.

BASHIR: It certainly is. And when it comes to the international community, the Biden administration again has been clear, they do prioritize the protection of civilians. That is the primary concern when it comes to the United Nations and when it comes to many international partners with regards to calls for a ceasefire, despite Israel's clear rejection of those calls, as we know, this is a deeply difficult situation for civilians inside Gaza. This is a small strip of land that is under a blockade. And while Israel has remained steadfastly committed to its military objectives, we know now, of course, that they are expanding their ground operations beyond northern Gaza, beyond central Gaza, but now focusing primarily on southern Gaza, where we do know that the majority of those 1.9 Palestinians in Gaza who have been displaced are now taking shelter. So this is a huge concern. Many are calling, of course, we saw that truce. But many are calling for more longer-term humanitarian ceasefire, not least for the protection of civilians, but also, of course, crucially, to allow for aid to get into the Gaza Strip and the protection of hostages held inside Gaza.

QUEST: Nada Bashir, I'm grateful. Thank you.

Israel is keeping up the pressure on their own government to secure the release of the hostages in captivity.

On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv. They urged the Netanyahu administration to immediately bring back their loved ones. It was organized by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. According to the Prime Minister's Office, more than 100 hostages are still in Gaza. Humanitarian aid is continuing to trickle in there.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says 93 a trucks entered the devastated territory on Saturday through the Rafah Border Crossing. That's the one in Egypt. The trucks were filled with food, water and relief supplies. And it follows the U.N. Security Council approving a resolution calling for increased aid to Gaza. Aid agencies are still warning the situation in Gaza is dire.

JOE ENGLISH, UNICEF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST: Things are deteriorating by the minute. You know, I mean, for children and families who are affected by this crisis, it's now been three weeks since the ceasefire and the threats are almost too many to list. You know, when I think about the things that UNICEF works on, we try and provide children with safe drinking water. There is almost no safe drinking water in Gaza. We try and provide children with critical nutrition supplies. There is almost no food for children and families in Gaza. We try and provide them with protection, you know, and we know that the numbers of children who have been killed and injured in this conflict is staggering beyond belief.

And then we try and provide them with some kind of respite, some kind of hope through psychosocial support or education. Clearly that is not happening right now. And so what children and families need is a ceasefire because the situation seems so desperate that it's almost unimaginable. But things can get worse. That is what we all need to focus on. The situation can get worse and it will get worse if the fighting continues.

QUEST: Now, as it all continues, so does the humanitarian crisis. And we now have a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding. Details of how you can help. It's a special section of our website, cnn.com./impact.

In the United States, President Biden is facing mounting pressure on immigration policies. The number of migrants crossing the southern border with Mexico has reached an all-time high. And officials will say that they're dealing with unprecedented searches and are apprehending a record level of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

[05:10:01]

The Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson now is calling on the President to take executive action to secure the border. CNN's Kevin Liptak with more.

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KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Administration officials are urgently looking for solutions to deal with this crisis at the border. And the phrase that you hear from officials is breaking point as they're describing this influx of migrants. And really, the numbers do tell the story. There's been a seven-day rolling average of about 9,600 migrants unlawfully crossing the border. That's up sharply from last month when the rolling average was about 6,800. And so you really do see resources being stretched very thin. And one element that makes this different from previous searches is that it's not concentrated in one specific area. It is really in sectors running across the southern border. So certainly that presents logistical challenges for the administration. But certainly this is also a political challenge for President Biden as he gears up to run for reelection.

One of the ways that he's trying to deal with this is to apply pressure on the Mexican President Lopez Obrador. He spoke to him last week to try and get Mexico to do more in terms of enforcement on its own side of the border.

President Biden has dispatched senior cabinet-level officials, including the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, to go to Mexico next week to continue these discussions with their Mexican counterparts to try and do more to stem the flow of migrants before they reach the United States.

Now, President Biden has also asked Congress for $14 billion in funding to bolster resources at the border, including ramping up personnel to process some of these migrants. But that money is caught in this continuing negotiation between Democrats and Republicans on strengthening some of these rules when it comes to asylum, when it comes to who can come in to the United States. President Biden is kind of caught in a bind here. Certainly, on one

side, Republicans and even some Democrats, including mayors and governors, want him to do more to curb these influx of migrants coming into the United States.

But on the other side, you also have progressives, immigration advocates who are concerned that some of the things that President Biden seems to be talking about would amount to a reversion to some of the most restrictive policies that we saw under the Trump administration.

So certainly, President Biden looking to do more as this becomes more and more of a political issue heading into next year's election. Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Immigration is one of several key issues for presidential candidates as they look ahead to the first contests of next year's presidential race. The Iowa Republican caucuses takes place in roughly three weeks and there will be primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina quickly following.

Gosh, it is upon us already. Former President Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the Republicans despite all the legal problems. Now he's focusing on first timers. People who have never participated in the Iowa caucuses.

And Donald Trump is stressing the point that even if he's leading in the polls, now is not the time to become complacent. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We got to be sure that we put this thing away. The poll numbers are scary because we're leading by so much. The key is you have to get out and vote.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump is eyeing more than an Iowa victory. He's looking for a decisive one.

TRUMP: We'll be back a few more times.

ZELENY: But the outcome of the Iowa caucuses, now less than four weeks away, may depend less on Trump than the work being done on this makeshift assembly line inside his campaign headquarters.

One box at a time. This is how Trump's team is trying to build a landslide, sending gold-stitched hats in carefully curated care packages to nearly 2,000 of their precinct captains.

BRAD BOUSTEAD, TRUMP IOWA CAUCUS PRECINCT CAPTAIN: Look right here, here's a personalized letter from the president.

ZELENY: Brad Boustead is a volunteer and one of those precinct captains who speak on Trump's behalf on caucus night and agree to bring in 10 new supporters.

In 2016, he supported Ted Cruz, who beat Trump here with the help of a stronger organization. Now Boustead marvels at Trump's operation.

BOUSTEAD: Somebody's got to screw the lug nuts on the Cadillac, so the little jobs are the most important jobs.

ZELENY: While Trump's extreme rhetoric often sounds the same in this campaign.

TRUMP: When I'm re-elected, we will begin, and we have no choice, the largest deportation operation in American history.

ZELENY: His organization is dramatically different this time, driven by a sophisticated data-driven effort to find Trump supporters who have never attended a caucus before.

[05:15:00]

In the last three months, Trump has visited Iowa more than a dozen times, hitting all corners of the state in a highly targeted strategy for our frontrunner not resting on a commanding lead.

From the moment you walk into a Trump event, the organization is apparent. Back at the campaign office, these commit to caucus cards are entered into a database.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, I got you in there.

ZELENY: Supporters are called within three days, which advisors say often didn't happen in 2016.

BRENNA BIRD, IOWA ATTORNEY GENERAL: The polls don't matter. The one that really matters is caucus night, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

ZELENY: Brenna Bird, Iowa's Attorney General and one of Trump's top supporters warns against complacency.

BIRD: I think his only danger is that people think that he might not need their vote and that's not true. We need everybody to go out and vote on caucus night.

ZELENY: An army of Trump surrogates is also descending on Iowa, holding small organizing events hammering home the same message.

REP. MATT GAETZ, (R) FLORIDA: My only worry is low turnout.

ZELENY: With Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley in a fight for second place, Trump is working to close down the 2024 primary on its opening night.

JIMMY CENTERS, IOWA REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: He wants to run up the score, so caucus night looks more like a coronation than a caucus.

ZELENY: Jimmy Centers, a veteran of four Republican caucus campaigns in Iowa, so the Trump organization may overwhelm its rivals.

CENTERS: They are quietly building a very tenacious and robust organization all across the state. I think that's going to be worth several points on caucus night.

ZELENY: So some of the most important work happens when the former president is not here?

CENTERS: That's precisely it. And it's been happening like that for eight years.

ZELENY: After four visits in less than a month, the former president will be taking a bit of a break from the Iowa campaign season, allowing people to enjoy their Christmas holiday but advisors say he will be back in the New Year pressing for a decisive victory, hoping the Iowa caucuses and the Republican primary rather than beginning. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Waterloo, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: As we continue a handful of European resale apps, not high-end fashion houses have set this year's hottest style trend, the driving force behind the budgeting online resale market in a moment.

Also a scale back Christmas in Bethlehem. It stands in solidarity with Gaza. And a look at what's replaced the traditional Christmas festivities this year.

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[05:21:13]

QUEST: The U.N. says the fashion industry is roughly 10% of global carbon emissions, making the glamorous business environmentally- friendly and sustainable as a very large challenge. And one initiative the European Parliament is approving a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear. A lawmaker says it's time to end the take make dispose approach that so harmful.

CNN's Anna Stewart now tells us apps that helped resell secondhand clothes, offering eco-conscious consumers a way to meet the need in style.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: At a time when sustainability and the cost of living are never too far from the headlines, secondhand fashion, maybe this year's hottest trend. Now a new generation of fashion apps wants to combine style with sustainability on a much bigger scale.

It's a sector that's come a long way since Macklemore made a number one hit out of thrift shop in 2012. Resale apps have offered a new and convenient route into the world of secondhand clothes. Analysts at Global Data say the global resale market more than doubled in size between 2016 and 2021. And just as Europe dominates the world of high fashion, some of the biggest names in the second-hand space are also European.

Take Vinted founded in Lithuania in 2008, his Chief Executive says its users are economical and eco-friendly.

THOMAS PLANTENGA, CEO, VINTED: So if we look at our users, then the main driver is value for them. And then another big driver is sustainability. So 20% of our users would not buy an item new, they're really looking to replace something with secondhand.

STEWART: The fashion industry has some problems when it comes to sustainability?

PLANTENGA: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And this is a good way to mitigate that.

STEWART: The U.N. says the textile industry now contributes more to climate change than international flights. And so more and more consumers are questioning the fast fashion model. Lauren Bravo, the Author of "How To Break Up With Fast Fashion" says it's easier than ever for buyers to find alternatives.

LAUREN BRAVO, AUTHOR, "PRELOVED": I think one of the really positive things that resale apps are doing is completely normalizing the idea of buying secondhand. I think that a lot of people are realizing that actually they have wardrobes overflowing with clothes. And it's not really making them happy. Gradually, bit by bit people are starting to question their own habits and more broadly, how these clothes come to be so cheap. And the answer is that somebody somewhere is always paying a price.

STEWART: For Depop, a resale app based in London, in kind of the planet is part of its mission. The company specializes in vintage items and streetwear. Its Chief Brand Officer says it can push the whole industry towards better practices.

PETER SEMPLE, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, DEPOP: Fashion is an entirely large gargantuan and somewhat wasteful industry and the more that we can chip away at overproduction and the overconsumption that comes with it, the better. Ideally, more people come to resale, or place of buy new fast fashion.

STEWART: It's not just buying clothes these apps want to tackle, shipping them is a whole different challenge both in terms of cost and sustainability. For Vinted, the solution has been locker's shipping and network of lockers where users drop off and pick up their orders rather than rely on door-to-door service.

[05:25:02]

PLANTENGA: Instead of getting your package shipped, picked up from your home you bring it to a locker and it gets shipped to a locker nearby to personal bosses from you, and that person picks it up. And what you have then is that, that process because there's no last mile on both sides is way more efficient in energy. And thereby it's just more sustainable.

STEWART: You started as a secondhand apparel company, and you've added a whole logistics arm to it?

PLANTENGA: Yeah, and I think, if you think about -- if you want to change an industry, you know, the product that everybody can build at a price that is super accessible and when you want to consistently reach the best possible proposition for your user, you have to consistently look how I can bring costs down, how I can make things more efficient. And thereby we're going deeper into the value chain with this. And we're not afraid to go into difficult things like shipping, running around servers or taking money licenses were things like that.

STEWART: While fast fashion giants still dominate the sector, resell apps are hoping they can build a greener industry, one item at a time.

SEMPLE: I think it's fair to say that our audience is interested in sustainability. And as part of their purchasing decision, it won't be the only factor and we need to keep making it a more and more important one. We think that the thing that we do interestingly, and we think one of the parts of how we will ultimately pull people away from new fashion is making it exciting and desirable accessibility and even affordability doesn't get you all the way. You need people to be excited about the things they're going to buy. And we've spent decades being conditioned to want newness. So we have to keep finding ways to make you think differently and consider the exciting prospect.

BRAVO: There is no silver bullet solution to sustainability. That's something we already know. What we have instead is a real patchwork where there are lots of different methods of shopping more sustainably. And as long as everybody is doing a few of those things, then hopefully we'll be in a much better place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, a Christmas tradition for the last 20 years in Berlin.

Thousands of people packed to the FC Union Football Stadium, They had candles, they had a singalong on the night before Christmas Eve. It all began in 2003. Then some things illegally entered the stadium and had wine and cookies and sang a few songs. As you can see from that picture, but it's grown a bit now, 28,000 people turn up in your regalia and Santa hats. They sing football songs and seasonal fare hymns such as "Silent Night."

A special message from Santa Claus, families gathered outside Santa's Village in Rovaniemi in northeast Finland on Saturday. They were listening to Christmas songs and giving a big send off to Father Christmas. He's heading out to deliver Christmas presents to all the children all over the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a stormy year again. And my -- another wish for me is that people could live in peace around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP) QUEST: Now, Santa is asking people on focus on the well-being of children. Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas. He then rode off with his reindeer to the North Pole to prepare for his big trip.

As we continue Christmas Eve to be sure Christmas celebrations per se, well not so in Bethlehem. The message that people are sending to the international community from the holy land in a moment.

Also the anticipation, so the chances for rain in the U.S. Chad Myers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, nobody ever saying I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas but here it is, especially in eastern half of the U.S. No white snow out there just not cold enough. Temperatures in the 50s forecast coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[05:32:18]

QUEST: Warm welcome back where in the world you're joining us, United States, around the world. I'm Richard Quest. This is the CNN NEWSROOM.

The wars raging in Gaza in Christmas will be subdued in Bethlehem this year. Festivities have been dramatically scaled back by local officials in solidarity with devastated territory in Gaza. Instead, the usual festivities and joyful displays of lights will be canceled in a sense. The streets are deserted decorations have been removed. Usually at this time of the we will be talking about thousands of pilgrims and tourists. The march of the patriarch, the precession of the patriarch, the Carol service. It's all towards Bethlehem in Manger Square in what's believed to be the birthplace of -- of Christ. This year, no visitors and the city's traditional enormous Christmas tree is also missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATHER IBRAHIM FALTAS, SENIOR FRANCISCAN FRIAR (through translator): Bethlehem is a message it is not a city. It is a message of peace to the whole world. From this sacred place, we convey a message of peace to all the leaders in the world that there should be pressure to stop this war, to have the courage to say stop to the war. Stop the blood, the killing and the revenge. Where many lives were lost, 20,000 people is not a small number, as well as 50,000 wounded. That's enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, with me from Pelham in New York is Father Enzo Del Brocco. Father, it's very good to have you. Roman Catholic priest, Passionist priest joins me now. I suppose an extent obviously, in Bethlehem, the religious part continues in a sense, the Midnight Mass, those bits of Christianity that need to be performed at this time of year, but it's appropriate that it is scaled down because of elsewhere? FATHER ENZO DEL BROCCO, ROMAN CATHOLIC PASSIONIST PRIEST: Absolutely. Certainly this is a very unusual context. And although not unprecedented compared to the past, to other situations. But with no parades, no band, no music, no lights, no markets, no fees, no carols, no Christmas tree as you already mentioned, it certainly is a whole different situation. And most likely even the people of Bethlehem are hoping, for example, especially after the pandemic that this also a year with, even the economy could come back with no tourists obviously. This has happened very much.

On the other hand, as you said, Christmas still be celebrated liturgically because Christmas is really about the birth of Christ and maybe more than ever we need his presence, we need to bring peace and a message of hope.

QUEST: Father, the Pope, please God is well enough today to give his Angelos prayer, Midnight Mass later and then of course the Urbi et Orbi tomorrow, and so how far do you think his Holiness will go this year to straddle that line between generalities and actually saying, come on, we need a ceasefire in Gaza?

[05:35:20]

DEL BROCCO: Well, I think that he -- he's -- he's been always very clear in, in all conflicts that conflict would be -- that would be the solution to any I would say, war or violence. But he's always been calling for dialogue, because there is always the risk to -- to certainly want to take, pull the Pope on one side or the other. And on one thing, for sure, is that the Pope will always be on the side of the most vulnerable, and always for justice and solidarity, no matter what part.

The question remains, how -- how much we can accomplish, or the ongoing conflict that is happening now really solve the problem. Because we really need a ceasefire in this moment, it is important, because otherwise, there's no dialogue will happen. And this doesn't need to justify the acts of violence. And, you know, of what has happened on October 7, absolutely. Justice must be done, must be searched. But at the same time, you know, there -- there is the -- you know, there's even in the scriptures in the Old Testament, there's always a limit to, you know, eye for an eye and you can't go beyond that.

QUEST: Right. Now, in a sense, the poll out this month by Pew shows 7 out of 10 in the U.S. describe themselves as spiritual. And of course, that includes the 22% are spiritual, but not religious. And then you have the not spiritual or religious and religious but -- I mean, this -- this never ending, if you will, I feel spiritual, but I'm not religious, which is, in a sense, the sort of thing you battle all the time, the concept of the higher power in which so many people believe in, but I'm not about to turn up in a church, synagogue, or mosque, and then go through a formal religiosity. Do you think that sort of all is dancing on their hands -- on the head of a pin at this time of the year?

DEL BROCCO: Well, I -- you certainly have a point there. Yes, there are more and more people who consider themselves like spiritual, they're probably not religious or not belonging to a denomination. But there is one fact that we are -- we are spirit and body that's what we believe and to just be to find yourself spiritual but then not to belong to a community, that kind of contradicts even the message of the incarnation, which God came into the world, became one of us, and actually, you know, transformed us to be like him and with him one thing. So obviously, this calls I think of faiths or denominations to really be more authentic this for sure. Only by be more authentic, living our faith, it will be -- we will be able to attract people.

QUEST: And I'm guessing that will be the core of your Christmas message or Christmas sermon and harmony today, sir?

DEL BROCCO: Yes, it will be about especially really to come, have people really, I think we should focus really on the message that God has come to save every person that does every person has a dignity that has been elevated to the point of us being like God, like the Fathers of the Church hasn't used to say, God became man so that we can become divine.

QUEST: Father, I'm grateful for your time and I wish you and your family and your colleagues a very peaceful. Although it's your busiest time of the event, peaceful Christmas to you, sir. Thank you.

DEL BROCCO: And so to you, thank you so much. Thank you. Merry Christmas.

QUEST: I'm thankful sir. Merry Christmas.

Five million of you in the United States, under winter weather alerts right now. A lot of you don't need me to tell you that because you only got -- look out your front door, and you'll see what's going on, but the house of a White Christmas, Meteorologist Chad Myers with the breakdown on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: We have some slick spots around in the overnight hours here and especially after dark, you may not be able to see all of them that but the big story is how much rainfall is going to come down here from Oklahoma all the way down to the Gulf Coast. Some spots will pick up four to six inches of rain, especially around Houston where you're very close to that Gulf of Mexico that will give you that additional moisture, that additional rainfall here.

So yes, it will snow to the west and also at the higher elevations. But most of this storm this week in through the weekend of next week is going to be a warm rain. We're not going to get down, down below freezing in most of the East Coast. For the next few days. There's the snow in the parts of the Dakotas all the way down toward Kansas but that's later in the day even on Tuesday, most of this will all be wet and not white very few of us having a White Christmas this year.

[05:40:11]

Airports on your Sunday are going to do fairly well. Maybe a slowdown or two through New Orleans just because of the heavy rainfall there but not that many flights in and out. And look at your Christmas Day, temperatures are in the 50s even in Chicago, and St. Louis, and all the way down to the Gulf Coast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Chad Myers. Still to come, not everyone is priced out of the housing market in the U.S. I'm going to show you some of those exclusive homes for sale. It's all about the view, all about the view.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The ultra-wealthy are immune to the soaring prices, interest rates that hit the rest of us, certainly in the U.S. housing market. If you've got cash, then you can buy some of the best, the rarest, the most beautiful. And those apartments with the most stunning views. Take a look at this Park Avenue Residence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: How important is that view?

SCOTT DURKIN, CEO, DOUGLAS ELLIMAN: That sells the apartment?

QUEST (voice-over): This is one of New York's most exclusive buildings. The address is 432 Park Avenue on the city's east side. It was once the home to celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. The building is a trophy asset to those who live there. And for many that don't. And I saw.

(On camera): And we have three examples of it here. Don't wait.

(Voice-over): I got a tour of Unit 66B with the Chief Executive of Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate companies. He told me that even with mortgage rates at the highest level in two decades, demands for these luxury apartments that go in the tens of millions are sky high.

[05:45:06]

DURKIN: Our company sold two of these last month. I think one was for 40. And one was for 80. And we didn't, you know, we didn't expect that in this kind of market, but they're cash buyers. And they're -- they'll always be there and they're not subjected to -- to what the general public is subjected to.

QUEST: Apartments like this are always going to sell. There's enough very rich people who will always keep this, they're not worried about 7% interest rates, are they?

DURKIN: They're not worried about it, because most of those people have private banking. So if you have a large, a big or a large relationship with a private bank with a large amount of money, they'll fund your mortgage at a very low rate.

QUEST: This unit is listed for $29.5 million. And if you haven't got the capital, well, you can rent it $79,000 a month, please. Other buildings may have state of the art amenities, pools, ballrooms and private theaters. This has something that can be very hard to replicate.

DURKIN: That's something that is a wow factor. And that's your bragging rights have full Central Park views.

QUEST: So the view can enhance the price of another way, so apartment?

DURKIN: Absolutely, if we were 40 floors down, we wouldn't be asking 2950 for the apartment in terms of millions, it would be dramatically lower. Sometimes it can go half of what you're asking, especially Central Park West, and Fifth Avenue.

QUEST: And apartment this high is not without its share of problems. The residents have complained of plumbing issues, elevator malfunctions, and they say the building creaks in the wind. It's probably due to the height and narrowness.

DURKIN: It's like any other home. There are issues. And this is not an old building and things had to be worked out. Surprisingly, though, nothing that we've seen has kept people from buying and selling. They tell their attorney I want that apartment. This is trophy building.

QUEST: So this isn't a case of a building with a reputation?

DURKIN: Well, if it has a reputation it certainly has a great reputation because it hasn't stopped any of the transactions happening and the resales. So this one is just so incredible. I mean, look at these windows, you can't get this window anywhere. Probably in the country. The size of it. You're sitting in a window box. I think that in and of itself is -- is -- is what attracts people. That's there's a huge wow factor here and you've got Park Avenue as your address.

QUEST: The overall real estate market has slowed dramatically. Home sales have fallen to their lowest levels of the year. This building and others like it stick out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the Detroit Pistons made history last night and not what you may think. CNN's Sports Carolyn Manno joins me live next, as we talk about the team's 26 straight loss.

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[05:52:13]

QUEST: Turning to sports, the NFL in America, the Buffalo Bills rallied to beat the Los Angeles chargers in the final seconds and so kept their late season win streak alive. CNN's Sports Correspondent Carolyn Manno is now with me from New York. Hi, Carolyn, Buffalo seems to have flipped a late switch.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they did just in time for the holidays. This is a fantastic story, Richard. And you could argue that the Bill season was all but over when the month began but after back-to-back wins it gets a couple of Super Bowl contenders in the chiefs in the Cowboys. They are now rolling at this holiday season, making matters even worse for the rest of the league. Their star quarterback Josh Allen also looks like he's starting to rediscover that MVP form just in time for the playoffs. Allen had three total touchdowns against LA, two on the ground and this 57-yard pass to Gabe Davis for the score in the second quarter. And then after this down by one, five minutes to go here Allen marching the Bills 64 yards down the field and setting up the game winning field goal with just under 30 seconds left. Buffalo goes cross country on a short week and on Christmas weekend no less holding off a shorthanded chargers team 24 to 22. With that in mind, Coach Sean McDermott thrilled with the win

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCDERMOTT, BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH: Wasn't pretty, we know that, but guys, hard work, team teamwork, love, man, just for one another playing for one another that's what was on the line you guys did it, man, you showed up, you showed out, great job, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Meantime, earlier in the day, the Steelers starting third string quarterback Mason Rudolph against the Bengals nearly two years to the day since his last game and on their second offensive play the game, Rudolph hitting George Pickens, Pickens taking it the distance 86 yards for the touchdown. Pittsburgh pouncing all over their division rival winning by 23, taking Cincinnati's place in the standings for one of the three AFC wildcard spots.

Turning now to a historic moment in world football as Rebecca Welch became the first woman to referee in English Premier League match, taking charge of Burnley's two nil win over Fulham in West London on Saturday, the 40-year-old former National Health worker first picked up the whistle in 2010, went full time in 2019. Incredible. She's been a trailblazer ever since becoming the first woman to officiate a match in the men's championship as well as the men's FA Cup. Also the Women's World Cup.

Another first stateside and ice hockey, the Dallas Stars becoming the first team in NHL history to come from behind and win in regulation by scoring two goals in the final 15 seconds of a game. Craig Smith tying it up for Dallas at two-two and then just 11 seconds after that, there will only be four left on the clock here. Jani Hakanpaa beating Nashville goalie Scott Wedgewood studying the predators and the home crowd. Incredible result there as the stars make history.

[05:55:01]

Finally this morning, the Detroit Pistons making the wrong kind of history. They have matched the mark for futility in the NBA. Detroit dropping their 26 straight game Saturday night, falling to the next by 11 in Brooklyn. Time, the 2010 Cavaliers and the 2013 76ers for the longest losing streak over the course of a single season. Pistons Head Coach Monty Williams doing his best to find any sort of silver lining.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONTY WILLIAMS, DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH: I mean, it's, look, at human nature. You know what I'm saying? Everybody feels down when you lose, and you've lost this many in a row. That's -- and you have to allow people to be human. But the way that they come back the next day is something that I'm blown away at every day they come back with focus and drive and in grid trying to win the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: The worst stretch ever also belongs to the 76ers, they lost 28 straight spanning two seasons in 2014 and 2015. The Pistons could hit 29 with a loss to the Rockets on New Year's Day. I'm hoping that that's not the case. I don't want to be a Grinch around here, but it's been a very rough season for them, Richard, hopefully they can get off the schneid soon.

QUEST: Carolyn, I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season. Thank you.

Now, a real dispute going on at the moment because Santa is getting ready to leave the North Pole and start around the world as he does every year NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command will track Santa every bit of the way. The problem is, it is now after midnight in places like the Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Kiti Bashi (ph) and wanting to other places in the eastern South Pacific. And Google's Santa Tracker actually has Santa on the move. My guess is that Santa -- the NORAD is going to pick up Santa when it starts in eastern New Zealand, Wellington on the eastern island in just about four minutes from now.

That's our report, Santa will track him wherever he is. I'm Richard Quest. "CNN THIS MORNING" follows next in the United States, the Spirit of Summer Fun for the rest of the world.

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