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Source: Trump To Appeal Colorado, Maine Ballot Removal On Tuesday; GOP Rivals Criticize Haley for Civil War Comment; San Antonio Police Looking for 2 People Seen in Surveillance Video Near Where Pregnant Teen and Boyfriend Found Dead. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired December 30, 2023 - 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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[06:00:42]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Saturday, December 30th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Amara Walker will be with you this afternoon. So it's just you and me this morning.

All right, so as soon as this morning, the Oregon Supreme Court could decide whether to keep former President Trump's name off the 2024 primary and general election ballots. A group filed the 14th Amendment lawsuit earlier this month arguing Trump is ineligible to run for office because of his role in the January 6th insurrection. On Thursday, Maine joined Colorado in banning Trump from its primary ballot. But both rulings are on hold right now caught up in court battles. And sources say Trump is expected to appeal them Tuesday. CNN's Paula Reid reports.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Supreme Court facing increasing pressure to weigh in on whether states can remove former President Trump from the 2024 ballot after Maine became the second state to kick him off based on the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding public office.

SHENNA BELLOWS (D), MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE: No Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. But no presidential candidate has ever engaged in insurrection and been disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

REID (voice-over): In Maine ballot eligibility questions, first, go to the Secretary of State, not the courts. Trump has called for Democrat Shenna Bellows to recuse herself in this case because of previous comments about January 6th, where she tweeted, the Jan. 6th insurrection was an unlawful attempt to overthrow the results of a free and fair election. She did not remove herself from the matter. And now the issue heads to the courts, as Trump and the state's Republican Party vowed to appeal.

JOEL STETKIS, CHAIR, MAINE REPUBLICAN PARTY: Our voting rights enshrined in the Constitution are sacred to us and to have one particular person remove really the top candidate from the ballot because she dislikes that person just smells of politics.

REID (voice-over): The question of Trump's ballot eligibility has been debated in multiple states with only Maine and Colorado taking him off the primary ballot. Even California on Thursday opted to include him. In a statement the Trump campaign accused Colorado and Maine of election interference, attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter. Even some of Trump's rivals have criticized States taking him out of the running instead of leaving it to voters.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It makes him a martyr. You know, he's very good at playing poor me, poor me.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can you have a Republican secretary of state disqualify Biden from the ballot because he's led in 8 million people illegally.

REID (voice-over): The Colorado GOP has already appealed that state's ruling to the United States Supreme Court, asking the justices to take up three key questions. Does Section 3 of the 14th Amendment apply to a president? And is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to be enforced by states and also asking whether the GOP has a First Amendment right to choose its candidates. Trump is also expected to appeal.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're trying to take the election away from the voters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID (on camera): Even in states like Michigan and Minnesota where they opted to keep Trump on the primary ballot, those judges left the door open to relitigate this issue in the general election. So the Supreme Court does not weigh in here. This is an issue that could hang over the 2024 election through November. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Paula, thank you. Joining me now to discuss, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning to you. Let me pick up where Paula left off. The Supreme Court taking this up, now you've got several states who have kept Trump off the primary ballot. It's your expectation that they will have to weigh in here, right?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is indeed, Victor. You know, listen, we have 50 states in this union, this great democracy which is the United States of America. And the Supreme Court generally weighs in where there is not uniformity. That is where different states are applying the laws and potentially different ways. And so if you're going to have a process that's Democratic, that's workable, that has specific direction, you need the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the land, to give some clear direction with respect to what the 14th Amendment Section 3 means. And it's for that reason that I think ultimately the Supreme Court will sink its teeth into this particular mess out calling.

[06:05:28]

BLACKWELL: This is a pretty tight timeline, both Colorado and Maine. They are -- they've stayed their decisions, I should say stay because of the court in Colorado decided this single secretary of state made the decision in Maine, but because of the timeline, do you have any concerns about the schedule? We've seen it 2000, they can move quickly when the question is about presidential elections.

JACKSON: Yes, I think the overall goal though, Victor is not so much the Republican primary, I think it's the general election, right? Having said that, the primaries are how we get to the general election. And so yes, the timeline is critical. And I think it would be important for the Supreme Court to weigh in sooner rather than later. However, having said that, I think even now, right? You see states like Oregon, saying, hey, wait a minute, maybe because this is really to decide who's on the presidential election ballot, we should wait.

And so either way, whether you're saying it's the primary or the general election, you need some consistency with respect to what Amendment 14 Section 3 means, so I do think the earlier the better. And I think it would be in the interest of the country if they weighed in now and did not wait for the general election to do so.

BLACKWELL: That Oregon decision could come as early as today. Let's talk about the differences, the distinctions between the Colorado decision and the Maine decision. Colorado that was decided by the courts. In Maine, because of the difference in the rules there, the Secretary of State made this decision. Legally as we await these appeals coming from Trump's attorneys on Tuesday. Does that difference have great relevance legally, that there was one person who made the decision in Maine?

JACKSON: So I don't think it was and perhaps that answer surprises you. But the reality is, is that this is what democracy looks like. You have a situation in Maine where every state, Victor, as we know, has a governor and a legislature. The legislature, of course, has the authority to make the laws and the governor enforces and decides to sign or veto those laws. It happens to be that in Maine, the Secretary of State is delegated that authority by the state legislature. What authority? The authority to determine ballot access.

In doing so, there was a hearing held. In doing so, she had a 34 pages decision. I'm speaking of Ms. Bellows, the Secretary of State, a Democrat, in which she determined that the President engaged in an insurrection and indeed there was an insurrection and that she has the authority as given to her by the legislature to make the decision and so she did.

In Colorado, the distinction would be that the process provides for the courts to make the decision. But even in Maine though, Victor, we know that Ms. Bellows, the Secretary of State said put her decision on hold until the courts do get involved. So ultimately, it's going to the courts. And the last distinction very briefly, is that of course, because the Colorado courts have already weighed in that is now right to go to the United States Supreme Court. In Maine, however, determinations have to be made through those courts before it could get to the United States Supreme Court. But that's where it needs to go and needs to go quickly.

BLACKWELL: What is as we now wait for, again, the appeals from the Trump attorneys, the relevance of status quo? California to say decided late in the week to keep Donald Trump on the ballot. California has confronted Trump politically, and I'll get to political context with Errol Louis a little later. But legally, if you're making this argument about how states have come to this conclusion, does California keeping him on the ballot play any role in the decision making moving forward about the states that decided to take him off the ballot?

JACKSON: So I think it does, Victor, because it goes again, to the issue of the dysfunction and the issue of the need for direction uniformity and consistency with respect to how we apply the laws. And California has said, hey, look, we'll keep you on the ballot. But so to, Victor, has Michigan, so to has -- that those states have decided that because Republican primaries are internal processes, it's not yet right, the decision to remove him from the ballot.

And so they too said those states Minnesota and Michigan that we could renew, right? When I say, we, meaning the general public, the essence of the voters could renew the request to have him removed. California saying again it's not yet right. So I think it goes to the notion that we need consistency in our laws Supreme Court weigh in will you and so they will I do believe in the very near future.

[06:10:11]

BLACKWELL: Joey Jackson, always good to have you. Thank you for started off for us to Saturday morning.

President Biden says Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped after Russia launched the biggest air attack on Ukraine since the start of the war. We'll tell you what Mr. Biden is calling for.

Plus, police in California say a 14-year-old boy used several weapons to kill his parents and injure his sister.

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BLACKWELL: President Biden says Russia's latest and largest airstrikes on Ukraine since the start of the war prove that Vladimir Putin's goals have not changed. In a statement, the President said he seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped. On Friday Russian drones and missiles hit multiple cities across the country, killed at least 31 people, wounded more than 150 others. A day of mourning is being held across several regions this morning.

[06:15:17]

Russia says that it shot down more than 30 Ukrainian drones. CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us from St. Croix, traveling with the President. President Biden is urging support for this large aid package that must be approved. Tell us what we're hearing from Congress in response to that.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it remains to be seen whether this aerial assault is what changes minds of congressional Republicans, many of whom remain deeply skeptical of any new assistance to Ukraine. And even that visit earlier this month from President Zelenskyy to Washington did not necessarily convince some of these Republicans of the necessity for more American assistance.

And what President Biden is trying to do is to use this aerial assault, this largest of barrage of rockets since the war began to make the point that American assistance has actually saved lives in Ukraine, including just yesterday through the things like the Patriot missile batteries, other defense systems that have allowed the Ukrainians to protect themselves.

And in the statement, the President says, unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs. We cannot let our allies and partners down. History will judge harshly those who fail to answer freedom's call. And remember, Victor, this is all cut up in these discussions over immigration, Republicans, Democrats trying to come up with some new rules for the southern border that would be partnered with the $60 billion that President Biden is requesting in additional assistance to Ukraine.

Now, just earlier this week, the White House said it had essentially expended all of the existing authorizations. It announced $250 million in new assistance that was essentially the bottom of the barrel. They say that any new assistance will require congressional approval. Whether this new assault on Ukraine, this reminder of the continuation of this war is enough to convince the skeptical Republicans I think remains to be seen.

BLACKWELL: Kevin Liptak joining us from beautiful St. Croix, thanks so much.

Joining us now CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, good morning to you. So the scope of this latest attack from Russia, 158 drones and missiles, according to Ukrainian officials, striking schools, homes, churches, President Zelenskyy says Russia through nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal into this wave of strikes. From a military strategic perspective, is it clear to you why this is happening now?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, good morning, Victor. Well, the best way to describe this is, this was a coordinated attack ended. What it shows is Russia's ability to put together a an effort that encompasses all elements of it's almost all elements of its power. The one key element missing, of course, was nuclear, chemical, biological. And that, of course, we don't want you to see on the battlefield ever in Ukraine.

But what the Russians were able to do was mount this coordinated attack, which is a complex military operation. And they clearly went after targets that they had in essence telegraphed that they will go after. They did this last year. And they're doing it this year for the winter. They wonder if it really destroy the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine and basically render the country uninhabitable.

So that is the Russian military strategy. And they are doing what they can to make it work. In essence, what they're doing, Victor, is they're throwing the kitchen sink at this problem. It is one way in which to do this, but overwhelming forces what they're trying to show here. And it remains to be seen if they actually have more weapons inside their capacity to do this. But they're certainly ramping up production as well, in Russia.

BLACKWELL: Aid packages to Ukraine or for Ukraine have been measured in billions of dollars over the last several years since the start of the war. And of course, President Biden is asking for billions more. There is though the announcement of a $250 million military package this week. What can you tell us about it and a quarter of a billion dollars? How long does something like this last?

LEIGHTON: Yes, that depends, of course, on some of the weapons systems involved. But, you know, we have things like the NASAMS and the HIMAR systems. These are critical systems that really protect the critical infrastructure of Ukraine when they're placed near those installations, or those facilities. So this type of, you know, truncheon, if you will, and aid is going to help the Ukrainians for probably the next couple of months, depending on the strength and the nature of any renewed Russian onslaught, but probably next two or three months or so they can benefit from this package.

[06:20:17]

But what they do need is sustained support, the $61 billion package that President Biden has proposed to Congress, that includes aid for a long period of time. So it's not something that's going to be spent all at once, but it's going to be spent over the next 10 to 12 months if it's approved.

BLACKWELL: Poland has some in Russia started affair after its -- it says an unidentified airborne object temporarily crossed over into its airspace on Friday says indications are there was a Russian missile, NATO, of course, Poland, a member of NATO says that it remains vigilant over this incident. Is this accidental, seemingly? Or is this something more significant?

LEIGHTON: It could be something more significant. One of the things, Victor, that the Russians tried to do on occasion is test Western air defenses and missile defenses. And there's no better way to do than to send something temporarily over a country that you are -- you might be interested in for future military operations. So what the Russians could do is figure out the data from the radar returns on the Polish side and see how well the Polish radar systems and other systems track the incoming missile.

And given that they can then figure out what kinds of things they might use if they were ever to attack Poland. So from that standpoint, it could be a deliberate act. It could also be an accidental act, and it remains to be seen. We frankly, we may never know which way it went.

BLACKWELL: All right, Colonel Leighton, thank you.

Still ahead, booted from the ballot, former President Trump set to appeal a pair of major decisions in Colorado and Maine. We'll discuss the political ramifications here, next.

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[06:26:11]

BLACKWELL: Whether Donald Trump could be removed from ballots through the 14th Amendment's insurrectionists ban, started largely as an academic debate. Well, now it is a serious legal test. So far two states have determined that U.S. Constitution makes Trump ineligible to seek the presidency again. The Oregon Supreme Court could rule today that the -- on that question today, I should say, that Trump's lawyers are expected to appeal decisions to remove him from the ballot in Maine and Colorado. And legal experts agree the question will most likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Joining me now is CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. Errol, good morning to you. So we had the legal conversation with Joey a few minutes ago, let's say political here. And these decisions from Colorado and Maine, we'll see what Oregon does. Is this a net positive politically for Trump thus far?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor. In the short term, there may be something to be gained by that. This is a candidate who like all candidates need some headlines, need some issues to put in front of his base voters, needs to get them excited and stirred up. And certainly, he's been running on grievance and resentment from day one. So Donald Trump can now point to a bunch of new enemies who are persecuting him from his point of view, and use that to try and rile up his base.

So in the short term, yes, that'll work. Of course, the problem down the line is that there were a lot of independent voters, certainly Democrats and others, who every time they hear more about this, this question about insurrection, they get motivated as well. And they're going to come out and they're going to try and vote against Donald Trump. It was enough to beat him four years ago. We'll see if it works again.

BLACKWELL: All right. I asked Joey about the legal relevance of California deciding to keep Trump on the ballot. You know, few states in the union, had their leaders have confronted Trump politically as passionately as Gavin Newsom and some Democrats in, in California. So politically, what does it mean that California said, no, we're not going to go the way of Colorado and Maine, he will stay on the ballot?

LOUIS: Well, look, legally, you can come down in a lot of different places. In fact, there are, you know, what, 20 plus states that are coming down at different places, which is why we'll end up at the Supreme Court. Politically, though, look, there's, I think, a real argument to be made. And I think this is where Governor Newsom is coming from that. We, the voters, should decide this. There shouldn't be a technicality about whether or not Donald Trump got on the ballot. We should make sense of what we think about his role in the insurrection of January 6th.

And we should punish him or reward him ourselves at the polls. That's a more stable way to resolve this. Because what you really don't want, Victor, is a court to hand down a decision one way or the other that millions of Americans think was either unfair, politically motivated, or for whatever reason, they just can't live with it. We don't need the instability. And so I think politically, there's certainly an argument to be made.

California is one of these places where they're making it that, you know, look, we can handle this ourselves. We don't need a lot of legal intervention to decide what to do with Donald Trump with regard to the insurrection.

BLACKWELL: But isn't that what, I mean, I guess ultimately is going to come down from the Supreme Court, a court will hand down a decision that millions of people believe is politically motivated one way or the other.

LOUIS: Yes, I mean, look, this is -- there are many great decisions from that Supreme Court where this same consideration was at play. So the Brown versus Board of Education decision, for example, because they thought it was so important that it be a unanimous court to signal to the nation or that we were going to finally desegregate public schooling in America. They got that majority by being vague in some places, you know, so when it came to implementation the answer was, we'll do it with all deliberate speed.

[06:30:03]

Now, that's vague, and it led to a whole civil rights movement and a lot of controversy to try and make it happen. But that's how you move the whole country forward together.

I think there's an argument to be made -- I don't necessarily subscribe to it, I believe in courts. I think if a court has made a decision on the constitution, the Supreme Court, whether you like it or not, that's what we've decided, that's how we should move forward. But politically, you don't want to keep re-litigating this over --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

LOUIS: And over and over again. And so, you know, look, frankly, the court may give it back to the people, you know, the --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

LOUIS: Joey suggested that as well. There are times when the court just decides, you know what? This is not for us, you guys are going to have to work this out politically.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Nikki Haley. This week, obviously, the big story with her, her decision to omit slavery in the answer about the causes of the civil war. Chris Christie is trying to cement a narrative here. Listen to what he told the week-day team of "CNN THIS MORNING". (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right now, I think New Hampshire is seeing the slippery slick Nikki Haley who won't answer questions definitively, won't say whether she's willing to be his vice president, won't say whether Donald Trump is unfit to be president, won't say whether slavery is the cause of the civil war definitively.

The fact of the matter is, she won't bring up slavery because she's -- you know, nervous about offending anybody who believes that there was another cause for the civil war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Do you think this works, and then the follow-up I'm going to hand you the same time? To what end, they're both so far behind.

LOUIS: Yes, you know, slightly, Chris Christie, you know, it's a very plausible case, he's absolutely right. On the other hand, Nikki Haley is polling far better than he is, and moving up while Christie is moving down in the polls. So, you know, if being a slick slippery politician works, that's you know, that's how you win races.

And Chris Christie knows this as well as anybody. In fact, being the kind of truth teller, telling people things they don't want to hear, that's what people say when they're so far behind that they know that the end is inevitable, and I think that's really where Chris Christie is now.

BLACKWELL: Errol Louis, good to have you, thanks so much. Still to come, let me get you up-to-date on this major search that's happening. Police trying to track down two people seen near where a pregnant teen and her boyfriend were found dead. The latest on the investigation. That's ahead.

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[06:35:00]

BLACKWELL: This morning, a 14-year-old boy is accused of killing his parents and trying to kill his 11-year-old sister. Police say the boy initially reported a break-in at his home, this is in Fresno County, California. He said someone attacked his family, but police say the boy's story had some inconsistencies, and now they think he made the whole story up. Police are unsure of a possible motive.

San Antonio police say they're searching for two people, you see them in surveillance video here, near where the bodies of a pregnant teen and her boyfriend were found this week. Eighteen-year-olds, Savannah Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra were found with gunshot wounds and a parked car near an apartment complex on Tuesday. Police say the bodies had been there for a few days. Here is CNN's Whitney Wild.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police say that this video is absolutely critical to the investigation, and they're hoping that someone out there knows who these two people are in this video. So let me describe it for you and what police are really keying in on.

There are two vehicles in this video, one is this pickup truck, a Chevy Silverado and the other is the silver Kia Optima. And what you see in this video is these two vehicles pull up alongside each other, the driver of that pickup truck and the driver of the Kia Optima seem to interact, in that it appears that the driver of the pickup truck seems to wipe down the side of the Kia Optima.

It's not clear exactly what they're doing, but that is what police are keying in on right now. The timeline and the location of this video is absolutely critical, and here is why? The video was taken near where the bodies were found, police say that they believe the bodies had been in that location for a few days.

And then further, this video shows this Kia Optima that police believe belongs to Matthew Guerra; that 22-year-old victim. Police say that Guerra died of a contact gunshot wound to the head. What that means is that they believe the firearm was placed directly on Matthew Guerra's head when he was killed.

Asked whether or not this was a murder-suicide, police say that that's possible, but at this point, it seems unlikely. Police are also combing over more surveillance video as well as social media to try to figure out who killed these two people and why? And when we go back to the timeline here, that's part of what makes this case really perplexing for police.

So for example, December 22nd is the last day that police say that anybody heard from Savannah Soto, she was just 18 years old, she was nine months pregnant. December 23rd, she missed a critical appointment with her OB-GYN, she was supposed to be induced to give labor -- to give birth rather, but she missed that appointment and her family told police that she was missing.

December 26th, that's when police found the bodies of 22-year-old Matthew Guerra and 18-year-old Savannah Soto. This is now being investigated as a capital murder case. Again, San Antonio police urging the public to come forward with any information. Victor.

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: All right, Whitney Wild reporting for us, thank you so much. From the influence of artificial intelligence to the fight for abortion rights, a lot happened this year that impacts our health. We'll look at the biggest health stories of the year, next.

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BLACKWELL: Life-changing scientific advancements, a weight loss drug craze, the battle over abortion rights, 2023, saw so many history- making health headlines. Here to give us a look at this year's top health stories is CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Two thousand and twenty three may best be described as an incredible year of breakthroughs and innovation, while also a year of continuing to deal or not deal with basic ongoing health problems.

[06:45:00]

Our team has had many moments now to reflect, be inspired, learn and redouble our efforts to help make all of you happier, healthier and more informed. So let's kick things off with number 10 of our top 10 health stories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and go over the cot, I don't like how he went down.

GUPTA (voice-over): January 2nd, 2023, the very beginning of the year, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin goes into cardiac arrest on national TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to need everybody, all call, all call.

GUPTA: A quick response not only saved Hamlin's life, but brought national attention to the importance of CPR, rapid defibrillation and the NFL's safety protocols which I saw firsthand.

(on camera): Now, keep in mind, the medical team was able to get to Damar Hamlin within 10 seconds. And speed really matters here. Every additional minute that someone in cardiac arrest goes without CPR, mortality goes up by up to 10 percent.

(voice-over): Number nine. You've probably never heard of phenylephrine, and that's OK. It's the main ingredient in many over- the-counter allergy and cold medicines like SUDAFED PE and Vick's Sinex. This year, an FDA committee said contrary to popular belief, it was not effective as a nasal decongestant in tablet form.

So, while we wait for a final decision, some stores like CVS have already said it will no longer sell medications that contain this as the only active ingredient. Don't worry though, there's lots of other options out there. Number eight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A breakthrough treatment for sickle cell disease.

GUPTA: And a breakthrough for modern medicine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joni is now one of the first people in the world to have his genes edited using CRISPR to treat his disease.

JONATHAN LUBIN, CRISPR SICKLE CELL TRIAL PARTICIPANT: I was worried that I might be like getting like super powers or something like that --

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: In December, the FDA approved the first-ever treatment that use the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR. Think of it like this. CRISPR allows scientists to precisely cut and modify DNA, which could then potentially treat and even cure certain diseases such as sickle cell, but also cancer, muscular dystrophy, even Parkinson's. Number seven.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A 60-year scientific quest has now given us the world's first RSV vaccine.

GUPTA: For the first time, we have vaccines available to fight the full respiratory triple-threat of COVID-19, flu and RSV. Last season, we saw cases of RSV come back with a vengeance, reminding us of the importance of vaccination, especially for the most vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before I even knew what happened, he was being admitted and pumped with oxygen and trying to be stabilized.

GUPTA: So far, we've been sort of sleep-walking into this triple- threat season. But there is still time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not too late to get vaccinated if you haven't already.

GUPTA: Number six.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are more than 300 drugs on the FDA's shortages list right now.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: More than 90 percent of cancer centers say they're impacted by a shortage.

GUPTA (on camera): This one may surprise you. One of the richest countries in the world that spends trillions on healthcare, and yet, we currently have the highest number of drug shortages in about a decade. Laura Brey(ph) had to call hundreds of children's hospitals across the country herself to try and find chemo treatment for her daughter, and in the process, she started a movement.

She's now channeling what she's learned into a national effort to predict which drugs are going to go into shortage, and to produce them before patients have to go without.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see this now, or you see this coming off the line. What's that like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I see here is each one of those that's being filled up, seven to nine NICU babies are going to get fed today.

GUPTA: Number five.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: In our health, the FDA has approved a new Alzheimer's drug today.

GUPTA (voice-over): There's new hope this year for those with early Alzheimer's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look at my phone and read the names and a lot of them don't mean anything to me.

GUPTA: Leqembi is the first drug proven to show a slowing-down of the debilitating disease, in part by removing amyloid plaques from the brain. It's not a cure. But clinical trials found that it can slowdown the onset of more severe symptoms. Number four, loneliness.

VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON-GENERAL: I am so concerned about our children because there's an epidemic, if you will, of mental health challenges that they've been facing.

GUPTA: Coming out of a pandemic, loneliness and social isolation have become a key public health issue for young and old alike. So significant an issue, that the surgeons general normally known for things like curbing smoking had a rare convening to raise the public health alarm about this topic.

JEROME ADAMS, FORMER SURGEON GENERAL: And I have to look at my three teenagers everyday and know that I'm not handing them a better world than the world that was left to me.

[06:50:00]

And a lot of that is because of our failure to really focus on mental health.

GUPTA: It's a massive problem that seems to disproportionately affect Americans. But at the same time, small moments of human connection, smiling, just saying hello, those are all steps we can take towards a solution. Number three. The ripple effects of overturning Roe v. Wade. Real life stories and unimaginable decisions.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Were the doctors clear with you about what her chances were of surviving?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told us there was no chance. They said that either she would be still-born or she would die within a few hours.

GUPTA: A ruling by a Texas judge also sent the fate of mifepristone; an oral pill used for abortion and miscarriage management into legal limbo. With families already feeling the effects, the final decision will now be taken up by the Supreme Court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their concerns are if medical abortions are no longer accessible, what if their reproductive rights are restricted even further.

GUPTA: Number two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wegovy helped us lose weight.

GUPTA: Demand for weight-loss and diabetes drugs like these has skyrocketed. A trillion health analysis found that in the final three months of last year, an estimated 9 million prescriptions were written for these kinds of medications. That's a 300 percent increase since 2020, and it pushed manufacturing lines to run practically nonstop this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Demand is very high and we're doing everything that we can to stand up and supply.

GUPTA: That demand has also resulted in shortages, knockoffs and growing awareness of the side effects including nausea, vomiting, even stomach paralysis. But so far, these drugs have been proven to be effective for weight loss, and also a welcome tool to combat obesity. And number one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've talked about the dark side of A.I.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a bright spot. Healthcare.

GUPTA: While the message is still to proceed with caution, we've already seen a glimpse of how artificial intelligence could change healthcare from identifying new antibiotics to detecting breast cancer. It may not ever, hopefully never, replace your actual human doctor, it could help enhance patient care. And even as we saw help someone walk again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paralyzed man is up and about.

GUPTA (on camera): Happy new year and look forward to a lot more in 2024.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Sanjay. Let's keep it going. CNN takes a look at the best and worst in 2023 tonight starting at 8:00.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: Denver Broncos star quarterback Russell Wilson said the team told him he'd have to re-work his contract otherwise he'd be benched. Well, now he's not playing the rest of the season. Andy Scholes is with us now. What is going on here?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, Victor, imagine this. You know, the Broncos had just beat the Chiefs for the first time since 2015. Looked like they were turning their season around. But then the team went to Russell Wilson and said, don't change your contract, we're going to have to bench you.

And Wilson's five-year, $242 million extension, it starts next year. The Broncos owe him $39 million next season whether he's on the team or not. So the issue was an injury clause that would give Wilson another $37 million if he cannot pass a physical in March.

The Broncos wanted to change that, Wilson said no way. And that's why he is now benched and the team appears to be moving on from him after this season, despite all the money that he's owed. Now, Wilson addressed this whole situation yesterday saying it's not what he wanted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL WILSON, QUARTERBACK, DENVER BRONCOS: Yes, they definitely, you know, told me I was going to be benched in all and all that, but you know, I did the whole by-week, I didn't know what the -- what was going to end up being the case.

I was going to be ready to play. I wanted to go to Buffalo and beat Buffalo. And if that was going to be the case. And I just -- you know, I wasn't going to -- I wasn't going to remove and push -- do injury again -- not take away injury, this game is such a physical game. I've played 12 years and all that, it matters to me. I came here for a reason and that's to win more championships.

And I hope that it's here, and I hope that it's here for a long time, hope to win some more silverware on the front hall and we get some more championships. And if it's not here, then I'll be prepared to do that somewhere else. But I hope that it's here, and I really do that, genuinely mean that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Broncos trades two first-round picks, two set round picks and more for Wilson two years ago. It's going to go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history. All right, New York's 6 Bowls kicking off last night with Missouri and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, and if you like a great defensive battle, then this game is for you.

It was 3 to 0 into the fourth quarter, linesman, Tiger running-back Cody Schrader, a former walked-on, turned all-American finally gets Missouri in the end zone put them up 7-3 in the fourth. He ran for 138 yards. Ohio State missing some key players, but still rough performance from them. Missouri would win 14-3, they finish with 11 wins for the first time since 2014.

Yes, two new year six games today highlighted by Florida state, the first undefeated power five school ever left out of the four team playoff, they're taking on two-time defending champ Georgia, the Orange Bowl, Seminoles was actually 20-point underdog in that one.

Then you've got the new year's day games on Monday, the semifinals in the college football playoffs. You've got Alabama and Michigan in the Rose Bowl at 5:00 Eastern, that's followed by Texas and Washington in the Sugar Bowl. It should be a good day of football.

All right, in the NBA, where 76ers and Rockets, it came down to the wire last night. Sixers up 1, they get the ball to Marcus Morris and he hits the three and gets fouled by Fred VanVleet, the 4-point play is devastating the Rockets. Tyrese Maxey 42 points in that one as Philly wins 131-127.

Will the Celtics ever lose a home game this season? They were hosting the Raptors last night, Jaylen Brown making the big play, the alley- oop to Luke Kornet, put the Celtics up 2 with 32 seconds left. Boston was playing without Jayson Tatum who would -- sent out at this moment with an injured ankle.