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Vigil For Victims Of Deadly German Christmas Market Attack; Government Funding Passes Without Trump's Key Demand; Interview With Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA); Houthis Claim Responsibility For Missile That Struck Tel Aviv; Syrian Refugees Debate Returning To Post-Assad Syria; Rain, Snow Could Impact Holiday Travel This Weekend; Airlines Expect Record Number Of Holiday Travelers; Amazon, Starbucks Workers Walk Off The Job. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 21, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:49]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And tonight a vigil was held in the German city of Magdeburg, near the site of a deadly attack on a crowded Christmas market. Five people were killed when that car plowed through the crowd Friday night. One of the victims, a nine-year-old. More than 200 others were hurt, including 40 with critical injuries.

Officials say the suspect is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, who's lived in Germany since 2006 and has a history of making anti- Islam statements.

CNN's Matthew Chance is at the scene of that attack. Matthew, what is the scene like tonight?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, it's very quiet. Obviously it's late at night here, but there are still people coming along and paying their respects at this Christmas marketplace, which has been cleared out as you can see, and is still sealed off.

There's also been developments tonight in the investigation with it emerging that Saudi Arabia notified and warned the German authorities multiple times about the suspect they now have in custody.

This, as the German government is vowing to leave no stone unturned as it tries to get to the bottom of this tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Outside the cathedral in Magdeburg, Germans are grieving and paying their respects. The deadly attack on a Christmas market here on Friday night has left many bereft.

CORINNA PAGELS, MAGDEBURG RESIDENT: Well, I've seen a lot of misery. Many people who were searching, many tears, bewilderment and extreme states of shock.

CHANCE: This is the moment a speeding vehicle plowed into the bustling crowd, killing at least five people according to German officials, and injuring more than 200. Carnage. But from an unexpected threat.

Well, this is exactly the kind of attack on a packed Christmas market that Germany has suffered in the past and feared could happen again.

But what's so unexpected is the profile of the alleged attacker, not an Islamist, but anti-Islam. Not a recent immigrant to Germany, but settled here for nearly 20 years. Part of the community, a doctor in a nearby clinic. Very few, if any, saw that coming.

Now dramatic video has emerged of the suspect's arrest at the scene of the market attack. A U.S. activist group has now identified him as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old originally from Saudi Arabia who once described himself as history's most aggressive critic of Islam, particularly opposed to the Saudi regime.

On social media, Abdulmohsen has repeatedly expressed support for the German far right AFD party, also claiming Germany wants to Islamize Europe.

And now this horrific attack, allegedly committed by a self-confessed Islamophobe fueling Germany's growing anti-immigration mood.

"Our politicians are responsible for this," One local, Barbara, told me. "I think there should be a clean-up of people who do these things," she says.

"Now is time to close our borders," says this man, Tom.

Germany's pain and grief is already giving way to anger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Jessica, that anger was seen on the streets of Magdeburg earlier this evening because hundreds of far-right activists taking to the streets calling for the deportation of migrants in the country shouting -- shouting slogans, carrying banners. "Remigration" read a big banner at the front of them.

[17:04:51]

CHANCE: Immigration in Germany has been growing as one of the major political issues in the country. And this attack, just a few days before Christmas, of course, has really poured fuel on the flames, as it were, Jessica.

DEAN: No doubt about that. Matthew. Chance for us there in Germany. Thank you very much.

CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen both join us now. It's good to see both of you.

Peter, I want to start first with you, with our sources telling CNN Saudi Arabia sent multiple warnings to German authorities about this suspect that were ignored. The earliest being sent back in 2007. What do you make of those warnings being dismissed?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I don't exactly know. He had claimed asylum in Germany. And I'm sure the Saudis may well, we don't know exactly the precise nature of what they were warning, but presumably they were hoping that he might get to be extradited back to Saudi Arabia.

Well, we all know how Saudi Arabia treats people that they consider to be dissidents. Just think about the case of Jamal Khashoggi in -- who was murdered by Saudi officials six years ago.

So, you know, the Germans may well have had good reason to either be suspicious of these warnings in the sense of, you know, the Saudis don't have a particularly good human rights record. Or there may be some other explanation which we don't know.

DEAN: And Kim, Saudi authorities have alleged that the man harassed Saudis abroad who opposed his political views. They also noted he'd become a supporter of the far-right alternative -- far-right party alternative for Germany.

What are the kind of the politics around this attack?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you can already see with the response in the streets of the city where the attack took place, it is going to likely spur more anti-immigrant sentiment just ahead of the February snap elections, because the government in Germany, just dissolved days -- a little over a week ago.

And already the alternative for Germany Party, which has been labeled by German security services as extremist, it is running second in the polls.

An attack like this might well help them get more of a share of government. Could they win? If they would make a major win at the coming elections, it spells a difference in everything from immigration to Germany's Ukraine policy.

And it's a really disturbing fallout -- potential fallout from this awful attack. But at this point, you know, if you are in Germany wondering what to make of it, this attacker, he said that he was pro AFD. He was against the Saudi government. He was against Islam.

It's going to raise a lot of questions that make it hard to cast him as the typical ISIS-style attacker. It's going to leave people in Germany wondering exactly what spurred him on to do this.

DEAN: And Peter, I just want to get your thoughts on that same -- that same topic.

BERGEN: Well, you know, the big question everybody wants to know is why? And the uncomfortable answer is there may be no really good reason. I'm not suggesting that an ISIS attacker has a good reason either to

kill innocent civilians. But at least, you know, in the case of the Berlin market attack in 2016, it was clearly inspired by ISIS and endorsed by ISIS.

But just think about some attacks on our own country. It's still not really clear what the motivations were for Thomas Crooks, who tried to assassinate president Donald Trump. Was it an attempt for notoriety or what?

We still don't really know the motivations of the largest mass murder carried out by a shooter in Las Vegas, who attacked a group of people attending a concert.

And so, you know, we may never know the exact motivations of this guy, except that he probably was having some kind of life crisis. He seems to be shopping for grievances. And most of us have grievances, but we tend to grieve them away.

Somebody like the alleged assaulter here is somebody who clearly was not able to get over those grievances and came up with a plan of attack and probably rehearsed it as many attackers do, or scoped out the Christmas market before he did it.

And clearly, this was, you know, what the FBI called the pathway to violence. And he went all the way down it.

DEAN: And Kim, Peter noted that attack in 2016, in Berlin on a Christmas market there. Since then, Germany had had gone to great lengths to try to add additional security layers to these Christmas markets because it is such a soft target, people walking around in very tight quarters.

[17:09:55]

DEAN: And yet that wasn't enough to protect them in this situation.

DOZIER: Yes. The main question that still remained after the police gave a press conference today was how did the doctor manage to access the emergency route into the market, because this market did have concrete barriers called bollards all around, to stop someone from driving in.

But there was one area kept clear specifically for emergency vehicles, and German officials haven't figured out. Was there no one on duty there? Or did this guy flash his medical credentials?

He was driving normally as he started turning in there. He only picked up speed apparently after he was inside and it was too late to stop him. Just one of the many questions that Germans are left with tonight.

But you can guarantee, you know, he was not born in Germany. So I think it's going to fuel those anti-immigrant movements that already exist there and spell a very uncertain future for German politics in the coming years. DEAN: Certainly.

And Peter, you have to wonder in these sorts of situations, is there a concern for the possibility of copycat attacks? We know NYPD is beefing up its own security around these kinds of markets here in New York, but just that's something we see a lot of in Europe, for sure.

Is there a concern that this this might be -- someone might try to replicate this.

BERGEN: You know, school shooters study Columbine almost obsessively, often. And school shooters look, you know, look at other school shootings.

Terrorists also copycat other terrorists. I mean, and, you know, vehicle rammings happen in the United States. That happened -- there was one in Manhattan which killed eight people in 2017. It was an Uzbek-American inspired by ISIS.

So, you know, it's perfectly reasonable for law enforcement to be concerned about people potentially copycatting this attack because people have copycatted this kind of approach before.

DEAN: Just a terrible story, especially a few days before Christmas, and especially with that nine-year-old who is dead and the others who have been injured.

Kim Dozier and Peter Bergen, thank you so much. We appreciate your expertise on this.

Still ahead, the government funding bill is passed without Trump's key demand from Republicans. That would be to deal with the debt ceiling. We're going to get a reaction from a lawmaker on what that rare rejection means.

Plus, thousands of workers at Starbucks and Amazon are on strike in several cities. We'll have a live report on what that could mean for your holiday delivery and coffee breaks.

And it could be the busiest year in holiday travel season ever. But weather could have a big impact. A live report on what you need to know before you hit the road, head to the airport.

We've got you covered this weekend.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:12:45]

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DEAN: The dust is settling on Capitol Hill after a chaotic 48 hours of bargaining, with lawmakers striking a deal to avoid a government shutdown.

But it is raising questions about what governing may look like during President-Elect Donald Trump's second term.

What did not make it in was the one thing Trump insisted on suspending or eliminating the debt ceiling. Dozens of House Republicans ignored that.

And CNN's Steve Contorno is joining us now from West Palm Beach with more on this.

Steve, some 38 Republicans did not want to go along with what Trump wanted them to.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Jessica. And ultimately, 170 Republicans on Friday voted in favor of a spending bill that did not include Donald Trump's demands to eliminate the debt ceiling fight that is going to occur now early next year.

Earlier in the week, he had posted on social media that any Republican who went along with a quote-unquote "clean continuing resolution" that didn't include an extension of the debt limit should be primaried.

But ultimately, the 170 Republicans in the House and dozens more in the Senate felt comfortable enough bucking their incoming party leader. Their new president elect and voting in favor of keeping the government funded and open.

And Trump, ultimately, while disappointed with this outcome, he said that he understood in conversations with lawmakers why this was not a Hill worth dying on and that shutting down the government would not be a positive political path to take at this time.

Elon Musk, Trump's sort of co-conspirator in this entire effort to shut down the government and blow up this spending bill, he has also been looking for silver linings in the last 48 hours.

You know, just a few days ago, he posted on social media, quote, "No bill should be passed by Congress until January 20th when Donald Trump takes office." But if you fast forward to Friday, Trump -- excuse me -- Musk instead, he said the Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances. It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces.

So clearly trying to claim victory in narrowing this bill from a sprawling 1,500-page document into a much more easier to read one.

[17:19:53]

CONTORNO: Although when you talk to Republicans on the Hill, Jessica, many of them point out that while the bill was smaller, the price tag didn't go down.

DEAN: And Steve, we're also learning about some new appointments from Trump. What more can you tell us about those?

CONTORNO: Yes, one major interesting one is that Mark Burnett will be a special envoy to the United Kingdom for Trump. Mark Burnett is someone Trump has known for a long time. He is the producer and creator behind "The Apprentice".

It's really hard to understand or see Donald Trump's political rise ever happening without the time that he spent in front of a camera on that show and getting beamed into millions of American households.

And now Burnett, who was sort of the force behind many hit shows like "Survivor" and "Shark Tank", he will be another close ally of Trump. Someone who he trusts, someone who has a background in television, who will be getting a job in his administration.

DEAN: All right. Steve Contorno for us in West Palm Beach, thanks so much.

And for more now we are joined by Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle from Pennsylvania. He's also ranking member of the Budget Committee in the House. Congressman, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): Yes, great to be back with you, Jessica.

DEAN: So you just lived through that battle over a potential government shutdown. In order to get this done, do you think your party had to concede too much? What did Democrats ultimately get out of this?

BOYLE: Well, first, let's just be clear about what happened. We had a four-party agreement. House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans.

And then on Wednesday morning, Elon Musk proved that he is the real leader of the Republican Party, because over the course of about four or five or six hours, he tweeted nonstop against the deal that had been negotiated and agreed to by all sides.

And then finally, Donald Trump actually followed Elon Musk's lead some hours later. And what happened was the Speaker, the Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, pulled the bill.

So it shows you who's really calling the shots on the Republican side. And they then went to their Plan B, which was an extreme Republican- only approach that would have added trillions of dollars to our national debt. Democrats stood up and opposed that, and we were able to defeat it.

And so in the end, finally, what passed was a stripped-down bill. It wasn't the one that had at first been largely negotiated in good faith on a bipartisan basis, but it was one that avoided passing all of -- from our perspective, the bad things that Musk and Trump wanted.

DEAN: And would that be eliminating or suspending the debt ceiling?

BOYLE: That's right. You know, there's a big difference. I've always been a supporter of increasing the debt ceiling when it's an issue of paying bills that are coming due for debt that was already issued, basically, decisions on spending that were made by Congresses of the past, sometimes many years in the past. That's quite different from what Republicans were attempting to do

this time, which was initiating an increase in the debt ceiling when it's completely unnecessary, in fact, some nine months ahead of time, because come January, they want to push through more tax cuts for the richest 1 percent of Americans.

That's a big difference between debt ceiling increases of the past and what they were attempting to do this time.

DEAN: And you mentioned this bipartisan legislation that had been agreed to, which was the original legislation that was supposed to be voted on.

And a number of Republicans I've talked to keep saying there was so much pork in it, we slimmed down the bill. We made it smaller. It's better for the American people. There isn't all this unnecessary spending. What do you say to that?

BOYLE: Well, it is as your own reporter just verified before you turned to me. It is literally the same price tag as the bill that had been negotiated by both sides, and that was supposed to be voted-on on Wednesday.

Now there are fewer pages, so perhaps it's a victory for those who really don't want to read. But in terms of cost, it is exactly the same cost.

DEAN: And what do you think it's going to be like? Speaker Johnson, of course, up again has to be voted in as speaker on January 3rd. But assuming that he remains Speaker of the House, what do you think that it looks like negotiating with him moving forward as Democrats?

And how do you think this might have changed what Hakeem Jeffries and your leadership with attacks they might be taking, the strategies they might be employing to negotiate with him?

And what's the Elon Musk of it all? And the Donald Trump of it all?

BOYLE: Yes, the reality is moving forward, this really does have profound ramifications because as I was talking -- as I was talking to Democratic colleagues of mine last night.

[17:24:48]

BOYLE: I was telling them my view that it's pointless to negotiate with Mike Johnson going forward because we know we can't trust his word. But also if he says, ok, Republicans are going to agree to this, we full well know that, frankly, he can't deliver.

I think that we need to negotiate straight to the top, which is either Elon Musk or Donald Trump or both. Because even if Mike Johnson and even if all the Republican leaders say they're on board with something, the moment Elon Musk sends a tweet opposing it, we know that the deal is probably dead.

So looking forward to January. I'm encouraging all of my Democratic colleagues. Let's just go straight to the person who's really calling the shots in the Republican Party. And that's Elon Musk, along with his running mate Donald Trump.

DEAN: And there's also been some criticism around President Biden and his kind of quiet role in this process. And the White House, their messaging on this is that, look, he was a member of the Senate, of course, for many, many years. He understands he wants to let Congress be Congress, let them hash it out. That's kind of how he likes to approach these things.

But it got pretty chaotic. And he was especially quiet in this last tiny bit of his presidency. Should he have done more?

BOYLE: Well, the reality is the difficulties were entirely on the Republican side. So I don't know how President Biden would have been able to help with that.

I mean, all of the difficulties were internal Republican issues that, frankly, aren't new. I mean, let's not forget the way this session of Congress began in January of two years ago. It began with four days and 15 rounds of voting just to elect their own guy, the Speaker of the House.

The same person Kevin McCarthy, who then nine months later, they turned around and voted out and the House of Representatives was at a standstill for three weeks until they were attempting to elect a new speaker.

So in retrospect, that was really foreshadowing the entirety of this two-year term. We went out exactly as we came in, internal House Republican chaos causing true dysfunction throughout the entire institution.

DEAN: It was an interesting kind of distinction, though, that President Biden ultimately signed this legislation. But President- Elect Trump, who's not even sitting in the Oval Office yet, really had his -- he was controlling so much of it.

BOYLE: Yes. Although in the end, it was actually a failure for Donald Trump. The one thing Trump wanted, by his own words, by the way, not my words, his own words. The one thing he wanted was an increase in the debt ceiling. And that was something he did not get. Some 38 House Republicans, actually, I think, to their credit, stood up and voted against the bill that Donald Trump wanted.

So perhaps I will say there is maybe some sign of optimism that there are more on the other side who are willing to break with Trump and do what they think is right.

After all, they're the ones who are elected to Congress by their constituents, not Donald Trump, and certainly not Elon Musk.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Brendan Boyle, always good to see you. Thank you so much for your time today.

BOYLE: Thank you. Happy holidays. DEAN: Happy holidays to you.

Coming up, Houthi forces in Yemen strike Israel with a missile that slips through its air defenses.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond will show us the damage to a residential community. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:32:37]

DEAN: We have breaking news tonight. The U.S. launching airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. U.S. CENTCOM announcing a missile storage facility and command center was hit in those strikes.

The U.S. action coming after Tel Aviv was hit overnight by a Houthi missile, in a rare instance of a failed interception over the city. At least a dozen people were injured.

The Iran-backed rebel group saying the attack was in response to Israels war in Gaza.

And CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the site of that attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: We are at the scene of this Houthi missile strike in southern Tel Aviv.

And you can see this is where that missile actually made impact. That is the impact crater that's now been covered in by dirt in the middle of this park, with a children's playground in the middle.

There are buildings all around this area damaged by the force of this blast. Windows that have been blown out by the percussive blast.

And this happened in the middle of the night, at quarter to 4:00 in the morning. You can see more of that damage right up here. These windows that have been shattered, the frames of them hanging by a thread now.

At least 16 people suffered minor injuries as a result of this blast caused by those glass fragments that exploded. Fourteen others suffered minor injuries, rushing to shelters.

And while the Houthis say that they struck successfully a military target in Tel Aviv, as you can see, this is not a military target. This is a residential area in southern Tel Aviv.

Now, there are also questions about why the Israeli military failed to intercept this missile. You can see, in video from overnight. At least two interceptor missiles going up into the sky, attempting to intercept that Houthi missile but failing, obviously. And this is the result instead. The Israeli military also, just a few days ago, struck the Houthis inside of Yemen with a series of airstrikes. We expect that that tit- for-tat will continue in the days and weeks ahead.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Jeremy, thank you.

The U.S. says it will scrap a long-standing $10 million bounty on Syria's new de facto leader. Ahmad al-Sharaa leads rebel group HTS that overthrew the brutal Assad regime.

A high-level U.S. delegation traveling to that region this week to meet with the new leaders as the country navigates a delicate transition. The United Nations expecting a million Syrian refugees to return in the next six months.

But as CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports, not all are rushing to go home.

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[17:35:02]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before Ahmad Morjan hugs his mother for the first time in 13 years, they both kneel in prayer. Gratitude for a reunion they never believed would come.

This is one of many emotional homecomings across Syria after the sudden fall of the Assad regime.

At just 19 years old, with security forces hunting him down, Morjan fled his family's home in Aleppo.

Here he is in 2016 --

(SHOUTING)

(EXPLOSION)

ABDELAZIZ: -- reporting for an opposition-based media network as barrel bombs rain down from the sky.

Later that year, Morjan filmed the exodus as thousands withdrew from the last remaining rebel enclave in Aleppo.

"We are leaving with," Morjan says in this clip, "and we will return one day."

That promised return is now finally on the horizon. Morjan says he is planning to move back to Aleppo from Gaziantep, Turkey, where he currently lives with his wife and their two young daughters.

(on camera): What is your dream now for Syria's future?

(voice-over): "I'm optimistic about the future," he says, "and I have huge hope that the country will be better than before."

(GUNFIRE)

ABDELAZIZ: But not all are keen to hurry back to an unstable country with an uncertain future, says this human rights defender.

HUSSAM KASSAS, SYRIAN ASYLUM-SEEKER: There's no sustainable peace, which makes me really afraid of getting back there.

ABDELAZIZ: Hussam Kassas, who is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, is among tens of thousands of Syrians whose applications for asylum were suspended after the U.K. and other European countries paused the process to reassess now that the threat of Assad is gone.

For years, Kassas has documented potential war crimes committed by all major parties to the conflict. If he goes back, he says, his family could be targeted or worse.

(on camera): Why do you not feel safe to return?

KASSAS: We expected a lot of revenge killing will happen. Those soldiers will seek revenge from the people who were trying to hold them accountable, actually.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Many Syrians in the diaspora long to return and rebuild, but this moment of great hope brings with it great uncertainty.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Holiday travel is underway, and it's shaping up to be one of the busiest travel periods heading toward the end of the year. We'll have that report for you next here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:32]

DEAN: Some messy winter weather is making a rough start for millions of Americans who are traveling for the holidays.

Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin is in our Weather Center with the holiday forecast.

I think a lot of people would like to know how things are looking, Tyler.

TYLER MAULDIN, AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: Well, Jessica, we have a series of weather makers moving across the northern tier of the country, which will bring some winter havoc to those of you traveling.

At first glance, this radar looks a little deceiving, but as we zoom into the northeast as well as the Midwest and the Great Lakes, you do see some white on the radar that indicates the snowfall. This area right here across the snow belt has already picked up

roughly a foot of snow, if not a little bit more in some areas. We'll add to that over the next 12 hours.

This is also where most of the air delays are located, and it's mainly not because of the snow, but because of the wind. We have a wind that is getting up to 20, 25 miles per hour now. We have seen gusts as high as 40. So that's strong enough to -- to ground the planes for just a little while.

As we go into Sunday, though, we do see a very tranquil pattern set up briefly, and the emphasis there is briefly, because as we get into Sunday, another quick moving clipper system moves across and that will impact your road travel for sure up there.

Now, on the first full day of winter, we have winter coming in with a bang. We're going to see very cold temperatures here across the eastern two-thirds of the country. We're talking wind chills in the single digits in some areas and struggling to get back up to normal during the afternoon.

New York City, I believe it's going to take almost until next weekend for you to get back above average.

And Jessica, I'll end with this. Tomorrow, going into Monday, overall for air delays looks fairly calm. However, do notice that we have a series of weather makers impacting the west here.

So anywhere from northern California up into the Pacific northwest, you could run into some air delays there.

DEAN: All right, Tyler Mauldin, thanks so much for that update.

Let's go now to LaGuardia Airport in New York, where CNN's Gloria Pazmino has been speaking with some holiday travelers.

And, Gloria, what have you found?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, two very good things to get started with. One is that even though we had a little bit of light snow in the early hours here in New York City, it was a good weather day for the most part.

So no issues related to weather here in New York City, where so many flights are coming in and out of.

The other really good news for travelers here today is that the government shutdown was averted.

[17:45:00]

And that means that TSA and other essential employees we're able to come in today without any problems or without having to do it without getting paid, something that we have seen during prior potential shutdowns. So that's good news for airport staff as well as passengers here. For the most part, things have been going pretty well organized. Even

people who are tired because they have been traveling all day told us that they were just relieved to finally get here. They are looking forward to the holidays.

And we are talking about a record number of people. Now let's look at the numbers. This year expected to break records. When you compare it to the figures from last year, 119 million Americans are expected to travel during this busy travel period as we head into the Christmas holiday and the new year.

That is surpassing the 2019 record by 64,000 travelers. And it is three million travelers more than compared to last year. So a lot of traffic.

And actually, most people are taking to the roads. Nearly 107 million Americans are expected to get behind the wheel and get to wherever they're going this holiday season by car. Seven million of them are expected to fly.

So we spoke to a lot of people here throughout the day. Some of them told me that even though they were a little bit delayed, it was OK with them because it meant they had a little bit more time.

They were not as stressed out. It gave them more time to kind of hang out and look forward to their trip. So not even minor delays we're upsetting people here today.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we were driving -- everybody said, are you driving? No, I mean, because you only get a certain amount of time and we've done it many times. But one mishap, it could be a 15-hour drive.

If something goes wrong on the road, pray tell, nobody gets hurt and all that stuff. But by the time you get there, you're done. I mean, we're not 24 anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty stressful, I would say.

PAZMINO: Yes, pretty hectic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lines are busy. A lot of people are, you know, traveling for the holidays, I would say. But overall, I think our travel was good, but very, very busy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Jessica, as we head into Sunday and Monday, we are expecting the travel numbers to actually increase the closer we get to the holiday. That's when we might see a significant amount of traffic.

So if you traveled on Saturday, or even if you're planning to do it tomorrow morning, you might still see sort of a bit more controlled chaos at the local airports.

But we do expect those numbers to significantly increase from now until the Christmas holiday and all the way through the new year -- Jessica?

DEAN: Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for that reporting.

A big double strike is underway as thousands of workers at Starbucks and Amazon are walking off the job in several cities. We'll have a live report on that next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:35]

DEAN: On strike tonight Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas in cities across America.

The Teamsters union says Staten Island warehouse workers are joining Amazon workers already on strike. Amazon insists the strike will not delay packages on their way to homes. Maybe under your tree for the holidays.

Some Starbucks workers also hitting the picket line in L.A., Chicago and Seattle, and more of them could join.

Camila Bernal is following this story for us.

Camila, why are these strikes happening now and what are they asking for?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jess. So they're asking for more money, for better working conditions, and also to be recognized as part of the union on Amazons case.

Now, in Starbucks case, I've been standing here all day and people just come up to the door, try to pull it open, and then realize that they are not getting their coffee here today.

Now, what the union says is that more stores could join if they don't have a deal by Christmas Eve. And what they're saying is that they're not happy with what Starbucks is putting forward.

So they're asking for more negotiations for people to come to the table and also for just better working conditions.

Take a listen to what one of the baristas here told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAL KRAWCZENIUK, STARBUCKS BARISTA: When you think about Starbucks, you think about your barista. You think about the person who you talk to every morning, who makes you smile, who makes your drink and says, hey, I hope you have a wonderful day. We are the face of Starbucks, but we aren't treated like it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: Now Starbucks is saying that they are disappointed that these workers are on strike, but they're saying that this is minimal in terms of disruptions.

Now, Amazon, on the other hand, is saying something similar, saying your packages will arrive to you on time. You will have them.

But the difference here is that Amazon does not recognize a lot of this -- the drivers as employees. Instead, they recognize them as third-party contractors.

Now, today, you mentioned the warehouse in Staten Island. Those workers are Amazon employees. So what Amazon is disputing now is that these are maybe not union workers because of the fact that they don't recognize the union. So they're challenging that fact.

So again, they are saying that no matter what, you will get your packages. They say that they don't need to come to the negotiating table because they don't recognize the members of the union.

And so the employees saying they want to be recognized as employees, they want better wages and better working conditions.

And both Starbucks and Amazon employees just wanting to grab the attention of the public, especially during the holiday season -- Jess?

[17:55:07]

DEAN: All right. Camila Bernal, for us there in Burbank, California, thank you for that reporting.

Still ahead, Congress passes it's funding bill, but dozens of House Republicans ignored a plea from President-Elect Donald Trump over the debt ceiling. Now he's reacting on social media.

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