Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Record Number Of Travelers Expected To Close Out 2024; Rain, Snow Could Impact Holiday Travel This Weekend; 5 Dead, 200 Plus Injured In German Christmas Market Attack; Biden Signs Stopgap Govt. Funding Bill Into Law; Congress Averts Shutdown After GOP Drop's Trump's Debt Limit Demand. Starbucks Baristas Call 5-Day Strike In 3 Cities; GA Appeals Court Disqualifies DA Fani Willis From Prosecuting Trump; Notre Dame Dominates Indiana 27-17 In Playoff Opener. Aired 12- 1p ET

Aired December 21, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: -- so far with six Golden Globe nominations. That's all we have time for this week. But don't forget you can find all our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

It's beginning to look a lot like traffic as a record-breaking number of holiday travelers are expected at airports and on the roads this weekend. AAA expects more than 119 million people to venture out from home this season marking a new flurry of travelers for the record books.

Today is the official start of winter and Mother Nature could bring delays to some of those areas. But first let's bring in CNN National Correspondent Gloria Pazmino live at LaGuardia right now in New York. So how's it looking? Are there many delays or, you know, snafus happening thus far?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, I've only heard from one passenger so far who told me that her flight was a little bit delayed, but she actually told me that she was happy about it because it just meant that she could kind of cruise throughout the airport and not be rushed and not be anxious and not be stressed.

So that's one way of dealing with any potential delays. Things here have been pretty calm throughout the morning while we've been here and you talk about traffic. But here inside the airport, things seem like, you know, quite organized -- a bit of an organized chaos, I would say.

There's definitely a crowd. People are coming in and out. People are having to line up for short periods of time. But for the most part, things are under control. I've spoken to some travelers throughout today. Most of them tell me they're not under huge stress just yet.

It's still early in the day and it's still a day -- a few days before Christmas. So they feel like they have time and they're being patient. But as you said at the beginning, Fred, this is expected to be one of the busiest if that the busiest time of travel this year and we are expecting a record amount of people to be traveling.

40 million people from the 19th of December to the second day of the year when many of us will be making our ways -- our way back home and our ways back to work. So it is going to be a lot of traveling and a lot of congestion in the next few years. But many of the people here I spoke to told me that they are feeling OK about it and not too anxious.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CATHERINE AUSTIN, FLYING TO FLORIDA: Flights a little delayed, so I feel like we have a little extra time to get through everything, less stress. I know some people would be more stressed, but --

PAZMINO: Yes.

AUSTIN: -- I'm happy with the extra time.

LUCY, FLYING TO MIAMI: Well, we're going to see our grandma and we're going to go swimming. And I'm hoping I can find a shark tooth at the beach.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PAZMINO: I wish I was going to Miami to find a shark tooth on the beach, Fred. Those two little girls were very excited about making their way to Miami for the holidays. And that's what most people I've spoken to here have been telling me that at the other end of a busy travel day, they'll be seeing their families, their loved one, their loved ones, their grandchildren.

So they have something very important and very special to look forward to. Not everyone is flying, Fred, the vast majority of Americans. In fact, 107 million of them are expected to take to the roads this year. That is according to an estimate by AAA.

Most people will be on the roads. So good weather and good traffic patterns are what they are going to be in need of. But definitely a lot of patience planning ahead and just being kind to your neighbor while you're on the roads out there. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Oh great advice. I love the calm and the excitement of that little girl and that she's so chatty. She was giving us nice detail. I could picture what her holidays are going to be all about at the beach looking for shark teeth. I like it.

All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much at LaGuardia Airport.

All right, of course this season, I can be pretty dicey when it comes to the weather and this year is no exception as several winter storms could create challenges for last-minute shoppers and travelers alike.

Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin is tracking the latest forecast for us. So are we talking about a lot of snafus because of snow?

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We could be certainly. I mean, there are areas in the country where the weather is just not acting too nice as you mentioned at the top of the show, Fredricka. Today is the first day of winter which on a bright side on a bright note also means that we're 90 days away from the start of spring.

Coincidentally across the country as you can see on the map behind me, some of us are dealing with winter time. Some of us are dealing with spring. So let me work you through that. Up here across the Northeast, we have a weather maker that has its grips on the Northeast as well as the Great Lakes and that is leading to the potential for some snow.

[12:05:05]

We could even see some more in the way of lake effect snow here across the Great Lakes. The winds are howling with this system as well. We have seen some wind gusts as high as 40 miles per hour that, of course, has led to some delays in the Northeast.

The yellow airplanes you see on this map, Cleveland at New York, that means minor delays. And that should be expected as we go through the rest of today as the system starts to try and loosen its grips across the Northeast.

We're also dealing with a strong blast of cold air from Canada going all the way down into the southeast. You can see in Atlanta, Georgia average high is 55 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. We're looking at temperatures in the upper 40s New York City. Your average high 43 degrees and you're going to struggle to get out of the 20s for several days.

In fact, we're not looking at a average Christmas for you. The average high is 43 degrees. You'll be sitting at about 37 degrees on Christmas. You're not above average until we get into next weekend. Pushing out to the West, that's where we got the spring like weather though, and your weather is fairly tranquil across a big chunk of the West.

The really warm stuff is bottled up across the four corners. Then once you start getting up a little closer to the Pacific Northwest, that's where we have a series of weathermakers coming ashore over the next week or so that is going to lead to some coastal rainfall here and then some mountain snow as well.

Some of us could be measuring that snow in feet believe it or not. I'm talking to you up here across the interior portions of Washington. Now, in terms of your traveling tomorrow and going on into Monday, we're not looking at a ton of delays here unless you are out here across the Pacific Northwest.

So all the delays that we're talking about right now, Fredricka, and the Northeast, that will start to wane as we go through time. I do want to leave you with this, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK.

MAULDIN: Here's a fun fact. If you like the daylight, well, today is the day with the fewest amount of daylight hours. However, we start adding on to that daylight as we go through time by the time we get to March 20th, the spring Equinox.

If you live in New York, you get 12 hours 10 minutes of sunshine and then a whopping 15 hours and six minutes --

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

MAULDIN: -- Fredricka come summertime.

WHITFIELD: OK. See, I like all that optimism you presented to us.

MAULDIN: Yes, there you go. You know, a little bit of negativity but ending a positive note.

WHITFIELD: Very high note. All right. Thank you so much, Tyler. Appreciate it.

MAULDIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All righty. Well, we've got so much more straight ahead including why investigators are trying to now figure out what in the world happened at a Christmas market in Germany. What's the motive behind the driver who careened in crowds there in this deadly attack leading to the deaths of five people.

The death toll could rise. We've just learned that one of the victims was a nine-year-old child. Dozens more were badly hurt after a car plowed through the crowd and that was Friday night. Officials say the suspect is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who is a permanent resident of Germany and authorities say he has a history of making anti-Islam statements and is a self-identified Saudi dissident.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is at the scene of the attack. We're behind him. We can also see it's become a big memorial there. Tell me how people are feeling and where the investigation is going from here.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first of all, Fredricka. I think people here are an absolute shock and you can see that throughout the day as more and more people have come here to this makeshift memorial right at the edge of the Christmas market where all of this happened at around 7:00 p.m. yesterday.

And just a lot of these people laying flowers or people that we're seeing who are bursting out into tears just thinking about all this. I'm going to get out of your way for a second so we can see the sea of flowers. Actually someone lighting a candle here right now. You can also see in the sea of flowers that there's a lot of sort of stuffed animals, toy animals in there. Obviously, you just mentioned that one of the people who was killed was a nine-year-old, a child and that's definitely something that also weighs very heavily on this community and all the people who are coming out here.

It's very difficult to overstate how much we've been out here in the better part of the day, Fredricka, how much this memorial has grown. It seems to us as though people from this entire city are coming out and laying flowers and even from the surrounding areas. That's how badly this community was hit.

Now, you're absolutely right to point out that the authorities' fear that the death toll could actually rise because there are so many people with such severe injuries. The German chancellor, he was here earlier today. He talked about that. He also talked about that. He believes that this community, the society now needs to stick together.

Let's listen to what Olaf Scholz had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): What's important for me is that when such an appalling event and such an appalling attack takes place which injures and kills so many people almost the day of the anniversary of the Breitscheidplatz terror attack in Berlin.

[12:10:01]

What's important in that context is that we stick together. We come together as a country and we ensure that hatred does not win the day. Rather that we remember that we are a community and we have a common future and that we can't let those who want to sow hatred win.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PLEITGEN: As Olaf Scholz earlier today speaking at the scene of the attack and one of the things we were out here last night shortly after all this happened was that there was a massive response coming from the authorities. It was very quick. There were a lot of ambulances that were here at the scene, police vehicles, of course, the fire department as well.

One of the figures that we got today from a press conference from the local authorities is that they said that patients were evacuated to 15 clinics and hospitals around the greater region here because of course the hospitals here in the city, even though it is a very large city were overwhelmed very quickly.

So it was definitely a very fast, a very professional response and I think that's one of the things that the authorities here are taking away as a positive if there can be a positive in all this that the reaction was very fast. One of the other things of course that Germany is speaking about now is the security at Christmas markets and how that needs to be improved in the future, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: And then what are -- what more are we learning about the suspect? I mean, he's been a resident of Germany for quite some time. What happened?

PLEITGEN: He certainly -- yes, he certainly has. He's been in Germany apparently since 2006. He's been a resident for an extended period of time. He worked apparently at a hospital near the Magdeburg area and it's unclear what exactly happened to him.

That was one of the things that that press conference that we watched earlier today is that the authorities are still saying that they still sort of are in the early stages of trying to define what exactly this man's motive may have been in all this.

Some of them said that it might be dissatisfaction towards the asylum policies of Germany's towards Saudi asylum seekers, but it really was unclear what exactly that was supposed to mean. It certainly seems as though there was some sort of process that this man went through.

One of the things that really stood out to us today to though is how fast if he did it -- that he was able to cause a lot of carnage. The Germans are saying that the first emergency call came to them at two minutes past 7:00 p.m. last night, and the man was in custody by five minutes past 7:00 p.m.

So in three minutes, a lot of people were injured when that vehicle plowed through that Christmas market, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.

All right, still ahead this hour, U.S. government shutdown averted. Moments ago, President Biden signed a temporary funding bill into law. The U.S. Senate passed it shortly after midnight. Details on what is and is not in the bill, next.

Plus, the Amazon workers strike just got bigger. How the growing walkout could impact your holiday deliveries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:17:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, President Biden just signed the stopgap government funding bill into law capping off a chaotic week on Capitol Hill. Just after midnight, the U.S. Senate passed the measure keeping the government funded through mid-March. Their colleagues in the House passed the bill just a few hours prior, following a week of back and forth negotiations between Republicans, Democrats and President-elect Donald Trump.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is at the White House for us live. So Julia, I mean, this bill got through with overwhelming support, you know, after, well, I guess is the third iteration of it. But, you know, finally Democrats are on board. A great feeling of relief coming from President Biden? JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A chaotic week is definitely the right way to put it. And this time yesterday, we didn't know if lawmakers on Capitol Hill would be able to come to an agreement and get a funding bill to the President's desk before the holidays.

But as you mentioned, he has signed that bill into law and released this statement saying, quote "The agreement represents a compromise which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity".

Now, this solution comes after a lot of back and forth on Capitol Hill. Congress seemed poised earlier in the week to pass a bipartisan deal, but President-elect Trump spoke out against it and essentially upended that plan. In response to his opposition, Republicans tanked that bipartisan deal frustrating Democrats both here at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

The GOP-led House then tried and failed to pass a Trump-backed measure and it included a two-year suspension of the debt limit. That specific part of it received a lot of push back from members on both sides of the aisle, with Democrats arguing that it would make it easier for Trump to pass his tax plan in the future.

So let's take a look at what actually ended up in this version of the bill that they just signed into law. It will fund the government until mid-March, March 14th to be exact. It includes $100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion in farm aid.

Now, speaking with reporters after the House voted, the top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries framed this as a win.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), MINORITY LEADER: House Democrats have successfully funded the government at levels requested by President Biden. This is a victory for the American people. We have successfully advanced the needs of everyday Americans, but there are still things to be worked on and we look forward to that fight in the New Year.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BENBROOK: And in that New Year, Republicans will hold a trifecta with control of the White House, the Senate and the House. But this chaotic week gives us a preview into some of the challenges they still may face as they try to enact Trump's agenda.

[12:20:09]

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook at the White House. Thank you so much.

All right, joining us right now is John Garamendi, he is a Democrat from California and a member of the House Armed Services and Transportation Committees. Great to see you and happy holidays. REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: And to you.

WHITFIELD: Well, first up, are you happy with this funding bill the President has now signed?

GARAMENDI: Well, absolutely happy that it got done because had it not been done, there'd be a world of hurt all across America and it would be a very, very bad Christmas for nearly every American. We wanted to get this done. We put together a very comprehensive and bipartisan, bicameral Senate and House and actually Elon Musk torpedoed it. He killed it.

Why he did that? Well, there's a lot of people thinking that maybe he did it for his own personal interests, having to do with his investments in China. Nevertheless, Trump then jumped on it and we saw that the Republicans in the House of Representatives continued once again to be unable to govern.

They couldn't pass the bill. They then went back and we put together a compromise both the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans. And so there is no shutdown at least until March. We're going to go back through this whole game once again in March and it'll be even more interesting at that point to see the chaos, once again, that is coming out of the Trump administration.

Will Elon play a role in March? My guess is he probably will. Will it be the same kind of kill, kill, kill legislation that he did this time around? Probably so. What will that mean? It'll mean the Democrats once again in the House and the Senate will have to do the governing because the Republicans are simply unable to do it on their own.

WHITFIELD: So how are you preparing yourself for that potential scenario if what you just described happens again come mid-March? I mean, we heard the minority leader Hakeem Jeffries say, you know, we're looking forward to another fight because there are still other things to work on?

GARAMENDI: Well, I think you need to understand what we're fighting for in this particular shutdown and the CR that prevented it. We have a clear desire to make sure that every day Americans, the truck drivers, the teachers, the nurses, the people that are working on construction that they were able to have through the Christmas holidays the necessary federal services.

That's where we're going to be going in January, February, March and throughout the Trump administration. We're going to continue to fight for everyday average Americans and that will then bring us to the table in March.

Keep in mind that one of the principal things that Trump wanted was to grease the skids so that he could pass another massive tax cuts, some $2 trillion tax cut 80 percent or 85 percent of which goes to the top 1 percent of Americans, people like Elon Musk.

That will be the major fight coming down in March. We're going to push back on that. Yes, there ought to be a tax cut but these are for the working men and women, the teachers, the truck drivers, the people that are working on construction. And we've got to make sure that those people that do not have an ability to work, that they're properly cared for. That will be the fight.

So if there's going to be a tax cut, it certainly ought not be for the super wealthy, the billionaire class Elon Musk of the world. But that's where Trump wants to go. So let's hone in on what we'll be facing over the next three months.

Trump will put forth an extension of his 2017 tax cut which put $2,300,000,000,000 hole in the national debt. We're going to oppose that.

WHITFIELD: This also exemplified, you know, the last week and a half kind of exemplified how influential President-elect Trump is before he's even been sworn into office, you know, just a little over 30 days away from inauguration. But at the same time, do you think Trump's expectations as he came in with this last-minute demand, you know, that the debt ceiling be removed, that he was also met with sort of a reality check?

They were at least 38 Republicans that were not all the way on board with his vision. So how does that, in your view, lay the groundwork of what's to come?

GARAMENDI: Well, it's a very, very clear signal to Trump, to Elon, and anybody else that wants to put forth a $2.3 trillion tax cut for the super wealthy that they've got an uphill fight ahead of them. Clearly, the Republican caucus is not unified.

[12:25:10]

38 on the first piece of legislation, 33 on the second piece of legislation did not vote with Trump and Musk. They decided that they were not going to do so principally because they are the deficit hawks and they know what's coming from Trump and from Moscow. And that is a whopping tax break for the super wealthy.

So they opposed it. That then put in play the reality that once again, and this has happened repeatedly in the 218th Congress over the last two years, the Democrats came forward put together the necessary compromise, good public policy, and pass legislation to keep the government functioning, and not grease the skids for the Trump-Musk tax cut.

WHITFIELD: I just want to switch topics right now too, if we could. You know, as we all watch that horrific, you know, set of events out of Germany at the holiday market yesterday, I wonder if it provokes any thoughts or concerns for you here domestically as we are in the holiday season.

We've got large gatherings. Certainly this kind of pronounced, you know, some risk with soft, you know, target locations. What are your thoughts and concerns about preparedness for anything like that where a large people -- large numbers of people are gathering and, you know, ensuring their protections here in the states? GARAMENDI: Well, certainly, this is a major concern. We've seen this in the United States. We've seen it in Europe principally Germany over the last few years. In the United States, we saw this in Virginia when the neo-Nazis were parading and there was a counter-demonstration.

We've seen it in the upper Midwest during celebrations of various kinds. This is a message to the police forces across this nation that they're going to have to take extra steps to protect crowds that are gathering.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congressman John Garamendi, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much. Have a great holiday season and thank you all year long making yourself available to us on the weekends here in the Newsroom. Thank you.

GARAMENDI: And you have a wonderful holiday also, Fredricka. Bye-bye.

WHITFIELD: Bye-bye. Wonderful.

All right, Amazon workers aren't the only ones on strike ahead of the holidays. Why Starbucks employees in several cities are walking off the job?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:48]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With only a few days left until the Christmas rush is over, a couple of works stoppages that could impact your holiday cheer. Thousands of workers at Starbucks and Amazon are striking in several cities. Amazon is claiming your holiday deliveries will not be affected. But a coffee break at a Starbucks in some major cities, well, it could be -- have to be -- that may have to be taken off your to do list. CNN's Camila Bernal is joining us right now from a Starbucks in California. All right, how are people, you know, feeling there that they may not be able to get their cup of Joe or cappuccino?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not great, Fred. It's 9:30 local time here in the morning and it's not usually the case where you come into a Starbucks and the door is closed. We've actually had a number of people come and say, what, you're closed? What about my coffee?

And so, you know, it's been a process for a lot of these employees who say that they want fair wages, that they want Starbucks to come to the negotiating table. They feel like it's not fair that top employees and leadership make thousands, maybe millions of dollars and they are struggling to pay their rent.

Now Starbucks says they are disappointed about the union's decision to strike. Right now it's only stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. But they do say that if there is no agreement by Christmas Eve, then you could see more stores across the country from coast to coast being closed during these holiday hours. So again, Starbucks saying they are disappointed, but a lot of these employees, they just want to get the attention of the public and, of course, of the people at the negotiating table. Even though the union has been negotiating since February, they want a contract to be in place by the end of the year. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. The pressure is on. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

All right. A new CNN film examines the storied career of one of the most influential artists of all time, Luther Vandross. From his formative years in Harlem, appearing in the Apollo Theater House Band and the first episodes of "Sesame Street" to the rise as the King of Love Songs. Using a wealth of archives, Luther tells his own story along with voices of his closest musical collaborators and friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIAH CAREY, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND RECORD PRODUCER: You only come across an artist like Luther Vandross once in a lifetime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luther said, I have a sound in my head. I got to get it out. So went in the studio, says, OK. It goes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I said, this is a quirky little bass line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the most exciting time in the world. My head, my heart was immersed in this business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His life had some extremely joyful moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four albums and all of them platinum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some really difficult moments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would say, God has given me everything I ask for except one person who loves me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I keep getting the feeling that the best part of my career is still ahead of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If were to be able to talk to Luther as fans, we've been on since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just love you.

[12:35:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luther: Never Too Much, New Year's Day on CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Right now, family and friends are gathered in Wisconsin for The funeral of 14-year-old Rubi Patricia Vergara. She was among the victims of the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Monday. According to her obituary, Rubi was a freshman, an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard. Forty-two-year-old teacher Erin Michelle West was also killed. And six others were hurt when police say 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha, opened fire at the private school earlier this week. Police believe the shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

[12:40:21]

Another major legal victory for President-elect Donald Trump. On Thursday, a Georgia Court of Appeals discourse disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the alleged criminal efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, a case years in the making. Willis has already vowed to contest the decision, filing a notice that she plans to ask the state's Supreme Court to review the lower court's ruling.

Here with us now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Joey, great to see you and happy holidays. So in this appeals court ruling, it is said, I'm quoting now, while we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings. So the court says, you know, just an appearance of impropriety doesn't support Willis's removal. But in the end, they did feel they needed to disqualify her. How do you interpret this?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good to be with you, Fredricka. I think it's an unusual ruling from a legal perspective. I think other people can debate the politics of it. But when you look at it from a legal perspective, it's unusual and potentially wrong. And here's why I say that. Number one, what the court said, and that's the lower court. Remember, this is an appeals court. The original court had a two and a half day hearing you might remember, an evidentiary hearing as to whether or not there was a conflict of interest.

There were findings of fact made after a number of witnesses testified. And they noted that trial court did that there was the appearance of a conflict of interest. Now, the significance of that, the court of appeals now says is that a conflict -- an appearance alone is a -- gives you the ability to disqualify. That's just not the law.

And the dissent, right, has said that's the judge who disagreed with the majority, right, has said that in 45 years there has not been and it's not been the law that because of the appearance of impropriety that you disqualify someone. That has to be an actual conflict of interest, not the appearance. That's number one.

Number two, very briefly is usually an appellate court sits in judgment to decide whether the trial court abused its discretion. That means that they exercised judgment that was just so unreasonable as to be overturned. And this court basically said, yes, generally speaking, you don't, unless you're a trial court, unless there's an egregious error made by the lower court with respect to discretion, that's a judgment, a legal judgment overrules. So I think on those two basis, I think it's a questionable decision. And you know, she's right that it's Fani Willis to appeal it to the next court, which is the Supreme Court, of course, of Georgia.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll see if they take it or what the decision might be rendered in that case. All right. I want to shift gears now and -- and also talk to you about another big case in the past couple of weeks. Luigi Mangione, he is a suspect in the killing of the healthcare CEO. He could be arraigned as early as Monday. He's facing a slew of new charges in the killing of Brian Thompson. Mangione has 11 charges in New York, including first degree murder as an act of terrorism. He's also facing federal charges now and actually being held in federal custody. So what do you make of the prioritizing of these cases in New York and federal case?

JACKSON: You know, so there will be certainly discussions and negotiations between federal authorities and state authorities as to who goes first. And that could really change in terms of prosecuting him, just like there's been cooperation and was discussions to get him back from Pennsylvania. Ultimately, though, it's a matter of justice and whether or not he'll be served. And if you look at the distinction, of course, in New York, they're charging him with those 11 charges, as you mentioned, Fredricka, murder in the first degree being one of them under theory that it was a terrorist attack.

Then of course, murder in the second degree, noting that there was a terror component associated with it. And then there are the certain gun count possessions that he has in New York. That's interesting because the federal case, Fredricka, doesn't charge terrorism. Instead, it charges stalking. And so ultimately, who goes first will be a matter of debate and consideration between authorities. I think the ultimate question is that there is a trial and that, you know, whether or not a jury, whether it's in panel convicts will be an open question because he's such a celebrity now, right, Saint Luigi.

But I think, you know, no matter who goes first, the issue is whether they can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. And if so, he'll be convicted and if not, he won't be.

[12:45:05]

WHITFIELD: All right. Big cases. All right. Joey Jackson, thank you so much and happy holidays.

JACKSON: Thank you, Fredricka. You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. It's a pretty big week and weekend for college football. The first ever 12 team playoff is underway. Notre Dame was the first advance to the quarterfinals last night and the first of three big games just kicked off, including Tennessee taking on the Ohio State in a huge game pitting the SEC against the Big Ten. Andy Scholes is all over it. He's there in Columbus, Ohio. Still a little chilly, but you're there. This is going to be a hot game.

[12:50:19]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Hot game, cold day though, right? Fredricka, I mean it's going to be subfreezing all day here in Columbus. These fans better bundle up because it's only going to get colder here tonight for the first ever December home game for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But we did have similar weather yesterday in South Bend, Indiana as the 12 team college football playoff kicked off with the game between Notre Dame and Indiana.

And those Fighting Irish players, I mean, they set the tone from the start. They went out there on the field and warmed up shirtless before the game saying those frigid temperatures were not going to bother them one bit. And despite being less than 200 miles apart, these -- for these two schools, this was the first matchup between them since 1991. It was dominated by Notre Dame, though. The teams, they traded interceptions early.

But then it was Jeremiyah Love. The play of the game, a 98-yard touchdown run sent the whole stadium into a frenzy. That run tied a school record. And the Irish, they would go on to win 27-17 to get their first ever playoff victory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCUS FREEMAN, NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH: I've never been a part of an environment like that. It was -- it was special. The crowd played a factor. The -- the -- the noise played a factor. You know, it was -- it was -- it was a special thing to be a part of.

RILEY LEONARD, NOTRE DAME QUARTERBACK: This is special for us and, you know, a lot of us, me being a guy who, you know, my freshman year I went 3 and 9 and didn't have, you know, was just begging to make a bowl game to be -- to be playing in the Sugar Bowl right now, you know, I got to kind of go full circle now and, you know, it's -- it's really cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES: Yes. So Notre Dame is now going to move on to face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day. Meanwhile, here at the Horseshoe in Columbus, there's going to be a lot of anxious fans for this Ohio State game against Tennessee. It's because the last time they were on this field, they lost for the fourth straight time against their hated rivals, Michigan. And a lot of the fans here, they have not been happy with Ryan Day, their head coach. And I walked around outside a little while ago and talked to him and asked him should he be on the hot seat.

WHITFIELD: Ouch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm feeling that Ryan is got to win today. And from there, it's day by day. But he wins today. I think he'll be all right. But he definitely, he better -- he better win today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's just a lot of pent up frustration. Quite frankly, we better get off to a good start or else the -- the -- the crowd might get a little surly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, the man's won 92 percent of his games over his career as a head coach. So, I mean, yes, people say he's on the hot seat, but I don't really see how. I don't -- I don't understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, that guy's on Ryan Day side, but a lot of the fans, Fredricka, they really say you better win this game today here today --

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

SCHOLES: -- quarterfinals or you may not, should -- should not be the coach moving forward.

WHITFIELD: Oh, he's screwed.

SCHOLES: But there was also some Tennessee fans out in the parking lot kind of trolling state fans with a big Michigan blow up out there. So they're trying to add to that narrative. And -- and, you know, Fredricka, a couple of fans I talked to, they said, you know, they really hope the Buckeyes get off to a hot start here today because if not, this stadium could become an uneasy place.

WHITFIELD: Lordy B, that -- that is -- that is tough. That is some serious playing under pressure. Good gosh. All right, Andy Scholes, tough sport, tough fans. Thank you.

SCHOLES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, this morning, President Biden signed the stopgap funding bill into law preventing a U.S. government shutdown. As Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last night, after the House passed the bill, President-elect Trump was kept informed on the progress throughout the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I was in constant contact with -- with President Trump throughout this process. Spoke with him most recently about 45 minutes ago. He -- he knew exactly what we're doing and why. And -- and this is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Steve Contorno is in South Florida, close to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. All right, so what has been the reaction from the President-elect? He didn't get everything he wanted, but is he commenting? STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, there's a major piece of this that Trump really wanted, and that was that he was hoping House Republicans could force a bill through that would have eliminated a debt ceiling votes early in his presidency. And that was something that he had said if he didn't get that, he would primary the Republicans who voted in favor of a -- of a C.R. or continuing resolution to fund the government that didn't include that.

[12:55:03]

Well, ultimately, 170 Republicans in the House and dozens of Republicans senators vote for -- voted for a bill that did just yet. And privately, we are told Trump expressed frus -- frustration with this process and frustration that he didn't get that debt ceiling vote off the table in 2025, although he ultimately became resigned to the fact that, look, Democrats still control the Senate, the Republican majority in the House is very narrow.

And there were Republicans who, as much as Trump has demanded loyalty from his party, were not willing to go through with a -- a extension of the debt limit beyond 2025. So ultimately, he was resigned to the fact that this was the political reality at the moment, that he couldn't get everything he wanted without forcing a shutdown and risking the political fallout from them. So ultimately, this is where we ended up, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Steve Contorno, thank you so much. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)