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CNN This Morning
Pope Emeritus Benedict Dies At The Age Of 95; Barbara Walters Dies At 93; Oprah, Dan Rather Post Tributes Honoring Barbara Walters; Suspect In Idaho Killings Arrested, Charged In Pennsylvania; House Releases Six Years Of Trump Tax Returns; New Zealand Rings In 2023; George Santos Heckled For String Of Lies About His Background. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired December 31, 2022 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:00:34]
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, it's December 31. I'm Martin Savidge in for Boris Sanchez.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And good to be with you, Martin. I'm Amara Walker and welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. Thank you for spending part of this final day of 2022 with us.
Well, we are following breaking news. Pope Emeritus Benedict has died at the age of 95. His health had deteriorated over the last several days, prompting Pope Francis to ask for prayers for the former head of the Catholic Church.
SAVIDGE: For the first time in modern history, Benedict resigned in 2013, citing advanced age, which paved the way for Pope Francis to take the role as head of the Catholic Church. CNN's Delia Gallagher has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In many respects, Benedict XVI was the Pope who got a bad rap. Nearly 24 years as Pope John Paul II's doctrinal enforcer and a German childhood lived in the shadows of Hitler's Nazi regime, he was often unflatteringly referred to as God's Rottweiler, or the Panther Cardinal.
Years of negative publicity caused many of his accomplishments to go unnoticed. He was the first Pope to go green, making the Vatican the first country in the world with a zero-carbon footprint, putting solar panels on its rooftops and bringing in electric vehicles, including a hybrid Pope mobile.
He was cardinal and Pope during the years when the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandals came to light and he spearheaded the Vatican's efforts toward a zero-tolerance policy. It was too little, too late for some, but it was Cardinal Ratzinger who organized the Vatican's response to the scandal, including creation of a special office at the Vatican to handle cases extending and, in some cases, eliminating the statute of limitations for victims, and as Pope publicly apologizing.
POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI: Indeed, I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured. And I assures them that as a pastor, I, too, share in their suffering.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): One of his first acts after being elected Pope was to condemn a popular church figure, Father Marcial Maciel for sex abuse, something which had not happened sooner because of Maciel's close friendship with Pope John Paul II. The high-profile condemnation diffusing concerns that Benedict wanted to cover up scandal.
However, after his retirement, he suffered a reputational blow when a church commissioned report found he knew about allegations and failed to act against a pedophile priest while he was archbishop in Munich 40 years ago. Benedict denied the allegations and the surprise for which he will go down in history, being the first Pope in modern times to resign showed that the man everyone thought of as a traditionalist was unafraid of bucking the biggest tradition of them all, that a Pope doesn't step down.
True to form, he made the historic announcement in Latin, saying he lacked the strength of mind and body to continue as Pope. But this tough traditionalist was also a softie. He loved cats. Chico and Contessina were, too, and classical music. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto was a particular favorite.
Within the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict was a towering intellectual figure, one of the last to have attended the historical Church Council Vatican II in the 1960s. He authored hundreds of books and articles and was as much a hero to conservatives as a controversial figure for others. A famous speech in Reagan's Berg in 2006 that Benedict said was misinterpreted, questioning the link between Islam and violence, sparked protests against the Pope from some in the Muslim world.
His resignation introduced the biggest change of them all, an era of two living popes. Although he vowed to retire to a life dedicated to prayer at a monastery inside the Vatican, the Pope Emeritus continued to exert influence during the Francis papacy, weighing in on debates over sexual abuse and celibacy by writing articles and books well into his 90s.
He had retired as Pope, but not as a major player in the Catholic Church, an influence likely to continue even after his death.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[06:05:03]
WALKER: All right, let's turn now to CNN Contributor Barbie Nadeau. She is in Vatican City in St. Peter's Square. Hi there, Barbie. Obviously, heartbreaking news to end the year. What are people saying there? What's been the reaction?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it's a really unprecedented situation. You've got people from Rome, Roman is coming When a pope dies in Rome, the people of the city come to St. Peter's Square to mourn the death. It's something that they have done for years. The bells of St. Peter's ring, and it summons the people here.
People weren't -- this is not an -- it's not an unexpected death, but nonetheless, it is sad for a lot of people. A lot of the conservative, traditional people in the Catholic Church never really stopped believing that Pope Benedict was their pope.
You know, he had a very cordial relationship with Pope Francis. Pope Francis would visit him often inside the monastery, but they were two very different figures, and they represented two varying aspects of the Catholic Church.
And so you've got sadness here, but it's not unexpected. We've known for the last three days, I guess, when Pope Francis called for prayers for Pope Benedict earlier in the week, saying that he was not very well if people were prepared for this. He was a 95-year-old man, and he retired 10 years ago because of his failing health.
And as Delia said in her tribute to him, you know, he was influential all the way to the end. He gave interviews, he did writing. But people here in St. Peter's Square that are just starting together now, it's really starting to get packed here, are coming here to pay their last respects to the man that they really, really loved.
WALKER: All right, Barbie Nadeau, appreciate it. Thank you very much.
SAVIDGE: We want to bring in now CNN Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen. I'm sorry.
WALKER: No Delia, so we're going to just go to --
SAVIDGE: OK.
WALKER: -- John Allen.
SAVIDGE: John Allen is the one who is going to go to. And John Allen, if you're with us, there you are. It's a sad morning, of course, but it's also a time to reflect on a man who had a remarkable career in leadership, both behind the scenes as kind of a pope maker and also as a pope as well. And let me just ask you, you know, what are your thoughts as you reflect on his life?
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, Martin, you're absolutely right. I mean, Benedict XVI, in his own biography, in some ways, summed up the great themes of the Catholic Church for virtually the entire 20th century. And we're talking about a pope who grew up in the shadow of Hitler and Nazi Germany, who came of age during the period of the Cold War, who was a central figure at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, kind of the defining 20th century event in Catholic life.
Who then, for a quarter century, was the intellectual architect of the papacy of John Paul II, and then himself presided over eight deeply turbulent years as Pope marked by the clerical sexual abuse scandals, financial scandals. And then, for a decade in retirement, served unintentionally as a sort of counterpoint to the progressive papacy of Pope Francis in the eyes of Francis' conservative and traditionalist critics,
So, you know, no matter where you stand on the spectrum of opinion about Pope Benedict XVI, the truth of it is, the Catholic Church, the whole world today, has lost a titan. And that can't help but feel a bittersweet note upon which to end 2022.
SAVIDGE: And as we've talked about already, his retirement, his stepping down, changed this whole notion of hope for life. Of course, it had happened 600 years previous, but not in the modern era. And I'm wondering just, you know, how big was that at the time?
ALLEN: I think it is impossible, really, to overestimate how significant that resignation announcement was. I mean, you know, when Benedict on February 11, 2013, announced his intention to resign -- by the way, he did so in flawless Latin, kind of vintage Benedict XVI touch -- he had sent shockwaves throughout the Catholic world.
Because, as you say, first of all, this had not happened in more than 600 years and that situation, 600 years ago was, you know, night and day different from the situation of a pope still in full possession of his faculty, still capable of governing, who just voluntarily decided to take himself out of the picture and allow someone else to takeover. But while still continuing to wear the papal white and to live on Vatican grounds, just it had never happened before now.
Now, I think in many ways, it was less destabilizing than, you know, the nightmare scenarios at the time. I mean, I don't think for the last decade anyone has been and confused about who was actually in charge of the Catholic Church.
[06:10:07]
I think Pope Francis succeeded in taking the reins of power firmly in his own hands from the very beginning. But it is true that this juxtaposition of a progressive pope who was calling the shots, but a more conservative and traditional pope who was still in the shadows at a time when the Catholic Church was already fairly polarized, now, all of a sudden, they had two great towering points of reference for those divisions.
And, you know, that -- I think the unfortunate truth is those divisions are certainly going to outlive the passing of Benedict XVI did.
WALKER: Yes. And John, if you will just quickly, I know that you had the privilege of knowing Pope Benedict. Just give us your personal perspective, especially on how he impacted you.
ALLEN: Well, you know, I got to know then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger pretty well for those 25 years. He was the right-hand man of Pope John Paul II. As the head of a Vatican department, he was much more accessible than a pope is. So, I interviewed him multiple times. I would see him at events and press conferences and so on. And then I had the opportunity of being in his presence several times when he was pope.
I will tell you this, he would be my nominee for the 20th century public figure who had the greatest gap between his public reputation and his private personality. You know, in public, Benedict XVI was seen as this aloof, authoritarian, kind of draconian figure, sort of Darth Vader and a Cassock, you know?
But in private, I am telling you, you would never meet a nicer guy. I mean, he was the kindest, sweetest, humblest, gentlest figure I've ever met in my entire life. And so, you know, when Delia said in her package that he was the pope of a bad rap, I can only echo that because I can tell you, the man I knew and the figure of public mythology had very little to do with one another.
WALKER: Your personal perspective is so valuable because, obviously, that's a sign that people don't see often or know or even have access to. Standby, John, we do want to head back out to Rome into St Peter's Square where Barbie Nadeau is in. You're getting new details about what this funeral is going to look like. And again, Barbie, to your point, this is going to be an unprecedented funeral because it's -- again, this was a pope, the first pope to have resigned in nearly six centuries.
NADEAU: That's right. We're hearing that the funeral is going to be on Thursday, the 5 January at 9:30 here in St Peter's Square. Now, popes are celebrated in St Peter's Square. It was up for, you know, some debate whether or not he would get that sort of funeral. He was given his last rites on the 28th, that's two days ago. That's when he was falling sick.
And we haven't given details if Pope Francis administered those or not. He will be lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica, starting, I believe, at 02:00 p. m. this afternoon. From what we're hearing, they're just wrapping up this press conference right now. But that funeral, there will be people from all over the world that come here to Rome to celebrate the life of this Pope.
This square will be full for Pope Benedict, the Emeritus Pope. Even though it's unprecedented, he had a celebrated life, you know, within the Catholic Church, especially within the conservative, traditional side of the Catholic Church. This is a day of sad morning. You know, he was a 95-year-old man in ill health. He retired 10 years ago because he said he was too frail to continue on as pope.
And, you know, it is a sad day. It's a beautiful day in Rome. But the people coming here are people from Rome who are coming here as they always do when a pope died to pray for the life and legacy of a pope.
WALKER: Barbie Nadeau, appreciate you as well as John Allen. Thank you for your reporting and the conversation.
We're going to have more on the Pope Emeritus coming up throughout the morning. And the other big story that we are following, the death of iconic journalist Barbara Walters. A look back at her incredible career and legacy. That's coming up.
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[06:17:35]
WALKER: We are also mourning the loss of an American icon. Barbara Walters, the legendary news anchor, reporter, and talk show host, has passed away at the age of 93.
SAVIDGE: Walters joined ABC News in 1976, becoming the first female anchor on an evening news program. Three years later, she became a co- host of 2020, and in 1997, she launched "The View."
WALKER: A statement from her spokesperson says, "Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women." And CNN's Richard Roth has more on her groundbreaking career.
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RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Walters was one of the most fascinating people, of any year, in the television era.
BARBARA WALTERS, AMERICAN BROADCASTER: I know that I've done some important interviews. I know that I have been a part of history.
ROTH (voice-over): Was she ever.
WALTERS: Are you sorry you didn't burn the tapes?
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I think so, because they were private conversations.
WALTERS: We read that you are mad.
ROTH (voice-over): From murderers --
WALTERS: Why did you kill John Lennon?
ROTH (voice-over): -- to movie stars.
WALTERS: Are you a changed man since the illness? Did it affect you very much?
Did you mind being thought of as, "Sex, sex, sex?"
I think that what is important is to have curiosity. Follow that curiosity. I'm a great believer in homework.
ROTH (voice-over): Before people revealed all on social media, Barbara Walters was the interviewer to open up the stars.
WALTERS: Does he hit you?
ROBIN GIVENS, AMERICAN ACTRESS, MIKE TYSON'S EX-WIFE: He shakes. He pushes. He swings. WALTERS: I am me and I hope that they think that I'm fair and that I can be penetrating without being a killer. And I am, I hope.
ROTH (voice-over): And which interview was her most important?
WALTERS: The first and, at that time, the only -- they didn't want to have interviews -- the Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.
MUHAMMAD ANWAR EL-SADAT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF EGYPT: You are always like this, Barbara.
ROTH (voice-over): She said her 1977 interview with Cuba's Fidel Castro was a news coup.
WALTERS: A man who runs a country?
FIDEL CASTRO, CUBAN DICTATOR: (Speaking foreign language).
WALTERS: A man who allows no dissent?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
ROTH (voice-over): Castro didn't make it easy.
WALTERS: Blowing Cohiba, you know, the cigar that he smokes, I had smoke in my face for 3.5 hours.
I didn't mind it. It was a different time.
ROTH (voice-over): About 74 million people, the most viewers for a news program, tuned in to see Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern involved with President Clinton.
[06:20:08]
WALTERS: What would you tell your children when you have them?
MONICA LEWINSKY, AMERICAN ACTIVIST: Mommy made a big mistake.
ROTH (voice-over): She got a reputation for making her interview guests cry.
PATRICK SWAYZE, AMERICAN ACTOR: He never got to know.
GOLDIE HAWN, ACTOR: And you won't feel so big.
ROTH (voice-over): After Katharine Hepburn said she felt like an old tree, Walters was cut down by critics, for asking this.
WALTERS: What kind of a tree are you?
ROTH (voice-over): It didn't take long for Walters to become part of pop culture.
GILDA RADNER, COMEDIAN: Hello, this is Baba Wawa.
ROTH (voice-over): The same network that made fun of her was where she got her big break, NBC's "Today" show.
WALTERS: I was not a television suffragette. I kicked the door open because, after being there 11 years, I was named the first co-host of a morning program.
ROTH (voice-over): But she was not permitted by her co-host to ask a question until he posed three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harry Reasoner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barbara Walters.
ROTH (voice-over): It got worse when Walters, to the surprise of many, was named the first female co-anchor of a network evening newscast.
HARRY REASONER, AMERICAN JOURNALIST: I've kept time on your stories and mine tonight. You owe me four minutes.
ROTH (voice-over): She later described it as, "drowning without a life preserver."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Barbara Walters Special.
WALTERS: The specials saved my life.
Good evening, I am Barbara Walters.
ROTH (voice-over): And launched a legendary career at ABC, kept by creating and co-hosting "The View."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When did you first learn about sex?
WALTERS: Well, I didn't learn about sex until I started to do this show. And now I know more about sex than I ever wanted to know.
The chemistry of it and the fact that it's live, that it's outrageous, that you never know what you're going to hear.
ROTH (voice-over): When she left "The View" and ABC, they named a building in her honor, a lasting monument for a woman who changed TV.
WALTERS: I'm so proud of the women today. There are so many of them that are wonderful. That's my legacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: She was a trailblazer for all women. But I would say as a journalist, a female journalist myself, she really had an impact on my career and many careers. So, a big thanks to her and her legacy.
SAVIDGE: Absolutely. And our thanks to Richard Roth for that piece.
And some of Barbara Walters former colleagues were also sharing their touching messages in her honor. Former CBS Evening News Anchor Dan Rather tweeted. quote, "The world of journalism has lost a pillar of professionalism, courage, and integrity. Barbara Walters was a trailblazer and a true pro. She outworked, out-thought, and out- hustled her competitors. She left the world better for it. She will be deeply missed. RIP."
WALKER: And on Instagram, Oprah Winfrey posted a photo with Walters with a caption saying, in part, "Without Barbara Walters, there wouldn't have been me nor any other woman you see on Evening, Morning and Daily News. She was indeed a trailblazer."
SAVIDGE: Still ahead, a suspect in the murders of four university of Idaho students now in custody more than six weeks after the crime. We'll have the very latest on that investigation coming up.
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[06:26:14]
WALKER: A suspect has been arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the November murders of four university of Idaho students.
SAVIDGE: 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger is now facing four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the four students who were stabbed in their beds in the middle of the night.
WALKER: But according to sources, law enforcement are still investigating what, if any, connection the suspect had to the victims. CNN's Veronica Miracle is in Moscow, Idaho with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIEF JAMES FRY, MOSCOW POLICE DEPARTMENT: Detectives arrested 28- year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on a warrant for murder.
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the announcement Moscow, Idaho, and much of the nation has waited to hear. 47 days after the killing of four university of Idaho students, a suspect is now in custody. Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania Friday on four counts of first-degree murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In addition to felony burglary, which involves entering the residence with the intent to commit the crime of murder.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Any indication that the suspect knew the victims?
FRY: That's part of the investigation as well. It won't be something that will come out at this point in time.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Police also won't release a motive, but law enforcement sources tell CNN police were led to Kohberger after tracing the ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the area at the night of the killings. They learned Kohberger had left the Moscow area and was tracked to Monroe County, Pennsylvania, south of Scranton.
Sources say the FBI surveilled Kohberger for four days until the arrest was made at 01:30 a. m. Friday. Kohberger's white Hyundai was also recovered, those sources tell CNN, and that his DNA was found at the crime scene.
FRY: Providing any details in this criminal investigation might have tainted the upcoming criminal prosecution or alerted the suspect of our progress.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Kohberger is currently a grad student majoring in Criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, less than 10 miles west of the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho. Police spent the day searching Kohberger's campus apartment in Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bryan Kohberger.
MIRACLE (voice-over): He graduated earlier in 2022 from DeSales University in Pennsylvania. A reddit post Kohberger made while a student there indicates he worked on a study about how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience.
Back in Moscow, the announcement is bringing the first signs of relief after weeks of fear.
ERIN STAHELI, MOSCOW RESIDENT: It's just been very scary not knowing who's out there.
MIRACLE (on-camera): And now?
STAHELI: Oh, I feel much better. I feel relieved, and so I'm just very happy the police have done their work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MIRACLE: Undergraduate students at the University of Idaho come back to campus in less than two weeks, and authorities say they will continue to maintain a strong police presence in and around campus to make students feel safe. Of course, there is a huge sense of relief here in this community now that a suspect has been arrested. Amara, Martin?
SAVIDGE: I'm sure there is relief. Veronica Miracle, thank you very much for that.
In other news, Donald Trump paid more in foreign taxes than in U.S. Federal income taxes in his first year of his presidency. That's just one of the revelations from Trump's tax returns.
WALKER: Yes. The six years of returns are shedding new light on Trump's business dealings, questionable loans to his children, and more. The tax filings were made public by the House Ways and Means Committee after a yearslong legal battle. CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes has more.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little or no income tax, foreign bank accounts.
[06:30:00]
And eyebrow-raising details about loans to his adult children. Just some of the findings after the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee released six years worth of former President Trump's federal tax returns. The returns spanning from the year Trump announced his first run for president, 2015 through his last year in office, 2020.
REP. RICHARD NEAL (D-MA): The research that was done as it relates to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent. The tax forms were really never audited.
HOLMES: Previous reporting from the Joint Committee on Taxation revealed shockingly low tax amounts paid by the former president, including paying only $750 in 2017, and in 2018 and '19, paying a combined $1.1 million, and paying no income tax in 2020, his final year in office. Trump offsetting his income by claiming millions of dollars in losses, raising questions about the former president's business failures.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been successful in every business I've been in.
HOLMES: And while Trump paid less than a $1,000 in U.S. income tax in 2017, the former president's tax bill totaled nearly a million dollars in foreign taxes the same year, indicating notable business dealings in more than a dozen countries including Azerbaijan, Turkey, China, Israel and Brazil.
Shedding light on where Trump's business interests were while he was in the White House. The returns also showed Trump maintained foreign bank accounts while serving in the White House including in China. Some of Trump's business spending raising eyebrows among experts, including a 2017 claim that one of his businesses, DJT Aerospace made exactly the same amount spent, zero net, ensuring there was nothing to tax, something one tax expert referred to as a quote, "statistical impossibility".
TRUMP: My personal tax returns would show only that I've had tremendous success.
HOLMES: Trump blasting the release as an outrageous abuse of power.
TRUMP: It's nothing, but another deranged political witch-hunt which has been going on from the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower.
HOLMES: The release coming after a year's long legal battle culminating with the Supreme Court decision.
TRUMP: I'm under a routine audit, and it will be released, and as soon as the audit is finished, it will be released.
HOLMES: With his 2016 election victory, Trump became the first president in decades not to release his tax returns, sparking interest and concern about his foreign business entanglements and potential financial conflicts of interest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, this appears to be a significant failure on the part of the IRS. I spoke to one expert who said that much of this, particularly when it came to those foreign bank accounts would have been something that was flagged if the IRS had in fact participated in that mandatory presidential audit program.
But of course, as we now know from the House Ways and Means Committee, they did not. Martin and Amara?
WALKER: Kristen Holmes, thank you.
SAVIDGE: Well, tonight, Joe Biden is expected to ring in 2023 from the U.S. Virgin Islands, and with the new year comes the next phase of his presidency.
WALKER: When Biden returns to Washington, Republicans are set to retake the house, granting the GOP new investigative powers and ending two years of Democrats' control of Congress. CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak is St. Croix traveling with the president. Hello, Kevin. What else does the new year have in store for Biden?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly, President Biden will return to a changed political environment in Washington. And there has been intense planning underway at the White House for how to operate in this new legislative environment. Certainly, President Biden has said he does have hopes for bipartisan work in the new year.
He did have some success with that over the last two years. Most recently, that $1.7 trillion spending bill that the president signed this week. But I think in reality, there's not a lot of optimism in the White House. But they will find a lot to work with, with Republicans when they assume the majority.
One thing that President Biden and his aides are watching very closely is that race for house speaker, and certainly, the expectation among the president's aides had been that Kevin McCarthy would be elevated to that role, but he is still consolidating votes. And what President Biden and his team are watching for, is what kind of majority, what kind of Republican majority they will be dealing with in the new year?
Now, one thing that is for certain is the president will face a spate of new oversight requests. House Republicans have said they will investigate everything from the withdrawal from Afghanistan to the president's son, Hunter's business entanglements. The White House says these are politically-motivated, and they have been staffing up with lawyers, with communications aides, expecting this to be a major part of the new year.
[06:35:00]
Now, the main thing that is looming over all of this is President Biden's decision about running for re-election in 2024. He said before he came down here to St. Croix, that he would be having family discussions, that he would talk with his wife, with his grandkids about what that decision would be. He spoke a little bit about that last night after having dinner. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) 2024?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Happy new year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you talked to your family about running for re-election, sir?
BIDEN: There's an election coming up? I didn't know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTAK: Now, in reality, what President Biden's people around him say is that the president has decided he will run for re-election. Of course, anything could change his mind in the next couple of months. But as of now, they are planning for a re-election bid in the next couple of months. Amara?
WALKER: Always looking ahead. Kevin Liptak, appreciate it. Thank you, and what a beautiful backdrop.
SAVIDGE: Yes, I feel so bad for him getting the short straw there --
(LAUGHTER)
At the U.S. Virgin --
WALKER: Right --
SAVIDGE: Anyway. The countdown is on to 2023. Back here in the U.S. Times Square will be packed with people ringing in the new year. The security measures in place to keep everyone safe. We'll take a look.
WALKER: All right, and Dionne Warwick is a music icon, 56 worldwide hits, six Grammy Awards, and one extraordinary legacy. She brings her exclusive story to CNN in the new film, "Don't Make Me Over" premiering tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIONNE WARWICK, AMERICAN SINGER: I became very vocal and very public with the AIDs issue, based on the fact that we're losing so many people. Something got to be done.
ELTON JOHN, SINGER: Dionne was definitely a hero of mine and a hero to a lot of people. As she was really the first person in the music business to actually speak up about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The royalties for "That's What Friends Are For" changed the trajectory of the epidemic in America.
WARWICK: I did what I could do, and that's the way I move to this very day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Don't miss the new film, "Don't Make Me Over" premiering tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
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[06:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Happy new year, 2023 has arrived in parts of the world. New Zealand ringing in the new year at the top of the hour. New Zealand is among the first in the world to ring in the new year with a light show over Auckland Harbor Bridge. Well, it's the place to be on new year's eve for some people. Times Square in Manhattan.
Celebrations return to full capacity tonight for the first time since 2020, free of any COVID restrictions like masking and distancing this year, but the NYPD will be out in full force, of course, with extra security.
SAVIDGE: That's because hundreds of thousands are expected to welcome the new year and new beginnings for 2023. The famous ball-drop, a tradition that goes back to 1907, and the city is busy prepping for the huge crowds that are anticipated. Here is CNN's Gloria Pazmino.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NEWSOURCE NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin and Amara, the stage is set. The barricades are set up. All of this waiting for thousands of people to begin arriving here this morning to await the start of the new year, 2023. There will be thousands of people here today -- and let me just walk you through a little bit of the elements that make this night so special.
Of course, you have the big crystal ball that will come down when that clock strikes midnight, 11,000 pounds of Waterford Crystal make up that crystal ball. And then of course, you'll have the confetti, a ton of confetti will fall upon the revelers when the clock strikes midnight. And we also should mention the security aspect of this event because it is a massive operation.
NYPD takes over every year, and they have told us that there is no credible threat to the event at this time, but of course, the NYPD and all other law enforcement agencies will be out here in force all day making sure that this event goes off smoothly, and that it's safe for everyone that's here. I also just want to give people some tips.
If they are planning on joining the celebration here today, it will be rainy, it will be cold. You cannot bring an umbrella. You cannot bring a backpack. You cannot bring a blanket or a chair. So just be very careful of what you bring with you, as little as possible. Because every single person has to go through a screening point, and that is part of the safety plan that the NYPD puts into place.
So think about it long and hard if you decide to come here, It will be an unforgettable experience when midnight strikes and 2023 rolls in. It will be just packed with people. The energy is like nothing you've seen before, and it is really a special way of ringing in a new year. Martin, Amara?
WALKER: Special and --
SAVIDGE: That is --
WALKER: And it's the first time that all the people are getting back together, right?
SAVIDGE: Sure --
WALKER: In that one space after COVID. Gloria Pazmino, thanks. So, what a difference a week can make, right? No freezing temperatures for the most part, thank goodness.
SAVIDGE: But rain is likely an unwelcome as therefore, new year's eve celebrations on both the east and west coast. So let's get meteorologist Allison Chinchar in for us from the Weather Center. Allison?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, good morning. Two separate systems likely causing some rainy conditions on each of the coasts. We've got this first system here, that's the one that's going to be impacting from Maine all the way down to Florida, with some rain showers. The secondary system, that brings not only rain, but also snow into the inter-mountain west and very heavy rain across California.
But the one place everybody wants to know about is, New York City. Unfortunately, we do have rain showers in the forecast. And a lot of the really heavy rain is going to fall between that 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. time frame, hopefully starts to lighten up a little bit, the closer we get to midnight, the focus on the fact that it's actually going to be warmer for a change, not only above average for where we usually would be, but certainly warmer than we were this same time just a week ago.
But not just New York, also Boston, D.C. also potentially looking at some rain showers for new year's eve festivities this evening.
[06:45:00]
Out to the west coast, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles all looking at rain and unfortunately, in the forecast for today. You've also got some very heavy snow for areas of Nevada, Utah, portions of Colorado. So if you've got some plans outside for anyone of those cities, make sure you bundle up, and as she mentioned, while you cannot take an umbrella, guys, to Times Square, you can still take a poncho with you or a raincoat, something like that to help.
SAVIDGE: Good advice.
WALKER: Yes --
SAVIDGE: Thank you very much.
WALKER: I would do the same. All right, now back to one of several big stories we are following this morning, the death of iconic journalist Barbara Walters. The legendary news anchor, reporter, and talk-show host has passed away at the age of 93, and CNN's Christiane Amanpour is now joining us on the phone. Christiane, I know you're tweeting about this that she was a friend to you, and also an inspiration. How so?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (via telephone): She's a legend, as I tweeted whose fame and history-making, pioneering, you know, achievements will be forever etched in the history of our profession, a Mount Rushmore, if you like. I was very -- of course, of the pecking order and the pyramid of the hierarchy.
She was a friend, but she was so much way ahead of me that all I could do was really admire her, take all her -- you know, mentoring and do with it what I absolutely could. She was incredible, she was inspirational for me even before I actually became a journalist, before I ever started CNN, you know, more than 40 years ago, I had seen her incredible reports because they traveled overseas not just in the United States.
We saw her in the U.K., we saw her all over the world when I was growing up. And so, she was the very first iteration of what one could be. There was this woman on television, highly successful, groundbreaking, pioneering, and I thought, well, wow, you know, that's something to aspire to.
And I would say, not just in terms of her personality, but in terms of the incredible hard work that she put in to get where she was in terms of the incredible range that she was able to pull off throughout her career, whether it was politics or you know, art or the human condition or entertainment. She got everybody.
And in the end, it became a badge of honor for the interviewees to be interviewed by her. Not just a badge of honor for her to claim, you know, the interviews with every president going back to Reagan, but -- and every political heavyweight and just so many people. She has left an indelible mark, I would say.
SAVIDGE: You both are remarkable and groundbreaking journalists, but you got to know Barbara Walters in a way most of us never will have that opportunity. So, what was she like behind the camera?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, she was an incredibly-determined personality. She didn't also let her guard down. Look, I think that came from having climbed her way up the top in what I would call cro-marking(ph) time when she first reached her -- you know, being the first female co-anchor of a morning network news program.
Her co-anchor was said to have remarked that her hiring was just a gimmick, her male co-anchor. Well, at the time, of course, the entire profession was dominated by the patriarchy if you like, whether a management on air, off air, and it was very difficult for people like Barbara to forge a path without that kind of backlash and without, frankly, jealousy.
And so, you know, she had to -- and I saw this. She had to sort of develop an armor, a shield around her because she was not just the first everywhere, she said, but she was also often the only. And that's quite a burden to carry throughout your life and your career. And it makes you not just brilliant, in her case. And let's face it, she also carried on to virtually in her 80s or maybe even her 80s before she retired.
So, she gave women and men and people in general, the vision of what it means to be a journalist on television who can also age and still perform and still achieve and still draw in and let's do the great interviews. To me, she was incredibly kind, she was incredibly generous. She was -- you know, I'd like to think that she -- so maybe a little bit of a kindred spirit, somebody who wanted to follow her path, wanted to work hard knowing that nothing ever came for free especially to women.
And I think it's really an applicable lesson still. You know, I remember being knocked off my chair when I saw -- before I ever became a journalist in 1979 or so, she scored the first-ever interview with an Israeli prime minister and an Egyptian president, an Arab-Israeli joint interview in '79 after the Camp David Accord, where she sat down with the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the Egyptian Prime -- President Anwar Sadat.
[06:50:00]
That was a huge cool. And when she interviewed Fidel Castro, you know, not to mention, you know, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, all the presidents and everybody who crossed her path. It's an amazing body of work, and I was just thrilled to be a little bit in her -- you know, in the life that she cast really. For those who wanted to take the lessons that she offered, she was an amazing teacher.
WALKER: Really remarkable body of work as you say, Christiane. Thank you so much for your perspective and your -- your personal perspective on her. Christiane Amanpour there. But really, a woman who broke barriers and inspired so many of us, the general population, women in particular and women journalists, she truly was a trailblazer in so many ways.
I actually have a book called "Women in the News" in my office, written in the '70s, and it just talks about all the challenges and adversities that she faced as one of the few women or only women, you know, in evening news. And she really is an inspiration.
SAVIDGE: She is indeed, yes, she took us from an age where women were unique to news and now where it is just what?
WALKER: Yes, dominating --
(LAUGHTER)
SAVIDGE: Yes, it is.
WALKER: All right, we'll be right back.
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[06:55:00]
SAVIDGE: Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating the personal finances of George Santos; a Republican elected to represent New York district previously held by a Democrat.
WALKER: And that's just some of the fallout after revelations that Santos lied about his work history, his education, and even his religious background. CNN's Eva McKend has more on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TEODORA CHOOLFAIAN, VOTED FOR GEORGE SANTOS: I am completely betrayed --
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER (voice-over): In George Santos' Long Island district, the outrage is palpable.
CHOOLFAIAN: George Santos is a fraud. I no longer support him.
MCKEND: Democrats and Republicans angry in the wake of revelations Santos lied extensively about his personal background and credentials. Teodora Choolfaian voted for Santos and was drawn to his position on pushing back on COVID-19 measures in schools.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our kids!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My choice, my choice.
MCKEND: But the Nassau County mom showed up at a rally this week organized by state Democrats to call on him to resign.
CHOOLFAIAN: The whole persona that he created and the ability to deceive us is just so troubling. This man should not be allowed to be in office, and we all know it. I want to show you, the Republicans know too --
MCKEND: Among a slew of fabrications --
GEORGE SANTOS-CONGRESSMAN-ELECT FOR NEW YORK: Shalom to everybody --
MCKEND: Santos also misrepresented himself as Jewish, and claimed his grandparents were holocaust survivors, something genealogists say there's no record of.
JACK MANDEL, JEWISH COMMUNITY LEADER: He's a make-believe person. He's a person that's really not there.
MCKEND: Jack Mandel, a Jewish community leader who met Santos twice, and thought he was kind of the fresh face the district needed. But now --
(on camera): Given what you know now, if the election was tomorrow, and you had to do it all again, would you vote for George Santos.
MANDEL: Absolutely not, would not. I couldn't -- I couldn't in good conscience. Once someone lies to me, I can never trust that individual again. The holocaust is something that touches the heart of every Jew, and someone that would use that as a talking point, as a vote getter, I think is wrong.
MCKEND (voice-over): But some say he should have the opportunity to further explain himself.
HENRY GOLIS, SUPPORTED GEORGE SANTOS' CAMPAIGN: The man deserves his say, and he has to answer to a lot of personal questions while we're at this situation. The bottom line, at the end of the day, he has to own up to everything.
TOM ZMICH, GEORGE SANTOS' SUPPORTER: He hasn't done anything wrong as far as legality-wise. He admitted he lied, and most Christian people believe in forgiveness, maybe not forget. But move on. Let's see what happens.
MCKEND: And disappointed voters are not the only concern for Santos. Federal and local prosecutors now investigating the incoming congressman who's set to be sworn in next week.
(on camera): So, some of the responses we received somewhat varied, even that Jewish community leader that we spoke to in the synagogue, even though he told us he wouldn't vote for Santos again if given the opportunity, he didn't call for him to outright resign.
What we know, though, what seems pretty consistent in communities like Manhasset, in Great Neck, in Oyster Bay is, there seems to be widespread disappointment. This is a very wealthy district, but maybe one that doesn't receive a whole lot of national attention, and it is because of the many lies of this congressman-elect that are bringing the communities, these communities into the spotlight.
I should note the third district also includes parts of Queens as well. Eva McKend, CNN, Manhattan, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And our thanks to Eva for that report. We'll be right back.
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