Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Report: Bird Strike May Have Prompted Emergency Landing; Baku To Grozny Flight Attempted Emergency Landing; Taxi Cab Strikes Several Pedestrians in New York City; Five Journalists Killed Outside Hospital In North Gaza; 46 Killed After Pakistan Strikes In Afghanistan; Pope Francis Calls For Peace In His Christmas Day Address; Convicted Murderer Who Escaped Mississippi Prison Captured; Climate Change Threatens Bolivia's "Death Trap" Homes; Beyonce Gives Rousing Performance At Christmas Day NFL Game; Big Stars, Big Legal Troubles Highlight 2024 Headlines. Aired 12-12:30a ET
Aired December 26, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
Authorities rushed to rescue survivors of a plane crash in Kazakhstan. What we're learning about the final moments of the flight that left dozens dead.
Pope Francis delivers a message of unity calling to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
And a Cowboy Carter Christmas party in all white. Hometown superstar Beyonce dazzles in Houston.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Investigators in Kazakhstan are working to figure out what caused an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to crash, killing at least 38 people. Russia's Aviation watchdog reports the pilot tried to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.
Azerbaijan state news says the plane's black box has been recovered. The flight was headed from Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya. 29 people survived the crash, all taken to the hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FARID HUSEYNOV, HEAD OF PRESS SERVICE, AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES (via translator): A medical team and necessary medical equipment have been sent to Kazakhstan by air. A hotline has been established for the family members of the passengers on board, and the public has been informed about it. Psychological support will be provided to the family members of all passengers regardless of nationality as well as to the injured passengers.
KENAN ZEYNALOV, SR. PROSECUTOR OF PRESS SERVICE, PROSECUTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE (via translator): Currently, the investigation process is ongoing in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan. All versions are being explored in the criminal case. At this moment, we cannot provide any conclusions regarding the investigation.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A video from onboard the plane shows oxygen masks deployed as the plane circled the airfield in Western Kazakhstan. CNN's Nada Bashir has more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was traveling from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in the Russian region of Chechnya, but it was forced to make an emergency landing around 2 miles from the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Now video circulating from eyewitnesses and those nearby the crash site shows that the plane was circling the airfield somewhat erratically before the crash then bursting into flames as it hit the ground.
Now emergency response teams were quickly at the scene, and remarkably, there were a number of survivors, including at least 2 children according to authorities, with video showing some of those injured emerging from the wreckage.
But this is a moment of huge tragedy for those that that did not survive. According to authorities, there were 67 people on board the flight, including 5 crew members. Preliminary reports, according to Russian aviation authorities, suggest that the pilot was forced to attempt an emergency landing following a bird strike. However, investigations are still ongoing. Nader Bashir, CNN in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: CNN Aviation Analyst, Mary Schiavo, explains what could have happened before the crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, what I'm seeing is it has to be more than a bird strike because the plane did not have what's called pitch control. In other words, how many degrees up or down the nose is? How much is the nose pointed up or how much is it pointed down?
So it, obviously, had some damage to the pitch control, which could be from the, trim system, which -- you know, helps the pilot keep the nose in the right place up or down or the elevator, which is in the back of the plane. So there had to be something additional going on.
Also, there's unconfirmed reports that, the pilot had done what's called squawking. In others words, you put your radio or you put your equipment on and it sends a certain signal, which is 7700, which says you've got a serious onboard problem.
And then also when looking at a publicly available flight radar system online, you can see that the pilot fought with this plane for some time before choosing to land it at another airport. And so this wasn't something that happened and then the plane was brought down. For example, on landing, you get a flock of birds.
And the altitude makes me wonder, you know, would the birds, been at that altitude, but the pilot really fought, pilots really fought with this plane for some time and then did a figure 8 before landing. They, did 2 circles, and then, tried to land. So it appeared that they were trying to gain control of this aircraft and really put quite a fight up.
We see crashes, more and more crashes where people survive because of the safety features built into aircraft. There are less -- there's more survivability, there's less flammability, the ability to get out. And we have actually seen many crashes where the plane was completely destroyed and in in several cases, everyone got off. Or in some cases, there were just a few deaths, including cartwheeling like this as the plane did when it came in.
[00:05:00]
Because there are, you know, many survivors, which is fortunate, and because of the newer plane, they will have newer black boxes, flight, data recorder, and cockpit voice recorder. It'll have all the parameters, and I think they will have their answer of what happened fairly soon.
However, they may not have their answer very soon as to whether it was a bird strike or something else. There's lots of speculation. It might have been a drone, but they will have to carefully examine the plane, the engines, the windscreen.
Ordinarily, birds take out your engines, or engine, and you have time to tell air traffic control. You have time to get a Mayday call in. You have time to communicate and tell what happened. So whatever happened, obviously, they had to fight up there in the air to keep that plane in the air for as long as they did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: An investigation is underway in New York City after a taxi cab jumped onto the sidewalk and struck at least 6 pedestrians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Have a look. This was the scene on Christmas Day after the incident in Herald Square outside the Macy's flagship store. 3 of those hit were hospitalized, including a 9 year old boy. All the injuries are said to be non-life threatening. The driver of the cab was being evaluated as officers try to determine exactly what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Hospital officials in Gaza say 5 journalists were killed in an Israeli military operation overnight. The journalists were sleeping in a vehicle parked outside the Al Awda Hospital in Northern Gaza when the vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike.
The vehicle belonged to a Gaza based television channel affiliated with the Palestine Islamic Jihad militant group. A footage shows the vehicle in flames with the words TV and press visible on the back doors. Israeli military confirmed it carried out a strike on what it called an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell in the area, but didn't provide proof for their allegation.
Now on Wednesday, Hamas and Israel traded blame for the failure to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Israel's defense minister insists there will be no deal without a secure Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISRAEL KATZ, ISRAEL DEFENSE MINISTER: We will ensure here in Gaza, as with Lebanon, as with Syria, and in the east, that no more threats will be created against Israeli communities, citizens of the state of Israel, and IDF soldiers.
In Gaza too, we will ensure that there are security spaces, buffer zones, and command posts that will ensure the security of the communities. And with all this, we will act to achieve the two goals of the war, to release all the kidnapped people home and to defeat Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The families of the hostages in Gaza are marking the second Hanukkah without their loved ones. Thousands of people attended the protests on the holiday's first night, demanding the Israeli government strike a deal to release the remaining 100 captives. The mother of hostage, Liri Albag, lit the first Hanukkah candle and led prayers for the hostages' immediate return.
At least 46 people are dead after a wave of Pakistani air strikes on Afghanistan. The country's Taliban government says 6 others were injured when Pakistani war planes hit 4 separate locations near the border on Tuesday. Pakistan isn't commenting on the strikes. But one official says the target was the Pakistani Taliban, which aims to impose Islamic law in Pakistan. It says the militant group has been staging cross border attacks from Afghanistan, which the Afghan Taliban denies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS: (Foreign Language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Music filled Saint Peter's Square before pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas day message. Pope Francis called for peace in the Middle East and for weapons to be laid down in Ukraine. And all this comes as the Catholic church begins its jubilee year. CNN's Christopher Lamb reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis emphasizing that the Christmas message is one of peace and reconciliation, calling on countries to lay down their arms and for enemies to be reconciled. Francis making specific reference to the war in Ukraine and in Gaza. This is what he had to say.
POPE FRANCIS (via translator): May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter in order to achieve a just and lasting peace. May the sound of arms be silenced in the Middle East.
LAMB: The pope's remarks in Ukraine coming after Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Christmas day. The pope has repeatedly called for a negotiated peace settlement to end Russia's war against Ukraine. He's also been outspoken recently on what's been going on in Gaza, calling recent air strikes cruelty and also being in regular contact with the Catholic community in Gaza.
Now Pope Francis making his remarks after launching the Catholic church's jubilee year, an ancient tradition that focuses on forgiveness and pilgrimage, and which began on Christmas Eve when pope Francis opened the doors of the holy door of Saint Peter's Basilica, normally cemented shut.
[00:10:00]
The door meant to represent God's mercy, the pope said. And the Francis is hoping that the message of the jubilee can be one of hope and one that can impact not just in Rome, but globally.
Francis is 88 years old. He's got a packed schedule of events during the jubilee. He'll be opening a holy door in a prison tomorrow, Thursday, the first time the holy door has been opened in a in a prison. But, nevertheless, despite the difficulties the pope has when it comes to his physical mobility, Francis determined to carry out the celebrations of the jubilee and hoping that the message that the jubilee represents will resonate across the globe.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Convicts with a violent criminal history is back behind bars. We'll have details on his daring escape and rearrest. That's next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: In the U.S. state of Mississippi the manhunt is over for a convicted murderer who broke out of prison on Christmas Eve. CNN's Nick Valencia has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Less than 24 hours after going on the run, Drew Johnson was taken into custody. And according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, he did not get very far, found very near the South Mississippi Correctional Institution where he had escaped from on Tuesday afternoon.
Now that's Mississippi's newest prison facility, so it's not entirely clear how Johnson was able to maneuver out of it. But given his violent past, prison officials were very concerned and very eager to get him back into custody.
It was in 2016 that Johnson was convicted of murdering a friend. That friend's body found buried in a field with more than 2 dozen stab wounds. Once he was taken into custody, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office said that Johnson attempted to murder an inmate, later pleading guilty to attempted first degree murder. And his violent streak did not end there. The Shelby County District Attorney's Office said he tried to burn the jail down twice.
Now prison officials in Mississippi were pleading with the public to stay vigilant around the Christmas holiday, a time they say that people tend to let their guard down and be a little bit more generous. But thankfully, a Christmas gift for the region and a big sigh of relief for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Authorities in Hawaii are investigating after a body was found in the wheel well of the United Airlines plane. It had flown from Chicago to Maui on Christmas Eve, and the body was discovered after the plane landed. The airline says the wheel well is only accessible from outside the plane, and it's not clear how or when the person got in there. It's also not clear how they ultimately died, though both temperatures and oxygen levels plummet during flight.
While unusual, this is still a common method for stowaways trying to reach a destination. U.S. aviation authorities say more than 3 quarters of people who have tried to hitch an illegal ride on an airplane have died.
[00:15:00]
Residents and shamans in Bolivia's second largest city are digging in despite the danger at their feet. They're refusing to leave these death trap homes at the edge of eroding cliffs. Our Gustavo Valdes reports on how climate change has made their precarious dwellings even more dangerous. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High up in the Bolivian city of El Alto, or aptly, "The Height", brick homes are nestled alongside one another. Their colorful metal roofs lining the cliff's edge. Locals deemed them death traps, just inches from collapse.
But for Aymara shamans or amautas, the shacks are spaces to make offerings to mother earth or Pachamama as heavy rains and climate change slowly destabilize them.
MANUEL MAMANI, AMAUTI (via translator): We're not going to move from this place because this is our everyday workplace. However, we will take care of the ground. We will push the rainwater elsewhere for it to flow quickly.
VALDES (voice-over): Experts and local authorities have sounded the alarm, warning that it's only a matter of time until the eroding cliff takes the rogue homes with it.
GABRIEL PARL, MUNICIPAL SECRETARY, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND RISK: We want them to leave this place. And if they refuse, we will have to use public force.
VALDES (voice-over): But for now, the amautas are staying put, relying on the protection of the Pachamama and making offerings in those very same homes as a plea to preserve the land.
GABRIEL LOPEZ CHIVA, AMAUTA: Pachamama needs an offering like food, and this place will not move. On the contrary, the place will stabilize.
VALDES (voice-over): A confident assertion for people living life on the edge. Gustavo Valdes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Superstar Beyonce brings a white Christmas to the NFL. We'll have highlights from her performance next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEYONCE SINGING)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): There she is, Beyonce on Christmas Day during halftime of the NFL's game between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens. She began the show on horseback as you saw before kicking off a medley of hits, and it's the first time she's performed songs from her album, Cowboy Carter, in front of a live crowd.
Beyonce was joined by several country singers in a surprise appearance by Rapper Post Malone there to perform their song, Levi's Jeans. She dazzled in all white in her hometown of Houston. The mini concert also became a family affair when she was joined on the field by her daughter, Blue Ivy, who danced next to her mother during the song Texas hold'em.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now Beyonce is just one of the many stars who made headlines this year. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister counts down the top ten entertainment stories of 2024.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: From big stars in big legal trouble to big movies, concerts, and a brat summer. Our top 10 entertainment stories start with the wicked boost at the box office.
[00:20:00]
Number 10, the Glicked pairing of Wicked and Gladiator II form this year's Barbenheimer. With over 100 and $50,000,000 in opening weekend ticket sales, the 2 films energize the typically slow post summer box office.
Wicked starring Golden Globe nominees, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo stayed strong through the holiday season, while Gladiator II excelled overseas. The pair set the table for the Thanksgiving box office with Moana 2 joining to set an all-time record for the holiday weekend.
Number 9.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe now people can understand the truth.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Television takes on the Menendez brothers case, pushing prosecutors to take action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that they have paid their debt to society.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Then Los Angeles district attorney said public attention factored into his decision to reexamine the case and recommend a reduced sentence that would allow the brothers to walk free nearly 3 decades after they were sentenced for murdering their parents in Beverly Hills.
The Hollywood production spotlighted abuse the brothers say they endured at the hands of their father with even some of the victims' family members calling for them to be released.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 35 years is a long time.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Ultimately, the judge delayed a decision while a newly elected district attorney reviews the case.
Number 8, hop feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be the hip hop equivalent of asking to speak with the manager.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): In November, Drake filed a court petition accusing a record company of using bots to artificially inflate Lamar's song, "Not Like Us," on Spotify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They not like us. They not like us.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It's the latest chapter in the ongoing feud between 2 of the industry's biggest names who once toured together as rising stars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shape the stories how you want. Hatred, they're not slow.
WAGMEISTER: Each claims the other dissed them in song lyrics with one question at the heart of the feud. Who was hip hop's biggest star?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who would have thought it would potentially end in a courtroom?
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number 7, a pop star ignites a brat summer. Charli XCX's album, "Brat," not only storms the charts, it propels an online political movement.
CHARLI XCX: Very honest, very blunt, a little bit volatile.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): With that description, the singer declared Kamala is brat on social media, spotting a torrent of memes that kicked off vice president Kamala Harris' presidential run and a lot of questions amongst a certain generation.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: So is the idea that we're all kind of brat and Vice President Harris is brat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if you're brat. I think you aspire to be brat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just don't become brat.
TAPPER: I will aspire to be brat.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number 6, Alec Baldwin's courtroom shocker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dismissal with prejudice is warranted.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): A judge dismissed the case against the actor accused of involuntary manslaughter when the gun he was holding on the Russ movie set fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in wounding the film's director.
The judge's decision came less than a week into the trial, citing the prosecution's improper handling of new evidence in the case. The ruling paved the way for Baldwin to return to the limelight, appearing on Saturday Night Live as former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Number 5, charges filed in the death of Matthew Perry. 2 doctors and Perry's assistant are among 5 people charged in connection with his overdose death. One of the doctors allegedly said, quote, I wonder how much this moron will pay for ketamine prescriptions.
WAGMEISTER: Three people have pleaded guilty, one of the doctors is awaiting trial along with an alleged dealer prosecutors say is known as the Ketamine Queen.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The Perry family relieved that charges were filed nearly a year after the beloved actor died in the hot tub at his Los Angeles home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People who have put themselves in the business of supplying people with the drugs that'll kill them, that they are now on notice. It doesn't matter what your professional credentials are. You're going down, baby.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number 4, Beyonce goes country.
(BEYONCE SINGING)
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The superstar bends genres with the release of Cowboy Carter, which debuted at number 1, including on the Billboard country chart, making Beyonce the 1st black woman to do so in the chart's 60 year history.
(BEYONCE SINGING)
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Beyonce's mega year raps with what some call the second Super Bowl, halftime performance on Christmas Day during the NFL's first ever games to stream worldwide on Netflix.
Number 3, the death of pop star Liam Payne. Fans held vigils for days in Argentina where Payne fell 3 stories from his hotel balcony.
[00:25:00]
(LIAM PAYNE SINGING)
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The 31 year old British pop star rose to fame in the boy band, One Direction. He went on to have a solo career and spoke openly about his struggles dealing with fame and substance abuse.
LIAM PAYNE: I was alright. I need to fix myself.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Toxicology reports found cocaine, alcohol, and prescription antidepressants in Payne's system. With more than 70 million One Direction albums sold, Payne's impact on fans was undeniable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So for me, it feels like, I guess, like the end of, like, us growing up together, which is really that's what makes it so hard.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Number 2, the End of The Eras Tour for Taylor Swift. The nearly 2 year tour wrapped in Vancouver on December 8th, estimated to have made over $2 billion. It's by far the most successful concert tour of all time. Not only that, she released a new hit album, the "Tortured Poet's Department." All this, and she's still the darling of the NFL, cheering on boyfriend Travis Kelce in February to yet another Super Bowl victory for the Kansas City Chiefs.
And the number one entertainment story of 2024, the fall of music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. After a flood of civil lawsuits alleging Combs sexually assaulted dozens of people, federal investigators raided the hip hop star's homes, signaling a federal indictment was imminent. Then CNN released this video of Combs assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at a hotel in 2016.
The shocking video prompted Combs to speak out for the first time since he came under fire.
DIDDY: I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But it only got worse for Combs with a September federal indictment, charging him with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. The case is sending shock waves through the music industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The names that we're going to name are names that will shock you. Jay Z was named in a civil suit alleging he assaulted a 13 year old girl with Combs in 2000. Charges he vigorously denies, questioning why there was never a criminal charge.
WAGMEISTER: Combs has also denied all of the allegations against him, saying he never sexually assaulted anyone. His criminal trial was set for May of 2025, and he faces at least 30 civil suits, ensuring that Combs' legal troubles could be big news for years to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for joining us here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. "The Journey Matters" is next.
[00:28:11]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
